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The Bush administration's decision to send a top U.S. diplomat, William Burns, to meet with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator at a European Union-led meeting in Switzerland is a victory for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The White House insists the move does not signify a change in policy toward Tehran. Washington has vowed it will not negotiate with Iran over its nuclear program until it temporarily suspends uranium enrichment. The White House claims the meeting is "a one-time U.S. participation," and that Mr. Burns - the State Department's third-highest ranking diplomat - will only "listen, not negotiate." This is irrelevant. The...

Lebanon proposes to rebuild Nahr al-Bared, the Palestinian city-camp near Tripoli pulverised in a long siege last year in an attempt to kill Sunni militants holed up there. The new, as yet only imagined, town is intended to preserve the memories of the old, yet return the area to the control of Lebanon.

I was privileged this week to preview, before its release to the public, what may well prove to be a masterpiece of the documentary film-making art—a new look at the Biblical story of the Exodus from Egypt in the light of contemporary archeology and politics in the Middle East. Filmmaker Tim Mahoney´s "The Exodus Conspiracy",[1] due to be released within a few months, seeks to demonstrate the historical accuracy of the Biblical narrative of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt on the basis of recent archaeological discoveries and geographic explorations. A secondary thesis of the film is...

<p>FORMER immigration minister Kevin Andrews instructed his department to lift the intake of Christian refugees from the Middle East in response to what he saw as a pro-Muslim bias created by corrupt local case officers.</p> <p>Opposition immigration spokesman Chris Ellison said yesterday this remains Coalition policy.</p>

TEHRAN (FNA) - Iran's Air Force chief announced that the Islamic Republic has successfully launched the production line of radar-evading "stealth" fighter jets. Brigadier General Ahmad Mighani was quoted by press tv as saying Tuesday that the new jets would significantly enhance the Air Force's combat and defensive capabilities. Iran has recently started manufacturing superior "Quick Reaction" tanks to increase its defense self-sufficiency. Iran has also developed an electro-optical surveillance system that acts as a viable alternative when radars fail to cover a particular range. "We have upgraded our air force fleet, radar-systems, and missile systems over the past few...

MADRID — A conference convened by Abdullah of Saudi Arabia for the purpose of gathering together leaders of the world's religions ended here yesterday with little sign as to whether the Saudi monarch's efforts to counter religious extremism would continue. The conference concluded on a sour note this afternoon as Christian and Jewish participants complained that the organizers, the Muslim World League, had too much control over the conference's closing communiqué. The three-day gathering in Madrid of more than 200 religious leaders was closely watched because it is the first time that a Saudi monarch had invited Jewish rabbis to...

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to meet with Barack Obama. Photo: AP While the European leg of Barack Obama’s much-touted overseas trip will take him to nations where he’s vastly more popular than John McCain, Obama is not nearly as well liked in Israel. Polls there show Israelis prefer John McCain by as much as 20 percentage points.

It has become fashionable to look to the lessons of the peace process in Northern Ireland as holding insights for other areas of conflict in the world. However, this has been done in an uncritical way, often more focused on contemporary agendas than on the core realities unique to the region, which do not necessarily translate elsewhere.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Experts said the White House had appeared to undertake a major shift in its hardline stance toward Tehran when it announced that a senior US diplomat would attend international nuclear talks with Iran.In the highest-ranking meeting between the two foes in three decades, Under Secretary of State William Burns is scheduled to attend the Saturday talks with Iran on a "one-time" mission to underline US conditions for ending the atomic stalemate.In Tehran, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran was ready for negotiations over the nuclear crisis but warned it would not step over any "red...

The War with Iran By Frank J. Gaffney Jr. Last week’s Iranian missile tests prompted another round of fevered speculation that war might erupt between Iran and the United States. Largely lost in the frenzy is an unhappy fact: The Iranian mullahocracy has been at war with this country since it came to power in 1979. The problem is that the weapons available to Tehran for prosecuting its jihad against “the Great Satan” are no longer simply truck bombs and suicide vests. Its proxy army, Hezbollah, has taken over Lebanon and operates terror cells from Iraq to Latin America and...

