BULLETIN No.123

Ha’aretz – ANALYSIS: Al-Zarqawi's death more important than bin Laden's Zarqawi's assassination is operationally significant because he is responsible for the most casualties
Marcus Waiting for the white smoke Olmert needs a year to prepare the infrastructure for withdrawal. He needs to take advantage of the window of opportunity offered by Bush?s remaining two and a half years in office.
Palestinian unity means Hamas must deal with Israel By Ghassan Rubeiz Little is known about a community of several thousand Palestinian political prisoners being held in Israeli jails. These prisoners follow the news and discuss politics. A West Bank commentator, Daoud Kuttab, has explained that political prisoners are highly esteemed by Palestinian society. They do not have to prove their patriotism.
Schiff It won't be a regular victory Israel, which defeated the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon, also had problems when it coped with a smaller force there − that of Hezbollah.
Pan-Palestinian meeting to be held in Syria on reforming PLO
Jerusalem Post Analysis: The death of Terror Inc.'s CEO By HERB KEINONAbu Musab al-Zarqawi's death will not destroy al-Qaida, but it will probably slow it down.
Prospect Talking to Hamas
Alastair Crooke Hamas official Osama Hamdan explains how US pressure is making it hard to govern
UPI Analysis: A West Bank alliance? Former Jordanian and Palestinian officials are pushing for greater economic and security cooperation between the two Arab nations, even noting the distant ...
Daily Star Palestinian unity means Hamas must deal with Israel By Ghassan Rubeiz
Bold political gambit from Abbas A two-state solution is implicit in a referendum that the Palestinian leader is likely to promote Saturday.
An opening for Hamas - and for Israel URI DROMI Israel should grab the opportunity to help Mahmoud Abbas carry the day with his referendum proposal for the Palestinian people.
Daily Star Olmert vows to attempt peace talks with Palestinians Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert told Jordan's King Abdullah II Thursday he would do his utmost to restart peace talks with the Palestinians amid concern that chaos in Palestinian areas could destabilize the kingdom.

Al-Ahram Terror within Syria In the gun-battle that ensued, one member of Syria's security forces was killed along with a guard at Syrian Television. Two others were wounded.
Report: CIA used Syria for 'outsourcing of torture'...
Hezbollah's disarmament dilemma MICHAEL YOUNG Hezbollah is caught between conflicting loyalties - to Lebanon on one hand, and to Iran and Syria on the other.

