Somebody is Leaving...

US 'surge' Failed, Say Most Iraqis

10 September 2007

London-An overwhelming majority of Iraqis believe that security has deteriorated across the country, despite the US military surge, according to an opinion poll carried out in all 18 provinces.

The survey, jointly commissioned by the BBC, ABC News and Japan's NHK, also suggests that nearly 60 per cent see attacks on US-led forces as justified. This rises to 93 per cent among Sunni Muslims compared to 50 per cent of Shias.

The findings, which coincide with US commander in Iraq, General David Petreus testifying to Congress about the effects of the six- month surge, is seen as a damning critique of American policy and an indication of the pessimism and violence on the ground.

British academic Toby Dodge, who was involved in running the poll, pointed to the fact that so many Iraqis saw no improvement to their safety since the US deployed an extra 30,000 troops earlier this year, bringing their number up to a record of nearly 170,000.

BBC said the findings showed that the overall mood in Iraq is as negative as it has been since the US-led invasion in 2003.

The view of nearly 70 per cent of Iraqis was shared that security was worse in areas covered by the US military 'surge' as well as elsewhere in the country.

Between 67 per cent and 70 per cent of the Iraqis polled believed the surge has hampered conditions for political dialogue and the ability of the government to carry out its work as well as damaging for reconstruction and economic development.

Only 29 per cent thought that the situation will get better in the next year, compared to 64 per cent in a poll carried out in 2005.

It was also reported that the number of people wanting coalition forces to leave immediately had risen since its last survey in February, but added that more than half, 53 per cent, still said they should stay until security improved.

In Britain, the bleak findings come as Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell called for the UK's future role in Iraq to be put at the "top of the political agenda."

Campbell, who opposed the 2003 invasion, has criticized the British government over "closing down debate" about the continued UK presence in Iraq.

"While the strategy followed in Iraq by the United States has been under constant review by the Iraq Study Group, by both houses of Congress, and now General Petraeus, the British government has failed to show the same openness," he said.

"The government has still not explained what military purpose or political objectives are being served by our presence," the Lib Dem leader was quoted saying by the parliamentary news service, epolitix.

US Plans Military Base Near Iran

The US continuously accuses Iran of destabilizing Iraq [GALLO/GETTY]

10 September 2007

The Pentagon plans to build a military base near the Iran-Iraq border, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper quoted a senior US army commander as saying that the base will be used to try and prevent the flow of weapons by Shia fighters into Iraq.

Major-General Rick Lynch, the commander of the US army’s 3rd Infantry Division, said that the Pentagon also plans to build checkpoints on major highways leading from the Iranian border to Baghdad.

X-ray machines will be installed, as well as explosive-detecting sensors, the paper reported.

Lynch also told the Journal that "we've got a major problem with Iranian munitions streaming into Iraq. This Iranian interference is troubling and we have to stop it".

The base will be located about four miles from the Iranian border and will be used for at least two years.

'Cutting-off supplies'

US officials told the paper that it is unclear whether it will be among the small number of facilities that would remain in Iraq after any future withdrawal from the US military.

The report comes on the same day as General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, present a report to the US congress on the war.

Jonathan Withington, a Pentagon spokesman, told Reuters news agency that he could not comment on the specifics of the planned base, but said that "coalition and Iraqi partners will continue to put pressure on the enemy, including disruptions of any supply lines, in an effort to reduce violence and to protect the Iraqi people".

Major Toby Logsdon, a US officer overseeing the project, said the new base will have living quarters for at least 200 soldiers, who could arrive in November.

Logsdon said: "Iran will know this is here - they will have to rethink how they do things, and the smugglers will have to rethink how they do things."

US officials accuse Iran of fomenting violence to destabilise Iraq and of seeking to build nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear programme, charges Iran has denied.

Source

UNRWA Appeals for Massive Aid to Palestinians Displaced from Nahr el Bared Camp

The Nahr al-Bared camp has seen heavy fighting since Lebanese soldiers came under attack after arresting bank robbery suspects on Sunday-23 May 2007.

10 September 2007

Bethlehem – Ma'an – The United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) made an emergency appeal Monday for 55 million dollars it says are needed to aid the population of Nahr el Bared refugee camp in Lebanon. Much of the population fled the camp since May during heavy fighting between the Lebanese army and fighters affiliated with the group Fatah al-Islam.

UNRWA Commissioner General Karen Abu Zayd launched the appeal in Beirut Monday alongside Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, an UNRWA statement said. The money is needed to provide food, shelter, water, and other basic services for the residents of the camp, many of whom have fled to other refugee camps.

