Israel Again Violates International Law in Time of War

Israeli court sentences Palestinians to imprisonment for resisting occupation

1 September 2007

Jenin – Ma'an – Palestinian lawyer, Ahmad Shahawneh, said that the Israeli military court of Salem on Saturday sentenced several detainees from Islamic Jihad on charges of membership in the movement and resisting the occupation.

Shahawneh said that Salem court sentenced two prisoners from Qabatiya, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, to 18 and 30 months in Israeli jails.

The court also extended the sentences of several other Palestinian prisoners.

Shahawneh said that the trials were solely for allegations of membership in Islamic Jihad and resisting the Israeli occupation.

Importance of Patience

Become more patient. The quality of patience goes a long way toward your goal of creating a more peaceful and loving self. The more patient you are, the more accepting you will be of what is, rather than insisting that life be exactly as you would like it to be. Without patience, life is extremely frustrating. You are easily annoyed, bothered, and irritated. Patience adds a dimension of ease and acceptance to your life. It's essential for inner peace.

Becoming more patient involves opening your heart to the present moment, even if you don't like it. If you are stuck in a traffic jam, late for an appointment, opening to the moment would mean catching yourself building a mental snowball before your thinking got out of hand and gently reminding yourself to relax. It might also be a good time to breathe as well as an opportunity to remind yourself that, in the bigger scheme of things, being late is "small stuff."

Patience also involves seeing the innocence in others. If you look deeply enough, you can almost always see the innocence in other people as well as in potentially frustrating situations. When you do, you will become a more patient and peaceful person and, in some strange way, you begin to enjoy many of the moments that used to frustrate you.

Mortgage Financial Jeopardizes

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 1, 2007

Audio

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, I met with Housing Secretary Jackson and Treasury Secretary Paulson to discuss the economy and the turbulence in our Nation's mortgage industry. The fundamentals of America's economy remain strong. But the mortgage industry is going through a period of adjustment. And some Americans are worried about the impact this is having on their ability to make their monthly mortgage payments.

I have made it a priority to help American homeowners navigate these financial challenges, so that as many families as possible can stay in their homes. The Federal government will not bail out lenders -- because that would only make a recurrence of the problem more likely. And it is not the government's job to bail out speculators, or those who made the decision to buy a home they knew they could never afford. But I support action at the Federal level that will help more American families keep their homes.

One important way to help homeowners during this time of housing market stress is for Congress to change a key part of the Federal tax code. Under current law, when a lender forgives part of a mortgage to help its customer stay afloat, that amount is treated as taxable income. When your home is losing value and your family is under financial stress, the last thing you need is to be hit with higher taxes. So I'm working with members of both parties to pass a bill that will protect homeowners from having to pay taxes on cancelled mortgage debt.

Another important step we're taking for American homeowners is to modernize the Federal Housing Administration. The FHA is a government agency that provides mortgage insurance to borrowers through a network of private sector lenders. I've sent Congress important legislation that would help more Americans qualify for this insurance by lowering down-payment requirements, increasing loan limits, and providing more flexibility in pricing. By passing this legislation, Congress will allow the FHA to reach more families in need of our assistance, and I ask Congress to act quickly.

At the same time we will launch a new FHA initiative called FHASecure. This initiative will help some people who have good credit but have recently been missing their payments. FHASecure will help these families refinance their mortgages so they can make their payments and keep their homes.

There are other ways we can help. My Administration will launch a new Foreclosure Avoidance Initiative to help homeowners learn more about their refinancing options. I've directed Secretary Paulson and Secretary Jackson to look into innovative ways to bring together homeowners and counseling groups, financial professionals, and the FHA and government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to help American families find the mortgage product that works best for them.

Finally, the Federal government is working to make the mortgage industry more transparent and more reliable and more fair, so we can reduce the likelihood that homeowners will face similar problems in the future. Federal banking regulators are strengthening lending standards and making mortgages easier to understand. My Administration is working on new rules to help our consumers compare and shop for loans that meet their budgets and needs. We are committed to pursuing fraud and wrongdoing in the mortgage industry.

Homeownership has always been part of the American Dream. During my Administration we've achieved record homeownership rates. We'll continue to work hard to keep our housing market strong, to ensure that American families can afford the homes they buy, and to help bring the dignity and security that comes with homeownership to more of our citizens.

Thank you for listening.

END

US Securing Zionists Interests in the Name of Christianity

31 August 2007

Tehran-Provisional Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran said in his second sermon US administration is propagating a certain version of Christianity that is not based on Jesus Christ (PBUH) teachings, but after securing Zionists' interests.

According to IRNA Political Desk reporter from Tehran University campus, Ayatollah Mohammad Kashani, addressing thousands of worshipers, added, "Based on this mentality, the Jews must gather in Palestine and then in the course of a revolution two thirds of them to get killed, and the remainder should see the reappearance of Jesus (PBUH)."

He reiterated, "Therefore, they are after gathering the entire Jews of the world in Palestine, which is definitely a move with political and Satanic roots, but the idea is put forth in the framework of an idea behind the hope for reappearance of Messiah." He said that US President George W. Bush is "the standard bearer of that mentality, adding, "That man is loathed to an extent in the United States today that the mentality he supports, too, has very limited number of supporters."

Ayatollah Emami Kashani added, "They have Satanic interactions with the Zionists, but such a mentality has extremely weakened in the Western world today.

"It is the very same mentality that is aiming at Iran and Islam today, and resorts to moves against the Messenger of Islam, the Shi'a World, and the Iranian nation, every once in a while.

Emami Kashani reiterated, "They are well aware that the governing political system in the Islamic Republic of Iran is after establishment of peace and justice in the world, and that Iran is today a divine world power."

Quoting a saying from Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) advising Christians what to do to rid themselves of the problems with which they would be entangled at the end of the world, he said, "The people in the United States and Europe are living wretched lives today.

He regretted that family foundation has no real meaning in their societies; philanthropy, faithfulness, friendly relations, love, living with one another, and caring for spiritual matters have no place in Western societies.

Addressing the Western world, he said, "Your youth would at the end of the world be leading such worrying lives that you cannot ignore it; the prophet of Islam has fourteen centuries ago warned the Christians of the coming of such days, and he has been the messenger of the good news at the end of the time for the entire mankind, as well."

