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WARSAW (AFP)--The presidents of five ex-communist countries will travel to Georgia to back Georgia in its war with Russia, a senior aide to Poland's President Lech Kaczynski told AFP Monday.

Russia says Ukraine helping Georgia MOSCOW, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Russia accused Ukraine on Saturday of encouraging Georgia to carry out "ethnic cleansing" in the separatist region of South Ossetia by providing arms, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "The Ukrainian government, which has been enthusiastically arming Georgian troops from top to bottom, was in fact encouraging Georgia to attack and carry out ethnic cleansing in South Ossetia," the ministry said in a statement on its website www.mid.ru.

1,500 Reported Killed in Georgia Battle August 9, 2008 GORI, Georgia — Russia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia veered closer to all-out war on Saturday as Russia moved parts of its Black Sea fleet toward Georgia’s coast and intensified air attacks on Georgia, striking two apartment buildings in the city of Gori and clogging roads out of the area with fleeing refugees. Russia acknowledged that Georgian forces had shot down two Russian warplanes, while a senior Georgian official said the Georgians had destroyed 10 Russian jets. Russian armored vehicles continued to stream into South Ossetia, the pro-Russian region...

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is on record stating his ambitions to make his country a modern and secular state modeled on the Turkish republic under Kemal Ataturk. Ironically, even as that goal appears mind bogglingly unachievable for Pakistan, recent events will conspire to push Turkey in the direction of Pakistan; into becoming a breeding ground for a new class of Islamic militants. The transition of Turkey into a new front for Saudi interests will follow typical ideological, strategic and political trends... It is no mere coincidence that the Saudis need a functioning Sunni army to counter the likely expansionism of...

Hackers are deluging web users with malware-laden spam claiming that World War III has started following a US invasion of Iran. Security experts warned today that spam emails with subject lines including 'Third World War has begun', '20000 US Soldiers in Iran' and 'US Army crossed Iran's borders' have been intercepted. The emails contain links to a malicious webpage that displays what appears to be a video player showing the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion. Text on the page reads: 'Just now US Army's Delta Force and US Air Force have invaded Iran. 'Approximately 20000 soldiers crossed the border...

Four days after his controversial “Face the Nation” appearance, retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark is taking a break from the presidential campaign — but many Democratic insiders think he has already been crossed off the list of Barack Obama’s potential running mates. Sunday morning on CBS News, Clark argued that John McCain’s military experience — and his years as a prisoner of war — in no way qualified him to be president. Following his appearance, one prominent liberal blog, apparently seeing the genie as out of the bottle, launched into a considerably harsher attacks on McCain’s service headlined “Honestly, besides...

McCain says only World War III would justify draft 25 Jun 2008 00:47:58 GMT Source: Reuters - Only World War III would prompt Republican presidential candidate John McCain to bring back the military draft, McCain said on Tuesday. Many Americans are fearful the U.S. government will be forced to reinstitute the draft given the prolonged Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Asked about that possibility by a potential voter in Florida during a telephone "town hall meeting," McCain said: "I don't know what would make a draft happen unless we were in an all-out World War III." The United States ended its...

There’s always the watershed moment. That moment that guarantees war in the future and it becomes just a matter of time before it happens. No war is ever caused by the obvious act that triggers it. The Sarajevo bullet fired on June 28, 1914 didn’t cause World War I. Hitler invading Poland on September 1, 1939 didn’t cause World War II. Because wars are about taking care of “unfinished business”, we are faced with the prospect of a third world war. If that comes, the independence of Kosovo will be the watershed moment. Pandora’s box, despite all the warnings issued,...

(IsraelNN.com) US President George W. Bush said a nuclear Iran would mean World War III. Israeli newscasts featured Gog & Magog maps of the likely alignment of nations in that potential conflict. Channel 2 and Channel 10 TV showed the world map, sketching the basic alignment of the two opposing axes in a coming world war, in a manner evoking associations of the Gog and Magog prophecy for many viewers. The prophecy of Gog and Magog refers to a great world war centered on the Holy Land and Jerusalem and first appears in the book of Yechezkel (Ezekiel). On one...

