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BAGHDAD – U.S.-backed Iraqi troops seized a launcher loaded with more than a dozen Iranian-made rockets and detained three suspected militants after an attack against the American base outside the southern city of Basra, officials said Tuesday. Col. Karim al-Zaidi said the missiles were found in an eastern section of Iraq's second largest city after rockets targeted the U.S. base Monday evening. The U.S. military confirmed that 16 rockets were found and three suspects detained by Iraqi troops who responded to the attack. It said no casualties were reported.

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea said Tuesday it is preparing to shoot a satellite into orbit, its clearest reference yet to an impending launch that neighbors and the U.S. suspect will be a provocative test of a long-range missile.

The office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Saturday issued a statement saying that Israel will not agree to a cease-fire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip unless abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit is freed. "The prime minister's position is that Israel will not reach understandings on a truce before the release of Gilad Shalit," the statement said.

The MSM, reporting from Gaza City is once again showing its bias against Israel. By reporting an Israeli reaction to an act of violence at the beginning of an article, the intent is to cast the IDF and Israel in the worst possible light. The roadside bomb which killed an Israeli soldier and wounded three others, mentioned initially in the second paragraph without explanation and then in the third paragraph where you finally see for the first time that the air strike, the lead idea in the report, was in response to an attack on an Israeli patrol. more

Hamas officials in Cairo have proposed a year-long truce with Israel and an opening of the crossings into the Gaza Strip, in the latest round of diplomatic meetings to build on a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Hamas official Ayman Taha told reporters in Cairo on Sunday that his delegation was briefed by the Egyptians on an Israeli proposal for a year-and-a-half long truce with only partial opening of the border, which they rejected. Instead, Taha says the group made a counter offer of a year with open borders, which they now must discuss with their leadership in Damascus.

Who could be surprised by the following Haaretz report? The Israel Air Force on Tuesday evening bombed a target in the Gaza Strip used earlier in the day [by] Palestinian militants to fire eight mortar shells at Israel. Militants on Tuesday also opened fire at Israel Defense Forces soldiers in Gaza in two separate incidents, in the first violation of a shaky cease-fire in the coastal strip that ended Israel’s 3-week offensive against Hamas. Even though the coverage leads with Israel’s bombs, the cease-fire was broken by Palestinian rockets and guns. This doesn’t scream out “sustainable and durable.” Up until...

It is comforting to know that Israel’s leaders, for the last 15 years, have and continue to make the right decisions at the right time. Shimon Peres was right when he spearheaded the move to let Yassar Arafat back into Israel and be given the Gaza Strip and Jericho on a silver platter. Peres and then prime minister Yitzchak Rabin were right when they signed the Oslo peace deal essentially ceding most of Judea and Samaria to the PLO, all in exchange for… for… in exchange for anything? The Palestinian Liberation Organization whose very existence was predicated on sowing death...

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has announced an immediate ceasefire with Israel in Gaza.A statement read by a Hamas spokesman said the group would hold fire for a week to give Israel time to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip. The move came hours after a unilateral Israeli ceasefire came into effect. The cessation of hostilities was earlier cast into doubt by fresh rocket fire into Israel and an Israeli air strike on militants in Gaza. High alertHamas' deputy chief in Syria, Moussa Abou Marzouk, said the ceasefire was in the name of all "Palestinian resistance factions". "We... announce...

Sunday, Jan. 18, Hamas leader Mussa Abu Marzuk in Damascus declared an immediate ceasefire on behalf of all the Palestinian organizations conditional on Israel's withdrawal from Gaza within a week. A few minutes later, two rockets exploded in two kibbutzim near the Gaza border, topping 15 fired earlier at Sderot, Ashkelon, Eshkol, Ashdod and Kiryat Gat. DEBKAfile's military sources report that armed Hamas units are moving to take control of the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces redeploy ready to withdraw.

GAZA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Hamas said on Sunday it would cease fire immediately along with other militant groups in the Gaza Strip and give Israel, which already declared a unilateral truce, a week to pull its troops out of the territory.

BEIRUT, Jan 17 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday that if Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire in the Gaza Strip it should include a timetable for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Hamas-ruled enclave. Israel is planning to announce on Saturday a halt to its three-week Gaza offensive without any deal with Hamas, an Israeli official said.

