AP

JERUSALEM—- With Iranian backing, Hezbollah guerrillas have dramatically increased their rocket range and can now threaten most of Israel, senior Israeli defense officials said Thursday.

The Lebanese group has acquired new Iranian rockets with a range of about 185 miles, the officials said. That means the guerrillas can hit anywhere in Israel’s heavily populated center and reach as far south as Dimona, where Israel’s nuclear reactor is located.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge the confidential intelligence assessment to the media.

When Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006, Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel. The longest-range rockets fired, which Israel said were Iranian-made, hit some 45 miles inside Israel.

Although Israel’s air force managed to take out most of the group’s long-range rockets, the military failed throughout the war to halt the short-range rocket fire that paralyzed northern Israel and killed 40 Israeli civilians.

After the war, the U.N. dispatched a peacekeeping force to distance Hezbollah from the border and prevent the group from rearming. But Israel says Hezbollah’s Iranian and Syrian patrons have steadily provided the group with large amounts of rockets since then, many of them capable of hitting central Israel. However, it has not revealed the evidence for its claims.

Hezbollah and U.N. peacekeeping officials were not immediately available for comment.

The defense officials did not say how many of the new rockets Hezbollah has obtained. However, Israelis have said previously that overall, Hezbollah now has many more rockets in its arsenal than the 14,000 it had before the conflict — likely more than double that number.

In early March, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reported Israeli claims that Hezbollah’s arsenal includes 10,000 long-range rockets and 20,000 short-range rockets in southern Lebanon.

Israel also faces near-daily rocket barrages in the south from Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, ruled by the Islamic group Hamas. The rockets from Gaza, mainly crude short-range projectiles, have killed 13 Israelis since 2001. Like Hezbollah, Hamas has strong ties to Iran.

Its always interesting to me that people keep saying that Israel needs to quit doing whatever it is that people think they are doing to stop Lebanon and Palestine from bombing them. I don’t get it. Its like saying women are at fault for getting raped because they walk down the street. Apparently, Israel is at fault for getting bombed because it exists.

Its also interesting that the U.N. peacekeeping force has to resort to keeping Hezbollah far enough form the border with Israel so that they can’t bomb them. Apparently, using any kind of reason or peace negotiations just isn’t an option. I submit its not an option because they don’t want peace. They only want to destroy Israel. Period.

The news that Hezbollah, with the assistance of Iran and Syria, has had a dramatic increase in their fire power and the range of their rockets is alarming. The leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas have never made a secret that their intention is to destroy Israel. The leaders of Iran have never made a secret that their goal is to destroy Israel. They say what they intend to do. They work diligently towards that goal and are obviously making serious progress. All the while we don’t listen. Is it that we don’t believe them? Are we so afraid of them that we just stick our heads in the sand and hope they won’t be able to produce the technology to do it? Why don’t we listen? Why don’t we believe them?

I wonder what our presidential candidates intend to do about Iran.

All in all. This is very alarming news.

One of John McCain’s strengths is his strong grasp on the conflicts that our country is currently faced with and his understanding of how to deal with conflict. He certainly knows that pretending conflict is not there doesn’t make it go away.

While John McCain has been touring the Middle East this week he has visited King Abdullah II of Jordan and Israel. He has voiced his support of Israel as well as hope for peace in the Middle East as a whole.

The Jerusalem Post

“If Hamas/Hizbullah succeeds here, they are going to succeed everywhere, not only in the Middle East, but everywhere. Israel isn’t the only enemy,” Arizona Sen. McCain said, in the only interview he is giving to the Israeli media during his visit here.

“They are dedicated to the extinction of everything that the US, Israel and the West believe and stand for. So America does have an interest in what happens here, far above and beyond our alliance with the State of Israel.”

McCain calls Israel a partner, not a client. He says as partners it is not our place to tell Israel how to handle the conflicts they have with their neighbors. While he would not recommend that Israel not talk to Hamas he said that he is personally against it.

“Someone is going to have to answer me the question of how you are going to negotiate with an organization that is dedicated to your extinction,” McCain said in a lounge in Jerusalem’s David Citadel Hotel, as Lieberman and Graham listened.