Stanislav Petrov, a lieutenant-colonel in the military intelligence section of the Soviet Union's secret service, reluctantly eased himself into the commander's seat in the underground early warning bunker south of Moscow. It should have been his night off but another officer had gone sick and he had been summoned at the last minute. Before him were screens showing photographs of underground missile silos in the Midwest prairies of America, relayed from spy satellites in the sky. He and his men watched and listened on headphones for any sign of movement - anything unusual that might suggest the U.S. was launching...

One madman with a gun can hold off a hundred cops. The difference is who is more willing to lose his life. Such is the situation between the Khomeini regime and those it has directly threatened. Beginning with Khomeini's rise to power after 1979, the regime has constantly threatened others, and celebrated its own readiness for martyrdom --- which it amply proved in the war with Saddam Hussein. Today Tehran's mortal enemies' list goes far beyond Israel to include Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, Jordan, Lebanon, France, Britain, and the United States. Yet Max Boot points out in the...

Disputes holding up the completion by Russia of Iran's first nuclear power station at Bushehr have been resolved, the head of Russian state contractor Atomstroiexport said Thursday. "The difficulties with the Iranian client are resolved and we have an agreement on the timetable for construction. I will give more details at the end of December," said Atomstroiexport head Sergei Shmatko. "We absolutely plan to build Bushehr." Bushehr is at the heart of Iran's controversial nuclear plans, which Teheran says only involve power generation, but which Israel, the United States and some European countries believe includes a military component. However, Shmatko...

Iran tested a newly-developed ballistic missile on the day of the Annapolis conference, Channel 10 reported Wednesday. The Ashoura missile has a range of 2,000 kilometers and is capable of reaching Israel, US Army bases in the Middle East and eastern European cities, including Moscow, said the TV channel. According to the report, the new missile is an improvement on the existing Shihab-3 missile. The Ashoura uses solid fuel instead of the Shihab's liquid fuel, giving it a significantly faster launch sequence which is harder to detect. Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Mostafa Muhammad-Najjar had announced the development of the new...

The rhetoric of U.S. and Arab officials over their divergent policies toward Iran has become curiously more heated since the release last week of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear ambitions. This is odd. The NIE claim that Iran's nuclear weapons program was suspended four years ago should have been, in Arab eyes, a signal that the prospect of a U.S. airstrike against Iran was off the table, and business That has not been the way the Americans see it. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who has been attending a security conference in Bahrain, the Gulf headquarters of the...

HAVANA - Fidel Castro wrote Tuesday that President Bush is threatening the world with nuclear war and famine — an attack on Washington a day before the White House was to announce new plans to draw Cuba away from communism. "The danger of a massive world famine is aggravated by Mr. Bush's recent initiative to transform foods into fuel," Castro wrote in Cuban news media, referring to U.S. support for using corn and other food crops to produce gasoline substitutes. The brief essay titled "Bush, Hunger and Death" also alleged that Bush "threatens humanity with World War III, this time...

If people had known how close we came to World War III that day there would have been mass panic. That is how a very senior British ministerial source recently characterized Israel’s September raid on what was apparently a Syrian nuclear installation. Whether matters were quite that grave is an open question. Yet it does seem clear that the full story of the Israeli raid has not been told, nor its full significance recognized. Now two key members of Congress have raised an alarm about this event, thereby throwing our nuclear agreement with North Korea into question. Briefings Peter Hoekstra...

Axis Of Evil: Those who counsel us not to provoke Iran forget the lessons of history. Churchill didn't cause World War II; the appeasers of Nazi Germany did. And peace is an event, not a "process." It's sad when a major newspaper suggests we should fear Vice President Dick Cheney more than Iran's loony leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But that's what the Los Angeles Times did in a weekend editorial. It opined that Cheney's "desire to bomb Iranian nuclear sites and Revolutionary Guard targets" was "backfiring, causing it to escalate its anti-American activities instead of backing off." Besides, we are told,...