Emami Kashani deplored the corruption prevailing over the Western governments and said "but the nations believe in the coming back to Earth of a savior, and according to Islam this is an all encompassing belief among entire monotheist religions."

He said, "The good news brought to mankind by the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) are for the youth in all religions, inviting them to live pious lives and to abandon committing crimes and sins with which the entire mankind are fed up."

The Friday prayer leader pointed out that the blossoming out of justice and truth in Iran has been through the blessed gate of the faith, arguing, "There is no doubt that justice would finally prevail through the channel of faith, and both God's blessings and His wrath, too, would be distributed through the same path."

"Late Imam Khomeini and our martyrs stood under the flag of faith and safeguarded it, and today, too, it is the same faith that is crystallized in the existence of our Supreme Leader."
Emami Kashani said, "Justice is fully established in the Islamic Republic of Iran today, and our Constitution, our Government, and our Guardians Council are all in line with rules of justice.

He added, "The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has from the first day of taking the helm in this country, and the martyred President Mohammad-Ali Raja'ie and martyred Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar were best models of justice seeking for everyone." "The 9th Government, too, is moving based on justice, rules of our faith, and fundamentals of Islam, adding, "Just as the Supreme Leader has stressed, coincidence of the Government Week and the blessed birth anniversary of Imam Mahdi (May God Hasten His Reappearance), is a very blessed coincidence, because the 9th Government, too, moves based on the rules and values of the Islamic Revolution."

"The more deep rooted justice would be established in our society, the greater we would receive the assistance of Almighty Allah." In his first sermon, too, he introduced the Lord of the Time, Imam Mahdi, as the "Balance point of God's beauty, and His Glory, arguing, "As followers of that infallible Imam (May God Hasten His Reappearance), we too, must observe moderate behavior all the time."

Civilian Deaths in Iraq up in August

1 September 2007

BAGHDAD - At least 1,771 civilians were killed in Iraq in August, up seven percent on the previous month, according to figures compiled by three Iraqi ministries and seen by AFP.

August’s toll is significantly higher than the number for February, when the United States launched a “surge” during which Baghdad and its surrounds were flooded with 28,500 extra troops in a bid to stem sectarian bloodletting.

In that month, 1,626 civilians were killed according to the figures from the health, interior and defence ministries.

The toll hit a high of 1,951 in May but dipped in June to 1,241, although it began climbing again in July, when 1,652 civilians were recorded killed.

Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki’s government no longer issues official casualty statistics and has refused to provide figures to UN human rights monitors, who can no longer confirm the reports.

US officials claim that sectarian killings have gone down in and around Baghdad as thousands of US-led troops press assaults on Al Qaeda strongholds in the country.

But many insurgents appear to have fled ahead of the security operations, and have continued to launch spectacular bomb attacks in more remote regions of the country.

On August 14, in the worst bomb attack since the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, insurgents detonated a series of truck bombs targeting a minority religious sect in northern Iraq and killed more than 400 people.

Militants continue to launch near-daily attacks on the country’s fledgling security forces, killing 85 police and soldiers in August, the data from the ministries said.

British Veiled Women Battle for Their Rights

(The New York Times) A young British Muslim woman who would only allow her last name, al-Shaikh, to be printed, wears a full-face veil.

1 September 2007

"For me it is not just a piece of clothing, it's an act of faith, it's solidarity," says a 24-year-old veiled woman.

As the number of Muslim women wearing the Niqab grows in the United Kingdom, repulsive reactions from other religion followers increase to haunt these women who decided to do something extra for Allah (SWT).

Even though, the Niqab, which covers the whole body and face except the eyes, is not obligatory under Islam, many Muslim women decide to wear it, hoping that they will be accredited for it afterwards.

Now veiled women in Western countries are either targeted by verbal abuse or by government efforts to ban the Niqab in public places.

Examples are quite a lot when it comes to women prevented from following the normal path in their daily lives just because they’re veiled with many incidents being reported in the media.

A British student was recently banned from school for wearing the Niqab and afterwards lost her legal case at the court. It’s even hard to find such incidents strange when the British educational authorities are working on banning the Niqab in schools.

According to an article on the International Herald Tribune, many veiled women in Britain say that their decision to wear the Niqab was influenced by the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States as a response to the tough policies that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the American President George W. Bush applied after 9/11.

"For me it is not just a piece of clothing, it's an act of faith, it's solidarity," says a 24-year-old program scheduler at a broadcasting company in London, who only gave her name as al-Shaikh. "9/11 was a wake-up call for young Muslims.“

Shaikh is suffering at the workplace; for example one of her colleagues told her that she doesn’t have the right to be there! Strangers are not any kinder as she is stopped on the streets on regular basis by verbal abusers who think they have the right to comment on her beliefs.

Despite this, Britain is considered to be more liberal when it comes to the Niqab and the Hijab, which only covers the hair and neck and is obligatory under Islam. Unlike France, Germany, Turkey and Tunisia, Muslim students and female civil servants in the UK are allowed to cover their hair.

Fatema Mayatha, a 24-year-old Muslim who wears the Niqab since she was 12-years-old, believes that her veil is an identity matter, not a “separation” sign like others view it.

"If I dressed in a Western way I could be a Hindu, I could be anything. This way I feel comfortable in my identity as a Muslim woman,” Mayatha told the International Herald Tribune.

Even though Mayatha’s husband doesn’t mind her taking off her Niqab, wearing it was her personal free choice.

Some believe that it’s their right to oppose Niqab, ignoring the fact that Muslims simply want to earn extra points as a guarantee to end up in paradise. It would be nice if for once; Muslims are left to practice their religion the way they want as long as this doesn’t hurt anyone else.

Source

On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

23 - 29 August 2007

Three children from the Abu Ghazala family, who were killed by Israeli Occupation Forces in Beit Hanon on 29 August 2007


Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Escalate Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

12 Palestinians including 6 Children killed by IOF and a 13th Dies of previous Wounds.
3 children killed in 2 extra-judicial executions.
5 children killed by excessive force in the Gaza Strip.
33 Palestinians, including 11 children and a mentally ill person, were wounded by IOF gunfire in the OPT.
Mother and brother of a killed child among the injured.
IOF conducted 21 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
IOF arrested 30 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and 13 in the Gaza Strip.
IOF raze 12 Dunums of agricultural land in the southern Gaza Strip.
IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT, and continues to isolate the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
Severe humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip due to the closure.
IOF positioned at various checkpoints and border crossings in the West Bank arrested 3 Palestinian civilians, including a woman and a child.
1 Gaza resident detained at Erez on his way to Gaza from Ramallah.
Israeli settlement activity and attacks by Israeli settlers continue:

Summary

Israeli Apartheid

Two Sides of a Coin

A man holds out his hand in love
With heartfelt compassion
Hoping for a better future
To give strength
Clearing away sorrow’s tears.