According to UNRWA, "A high percentage of the camp’s infrastructure had been 'put out of action,'" by the fighting.

Abu Zayd also said UNRWA is planning for "a full and safe return for those displaced from the Nahr el Bared camp," so long as the funds are secured.

Israeli Forces Invade Jenin and Qabatiya

10 September 2007

Jenin – Ma'an – Israeli forces on Monday invaded Jenin refugee camp and Qabatiya village, both in the northern West Bank, and were confronted by Palestinian resistance fighters.

The Israeli troops stormed several homes in the area and met with resistance. No injuries were reported.

More than forty Israeli military vehicles surrounded western Qabatiya and central Jenin.

The Israeli forces converted homes into military posts and began searching for so-called 'wanted' Palestinians.

The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, said that they clashed with the Israeli forces, but no fighters were wounded.

Al-Qaeda Television?

Sorrow of Terrorism

Commentary

9 September 2007

by HRH Deborah

With the threat of the coming Al-Qaeda tape brings to mind, how I actually feel about terrorism. I will be adamant that I am against terrorism in any form; whether it is those who are working outside of Islam against Sharia law or the laws of humanity as a whole.

No one should spread terror in any manner even if they use it in the name of this or that, the bottom line is it is wrong and I will never agree in the harm of anyone.

As I have expressed before, no one should commit illegal acts, but to the contrary; we as people upon this earth are suppose to love one another; as well as help each other, never create harm of one hair upon a head.

The Olmert-Abbas Relationship

The World According to Olmert

PM Olmert: "We can't reveal IDF operations"

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert praises IDF for 'courageous', 'unusual' operations but does not mention reported Israeli overflights in Syrian airspace

9 September 2007

by Roee Nahmias

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert praised the IDF for its "courageous" and "unusual" operations at Sunday's cabinet meeting, but did not directly refer to the reported overflights in Syrian airspace or to the capture, according to Palestinian sources, of a top Hamas official in the Gaza Strip.

"I want to express my appreciation of the security forces's courageous and unusual operations that are aimed at impeding the activities of terror groups," he said.

"These are operations whose nature we cannot always reveal to the public, naturally. There were numerous operations that Israel carried out against leaders of terror groups, and these operations will continue without hesitation. Anyone who sends terrorists will be targeted wherever he is," Olmert said.

The Syrian government said last week that Israeli aircraft entered Syrian airspace from the Mediterranean Sea before dawn Thursday and jettisoned fuel tanks near the Turkish border as they broke the sound barrier.

A Lebanese newspaper reported Sunday that Syria began a large call-up of reserve soldiers in preparation for a possible military confrontation with Israel.

The An-Nahar daily said Syria was also spearheading a diplomatic campaign against Israel by sending its foreign minister to Ankara where he would present Turkish officials with concrete proof of Israel's aerial violation of Syrian airspace.

Turkey pressed Israel for explanations over the incident on Saturday.

Israel has remained largely mum over the reports and Olmert ordered government ministers not to speak to the media about the incident.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem held talks with ambassadors of European countries in Damascus before flying to Ankara, Arabic media outlets reported Sunday.

Footage of fuel tanks along the Turkish-Syrian border was shown Saturday on Turkish TV. Turkish military experts said the tanks were dropped by Israeli pilots to make their aircraft lighter, which facilitates a faster escape out of Syrian airspace.

European diplomats linked the incident to Iran's nuclear program, saying the overflights were aimed at identifying discreet aerial passages to Iran from northern Syria.

IDF Chief of Staff Lit-Gen Gabi Ashkenazi is expected to voice his opposition to a large-scale military operation against terror groups in the Gaza Strip in light of the tension along Israel's border with Syria.

Israel is weighing a military operation in Gaza as pressure mounts on the government to quell daily rocket attacks against southern
towns and kibbutzim.

Palestinian sources reported Saturday that an undercover IDF unit snatched a top Hamas official from his car in southern Gaza few days ago.

Israeli experts said Mahawesh Al-Kadi possesses key information about Hamas's arms smuggling from Egypt as well as the kidnapping of IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit by Hamas-led gunmen last year.

'Don't give me fairy tales'

Father of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit calls on government to do more to free son

9 September 2007

by Yaakov Lappin

Noam Shalit, whose son Gilad was abducted last year during a Palestinian assault on an IDF position, called on the Israeli government to show "creativity and consistency" in finding channels to secure his son's release, during a speech on Sunday to a Herzliya counter-terrorism conference.

