The bodies of at least 27 children were found in the rubble

They are hitting children to bring the fighters to their knees."


"There is no place at this sad moment for any discussions other than an immediate and unconditional ceasefire as well as international investigation of the Israeli massacres in Lebanon now." -- Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora


Lebanon's 9/11 or Why Do They Hate Us? Picture Album

Pictures From Qana


"Under fire in Beirut" By Robert Fisk


—ungeziefer

NPR (audio - mp3 - 968k) : SEC Files First Charges in Stock-Option Dating Probe

See also: US: Study Finds Backdating of Options Widespread

CNN.com - U.S. House OKs India nuclear deal - Jul 26, 2006

"
The approval vote was 359-68 after lawmakers rejected amendments that aimed to put limits on India's nuclear weapons program and were proposed by critics concerned the deal would harm nonproliferation goals.
. . . . . . . .

The deal would allow nuclear-armed India to buy American nuclear reactors and fuel for the first time in more than 30 years, despite the fact it has still not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
. . . . . . . .

Pouring 'nuclear fuel'

Democratic Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, head of a bipartisan nonproliferation task force, lambasted the deal as pouring "nuclear fuel on the fire of an India-Pakistan nuclear arms race" because it would allow New Delhi to expand its nuclear weapons production to upward of 50 bombs a year from seven.

During several hours of debate, the House, led by President George W. Bush's Republican Party, soundly rejected an amendment that would have forced India to halt fissile material production as a condition of the nuclear deal.

The House also rejected an amendment that would forbid India from capitalizing on a new ability to buy U.S. nuclear fuel by diverting all its domestically produced uranium for weapons use. India now uses half of its domestic uranium for energy production and half for weapons, lawmakers said.
. . . . . . . .

Proponents [of the amendment] said requiring India to halt production of weapons-related fissile material would help ensure U.S. technology aided India's energy production, not bomb-making.

As a signatory to the NPT, the United States is obligated not to help India and other states advance their nuclear weapons programs.
[emphasis mine]
. . . . . . . .
"

Clever. See, we're not actually HELPING them build more weapons. We're just selling them a whole lot more nuclear material for energy use -- that way, they can use all of THEIR OWN nuclear material for weapons, and use OURS for energy. It's a win-win.

But wait -- why are we helping them, again? Aren't we supposed to hate and despise countries who refuse to sign the NPT (except Israel, of course -- but that goes without saying)? Doesn't that make them a "rogue state"? Shouldn't we be punishing them -- agreeing to help them with their energy needs ON THE CONDITION that they sign the NPT, stop making nuclear weapons and disarm their existing nukes?

Hm. Oh well. Guess nobody cares.

(Want the bumper sticker? MoveOn was giving them away, but they've run out. If you want to print your own, click here to download a pdf)

Exxon Rides Oil and Gas Prices to 36% Gain in Profit

NPR: Exxon's $10 Billion Profit Leads Oil Industry [ .mp3 audio, 960K ]

Royal Dutch Shell profit climbs 40%

ConocoPhillips Profit Leaps by Nearly Two-Thirds

Yay! (Guess they really DID need that $85 Billion in tax subsidies!)

". . . this quarter is the highest by any organization ever," said Fadel Gheit, an energy analyst at Oppenheimer.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil caught considerable flak from the general public for its record fourth quarter, which came soon after gasoline prices hit record highs.

Compounding matters, the company gave its outgoing CEO Lee Raymond a retirement package worth about $350 million around the same time.

That combination of events led to a public outcry calling for restrictions on CEO pay and calls from lawmakers who wanted to institute a windfall profits tax on the oil industry or even break up some of the oil giants that merged in the 1990s.

But the industry says that oil prices fluctuate widely over time and that, in the long run, it's actually less profitable than a number of other industries.

. . . . . . . .

When asked about investing in renewable energy technologies, an Exxon official said that, apart from ethanol, it's generally not part of the company's plan.

"There are very few that are economical without subsidies," said Henry Hubble, vice president for investor relations, on a conference call. "We don't think it makes sense to invest in it at this point."

[ CNN Money ]

Just think what we could do if we decided to nationalize all the oil companies. All that money, instead of benefiting huge corporations, could be used for education, health care, job training, etc. etc. etc. (Hell, if nothing else we could at least use it to pay for the stupid fucking WAR, right?)

It's been done in Venezuela (oh, how the Right hate to see a country using its own resources for its own people, rather than to profit foreign corporate investors); and now in Bolivia; and Ecuador might be moving in that direction . . . Nonetheless, the idea is, naturally, unthinkable here. We believe -- religiously -- that whatever the so-called "Free Market" brings about is inherently good, by definition; to even question this is heresy to those who worship the Almighty Dollar.

But explain to me why we should oppose nationalization? Seems to me that opposition to this means you'd prefer to support an unaccountable and hierarchical institution led by billionaires who care only about profit, rather than support the people democratically making the decisions and spreading the wealth.

—ungeziefer

Saturday July 22nd 2006, 11:45 am

“The border of Southern Lebanon and Israel is a seamless web of intervisible Israeli outposts with night vision devices, tied together with ground surveillance radar, plowed-flat and raked daily to see footprints, and backed by quick reaction forces. Israelis routinely make incursive patrols into Lebanon. It is nearly impossible for an organized group of Hezbolla or anyone else to cross the border south, much less capture prisoners there. The very notion that this was an incursion INTO Israel is propped up solely by the credulity of the general public that knows nothing about military operations. In reality, the idea is as ludicrous as the Easter Bunny.” - Stan Goff

. . . . . . . .

UN observers made 10 frantic telephone calls to the Israeli military, warning them aerial attacks were getting close to their post, in the hours before a direct hit on their bunker killed four peacekeepers.

A UN report released last night said the peacekeepers were told during each of the calls that the bombing would cease, but they were then hit by a precision-guided missile.
. . . . . . . .

The attack came a day after hospital officials in southern Lebanon accused Israel of deliberately targeting ambulances clearly marked with the red cross, killing more than a dozen civilians, including children.
. . . . . . . .

The carnage in Lebanon continues























One of my favorite quotes bears repeating:

"A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but does not have an Air Force." -- William Blum

This is not new (it's from last Friday), but I thought it relevant given that everyone's asking "why would Israel strike against the U.N.?" :

From Juan Cole's 'Informed Comment' blog :

' I've just heard from Christine . . . via text messaging . She is in the Bekaa valley in a bomb shelter and Israel is bombing the village where she is at the moment. She says they are bombing the Red Cross, food lorries, fire brigade, hospitals and emergency relief centres . . . She is very concerned about the lack of reporting by the international media about the details of this violence. '

There's over-abundant evidence of the deliberate targeting of civilians (sometimes, in candid moments, they even come right out and admit that what they're trying to do is make the Lebanese people suffer so that they will blame Hezbollah and turn against them -- the problem, of course, being that they're more likely to achieve the exact opposite with this type of insane escalation). But even giving Israel the benefit of the doubt: if it really was an accident, then they need to stop talking about "smart bombs" or "precision bombs" and their alleged accuracy; and they need to just come out and state clearly that they bomb with the full knowledge and understanding that they're killing and maiming scores of innocent civilians.