Bush warns Putin over 'World War Three' By Matthew Moore and Adrian Blomfield Last Updated: 6:10pm BST 17/10/2007 George W Bush, the US president, today warned that world leaders risk helping bring about "World War Three" unless they do more to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons. David Blair: No warmth or trust behind the handshake Leader: Vladimir Putin in Teheran In remarks timed to coincide with Russian president Vladimir Putin's visit to Teheran, Mr Bush said the Islamic republic must remain isolated until it drops its nuclear ambitions. New best friends: Vladimir Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after their meeting in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush warned on Wednesday a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to World War III as he tried to shore up international opposition to Tehran amid Russian skepticism over its nuclear ambitions. Bush was speaking a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has resisted Western pressure to toughen his stance over Iran's nuclear program, made clear on a visit to Tehran that Russia would not accept any military action against Iran. At a White House news conference, Bush expressed hope Putin would brief him on his talks in Tehran and said he would ask...

US President George W. Bush said Wednesday that he had warned world leaders they must prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons "if you're interested in avoiding World War III." "We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," Bush said at a White House press conference after Russia cautioned against military action against Tehran's supect atomic program. "So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," said Bush.

A meticulously planned, brilliantly executed surgical strike by Israeli jets on a nuclear installation in Syria on 6 September may have saved the world from a devastating threat. The only problem is that no one outside a tight-lipped knot of top Israeli and American officials knows precisely what that threat involved. Even more curious is that far from pushing the Syrians and Israelis to war, both seem determined to put a lid on the affair. One month after the event, the absence of hard information leads inexorably to the conclusion that the implications must have been enormous. That was confirmed...

Report: Israel spots nuclear installations in Syria Washington official says Israeli surveillance shows possible Syrian nuclear installation stocked by North Korea, Israeli Arab newspaper claims target of alleged raid last week was Syrian missile base financed by Iran Israel believes that North Korea has been supplying Syria and Iran with nuclear materials, a Washington defense official told the New York Times. “The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left,” he said. The official added that recent Israeli reconnaissance flights over Syria revealed possible nuclear installations that Israeli officials estimate might have been...

The Prince of Wales was a "most likeable person", President Gaddafi a "mad clown" and Michael Jackson was "surprisingly shy". The private diaries of Ronald Reagan, which are about to be published for the first time, reveal a US president who was worried about imminent Armageddon but who also fretted about how he would handle chopsticks in front of the Chinese. The man who was credited with ending the Cold War reveals that he was "lonesome" when his wife, Nancy, was away and refused to talk to their son, Ron Junior, after he hung up on him. His carefully handwritten...

Pentagon prepares for possible war with Russia 08.02.2007 /PanARMENIAN.Net/ U.S. Defense Secretary thinks that American armed forces must be ready for a large-scale war, the Associated Press reports. “We need a full set of measures to conduct a war, including both special military units necessary for war against terrorists and infantry troops to be able to fight against large regular armies. We do not know what changes can take place in such countries as Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and others,” Robert Gates stated. He made this statement February 7 during hearings in the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services,...

An important and interesting report by an independent think-tank released in Britain Monday has found that young Muslims are heading toward religious extremism. This is not just a warning bell, it is a thunderous one, but Europeans are unable to take action lest they be accused of not being liberal. On the contrary, the main lessons drawn from the British research is one of self–flagellation, with Brits asking what they did wrong and why they had discriminated against the Muslim community. The research was based, among other things, on a survey conducted among the Muslim population that showed 37 percent...