Fifty years ago today, an American president successfully stood up against the Moslem tide in the Middle East and won a victory. But the anniversary may pass completely unnoticed by most of the media, and the lesson of that event remains unlearned by most Americans. On July 15, 1958, President Eisenhower began what was called "Operation Blue Bat." President Chamoun of Lebanon, a Maronite Christian, had refused to side with Arab Moslem nations against the West. The result was that within Lebanon, supported by Syria, Muslims pushed for the end of the Chamoun administration (and, tacitly, for an end to...

Israel’s largest daily newspaper on Tuesday published photographs of a synagogue in a former Jewish town in Gaza that has now been transformed into a Hamas training center. Where Jews once worshipped God, Islamic terrorists now rehearse the murder and abduction of Israelis, reported Yediot Ahronot. In the run-up to the 2005 forced evacuation of Gaza’s Jewish population, Israel wrestled over what to do with synagogues and other public buildings in the 21 Jewish communities across the coastal territory.

Palestinian Authority officials on Monday welcomed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's plans to visit Ramallah next week, saying they would brief him on the situation in the PA territories and the status of peace talks with Israel. The officials, however, warned that Obama's meeting with PA President Mahmoud Abbas, slated for July 23, did not mean that the Palestinians favor Obama over his Republican rival John McCain. "The Palestinians don't interfere in the internal affairs of the US," a top PA official told The Jerusalem Post. "Obama's visit to Ramallah does not mean that we have endorsed him." Another PA...

WASHINGTON, US - US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama vowed on Monday not to seek permanent US military bases in Iraq and reiterated his pledge to pull out the bulk of US forces by mid-2010. But he insisted on keeping 'a residual force' in the violence-ravaged nation to fight remnants of Al-Qaeda for an unspecified amount of time, if he moved to the White House next January. Writing in The New York Times, Mr Obama, who has been under criticism for allegedly wavering on Iraq, said he would not hold the military or US resources 'hostage to a misguided desire...

Iran's test salvo of ballistic missiles last week together with recent threatening rhetoric by commanders of the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guards emphasizes how close the Middle East is to a fundamental, in fact an irreversible, turning point. Tehran's efforts to intimidate the United States and Israel from using military force against its nuclear program, combined with yet another diplomatic charm offensive with the Europeans, are two sides of the same policy coin. The regime is buying the short additional period of time it needs to produce deliverable nuclear weapons, the strategic objective it has been pursuing clandestinely for 20 years...

Egyptian Liberal: It Is The Educated Who Are Responsible for the Lack of Democracy in the Arab World Egyptian liberal Dr. 'Abd Al-Mun'im Sa'id, director of the Al-Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies, published in the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat an article [1] analyzing the reasons for the lack of democracy in the Arab world. In it, he accused Arab educated circles of failing to fill their historical role of promoting democracy. Sa'id stated that the educated had made a mistake by joining forces with anti-democratic elements in society, and that they were still unjustifiably devoting their energies to...

Arab reports indicate that Hizbullah is preparing to arm its rockets with chemical warheads and to build extensive fortifications. Defense Minister Ehud Barak blames the Syrians, while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asks the United Nations to do something. "[UN] Resolution 1701 is being violated. The Hizbullah continues to get stronger with the ongoing and intimate The company told Arab media that it had been shipping Hizbullah orders southwards towards Israel's border. assistance of the Syrians," according to Defense Minister Barak. Speaking at a meeting of the Labor party's Knesset representatives on Monday, Barak said, "The delicate balance that exists on...

A simple question, What if it was not the Arabs, not the Muslims (OPEC) that control the world's energy? What if the oil tycoons were of a different background, say Irish Catholic or Jewish? Could you imagine how they would be lynched [in the media and all tools of public opinion]? But it's "only" Arabs, Muslims, and they can do whatever they want, limit or extend production of oil. Worst is of course the immense unlimited power they enjoy in being permitted to continue "business" as usual... in the "field" of crimes against humanity... No one ever dares speaks out...

CNN is reporting that "Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama will be visiting the Palestinian Authority president in the West Bank next week, a Palestinian government official said Monday. Obama will be meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on July 23, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said."