This is obvious on its face, by the way -- otherwise, why are the U.S. and all the European countries scrambling to evacuate their citizens? Unless you're a member of Hezbollah, you should be safe, right?

I hate the way this sounds, but honestly I wish we had left all the Americans there and not evacuated a single one. Why? Because I think once a few Americans started being blown up by Israeli air strikes, you'd see an end to this horrific shit real fucking fast.

Whether the attack on the U.N. observer post was deliberate, I don't know. I thought Kofi Annan made a very strong case:

"This coordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long-established and clearly marked U.N. post at Khiyam occurred despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that U.N. positions would be spared Israeli fire," he said in a statement.

"Furthermore, General Alain Pelligrini, the U.N. force commander in south Lebanon, had been in repeated contact with Israeli officers throughout the day on Tuesday, stressing the need to protect that particular U.N. position from attack."


Again, you might ask, "Why would they do that? Wouldn't that just turn more people against them? What would they really have to gain from it?" Well, what do they really have to gain from murdering nearly four hundred people in one week and destroying half of Lebanon? What did they really have to gain from Sabra and Shatila, or from occupying Gaza and the West Bank? What did they have to gain from invading Lebanon the first time? Similarly you might ask, What did Hezbollah have to gain by capturing 2 Israeli soldiers (well, actually in that case they thought they would gain the release of Lebanese prisoners -- but, details.) What did the U.S. have to gain by bombing the Red Cross on at least three separate occasions, both in Afghanistan and in Iraq? Or by bombing Al Jazeera -- also in both countries? Or by taking over the hospitals of Falluja? Or by telling the Iraqis, in pretty clear terms, "we're going to destroy your country and then steal your oil, which we will then sell to rebuild it"? Or by refusing to promise Iraq that we have no plans to permanently occupy their country and do not wish to establish permanent military bases there? Or by refusing to have elections there or a trial for Saddam for over a year? What did Osama Bin Laden have to gain by plotting 9/11? I really don't know. I'm not convinced these are terribly rational people.

"Why would they do that when it's just going to make people turn against them?" You tell me. (If there's an answer, it's probably something like "Let them hate, so long as they fear.")

Meanwhile, White House Endorses Column Calling For Israel to Attack Syria

And now, some comic relief (lest I go and stick my head in the oven) :

FOX NEWS headline tonight: "BIGGER THREAT TO U.S.: MIDEAST FIGHTING OR HUGO CHAVEZ?"

You can't make this stuff up.

This was pretty interesting, too: rather than exploring why there's so much animosity towards the state of Israel, FOX chose instead to interview an Orthodox Rabbi who believes the State of Israel should be dismantled. Odd: "Blame Israel?"

I thought Hell had frozen over in another segment, in which FOX allowed an actual debate to take place! : Are Arab media fueling flames of hatred in Middle East? (Perhaps because they have a narrow and stereotypical view of Al Jazeera, they assumed any representative from that station would simply be a raving nut yelling loudly for the killing of all Jews everywhere or something, and thus make their case for them.)

No doubt "fueling the flames of hatred" means "actually showing the truth of what's going on," which is not allowed on FOX. I think the Israeli bombs are doing enough "hatred flame fueling" on their own, myself. And, you know, ACTUAL FLAME fueling and stuff. But, maybe that's just me.

—ungeziefer

All right. I've been paying more attention to this bullshit than is probably good for me.

And what can I do about it? Not a goddam thing.

Oh well.

But.

What follows is a long and somewhat tangential post on the "Middle East Crisis" (as it's being dubbed).

On a Paula Zahn segment I witnessed a segment with the title (I kid you not) : "The End Of The World?" (All about religious fanatics. Like our president, and others. [Actually, I don't think she even bothered to include King George. Cause, you know, that would be "partisan" and "liberal bias" and etc.].)

To her credit, when interviewing former Israeli Prime Minister, Zahn asked him point-blank whether or not White Phosphorus was used in the attacks on Lebanon. He assured us that "our weapons are all legal" -- basically a subtle evasion of the question, much like Alberto Gonzales, when asked about torture, saying "our interrogation tactics are all approved and legal" (meaning "I, and/or others in the executive branch, decreed that these techniques are a.o.k."). In fact -- just in case phosphorus WAS used despite Israeli denial, apparently -- the segment went on to explain how these weapons are in fact not [technically] banned, and so "even if they WERE used," it would have been just find -- but I'm not saying we used them! I didn't say that!"

(By the way -- not that I should have to even say this, except perhaps to a four-year-old child or a sociopath [in which case why bother], but there's a simple test to determine whether or not something is morally acceptable: in this case, the test question would be: would it be morally acceptable for Hezbollah to use White Phosphorus against Israel or the United States?)

Glenn Beck said -- literally, explicitly and unequivocally, no exageration whatsoever here -- that Hizbollah are "worse than the Nazis."



In a world gone crazy: WSJ Editor: U.S. Missiles Save Lebanese Lives [VIDEO]

UK Govt Sources Confirm War With Iran Is On

"Britain and the United States ... will go to war with Iran before the end of the year. . . . Israel, with US and British support, is deliberately escalating the cycle of retaliation to legitimize the imminent targeting of Iran before year's end.
. . . . . . . ." By Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed (author of THE WAR ON FREEDOM: How and Why America was Attacked, September 11th, 2001

'10 buildings for every rocket'

"The Israeli air force has been ordered to hit 10 buildings in south Beirut - where Hezbollah has its headquarters - for every rocket the group fires at the Israeli port of Haifa."

More on the pre-meditation of Israel's invasion of Lebanon (with the capture of two of its soldiers clearly a mere pretext):

Secret 2001 Pentagon Plan to Attack Lebanon: Bush's Plan for "Serial War" revealed by General Wesley Clark

The Israeli invasion of Lebanon was planned between top Israeli officials and members of the Bush administration.

Israeli Warplanes target Red Cross and UN in southern Lebanon

As if that were not enough, more on the use of white phosphorous and perhaps other chemical weapons by Israel in its pre-meditated assault on Lebanon:

Chemical Weapons used against Lebanese Civliians

Lebanon accuses Israel of using "internationally prohibited weapons against civilians"
Phosphorus incendiary bombs and vacuum bombs

Israel bans reporting of use of "unique" weapons in Lebanon: Israel has issued new censorship guidelines banning reporting of the "use of unique kinds of ammunition and weaponry" in Lebanon. . . . . . . . .



