Tuesday, 19 June 2007
 

2007.06.19 Israel/Lebanon/Palistan Roundup

Six of One...

Below the fold:

• Brothers to the Bitter End

See also:

• Might Makes Right?

Brothers to the Bitter End
By Fouad Ajami

SO the masked men of Fatah have the run of the West Bank while the masked men of Hamas have their dominion in Gaza. Some see this as a tolerable situation, maybe even an improvement, envisioning a secularist Fatah-run state living peacefully alongside Israel and a small, radical Gaza hemmed in by Israeli troops. It’s always tempting to look for salvation in disaster, but in this case it’s sheer fantasy.

The Palestinian ruin was a long time in coming. No other national movement has had the indulgence granted the Palestinians over the last half-century, and the results can be seen in the bravado and the senseless violence, in the inability of a people to come to terms with their condition and their needs.

The life of a Palestinian is one of squalor and misery, yet his leaders play the international game as though they were powers. An accommodation with Israel is imperative — if only out of economic self-interest and political necessity — but the Palestinians, in a democratic experiment some 18 months ago, tipped power to a Hamas movement whose very charter is pledged to the destruction of the Jewish state and the imposition of Islamist rule.

The political maxim that people get the leaders they deserve must be reckoned too cruel to apply to the Palestinians. Before Hamas, for four decades, the vainglorious Yasir Arafat refused to tell his people the basic truths of their political life. Amid the debacles, he remained eerily joyous; he circled the globe, offering his people the false sense that they could be spared the consequences of terrible decisions. ...

You're a good man, Charlie Brown.

Contributed by Bill Faith on June 19, 2007 at 01:11 AM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 17 June 2007
 

2007.06.16-17 Israel/Lebanon/Palistan Roundup

(Updated and bumped. Original timestamp 2007.06.16.12:47)

Abbas Outlaws Hamas Militias 
Ed Morrissey

Mahmoud Abbas swore in a new cabinet today and outlawed Hamas militias, two moves that will widen the gulf between the West Bank and Gaza. His counterpart, former Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, insists that Hamas still controls the government, but at this point they have found themselves isolated on the Gaza Strip without any lines of communication back to the Palestinian Authority's power base: ...

Israel has played its first card in this game as well. It cut off oil deliveries to Gaza, which will mean no fuel for vehicles in a short period of time. That will eat into Hamas' military strength and make them less mobile in a fight against the Israelis, and also in case of a popular uprising. ...

Below the fold:

• Abbas Told Foreign Aid Embargo Will Be Lifted Once New Government Installed
• Thousands Flee Palestinian Violence

See also:

• Katyusha rockets hit N.Israel town from Lebanon
• Three-state strategy: Israel planning attack on Hamastan,
  peace with Fatahstine; Update: Times story bogus?
• Israel plans attack on Gaza
• Looters raid Arafat's home, steal his Nobel Peace Prize
• US Promises Fatah: Get Rid of Hamas and the Money Starts Flowing
• Michael Ledeen: Reconciliation Breeds Contempt
• Bad pennies
• Hamas threatens West Bank fighting; Fatah officials flee Gaza via Erez

Abbas Told Foreign Aid Embargo Will
Be Lifted Once New Government Installed

RAMALLAH, West Bank —  Embattled Mahmoud Abbas got a major boost in his increasingly bellicose showdown with Hamas on Saturday, with a U.S. diplomat saying he expects a crippling 15-month-old foreign aid embargo to be lifted once the Palestinian president appoints an emergency government without the Islamic militants.

The new Cabinet, to be headed by internationally respected economist Salam Fayyad, is to be sworn in Sunday, just three days after Hamas seized control of Gaza and Abbas dismantled the Hamas-Fatah coalition government in response.

In Gaza, panicked residents lined up at bakeries to stock up on bread, fearing growing shortages of food, fuel and other staples as the crossings of the fenced-in strip with Israel and Egypt remained closed. Hundreds of other Gazans rushed to the border crossing with Israel to try to escape Hamas rule, but found gates locked. Israeli troops briefly fired warning shots. ...

Thousands Flee Palestinian Violence

Israel says it now regards the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip as a "terror entity", but has said it will allow food and other basic supplies into the area.

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said: "Our consideration is the humanitarian issue.

"Allowing merchandise through the Karni Cargo terminal in order to prevent hunger in Gaza is what will guide Israel."

Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he wants to bolster Hamas' rival, Fatah which is led by the moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Fatah gunmen have stormed the Hamas-led parliament in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

They also stormed the Hamas-controlled council building in Nablus.  ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on June 17, 2007 at 03:04 PM in Israel, Lebanon, Palestine | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 14 June 2007
 

2007.06.14 Israel/Lebanon/Palistan Roundup

Below the fold:

• Abbas to Dissolve Palestinian Authority Government in Wake of Hamas-Fatah War
• Welcome To Hamastan (Update: Fatah Wants A Dunkirk)

See also:

• Gaza Civil War Over Before It Began; Summer Campaign Dominoes Falling Into Place
• Abbas Fires Hamas Instead Of Firing On Hamas
• Mahmoud Abbas Dissolves Palestinian Government, Declares Emergency

Abbas to Dissolve PA Government in Wake of Hamas-Fatah War

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip —  President Mahmoud Abbas will dissolve the Palestinian Authority's government Thursday after fighting between rival parties Hamas and Fatah consumed the Gaza Strip and was expected to call for a state of emergency, sources close to Abbas confirmed to FOX News.

Abbas also intends to call for the deployment of a multinational force in Gaza and plans to appoint an independent politician to replace Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas as prime minister, the aides said.

Hamas fighters took control from three of the rival Fatah movement's most important security command centers in the Gaza Strip, and witnesses said the victors dragged vanquished gunmen into the street and shot them to death execution-style. ...