The European Union and its Mediterranean neighbours launched a new platform for their relationship on Sunday at a summit boosted by a promise from Lebanon and Syria to open embassies in each other’s capital. Leaders of more than 40 countries attended the inaugural session of the Union for the Mediterranean, a project conceived by Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, as a way to bridge differences between the EU and the states of north Africa and the Middle East. As the ceremonies got under way at the majestic Grand Palais in Paris, the spotlight fell on Ehud Olmert, Israel’s prime minister, and...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that he is ready to establish normal relations with Israel and to exchange ambassadors and sign bilateral agreements if a peace deal is reached between the two countries. “We have raised the matter of normalizing relations since the beginning of the peace talks,” Assad told Al-Jazzeera Television, adding that good relations between states entail setting up embassies and signing agreements. He said that relations could worsen or improve, turn friendly or be suspended, “but this a normal part of nationhood.” “The indirect talks with Israel will pave the way for direct talks or else negotiations...

It's worthwhile for us to imagine what Iraq would look like today had Barack Obama been in control way back in 2007, particularly as Iran launches missiles over the Persian Gulf and continues its unabated quest for nuclear weapons.  How would we be positioned to deal with the Iranian Threat? (At the moment, Obama's only response is to blame the Bush Administration and call for stronger diplomacy. During 2007, Obama had very specific suggestions on what we should do militarily in Iraq. Had we gone along with them, as most Democrats other than Joe Lieberman wanted to, and taking into account...

Iran warned the United States and Israel on Saturday it would be "madness" to attack the Islamic Republic over a nuclear program the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.

The US vowed to defend Israel and its other allies in the Gulf, as Iran carried out its second ballistic missile test in two days yesterday. As the situation worsened in the Gulf, the French oil company Total said it would pull out of a large-scale investment in an Iranian gas field - a serious blow to Tehran, which is keen to exploit its gas reserves, and a victory for the Bush administration, which has been seeking to isolate the Iranian government. A spokesman for the company said it was too risky to invest in Iran at present. Oil prices...

Here is another one of our Islamic "allies". Muslims can persecute Christians and Jews across the Islamic world and we are not supposed to say a word about it. Because the most important thing in the world as we all know, is not to offend the poor Muslims. Our fearless leader Mr. Bush keeps talking about freedom and freedom of religion. How come it does not apply to his Islamic buddies?

If you’re a liberal goob or a PETA-loving tree-hugger, you might want to take a sedative before reading this… however, if you love your freedom to be a moron and want to protect it, you better go ahead and read anyway... If you’re a conservative, a Christian or both and don’t mind giving up your religion and your values, then just walk on and don’t look back… But neither group better say you were not warned. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Mama Jed) has once again predicted the demise of Israel. Monday, June 02, 2008 he promised that Muslims would uproot...

<p>I think the Iraqis would support Israel taking out their arch enemy, Iran, and would allow overflights & perhaps even the use of airfields.</p>

The U.S. failed to recognize the significance of the radical Islamists. The timing is right for a major new history of America's engagement with the contemporary Middle East. Admittedly, key archival documentation remains under lock and key and will be inaccessible for a long time to come, both in the United States and elsewhere. But enough material is available, in the form of declassified documents, memoirs, oral histories and journalistic treatments, to begin to piece together the story of how we came to our current predicament. Enter Sir Lawrence Freedman, a specialist on nuclear strategy and the Cold War and...

STEWART: That's the way to read through it. What do you feel like-- Do you watch the news that we're watching in the United States? LOGAN: No. STEWART: Do you see what we're hearing about the war? Do you-- LOGAN: No. STEWART: So we might actually know everything? LOGAN: If I were to watch the news that you're hearing in the United States, I'd just blow my brains out. 'Cause it would drive me nuts. STEWART: Really? LOGAN: Yeah.

The importance of Kingmakers for a wide American audience emerges slowly. At first, the book appears to be a quaint reminiscence of eccentric and often familiar British colonials of the early 20th century, strutting across Middle Eastern deserts in pith helmets, instructing the benighted native tribesmen about the fundamentals of governing. But as this beautifully written and researched book proceeds, it becomes abundantly clear that these skilled English soldier-diplomats are the progenitors of (and in some cases, role models for) the current crop of American diplomats and soldiers on the same turf. The issues that this country is now debating...