Replenishing the Stockpiles of Israel's WMD

The bombs which are now being rushed to Israel are the [U.S.-made] large 5000 lb GBU 28 bunker buster bombs, which can in one strike in an urban area kill literally hundreds of people.

The US claims that the bunker buster bomb is safe for the surrounding civilian population, because the explosion is underground. Israel has stated that the GBU 28 is to be used against Hizbollah, because Hizbollah has taken refuge in deap underground bunkers:

"Designed to penetrate hardened command centers located deep underground, the GBU-28 is a 5,000-pound laser-guided bomb that uses a 4,400-pound penetrating warhead and contains 630 pounds of high explosives."

( http://www.irmep.org/GBU.htm )

The GBU-28 has already been used in densely populated urban areas inside Lebanon. The gruesome images of charred and mutilated bodies following these aerial bombings, could indeed be the result of the use of the GBU-28, which is among the deadliest weapons in the conventional arsenal. . . . . . . . .

And, just in case you still think Armageddon is a ways off . . . :

Pakistan 'building reactor for 50 nukes' per year

From a 1996 Human Rights Watch report, "Human Pawns":

. . . . . . . .
For over a decade, a conflict has raged on the border of Israel and Lebanon, where Israel occupies a large section of Lebanese territory. Civilians have been the principal targets and victims in this conflict. Both sides-Israel and its allied Lebanese militia, the South Lebanon Army, on one side, and guerrillas affiliated with Hizballah and a number of small Palestinian factions on the other-have exhibited a willful disregard for international humanitarian law (also known as the laws of war). Both sides have directly targeted civilians and indiscriminately lobbed shells and fired rockets at civilian population centers during various stages of the conflict.1 Israel, with its superior firepower, has caused by far the most civilian casualties, and the most damage to residential homes and civilian infrastructure.
. . . . . . . .
Likewise, Human Rights Watch is disturbed by eyewitness testimony suggesting that Israel may have used white phosphorus, or a similar incendiary ordinarily used for marking purposes, in an antipersonnel mode in populated areas in southern Lebanon. White phosphorus ammunition, according to experts, can cause severe burns and permanent scars. During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the Israeli shelling of villages in southern Lebanon in July 1993, and subsequent shelling attacks, there have been numerous allegations of Israeli forces using phosphorus against civilians. The available circumstantial evidence of the illegal use of phosphorus, and/or other incendiaries, by Israel against Lebanese civilians during the 1993 events and afterwards is so compelling as to warrant serious investigation and a public response by the Israeli government. Among other evidence, Human Rights Watch saw several civilians, including children, in southern Lebanon with burns that are likely to have been caused by phosphorus.
. . . . . . . .


Guess nothing changes.

—ungeziefer

-- Rep. Nick J. Rahall II, D-W.Va., who is of Lebanese descent, on the U.S. House vot to support Israel's military campaign against Lebanon. The vote passed by 410-8

House Passes Pro-Israel Resolution, Lawmakers Vote 410-8 To Support Israel's Military Campaign In Lebanon - CBS News

Mmm. Wonder if this could have anything to do with it . . .

Iraq PM to urge U.S. to work for a cease-fire in Lebanon

What the Iraqi government (which the right wing loves so much) has to say about Israel's bombardment of Lebanon:

"The hostile acts against Lebanon will have effects on the region and we are not far from what is going on in Lebanon," al-Maliki said. "We will speak with the United Nations and American government to call for a cease-fire quickly."

. . . . . . . .

Hezbollah and its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, have a wide following among Iraqi Shiites, who comprise about 60% of the nation's 27 million people.

. . . . . . . ."

And you've probably seen media reports trying to spin the situation -- saying that al-Maliki was asked to call off his visit because others in the new Iraqi government don't want him to call for a ceasfire in Lebanon. This is not only inaccurate, it is Orwellian; it is the exact OPPOSITE of the truth. He has been asked not to make the visit to Washington in order to make a strong statement to the U.S. that the Iraqi government WANTS a ceasefire:

"On Saturday, the Fadhila party, which is part of al-Maliki's Shiite alliance, urged the prime minister to call off the visit. Fadhila holds 15 seats in the 275-member parliament and dominates the provincial administration in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city.

"Fadhila demands that the prime minister cancel his visit to the U.S. in solidarity with the Lebanese people and over what is going on there, the disasters due to the Zionist aggression amid international silence about these crimes," party official Sheik Sabah al-Saiedi told The Associated Press.

And the icing on the cake here is this:

Al-Maliki also is expected to discuss the timetable for the U.S.-led coalition to hand over primary security responsibility to the Iraqis."

Of course, our good pals the Saudis also have insisted that Bush push for a cease fire.

—ungeziefer

Or, as Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy put it:

"[Bush] is saying, if you do every single thing I tell you to do, I'll do what I should have done anyway."

This "compromise" bill that is meant to provide review and oversight of Bush's illegal and unconstitutional warrantless NSA wiretapping program actually appears to do the opposite. Instead it allows the program to expand, and potentially to continue with even less oversight than before.

I have a LOT of respect for Arlen Specter. (I happened to catch his speech supporting the flag-burning amendment -- and even THAT I respected, although I thought the whole bill was complete and utter nonsense.) But the fact is, he's just caving in on this one.

From the "Balkinization" blog:

"
Specter's proposed legislation, if passed in its present form, would give President Bush everything he wants. And then some. At first glance, Specter's bill looks like a moderate and wise compromise that expands the President's authority to engage in electronic surveillance under a variety of Congressional and judicial oversight procedures. But read more closely, it actually turns out to be a virtual blank check to the Executive, because under section 801 of the bill the President can route around every single one of them. Thus, all of the elegant machinery of the bill's oversight provisions is, I regret to report, a complete and total sham. Once the President obtains the powers listed in section 801, the rest of the bill is pretty much irrelevant. He will be free of Congressional oversight forever.

But first, the details: The bill authorizes the FISA court to permit "electronic surveillance programs"-- the key point being that these involve domestic surveillance of U.S. citizens-- for periods up to 90 days, periods which are indefinitely renewable. Authorization is on a program by program basis, rather than on the basis of the particular individuals who are being watched. All legal challenges to the surveillance program-- including challenges to the use of evidence in other prosecutions or litigation-- can be moved to the secret FISA court if the Attorney General states that national security demands it. The FISA court, in turn, has the power to dismiss a challenge to the legality of the program "for any reason." This provision seems puzzling: literally it says that the court can dismiss legal challenges to programs for any reason, whether good or bad, and even if the objections to the programs are well founded. In fact, the provision makes sense only if its purpose is to allow the FISA court to immunize Presidential surveillance from legal attack.