Israel declares ceasefire in Gaza Israel is to halt its three-week military offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said. Israel had achieved the aims of its operation, Mr Olmert said, and a unilateral Israeli ceasefire would take effect from 0200 (2400 GMT). Earlier, a Hamas spokesman said it would fight until its demands were met. Nearly 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the violence began on 27 December. Thirteen Israelis have died. Minutes before Mr Olmert was due to speak, a rocket was fired from Gaza, a BBC producer in Gaza said. 'Goals...

(IsraelNN.com) The cabinet has voted to accept a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza. Two ministers voted against the proposal and one abstained from voting.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel plans to halt its Gaza offensive without any deal with Hamas, an Israeli official said on Saturday, in an apparent effort to deny the Islamist group any gains from the three-week-old conflict. Hamas leaders in exile have vowed to fight on, but many of the 1.5 million Palestinians enduring incessant bombardment and privation in Gaza seemed desperate for their ordeal to end. "The goal is to announce, subject to cabinet approval, a suspension of military activities because we believe our goals have been attained," said the official, asking not to be named.

This morning, Hamas leader in hiding Khaled Mashaal rejected Israel's conditions for a Gaza cease-fire and demanded an immediate opening of the territory's borders, taking a tough line Friday as he asked Arab countries to back him by cutting off any ties with Israel. The Hamas government in hiding is arguing with the Hamas government in Gaza whether they have been defeated. Mashaal was attending a conference of Arab leaders taking place in Quatar. The summit was boycotted by some of the more "moderate" Arab countries Egypt & Saudi Arabia. It looks as if the gap between the moderate and...

Last week in the conference call with bloggers, myself included, Gen. Effie Eitam advised that Israel was going to pulverize Gaza City and would not agree to a ceasefire without recovering Corp Shalit. Then the talk of a lousy ceasefire filled the news and I thought that Effie mislead us. But now I think not. From the getgo, Israel managed the war and the message brilliantly. First of all, the press was barred from Gaza even though the Israel SC ordered that they be permitted in. The diplomatic core stayed on message and the IDF shut up. All to the...

No details, reported on Fox

UNITED NATIONS/GAZA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip but Israeli warplanes launched intermittent attacks on Friday. After days of intense haggling, the Security Council passed a resolution urging an "immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire", and for Israel to withdraw from Gaza after a 14-day air-and-ground offensive. The United States abstained. The resolution, pressed for by Arab countries in the face of efforts by Britain, France and the United States for a more muted statement, called for arrangements to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza and for its borders to...

Some truths, proclaimed Thomas Jefferson, are “self-evident,” including the notion that people are “endowed by their Creator” with the right of self-defense. Other truths have been so well established by empirical evidence that there is no need to offer further facts or explanations on their behalf. Such is the case with the following statement: Since the birth of the modern state of Israel in 1948, a group of sovereign nations, acting directly or through terrorist surrogates, has subjected Israelis to a systematic campaign of murder and hate so mindlessly vicious that it leaves us astonished at the human capacity for...

For nine days, as European and United Nations officials have called urgently for a cease-fire in Gaza, the Bush administration has squarely blamed the rocket attacks of the Palestinian militant group Hamas for Israel’s assault, maintaining to the end its eight-year record of stalwart support for Israel. Mr. Bush, in his weekly radio address on Saturday, said the United States did not want a “one-way cease-fire” that allowed Hamas to keep up its rocket fire, and Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday echoed the point, declaring that only a “sustainable, durable” peace would be acceptable. Many Middle East experts say...

In recent days CNN has been playing an interview with Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti in which he claims that Israel broke the ceasefire with Hamas by launching an attack in November, and that the current fighting is therefore the fault of Israel rather than the Palestinians. Barghouti also charged that Israel’s supposed blockade of Gaza was a further violation of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico – Mexico's warring cartels are negotiating a truce that, if it holds, could end one of the bloodiest eras since the 1910-20 Mexican Revolution, according to a U.S. official and experts familiar with the talks. A peace agreement would be the second in two years and, like the last one, its chances of surviving are slim, the U.S. official said. "In the end, greed prevails over reason," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Last year was one of the bloodiest ever, with more than 5,700 people killed nationwide, including 1,600 in Ciudad Juárez. "These guys...