Welcome To Hamastan (Update: Fatah Wants A Dunkirk)
Ed Morrissey

Hamas has overrun a critical and strategic security center in Gaza today, bringing them closer to their goal of controlling the entire region. Mahmoud Abbas has finally ordered retaliatory strikes, but he may not have many to respond to the call, as Hamas has begun executing Fatah militants in front of their wives and children: ...

UPDATE II: Fatah wants Israel to execute a Dunkirk to allow Fatah fighters to escape Hamastan:

Meanwhile, hundreds of Fatah men asked Israel to help them flee the Gaza Strip through Gaza seaport, one of the last locations in the Strip still held by Fatah Thursday morning, for fear they would be executed by Hamas gunmen if they remained in Gaza.

The Israelis might decide to do it. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on June 14, 2007 at 02:29 PM in Israel, Palestine | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 05 June 2007
 

Where is Moshe Dayan when the world needs him?

Folks, if you only read one thing today make it The Six Day War in real time.

If you have time for some related reading check out:

• A war that never ends. (H/T: John Hinderaker)
• The Six-Day War  (ditto)
• No Pyrrhic Victory

I was 17 in '67 with a newly acquired car and an even more newly acquired girlfriend, but one riddle from that summer still sticks in my mind:

Q: How do you tell an Israeli tank from an Arab tank?

A: Arab tanks have backup lights.

I also remember a rather tasteless joke about Israel taking over the Viet Nam War ... for cost plus 10%. Maybe we should have taken them up on it. Where is Moshe Dayan when the world needs him?

Contributed by Bill Faith on June 5, 2007 at 01:08 AM in Israel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 01 June 2007
 

2007.06.01 Israel/Lebanon/"Palestine" roundup

See previous: 2007.05.30 Israel/Lebanon/"Palestine" roundup

Below the fold:

• Lebanon launches attack on militants in refugee camp
• Heavy Fighting Resumes in Lebanon

See also:

• Palestinians Pine For Israeli Security
• Lebanese Army seizes Fatah al-Islam positions

Lebanon launches attack on militants in refugee camp 

(CNN) -- Lebanon's military on Friday launched a new artillery attack on a Palestinian refugee camp north of Tripoli where Islamic militants have been holed up.

The renewed fighting comes after more than a week of relative quiet between the military and the militants of Fatah al-Islam, which is said to be affiliated with al Qaeda, inside the camp.

It was some of the heaviest daylight artillery fire seen since the start of the campaign to root out the militant faction. The fighting at the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli, which started May 20, is the worst internal violence since the end of Lebanon's civil war in 1990.

Nahr al-Bared is one of several Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon dating back to the 1948 Mideast war that followed the creation of Israel. ...

Heavy Fighting Resumes in Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers moved toward a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon Friday in pursuit of Islamic militants holed up inside.

About 50 armored carriers and battle tanks from elite units massed at the northern edge of the camp and drove toward the forwardmost positions, according to AP Television News crew at the scene.

There was no confirmation that the army units were making a final push to take over the camp, instead of simply advancing to grab territory and isolate the militants in pockets. But a significant decrease in shelling, accompanied by a rise in machine gun fire from armored carriers and exchanges of automatic rifle fire, suggested the troops were already engaging the militants. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on June 1, 2007 at 02:08 AM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 29 May 2007
 

2007.05.29 Israel/Lebanon/"Palestine" roundup

See previous: 2007.05.27 Israel/Lebanon/"Palestine" roundup

Below the fold, newest items at the top: 

• Jihadists moving into Lebanon from Syria

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Jihadists moving into Lebanon from Syria

NAHR EL-BARED, Lebanon -- Heavily armed foreign jihadists have been entering Lebanon from Syria from around the time Western authorities noticed a drop in the infiltration of foreign fighters from Syria to Iraq, Lebanese officials say.

Syrian authorities, hoping to disrupt Lebanon so they can reassert control of the country, "have stopped sending [the jihadists] to Iraq and are now sending them here," charged Mohammed Salam, a specialist in Palestinian affairs in Lebanon. "They sent those people to die in Lebanon."

Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, commander of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces, said about half of the militants who have been battling Lebanese forces in the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp outside Tripoli for nine days had fought previously in Iraq. 

Contributed by Bill Faith on May 29, 2007 at 12:38 AM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 27 May 2007
 

2007.05.27 Israel/Lebanon/"Palestine" roundup

See previous: 2007.05.24 Israel/Lebanon/"Palestine" roundup

Below the fold, newest items at the top:

• I guess someone didn't get the memo...
• Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Warns Hamas
  That 'No One Is Immune' After Deadly Rocket Attack

*** *** *** Fold (but please don't spindle or mutilate) *** *** ***

I guess someone didn't get the memo...
By: Jay Tea

This morning I read a terrible, sad, tragic story in the Boston Globe. It was about a bunch of Palestinian refugees who were driven out of the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp by the fighting between the Lebanese Army and the terrorist group, Fatah al-Islam.

This has me terribly confused.

You see, the refugee camp is run by the United Nations, through its subsidiary, UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). And under the very strict rules of UNRWA, weapons are completely forbidden in the camp.

Don't the men of Fatah al-Islam know that what they're doing is illegal? Why didn't the UNRWA rules stop them?

There are so many lessons to be drawn from this incident. ...

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Warns Hamas
That 'No One Is Immune' After Deadly Rocket Attack

JERUSALEM —  Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday promised to step up attacks on the Hamas terror group after a Palestinian rocket attack killed an Israeli man in southern Israel. "No one is immune," Olmert declared.

Sunday's bloodshed signaled there was no end in sight for the latest round of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. A 10-day campaign of Israeli airstrikes aimed at halting rocket attacks has killed nearly 50 Palestinians, most of them militants. But the rocket fire has continued.

Another rocket slammed into the southern Israeli town of Sderot early Sunday, critically wounding a 36-year-old man with shrapnel, medical officials said. The man later died of his wounds at a hospital, Israeli media said. It was the second fatal rocket attack in less than a week.