. . . . . . . .

In short, if this bill is passed in its present form, it would seem to give the Executive everything it could possibly dream of-- a lax method of oversight and the possibility of ignoring that oversight whenever the President chooses. The NSA can (1) engage in ongoing electronic surveillance within FISA with indefinite 90 day renewals, (2) engage in electronic surveillance without even seeking a court order for a year, and finally (3) under section 801, engage in electronic surveillance outside of FISA under the President's constitutional authority to collect foreign intelligence surveillance.

Barely two weeks after Hamdan, which appeared to be the most important separation of powers decision in our generation, the Executive is about to get back everything it lost in that decision, and more. In Hamdan, the Supreme Court gave the ball to Congress, hoping for a bit of oversight, and Senator Specter has just punted.
"

See also: Specter's Bill Is No "Compromise" [ Daily Kos ]

Matthew Kalman reveals that Israel's wideranging assault on Lebanon has been planned in a general way for years, and a specific plan has been in the works for over a year. The "Three Week War" was shown to Washington think tanks and officials last year on powerpoint by a senior Israeli army officer:

"More than a year ago, a senior Israeli army officer began giving PowerPoint presentations, on an off-the-record basis, to U.S. and other diplomats, journalists and think tanks, setting out the plan for the current operation in revealing detail."
The Israelis tend to launch their wars of choice in the summer, in part because they know that European and American universities will be the primary nodes of popular opposition, and the universities are out in the summer. This war has nothing to do with captured Israeli soldiers. It is a long-planned war to increase Israel's ascendency over Hizbullah and its patrons.
. . . . . . . ."

Bolton dismisses Syria offer for dialogue

"It has been Syria's ongoing position that we are ready to have a dialogue with the United States."
-- Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mukdad

"Syria doesn't need dialogue to know what they need to do."
-- John Bolton, US Ambassador to the United Nations

Mukdad told Britain's Sky News that Damascus was ready to talk on the condition that Washington engages on the question of Israeli occupation of neighbouring land. . . .

Reuters AlertNet - ANALYSIS-Gloom descends on Iraqi leaders as civil war looms

BAGHDAD, July 21 (Reuters) - Iraqi leaders have all but given up on holding the country together and, just two months after forming a national unity government, talk in private of "black days" of civil war ahead.

Signalling a dramatic abandonment of the U.S.-backed project for Iraq, there is even talk among them of pre-empting the worst bloodshed by agreeing to an east-west division of Baghdad into Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim zones, senior officials told Reuters.

Tens of thousands have already fled homes on either side.

"Iraq as a political project is finished," one senior government official said -- anonymously because the coalition under Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki remains committed in public to the U.S.-sponsored constitution that preserves Iraq's unity.

One highly placed source even spoke of busying himself on government projects, despite a sense of their futility, only as a way to fight his growing depression over his nation's future.

"The parties have moved to Plan B," the senior official said, saying Sunni, ethnic Kurdish and majority Shi'ite blocs were looking at ways to divide power and resources and to solve the conundrum of Baghdad's mixed population of seven million.

"There is serious talk of Baghdad being divided into east and west," he said. "We are extremely worried."

On the eve of the first meeting of a National Reconciliation Commission and before Maliki meets President George W. Bush in Washington next week, other senior politicians also said they were close to giving up on hopes of preserving the 80-year-old, multi-ethnic, religiously mixed state in its present form.

"The situation is terrifying and black," said Rida Jawad al -Takki, a senior member of parliament from Maliki's dominant Shi'ite Alliance bloc, and one of the few officials from all the main factions willing to speak publicly on the issue.

"We have received information of a plan to divide Baghdad. The government is incapable of solving the situation," he said.

As sectarian violence has mounted to claim perhaps 100 lives a day and tens of thousands flee their homes, a senior official from the once dominant Sunni minority concurred: "Everyone knows the situation is very bad," he said. "I'm not optimistic."

. . . . . . . .

Just in case there's anyone on the planet who actually still believes the United States wants peace, or still does not know the answer to the question, "Why do they hate us??" . . .

U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis

By DAVID S. CLOUD and HELENE COOPER

WASHINGTON, July 21 — The Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week after beginning its air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, American officials said Friday.

The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel was made with relatively little debate within the Bush administration, the officials said. Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign in a way that could be compared to Iran’s efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah.

The munitions that the United States is sending to Israel are part of a multimillion-dollar arms sale package approved last year that Israel is able to draw on as needed, the officials said. But Israel’s request for expedited delivery of the satellite and laser-guided bombs was described as unusual by some military officers, and as an indication that Israel still had a long list of targets in Lebanon to strike.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday that she would head to Israel on Sunday at the beginning of a round of Middle Eastern diplomacy. The original plan was to include a stop to Cairo in her travels, but she did not announce any stops in Arab capitals.

Instead, the meeting of Arab and European envoys planned for Cairo will take place in Italy, Western diplomats said. While Arab governments initially criticized Hezbollah for starting the fight with Israel in Lebanon, discontent is rising in Arab countries over the number of civilian casualties in Lebanon, and the governments have become wary of playing host to Ms. Rice until a cease-fire package is put together.

To hold the meetings in an Arab capital before a diplomatic solution is reached, said Martin S. Indyk, a former American ambassador to Israel, “would have identified the Arabs as the primary partner of the United States in this project at a time where Hezbollah is accusing the Arab leaders of providing cover for the continuation of Israel’s military operation.”

The decision to stay away from Arab countries for now is a markedly different strategy from the shuttle diplomacy that previous administrations used to mediate in the Middle East. “I have no interest in diplomacy for the sake of returning Lebanon and Israel to the status quo ante,” Ms. Rice said Friday. “I could have gotten on a plane and rushed over and started shuttling around, and it wouldn’t have been clear what I was shuttling to do.”

Before Ms. Rice heads to Israel on Sunday, she will join President Bush at the White House for discussions on the Middle East crisis with two Saudi envoys, Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister, and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the secretary general of the National Security Council.

The new American arms shipment to Israel has not been announced publicly, and the officials who described the administration’s decision to rush the munitions to Israel would discuss it only after being promised anonymity. The officials included employees of two government agencies, and one described the shipment as just one example of a broad array of armaments that the United States has long provided Israel.

One American official said the shipment should not be compared to the kind of an “emergency resupply” of dwindling Israeli stockpiles that was provided during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, when an American military airlift helped Israel recover from early Arab victories.