As we mark the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America, and we review the half a decade of war on terror since, the central question that comes to the minds of both experts and policymakers is this – who is winning the war and where are we in its prosecution? And to refine, is al Qaeda on the retreat, is Afghanistan working, is Iraq surviving the challenge, and is Lebanon’s Cedars Revolution on the rise or has it been defeated? Is Hezbollah’s war changing the U.S. strategy regarding Iran and Israel? And finally, is the U.S. homeland secure,...

KISMAYO, Somalia (Reuters) - Islamist fighters in the Somali port city of Kismayo opened fire on Monday toward residents burning tires, throwing stones and chanting to protest against the Islamist takeover of the city hours before. A 13-year-old boy was shot dead while protesting, and two other people were injured as violence raged for several hours in Somalia's third biggest city, witnesses said. "We have been taken over by extremists, the Islamic courts have taken us by force, and now they are firing at us," protester Dahabo Dirie said. Riding trucks with machine guns, the Islamists guarded main streets and...

The atmosphere these days is marked by the same mists that those who were in Paris and Berlin in 1938 can still recall. The air was heavy with ominous feelings that war was about to burst on Europe, like a violent autumn storm, with jagged lightning and clattering thunder. The whole continent was in denial. There would be peace, there had to be peace. But there was not going to be peace. One could feel it in the air. It feels like 1938 all over again. I was only five years old then, but I remember still the dread in...

Is anyone watching this new History Channel special entitled "World War III: Beyond Lebanon?" So far, it seems like a pretty interesting dissection of recent events in Lebanon and an analysis of Hezbollah and the Iran connection. Repeats at midnight.

Middle East analyst & commentator This speech by the former President of Weizmann Institute of Science, Haim Harari is a lesson that the politicians and the Media would do well to learn. I doubt that they will either read or absorb the lessons in this insightful analysis of Terror and what it means towhat we call civilization. This is not a trite 'sound byte' for the Media to toss of with a a one liner. Harari is not the average person speaking his mind but, rather like listening to the thoughts of an Einstein. Most journalists and politicians do not...

Hezbollah’s black-clad legions goose-step and stiff-arm salute in parade, apparently eager to convey both the zeal and militarism of their religious fascism. Meanwhile, consider Hezbollah’s “spiritual” head, Hassan Nasrallah — the current celebrity of an unhinged Western media that tried to reinvent the man’s own self-confessed defeat as a victory. Long before he hid in the Iranian embassy Nasrallah was on record boasting: “The Jews love life, so that is what we shall take away from them. We are going to win because they love life and we love death.” Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad trumps that Hitlerian nihilism by reassuring the...

As the parents of Daniel Pearl, The Wall Street Journal's reporter who was kidnapped and brutally murdered in Pakistan in 2002, we share the anguish of the families of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers, and their frustration with the international community for failing to secure the release of their loved ones. For more than six weeks now, these soldiers and their families live each day tortured by unimaginable fears and shattered hopes, praying desperately for the nightmare to end; we relive this nightmare each time an innocent person falls victim to the inhumanity of terrorist abduction. Whatever success the U.N. Security...

Contrary to what is now the accepted wisdom in the media, Hezb’allah in its recent offensive against Israel neither “badly bloodied the Israel Defense Force,” nor “fought it to a standstill” in Southern Lebanon. In fact, the opposite is the case. By any legitimate measure Hezb’allah was handed a resounding military defeat by the IDF in the recent fighting, and while the cancer that is Hezb’allah was not cured by Israel’s soldiers, it was put into remission. Hezb’allah is not your father’s terrorist organization. This is not a group of loosely affiliated cells of would-be hijackers or suicide bombers. Hezb’allah...

What could possibly make the Lebanon situation worse today than it was yesterday? Only yesterday the hapless Israeli defense minister, Amir Peretz, said that Israel expected the "international community" to take control of Lebanon's border crossings. Peretz's pointless whine was in response to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's statement on Saturday that the new UN force in Lebanon won't either disarm Hizballah terrorists or try to interdict shipments of weapons to Hizballah from Syria. But what Peretz said changed nothing. The Son of UNIFIL force won't do anything to inconvenience Hizballah or its Syrian and Iranian suppliers. But yes, today,...