~ clip ~

“I really think that we should understand that the US and Israel are partners. Israel is not a client of the United States,” he said. “If you are partners, then you don’t dictate what you think the terms of the survival of a nation should be.”

Asked whether Israel was using the right tactics in trying to quell the rocket fire on Sderot and the western Negev, McCain praised Defense Minister Ehud Barak - terming him “one of the great military people” he has met - and added, “I can’t give you a good answer as to how you respond to these rocket attacks.”

But, he then said dryly, “I can tell you that I believe that if rocket attacks came across the border of the United States of America, that the American people would probably demand pretty vigorous actions in response. I think I know my constituency in the state of Arizona, and they would be pretty exercised if rockets came across our southern border.”

And what did he have to say about Iran ….

“I think Iran is a threat to the region,” McCain said, adding that not only were the Iranians “obviously pursuing nuclear weapons,” they were also arming and training extremists to send into Iraq, supporting Hizbullah and influencing Syria.

“At the end of the day, we can still not afford to have Iran with nuclear weapons,” he said. “We know they have ambitions that are not just aimed at the State of Israel.”

These ambitions included “destabilization of the entire region upon which the United States’ national security interests rest,” he said.

McCain is in the region with his close friends, fellow Senators, Joe Lieberman and Lesley Graham. Here are some photos from their trip. You can click on the photos to make them larger.

A trip to a Damascus book shop reveals the type of anti semitic literature that shapes the world view of Jihadists organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah. That was not always the case in the Muslim world. What are the origins of Muslim anti Semitism? A new book traces this hate to Nazism and it’s goal to turn Muslims against Jews and Zionism.

read more | digg story

Six Spanish Soldiers have died following a bomb blast while on a U.N. mission in Southern Lebanon near the Israeli border.

How’d this happen? Spain isn’t part of the War on Terror (aka: War with Jihadists). These Spanish Soldiers were part of a peace keeping mission with the United Nations. So how’d they get blown up by jihadists?

They weren’t Americans, they weren’t fighting in an ‘illegal war in Iraq’. They were on a ‘peace keeping mission.

They ARE part of the Global War on Terror. Terrorists having been waging war in Lebanon as well as any other country in which they can get a foothold. Hezbollah claims they had nothing to do with this attack. Just prior to this explosion claimed the lives of these young Soldiers, hezbollah had accused the UN Soldiers of spying for Israel. Also, the bomb was set off by remote device just as the Spanish armored vehicles were passing by.

The Spanish Pundit

The three soldiers, of Colombian origin are, Jefferson Vargas Moya, 21-years-old; Jackson Castaño Abadía, 20-years-old; y Juan Erickson Posada, 20-years-old. The two Spanish are Jonathan Galea García, 18-years-old, from Madrid; and Juan Vidoria Díaz, 20-years-old from Avila. In the same explosion, another three were hurt: Enrique Vázquez Matei (21-years-old from Madrid), David Puerta Ruiz (19-years-old from Sevilla) y Juan Paz Soler (19-years-old, from Mallorca).

Read The Spanish Pundit for more information and updates.

The Jawa Leader foils Green Helmet’s evil plan to deceive the entire world.

Vote for this video at YouTube here and at Digg here.

Video produced by My Pet Jawa

Watching the news a moment ago my Beloved Curmudgeon noted that the newscast used an entire 3 minute segment on whether or not the United States had been wiretapping Princess Diana prior to her death in 1997. Following that segment, there was a 30 second segment on the looming crisis in Lebanon.

The crisis in Lebanon is of Biblical proportions and yet it only warrents 30 seconds of time on the evening news.

If Lebanon falls, the middle east will be rocked with even more chaos and anarchy. The jihadists are emboldened, thanks to the perceived weakness of the United States. Of course this has been helped along by the constant undermining by the main stream media, the progressives and the silly report put out by Baker and Hamilton.

Our enemies have tried to warn us repeatedly. Our allies are virtually jumping up and down, waving, trying to get our attention. Still, we sit in front of our television sets and PlayStations and ignore the Global War on Terrorism that is swirling all around us. So far, we have been relatively untouched. Not to worry, our ability to ignore the rest of the world is quickly coming to an end.