David Siegel, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, said: “We have been using precision-guided munitions in order to neutralize the military capabilities of Hezbollah and to minimize harm to civilians. As a rule, however, we do not comment on Israel’s defense acquisitions.”

Israel’s need for precision munitions is driven in part by its strategy in Lebanon, which includes destroying hardened underground bunkers where Hezbollah leaders are said to have taken refuge, as well as missile sites and other targets that would be hard to hit without laser and satellite-guided bombs.

Pentagon and military officials declined to describe in detail the size and contents of the shipment to Israel, and they would not say whether the munitions were being shipped by cargo aircraft or some other means. But an arms-sale package approved last year provides authority for Israel to purchase from the United States as many as 100 GBU-28’s, which are 5,000-pound laser-guided bombs intended to destroy concrete bunkers. The package also provides for selling satellite-guided munitions.

An announcement in 2005 that Israel was eligible to buy the “bunker buster” weapons described the GBU-28 as “a special weapon that was developed for penetrating hardened command centers located deep underground.” The document added, “The Israeli Air Force will use these GBU-28’s on their F-15 aircraft.”

American officials said that once a weapons purchase is approved, it is up to the buyer nation to set up a timetable. But one American official said normal procedures usually do not include rushing deliveries within days of a request. That was done because Israel is a close ally in the midst of hostilities, the official said.

Although Israel had some precision guided bombs in its stockpile when the campaign in Lebanon began, the Israelis may not have taken delivery of all the weapons they were entitled to under the 2005 sale.

Israel said its air force had dropped 23 tons of explosives Wednesday night alone in Beirut, in an effort to penetrate what was believed to be a bunker used by senior Hezbollah officials.

A senior Israeli official said Friday that the attacks to date had degraded Hezbollah’s military strength by roughly half, but that the campaign could go on for two more weeks or longer. “We will stay heavily with the air campaign,” he said. “There’s no time limit. We will end when we achieve our goals.”

The Bush administration announced Thursday a military equipment sale to Saudi Arabia, worth more than $6 billion, a move that may in part have been aimed at deflecting inevitable Arab government anger at the decision to supply Israel with munitions in the event that effort became public.

On Friday, Bush administration officials laid out their plans for the diplomatic strategy that Ms. Rice will pursue. In Rome, the United States will try to hammer out a diplomatic package that will offer Lebanon incentives under the condition that a United Nations resolution, which calls for the disarming of Hezbollah, is implemented.

Diplomats will also try to figure out the details around an eventual international peacekeeping force, and which countries will contribute to it. Germany and Russia have both indicated that they would be willing to contribute forces; Ms. Rice said the United States was unlikely to.

Implicit in the eventual diplomatic package is a cease-fire. But a senior American official said it remained unclear whether, under such a plan, Hezbollah would be asked to retreat from southern Lebanon and commit to a cease-fire, or whether American diplomats might depend on Israel’s continued bombardment to make Hezbollah’s acquiescence irrelevant.

Daniel Ayalon, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, said that Israel would not rule out an international force to police the borders of Lebanon and Syria and to patrol southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah has had a stronghold. But he said that Israel was first determined to take out Hezbollah’s command and control centers and weapons stockpiles.

Thom Shanker contributed reporting for this article.

The Anti-Empire Report
Some things you need to know before the world ends
July 22, 2006
by William Blum

The End Is Near, but first, this commercial.

There are times when I think that this tired old world has gone on a few years too long. What's happening in the Middle East is so depressing. Most discussions of the eternal Israel-Palestine conflict are variations on the child's eternal defense for misbehavior -- "He started it!" Within a few minutes of discussing/arguing the latest manifestation of the conflict the participants are back to 1967, then 1948, then biblical times. I don't wish to get entangled in who started the current mess. I would like instead to first express what I see as two essential underlying facts of life which remain from one conflict to the next:

1) Israel's existence is not at stake and hasn't been so for decades, if it ever was, regardless of the many de rigueur militant statements by Arab leaders over the years. If Israel would learn to deal with its neighbors in a non-expansionist, non-military, humane, and respectful manner, engage in full prisoner exchanges, and sincerely strive for a viable two-state solution, even those who are opposed to the idea of a state based on a particular religion could accept the state of Israel, and the question of its right to exist would scarcely arise in people's minds. But as it is, Israel still uses the issue as a justification for its behavior, as Jews all over the world use the Holocaust and conflating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.

2) In a conflict between a thousand-pound gorilla and a mouse, it's the gorilla which has to make concessions in order for the two sides to progress to the next level. What can the Palestinians offer in the way of concession? Israel would reply to that question: "No violent attacks of any kind." But that would still leave the status quo ante bellum -- a life of unmitigated misery for the Palestinian people forced upon them by Israel. Peace without justice.

Israel's declarations about the absolute unacceptability of one of their soldiers being held captive by the Palestinians, or two soldiers being held by Hezbollah in Lebanon, cannot be taken too seriously when Israel is holding literally thousands of captured Palestinians, many for years, typically without any due process, many tortured; as well as holding a number of prominent Hezbollah members. A few years ago, if not still now, Israel wrote numbers on some of the Palestinian prisoners' arms and foreheads, using blue markers, a practice that is of course reminiscent of the Nazis' treatment of Jews in World War II. [1]

Israel's real aim, and that of Washington, is the overthrow of the Hamas government in Palestine, the government that came to power in January through a clearly democratic process, the democracy that the Western "democracies" never tire of celebrating, except when the result doesn't please them. Is there a stronger word than "hypocrisy"? There is now "no Hamas government," declared a senior US official a week ago, "eight cabinet ministers or 30 percent of the government is in jail [kidnapped by Israel], another 30 percent is in hiding, and the other 30 percent is doing very little."[2] To make the government-disappearance act even more Orwellian, we have Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking in late June about Iraq: "This is the only legitimately elected government in the Middle East with a possible exception of Lebanon."[3] What's next, gathering in front of the Big Telescreeen for the Two Minutes Hate?

In addition to doing away with the Hamas government, the current military blitzkrieg by Israel, with full US support, may well be designed to create "incidents" to justify attacks on Iran and Syria, the next steps of Washington's work in process, a controlling stranglehold on the Middle East and its oil.

It is a wanton act of collective punishment that is depriving the Palestinians of food, electricity, water, money, access to the outside world ... and sleep. Israel has been sending jets flying over Gaza at night triggering sonic booms, traumatizing children. "I want nobody to sleep at night in Gaza," declared Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert[4]; words suitable for Israel's tombstone.