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Naval Coastal Warfare Squadron (NCWRON) 34 from Naval Coastal Warfare Group (NCWG) 1 deployed to Kuwait Aug. 22 and 24 to provide harbor and port security. They are tasked to protect ships carrying supplies for allied forces in Iraq. “This is my second time going over there, and it feels really good to help our troops get what they need to accomplish their mission,” said Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Martin Garcia of NCWRON 34. NCW squadrons use sensor platforms to provide a technical picture of the ports and harbors as they patrol the harbors for...

IDF continues to operate in Lebanon in accordance with ceasefire rules: On Sunday evening Army blows up Hizbullah bunker located 400 meters from border. Golani commander: 'Bunker highly sophisticated, equipped with logistical means' The IDF has blown up a Hizbullah bunker, uncovered 400 meters from the northern border near Rosh Hanikra. Deputy Commander of the Golani Brigade, Lieutenant General Gasam Alian, said that "this is a bunker that sprawls on the ground two kilometers, with shooting positions of molded concrete." He added that the bunker was advanced and connected to telephone lines. Since the ceasefire in southern Lebanon went into...

Years of bargaining with Iran has yielded the exact opposite of what was sought: Iran now seems more determined than ever to join the nuclear club. The UN Security Council's deadline for Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment program passes on Thursday. Tehran has refused to comply. The U.S. and others have signaled they will push for sanctions right after the deadline. Question: Can tough economic sanctions persuade Tehran to surrender its nuclear dreams? Yes, strong sanctions might work. Applied to the right pressure points, economic leverage can squeeze a government where it hurts--in the economy. That pain can translate...

http://today.reuters.co.uk/tv/videoStory.aspx?isSummitStory=false&storyId=eb16e63077404ca28ffbcacecb56291d0ef0f9b0&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-R4-WatchVideos-2

CBNNews.com – WASHINGTON - For now, the Middle East cease-fire agreement brokered by the U.N. seems to be holding up. But can Israel ever live in peace next to a group like Hezbollah? Because Hezbollah is nothing more than a terrorist group driven by one dark goal. As all the rest of the world begins to push Israel towards a cease-fire with Hezbollah, it's a good time to consider if there can ever truly be peace with such a terrorist group. Many people assume since Hezbollah has representatives in Lebanon's parliament, it must be more like a political party than...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Shortly after the recent outbreak of violence in Lebanon and Israel, Newt Gingrich made headlines by proposing that existing threats against American interests throughout the world constitute the early stages of World War III. Gingrich may not necessarily be wrong when he points out parallels between the storms gathering today and those that preceded the first two world wars. Nevertheless, the confrontational, fatalistic mindset that this analogy is bound to produce in Americans should be avoided at all costs. The better analogy is that the Middle East is embroiled in an Islamic civil war that...

An Arab nation with ties to 9-11 has pledged a major endowment to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, even as the Washington-based nonprofit group insists it receives no foreign support. The United Arab Emirates recently announced on its official government website that it has set up an endowment serving as a source of income for CAIR. The amount of the funding is undisclosed, but sources say it will be enough to help CAIR finance the construction of a new $24 million office building and a planned $50 million public-relations campaign aimed at repairing Islam's -- and the UAE's -- image...

In his upcoming book about the horrors of the 20th century, "The War of the World," the British historian Niall Ferguson has a chapter called "The Pity of Peace." It is about 1938, when World War II loomed, and Britain -- especially and importantly Britain -- did precious little to stop it. The warnings of Churchill -- "believe me, it may be the last chance . . ." -- were ignored, and the government under Neville Chamberlain obstinately pursued a policy that forever after made the word appeasement one of the most odious in history. Somehow, though, it looks like...