<p>WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused the militant Hamas organization of holding the people of Gaza hostage Friday and said the United States continues to seek a "durable and sustainable" cease-fire.</p> <p>Speaking to reporters in the White House driveway after a meeting with President George W. Bush, Rice also said that the United States remains "very concerned about the situation there and is working very hard with our partners around the world."</p>

December 28, 2008 UK and Vatican Call for Cease Fire in Gaza by Bill Levinson The United Kingdom has called for an “immediate halt” to violence in Gaza, while the Pope called upon “all sides” to end the violence. We do not recall either Britain or the Vatican speaking up when Hamas was pouring rockets and mortar shells into Israel. We therefore do not see why Israel should even listen to anything that either entity has to say now that Hamas is reaping what it has sown.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128941 'Ceasefire' Over, Gaza Terrorists Add Sniper Fire to Arsenal by Hana Levi Julian (IsraelNN.com) The firing at farmers in the field is the final piece of evidence on the end of the 'calm' Gaza terrorists began the first official day after the end of the so-called "temporary ceasefire" early Friday morning with the usual barrage of Kassam rockets aimed at the western Negev. The attacks began at the usual hour, approximately 7:30 a.m., when Jewish children are walking to school and their parents and other adults are on their way to work, thus maximizing the chances of the missiles...

ST. PAUL, MINN. - Republican John McCain's primary campaign almost collapsed last year under the weight of opponents' attacks that he backed "amnesty" for illegal immigrants. As McCain prepares to accept his party's nomination for president tonight, past critics of the Arizona senator's position have rallied behind his candidacy. McCain, meanwhile, has backed away from signature immigration legislation and signed off on a party platform that makes a fence along the Mexican border a priority. The party's Twin Cities unity on immigration bridges, for now, an increasingly charged ideological rift for Republican candidates and campaigns. "We don't go around talking...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2008 – Though “significant Russian movements” have taken place in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Russia still is not living up to the terms of the cease-fire agreement, a senior Defense Department official said here today. “There is still a sizeable Russian presence in Georgia. … They’ve established some self-declared security zones, observation posts and checkpoints and the like,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in a meeting with reporters. “All are a reflection that they are not living up to the agreement.” The mission of the U.S. military in the country now is to provide humanitarian...

...As he was speaking, Russian armored fighting vehicles, tanks and troop transport trucks were staged alongside the side of the road between Gori and Igoeti. The deputy head of the Russian military's general staff, Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, told media in Moscow that there were no troops in Gori. But a McClatchy journalist on Saturday saw dozens of military vehicles pouring out of the city. The Russians denied destroying the railroad bridge, not far from Igoeti. The blast suspended Azeri rail transportation of crude oil across Georgia to Black Sea ports, according to Russian state media. The Georgian government provided...

IGOETI, Georgia -- Russia and its allied forces today destroyed a key railway bridge linking war-weary Georgia's capital to the Black Sea coast, effectively severing all east-west transportation routes within the small country, the Georgian Foreign Ministry announced.

Sponsors of a UN Security Council resolution to formalize the ceasefire deal between Russia and Georgia pushed for a vote by week's end, but Moscow balked at inserting any reference to Georgia's territorial integrity. "Yes ideally, we would like a vote this weekend," a Western diplomat close to the bargaining involving European, US and Russian diplomats told AFP Friday. "But we'll take as long as it takes. We are not going to push for a vote if we know that the Russians will veto the text -- which does not mean we have to give in to all their demands......

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2008 – A cease-fire agreement signed today by the president of the former Soviet republic of Georgia calls for Russian troops to immediately leave his country, America’s senior diplomat said in the Georgian capital today. “And now, with the signature of the Georgian president on this cease-fire accord, all Russian troops and any irregular and paramilitary forces that entered with them must leave immediately,” U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said during a news conference in Tbilisi with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili at her side. President Bush dispatched Rice to Europe to assist in resolving a now...

Choosing expediency over principle, the United States and its allies are pushing Georgia's pro-Western government to accept major concessions in a cease-fire with Russia. Despite warnings of serious consequences for Russia for its invasion of the former Soviet republic, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to Georgia on Friday to try to persuade its leadership to agree to a deal that expands the mandate of Russian troops on Georgian territory. The French-mediated proposal calls for the immediate withdrawal of Russian combat troops from Georgia, but allows Russian peacekeepers who were in the flashpoint separatist area of South Ossetia before last...

