ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE PROSPECTS
"The intifada has set us back 50 years."
Quote from veteran guerrilla of the deadly al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
A new leader, same old issues
US News & World Report
Opportunity? The containment of the intifada, the Palestinians' disillusionment, and the anticipated rise of a moderate like Abbas offer the potential for a break in the conflict. But few hereabouts discount Murphy's Law--"If anything can go wrong, it will." The distance between Abbas's intentions and the Palestinians' stated readiness for a mutual cease-fire, on the one hand, and actually reaching the point of shutting down all intifada violence, on the other, is great indeed. Nor would it be easy getting Israel to scrupulously keep the peace, given the Army's problem with overeager soldiers and hostile settlers in the Palestinians' midst.
So if the election of a new Palestinian president--the official kickoff of the post-Arafat era--offers the opportunity for change, it is at best a slim opportunity hedged with doubts. "I'm going to vote for Abu Mazen because I want to give him a chance. We're tired, and we need hope," says Maher Zaghloul, 23, an unemployed hotel administrator from Bethlehem who is waiting for the tourists to come back to the Holy Land. "But realistically, I don't expect anything to improve. Abu Mazen will get elected, and then things will go on like this for another five years, 10 years--who knows how long?"
As I've said before, the rise of Abbas shows little promise for increased chances of peace. The obstacles have been, and remain the terrorists themselves, unwilling to cease their own hostilities and demands. This is the first report I have seen that indicates they sense their own futility and resolve could be weakening.
Should more Palestinian terrorists start believing the infitada is doomed, less recruits will be willing to die for a lost cause, trading in mortars for an opportunity to grow a Palestinian state in whatever form is agreed upon. Abbas himself will have had little to do with the change, but may enjoy the fame that accompanies the leadership who finally strikes a deal of peace.
IRAN and the UN, the EU, the IAEA, and AMERICA
Setting up the US to blame for failure
UN to Inspect Iran's Parchin Military Site
Vienna (Reuters)
Iran has agreed after several months to allow U.N. inspections of a military site where Washington believes work linked to nuclear bomb-making was carried out, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Wednesday.
(snip)
Officials from the United States and several other countries said in September that Parchin may be a site where Iran was testing explosives that would be appropriate for an atom bomb.
Although ElBaradei played down the U.S. allegations at the time, agency inspectors asked Tehran to visit the site. They want to take environmental samples to rule out the possibility that Iran had been working with nuclear materials at Parchin.
But they received no response from Iran until recently.
(snip)
In November, the EU trio revived a stalled agreement under which Iran would freeze its uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing capabilities in exchange for a package of economic and political benefits to be provided by the EU.
(snip)
Diplomats and analysts have said that the U.S. refusal to participate in the EU initiative could wreck the deal.
It comes down to this. The UN and EU are willing to take Iran at it's word. The US is not. Even IAEA's el Baradei, not one to quickly side with the US on anything, is not convinced of the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear development, saying "the jury is still out".
What I see is the UN and EU going forth, ready to make America the scapegoat for failure. Don't think so....
In the meantime, el Baradei says the North Korean efforts for economic blackmail, a condition of demands in exchange for quelling their nuke programs, is just getting worse. N. Korea still refuses to participate in the six party talks, which are supported not only by the US, but by el Baradei himself.
DARFUR PEACE AT AN IMPASSE
Mediation stuck -none willing to make concessions.
U.N. Says Darfur Rebel Threat Spells Disaster
Talk, talk, talk... at some point, the int'l community must take firm control to stop the continuing genocide.
LIGHT AT END OF TUNNEL FOR IRAQI VIOLENCE?
"Maj. Gen. Mohammed Abdullah al-Shahwani told Asharq Al-Awsat that he expected the armed attacks would decrease and end within a year."
Iraq Intel Head Sees End to Violence
AP on FoxNews.com
This would be good news indeed. And perhaps this will temporarily satiate the disingenuous left who are always screaming for an "exit strategy" and end game... as if that is ever possible in any conflict.
al-Shahwani not only sees an end in sight, but goes to far as to identify who and how many are making the news with their efforts to thwart Iraqi freedom. What is most offensive is that most are not Iraqi.