If Lebanon falls, the same process will begin in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait and Egypt. Then the process will begin in France, England and other European countries with large muslim populations. Israel will not likly be able to survive a scenerio of this magnitude. The only way the United States will be able to survive would be to garner an enormous army.

The students so comfortable in their ivy league schools, who so quickly ‘protest’ anyone who says something they don’t like, and then return to their Mercedes to drive to their suburban homes, will have to take a stand on something that REALLY matters. They will be taken out of their comfort zones this time.

It seems that everyone, but America, understands what’s at stake. Everyone. It seems that everyone is attempting to wake Americans up. They can’t seem to get our attention and are becoming increasingly desperate. Everyone knows America is the only nation capable of dealing with the enormity of this problem. But America sleeps.

Even worse, America is insisting on sending out messages that we are not willing to do what has to be done to end this. We lack the will. Just like every time in the past that we’ve buried our heads in the sand, more people will die because of our unwillingness to sacrifice even our most meager comforts.

Pope Benedict XVI calls this a grave moment in history. He pleads with the world to pray for Lebanon and provide assistance. He calls the situation grave and urgent.

I also hope that the international community will help to identify urgent pacific and fair solutions necessary for Lebanon and the entire Middle East, while I invite all to prayer during this grave time.”

The Lebanese people are protesting against hezbollah. Following the assasinations of Christian leaders in Lebanon, the protests have intensified.

Cardinal Sfeir , the highest Christian spiritual authority warned that “wars start with words”. He cautioned that the insults and aggressive statements against government individuals are bad news for Lebanon as they spell evil for the future of this country.

Sfeir warned that no one one is thinking about the Lebanese people, whose aim is to survive with their families in harmony and away from violence. But unfortunately these continued protests are making it impossible to survive, since the economy as a result of these protests is in despair.

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah is trying to warn the world of the dire consequences should Lebanon fall.

“Our Arab region is besieged by a number of dangers, as if it was a powder keg waiting for a spark to explode,” he told the rulers of the oil-rich monarchies gathered in Riyadh for a two-day meeting.

Abdullah warned that Lebanon risked sliding into renewed civil strife as a result of the current standoff between pro- and anti-government camps.

“In Lebanon, we see dark clouds threatening the unity of the homeland, which risks sliding again into… conflict among the sons of the same country,” he said.

Israeli leaders are watching the situation with a clear understanding of what it means for Israel.

Israeli officials warned Sunday that the fall of the moderate Lebanese government could lead to the establishment of an Iranian proxy state on Israel’s northern border and increase the probability of war between the two nations.

~snip~

“If the Saniora government falls, it means that Lebanon will be controlled by the long arm of Iran,”

Lebanon chaos is Israeli nightmare.

JERUSALEM – Israel is deeply troubled by menacing Hezbollah-led mass demonstrations in Beirut, fearing it could lead to a permanent and dominant Iranian-Syrian presence on its northern border.

~snip~

In that event, Iran again would be able to threaten Israel with massive rocket attacks from Lebanon if Israel or the US takes military action against Iran’s nuclear program. In other words, the Iranians again would be able to use their Hezbollah card to deter Israel from trying to stop Iran from going nuclear.

~snip~

“If Hezbollah gains sway in Beirut, Lebanon will become the first Iranian protectorate.”

This dire, urgent, grave, evil situation is unfolding right now and our media determines it should get 30 seconds of coverage in the evening news. The warning signs are everywhere and still America sleeps.. The longer we avoid this conflict, the more will die because of it.

I got to thinking…the winds of weakness are coming over America once again. With the Lemoncrats ™ in charge of the House now, and that Iraq Study Group report upon us- have we forgotten the days of our infamy? Does December 7th and September 11th have any pull at all, anymore?

I think not.