These crimes against humanity -- and I haven't mentioned the terrible special weapons reportedly used by Israel -- are what the people of Palestine get for voting for the wrong party. It is ironic, given the Israeli attacks against civilians in both Gaza and Lebanon, that Hamas and Hezbollah are routinely dismissed in the West as terrorist organizations. The generally accepted definition of terrorism, used by the FBI and the United Nations amongst others, is: The use of violence against a civilian population in order to intimidate or coerce a government in furtherance of a political objective.

Since 9-11 it has been a calculated US-Israeli tactic to label the fight against Israel's foes as an integral part of the war on terror. On July 19, a rally was held in Washington, featuring the governor of Maryland, several members of Israeli-occupied Congress, the Israeli ambassador, and evangelical leading-light John Hagee. The Washington Post reported that "Speaker after prominent speaker characteriz[ed] current Israeli fighting as a small branch of the larger U.S.-led global war against Islamic terrorism" and "Israel's attacks against the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah were blows against those who have killed civilians from Bali to Bombay to Moscow." Said the Israeli ambassador: "This is not just about [Israel]. It's about where our world is going to be and the fate and security of our world. Israel is on the forefront. We will amputate these little arms of Iran," referring to Hezbollah.[5]

And if the war on terror isn't enough to put Israel on the side of the angels, John Hagee has argued that "the United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West". He speaks of "a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ."[6]

The beatification of Israel approaches being a movement. Here is David Horowitz, the eminent semi-hysterical ex-Marxist: "Israel is part of a global war, the war of radical Islam against civilization. Right now Israel is doing the work of the rest of the civilized world by taking on the terrorists. It is not only for Israel's sake that we must get the facts out -- it is for ourselves, America, for every free country in the world, and for civilization itself."[7]

As for the two Israeli soldiers captured and held in Lebanon for prisoner exchange, we must keep a little history in mind. In the late 1990s, before Israel was evicted from southern Lebanon by Hezbollah, it was a common practice for Israel to abduct entirely innocent Lebanese. As a 1998 Amnesty International paper declared: "By Israel's own admission, Lebanese detainees are being held as 'bargaining chips'; they are not detained for their own actions but in exchange for Israeli soldiers missing in action or killed in Lebanon. Most have now spent 10 years in secret and isolated detention."[8]

Israel has created its worst enemies -- they helped create Hamas as a counterweight to Fatah in Palestine, and their occupation of Lebanon created Hezbollah. The current terrible bombings can be expected to keep the process going. Since its very beginning, Israel has been almost continually occupied in fighting wars and taking other people's lands. Did not any better way ever occur to the idealistic Zionist pioneers?

But while you and I get depressed by the horror and suffering, the neo-conservatives revel in it. They devour the flesh and drink the blood of the people of Afghanistan, of Iraq, of Palestine, of Lebanon, yet remain ravenous, and now call for Iran and Syria to be placed upon the feasting table. More than one of them has used the expression oderint dum metuant, a favorite phrase of Roman emperor Caligula, also used by Cicero -- "let them hate so long as they fear". Here is William Kristol, editor of the bible of neo-cons, "Weekly Standard", on Fox News Sunday, July 16:

"Look, our coddling of Iran ... over the last six to nine months has emboldened them. I mean, is Iran behaving like a timid regime that's very worried about the U.S.? Or is Iran behaving recklessly and in a foolhardy way? ... Israel is fighting four of our five enemies in the Middle East, in a sense. Iran, Syria, sponsors of terror; Hezbollah and Hamas. ... This is an opportunity to begin to reverse the unfortunate direction of the last six to nine months and get the terrorists and the jihadists back on the defensive."

Host Juan Williams replied: "Well, it just seems to me that you want ... you just want war, war, war, and you want us in more war. You wanted us in Iraq. Now you want us in Iran. Now you want us to get into the Middle East ... you're saying, why doesn't the United States take this hard, unforgiving line? Well, the hard and unforgiving line has been [tried], we don't talk to anybody. We don't talk to Hamas. We don't talk to Hezbollah. We're not going to talk to Iran. Where has it gotten us, Bill?"

Kristol, looking somewhat taken aback, simply threw up his hands.

The Fox News audience does (very) occasionally get a hint of another way of looking at the world.



William Blum is the author of:

Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War 2
Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower
West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir
Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire

www.killinghope.org
Previous Anti-Empire Reports can be read at this website.

"While Hezbollah's actions are deplorable, and as I've said Israel has a right to defend itself, the excessive use of force is to be condemned." -- Kofi Annan

5,818 Iraqi civilians killed in May and June alone, according to the most recent report issued by the United Nations mission in Iraq. 100 people per day are murdered.

"Perhaps the most gruesome story in that report is that of 12-year old Omar's. He had been kidnapped, and his family paid a $30,000 ransom, only to have Iraqi police find his body in a plastic bag. He had been sexually assaulted and hung with his own clothes." (CNN)



In Lebanon, The Dead Have To Wait

20,000 wounded in Lebanon:
“The dead are rotting in the rubble of smashed homes”

". . . . . . . . PARKED outside the small general hospital in Tyre is a badly refrigerated lorry container in which are stacked the bodies of 91 Lebanese civilians, 55 of them children.

The bodies have been placed inside black plastic rubbish bags and labelled in anticipation of the time, days or weeks from now, when their surviving relatives - if any - can come to collect them.
. . . . . . . ."

South Lebanon, Has Become A Killing Zone

Scores of Lebanese Civilians Buried in Tyre

Carpenters and volunteers were hard at work in the courtyard of Tyre’s state hospital today, busily constructing dozens of coffins for a mass burial for more than 80 Lebanese civilians who were killed in the 10-day-old Israeli bombing campaign.

Nearby, two trucks stood parked. For days, their motors have been running around the clock. They are refrigerator trucks, and since the hospital mortuary overflowed at the start of the Israeli bombing campaign, they have been used to store a growing cargo of corpses.

The hospital's director, Dr. Salman Zeynadin, says many of the victims died from serious burns, the results of Israeli air and artillery strikes in the villages and countryside around Tyre. With the situation still too dangerous to hold proper burials, Dr. Zeynadin ordered the temporary burial of the bodies in a mass grave.

Doctors in Tyre say since the fighting began, the city's hospitals have received more then 300 wounded and 102 dead.

Israeli jets have repeatedly bombed the road network in southern Lebanon. The road to Tyre snakes past demolished bridges and bombed gas stations. Cars have to skirt around huge craters in the road.

The town of Tyre itself is almost completely deserted. In the ancient port, several men sat next to idle fishing boats. George Atiya, a 48-year old carpenter, said his friends and neighbors have been receiving automated phone calls from the Israeli military, with warnings recorded in Arabic instructing them to evacuate all of Southern Lebanon.

Across town today, bulldozers dug two long trenches in an abandoned field. And in the afternoon, Lebanese army trucks loaded with coffins, backed into the pits.

