BULLETIN No.149

Voice of America Türkiye'nin Ortadoğu'daki Rolü Oytun Orhan

Slate Syria Stays Above the Fray: Assad to Ahmadinejad: "You're a great guy, Mahmoud, but I'm just not that into you." Rebecca Sinderbrand
Asia Times Syria's military flatters to deceive Syria's 220,000-strong army could put up a reasonable fight. But its air force could not sustain more than a day or two, at most, of full-scale conflict, while the navy would only provide useful target practice for a well-equipped enemy. Damascus' missiles and weapons of mass destruction are much more of a threat. - Richard M Bennett
Washington Times A twist of faith in Syria (Nir Boms)
Asia Times The road to Damascus - Jim Lobe When the crisis broke, many in the US immediately clamored for a wider war with Syria and Iran. Two weeks later, they are changing their tune and advocating dealing with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as Damascus is now seen as pivotal to resolving the ongoing violence, one way or the other.
Try Talking With Syria Assad Isn't Going Away By David W. Lesch
Ha’aretz – ANALYSIS: The U.S. may have to resume talks with Syria The U.S. realizes that Israel will probably not succeed in destroying Hezbollah's infrastructure.
Nasrallah's Visit and Signals from Damascus Stratfor
NYT Tom Friedman Talking Turkey With Syria
Editorial Endgame in Lebanon Everyone agrees on how the war should end, but does anyone know how to get there?
Hezbollah Proves a Formidable Foe
Entrenched Guerrilla Force Exposes Limits of Israel's Modern Army
Digital NPQ Efraim Halevy: A TURNING POINT OF NO RETURN: ISRAELI-HEZBOLLAH WAR POISED TO ESCALATE
Shabtai Shavit: FORMER MOSSAD CHIEF: WAR WITH HEZBOLLAH IS CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS; NO WEDGE CAN BE DRIVEN BETWEEN SYRIA AND IRAN
Schiff Analysis: For Israel, the conflict in Lebanon is a must-win situation If Hezbollah does not experience defeat in this war, this will spell the end of Israeli deterrence against its enemies.
UPI Analysis: The right force for Lebanon By CLAUDE SALHANI
Yedioth Ahronoth Between perception and reality Giora Eiland
Jerusalem Post The pros and cons of an int'l force in Lebanon By LT.-GEN. (RET.) YA'ALON AND MAJ.-GEN. (RES.) AMIDROR
Daily Telegraph Israel seeks international help
Carl Bildt An Israeli Strategic Failure?
Anger in the Arab World by Rashid I. Khalidi
New York Times Tide of Arab Opinion Turns to Support for Hezbollah Initially, Arab governments criticized Hezbollah for recklessly provoking a war. Now, opinion across the Arab world has changed.
Israel's strikes in Lebanon may boost Hizbullah's popular base
Support for Hizbullah tops 80 percent among some Lebanese factions.
Hizbullah may prove tougher than expected Heavy casualties, lack of 'significant victory' concerns some in Israeli military.
87% of Lebanese Support Hezbollah's Fight
Does Jerusalem Have a Plan?
The Times Leader War on two fronts Israel needs to strike a balance between military and political objectives
Ha’aretz - IAF knocks out Hezbollah missile command in Tyre Israel rules out UN role in peacekeeping force
Report: Nasrallah to meet Assad, Iranian security chief in Syria
Analysis / The alternative to Hezbollah may be occupation
Editorial Broad consensus to bolster Lebanon
Oren No time to lose Once, the supreme imperative was to run as far as possible before the White House said stop. Now, Israel is hesitating as the U.S. presses for more.
A proxy war By Joschka Fischer Now is the time to play the Syrian card and bring President Bashar Assad onto the path of normalization. Without Syria, Iran would be alone. Iraq, too, would profit from such a development.
Political Animal / What will we do if there's a real war?
Essay: Why Israel must win this war for the free world By DAN DIKER AND YA'AKOV AMIDROR This is one of the last stations at which the runaway train of radical Islam can be stopped
From 1982 to 2006 By URI DAN People now justify the second Lebanon war who did everything they could to sabotage the first one
Too friendly? By YAAKOV KATZ Israeli participation in NATO-run naval drills may lead to ties that, uncomfortably, bind
Interesting Times: Whither deterrance? By SAUL SINGER UNIFIL, in effect, has served as human shields for Hizbullah, thereby doing more to facilitate aggression than to fulfill its mandate of 'restoring peace and security.' This must change.