Think the whole world loves Barack? Arab opinion-makers don't. There is no question that Barack Obama has stirred the world's imagination. Polls taken in Europe show that if Obama ran against John McCain there, he would win by anywhere between seven percentage points in Russia and 52 points in Belgium. Andrew Sullivan has printed dozens of anecdotes of foreigners breathlessly proclaiming their enthusiasm for Obama. To say that the world is hoping for an Obama victory is putting it lightly. But it is the Middle East where hopes should be running highest. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush's swaggering...

Former Syrian Minister: We Have Forfeited the Wisdom of the Desert Nomads – But Have Failed to Adopt Modern Western Ways In an article in the Syrian government daily Teshreen, [1] former Syrian information minister Dr. Mahdi Dakhlallah pondered the fact that the "small" Gulf states had developed and modernized, while the countries that had been in the forefront of the Arab world in the 1960s, such as Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq, had stayed behind.The following are excerpts from the article: "In the early 60s, if a person took a taxi in Kuwait or in one of the tiny...

When I report this news, I do not mean any offense to the coalition troops fighting in Iraq. They are the greatest fighting force on the planet, but there is only so much they can do. I caught the beginning of Bill O'Reilly tonight, the talking points segment. He said that Islamofascism in Iraq has almost been defeated. This is just not true. For the rest..... http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2008/07/islamic-republic-of-iraq-part-1.html

If this scenerio unfolds , america can not afford a green pea like Obama. In you heart ... in your guts , you know you have to vote ... for McCain (Washington, D.C., July 8, 2008) -- War clouds continue to build in the epicenter. Last month in Rome, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed that the United States and Israel would soon be "annihilated," language he had not used so explicitly since October 2005 when he promised to wipe Israel "off the map" and urged Muslims to "envision a world without the United States." This week, his regime authorized a...

The US did not give the green light for an Israeli attack on Iran, Prof. Anthony H. Cordesman, a former Pentagon official and currently the top defense analyst at the ABC TV network, said Monday. Cordesman was speaking during a meeting with Israeli defense analysts held by the Institute of National Security Studies. He said IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi was notified of the United States' stance regarding Iran by Admiral Michael Mullen, the top uniformed US military officer, during Mullen's visit here at the end of June. The US has opted at this point to stick...

TEHRAN: Iran will hit Tel Aviv, U.S. shipping in the Gulf and American interests around the world if it is attacked over its disputed nuclear activities, an aide to Iran's Supreme Leader was quoted as saying on Tuesday. "The first bullet fired by America at Iran will be followed by Iran burning down its vital interests around the globe," the students news agency ISNA quoted Ali Shirazi as saying in a speech to Revolutionary Guards. "The Zionist regime is pressuring White House officials to attack Iran. If they commit such a stupidity, Tel Aviv and U.S. shipping in the Persian...

Monday, July 7, 2008 Italy Gives 38 Egyptians the Boot They say that Italy looks like a boot on a map. Well, the country has taken it literally and given the boot to 38 Egyptians. This just about a month after bulldozing a Mosque site. For the rest.... http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2008/07/italy-gives-38-egyptians-boot.html

Iranian TV Documentary Series Traces Zionist Themes in Western Movies: "Saving Private Ryan" Following are excerpts from a segment of an Iranian documentary series on Hollywood cinema featuring the film Saving Private Ryan. The segment aired on the Iranian News Channel, IRINN, on May 27, 2008. To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1801.htm. (To view another segment of this series, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1787.htm.) "'Zion' Sometimes Becomes 'Ryan,' As In Saving Private Ryan" Narrator: "The concentrated efforts of the Zionist lobbies in America have led the U.S. government to be the greatest supporter of the regime occupying Jerusalem. In recent...

A senior Israeli government official on Sunday responded to recent statements by American leaders regarding a possible Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities by saying they were representative of an intense debate at the White House over how to deal with Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's military chiefs warned on Saturday that the Islamic republic would shut down the Strait of Hormuz vital for oil exports and use "blitzkrieg tactics" in the Gulf if it came under attack.

