Free Republic

For the love of Sharon.My wife of 36 years passed away peacefully on January 14, 2007.  She was finally freed from the devastation caused by the horrible disease of Mytonic Dystrophy (Steinhart's disease) that started to disable her over 22 years ago.Upon her death, I wrote an old girlfriend of over 40 years ago who changed my life forever and taught me the difference between what we call now days as "love" and the real reason we choose a mate for life.  It's a shame that today's society thinks the marriage vow is simply a part of the show and...

Former prime minister Ariel Sharon told President George W. Bush ahead of the US-led invasion of Iraq of the dangers Saddam Hussein posed for the region, but also warned him that the Arab world would not be receptive to democracy, former ambassador to the US Danny Ayalon told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. Ayalon, who sat in on numerous Bush-Sharon meetings, said the US and Israel held close consultations during the run-up to the war, but that Sharon was very careful not to advocate any particular American action. Ayalon said he served as "Sharon's watchdog," ensuring that when officials from...

Lebanon - Islamists "Palestinians" massacre of Christians in Damour that brought Christian Arabs killing "Palestinians" in Sabra Shatila You might have only heared about the massacre at Sabra Shatila through a pro "Palestinian" propagandist that have one, and nothing but one issue, no, nothing that has to with justice whatsoever, but to persecute Israel and denegrate it. It is only natural that they blame ANYTHING on the Zionists, even though the only connection to the case where Arab christians killed the Arab Palestinians in Sabra Shatila is the "charge" that Sharon did not prevent the Arab Christians from doing that......

Excerpt - Former prime minister Ariel Sharon, who suffered a stroke in January and has been in a coma since, was moved to an intensive care unit on Friday after a worsening in his condition, the hospital treating him said. "Sharon contracted an infection that is affecting his heart and will receive intensive treatment to combat the infection," the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv said in a statement. "At this point, his condition is stable." ~ snip ~

Why did Condoleezza Rice visit the region this week? No secretary of state likes to shuttle around with no obvious result. But she could not help herself. The pull was too great. Welcome to Coalition Buildup III. The simple rule is this: Every time the White House decides to confront a rogue regime, the State Department decides it's time to build a coalition. Coalition Buildup I began immediately after 9/11. The Taliban regime in Afghanistan had to go. Though the US did not feel a need for explicit UN authorization, it needed neighboring states to host US forces, and others...

Ariel Sharon’s pneumonia has improved and he has been taken out of intensive care, but is still in serious condition, a hospital spokesman said in Israel today. The former Israeli prime minister, 78, has been in a coma since he suffered the second of two strokes on January 4. He has since undergone several extensive brain operations to stop cerebral haemorrhaging, in addition to other relatively minor procedures. Sharon was transferred back to the respiratory rehabilitation department at Tel Aviv’s Chaim Sheba Medical Center today since there had been a “noticeable improvement in his kidney function and the pneumonia in...

ERUSALEM-- Ariel Sharon's pneumonia is less severe, and he has been taken out of intensive care but is still in serious condition, a hospital spokesman said Tuesday. The former prime minister, 78, has been in a coma since he suffered the second of two strokes on Jan. 4. He has undergone extensive surgery to stop cerebral bleeding, in addition to other relatively minor procedures. Sharon was transferred back to the respiratory rehabilitation department at Tel Aviv's Chaim Sheba Medical Center Tuesday since there has been a "noticeable improvement in his kidney function and the pneumonia in his lungs," spokesman David...

JUST A HEADLINE AT THE MOMENT.

The open wound of Gush Katif By Nadav Shragai Last Friday when Makor Rishon's photographer, Miri Tzahi, saw the photo of First Lieutenant Amihai Merhavia, who was killed in the battle of Bint Jbail, it jogged something in her journalist's memory. She thought she had seen this face before. Tzahi, who is about publish the album, "Katif - Nine days in Av," featuring hundreds of photos of the "days of the expulsion," searched through her computer archive and found a series of photos from around four years ago, showing Merhavia during the violent evacuation of Havat Gilad (Gilad Farm) in...

When they first met as United States president and Israeli prime minister, George W. Bush made clear to Ariel Sharon he would not follow in the footsteps of his father. The first President Bush had been tough on Israel, especially the Israeli settlements in occupied lands that Mr. Sharon had helped develop. But over tea in the Oval Office that day in March 2001 — six months before the Sept. 11 attacks tightened their bond — the new president signaled a strong predisposition to support Israel. “He told Sharon in that first meeting that I’ll use force to protect Israel,...

JERUSALEM (AP) A hospital spokeswoman says former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been rushed to the emergency room.