A peace to end all peace By EVELYN GORDON Will the international community give in to Hizbullah's blackmail over Shaba Farms?
FPIF Who's Arming Israel?
The New Republic Israel's war is not about peace. It is about deterrence by the Editors
Only Hizbullah can defend against an Israeli invasion Jonathan Steele: Attempts to impose an international force would risk destroying Lebanon's government and revive the danger of civil war.
Schiff How to end the war
Fourth Generation War in Lebanon by Ehsan Ahrari
Washington Institute An International Stabilization Force for Lebanon: Problems and Prospects By Michael Eisenstadt Past experiences—many of them failures—in Lebanon, the Middle East, and elsewhere offer several critical lessons about the sorts of challenges a new international force in Lebanon could encounter and the kind of mandate and capabilities it will need to meet those challenges.
Hezbollah Proves a Formidable Foe Entrenched Guerrilla Force Exposes Limits of Israel's Modern Army
The Potential for Escalation in the Hizballah-Israel Conflict Jeffrey White
AEI Sending in the Peacekeepers Is a Fool's Game By Michael Rubin
William Arkin Israel's Approach to Peacekeepers
CSM Time won't help Israel disarm Hizbullah By Augustus Richard Norton
The Tribes of War By ABBAS EL-ZEIN For Lebanon, the same conflict but with better bombs.
Financial Times Lebanon ceasefire talks fail An international crisis meeting on Lebanon failed to agree on a call for an immediate ceasefire in the two-week conflict between Israel and Hizbollah fighters, pledging only quick humanitarian relief and support for Lebanon’s reconstruction.
Washington Post Heavy Fighting Rages Across South Lebanon In the bloodiest day for Israel since clashes began two weeks ago, eight soldiers are killed in ambush by Hezbollah in the border town of Bint Jbeil.
Der Spiegel Hezbollah's Calculus With its leader playing the Arab David to Israel's Goliath, the danger is increasing that Hezbollah will become heroes throughout the Muslim world. In order to eliminate that threat, the US and Israel must negotiate with the powers behind Hezbollah: Syria and Iran.
Ha’aretz – ANALYSIS: The U.S. may have to resume talks with Syria The U.S. realizes that Israel will probably not succeed in destroying Hezbollah's infrastructure.
Waging war or winning peace By HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal What we are witnessing today in Lebanon, in Palestine, in Iraq and in Afghanistan is no less than the punishment of the powerless, escalating humanitarian crises of mammoth proportions, coupled in Lebanon with the destruction of the very infrastructure of civilized existence.
Nine IDF soldiers killed, 27 hurt in south Lebanon Cabinet to mull expanding ground operations
Editorial Only after a clear success In the 28 years since its establishment, UNIFIL failed to achieve its mission of implementing Security Council Resolution 425 and contributing to the restoration of security and order along the border.
Benn A glossary of delusions
KR Israel faces risks, tough decisions as 9 soldiers killed in Lebanon
Hezbollah attack `came from all sides,' Israeli officer says
Analysis: How the Arab world views the conflict
With America watching, Israel needs a knockout By HERB KEINON Washington is watching and judging Israel, to see how effective a strategic asset Israel really is.
Der Spiegel Is Israel Facing a Quagmire?
Slate Proxy Power: Understanding Iran's use of terrorism. Daniel Byman
Rolling Stone Iran: The Next War BY JAMES BAMFORD

Christian Science Monitor Editorial Iraqi fighters: beat 'em or forgive 'em?
The Times Leader A minefield Taking sides on Iraq’s legal battleground
WSJ Fixing Iraq Some alternatives to pre-emptive retreat.
Washington Post Do or Die Against Iraq's Death Squads By David Ignatius, If Iraq's "unity government" fails, the civil war will shift into a grim new phase, with pitched sectarian battles for territory and the prospect of tens of thousands more dead.

How to achieve the 'new Middle East' Contrary to Condoleezza Rice's hopes, all the latest fighting in Lebanon will do is prove the impossibility of achieving real peace through bloodshed, writes Patrick Bishop.
The Region: New Middle East By BARRY RUBIN Intransigence is in the palace and pragmatism is a beggar.