From The Times | May 26, 2008 | Jimmy Carter says Israel had 150 nuclear weapons | Bronwen Maddox
Israel has 150 nuclear weapons in its arsenal, former President Jimmy Carter said yesterday, while arguing that the US should talk directly to Iran to persuade it to drop its nuclear ambitions. ...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Bin Laden said the fight for the Palestinian cause was the most important factor driving al-Qaida's war with the West
May 16, 2008, 6:04AM | New Bin Laden tape: Palestinian cause fuels holy war | By MAGGIE MICHAEL | Associated Press
CAIRO, Egypt — Osama bin Laden said in a new audio recording released today that al-Qaida will continue its holy war against Israel and its allies until it liberates Palestine.
The terrorist leader's third statement this year came as President Bush was wrapping up his visit to Israel to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state.
Bin Laden said the fight for the Palestinian cause was the most important factor driving al-Qaida's war with the West and fueled 19 Muslims to carry out the suicide attacks against the U.S. on Sept. 11.
"To Western nations ... this speech is to understand the core reason of the war between our civilization and your civilizations. I mean the Palestinian cause," said bin Laden in the close to 10 minute audiotape.
"The Palestinian cause is the major issue for my (Islamic) nation. It was an important element in fueling me from the beginning and the 19 others with a great motive to fight for those subjected to injustice and the oppressed," added bin Laden. ...
CAIRO, Egypt — Osama bin Laden said in a new audio recording released today that al-Qaida will continue its holy war against Israel and its allies until it liberates Palestine.
The terrorist leader's third statement this year came as President Bush was wrapping up his visit to Israel to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state.
Bin Laden said the fight for the Palestinian cause was the most important factor driving al-Qaida's war with the West and fueled 19 Muslims to carry out the suicide attacks against the U.S. on Sept. 11.
"To Western nations ... this speech is to understand the core reason of the war between our civilization and your civilizations. I mean the Palestinian cause," said bin Laden in the close to 10 minute audiotape.
"The Palestinian cause is the major issue for my (Islamic) nation. It was an important element in fueling me from the beginning and the 19 others with a great motive to fight for those subjected to injustice and the oppressed," added bin Laden. ...
Monday, May 05, 2008
IAEA also says Israel should have given its investigators a chance to investigate the purported reactor before they bombed it ...
Leading article: Intelligence or propaganda? - Leading Articles, Opinion - The Independent Saturday, 26 April 2008
In the wake of the mysterious Israeli bombing raid on a Syrian facility last September, neither party wanted to talk about what had happened. But now the truth, or at least one interpretation of it, has come out on Washington's Capitol Hill.
American security officials this week presented members of Congress with evidence supposedly showing that Syria, with North Korean assistance, was building a nuclear reactor on the target site and that this facility was "not intended for peaceful activities". Pictures have been released allegedly taken inside the facility showing a reactor core being built as well as an image of North Koreans working there.
There is no independent way to verify any of this, especially since the installation has now been destroyed. We must rely on the integrity of the Israeli and US intelligence services. That is where we hit a problem. The former US Secretary of State Colin Powell presented similar evidence to the United Nations Security Council in February 2003 showing what we were told was strong evidence of Iraqi storage of weapons of mass destruction. As we all know, that intelligence turned out to be bogus.
...
There is another question raised by all this. If the US and Israel were so convinced of Syria's malign intentions, why the secrecy? The head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed El Baradei, has criticised the US for not passing on this information sooner. The IAEA also says Israel should have given its investigators a chance to investigate the purported reactor before they bombed it. ...
In the wake of the mysterious Israeli bombing raid on a Syrian facility last September, neither party wanted to talk about what had happened. But now the truth, or at least one interpretation of it, has come out on Washington's Capitol Hill.
American security officials this week presented members of Congress with evidence supposedly showing that Syria, with North Korean assistance, was building a nuclear reactor on the target site and that this facility was "not intended for peaceful activities". Pictures have been released allegedly taken inside the facility showing a reactor core being built as well as an image of North Koreans working there.
There is no independent way to verify any of this, especially since the installation has now been destroyed. We must rely on the integrity of the Israeli and US intelligence services. That is where we hit a problem. The former US Secretary of State Colin Powell presented similar evidence to the United Nations Security Council in February 2003 showing what we were told was strong evidence of Iraqi storage of weapons of mass destruction. As we all know, that intelligence turned out to be bogus.
...
There is another question raised by all this. If the US and Israel were so convinced of Syria's malign intentions, why the secrecy? The head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed El Baradei, has criticised the US for not passing on this information sooner. The IAEA also says Israel should have given its investigators a chance to investigate the purported reactor before they bombed it. ...
Thursday, May 01, 2008
"biggest threat" to them, a whopping 95 percent and 88 percent of respondents named Israel and the U.S.
April 15, 2008 | Attitudes Toward US Worsen in Arab World | by Jim Lobe
Despite renewed U.S. efforts to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement this year, popular views of the United States in the Arab world have actually worsened since 2006, according to a major new survey [.pdf] of public opinion in six Arab states.
Nearly two-thirds, or 64 percent, of more than 4,000 respondents in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said they held a "very unfavorable" attitude of the United States, up from 57 percent in late 2006, while 19 percent more said their views were "somewhat unfavorable" – roughly comparable to the results of 17 months ago.
... [US and Israel]
Asked to name two countries that, in their view, posed the "biggest threat" to them, a whopping 95 percent and 88 percent of respondents named Israel and the U.S., respectively. That compared to 85 percent and 72 percent, respectively, in late 2006.
By comparison, the sense of threat posed by Iran appears to have diminished over the same period. While 11 percent of Arab respondents named Iran as one of the two greatest threats in late 2006, only seven percent did so in the most recent survey.
... [Driving radicalism]
Asked to identify which foreign leader they admired the most, respondents generally volunteered those most outspokenly defiant of Israel and the U.S. The most popular was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was named by 26 percent of respondents, up from 14 percent 17 months ago. Second-ranked was Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at 16 percent, up from just 2 percent in 2006.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came up third with 10 percent of respondents, up from 4 percent in 2006, while al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was cited by 6 percent of respondents, up from 4 percent. Al-Qaeda also appeared to receive a somewhat more sympathetic response among respondents than in late 2006. ....
Despite renewed U.S. efforts to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement this year, popular views of the United States in the Arab world have actually worsened since 2006, according to a major new survey [.pdf] of public opinion in six Arab states.
Nearly two-thirds, or 64 percent, of more than 4,000 respondents in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said they held a "very unfavorable" attitude of the United States, up from 57 percent in late 2006, while 19 percent more said their views were "somewhat unfavorable" – roughly comparable to the results of 17 months ago.
... [US and Israel]
Asked to name two countries that, in their view, posed the "biggest threat" to them, a whopping 95 percent and 88 percent of respondents named Israel and the U.S., respectively. That compared to 85 percent and 72 percent, respectively, in late 2006.
By comparison, the sense of threat posed by Iran appears to have diminished over the same period. While 11 percent of Arab respondents named Iran as one of the two greatest threats in late 2006, only seven percent did so in the most recent survey.
... [Driving radicalism]
Asked to identify which foreign leader they admired the most, respondents generally volunteered those most outspokenly defiant of Israel and the U.S. The most popular was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was named by 26 percent of respondents, up from 14 percent 17 months ago. Second-ranked was Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at 16 percent, up from just 2 percent in 2006.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came up third with 10 percent of respondents, up from 4 percent in 2006, while al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was cited by 6 percent of respondents, up from 4 percent. Al-Qaeda also appeared to receive a somewhat more sympathetic response among respondents than in late 2006. ....