Washington Institute Deterring and Containing Iran: A Near-Inevitable Task Patrick Clawson’s June 8, 2006, testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.
Will America attack?
Philip Gordon Despite the Iraq precedent, the odds are against a US attack on Iran any time soon
Diplomacy is not enough
Michael Rubin Engagement alone will not solve the crisis. The west must invest in Iranian civil society and support dissidents
Sanctions, not bombing
Nazenin Ansari Attacking Iran will merely weaken the forces in the country opposed to the regime. But sanctions are a different matter
From the Tehran street
Esther Herman What does the man on the Tehran omnibus think about his country's nuclear ambitions?
Iran's Nuclear Scorpion - Victor Davis Hanson, RealClearPolitics
Asia Times The oil weapon and Iran A lot of loose talk surrounds the use of the "oil weapon" in any confrontation with Iran. But there are risks for both sides should oil be dragged into an imbroglio. If the West boycotts Iran, prices would spike, hurting the global economy. But petroleum reserves would help the West ride out any move by Tehran to take its oil off the market. - Peter Kiernan
Ha’aretz – ANALYSIS: Al-Zarqawi's death more important than bin Laden's
Washington Post How U.S. Forces Found Iraq's Most-Wanted Man By Jonathan Finer, To kill Zarqawi, U.S. forces located his spiritual adviser and tracked the man relentlessly for many weeks.
Los Angeles Times Zarqawi Hunt 'Hit Gold' With Qaeda Insider's Tip
Washington Institute The Death of Zarqawi: Organizational and Operational Implications for the Insurgency
Heritage Foundation Getting Zarqawi: One Win in Long War by James Jay Carafano,
The Death of Zarqawi: A Major Victory in the War on Terrorism by Nile Gardiner Ph.D.
Christian Science Monitor A major blow to the insurgency in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, chief of Al Qaeda in Iraq, died in a US attack Wednesday.
Terrorism and Security: Zarqawi's death may not reduce violence
A long trail to finding Zarqawi
Weeks of gathering a broad range of intelligence led to the successful strike.
After success, next US steps?
Furthering Iraqis' faith in their own government is vital, analysts say.
Editorial Zarqawi's demise is a psychological boost
Editorial Post-Zarqawi tasks left in Iraq
UPI Eye on Iraq: Why Maliki is failing
Iraq: Al-Zarqawi --The Sunnis Deliver?Stratfor
Iraq: The Implications of Al-Zarqawi's Death
Guardian US kills Iraq target number one Al-Qaida leader Zarqawi dead. Zarqawi's last hiding placeBedouin who became a butcherSerious tone hides Bush's gleeObituary: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Only a provocateur Jonathan Steele: Zarqawi's death will not halt the cycle of violence set in motion by the occupation of Iraq
Leader Death of a fanatic In the unrelenting viciousness of the war in Iraq, he stood out for his sheer barbarity and seemed to set new standards of cruelty in the sectarian war he promoted.
Zarqawi: don't celebrate too soon Brian Whitaker Rather than being a blow against al-Qaida, the death of its leader in Iraq could relieve the terror group of a problem and give it a martyr.
Another cul-de-sac in Iraq
Dilip Hiro Iraq's occupiers are hailing Zarqawi's killing as a turning point in the insurgency. But we've been here before.
Analysis: Zarqawi's death changes Iraq war
Knight-Ridder Zarqawi's death not expected to have major impact on Iraq
Zarqawi’s ‘Total War’ on Iraqi Shiites Exposes a Divide among Sunni Jihadists Before his death in a U.S. airstrike June 8, Iraq’s terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had begun alienating himself from other elements of the Sunni Arab insurgency, and even from al-Qaeda itself, with his exceptionally barbarous attacks on Shiite civilians.
Boston Globe A turning point in Iraq? (By Ahmed Hashim)
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Al Qaeda has already named Abdallah Bin Rashid al Baghdadi, head of its shura council in Iraq, as Abu Musab al Zarqawi’s successor More...
The Times Leader A fitting end The death of al-Zarqawi should be a turning point for Iraq
The strongest impact of al-Zarqawi's death will be felt in America, not Iraq Gerard BakerSome hysterical opponents of the Iraq war liked to suggest that al-Zarqawi did not really exist
Brick by brick, we will build unityNouri Al-Maliki The Prime Minister of Iraq says al-Zarqawi's demise will aid moves towards reconciliation
After Zarqawi Now's the time to secure Baghdad.
Slate A Window of Opportunity: What happens now that Zarqawi's dead?
Fred Kaplan
CSIS Zarqawi’s Death: Temporary "Victory" or Lasting Impact-Anthony H. Cordesman
Jerusalem Post Analysis: The death of Terror Inc.'s CEO By HERB KEINON Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death will not destroy al-Qaida, but it will probably slow it down.
Who's on Deck?: What Zarqawi's death means for the insurgency.
Daniel Byman
New York Times Zarqawi's Life After Death By DANIEL BENJAMIN and STEVEN SIMON The decapitation of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist network may indeed diminish its effectiveness, but we should not get our hopes too high.
Washington Post Our Strategy for a Democratic Iraq By Nouri al-Maliki
Prospect War and democracy Robert Cooper Tony Blair's former foreign affairs adviser considers the ambiguous lessons of the Iraq war
COMMENT: Chirac and Blair reach the end of the road from Suez to Iraq By Philip Stephens Historians will look back on Suez and Iraq as bookends for an era in which Britain and France competed to hold on to their world roles

Overselling Terror by Robert Parry
FPIF The Neocons Are Talking War
Washington Times A non-negotiable conflict?
By R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. According to the Bush Doctrine, we will send our military against any group that practices terror and any government that harbors terrorists.
The New Global Arabism Parag Khanna
Daily Star Arab security services and the crisis in democratic change By Amr Hamzawy