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What are the Israelis up to next?

Amazing article in Ha’aretz today. Check this one out (my comments added in blue): Defense establishment paper: Golan for Syria peace, plan for Iran strike By Barak Ravid A defense establishment paper recommends making contingency plans to attack Iran, reaching an agreement with Syria that includes leaving the Golan Heights and preventing new elections in the Palestinian Authority, even if this means a confrontation with the United States. The paper

1000 Palestinian kids in Israeli jails

Press TV reports: Nearly one thousand Palestinian children are imprisoned by the Israeli regime, a spokesman of Palestinian prisoners’ affairs ministry says.The spokesman said Israeli forces have detained at least eight thousands of Palestinian children since the start of the second Palestinian intifada (uprising) in 2000. About one thousand of them are still in Israeli detention facilities, he added. Marking World Children’s Day, hundreds of Palestinians children on Thursday rallied

Hezbollah Condemns US-Iraq Pact, Calls to Reject It

Al-Manar TV reports that while the Iraqi parliament was likely to approve a “suspicious” pact with the US occupation forces allowing them to stay in the country for another three years, Hezbollah finally broke its silence on Thursday and denounced the pact as harmful and called on all Iraqi MPs to assume their responsibilities and reject it as soon as possible. In a statement it released, Hezbollah emphasized that the

Unofficial Translation of US SOFA from the Arabic Text

By McClatchy Newspapers An Agreement between the Republic of Iraq and the United States of America regarding the Withdrawal of the American Forces from Iraq and Regulating their Activities During their Temporary Presence in it PREFACE The United States of America and the Republic of Iraq – which will hereafter be referred to as the two parties – recognize the importance of strengthening their joint security and participating in global

So what’s the deal with the US SOFA in Iraq?

First, let me point you to some other analyses about the SOFA: Juan Cole,Robert Dreyfuss, Stratfor and Pepe Escobar. Reading through these analyses I amazed that nobody seems to be very concerned about the fact that the final text has still not been leaked. It will, probably before the end of the week, but for the time being everybody is commenting mostly on the basis of what can only be

Yes, I am my brother’s keeper

By Siv O’Neall, Axis of Logic Columnist The polarized world Do we need further proof that greed is not the solution for a sound economy? Do we need further proof that capitalism is foundering? Do we need further proof that ignoring the poor is not the way to make the world go round? That selfish accumulation of wealth is not the key to peace of mind and a life worth

English transcript of the speech delivered by Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on the occasion of Martyr’s Day

The event was organized by Hezbollah at Sayyed Ashuhadaa (pbuh) Compound in Rweiss on 11/11/2008 in the presence of official, ministerial, parliamentary, diplomatic, military, factional, religious, syndicate, municipal, and social… personalities besides a massive audience of citizens. …Every year on this very day – November the 11th- we meet to commemorate a very dear occasion first announced during the early years of the Resistance movement and which was then named

Breaking News: Iraqi Cabinet endorses US SOFA

According to the BBC, the Iraqi Cabinet has endorsed the US SOFA which includes the following elements: placing US forces in Iraq under the authority of the Iraqi government US forces to leave the streets of Iraq’s towns and villages by the middle of 2009 US forces to hand over their bases to Iraq during the course of 2009 US forces to lose the authority to raid Iraqi homes without

So who is really getting US intelligence support in the greater Middle-East?

I have been observing for a while how almost every party in the greater Middle-East is accusing its opponents of benefiting from US support in general and of US intelligence support in particular. The Iranians accuse the US of helping the Kurds, the Kurds accuse the US of being in league with Iran, the Israelis are accused of supporting both Turkey and the Kurds, the Maliki regime is accused of

The President of Iraq’s Kurdistan local government threatens a ‘civil war’ if SOFA not signed

Press TV reports: The President of Iraq’s Kurdistan local government has warned of a ‘civil war’ if Baghdad refuses to sign a security agreement with the US. “If the pact is not signed, the situation in the country may deteriorate to the point of a civil war,” Voices of Iraq news agency quoted Masoud Barzani as saying at a press conference on Wednesday. Barzani had earlier said his region will

Understanding the SOFA

by Ya Baqiyatullah Five years after the invasion of Iraq by the Allied Forces, the people of Iraq find themselves at a crossroad; to accept the SOFA and legalize an occupation or reject it and live indefinitely under the shadows of the US forces. The Iraqi people, after being promised so much in the name of liberation are now left in a dilemma in which either choice will adds to

Russia’s response to the US radar/missile system

Press TV reports: Russia to deploy Iskander-Ms by 2015 Missile brigades in western Russia will be armed with Iskander-M missile system by 2015 to counter a planned US missile shield in Europe. “By 2015, the Iskander system will be put in service with five missile brigades, primarily near Russia’s western border and in the Kaliningrad Region,” a source in the Russian Defense Ministry was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying

Iran’s Modern History: Beyond the Legacy

It is with great joy that I am publishing the first article in a series on a topic which is practically *never* seen anywhere: the Shia point of view on the events in the larger Middle-East. This is something of a pet project of mine every since I got involved, more than a decade ago already and quite by chance (the Middle-East never was my formal area of expertise), in

War 08.08.08 – The Art of Betrayal

From the website http://www.war080808.com/: “War 08.08.08. The Art of Betrayal” – is one of the first documentary Internet-films. This is the most outspoken film about the war, that started on the day of opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing, the film about the war, in which tens of Russian peacemaker perished as well as hundreds of peaceful Ossetians; it is the film about the war that turned out to

Israeli Media Hails Obama’s Pick for Chief of Staff

Al-Manar TV: Israeli media on Thursday hailed Barack Obama’s choice of Rahm Emanuel to be his chief of staff, with one daily calling the Democrat of Israeli descent “our man in the White House.“ Radio stations and newspapers pointed out Emanuel’s occupied Jerusalem-born father was once a member of Irgun, an underground, ultra-nationalist Jewish movement that fought British troops before the 1948 existence of Israel. Emanuel himself volunteered to serve

Obama shows his true colors on day 1 after winning the election… again

by American Goy It is deja vu all over again, as Yogi Berra used to say. What did Obama do the day after getting the Democratic presidential nomination? Well, that is not true. What did Obama do 12 hours after being nominated by the Democratic voters as a possible president of the USofA? If you have been reading my blog, you would know. Obama and the common treason, my old

Yesterday the puppet, today the puppeteer

This from the BBC: Barack Obama has started forming his administration by asking Rahm Emanuel, a former adviser to President Clinton, to be his chief-of-staff. So that’s who Obama will put in the single most sensitive position in his White House and that is who will form the rest of the Obama team for “change”. I can’t wait to hear the rest of the names…..

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