Olmert told the weekly meeting of his Cabinet Sunday that he had instructed the army to do whatever it takes to halt the rocket fire.

"There will be no limit in acting against the terror groups and against those who are responsible for the terror. No one is immune," Olmert said.

Israel has so far avoided attacks on Hamas' political leaders — a tactic it used at the height of Israeli-Palestinian fighting several years ago. It was not immediately clear whether Olmert's comments Sunday were aimed at the Hamas leadership. The group is now the senior partner in the Palestinian coalition government.

Olmert said there would be no time limit for the army, and that outside pressure would not stop Israel from acting. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on May 27, 2007 at 02:25 PM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Palestine | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 24 May 2007
 

2007.05.24 Israel/Lebanon/"Palestine" roundup

See previous: 2007.05.23 Israel/Lebanon/"Palestine" roundup

Below the fold, newest items at the top:

• Heavy Gunfire Erupts at Refugee Camp After Lebanese Ultimatum
• Lebanon to receive weapons shipment from U.S
• Finding The Right Motivation
• U.N. agency knew of armed foreigners in Lebanon camp

*** *** *** Fold (but please don't spindle or mutilate) *** *** ***

Heavy Gunfire Erupts at Refugee Camp After Lebanese Ultimatum

TRIPOLI, Lebanon —  Heavy exchanges of gunfire briefly interrupted a two-day-old truce late Thursday between Lebanese troops besieging a Palestinian refugee camp and Islamic militants holed up inside.

The renewed fighting on the northern edge of the Nahr el-Bared camp appeared so far limited to exchanges, which lasted 20 minutes before tapering off into sporadic gunfire, and there was no sign that the troops positioned on the camp's edge were making any move to enter. Until sundown Thursday, only sporadic gunfire marred the truce.

Security officials said army positions came under heavy machine gun fire from Fatah Islam gunmen followed by rocket-propelled grenades, so the army "dealt" with the source of fire. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, said the army will not initiate fire but will respond to attack.

Earlier in the day, the Lebanese army moved troops around the Nahr el-Bared camp but did not attempt to advance, apparently giving time for negotiations and for the militants to comply with a government ultimatum to surrender or face a military assault. ...

Lebanon to receive weapons shipment from U.S

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Lebanese forces battling Islamic militants inside Lebanon will be resupplied by a shipment of U.S. military ammunition, which is expected to arrive within two days, senior U.S. officials told CNN's Barbara Starr on Thursday.

In the meantime, both sides flatly rejected calls to surrender.

A statement attributed to Fatah al-Islam was sent Thursday to several media outlets in Lebanon, saying the militant group intends " to blow up several crusaders' universities and schools tomorrow in the event the Lebanese army does not surrender." Crusaders usually refers to Americans or Westerners.

Responding to Lebanon's call for immediate military assistance, the U.S. military will send as many as six cargo flights carrying ammunition to Lebanon, the officials said.

One senior U.S. military official said it is rare to send military flights on such a mission, considering the sensitive nature of the United States' role in the Middle East. But the Bush administration decided it could not wait to charter commercial cargo planes for the resupply mission, the official said.

The senior officials stressed that the flights are carrying only supplies for Lebanese forces, and the U.S. military has no intention of involving its troops in the fighting, which began Sunday.

The United States is a strong supporter of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government, which it sees as a rare example of a young democracy in the Middle East.

Finding The Right Motivation
Ed Morrissey

Hamas has decided to enter a unilateral cease-fire with Israel and to stop the launching of rockets at Israeli cities. This sudden reversal after more than a week of constant barrage comes courtesy of an announced change in Israeli strategy -- in which they would target the political leaders of Hamas:

Israel's threat to target senior Hamas leaders in response to the Kassam rocket attacks from Gaza has prompted the group to agree to a unilateral cease-fire with Israel, Palestinian Authority officials said Wednesday.

"Hamas wants to stop the Kassam rockets. They are especially worried about reports that Israel may assassinate [PA Prime Minister] Ismail Haniyeh and [Hamas chief] Khaled Mashaal," the officials told The Jerusalem Post. ...

Hamas officials in Syria engaged in stand-up comedy when complaining about the new Israeli strategy. They called it "state terror" and an assassination threat against "an elected prime minister". They conveniently forgot to mention his status as the head of the organization that has chucked bombs at Israeli citizens for weeks, and really off and on for years. This announcement shows that Haniyeh could have stopped these rocket attacks at any time, which makes him a terrorist first and foremost. ...

U.N. agency knew of armed foreigners in Lebanon camp
By Betsy Pisik, The Washington Times

NEW YORK -- The U.N. agency that oversees the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, the scene of three days of battles between Lebanese troops and Muslim militants, said yesterday it had been aware for months that heavily armed foreigners were moving into the Palestinian enclave but were helpless to stop them.

The extremists of Fatah Islam, who local reports say hail from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Bangladesh, apparently entered the camp, just north of Tripoli, several months ago. They are thought to have arrived in a group, not individually.

Officials of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) could not say how a large band of foreigners carrying what has been described as mortars, rockets, explosive belts and other heavy weapons were able get past the Lebanese army soldiers stationed outside the camp.

They also could not explain why militias of young Palestinian men who provide security and gather intelligence throughout Nahr el-Bared and other Palestinian areas allowed foreign fighters to settle there.

"Somebody hasn't been doing their job," said Karen Koning AbuZayd, commissioner-general of UNRWA. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on May 24, 2007 at 02:46 AM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 23 May 2007
 

2007.05.23 Israel/Lebanon/"Palestine" roundup

See previous: 2007.05.22 Israel/Lebanon/"Palestine" roundup

Below the fold, newest items at the top:

• Lebanon warns militants: Surrender or else
• Explosion hits resort town near Beirut
• Furious Street Battles Remind Lebanon of Its Past

*** *** *** Fold (but please don't spindle or mutilate) *** *** ***

Lebanon warns militants: Surrender or else

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Lebanon's defense minister issued an ultimatum Wednesday to Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp to surrender or face a military onslaught, as the army reinforced its positions, raising fears of what could be a bloody showdown.