Then you have a man who can walk a thousand mile’s
With sadness like a black storm ridden cloud
Never finding hope
Anger is more his friend
As death may seem a relief from life
But not from future’s torment.

As a coin has two side’s so does society
You can live for the good of mankind
Or create it’s destruction.
Allah deemed man should be good and the world flourish
Not oppression, poverty and war.

- Deborah

Palestinians Poorer Than Ever

By David Cronin

BRUSSELS, Aug 31 (IPS) - Poverty in the Palestinian territories has reached "unprecedented levels" because they have been held under an "economic siege" for almost seven years, a United Nations body has found.

During 2006 the number of Palestinians living in 'deep poverty' almost doubled to more than 1 million. Some 46 percent of public sector employees do not have enough food to meet their basic needs, with 53 percent of households in the Gaza reporting that their incomes declined in the last year by more than half.

This data is contained in a report, released Aug. 30, by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

It stated that an ostensible Israeli policy of 'separating' the Palestinian authorities from Arab and world markets by restricting the movement of people and goods has "squeezed the economy to a size smaller than a decade ago."

The Palestinians' reliance on imports as a proportion of their gross domestic product rose to 86 percent last year -- up from 75 percent in 2005, equating to the loss of 500 million dollars to the economy.

UNCTAD also complained that Israel declined to hand over more than 800 million dollars in tax revenues it had purportedly collected for the Palestinian Authority during 2006. Because of this refusal -- the second since 2002 -- the authorities' revenues shrank to under 600 million dollars, half what they were in 2005.

The report's publication coincided with a UN-sponsored conference on resolving the Middle East conflict in Brussels.

Controversially, the conference, which featured campaigners from the international Palestinian solidarity movement, was described as anti-Israel in some press reports.

Yet this allegation was dismissed by Paul Badji, a Senegalese diplomat who chairs the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. "It is not anti-Israel to defend the rights of Palestinians," he said.

Leila Shahid, delegate general of Palestine to the European Union, reminded the conference that it is 40 years since Israel began "the longest occupation in contemporary history."

Delivering a statement on behalf of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, she said that by setting up 550 permanent and mobile checkpoints, Israel has turned the West Bank into "a group of isolated cantons, while over 11,000 Palestinians, including elected representatives and municipal council members, languish in prison, and targeted assassinations continue."

Pierre Galand from the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine said he did not believe that the U.S. President George W. Bush and his administration could "do peace a favour by granting 30 billion dollars of military aid to Israel, an increase of about a quarter of the American military aid to the Israeli state for the next ten years.

"We do not believe either that Germany aided peace in the Middle East when delivering in August 2006, during the war against Lebanon, two submarines with nuclear capacity and a 4,500 km radius of action," he added.

But Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the UN, welcomed efforts by Washington to convene a Middle East peace conference.

"There is no question that the U.S. is a very powerful country and very influential in our region," he told IPS. "Therefore, its participation in brokering a conference for the autumn could possibly be very constructive. It could help to get all the parties to the conflict to move in the right direction."

Jamal Juma, coordinator of the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign in Jerusalem, strongly denounced the 760 km 'security fence' that Israel has been constructing in the West Bank. This barrier is being constructed in defiance of the International Court of Justice. In 2004, the Hague-based court declared that the wall flouted international law by infringing on the rights of the Palestinians.

"What Israel is creating on the ground is a ghetto system worse than the apartheid system in South Africa," Juma said.

Angela Godfrey-Goldstein from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions pointed out that both South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have drawn parallels between the plight of the Palestinians and that of their country's black majority under apartheid.

She urged an international boycott of Israel similar to that which led many governments to impose economic sanctions against South Africa during the 1980s.

Clare Short, the former secretary for international development in the British government, said that Israel has razed 18,000 Palestinian homes since 1967 and that "each demolition is a war crime."

Short noted that a free trade agreement between Israel and the European Union contains clauses relating to respect for human rights. She asked why these provisions have not been invoked "to insist on Israeli compliance with international law."

New York-based Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, a spokesman for Jews United Against Zionism, said that the conduct of Israeli forces in the Palestinian territories is helping foment anti-Semitism. He also took issue with Israeli politicians who cite the Holocaust to defend attacks on Palestinians, which they claim are necessary to protect Israel's security.

"The state of Israel is not doing Jews a favour," he told IPS. "My grandparents died in Auschwitz and it is wrong to dig them up and use them to oppress the Palestinian people. They should not be used as a pawn."

Nice Message From President Ahmadinejad

President: World order is inappropriate for humanity

28 August 2007

Tehran-President mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that the current situation in the world is inappropriate for the dignity of humanity and does not guarantee prosperous life for the nations.

He told a press conference that all the intellectuals and well wishers of mankind are anxious about the current world order.

"Wars, threats, insecurity, arms race and massacre of nations, spread of lies and rumors have drawn a gloomy prospects for the humanity."

He said that all the problems prevailing in the world concerns the system governing the world.

The president said that nations want to live together in peace and friendship enjoying equality, but, the ruling system has always been responsible for escalating tension.

North Iraq Faces Cholera Outbreak

Scores of people showing symptoms of cholera are being treated in hospital

31 August 2007

At least eight people have died from cholera in two predominantly Kurdish provinces in northern Iraq, Kurdistan's regional health minister has said.

Dozens more people are being treated in hospitals in Kirkuk and Sulaimaniya after contracting the deadly water-borne disease.

"There are 47 cholera cases in Kirkuk and 35 in Sulaimaniya," Zeryan Othman, health minister for Kurdistan, said during a visit to Kirkuk’s Azadi hospital on Wednesday.

"Seven people died in Sulaimaniya and one in Kirkuk," he said.

Cholera is a gastrointestinal disease that is spread by drinking contaminated water. Severe cases can cause fatal dehydration.

Definite cases

Dr Burhan Omar, a physician at Azidi hospital, told Al Jazeera that several patients had definite cases of cholera.