Russian troops are indiscriminately murdering civilians and interning them in concentration camps, the embattled Georgian president charged yesterday, as he begged the West not to "appease" Moscow as it did with Nazi Germany. The startling accusations came as Russian troops blatantly violated a cease-fire by sending an armored convoy through the strategic city of Gori. The invaders first poured into Georgia five days ago - ostensibly in defense of a pro-Moscow breakaway region, South Ossetia. "What they are doing is exactly what Stalin did to Finland, what they've done to Afghanistan, what in the Second World War Germany was doing...

GORI, Georgia (AP) - Plans for Russian troops to leave the key Georgian city of Gori appear to have broken down. Early Thursday, the Georgian Interior Ministry said Russian forces were leaving the city that they had taken the day before even though a cease-fire was in effect. (snip) But around midday, the Georgian officials left and some 15 SUVs filled with Georgian soldiers approached a Russian checkpoint on the city's outskirts, pointing guns at the Russian soldiers who then lay in the ground and appeared to prepare for combat. Several Russian tanks then hurried to the position and the...

TBILISI, Georgia-As news spread that the presidents of Georgia and Russia had agreed on a French-brokered cease-fire to the fighting that began last week, the capital of Tbilisi erupted in celebration. Thousands of people crammed onto Rustaverli avenue, and young Georgians, wrapped in white banners reading "Stop Russia," gathered in front of the Parliament building for a rally that lasted until early this morning. Some held candles; others carried Georgian and EU flags that had been handed out on the spot. When leaders of Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Georgia appeared before the crowd, the people chanted, "Sakartvelo!," an old...

Energy: Russia's bloody invasion of a smaller neighbor whose territory includes a vital oil pipeline has left many people wondering: What can we do? Plenty, it turns out — including some things right here at home.Russian President Dmitri Medvedev announced he was halting Russia's air and ground attack on Georgia, but someone forgot to tell Russia's military. It has continued its brutal assault, with news reports that Russian troops have started looting, raping and savagely attacking Georgian civilians. It's clear former President Vladimir Putin, not his handpicked successor Medvedev, is calling the shots. Putin's made no secret of the fact...

  Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine who is under consideration as a possible running mate for Barack Obama gave the Senator credit for the Russian ceasefire in Georgia.From ABC News' Jake Tapper."The Senator's goal was to be tough and smart," Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, "and so when the action (in Georgia) happened on Thursday, he immediately called for a ceasefire, condemned the unwarranted use of force by Russia.  It was a bad crisis for the world.  It required tough words, but also a smart approach to call on the international community to step in --...

President Bush dispatched US military hardware to the heart of the Caucasus today and warned Russia that it could be frozen out of international bodies as punishment for its aggression in Georgia. In his toughest criticism of Russia since becoming President, Mr Bush accused Moscow of breaching the provisional ceasefire agreed with Georgia just 24 hours earlier. He cited intelligence showing that Russian troops had again taken the town of Gori and could now divide the country and threaten the capital Tbilisi. He insisted that Moscow respect the former Soviet republic’s territorial integrity. There were also reports of Russian-backed militia...

The Sun witnessed the latest horror as a blood-splattered tot was rushed screaming to a shattered hospital in the gateway city of Gori. It was 5pm — four hours after fighting should have stopped. The one-year-old boy with an ugly head wound was carried from a police car. With him was his uninjured sister, three — smeared with his blood. Minutes later, a second cop car screeched to a halt. Inside was the children’s mother, in agony from gunshot wounds in her right shoulder and leg. She was loaded on to a trolley. After a brief examination all three were...

RUSSIA last night violated its ceasefire with Georgia, sending an armoured convoy deeper into the Western-aligned former Soviet republic less than a day after the deal was brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. About 60 tanks, armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles left the key Georgian town of Gori and was headed towards the capital Tbilisi, 75km away. Russian soldiers leaned out of the windows of the trucks shouting "Tbilisi! Tbilisi!'' and waving Russian flags, about 10km south of Gori, from where Georgian forces last Friday launched their offensive on the breakaway province of South Ossetia. The move out of...