"To decision makers I say, don't give me fairy tales on the need to establish deterrence, on the back of a single 19-year-old soldier," Shalit said.

"Israel must operate in all ways to free him, and show consistency and creativity. And if any channel is not working, switch to a second channel," he added.

Shalit added that every IDF soldier placed on Israel's borders "should be worried" following the kidnapping of his son, and expressed disappointment with Israel's government for failing to free his son.

Shalit cited the IDF doctrine which calls for the utmost effort to retrieve soldiers behind enemy lines, "whether they have been wounded, killed, or taken captive," adding that most of last week's medals of valor given to IDF soldiers who served in the Second Lebanon War were distributed for rescue operations under fire.

No to illegal Occupation

A United Palestine!

Another Cell of Israeli Neo-Nazi's Arrested

Three of the eight Russian-Israeli suspects, who are accused in being members of a neo-Nazi cell, are seen during a court appearance in the central Israeli town of Ramle, Sunday, September 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

9 September 2007

Video

The police on Sunday said they've cracked a cell of young Israeli neo-Nazis accused in a string of attacks on foreign workers, religious Jews, drug addicts and gays.

All the suspects are in their late teens or early 20s and have Israeli citizenship, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

"The level of violence was outrageous," Maj. Revital Almog, who investigated the case, told Israel's Army Radio.

A court decided Sunday to keep the young men in custody. They covered their faces with their shirts during the hearing, revealing their tattooed arms, and did not comment.

The gang documented its activities on film and in photographs. Israeli TV stations showed grainy footage of people lying helpless on floors while several people kicked them, and of a man getting hit from behind on the head with an empty bottle.

Gang member's Nazi salute, Photo courtesy of the Israeli police.

Police found knives, spiked balls, explosives and other weapons in the suspects' possession, Rosenfeld said. One photo that was seized showed one suspect holding an M16 rifle in one hand and in the other, a sign reading "Heil Hitler," he added.

The group planned its attacks, and its targets were foreign workers from Asia, drug addicts, homosexuals, punks and Jews who wore skullcaps. In one case they discussed planning a murder, Rosenfeld said, without providing details.

Some of the victims filed official complaints with police, and other victims were identified after police viewed the films and photos.

Under Israeli law, a person can claim citizenship if a parent or grandparent has Jewish roots. Authorities say that formulation allowed many Soviets with questionable ties to Judaism to immigrate here after the Soviet Union disintegrated. About 1 million Soviets moved here in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Rosenfeld said all the suspects had "parents or grandparents who were Jewish in one way or another."

Israel doesn't specifically have a hate crimes law, and suspects in past cases have been tried as Holocaust deniers, he said.

Amos Herman, an official with the semiofficial Jewish Agency, called the gang a group of frustrated, disgruntled youths trying to strike at the nation's most sensitive core.

"We thought that it would never happen here, but it has and we have to deal with it," he said.

The Israeli’s Deny on this case, that their have been other cell’s of Neo-Nazi’s within Israel over the years.

Israel Plan Attack in Gaza?

9 September 2007

Israel is inching closer to a scale attack on the Gaza Strip, Israeli media have reported.

A military source told Radio Israel, "These actions are not planned to destroy Hamas, but rather to limit its ability to operate."

The excuse being that allegedly Hamas and the Islamic Jihad movements, “continued develop home-made projectiles, which are increasing in their range.”

The Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported Thursday Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying that Israel is 'moving closer' to an 'extensive' military operation in Gaza. The paper also said information from the Israeli military suggests that "no troop buildup or other preparations are being made in the Southern Command for immediate action."

A Good Play

We built a ship upon the stairs
All made of the back-bedroom chairs,
And filled it full of sofa pillows
To go a-sailing on the billows.

We took a saw and several nails,
And water in the nursery pails;
And Tom said, "Let us also take
An apple and a slice of cake;"--
Which was enough for Tom and me
To go a-sailing on, till tea.

We sailed along for days and days,
And had the very best of plays;
But Tom fell out and hurt his knee,
So there was no one left but me.

-Robert Louis Stevenson

Bush’s, Where am I Summit?

President George W. Bush arrives on day two of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Summit at the Sydney Opera House September 7, 2007. REUTERS/APEC2007 taskforce/Handout

Bush Shows Gift of Gaffe at APEC Summit

7 September 2007

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Even for someone as gaffe-prone as U.S. President George W. Bush, he was in rare form on Friday, confusing APEC with OPEC and transforming Australian troops into Austrians.