Dr Omar at Azidi hospital said there wasa definite outbreak of cholera in Kirkuk

"There is an outbreak of cholera in Kirkuk – we can’t deny this fact. One of the simplest preventative measures is to tell people how to control the disease," he said.

During his visit to the hospital, which he made with representatives from Iraq's central health ministry, Othman said 2,250 people were suffering from diarrhoea in Sulaimaniya and 2,000 in Kirkuk.

He said he was ready to provide help to hospitals in Kirkuk that are not part of the three semi-autonomous Kurdish provinces in northern Iraq, as they try to treat cases of the disease.

He said that large outbreaks of cholera could affect the capital Baghdad and the central province of Salahuddin.

Disease monitoring

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a statement released on Wednesday that it had established a programme for monitoring cholera in Iraq.

"To date, it is estimated that Sulaimaniya governorate experienced close to 5,000 cases since 10 August, with 10 deaths reported and 51 confirmed cases in Kirkuk," the statement said.

The statement said that WHO will establish a surveillance system for water quality control, food inspection and case findings and management.

It added that the UN Children's Fund will lead a programme of oral re-hydration therapy for those affected.

Source

Fatah Members Attack Executive Forces

Thirteen Injured, Including French Journalist in Clashes Between Executive Forces and Fatah Members

31 August 2007

Gaza – Ma'an - Thousands of Fatah supporters and various factions from the Palestinian Liberation Organization held Friday prayers in several city squares rather than in the mosques to protest against what they call "incitement from imams who belong to Hamas in Gaza."

The thousands of worshippers prayed as hundreds of Hamas-affiliated Executive Forces members looked on, carrying guns and batons.

Prayer leaders called for national unity and asked the worshippers to disperse peacefully.

As the prayer ended hundreds of Fatah members took to the streets chanting slogans in praise of Sameh Madhoon, the Fatah member killed by Executive Forces on June 4 2007 as television crews filmed what was happening.

The Fatah supporters started throwing home-made explosive devices at the Executive Forces, and clashes erupted.

Palestinian medical sources told Ma'an's Gaza correspondent that three people had been injured, including a French journalist.

Also, ten people were injured in Rafah when clashes broke out between Fatah supporters and the Executive Forces after Friday prayers.

Update:

Deposed interior ministry considers curbing Fatah gatherings in Gaza

Haniyeh Announces Free Education for Primary School Children in Gaza Strip

31 August 2007

Gaza - Ma'an – The deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, said on Friday that education for all primary school children in the Gaza Strip will be free.

He also announced he is giving 2000 NIS (500 US dollars) to all new teachers.

Haniyeh said he is determined to keep the education system away from political conflicts and therefore has agreed to the one day weekend for schools and education providers, proposed by President Mahmoud Abbas' government.

Haniyeh affirmed that his government will work on solving all the problems faced by teachers and is considering their grievances.

Muhammad Siyam, the head of the Teachers Union, called upon Haniyeh's government to make some education reforms and increase teachers' salaries to that of other state employees.

Hezbollah Video Game Targets Israel

30 August 2007

The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has launched a new computer game with Israel as the enemy.

Special Force 2 is just the latest way the Shia group is capitalising on what it calls its "victory" in last year's war with Israel.

Players take on the role of a Hezbollah fighter, having to first capture Israeli soldiers, then hit tanks, helicopters and gunboats with missiles.

But it is more than a game.

The military efficiency of the game's protagonists reflects the way Hezbollah views its fighters' performance in the war.

Culture of resistance

And the game's makers say the aim is to present what they call a culture of resistance to younger generations.

Hasan told Al Jazeera that he was able to feel what the fighters were going through in the game.

It also got me to thinking how we can continue in their footsteps," he said.

The videogame and a museum built in the southern suburbs of Beirut to commemorate the war are part of Hezbollah's media campaign as it engages in a different struggle.

Some Lebanese blame the group for sparking the conflict with Israel by kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and have called for its disarmament.

But Hezbollah denies its media campaign has anything to do with the political crisis.

Trad Hamadeh, one of Hezbollah's two representatives in Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's cabinet until he quit as labour minister in November, said: "We want to show the realities of the war.

The dispute [with Lebanese groups] is purely political and I am sure we will be able to find a settlement."

Source

Part 1

Part 2

Bedouin Herders Protest Over Rise of Fodder Price

Anti-riot police disperses protesters on the outskirts of Amman, yesterday. Riot police clashed with more than 200 Bedouin herders blocking the country's main highway with burning tyres in protest over price hikes for animal feed, said witnesses on the scene.

30 August 2007

Amman: More than 200 Bedouin herders blocked the road from Jordan's main port of Aqaba to the airport yesterday, burning tyres and hurling stones at police in protest over price hikes for fodder, said witnesses on the scene.

The livestock owners, who also damaged the car of government officials who tried to speak with them, were demonstrating against a Tuesday decision to more than double the price of a tonne of barley from 90 Jordanian dinars (about Dh450) to 256 dinars.

"We cannot live any more, we have become refugees in our own country," shouted a herder protesting near the barley silos in Juweideh, south of Amman. "The government always gives the refugee camps aid and nobody cares for us Bedouin."

When Amman governor Sa'ad Al Wadi Al Manaseer accompanied by Trade Ministry secretary general Muntaser Al Oqlah drove up to talk to the demonstrators, they were met with a hail of rocks and required police assistance to escape.

Similar protests broke out in the southern town of Ziziya and in the northern city of Mafraq, but in no cases were any clashes reported with police. The bulk of the livestock owners come from prominent tribal Bedouin families.

Another Blasphemous Caricature

JEDDAH, 31 August 2007 — The Organization of the Islamic Conference yesterday condemned the publication of a blasphemous caricature of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) by Swedish artist Lars Vilks in the Nerikes Allehanda newspaper.

The Swedish daily published the drawing, part of a series by Vilks, last Friday after art galleries had declined to display it. The newspaper argued the publication was in the defense of free speech.

OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu strongly condemned the newspaper for publishing the blasphemous caricature and said that this was an irresponsible and despicable act with mala fide and provocative intentions in the name of freedom of expression. He said the caricature was intended to solely insult and arouse the sentiments of Muslims of the world.