Bernie at Planck’s Constant says Bush was right, we’ll have to fight them here.

crossposted: Jihad du Jour and MVRWC

Linked: The Pirate’s Cove, Uncooperative Blogger, 123Beta, Outside the Beltway, Amboy Times, Third World County, The Hill Chronicles, The Right Nation, Madman Returns, Is It Just Me?, Stop the ACLU, Church & State, Stuck on Stupid, Perri Nelson, Samantha Burns, Adam’s Blog, Random Yak, Jo’s Cafe, Culturetastic

Hezbollah war crimes: Amnesty International cries Uncle
By Jules Crittenden
Boston Herald City Editor
Thursday, September 14, 2006

Amnesty International has introduced a comprehensive report accusing a terrorist group of war crimes.In utter defiance of the predominant American left, European and United Nations view that Israel engaged in gross war crimes against civilians and freedom fighters in Lebanon, Amnesty International has announced that in its opinion, Hezbollah is guilty of war crimes. Hezbollah purposefully and indiscriminately targeted Israeli civilians.

The AI report notes that despite Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s subsequent protestations to the contrary, he stated publicly and repeatedly during the conflict that he was firing his missiles at civilian areas to make Israeli civilians pay for their army’s actions, and with his uncontrolled Katyushas, an indiscriminate weapon, he killed 43 of them.He had advised Israeli Arabs to leave those areas.He had provoked the war with a cross border attack in which some Israeli soldiers were killed and others seized.

AI did not address the issue of an estimated 1,000 Lebanese civilians killed when Israel attacked Hezbollah fighting and command positions that had been established within populated villages, or the use of civilian vehicles, buildings and clothing by Hezbollah fighters, who also sometimes fought in Israeli uniforms.That is still the subject of investigation, and AI announced those issues, unlike the Hezbollah violations, are too complex for immediate comment. Readers will recall that perceived Israeli transgressions were what attracted the most attention and condemnation during the Lebanon conflict, and that those occurences were largely presented as Israel’s fault. It will be interesting to see if AI attempts to sort out how many of those 1,000 were actually Hezbollah guerrillas, and how many cases of “Israeli” attacks on civilian buildings and vehicles — such as ambulances — were staged Hezbollah propaganda events, and in some cases, if the dead were actually dead, or play-acting, or being recounted and shuffled around.

continue reading article here

Is it really possible that a group like Amnesty International might take an unbiased critical look at a conflict between a Western nation and terrorist group and not blame the Western nation for everything that transpires between them? We are so accustomed to terrorist groups being given a pass on their brutal, horrific tactics that it is somewhat shocking to see an international political organization giving a fair evaluation of the conflict.

We can only hope that something like this might become a trend. Honest reporting of the facts would be such a breath of fresh air. It might actually give us some hope that the incessant stream of propaganda we are exposed to, day in and day out, would begin to away from it’s contant anti-Western spin.

What would really happen to these terrorist organizations if their real nature was exposed to the world? Could they survive without the support of the Western media and international organizations?

previous

• Kidnapped Israeli Soldiers Still Missing
• The UN Has Done Nothing to Help Captured Israeli Soldiers
• Ground War Underway in Israel
• What Does Hezbollah Want?
• Israeli Consulate Protest
• I Stand With Israel
• Prayers for Israel
• Jews are Fighting for Their Lives
• Israel Strikes Palestine Foreign Ministry
• Israeli Forces Rout Out Murderers of Asheri
• Israel Amasses Troops

26 year old Eldad Regev. 31 year old Ehud Goldwasser. 19 year old Gilad Shalit

I can’t help but wonder why hezbollah and hamas are not held accountable for their actions, while Israel is pressured into a ceasefire after attempting to defend herself and rescue her captured sons. Now, the blockade of lebannon is being lifted with no consessions on the part of hezbollah or hamas.

After all that, the captured Israeli Soldiers are still in captivity.

Still, hamas and hezbollah are not asked to give any accounting for their actions, to free the Israeli Soldiers they kidnapped or even to provide proof of life.

The good guys are blamed for the actions of the bad guys and the bad guys are portrayed as victims.

The world has gone completely crazy.