Bush's tongue started slipping almost as soon as he started talking at a business forum on the eve of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney.

"Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction," he told Prime Minister John Howard. "Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit."

As the audience of several hundred people erupted in laughter, Bush corrected himself and joked, "He invited me to the OPEC summit next year." Australia has never been a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Later in his speech, Bush recounted how Howard had gone to visit "Austrian troops" last year in Iraq. There are, in fact, no Austrian troops there. But Australia has about 1,500 Australian military personnel in and around the country.

Upon finishing his speech, Bush took the wrong way off-stage and, looking slightly perplexed, had to be re-directed by Howard to a centre-stage exit.

But not before a veteran White House correspondent seized the opportunity to ask Bush whether there had been any new message in his speech. Apparently misunderstanding the question, he bristled and asked, "Haven't you been listening to my past speeches?" before turning away.

Bush is no stranger to the occasional faux pas, and often jokes about his habit of mangling the English language.

One of his highest-profile gaffes came in May when, at a welcoming ceremony for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, he nearly placed her in the 18th century.

Then there was the famous incident at the G8 summit in St. Petersburg in 2006 when Bush, unaware he was on camera, greeted British Prime Minister Tony Blair with the words "Yo Blair."

Bush's sometimes muddled syntax and mispronunciation of words like nuclear ("nukular") have long been fodder for late-night TV comedians. But aides say his folksy style has helped endear him to Middle America.

67% of World Population Wants US Pull out from Iraq

London – Shaaban 25, 1428/ September 07, 2007 – Most people across the world believe US-led forces should withdraw from Iraq within a year, a BBC poll suggests. Some 39% of people in 22 countries said troops should leave now, and 28% backed a gradual pull-out. Just 23% wanted them to stay until Iraq was safe. In the US, one-in-four supported an immediate withdrawal, while 32% wanted Iraq's security issues to be resolved before bringing the troops home.

The BBC World Service commissioned the survey of 23,193 people. In the survey, people were asked whether coalition troops should pull out of Iraq immediately, commit to a gradual withdrawal over a year, or leave when the security situation improves.

In 19 countries, the majority of those questioned believed troops should be withdrawn either immediately or within a year. Just three countries - Kenya, the Philippines and India - did not have an overall majority favoring withdrawal within a year.

Large numbers of people questioned in India (36%) declined to comment or said they "didn't know". Muslim countries including Indonesia (65%), Turkey (64%) and Egypt (58%) were among those most eager for troops to be withdrawn immediately. But an immediate pull-out was much less popular in Australia (22%), the US (24%) and UK (27%) - the countries with most troops deployed in Iraq.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi minister said the most vital need is help from Iraq's neighbors. "Getting out of Iraq now probably the situation will be worsened; but, if our neighboring countries ceased involving themselves in Iraq, probably the situation will be improved definitely," Education Minister Abid Dhyab Al Ajili told the BBC. "So it depends on our neighboring countries.

Definitely I feel, if the American troops pulled out of Iraq, I think the situation will be improved in the long term." In recent days, leaders from the US, Australia and the UK have said troops must stay in Iraq until the country is safe. All three countries say they have a commitment to the Iraqi people to remain there until local forces are able to ensure their security.

But Doug Miller of Globescan, which carried out the research, said the results of the survey showed "the weight of global public opinion" was against them. The respondents were also asked whether they believed the US would leave a permanent military presence in Iraq. Half of those questioned believed the US would have bases in Iraq permanently, while 36% assumed all troops would withdraw once Iraq was stabilized.

The findings suggest support for keeping foreign troops in Iraq until security has improved has fallen significantly since an earlier World Service poll released in February 2006. The BBC's world affairs correspondent, Nick Childs, says it is not surprising, more than four years on from a controversial invasion, that international public opinion on the foreign troop presence should now be so negative. He added that the Bush administration has been battling perceptions that its aim has been to establish a permanent military presence in Iraq as part of a regional strategy - something it has denied.

Lakeland Family Separated By Rules at Airport in Israel

7 children, declared Palestinians, must stay.

6 September 2007

By Cary McMullen

Video

LAKELAND The summer wasn't supposed to end like this for the family of Steve and Wedad Yacoub.
The Lakeland family was separated on Aug. 18 at an Israeli airport as they attempted to return home from a summer visiting relatives in Palestine.

Although the Yacoubs are naturalized U.S. citizens and all their children were born in America, Israeli officials told them they had been designated Palestinian citizens.