Ihsanoglu said: “The international community was well aware of the serious impact of such publications that were globally felt during the controversy that was created by the publication of similar cartoons by a Danish newspaper last year.”

He called on the Swedish government to take immediate punitive actions against the artist and the publishers of the cartoon and asked for their unqualified apology. He also called on Muslims to remain calm and to exercise restraint.

Earlier, Pakistan condemned the publication of the caricature, calling it offensive and blasphemous. “Regrettably, the tendency among some Europeans to mix the freedom of expression with an outright and deliberate insult to 1.3 billion Muslims in the world is on the rise,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Such acts deeply undermine the efforts of those who seek to promote respect and understanding among religions and civilizations,” it said.

The Swedish charge d’affaires was summoned to the ministry and a strong protest lodged with him, the ministry said.

Funeral of Three Children Today in Gaza … Justification is Ready!!

30 August 2007

Hundreds of people took to the streets of the town of Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip for the funeral of three dead children killed by the Zionist artillery fire on Wednesday as they played near their home.

Ten-year-old Yahya Ramdan Abu Ghazala and twelve-year-old Mahmoud Abu Ghazala died instantly. Their ten-year-old cousin, Sara, was seriously injured. She died later in hospital.

Israeli sources claim the children were playing near a rocket launcher, used to fire missiles at Israeli forces.

Its not the first crime to be done by the Zionist artillery but there was a big crime year ago in northern Gaza Strip when more than 8 people killed from the same family by the Zionist artillery. The Zionist sources denied the accident firstly then reported that an investigation done to see what is the fault.

The crimes has their justification in the rule of the Zionist occupation forces, which are the Qassam rockets or the foundation of a wanted man in the house.

Yet , most of the time , there are no Qassam launchers or wanted men in the place where the forces shot fire at.

In this crime, the boys are not playing in the rocket launch device, even if they are playing, Should they have a fault to be killed?!!!!!

Update:

Israeli military admits to killing of three children in Gaza

International Court vs. George W. Bush

A little interesting antidote, George W. Bush going to International court; when he leaves the white house?

He is allegedly charged on everything from war crimes, numerous cases of abuse of human rights, issues pertaining to Darfur, handling of Palestine; among other charges, stemming back as much as 2002.

Unidentified people that were interviewed, expressed he should be charged and prosecuted.

Update:

It has been brought to my attention, that also allegedly indicted in this scenario are may in the Israeli government, some in the U.K. government, collaborators and many in the Bush government.

The Day a Princess Died

Remembering Princess Diana Of Wales

This year makes the tenth anniversary of Diana's death.

On 29 July 1981, the Princess married HRH The Prince of Wales at St Paul's Cathedral in London, the first Englishwoman to marry an heir to the throne for over 300 years.

Their first son, William Arthur Philip Louis was born on 21 June 1982 and Henry Charles Albert David on 15 September 1984.

Prince William and Prince Harry are second and third respectively in line of succession to the throne.

The Prince and Princess of Wales were divorced on 28 August 1996.

The Princess of Wales's London home was Kensington Palace where she used to be joined by her sons during their school holidays.

The Princess died on 31 August 1997, in the Pont d'Alma road tunnel in Paris along with new love Dodi Al-Fayed.


Update:

Diana’s family recalls ‘best mother in the world’

The Abbas-Olmert Talks

29 August 2007

An Israeli document said to contain proposals for the final status peace talks with the Palestinians has been leaked.

Both sides denied the existence of such a document.This come in the middle of a flurry of diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement before the proposed international conference later this year.

So, will both Abbas and Olmert be able to deliver on that?

What would that mean for a divided Palestinian leadership?

Will a Palestinian-Israeli peace settlement be possible this time?

Part 1

Part 2

Jordan's King Abdullah Attempt’s to Pressure Palestinians for Abbas

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) is greeted by King Abdullah II August 29, 2007 in the Jordanian capital. Abbas reportedly briefed the king on his talks yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. (Photo by Omar Rashidi/PPO via Getty Images)

Mideast Conference Lacks Clarity: Abbas

30 August 2007

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Wednesday that a US-sponsored international peace conference planned for November could fail if no plan for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was devised ahead of the meeting.

Following closed-door talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman, Abbas told state-run Jordan Television that the proposed conference ''lacked clarity.''

He said he did not know an official date, other than mid-November, for the conference and was unsure who would attend.

''The third issue is related to the content of the meeting,'' Abbas said.

''If we go to a conference without clarity on a solution and without a declaration of principles within the framework of a work plan, I don't think that the conference will be beneficial,'' he added.

On Tuesday, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tackled the core issues that have tormented Mideast peacemakers for decades - Palestinian refugees, final borders and the fate of Jerusalem.

It was the first time both leaders addressed such issues in depth and represented an important building block for the fall peace conference.

Olmert has met several times with Abbas in the past few months, but had been reluctant to take on the most contentious issues, preferring to focus on general outlines.

That approach riled Palestinians, who want to take on the core questions of Palestinian statehood.

Heading into the meeting at Olmert's Jerusalem residence on Tuesday, Abbas warned that the fall peace conference would be a ''waste of time'' if the three big issues were glossed over.

But after the talks, both sides confirmed that Israel had swept aside its reluctance to address them.

In Amman on Wednesday, Abdullah discussed with Olmert in a telephone conversation the efforts to ''push forward the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis,'' the official Petra news agency reported.

It did not say if Abdullah's call to Olmert was after his meeting with Abbas.

Abbas said he briefed Abdullah on his talks with Olmert and outlined the ''daily hardships'' facing the Palestinian people, including Israeli delays at checkpoints and prisoners held in Israeli jails.

A royal palace statement said Abdullah backed Palestinian demands that Israel engages in discussions on the core issues in their conflict to ''guarantee the success of the international peace conference.''

Abdullah said Palestinians should ''unify'' their ranks to achieve their goal for statehood - a reference to the conflict between Abbas's moderate Fatah faction and the militant Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip in a bloody coup in June.

The king also repeated his call on the international community to provide urgently needed economic assistance to improve Palestinian living conditions, especially in the Hamas-ruled coastal strip.

Source

Bush Iran Remarks Lack Any Value

30 August 2007

Tehran-Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here Thursday the US President George W Bush's recent remarks about Iran lacked any value and contained no new points.

"Bush's remarks showed indecision, lack of wisdom and political despair. Invalidity of such statements has been proven to the world public opinion, the US representatives and even the American people," Mottaki added.