What is equally offensive is the lefists inability to comprehend the wisdom of the war in Iraq. It has kept the enemy distracted and their forces spread thin - involved enough in this major conflict to minimize their violence here at home. I think it's safe to say we'd all rather fight them over there instead of here on our own sea2sea shores.
"We officially call them terrorists," he said. "They are between 20,000 and 30,000 armed men operating all over Iraq, mainly in the Sunni areas where they receive moral support from about 200,000 people."
Al-Shahwani said the men, who are well-organized and trained, include former Baath party members, some Islamic militant groups and former army members who lost their jobs.
(snip)
The Iraqi intelligence chief said insurgent activities in Fallujah have receded since a U.S. and Iraqi military campaign last month but that leading members fled to different areas.
He named "hot areas" where insurgents were active, including the so-called "Sunni Triangle," eastern Diyala province and areas north of Hillah, about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad. He said armed groups were seen stopping and searching people in the streets of the northern city of Mosul. Inside Baghdad, he named the dangerous regions as Haifa Street and the districts of Azamiyah, Doura and Ghazaliyah, as well as the road leading to the airport.
UN SAYS PLAY NICE, OR NO TSUNAMI AID
U.N. Warns Against Fighting, Tsunami Pledges Rise
UN (Reuters)
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Governments and rebels in Sumatra, Sri Lanka and Somalia must keep the peace or risk a cut-off in tsunami aid, the United Nations said on Wednesday, as Australia and Germany pledged more than $1.4 billion in disaster assistance.
"We have a message to the parties to the conflicts: Suspend your conflict and work together with us to help your own people," a senior U.N. official said.
There's a few more ditties in this article bound for a future headline - among them Bush's personal pledge of $10,000 which will, no doubt, raise additional "stingy" cries from critics.
In the meantime the UN suits have assembled in Jakarta to discuss future prevention with a global tsunami alert system.
Change o'pine here... Sexual slavery rings at work?
Missing boy 'not kidnapped'
When this story hit, the first thing that crossed my mind was why on earth a tsunami survivor would be abducting children for sexual needs. Surely there was more important things on the mind when you're surrounded by the fall of just about everything around you.
Sure nuff... it was merely a case of mistakened identity.
But now arise reports of sex slave rings coming into the area to swoop up orphaned children? Quick on the lips is the country of Thailand. These options are too repulsive to consider... are they true? Is this sleazy biz enjoying an booming influx of innocent talent, capitalizing on this tragedy?
I am constantly amazed at how low humans can stoop... just as I am wow'd by the heights they can soar. This is a story to be followed.
IT HAD TO HAPPEN, OF COURSE
US Blamed For Tsunamis
I won't spend much on this absurdity. It is hardly worthy of a mention save as an example of utter stupidity and unethical journalism.
The foundation of the entire story is based on the accusations and rantings of a single internet user's e-mail, identifying himself as "al-Madhri".
The e-mailer's charge that America cares little for the lives of others is easily discounted by the outpouring of military aid, gov't and personal funds. Even were the America haters inclined to believe this is a nation that cares only for money, there would be reason enough to prevent such death in interest of saving the massive costs the US will occur.
All reasoning falls flat on it's face for the accusations. I must question the motives of the journalist him/herself... as to why they would even give this the dignity of a single sentence, let alone a full article.
Dubai - Islamists have had no trouble identifying the culprit in the tsunami disaster, using websites to blame the United States for the deaths of nearly 146 000 people in the earthquake and tidal waves that struck Asia.
"America got wind of the catastrophe before it occurred. The state department, the Pentagon and the American naval base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia were alerted before the destructive earthquake," wrote one internet user under the name "al-Madhri".
Claiming to cite an article by a Canadian academic, the writer accused Washington of "not having alerted the authorities of the affected countries, which could have saved tens of thousands of innocent lives."
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