contributions

Bush And Blair Blowing Bubbles By SusanUnPC Friday, 28 July 2006 at 14:34
From Ray Close, via Larry Johnson and posted by SusanUnPC.
Dear Friends:
It became very clear during the Bush-Blair press conference on Friday morning, 28 July, that the American and British "formula" to resolve the Lebanon crisis rests on a hallucinatory expectation that several critically important developments can and will take place successfully between now and the time early next week when the U.N. Security (…)

HUMINT In History Posted By SusanUnPC Friday, 28 July 2006 at 15:30
From Ray Close, via Larry Johnson and posted by SusanUnPC. Ray Close is a former CIA analyst in the Near East division and a member of the steering group for Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity; his recent posts here are "Truth in Simplicity," "From Rasha in Beirut," and "U.S. Policy in Lebanon."
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Addressed primarily to Chas Freeman, the former U.S. (…)

Israel Tries To Be A Bush By Larry C Johnson Friday, 28 July 2006 at 07:20
You may remember Campaign George Bush. You know, the "uniter not a divider". Well, it appears Israel, under the leadership of Ehud Olmert, has opted to try to be like George. How else to explain their ability to unite the Arab and Muslim world behind Hezbollah. Way to go guys!
Check out the full story in the New York Times: (
DAMASCUS, Syria, July 27 - At the onset of the Lebanese crisis, Arab governments, (…)

Musharraf Unable To Shake Off Taliban Suspicions Despite Pledges Reuters 07/28/2006 12:44 AM
Islamabad: Almost five years after thousands of Taliban fighters fled Afghanistan to escape a US-led invasion, Pakistan is unable to shake off suspicions that it is allowing them to operate from its soil.
Just as India is losing patience with Pakistan’s failure to act more forcefully against numerous anti-Indian militant groups, Afghanistan, the United States and other Nato powers have been (…)

Israel’s War On Lebanon Threatens Political Comeback For Bush By Peter Baker, Los Angeles Times-Washington Post 07/28/2006 09:55 PM
The latest crisis in the Middle East has disrupted US President George W. Bush’s plans domestically and internationally at a sensitive juncture, reopening divisions with allies abroad and jeopardising attempts to restore public confidence at home, according to officials, analysts and diplomats.
The discord at a conference in Rome on Wednesday over a proposed (…)

Mr Bush Just Doesn’t Get It By Khaled Almaeena, Special to Gulf News 07/27/2006 09:25 PM The savage Israeli aggression against Lebanon continues. Emboldened by world silence and powerless apathy in the region, the Israeli war machine is wreaking havoc and raining death and destruction on helpless Lebanese civilians.
The news that deadly bombs and laser-guided missiles have been given to the Israeli Air Force does not bode well for Lebanon.
On the diplomatic front, Tel Aviv has also (…)

US Denies Breaking UK Rules On Israel Bomb Flights Reuters 07/28/2006 12:41 AM London: The United States denied on Thursday that it had broken British air transport procedures after London complained about US flights through a Scottish airport taking bombs to Israel.
A newspaper said Britain had agreed to allow Washington to fly more weapons to Israel via its airports despite Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett saying she was "not happy" about Washington failing to comply with procedures (…)

The Truth Of British Premier’s "Urgent Diplomacy" Robert Fisk, The Independent Saturday, 29, July, 2006
I dropped by the hospital in Marjayoun this week to find a young girl lying in a hospital bed, swathed in bandages, her beauty scarred forever by some familiar wounds; the telltale dark-red holes in her skin made by cluster bombs, the weapon we used in Iraq to such lethal effect and which the Israelis are now using to punish the civilians of southern Lebanon.
And, of course, it (…)

Grey Areas Over The White House Gulf News Editorial Published: 05/14/2006 12:00 AM
It may just be that this particular White House is not any good at spying. It could be that it is devious. It may even be a mixture of both, either way it is in a deep political and legal mess.
Osama Bin Laden remains free while millions of Americans have been spied upon, there are no weapons of mass destruction to justify war on Iraq and the Central Intelligence Agency keeps losing its head. A sorry (…)

What Ann Coulter Would Learn If She Actually Studied The Bible By Celeste Beckendorf July 28, 2006 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. (…)