TEHRAN (AFP) — The head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards has warned that any Israeli or US attack on its nuclear sites would mean the outbreak of war, the official IRNA news agency reported on Friday. "Any action against Iran will be interpreted as the start of a war," General Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted as saying late on Thursday. "Iran's response to any military action will make the aggressors regret their decision." The United States has never ruled out an eventual resort to force against Iran over its contested nuclear programme, which the West fears is cover for a...

But...but....President Bush said Islam is a religion of peace. Is this just a coincidence that Bush will be out of office soon, and now people are speaking the truth? The Justice Department is considering letting the FBI investigate Americans without evidence of wrongdoing..... For there rest....

This blood libel of Israel, Jews, and John McCain’s father is sanctioned by Barack Obama’s official campaign It has been established [http://husaria.wordpress.com/2008/06/29/obama-campaign-sanctioned-anti-semitic-and-other-hate-speech/] that Barack Obama’s official campaign site exercises editorial control over the content of my.barackobama.com, and is capable of finding and removing “offensive” and “disrespectful” material within two days. The following has been online for almost three weeks. It accuses Israel of deliberatly murdering the crew of the U.S.S. Liberty, American Jews with divided loyalties of complicity, and John McCain’s father of complicity in a cover up. The following entry is sanctioned (tolerated) by Barack Obama’s official campaign... Now,...

LONDON: London's Brent crude oil hit 146 dollars a barrel for the first time on Thursday, as traders reacted to Middle East tensions, falling US crude reserves and the weak dollar. Brent North Sea oil for August delivery surged to a life-time peak of 146.34 dollars. New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, meanwhile surged past 145 for the first time to reach an all-time pinnacle of 145.43 dollars a barrel. Analysts said a weaker US dollar, and data that revealed a drop in stockpiles of US crude, helped push prices higher. The US Energy Information...

Last week's oil conference in Saudi Arabia marked a turning point in U.S.-Saudi relations, raising doubts about whether the oil-for-security formula still guides this longtime alliance. With skyrocketing oil prices endangering U.S. economic stability, Saudi Arabia refused to increase production beyond a token amount. Saudi and U.S. officials bickered about whether the current price spike is because of market speculation or producers' greed. The brusque departure of U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman from the conference underscored the growing frustrations on both sides. If oil pricing and production were the only considerations, this squabbling wouldn't be so troublesome. But it culminates...

"In implementation of the Geneva Conventions ... the necessary measures are being taken to provide for the burial of enemy soldiers," the Mehr news agency quoted General Mir-Faisal Bagherzadeh as saying. Mr Bagherzadeh said Iran was keen to "reduce the suffering of the families of the fallen in any attack against our country ... and prevent any repetition of the long and bitter experience of the Vietnam War".

BEIRUT -- Unmarried and pregnant, Ranya gathered up her courage and confided to a friend that she was considering a drastic step: an illegal abortion. She braced for criticism. But to her surprise, her friend disclosed that she had had one too. Ranya asked another friend, who also said she'd had an abortion. And another gave her the phone number of a doctor in Beirut who would perform the procedure on the sly. The doctor used no anesthetic. The pain lingered for days, but the guilt engulfed her weeks later. "It doesn't make me feel guilty because of Islam," said...

A former head of Mossad has warned that Israel has 12 months in which to destroy Iran's nuclear programme or risk coming under nuclear attack itself. He also hinted that Israel might have to act sooner if Barack Obama wins the US presidential election.

The Egyptian bureau of al-Hurra, an Arabic-language television network financed by the U.S. government, boasts a spectacular view of the Nile River and the capital's bustling streets. But inside, all is quiet. The bureau's satellite link was unplugged with little explanation a few weeks ago by a local company, making it impossible to broadcast live. Since then, staffers have had to use a studio controlled by the Egyptian secret police, who have warned guests not to say anything controversial on the air. Al-Hurra -- "The Free One" in Arabic -- is the centerpiece of a U.S. government campaign to spread...

The past week's spate of signals that Israel might be preparing a strike against Iranian nuclear targets - an attack which would almost certainly provoke a wave of retaliation engulfing Hizbullah and Lebanon in regional conflict - amounts to nothing more than posturing to prod the West in negotiations with the Islamic Republic, a number of analysts told The Daily Star.