One by one, soldiers dragged the boxes out and laid them on the ground. As they worked, Israeli warplanes began bombing a ridge just a few miles away.

Just before bulldozers finally filled in the pits, workers rushed in to add another coffin. It contained the body of a Lebanese woman killed in an Israeli air strike today. She was buried along with 81 others.

Day after day, Red Cross worker Sam Zheir has been bringing dead and wounded people in from the countryside. All of them, he said, were civilians. Many were buried today.

As the Israeli military bombs southern Lebanon, aircraft periodically drop leaflets over the countryside, instructing people in Arabic to evacuate the area and move north, for their own safety.

But leaving is dangerous. Two days ago, Zheir says he found a car full of fleeing civilians, which had been hit by an Israeli bomb."

—ungeziefer

[ part1 ]
[ part2 ]

I'm not exactly sure when this took place. But believe it or not, O'Reilly is almost CIVIL.

As always he shows how smart and tough he thinks he is -- with every question you can hear him saying "Ha! Answer THAT one, John -- I'd like to see you try!" And after every question, he gets his ass handed to him.

—ungeziefer

. . . . The numbers speak for themselves. As of Wednesday evening, Israeli attacks had killed at least 292 civilians in Lebanon, while Hizbullah rockets had killed 13 noncombatants in the Jewish state. Lebanon has approximately 3.5 million people. On a per-capita basis, that means that as of Wednesday, the rough equivalent of 9/11 has happened every day here for eight days.

I'm not sure about the "per-capita" approach, but it's interesting to consider in those terms.

And you can be certain that the numbers are far higher. As the author points out, "No one knows how many people are buried in these piles of shattered concrete and twisted steel, only that local residents would have had far less warning than Hizbullah members did about the beginning of so many ends - and that most of their escape routes were cut off by the destruction of roads and overpasses before the Dahiyeh itself became a target."

Sweet Christ, I fucking hate FOX News.

I've been watching a lot of TV news the past week, and overall the coverage of the Middle East situation has been, I think, quite good -- dare I say "Fair And Balanced." (Sirois's point notwithstanding.) CNN, MSNBC, BBC, etc. -- all pretty even-handed and reasonably thorough. True, they're completely ignoring the situation in Gaza, even though it's directly related and about 90 Palestinians have been killed in the past week or so. Sure, they're failing to sufficiently point out that firing some 50-pound rockets is slightly different from dropping 23 tons of bombs on each building. Sure, they're ignoring why Hezbollah came about and the important fact that if not for Hezbollah, Lebanon would probably still be under a 20-plus-year Israeli military occupation. Sure, they're probably over-emphasizing the role of Iran and Syria. Sure, they're obviously more concerned about the Americans evacuating Lebanon than about the 500,000-plus Lebanese refugees driven in terror from their homes who don't have the luxury of a military escort out of the country. And, yes, they forget to mention that perhaps if Israel hadn't bombed all the bridges, air ports and roads and blockaded the sea, people could get out. Etc. But they are focusing, appropriately, on the massive carnage, destruction and civilian casualties in Lebanon; while also seeing the events through the lens of Israel's point of view.

Then I turn to FOX . . .

I don't even know what to say, frankly. O'Reilly blasts the Pope for condemning both sides and lamenting the murder of civilians -- and then (responding to an email) claims that he never said it was o.k. to kill civilians and that anyone who even suggests such a thing is a "Kool-Aid drinker" (you know, that "Left Wing Kool Aid"). Anyone who criticizes Israel is (of course) an "anti-semite." Not a shred of history is provided. Iran and Syria are (of course) primarily to blame, and we should bomb them. And so on. (You get the idea.)

As usual, talking heads in the media lament, "What can the U.S. possibly do? And why is it always up to US??"

And, as usual, they ignore the fact that we could do a lot without any effort at all. For example, by simply NOT vetoing U.N. resolutions (in this case calling for a cease fire) like we ALWAYS do. John Bolton likes to bitch about the U.N. and pretend the body is "ineffective" and never does anything to solve the world's problems -- and what does he do? Delay, delay, delay. Refuses to cooperate and offers no help, and no solutions. "More talk, less action," Bolton is literally saying. We have to wait until "the time is right" for a cease fire.

A more extreme action the U.S. could take -- without even having to cooperative with the international community -- would be this: TELL ISRAEL TO KNOCK IT OFF. That's it. Would Israel listen? We'll never know, because it's never been tried. (And of course if they ignored us, we could simply say "no more arms and $5 Billion per year of American tax dollars for you." Or -- even MORE radical -- tell them "no more constantly, unequivocally and unconditionally siding with you in the Palestinian conflict.")

In short, we wouldn't have to do much. But what we are doing, and what we're not, are making matters far worse.

IN GAZA:

US vetoes UN resolution on Gaza

Israel bombs foreign ministry in Gaza

Israel intensifies Gaza action

Chemical weapons?
 
In Shifa hospital, Dr al-Saqqa said most of the dead bodies taken to the facility were torn apart and completely burnt.
 
"Even bodies of the injured have been almost completely burnt. They have been deformed in a very ugly way that we have never seen before," he told Aljazeera channel.
 
Al-Saqaa, who heads the hospital's emergency service, said relatives had been unable to identify the dead victims.
 
"When we try to X-ray dead bodies, we find no trace of the shrapnel that hit the person killed," he said, adding that the bodies seemed to have been chemically burnt.
 
"We are sure that Israel is using a new chemical or radioactive weapon in the new operation. More than 25% of the injured are children, aged under 16." 
 
Four teenagers playing football were among the dead on Monday.
 
At least 51 Palestinians have been killed since the operation started two weeks ago. An Israeli soldier also died as a result of "friendly fire", according to the Israeli military.

. . . . . . . .

Media Matters -
Olbermann handed Savage "Worst Person" runner-up for saying the "American left" are "the Nazis of our time":

"Our runner-up tonight: Michael Savage. Now, the bar is higher for him because ordinarily we do not like to mock the insane . . . This just in from hell: Satan has chosen the Michael Savage show to broadcast over the P.A. system to torture the souls of the eternally damned."

Savage:

"Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is a good friend of the liberal left wing, the [filmmaker] Michael Moore wing, the [Sen.] Barbara Boxer [D-CA] wing, the [Sen.] Ted Kennedy [D-MA] wing, the anti-American wing of the Democrat Party. . . . Barbara Boxer should be real happy today. . . . The American left is cheering today. They'll probably break open the jug wine and cheer that Jews are dying, and that they're living and cowering in bomb shelters. One day, the 'Deutschland über alles' may be played in Jerusalem, and the American left can tear off their masks once and for all and show themselves to be what they really are -- which is the Nazis of our time."