Referring to Bush's aim behind raising repeated and baseless scenarios, he said, "Bush's electoral approach is based on violence and is security-oriented. The Americans cast a negative vote to these (approaches) last year.

"The US president faces serious problems to create a campaign atmosphere for the upcoming presidential elections. He thinks he can find a breakthrough to this problem through unfounded words." He pointed to a 50-billion-dollar bill to supply weapons and escalate violence in Iraq and the region and said, "Allocation of 50 billion dollars from the pocket of American taxpayers to escalate violence in Iraq and an arms race would not save the region - a region which is trapped in instability, violence and abhorrence due to Mr. Bush's wrong policies and approaches."

Mottaki noted that incorrect information and understanding as well as hasty policy-making based on attitudes of warmonger minority in the US Central Administration are all examples of wrong, costly and tension-creating approaches by the US, which would eventually fail to bring security and stability to the region and settle increasing problems of the US officials and the American people who are fed up with wars.

He added that the way for the US statesmen to stop their repeated mistakes is through ending their pure security and militaristic approaches, paying heed to the root causes of the crises in Iraq and the Middle East, following collective wisdom, delegating the region to its main owners, and respecting people's votes and justice-based and democratic trends.

"All I Got Was a Bag of Rocks"

A journalist from Egypt who contributed to my book "America Misunderstood: What a Second Bush Victory Meant to the Rest of the World" wrote the following:

"There is a recurring theme in US presidential politics, at least from an Arab point of view. And it goes like this: while Israel is in a candy shop, choosing between a lollipop and gum, each sweeter than the other, Arabs are like Charlie Brown at Halloween--their trick or treat bag is full of rocks."

- N. Sivakumar

New Book Challenges US Support for Israel

30 August 2007

by Luis Torres de la Llosa

NEW YORK (AFP) -An upcoming book that challenges whether diplomatic and military support for Israel is in the United States' best interests is set to spark fresh debate on Washington's role in the Middle East.

"The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy," written by two of the United States' most influential political science professors, is set to hit the bookshelves next Tuesday and promises to break the taboo on the subject.

Written by John Mearsheimer from the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt from Harvard, the book follows an article they published last year that stirred impassioned debate by setting out a similar position.

Their thesis is that US endorsement of Israel is not fully explained by strategic or moral reasons, but by the pressure exerted by Jewish lobbyists, Christian fundamentalists and neo-conservatives with Zionist sympathies.

The result, according to the book, is an unbalanced US foreign policy in the Middle East, the US invasion of Iraq, the threat of war with Iran or Syria and a fragile security situation for the entire Western world.

"Israel is not the strategic asset to the United States that many claim. Israel may have been a strategic asset during the Cold War, but it has become a growing liability now that the Cold War is over," the authors said.

"Unconditional support for Israel has reinforced anti-Americanism around the world, helped fuel America's terrorism problem, and strained relations with other key allies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia," they added.

According to the two writers, "backing Israel's harsh treatment of the Palestinians has reinforced Anti-Americanism around the world and almost certainly helped terrorists recruit new followers."

Abraham Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, described the book as "an insidious, biased account of the Arab-Israeli conflict and of the role of supporters of Israel in the US," in an interview with AFP.

"Everything about American policy toward the conflict is presented in exaggerated form, as if America is completely one-sided in support of Israel and that those policies are simply the product of the Israel lobby."

He is countering Mearsheimer and Walt's book with his own title: "The Deadliest Lies. The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control," due out on the same day.

Mearsheimer and Walt highlight the three billion dollars in US economic and military aid that Israel receives every year -- more than any other country.

They also point to Washington's diplomatic support: between 1972 and 2006, the United States vetoed 42 United Nations Security Council resolutions that were critical of Israel, while watering down many others under threat of veto.

Foxman counters that the special relationship works both ways and that the United States has gained much out of its ally.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs canceled a public debate on the issue planned for September and featuring Mearsheimer and Walt when they were unable to schedule a time that Foxman could also manage.

In the conclusion of their book, Mearsheimer and Walt say that the United States must change its policy towards Israel.

"The United States would be a better ally if its leaders could make support for Israel more conditional and if they could give their Israeli counterparts more candid advice without facing a backlash from the Israel lobby."

With just over a year until the 2008 US presidential election, however, they said the issue was unlikely to even enter the debate.

"Regrettably, no. The one issue on which there will be virtually no debate is the question of whether the United States should continue to give Israel unconditional backing," they said.

Sheikh Salah: Israel wants to encroach on parts of Temple Mount

Head of Islamic Movement accuses Israel of conspiring to build Jewish Temple on Temple Mount

30 August 2007

by Ali Waked

Israel is conspiring to encroach on the Temple Mount to build a Jewish temple near the Al-Aqsa mosque, Sheikh Raed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement northern branch, said Thursday.

Salah called on Arab and Muslim nations to "prevent the division of the Al-Aqsa by Israel."

In a letter to Arab kings and leaders of Muslim countries, Salah urged all Muslims to torpedo "Israel's plan that aims at dividing the Al-Aqsa Mosque between Muslims and Jews whereas in the Jewish part it plans to build its imaginary temple."

Salah also lamented Israel's practice of allowing groups of religious Jews to visit the Temple Mount, and according to Salah, to pray and perform religious rituals.

The Temple Mount, which houses the Al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock Mosques, (allegedly) is the holiest site for Jews. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest Muslim shrine, nests just above the last remaining wall of the Temple, the Western Wall.

Salah said the whole complex was Muslim but Israel was trying to expropriate parts of it.

How to Lay a Goose Egg?

U.S. Official: Expand Abbas Forces

30 August 2007

By AMY TEIBEL

JERUSALEM -The U.S. security coordinator in the Palestinian territories wants five new Palestinian battalions deployed across the West Bank in an effort to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, according to a published report Thursday.

The proposal by Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton would require Israeli approval for arms and equipment to be transferred to the new force, the Haaretz daily cited political officials in Jerusalem as saying.

The plan, which is in the process of being fleshed out, is likely to call for the phased formation of the force, Haaretz reported. It did not say how many troops would be in each battalion or report Israeli or Palestinian comment on the proposal.

Spokesmen for Dayton and the Palestinian government could not immediately be reached for comment.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Israel was "interested in seeing the strengthening of the Palestinian government, the strengthening of its security apparatus, to enable it to more effectively fight terrorism and extremism." He did not elaborate.