Families of Captured Israeli Soldiers Criticize Decision to Lift Lebannon Blockade
Iran Denies Moving Captive Soldiers

previous

• The UN Has Done Nothing to Help Captured Israeli Soldiers
• Ground War Underway in Israel
• What Does Hezbollah Want?
• Israeli Consulate Protest
• I Stand With Israel
• Prayers for Israel
• Jews are Fighting for Their Lives
• Israel Strikes Palestine Foreign Ministry
• Israeli Forces Rout Out Murderers of Asheri
• Israel Amasses Troops

linked to: Outside the Beltway

Ynet News:

Anti-Syrian elements in Lebanon openly point finger at Hizbullah as guilty of killing of dozens of civilians in order to curtail plans for disarming group. ‘Hizbullah has placed rocket launcher on building’s roof and brought invalid children inside in bid to provoke Israeli response,’ they write

The Lebanese website LIBANOSCOPIE , associated with Christian elements in the country and which openly supports the anti-Syrian movement called the “March 14 Forces,” reported that Hizbullah has masterminded a plan that would result in the killing of innocents in the Qana village, in a bid to foil Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s “Seven Points Plan”, which calls for deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon and the disarming of Hizbullah.

‘Disabled children placed inside building’

“We have it from a credible source that Hizbullah, alarmed by Siniora’s plan, has concocted an incident that would help thwart the negotiations. Knowing full well that Israel will not hesitate to bombard civilian targets, Hizbullah gunmen placed a rocket launcher on the roof in Qana and brought disabled children inside, in a bid to provoke a response by the Israeli Air Force. In this way, they were planning to take advantage of the death of innocents and curtail the negotiation initiative,” the site stated.

The site’s editors also claimed that not only did Hizbullah stage the event, but that it also chose Qana for a specific reason: “They used Qana because the village had already turned into a symbol for massacring innocent civilians, and so they set up ‘Qana 2′.” Notably, the incident has indeed been dubbed “The second Qana massacre” by the Arab media.

Is it so hard to believe that the Islamofascists would do such a thing. Consider other acts that have been contributed to them. Not to mention their willingness to fly commercial airplanes into buildings with the hope of killing a maximum number of civilians. Or strap a bomb on themselves or their children and send them into crowded markets, also in the hope of killing as many civilians as possible.

Even now, it is being revealed that a couple involved in the plot to hijack planes out of London were planning on using their own infant to carry out their homicide/suicide attacks.

Rielh World View has some photo comparisons that are disturbing. He compares photos taken in July of disabled Lebanese children to the bodies of children in Qana.

How does one defeat an enemy who thinks they get closer to winning every time more of their own dead children appear in pictures and on our television screens?

As she walked through the ruins of the neighborhood of Hayal Jumma, trying to remember who lived where, a burly man in a brown T-shirt with a handgun in his belt and a two-way radio walked up and identified himself as a Hezbollah man. He wouldn’t give his name, but he wanted to know who had come to see the ruins.

His radio cracked and he spoke. Within minutes, three other men arrived.

“I think we won the war. This (debate over a possible) cease-fire is about politics, but I think the war is won by us,” the first said, refusing to give his name.

The Dread Pundit Bluto has a translation of the French text in the Lebanese website.

Old War Dogs have no trouble believing it at all.

h/t Something … and Half of Something who says these are things you can’t bear to think about.

More at Sister Toldjah, The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler

More islamofascists media manipulation and propaganda:
The Soccer Ball
Israel, Palestine, Haditha and the Gullible Main Stream Media
Is the Haditha Story a Hoax

Right Girl attended an anti-hezbollah rally today in Toronto. She has coverage of the rally that countered a planned PRO-hezbollah rally.

She has some interesting photos and coverage.

The police on site were polite, but it made me angry that they asked us to move, because “we were putting their guys in danger”. Us? If there was danger, it didn’t come from our side. Later on, when someone showed up with a Hezbollah flag, we pointed out to one of the cops that Hezbollah is recognized in Canada as a terror organization, and that man should be arrested. The cop said “that’s a decision for someone higher up” than him, and he didn’t want to “wade into that bunch” to make an arrest. Not that I’m looking for a cop to risk himself unnecessarily, but it seems to me that it would have been an easy arrest to make. After all, the pro-Hezbollah side claimed to be demonstrating for “peace”, so I’m sure the cop would have been safe. What? You don’t think so?

Interesting, isn’t it?

I have often thought that much of the critism of the United States and Israel is because wading into that bunch is a much more frieghtening prospect. Better to leave the terrorists alone and focus your critism on countries in which you have the right to opposition.

Too bad that won’t save you, or us, in the end.

Check out Right Girl’s post.

cartoon Cox & Forkum

Business as usual.

political cartoon from Middle East Info