TBILISI, Georgia - Georgia's president said early Wednesday that he agreed to the "general principals" [sic] of a plan for ending fighting with Russian troops in his country. The cease-fire plan brokered by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France calls for both Russian and Georgian troops to return to their positions before fighting erupted around the breakaway province of South Ossetia last week.

Georgia and Russia agree on truce Russian troops have pulled back through Abkhazia Russia and Georgia have agreed a truce brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and have approved the principles of a full peace plan. The exact details of the proposals appeared to be still under discussion. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili suggested some details agreed by Russia were unacceptable and said the document needed fleshing out. Earlier, Russia announced its military activity in the area was completed and witnesses saw troops pulling out. But despite the diplomacy and apparent withdrawal, rhetoric on both sides remained fiery and analysts...

French president Nicolas Sarkozy said Russia and Georgia had agreed to a ceasefire but had not agreed to a peace deal after a meeting in Moscow this afternoon with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. "We do not yet have peace deal, we have a provisional cessation of hostilities but this is significant progress," Mr Sarkozy said Mr Medvedev criticized Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili, saying he had acted like a "lunatic" and had lied about a ceasefire during the conflict over South Ossetia. "You know, lunatics' difference from other people is that when they smell blood it is very difficult to stop...

Russian news reports are quoting President Dmitri Medvedev ordering a halt to Russian military action in Georgia.

Russia's president has ordered an end to the conflict with Georgia. "I have taken the decision to end the operation to force Georgian authorities into peace," Dmitry Medvedev was quoted as saying. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Boris Malakhov confirmed the order to Sky News. Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay, speaking from Tibilisi, said the Russians had probably achieved their goal of pushing Georgian forces far enough back inside their borders to prevent further attacks on the rebel province of South Ossetia. "If the Russians say it's over, it's over," he said. "This is pretty good news. It means the...

A victorious Kremlin agreed to a ceasefire in the Caucasus last night on terms that left Georgia and its Western backers weakened. After five days of fighting, President Medvedev of Russia ordered his troops in South Ossetia to hold their fire and fixed a six-point peace plan with President Sarkozy of France. The deal, confirmed by Georgia’s President Saakashvili last night, did not address the future of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the two breakway provinces that want closer links with Russia.

TBLISI, Georgia — The presidents of Georgia and Russia agreed early Wednesday morning to the framework of an agreement that could end the war that flared up here five days ago, though Russian air strikes continued throughout the day and antagonisms seethed on both sides. Declaring that “the aggressor has been punished,” President Dmitri A. Medvedev announced that Russia would stop its campaign, which was prompted after Georgian troops on Friday entered the separatist enclave of South Ossetia and shelled the capital city. By 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, Mr. Medvedev and his Georgian counterpart, Mikheil Saakashvili, had agreed to a...

Russian jets targeted a key oil pipeline with over 50 missiles in a weekend bombing raid in Georgia that raised fears the conflict will tighten Moscow's stranglehold on Europe's energy supplies. Deep craters pockmark the landscape south of the Georgian capital Tblisi in a Y-shaped pattern straddling the British-operated pipeline. The attack left two deep holes less than 100 yards either side of a pressure vent on the pipeline. Shrapnel of highly engineered munitions litters the area. There was no visible damage to the pipeline. Its vulnerability is summed up by a yellow hazard sign next to the vent warning...

The war in Georgia escalated dangerously last night after Russian jets reportedly bombed a vital pipeline that supplies oil to the West. After a day of heightening international tensions, Georgian leaders claimed that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which transports oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, had been attacked. But it is thought the bombs missed their target. Their claims came after Russian jets struck deep into the territory of its tiny neighbour, killing civilians and ‘completely devastating’ the strategic Black Sea port of Poti, a staging post for oil and other energy supplies. Georgian economic development minister Ekaterina Sharashidzne said:...

Georgia 'calls Ossetia ceasefire' Thousands of people have fled the conflict zone Georgia has ordered its forces to cease fire, and offered to start talks with Russia over an end to hostilities in South Ossetia, Georgian officials say. Russia said fighting was continuing, Interfax news agency reported. Earlier Georgia said its troops had pulled out of the breakaway region and that Russian forces were in control of its capital, Tskhinvali. Thousands of civilians have fled the area, following heavy fighting that broke out on Thursday night. Bombing raids Clashes in South Ossetia were reported to be less intense on...