Fighters from the al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam militant group vowed not to give up and to resist any Lebanese assault.

Storming the Nahr el-Bared camp -- a densely built-up town of narrow streets on the Mediterranean coast -- could mean rough urban fighting for Lebanese troops and further death and destruction for the the thousands of civilians who remain inside.

It could also have grave repercussions elsewhere across troubled Lebanon, sparking unrest among the country's estimated 400,000 Palestinians. Already some of the other refugee camps in Lebanon, which are rife with armed groups, are seething with anger at the fighting. ...

"Preparations are seriously underway to end the matter," Defense Minister Elias Murr said said in an interview with the Al-Arabiya television. "The army will not negotiate with a group of terrorists and criminals. Their fate is arrest, and if they resist the army, death." ...

Explosion hits resort town near Beirut

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- An explosion hit one of Lebanon's most important mountain resorts late Wednesday, wounding at least five people, police said.

The blast rocked the Druse town of Aley around 9 p.m. and was heard as far as Beirut's Mediterranean coastline about 12 miles to the west.

Police officials said the bomb that went off was hidden in a bag and placed at the entrance of a building in a narrow street about 200 yards from the main government building in the town. Ambulances and police rushed to the area minutes after the blast.

The explosion sheered off walls of apartments, felled electricity cables and wrecked parked vehicles. It also blew off shutters on the many shops in the street. Dozens of onlookers quickly gathered to inspect the aftermath of the blast.

Aley is popular with Arab tourists from the oil-rich Gulf who usually begin arriving in June to spend the summer in Lebanon.

Residents of the area are known to be loyal to Druse anti-Syrian leader Walid Jumblatt, who had warned Tuesday of stepped-up violence and explosions across Lebanon. ...

Furious Street Battles Remind Lebanon of Its Past

NAHR AL BARED REFUGEE CAMP, Lebanon, May 22 — The stark reality of the three-day battle in this seaside refugee camp became apparent Tuesday on a drive through the area during a brief but dangerous lull in the fighting.

Bodies lay in the rubble-strewn streets, some unrecovered through three days of fighting.

At the approach of a car, terrified Palestinians emerged from hiding, then scrambled for safety when snipers opened fire on them from various directions. A spontaneous demonstration against the fighting quickly ended when the demonstrators came under fire, leaving two dead and several others wounded.

Soon the crackle of heavy machine-gun fire in the distance offered an ominous warning of impending attack, and minutes later mortar shells landed on a United Nations convoy delivering badly needed food and medical supplies.

No one, it seemed, was safe from the violence.

Three days after a police raid touched off a violent confrontation between the Lebanese Army and a militant Palestinian group, Fatah al Islam, the first clear look inside the camp on Tuesday presented stark reminders of Lebanon’s bloody past.

And ominous warnings from Palestinian groups in other camps as well as a suicide bombing in an apartment in Tripoli raised fears that the conflict could spread to other parts of the country and destabilize the already shaky government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on May 23, 2007 at 03:06 AM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 21 May 2007
 

2007.05.21 Israel/Lebanon/"Palestine" roundup

See previous: 2007.05.20 Israel/Lebanon/"Palestine" roundup

Below the fold:

• AQ Starts Trouble In Lebanon
• Gunbattles rage around Lebanon refugee camp
• Death Toll at 65 in Lebanon- Wanted Terrorist Among Dead

*** *** *** Fold (but please don't spindle or mutilate) *** *** ***

AQ Starts Trouble In Lebanon
Ed Morrissey

Terrorist attacks and the government's response have killed more than 30 people in Lebanon overnight. At least one of the factions has ties to al-Qaeda, and some believe Syria may have quarterbacked these latest uprisings in an attempt to undermine the Lebanese government:

Government soldiers Sunday battled members of an Islamic group at a refugee camp near the Syrian border and in a nearby coastal city, with at least 33 people killed in the worst bloodshed here in almost a year.

A bomb went off before midnight in an affluent Christian neighborhood of Beirut, killing one woman and injuring five other people, relief workers said. It was unclear whether the explosion was connected to the earlier fighting in the north.

The heavy, daylong combat stoked fears among many Lebanese that neighbor Syria was involved and trying to foment unrest at a crucial time.

The involvement of al-Qaeda demonstrates the rising influence of radical Islamists in northern Lebanon. Previously, Hezbollah represented the Islamist faction in Lebanon, and they stayed almost exclusively in the south, where they claimed a mandate of protecting Lebanon from Israel. Now the UN refugee camps in the north, where Nahr-el-Bared sits on the coast north of Tripoli, have become infiltration targets for AQ as well as the normal Palestinian terrorist groups.

How much does Syria have to do with these new Islamist inroads? ...

***

Gunbattles rage around Lebanon refugee camp

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Dozens of fighters reportedly have been killed or wounded as Lebanese forces engaged Monday in a second day of fierce gunbattles with Islamic militants at a Palestinian refugee camp outside Tripoli.

The Lebanese Cabinet met to discuss how it will respond to violence in the northern port city; on Sunday, the Cabinet declared its "full support" for military efforts to end the fighting, said Mohamed Chatah, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

"I'm not in a position to tell you the exact manner in which security forces are going to root up these elements, but it's going to happen," Chatah said. "It's going to happen after the security forces themselves advise the government on what they need."

Lebanese security forces are targeting militants and are not randomly shooting into the refugee camp, Chatah said.

The fighting was sparked Sunday when Lebanese Internal Security Forces raided a building in a neighborhood north of Tripoli, army sources said.