They would not allow Wedad Yacoub and 10 of her children to board the flight.

She was forced to choose between remaining in Palestine with the children or return with the three youngest, leaving the other seven behind.

"I begged them. I was crying, the kids were crying. I was very angry," Wedad Yacoub said Wednesday.

Finally, after arranging for the older children to be picked up by relatives and hoping they would follow in a few days, she flew home with her children, ages 10, 5 and 3.

The others, ranging in age from 11 to 22, were driven back to their grandmother's home in Ramallah, where they remain caught in a bureaucratic and political tangle. The family says the U.S. State Department has told them there is little they can do.

At a news conference Wednesday in Tampa, officials with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil-rights group, said the Yacoubs have only two options: continue to press U.S. government officials to persuade Israel to allow the children to leave, or to send them home through Amman, Jordan, a lengthy and expensive process.

Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the council's Tampa chapter, said Continental Airlines has rebooked reservations for the children today at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, but that is where they were denied permission to return, and the family is not hopeful they will be allowed to depart.

"They hate it so much. They are crying on the phone every day, 'I want to come back,'" said Wedad Yacoub.

The Yacoub family is well-known in North Lakeland, where four children graduated from Lake Gibson High School and two currently are enrolled there. Another two are enrolled at Lake Gibson Middle School.

"They're good kids, excellent students, all honors-level," said Ralph Gilchrest, principal of Lake Gibson High.

"They're very easy to get along with. They follow the rules, they're mannerly and involved with their school."

Ramy Yacoub, 18, graduated from Lake Gibson in May. He was on the school's wrestling team.

A teammate, Brent Jorge, said he and Ramy would go fishing and see movies together. He said he thought it was "ridiculous" his friend had not been allowed to come home.

"He's American to everyone here. His skin is different, but he's just like everyone else," Jorge said.

Steve Yacoub, the children's father, owns a convenience store in Lakeland. He is a native of Palestine, but has been an American citizen for about 30 years.

As they have each summer for the past four years, in June the Yacoub family traveled to Palestine to visit relatives. They were admitted entry into Palestine through Israel on three-month visas, said Wedad Yacoub. This year, the visit included weddings. Twin brothers Ibrahim and Yacoub Yacoub, 22, got married in Ramallah in July.

There was a hint of problems to come when Steve Yacoub, traveling separately, was denied entry. He was forced to return to the United States and enter the Palestinian territory through Jordan.

The Yacoub's eldest child, a daughter, Palestine Yacoub, who is pregnant, was also turned away and chose not to make the trip

On Aug. 18, as they tried to return home, Israeli security officials told the children their father's Palestinian heritage disqualified them from traveling as American citizens, Wedad Yacoub said.

A new rule was adopted by Israel in March, stating that citizens of other countries who are of Palestinian heritage may be designated as Palestinian residents and forced to leave the country through Jordan, even if they possess round-trip airline tickets and, as in the Yacoubs' case, U.S. passports. For the Yacoubs, that means an 18-hour wait at a border checkpoint, forfeiting their return-trip tickets and buying new tickets at a cost of about $16,000.

Bedier, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the family was told the problem could be solved if they signed a paper renouncing their Palestinian heritage and all future intention to become Palestinian citizens.

The Yacoubs immediately contacted U.S. State Department officials, who were sympathetic, but told the family it was Israeli policy.

Bedier said his organization had sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Aug. 29, urging her intervention.

"Our organization has received a rise in complaints over the summer from folks traveling in the West Bank as far as unfair treatment by the Israeli authorities, either on their way in or out. ... We find that this treatment is unacceptable, that no American citizen should be subjected to this kind of humiliation. We're puzzled by the double standard in the treatment," he said.

Ariel Roman, director of media affairs for the Israeli Consulate General in Miami, said his office was awaiting information from the Israeli government but offices there were closed for the night.

Keith Rupp, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, who has been working with the Yacoub family, said Wednesday that according to information from the State Department, the Israelis were holding fast to their policy, which they ascribed to "rising violence" in the Palestinian territory.

"We're not quite sure how they arrived at this decision. ... Our goal is to see an American family reunited," he said.

Rupp said the State Department posted a notice to travelers on its Web site about the new policy, then issued an enhanced warning in July, but the Yacoubs said they had no hint the rules had changed and had never encountered difficulty traveling to Palestine before.

The Yacoubs said they will not wait much longer to find a way to get their children home.

"I can't wait. I need my kids back," said Steve Yacoub Wednesday. "They're missing school, they're missing everything."