In the past, Israel has balked at authorizing the flow of arms and military equipment to the Palestinians, fearing it would fall into the hands of Islamic Hamas militants. Since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip, Israel has been working to bolster Abbas' moderate West Bank-based government and cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian security forces has improved.

Last week, Congress authorized the transfer of $80 million to Dayton's operation, in a bid to reinforce Abbas against Hamas, which routed his Fatah security forces in the Gaza takeover.

Abbas' expulsion of Hamas from government after the Gaza takeover has reinvigorated international efforts to revive long-stalled Mideast peacemaking.

Past talks have broken down over questions of final borders; how Jerusalem will be shared; and whether Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war that accompanied Israel's creation would be allowed to return to their former homes in Israel, along with millions of descendants.

Olmert told visiting U.S. lawmakers this week that he would like to conclude a single-page declaration of principles with Abbas that would offer Palestinians a concept of what a future state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip would look like, while avoiding details that could derail talks, Haaretz said.

The Palestinians have said an overly general document could cause a U.S.-sponsored international peace conference to fail. The conference is expected to take place in November, and pressure is mounting on both sides to make substantial progress beforehand.

In Olmert's view, the conference's main goal is to bring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates into the diplomatic process, Haaretz said.

"The focus of the effort in the international summit will be to include elements that to date have not been part of the process," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

The deaths of three Palestinian children in an Israeli attack on militant rocket launchers in Gaza on Wednesday clouded efforts to achieve progress ahead of the November conclave.

The Israeli army said it spotted figures handling rocket launchers Wednesday afternoon and attacked them from the ground, killing the three cousins.

Maj. Tal Lev-Ram, an army spokesman, said Wednesday's incident was still being investigated. But he said children should not have been in the area. "It's a war zone," he said. "There's no reason for children to be a meter or two from a rocket launcher."

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the killings, predicting violence would breed more violence.

"This will add to the complexities and feed the fire," Erekat said.

'Lost' Israeli Soldier is Jailed

The Israeli major had to be rescued from Islamic Jihad members


29 August 2007

An Israeli army officer who mistakenly entered a Palestinian town and had to be rescued from angry residents by Palestinian forces has been jailed for his actions.

A statement from the Israeli military said a court martial found the major guilty of ignoring travel regulations in the occupied West Bank, and ordered he serve 28 days in jail.

Members of Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian armed group, said they had tried to seize the officer in the town of Jenin on Monday.

He was rescued by security men loyal to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and returned to Israeli forces.

Jenin has been considered a stronghold of resistance to Israel since the start of a Palestinian uprising against the occupation in 2000.

Abbas's Fatah faction holds sway in the West Bank and is where Abbas established a government after its rival Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June.

Source

Bush Wants a Fight

Column

29 August 2007

By Francis Matthew

The United States appears determined to have a serious confrontation with Iran, and on Tuesday this week, President George W. Bush dramatically raised the tension between the two states with an extraordinary speech warning of a nuclear holocaust in the Middle East if Iran gets nuclear weapons. He also, more chillingly, prepared the way for possible military action by announcing that he had "authorised our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities".

While it might be that this hardening of Bush's position is part of a larger plan designed to force Iran to back down from confrontation, this seems unlikely. The rhetoric that Bush used indicated how he welcomes the opportunity to enforce his views on Iran. It was horribly reminiscent of the kind of language he used about Saddam Hussain's Iraq before the invasion.

There is no sign of any readiness to compromise with Bush's demands from the Iranian side. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been determined to go his own way for months, and he has the backing of his supporters. Ahmadinejad is a former member of the Revolutionary Guards, and although he is the most prominent former guardsman in politics, there are others in parliament, and in many other spheres including business and government service. They form an informal network of people who are determinedly conservative and ready for confrontation. The present government's weakness is its economic performance and confrontation over a matter of national pride suits the government's policies, as well as acting as a popular distraction from Iran deep economic woes.

However likely a military confrontation might be, it is not likely to last long. The United States would not want to get itself stuck in a long drawn out conflict, on top of its existing commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is far more likely to use only air strikes to hit sites that it thinks contain Iran's nuclear operations. Such strikes might well invite retaliation from Iran, causing continuing incidents. But Iran might well seek to portray itself as the aggrieved party, and ask for the international community's sympathy and support, particularly since the United Nations will not support Bush given the recent breakthrough with the deal the IAEA has planned with Iran, and Bush is not likely to have any substantial allies in his adventure in Iran.

After Iraq it is hard for any country to believe the Bush administration's claims or share its aims in the Middle East.

Nuclear work

Whether any action from Bush's administration stops or delays Iran's nuclear programme, Iran is likely to continue nuclear work in some form or other. Nuclear technology has spread through the world with 31 countries running large nuclear power stations, according to a report in the Economist, and at least 15 others have said that they need nuclear power capability. Not all these states want nuclear weapons but if there is a major reactor, then it is possible to enrich the available material and develop a weapons programme. In Iran's case, what is driving Bush is the knowledge that conventional deterrence will not work well in containing any future Iranian military nuclear capability.

In an interesting paper from the Washington Institute, titled Deterring the Ayatollahs, Michael Eisenstadt argues with other authors that it would be hard to almost impossible to enforce effective deterrence on a nuclear Iran.

While supporting the present idea of sanctions, and hoping that the leadership in Iran wants to avoid isolation, the paper does not really offer much hope of success for a diplomatic solution. But if Iran got nuclear weapons, it does not foresee a very effective deterrence programme, since factional control of weapons would weaken the institutional fear of retaliation which is the heart of any deterrence programme. In addition, the United States would probably not have much international support for long term sanctions, and it is much weakened in the region after its failures in Iraq.

If confrontation will not succeed, and long term deterrence will not work, it is necessary to adopt a different route and work to mutually recognise what any state's legitimate requirements are and agree them.

The US has been happy to do deals and work with several new nuclear nations, including India, Pakistan and North Korea. It should extend the same logic to its relationship with Iran.

West's Performance Runs Counter to Democracy

30 August 2007

Madrid-Iran's Ambassador to Spain Davoud Salehi here Wednesday criticized the performance of Western countries on Iran's peaceful nuclear case, saying it runs counter to democracy.