Militants from Fatah al-Islam began shooting at the forces, who returned fire, triggering clashes in the vicinity of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp.

Lebanese Internal Security Forces arrested four militants and found the bodies of 10 militants inside the building where they had barricaded themselves, an ISF spokesman said. Explosives were strapped to two bodies.

Security forces conducted the raid after Fatah al-Islam members tried to rob a bank Sunday and "take control of several security strongholds in the north, as if they were planning to carry out a major security operation," according to Ahmad Fatfat, a member of parliament and a minister in Siniora's Cabinet. ...

***

Death Toll at 65 in Lebanon- Wanted Terrorist Among Dead
Gateway Pundit

One of the men killed in Sunday's fighting, Saddam El-Hajdib, was a suspect in a failed German train bombing a sign that Nahr al-Bared refugee camp had become a refuge for militants planning attacks outside of Lebanon. In fact it had been reported that the Al Qaeda-linked group was in the advanced planning stages for spectacular external attacks against civilian targets in Europe and the America.

Lebanese officials say the terrorists have Syrian allegiance and only take orders from Syria.

[image]

The BBC said one of the militants killed in the fighting was wanted in Germany for an attempted train bombing last year:

Lebanese troops and Islamist militants have clashed in the city of Tripoli for a second day, after earlier violence left about 50 people dead.
Troops shelled Fatah al-Islam positions around the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, the focus of much of Sunday's fighting.

More than 20 soldiers and 20 militants were killed in Sunday's clashes, and an unconfirmed number of civilians.

It was Lebanon's bloodiest internal fighting since the country's civil war ended 17 years ago...

"There are security procedures under way," Ghazi Aridi said. "We had casualties, but we will continue and those cells have also suffered casualties."

Mr Aridi said the militants killed on Sunday included "key leaders who have carried out and have been planning to carry out large attacks".

One of the dead militants was wanted in Germany over an unsuccessful plot to blow up trains last July, Lebanese security officials told journalists.

CNN reported that officials found the bodies of 10 terrorists inside a building where they had been barricaded. Explosives were strapped to two of the bodies. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on May 21, 2007 at 02:08 PM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 20 May 2007
 

2007.05.20 Israel/Lebanon/"Palestine" roundup

Below the fold:

• 39 Killed in Lebanon Violence
• Israeli strikes kill 10 in Gaza, Palestinians say

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39 Killed in Lebanon Violence 

TRIPOLI, Lebanon —  Lebanese army tanks pounded a shadowy group suspected of ties to Al Qaeda on Sunday, targeting its hideouts inside a Palestinian refugee camp after hours of clashes killed at least 22 soldiers and 17 militants.

The violence between the army and the Fatah Islam group erupted both in the northern port city of Tripoli and the adjacent Nahr el-Bared refugee camp. It added further instability to a country already mired in its worst political crisis between the Western-backed government and Hezbollah-led opposition since the end of the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war.

It was the most serious fight the army had engaged in Lebanon in more than a decade and the worst violence to hit Tripoli in two decades. 

The clashes between army troops surrounding the camp and Fatah Islam fighters began after a gunbattle raged in a neighborhood in Tripoli, a predominantly Sunni city known to have Islamic fundamentalists, witnesses said.

Fighting spread after police raided suspected Fatah Islam hideouts in several buildings in Tripoli, searching for men wanted in a recent bank robbery. A gunbattle ensued and troops were called in to help the police.

Militants then burst out of the refugee camp, seizing Lebanese army positions, capturing two armored vehicles and ambushing troops. They killed two soldiers on roads leading to the city.

Smoke billowed from the camp as a steady barrage of artillery and heavy machine gunfire from army positions pounded militant positions inside.

Security forces were able to quell the resistance in Tripoli after sundown, and troops seized all positions around the refugee camp late Sunday, the army said.

***

Israeli strikes kill 10 in Gaza, Palestinians say

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Hours after Israel's prime minister vowed to respond to ongoing rocket attacks with an increased military response, Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 10 Palestinians, including a child, Palestinian security sources said Sunday.

Tank fire struck a house in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, wounding four people and killing a child, the sources said.

An Israel Defense Forces representative said the strike was in response to two rocket attacks on the Israeli town of Sderot. Fire was returned to the location from where it had emanated, he said.

And a pre-dawn Israeli airstrike Monday targeted a metal workshop in Gaza City, killing one man, the sources said.

An IDF spokeswoman confirmed the attack, calling the target a rocket production site.

Shortly before the missile attack, another airstrike hit the Gaza City home of Hamas lawmaker Khalil Hayya, the sources said.

Hayya was not home at the time, but the strike killed at least eight Palestinian civilians -- including some of the lawmaker's relatives, who were inside -- Palestinian medical sources said.

More than a dozen others were wounded, the sources said.

Hayya was at a meeting with Hamas and Fatah officials in Gaza City at the time of the airstrike to discuss the ongoing truce between the two Palestinian factions, according to Ramattan, a Palestinian news agency. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on May 20, 2007 at 08:53 PM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 18 May 2007
 

2007.05.18 Isreal/"Palestine" Roundup

See previous: Maybe if we'd just pull our troops out ...

Below the fold, newest items at the top:

• Palestinian Plot to Assassinate Olmert Foiled
• Israel Strikes Gaza As Kassams Hit Negev
• Fatah Troops Enter Gaza With Israeli Assent

*** *** *** Fold (but please don't spindle or mutilate) *** *** ***

Palestinian Plot to Assassinate Olmert Foiled
Confederate Yankee

The accused plotter worked for Doctors Without Borders. I'm guessing "first do no harm" principle of Doctors without Borders slipped by him in orientation.

The Israeli intelligence services say they have foiled a plot to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other senior Israeli political figures. Details of the story were released yesterday after Israeli authorities lifted a media blackout.