While Sharon Lies Sleeping It may be nearly time to say good-bye to a fallen leader. Reports indicate that Ariel Sharon now suffers from kidney failure. This may be the problem that brings about his long delayed death. Ariel means Lion of God in Hebrew. Indeed he was something like a lion, participating boldly and strikingly as a warrior, helping to bring Israel to victory time and again, fighting against what seemed to be all odds…at least from a humanly-derived perspective. But his last name has a meaning, too. Sharon is an area of fruitful land in Israel. Something to...

Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's medical condition has deteriorated over the past few days. His kidney function has declined, causing fluid to accumulate in his body, and he may soon be permanently hooked up to a dialysis machine that will regulate this situation. Medical examinations have also showed changes in Sharon's brain tissue, and his doctors fear that he may be harboring an infection. According to a senior physician, whose assessment is based on the information released on Sunday by Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer: "Sharon is facing a serious threat to his life, and if he is not...

People have very short memories. Most Israelis do not even recall the events that have led up to the rain of Katyushas and other missiles on Israeli civilians this past week. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon after a long wave of terror attacks on Israel. At first, the announced Israeli goal was to advance 40 kilometers inside Lebanon and drive all the rocket shooters from range of Israel. The operation, called "Peace for Galilee", enjoyed over 90% support from the Israeli public, including Israeli Arabs. The army actually advanced more than 40 kilometers. It eventually took most of Beirut and...

The next Middle East war--Israel against genocidal Islamism--has begun. The first stage of the war started two weeks ago, with the Israeli incursion into Gaza in response to the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier and the ongoing shelling of Israeli towns and kibbutzim; now, with Hezbollah's latest attack, the war has spread to southern Lebanon. Ultimately, though, Israel's antagonists won't be Hamas and Hezbollah but their patrons, Iran and Syria. The war will go on for months, perhaps several years. There may be lulls in the fighting, perhaps even temporary agreements and prisoner exchanges. But those periods of calm will...

Former Chief of Staff: Sharon's Disengagement a Disaster 15:56 Jul 06, '06 / 10 Tammuz 5766 by Ezra HaLevi Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Moshe Yaalon, IDF Chief of Staff until the implementation of the Gaza withdrawal, said Thursday that the entire Disengagement was conceived to save PM Sharon from legal troubles. “The Disengagement was not the result of thorough strategic analysis but the result of [then-prime minister, Ariel Sharon’s] political distress," Yaalon said in an interview to be published in full by Haaretz this weekend. “It was a disengagement from reality and a disengagement from the truth." Though such a claim...

As Joe Lieberman was criss-crossing Connecticut last Friday, picking up endorsements from labor unions and being greeted with applause at diners, it seemed like nothing had changed for a man who has long been one of the state's most popular politicians. Then, in the small town of East Lyme, Joe Barry, a retired Vietnam veteran and local Democrat, literally got in Lieberman's face. "Senator, that was the plan, to get rid of Saddam," Barry said, sitting with about 12 people in a senior center that Lieberman had stopped at. "We got rid of Saddam, now let's get out of there....

Sharon Stone Blasts Bush on AIDS Sharon Stone took no prisoners Thursday night in her opening remarks at the annual Cinema Against AIDS dinner in Cannes. Speaking before several hundred of the wealthiest people in the world, Stone — a vision in white linen with a Medusa’s nest of blond hair extensions — opened the 25th annual AmFar dinner with a thunderbolt against President Bush. “Our president has spent $167 million on abstinence programs,” she said. “And zero dollars on sex education. Zero dollars on teaching about safe sex.” Her remarks, part of an impassioned plea, were met with thunderous...

Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem on Thursday night confirmed reports that former prime minister Ariel Sharon will be transferred to Sheba Medical Center, the Tel Hashomer hospital, early next week. The spokeswomen of both Hadassah, where Sharon has been treated since January 4, and Sheba had previously refused to say officially if Sharon, still in a deep coma, would be moved to Sheba. The transfer is expected to be a high-security logistical operation. Before the rumors of the transfer were confirmed, Dr. Arie Wollner, head of Sheba's 18-bed, state-of-the-art respiratory care and rehabilitation department, was permitted to describe the "unique...

The sordid tale now making the rounds in the "mainstream" press of a rogue Pentagon intelligence operation has all the elements of an urban legend: heavy breathing, a secret basement office "down by the ramp" and government officials who form a hidden alliance based on long-ago ties to an obscure but influential university guru. Only the work of a few good men with the courage to face up to this "cabal" - and a few crusader-journalists to help them - can make the demons scatter and scare the dark ones into the light. Or so the story goes on those...