"Under the current unstable situation in the world, the Islamic Republic of Iran faces challenges with the arrogant system led by the US," he said.

He added, "The US, European Union, developing countries and certain Western states are all in one front while Iran, which calls for establishment of justice for success of Muslims, is on the other side."

The envoy noted that the arrogant system has caused more poverty, injustice and discrimination in the world.

Canada Says Sudan Diplomat to be Ousted

29 August 2007

By ROB GILLIES

TORONTO -A Sudanese diplomat will be expelled from Canada within days in response to Sudan's decision to kick out Canada's charge d'affaires, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

The Foreign Affairs Department said the Sudanese diplomat, who has yet to be identified, will be ordered to leave the country by Saturday. Ministry officials said the diplomat would hold a similar rank to Canadian acting charge d'affaires Nuala Lawlor, who the Sudanese government ordered expelled last Thursday after accusing him of "meddling in its affairs."

"Canada considers the expulsion of our charge d'affaires to be entirely unjustified," Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said in a statement.

Along with Lawlor, Sudan said it was expelling the European Union's top diplomat in the country for "meddling" in its affairs. But the government later said it would allow Kent Degerfelt to complete the remaining three weeks of his mandate as long as he was replaced by someone new.

On Monday, Sudan also ordered out the head of CARE International's operations in the country. No reason was given for the official's expulsion, but the group had been directing one of the largest private aid efforts in Darfur.

Sudan has faced mounting criticism in the face of violence in Darfur, where 200,000 people have died since 2003 in fighting that began when ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated government, accusing it of discrimination.

The government is accused of unleashing the janjaweed militia in response — a force allegedly behind some of the worst atrocities against civilians in the region.

Stung by criticism, Sudan has taken a hard line against what it says is interference in its internal affairs by outsiders.

Iran Says U.S. Accusations on Iraq "not true"

Footage from Associated Press Television shows blindfolded men being escorted from a Baghdad hotel.

29 August 2007

By Fredrik Dahl

TEHRAN (Reuters) -Iran rejected on Wednesday U.S. accusations it was fomenting instability in Iraq, a day after President George W. Bush said Tehran's atomic ambitions could put the Middle East "under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust."

The two old foes are embroiled in a standoff over Iran's disputed nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at developing weapons but the Islamic state says is peaceful. They also blame each other for the bloodshed in Iraq.

In a further sign of growing tension, U.S. forces in Iraq said they had detained eight Iranians overnight and seized a suitcase full of money from their central Baghdad hotel but later freed them after consultations with the Iraqi government.

Iran's Foreign Ministry reacted angrily to the incident in the Iraqi capital, summoning the Swiss charge d'affaires to voice "harsh objections," Iranian state television said.

A media adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said the men had been members of an Iranian delegation invited to Iraq by the Ministry of Electricity to discuss construction of a new power plant.

The United States severed ties with Iran shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution and the Swiss embassy represents its interests in the country.

U.S. officials have often accused Iran of supplying weapons to insurgents in Iraq, but in a speech on Tuesday Bush hardened his stance by lumping Tehran and al Qaeda together.

"Iran has long been a source of trouble in the region. It is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," Bush said.

"And Iran's active pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust," he told a gathering of veterans in Reno, Nevada.

Bush's verbal attack on Iran came just hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the power of the United States was rapidly collapsing in Iraq and that Tehran was ready to step in to help fill the vacuum.

U.S. PATH "NOT FRUITFUL"

With 164,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and patience growing thin in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress and the American public, Bush has been defending his Iraq war strategy.

A report by the U.S. commander on the ground in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, due by September 15, could trigger a change in Iraq policy.

Bush warned that extremist forces would be emboldened if the United States were driven out of the region, leaving Iran to pursue a nuclear weapon and set off an arms race.

He said U.S. forces had recently seized Iran-made rockets and that attacks on American bases and troops in Iraq with Iran-supplied weapons had increased in the past few months.

"Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere. And that is why the United States is rallying friends and allies around the world to isolate the regime, to impose economic sanctions. We will confront this danger before it is too late."

He added: "I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities."

The U.N. Security Council has imposed two rounds of sanctions on Iran since December over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear work and Washington has made clear it will be pushing for more punitive measures against Tehran.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini speaks to journalists during a news conference in Tehran February 12, 2007. Iran rejected on Wednesday accusations by U.S. President George W. Bush that Tehran was fomenting instability in Iraq, and called on Washington to change its policies in the region. (Raheb Homavandi/Reuters)

Asked about the U.S. accusations, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman told Reuters: "They are not true."

Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini did not specifically comment on Bush's remarks on the nuclear issue, but Iran has repeatedly said its activities are solely aimed at generating electricity.

Hosseini said the U.S. path was neither "useful or fruitful," adding: "It is better for him (Bush) to change his point of view and political decisions."

How Bush Visited New Orleans?

29 August 2007

Midi

President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush attend a dinner with cultural and community leaders at Dooky Chase Restaurant in New Orleans, La. White House photo by Chris Greenberg.

President George W. Bush shares a moment with restaurant owner Leah Chase, center, and fellow dinner guests Dr. Norman Francis, president of Xavier University of Louisiana, left, and Reverend Fred Luter, right, during a dinner with Louisiana cultural and community leaders Tuesday evening, Aug. 28, 2007, at Dooky Chase's restaurant in New Orleans.

.Trumpeter Irvin Mayfield shows President George W. Bush the Elysian Trumpet during a dinner with cultural and community leaders Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2007, at Dooky Chase Restaurant in New Orleans, La. Dedicated to those who perished in Hurricane Katrina, the trumpet is named for the neighborhood where Mr. Mayfield's father drowned during the storm. Representing New Orlean's spirit, the instrument is decorated with symbols of the city. White House photo by Chris Greenberg.

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush pause for a moment of silence during a visit to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology in New Orleans. AP

Bush tells New Orleans: `We understand'

COMMEMORATION: In New Orleans Wednesday, President Bush commemorated Hurricane Katrina's devastating blow with a moment of silence.

REASSURING: "We're still paying attention. We understand," Bush said afterward.

DIVISON: The administration arrived armed with figures showing progress on its promises, but the front page of The Times-Picayune newspaper demanded "Treat us fairly, Mr. President."

Further Information:

President Bush Meets with New Homeowners in New Orleans Audio