The plot allegedly centered on Mazab Bashir, a 25-year-old Palestinian from Gaza who worked for the international medical relief organization Doctors Without Borders. According to the Israelis, Bashir was arrested in Jerusalem while he was gathering intelligence for future terrorist attacks.

It is not uncommon for Palestinians from Gaza to be granted travel permits by the Israeli security agencies if they work for recognized nongovernmental organizations. Bashir held such a permit, which allowed him to travel regularly from the Gaza Strip to Jerusalem, officials said. ..

Forbes was able to provide details of the alternative target list: ...

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Israel Strikes Gaza As Kassams Hit Negev
Dan Riehl

Bottom line: Hamas appears determined to draw Israel in, going so far as to threaten a renewal of suicide bombing attacks while continuing to launch Kassams. Israel is trying to not give Hamas leverage to unite the Palestinians on a war footing. They've allowed 500 Fatah troops trained in Egypt into Gaza to deal with Hamas while undertaking an air strike on one building over night themselves.

The tanks that rolled about a mile into Gaza yesterday are dug in and no significant military build up by Israel is being reported beyond that. Abbas canceled a visit to Gaza due to concerns his convoy would be attacked. Israel looks to be trying to support Fatah enough for them to prevail, without doing too much and getting caught up on a larger scale. They aren't getting much help from the MSM, including the New York Times, who seems to want to portray it as a looming war. But later reports from the Middle-East don't support that, at least, not yet. ...

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Fatah Troops Enter Gaza With Israeli Assent
Hundreds Were Trained in Egypt Under U.S.-Backed Program to Counter Hamas
By Scott Wilson, Washington Post Foreign Service

JERUSALEM, May 17 -- Israel this week allowed the Palestinian party Fatah to bring into the Gaza Strip as many as 500 fresh troops trained under a U.S.-coordinated program to counter Hamas, the radical Islamic movement that won Palestinian parliamentary elections last year. Fighting between Hamas and Fatah has left about 45 Palestinians dead since Sunday.

The forces belong to units loyal to the elected Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate Fatah leader whom the Bush administration and Israel have sought to strengthen militarily and politically. A spokeswoman for the European Union Border Assistance Mission at Rafah, where the fighters crossed into Gaza from Egypt, said their entry Tuesday was approved by Israel.

The troops' deployment illustrates the increasingly partisan role that Israel and the Bush administration are taking in the volatile Palestinian political situation. The effort to fortify the armed opposition to Hamas, which the United States and Israel categorize as a terrorist organization, follows attempts to isolate the radical Islamic movement internationally and cut off its sources of financial aid. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on May 18, 2007 at 03:03 AM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 28 April 2007
 

Speaking frankly about Abu Carter -- Update 13

See all of my "Speaking Frankly About Abu Carter" posts in one place here.

Jimmy Carter, Arab Front Man
Ed Morrissey

Alan Dershowitz has often infuriated conservatives with his liberal ideology and sharp-witted speech. He drew insults by the bucketload for defending OJ Simpson in the mid-90s, when it appeared OJ would require a strong team for an appeal-- before a Los Angeles jury proved that celebrities don't need Dershowitz's services. However, Dershowitz has always remained strong in the war against radical Islam and a stalwart defender of Israel, and as such he has come increasingly into conflict with a man he once admired, Jimmy Carter.

Now Dershowitz has discovered that Carter gets his funding for his pro-Palestinian, pro-Arab positions from very suspect sources:

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The Real Jimmy Carter 
By Alan M. Dershowitz

I have known Jimmy Carter for years. I first met him in the spring of 1976 when, as a relatively unknown candidate for president, he sent me a handwritten letter asking for my help in his campaign on issues of crime and justice. I had just published an article in The New York Times Magazine on sentencing reform, and he expressed interest in  my ideas and asked me to come up with additional ones for his campaign.  Shortly thereafter, my former student, Stuart Eisenstadt, brought Carter to Harvard to meet with some faculty members, me among them. I  immediately liked Jimmy Carter and saw him as a man of integrity and  principle. I signed on to his campaign and worked very hard for his election.

When Newsweek magazine asked his campaign for the names of people on whom Carter relied for advice, my name was among those given  out. I continued to work for Carter over the years, most recently I met  him in Jerusalem a year ago, and we briefly discussed the Mid-East.  Though I disagreed with some of his points, I continued to believe that  he was making them out of a deep commitment to principle and to human  rights.

Recent disclosures of Carter's extensive financial connections  to Arab oil money, particularly from Saudi Arabia, had deeply shaken my belief in his integrity. When I was first told that he received a  monetary reward in the name of Shiekh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan, and kept the money, even after Harvard returned money from the same source because of its anti-Semitic history, I simply did not believe it. How  could a man of such apparent integrity enrich himself with dirty money  from so dirty a source?

And let there be no mistake about how dirty the Zayed Foundation is. I know because I was involved, in a small way, in helping to persuade Harvard University to return more than $2 million that the financially strapped Divinity School received from this source.  Initially, I was reluctant to put pressure on Harvard to turn back money  for the Divinity School, but then a student at the Divinity School, Rachael Lea Fish showed me the facts. 

They were staggering. I was amazed that in the twenty-first  century there were still foundations that espoused these views.   ...

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My Problem with Jimmy Carter's Book
by Kenneth W. Stein

Jimmy Carter's engagement in foreign affairs as a former president is unprecedented in U.S. history. Because he regards the Arab-Israeli conflict as among Washington's most important foreign policy topics, he has written more than two dozen articles and commentaries about the conflict, eight in the past year alone. In these publications, Carter uses his credibility as a former president, Nobel laureate, and key player in the September 1978 Camp David accords and the Egypt-Israel peace treaty to unfold his set of truths and often to criticize U.S. policy. He relishes the role of elder statesman and believes that with his accrued wisdom and experience, he can contribute to solutions.

But Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, Carter's twenty-first book and his second to focus on the Arab-Israeli conflict, is deficient. He does what no non-fiction author should ever do: He allows ideology or opinion to get in the way of facts. While Carter says that he wrote the book to educate and provoke debate, the narrative aims its attack toward Israel, Israeli politicians, and Israel's supporters. It contains egregious errors of both commission and omission. To suit his desired ends, he manipulates information, redefines facts, and exaggerates conclusions. Falsehoods, when repeated and backed by the prestige of Carter's credentials, can comprise an erroneous baseline for shaping and reinforcing attitudes and policymaking. Rather than bring peace, they can further fuel hostilities, encourage retrenchment, and hamper peacemaking. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on April 28, 2007 at 12:36 AM in Abu Jimmy, Dem Dumbness, Dem Perfidy, Dhimmitude, Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Moonbat Madness | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 31 March 2007
 

Olmert To Arabs: You Broke It, You Own It 
Ed Morrissey

Ehud Olmert has made it clear to the Arabs pushing the 2002 Saudi peace initiative that Israel will not accept even a single Palestinian refugee under a notion of "right of return". Olmert stated yesterday that the Arab nations created the refugee problem with their multinational war of annihilation against Israel, and they can deal with its consequences now:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in interviews published Friday that Israel would not allow a single Palestinian refugee to return to what is now Israel, and that the country bore no responsibility for the refugees because their plight resulted from an attack by Arab nations on Israel when it was a fledgling state. ...

Olmert went farther than Ehud Barak did during his negotiations with Bill Clinton and Yasser Arafat. In those talks, Barak agreed to a symbolic return of a small number of refugees if the Palestinians would then agree to a compensation system for the rest of the original refugees. Arafat later rejected the settlement that Barak offered, calling for an intifada instead that claimed thousands of lives in the years since.

Israel understands that the right of return means the end of Israel. The Palestinians would flood into Israel with full voting rights, and they would overthrow the Israeli government and send Jews fleeing for their lives -- again. Any national security system would be destroyed within hours of the return, and Palestinian terrorist groups would have a field day targeting Israelis. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 31, 2007 at 06:07 PM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 27 March 2007
 

Cesspool

From The Jerusalem Post: Gaza: At least six dead in flooding from sewage breach. (via Little Green Footballs)

At least six people were killed Tuesday when the wall of a large cesspool collapsed, flooding the northern Gaza Beduin village of Umm Naser with mud and raw sewage, Palestinian medical officials said.

The officials said dozens were injured and missing, with some saying up to 10 people were killed. The rest of the village's 3,000 residents fled or were evacuated by rescue crews.

A 70-year-old woman, two toddlers and a teenage girl died in the sudden flood, and 25 people were injured, said Dr. Muawiya Hassanin of the Palestinian Health Ministry. ...

Rescue crews and Hamas gunmen rushed to the area to search for people feared buried under the slide of sewage and mud. ...

The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear. A local Palestinian official blamed the disaster on shoddy infrastructure and UN officials said they had been warning of a catastrophe for more than two years. ...

Stuart Shepard, of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the wave of waste released Tuesday sent the health risks even higher. ...

Shepard said that since the report was published, international funding for a new plant had been secured but construction had not been able to go ahead because of the high security risks in the area.  ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 27, 2007 at 11:27 PM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 26 March 2007
 

Right Of Return Negotiable? 
Ed Morrissey

For decades, peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians foundered mostly on the demand for the right of return -- the right of refugees of the original partition that created Israel and their descendants to return to their lands inside Israel. The Israelis refused to consider it, as it would amount to nothing less than the destruction of Israel as a political entity, and the Palestinians refused to proceed without it. It helped caused the collapse of the Wye accord, even after Ehud Barak suggested further land swaps in exchange for dropping the demand. Until now, it has been a showstopper for both sides.

Now, though, the New York Times reports that the Palestinians have begun to accept the fact that they will never return to those lands -- and many do not want to do so anyway. Instead, they seek recognition of their displacement and could accept a deal without the return: ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 26, 2007 at 01:37 PM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 20 March 2007
 

Emblematic

From The Jerusalem Post: Iraq steps up anti-Israel boycott.

The US-backed Iraqi government is enforcing the Arab boycott of Israel with increasing frequency, The Jerusalem Post has learned, with the number of boycott-related incidents involving US firms operating in Iraq nearly quadrupling last year, according to official US statistics. ...

US law bars American firms from complying with boycott-related requests and requires them to report any such incidents to the authorities. These might include demands made of companies to verify that their products do not contain components made in the Jewish state or signing forms attesting that they do not do business with Israel.

In referencing the above article, Charles Johnson commented:

Why are Americans fighting and dying to support this disgusting behavior? ... The single biggest mistake the US made in Iraq was not imposing a government free of shari’a law, and free of this kind of sickening Arab antisemitism. If we had treated imperial Japan with the same lackadaisical, "assume the best" attitude after World War II, we'd still be enemies today.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 20, 2007 at 11:17 PM in Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Israel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 18 March 2007
 

Unity Government

From CNN: Israel rejects Palestinian government, call for 'resistance'.

Israel rejected the newly anointed Palestinian unity government Sunday after the Palestinian prime minister said the deal didn't rule out "popular resistance against occupation."

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet that the Palestinian government's platform "includes problematic elements that cannot be acceptable to Israel and the international community, like the right to resist, the use of terror and the non-recognition of Israel."

The Cabinet voted 19-2 to back Olmert's boycott, dashing hopes that the Palestinians and Israelis will sit down for the peace talks that the formation of a unity government was supposed to help facilitate.

Other aims of uniting the Hamas and Fatah factions are quelling a bloody feud between the two groups and ending a Western boycott of the Palestinian territories that has crippled the Hamas-led government since it toppled the moderate Fatah party in January 2005.

The United States and Israel consider Hamas a terror organization. ...