TONY BLAIR’S peace mission to the Middle East appeared in jeopardy last night after Hezbollah declared that the Prime Minister would not be welcome in Lebanon because of his support for Israel during the war. A senior member of Hezbollah’s politburo has told The Times that Mr Blair should stay away from the country because he was “up to his ears in the blood of Lebanese women and children”. British officials are confident that Mr Blair would be welcomed by the government of Fouad Siniora, the Prime Minister. But Hezbollah, which has emerged as the real force in the country,...

What if there are ten million and one? Religion of Peace Update from CNN, with thanks to Doug: Michael Scheuer, who once headed the CIA's bin Laden unit, says bin Laden has been given permission by a young cleric in Saudi Arabia authorizing al Qaeda to "use nuclear weapons against the United States ... capping the casualties at 10 million." "He's had an approval, a religious approval for 10 million deaths?" I asked him. "Yes," Scheuer responded.

LONDON - Amnesty International on Wednesday accused Israel of war crimes, saying it broke international law by deliberately destroying Lebanon's civilian infrastructure during its recent war with Hezbollah guerrillas. The human rights group said initial evidence, including the pattern and scope of the Israeli attacks, number of civilian casualties, widespread damage and statements by Israeli officials "indicate that such destruction was deliberate and part of a military strategy, rather than 'collateral damage.'" Amnesty International, whose delegates monitored the fighting in both Israel and Lebanon, said Israel violated international laws banning direct attacks on civilians and barring indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks....

KABUL , Afghanistan – Afghan and Coalition forces conducted a pre-dawn raid on a compound housing suspected terrorists Aug. 22 near Paru Kheyl village in Khowst Province . Three suspects were taken into custody. Assorted weapons and ammunition were confiscated in the operation. Weapons included automatic and bolt-action rifles, a shotgun and ammunition-carrying chest racks. Three other males found in the compound were released after questioning. More than 20 women and children were also located within the facilities. The Coalition notes that extremists are deliberately and immorally surrounding themselves with innocent civilians, knowing the Coalition takes extraordinary measures to prevent...

A traffic stop in Detroit has led to serious suspicion , police said . Detroit police officers pulled over a vehicle near Atkinson and Second streets on a traffic stop. When officers questioned the driver, the man said he was from West Africa. In the trunk of the vehicle, police found license plates from different states, identifications cards and Arabic literature, Local 4 reported. The man was taken in to custody on a traffic violation. Police will not comment on the items found in the vehicle, but did say they are working with federal authorities.

In our war against Islamo-fascist terrorism, we face enemies both overt and covert. The overt enemies are, of course, the terrorists themselves. Their motives are clear: They hate our society because of its freedoms and liberties, and want to make us all submit to their totalitarian form of Islam. They are busy trying to wreak harm on us in any way they can. Against them we can fight back, as we did when British authorities arrested the men and women who were plotting to blow up a dozen airliners over the Atlantic. Our covert enemies are harder to identify, for...

VENEZUELA has long cultivated ties with Middle Eastern governments, but its recent engagement of Iran has become a defining element in its effort to build an alliance to curb US influence in developing countries. In a visit late last month to Tehran by President Hugo Chavez and his Oil Minister, Rafael Ramirez, the two countries agreed to jointly produce nearly a dozen products, including crude oil and medicines. In a further sign that their ties have taken on a new dimension, the two countries are speaking in a more unified voice in their criticism of Israel and the US. The...

Why this man should give us all nightmares By ANN LESLIE 23:44pm 22nd August 2006 Iran's president Almadinejad: Threatened to wipe Israel off the map Why shouldn't Iran have nuclear weapons? We have them, so has America, France, Russia, Israel, China, Pakistan, India and possibly North Korea. So why make such a fuss about Iran? After all, we gulped, but then decided to accept Pakistan's and India's nuclear bombs. Why? Because we recognised that their bombs are, essentially, a continuation of the Mutually Assured Destruction doctrine which, as a deterrent, kept us from nuclear Armageddon throughout the Cold War. In...