Don't want to wound like a Nazi or anything, but . . . can't we please just exterminate people like Savage? Please??

—ungeziefer

Some fun Bush gaffes from the G8 Summit -- which apparently Bush took about as seriously as a frat party.

Groping German Chancellor

Telling Putin he hopes that Russia will try to get "democray" like in Iraq

[ CNN story ]

Repeatedly talking about "slicing the pig," even when asked about serious stuff like the current Middle East crisis

Overall, presenting himself once again as the cowboy clown in chief

—ungeziefer

My opinion: FUCK Hezbollah, they brought it on themselves -- and they obviously don't give a shit about the people of Lebanon, because Israel's reaction was predictable. But FUCK Israel for killing countless innocents who have nothing to do with Hezbollah and for destroying the civilian infrastructure of Lebanon rather than capturing/killing Hezbollah militants. If the logic is, "You kill one of us, we'll kill 100 of you," then Hezbollah will now (following Israel's logic) have to kill 1000 Israelis, and then Israel will kill 100,000 Lebanese . . . and there is no end to this insane escalation and pointless bloodbath.

Fortunately, the U.S. is leading the way to solving the crisis -- by 1.) vetoing a U.N. resolution calling for a ceasefire and for the captured Israelis to be released, and 2.) discouraging and postponing a UN intervention force.

"I am dismally aware of the extent to which the blood of Palestinians is not worth anything like the blood of Israelis, still less the blood of Westerners. A good case in point was on the BBC's Question Time when every single member of the panel knew the name of the Israeli occupation soldier 'kidnapped' by the resistance, and they felt they had to pay endless sympathies to his family.

I found myself screaming at the television: "Can any of you name a single Palestinian victim, just say in the last 12 days, when 24 Palestinians, mostly women and children were killed by Israel in bomb, shell and rocket attacks?" No one knows the names of these victims, no one describes the Palestinian leaders who were kidnapped and languish in Israeli dungeons. All were seized in exactly the same way as this Israeli solder was seized. This is a double standard that does not occur to most people, but is endlessly burrowing away in my mind." -- George Galloway [ source ]

—ungeziefer

More on Stevens' blocked tube theory here: Your Own Personal Internet

—ungeziefer

"
President Bush: "Peter. Are you going to ask that question with shades on?"

Peter Wallsten of the Los Angeles Times: "I can take them off."

Bush: "I'm interested in the shade look, seriously."

Wallsten: "All right, I'll keep it, then."

Bush: "For the viewers, there's no sun."

Wallsten: "I guess it depends on your perspective."

Bush: "Touché.
"
—An exchange with legally blind reporter Peter Wallsten, to whom Bush later apologized, Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006

There have been rare moments in which I have actually liked -- yes, LIKED George W. Bush.

This is one of them.

And for a moment I'd thought that this was another.

But apparently Bush was not sharing a gag, here -- he actually had no idea Wallsten was blind, and was simply mocking him because he was a reporter, as he mocks every other reporter.

It's weird, because watching the video clip -- a couple times -- it seems so obvious that Bush knew he was blind, and THUS IT WAS FUNNY. If he didn't know -- which apparently he did not -- it's not funny at all, just distracting and evasive and rude and stupid.

Which makes me hate the son of a bitch again.

Ah well.

About.com: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/06/14.html#a8710

Not that I think we should be bombing North Korea or anything. (How much of a threat are they? Well, although it's rarely phrased this way in the media, the truth is that the LONG-range missile they test-fired recently -- you know, the one that made it about 30 feet before plummeting into the ocean -- MIGHT POSSIBLY be able to one day hit Alaska. Aside from, of course, the fact that the rockets were not actually weaponized. (Pah. Details.)

Here's another good clip (from Mike Malloy) [1.2MB]. Don't you just want to smack that arrogant smirk off King George's lying face?

—ungeziefer

From Gaza, with Love

A good blog with a first-hand perspective on the collective punishment currently being imposed on Palestine.

Unfortunately, reading some of the comments will surely reinforce the belief that that conflict will NEVER end. (I can't decide if I really want to read the many comments that ended up being "deleted by blog administrator" or not . . .) People are scary.

Embarassed as I am to admit it, I've been watching a bit of T.V. today.

I did actually learn something quite fascinating on "Myth Busters": a few feet of water will protect you from even the most high-powered (50-cal) rifle. Although some smaller weapons (9-mm pistol, I think it was) will go through about 10 feet of water and still kill you, the larger high-velocity rounds basically disintegrate on impact with the water and sink in little pieces. (Seems to me there should be a military application here . . .)

But then I turned to the "History Channel" -- expecting to learn something about, like, you know, history and stuff.

Instead I got this:

1.) a "psychic" describing what REALLY happened at WACO -- by "sensing" and "feeling" it. And of course he "solved" the mysteries about who shot first (the Davidians), who started the fire (the Davidians), whether or not people were held there by Koresh against their will (they were), whether the Davidians actually WANTED to die (they did), etc. etc. If it could be taken at all seriously, it would have to be called crass government propaganda. (Also, the only people interviewed were FBI agents and pro-government spokespeople who repeated the official story.)

2.) a show about the Ten Commandments, in which every statement (including about the Israelites talking to God, and Him talking back) was taken for granted and described as fact. They didn't even bother to site a source, or say "according to such-and-such parable . . ."; simply said "this happened. And then this happened. ..." At that point I just became ill and had to shut it off.

I only ocassionally watch the "History Channel," but today just confirmed my earlier opinions -- which were based on: 1.) a show about the invasion of Panama (they actually mention at the beginning that Noriega was essentially a CIA operative throughout his entire dictatorship, but then quickly move on, and the rest of the hour-long feature is all about the bravery of the U.S. military and what a great and heroic mission it was, how sick and twisted Noriega was, etc.); 2.) a couple similar shows about Saddam Hussein; 3.) a show about the anti-Cuban terrorists in Florida -- who WERE actually referred to as "terrorists," at least, but the entire show maintained that that the FBI was doing its all to find and arrest these groups, without ever bothering to mention that most of these groups have been deliberately protected and given assylum by the U.S. government, which has also consistently refused any compensation to the victims or extradition of the terrorists who have been found. And then there's the constant faux-patriotic, pro-military, pro-war, weapon-worship on every edition of "Mail Call" and most editions of "Modern Marvels" . . .

A small sampling, granted, but, so far I'd have to say that the channel makes a mockery of the very concept of "history."

Guess that's why God gave us books.

—ungeziefer

Finally all the persecution will stop. God bless Ken Lay -- Chistian, Hero, Saint, and Martyr.



—ungeziefer