Traditionally, Hamas' use of the word "occupation" has not been confined to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, historically, Gaza; it also refers to the state of Israel, which Hamas says is part of the Palestinian territories.

In rejecting the government, Israel called on other countries to pressure the Palestinian government into accepting three conditions for lifting the international boycott: that Hamas renounce violence, recognize Israel's right to exist and accept past peace agreements.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 18, 2007 at 09:29 PM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

France Wanted Israel To Attack Syria

Report: France urged Israel to hit Syria
JPost Staff

French President Jacques Chirac told Israel at the start of the war in Lebanon that France would support an Israeli assault on Syria, it was reported on Sunday.

Army Radio reported that in the message, which was delivered by Chirac to Israel via a secret channel, the French president suggested that Israel invade Damascus and topple the regime of Bashar Assad. In exchange, Chirac assured Israel full French support for the war. ...

Hat tip Michael Ledeen, via Ed Morrissey, who has thoughts on the matter here.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 18, 2007 at 09:05 PM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Lebanon | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 07 March 2007
 

Top Iranian General Defects? -- Update

See previous: Top Iranian general dies? disappears? defects? kidnapped? 

Panic in Tehran
PJM in Tel Aviv

The disappearance and possible defection of former Iranian deputy defense minister Ali Reza Asgari has the Iranian government deeply worried — and for good reason.

Meir Javedanfar, an expert on Iran and co-author of an upcoming book on Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, reports.

The recent disappearance of Ali Reza Asgari, Iran’s former deputy defense minister who was on a visit to Istanbul has been a mystery for the past several days.

Now a report by the Arabic newspaper Al Sharq Al Wasat says that Asgari defected to the US after arriving in Istanbul from Damascus on February 7th.

Although the story has not been confirmed by any sovereign authority, it is already evident that the saga has created panic inside Ahmadinejad’s administration.

Soon after his disappearance was discovered, Iran dispatched an operations team to Ankara to help the Turkish authorities to look for him. At the same time, a public relations campaign was launched with Iranian minister Mottaki has doing his best to downplay Asgari’s importance as an official in order to reduce the damage to the Iranian government’s image.

He wasn’t fooling anyone. It is clear that Asgari is a man privy to numerous secrets which Iran desperately does not want revealed. As well as being a former deputy defence Minister, Asgari was also a General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC). The IRGC, more than any other branch of Iran’s armed forces, is aware of, and has access to Iran’s nuclear program. Its members are in charge of monitoring and protecting Iran’s nuclear installations, and scientists. ...

More at Hot Air, OTB, Wizbang, Forward Movement.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 7, 2007 at 06:05 PM in Iran, Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Lebanon | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 05 March 2007
 

Mecca Agreement Falling Apart?

Mecca Agreement Falling Apart?
Ed Morrissey

The Mecca agreement between Hamas and Fatah supposedly gave the warring Palestinian factions a basis for a unity government, one that would satisfy Western concerns and allow for aid to resume to the Palestinian Authority. The latter certainly proved false when Hamas refused to allow the PA to recognize Israel and honor its past agreements with the West as the basis of that aid. Now it looks like it won't even produce the unity government it promised, as Hamas and Fatah have begun accusing each other of undermining the pact:

Differences over the identity of Fatah and Hamas ministers in the coalition cabinet are threatening to torpedo the Mecca agreement, a top Abbas aide told The Jerusalem Post. He also said "some differences" had sparked disputes between the two parties over the interpretation of the Mecca agreement, particularly regarding the status of previous agreements with Israel and recognition of United Nations resolutions concerning the Israeli-Arab conflict.  ...

Mahmoud Abbas and Ismail Haniyeh are conducting talks on the composition of a Cabinet. Those talks have encountered difficulties, with neither side making many concessions. They have two more weeks in which to form a government after Haniyeh's resignation allowed for a reorganization. If he cannot form a government, Abbas might be able as president to impose one -- which would touch off a civil war. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 5, 2007 at 03:20 PM in Islamism Delenda Est, Israel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 24 February 2007
 

Tough Talk!

Kumbaya, My Lord
Jules Crittenden

If another aircraft carrier group in the Gulf and a couple of detentions in Iraq made Ahmadinejad sound like a flower child, this news ought to make him start sounding like Gandhi:      

Israel is negotiating with the United States for permission to fly over Iraq as part of a plan to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

To conduct surgical air strikes against Iran’s nuclear programme, Israeli war planes would need to fly across Iraq. But to do so the Israeli military authorities in Tel Aviv need permission from the Pentagon. ...

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Tough Talk!
Jules Crittenden

Bill Richardson appears to be saying this with a straight face:

The recent tentative agreement with North Korea over its nuclear program illustrates how diplomacy can work even with the most unsavory of regimes. Unfortunately, it took the Bush administration more than six years to commit to diplomacy. During that needless delay North Korea developed and tested nuclear weapons — weapons its leaders still have not agreed to dismantle. Had we engaged the North Koreans earlier, instead of calling them “evil” and talking about “regime change,” we might have prevented them from going nuclear. We could have, and should have, negotiated a better agreement, and sooner.

What could possibly be better than the agreement Bill Clinton negotiated with them?   

As the International Atomic Energy Agency just confirmed, Iran has once again defied the international community and is moving forward with its nuclear program, yet the Bush administration seems committed to repeating the mistakes it made with North Korea.

Not true!  Bush never started aiming carrier groups at Kim, clearing airspace for Israelis to Pyongyang, or detaining North Korean agents in Iraq. We tailor our mistakes to the situation, thank you very much.

Rather than directly engaging the Iranians about their nuclear program, President Bush refuses to talk, except to make threats.

Let’s see, flip through the old Merriam-Webster …. there it is. “Engage directly: to interact with in close proximity; in the case of lying, murdering, terrorist-supporting nations, to threaten to blow big holes in or to glass over.”  ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on February 24, 2007 at 06:32 PM in Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Israel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 22 February 2007