BULLETIN No.156

Daily Star Time for Ehud Olmert to talk to the skeptical Syrians By Moshe Maoz
Salhani Analysis: Dealing with Syria
Say yes to Syria If Israel does not agree to seriously negotiate with Syria, Assad might conclude that Israel only understands force, and the Golan Heights could turn into the next war zone.
Debka DEBKAfile’s sources: Tehran and Damascus are gearing up for a pre-emptive Syrian attack on Israel to ward off a US strike on Iran’s nuclear sites More...
Assad on Israel: It Takes Two to Tango
BBC Syria: US lacks Mid-East vision Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the US lacks the will or vision to pursue peace in the Middle East.
Waiting gameSyria's president feels time is on his side, says John Simpson
Assad: Syrian military preparing for war with Israel
IDF prepares response to possible attack by Syria
Al Awsat What On Earth Are the Syrians Talking About?
UPI Analysis: Would Hezbollah attack the United States?
Lebanon's ambient clusters of death By Cesar Chelala
Analysis: Watch the Syrians, very carefully
The Second Lebanon War Begin-Sadat Center
Hezbollah's Big Miscalculations Militia Leaders Caught Off Guard By Scope of Israel's Response in War
Exporting Death as Democracy: an essay on US foreign policy in Lebanon.
Daily Star Berri says Saudi clout is key to facing Lebanon's challenges
Berri and Siniora survived one crisis, but can they prevent more of them?
Assad calls on Egypt, Saudi Arabia to hold summits with Syria
Forward Jerusalem’s Damascus Conundrum Raises Wartime Memories of Yom Kippur Past

Analysis: A nightmare scenario of living under a nuclear threat
Debka Will Israel Wake up One Morning to a Nuclear-Armed Iran? In full
Editorial In light of the Korean bomb The North Korean nuclear test is not only a failure of diplomacy and a threat for northeast Asia - it may have an immediate and dangerous effect on Israel as well.
Israel worried N. Korea to pass Iran nuke know-how
New Republic The grim persistence of Ehud Olmert by Yossi Klein HaleviDaily Star Israel is creating Mogadishu next to its Silicon Valley By Zahi Khouri
Olmert and Abbas: a tragic relation of political weakness By Aluf Benn
‘We Will Not Recognize Israel,’ Palestinian Premier Affirms
Fears over Palestine civil war
Hamas' fall is nearer The situation that will emerge from Hamas' fall could be even worse.
The head of the Mossad and the Saudi connection
Jerusalem Post Still a strategic asset for the US By EFRAIM INBAR

CSIS - Can Iraqi Forces Do the Job? READ MORE
Heritage Foundation The Dangerous Consequences of Cutting and Running in Iraq by James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., and James Phillips
Asia Times The two faces of Iraq Muqtada al-Sadr is vilified by the US as a rebel and a troublemaker, yet without his support Maliki and Iraq would be in a lot more trouble than they already are. - Sami Moubayed
Sunday Times America ponders cutting Iraq in three Juan Cole thinks it is a very bad idea His reasons here.
New York Sun Eli Lake Erstwhile Allies Break With Bush On Iraq Policy
Guardian Timely leaks over Iraq Dilip Hiro Steps are being taken to neutralise the Iraq war as a debilitating element for the Republicans.
BBC Bush's Iraq options limited By Paul Reynolds
Chicago Tribune Editorial One Iraq or three?
Democracy Arsenal Iraq in Three Parts by Suzanne Nossel
G.O.P.’s Baker Hints Iraq Plan Needs Change
Newsweek Fareed Zakaria: Iraq's Dark Day of Reckoning If you were a Shiite, having suffered through a brutal insurgency and an incompetent government, would you give up your weapons?
AP - Kurds Show Signs of Seceding From Iraq
Asia Times Bloody fight over Kirkuk's futureJust weeks after the establishment of a committee to "normalize" matters, oil-rich Kirkuk in northern Iraq is experiencing exceptionally high levels of violence among its Kurdish, Arab and Turkoman populations. Tensions are exacerbated by divisions over whether or not to join the autonomous Kurdish region.
Washington Post - PostGlobal: Michael Young Don't Leave Iraq
Iraq: A Federal Union? The Conservative Voice
4,000 Iraqi Police Killed In 2 Years, U.S. Official Says
Coup in Iraq? by Robert Dreyfuss
Los Angeles Times One Day in the Life and Death of Wartorn Iraq The country's fighting is not a single conflict, but an overlapping set of conflicts, and American troops are caught among the competing forces
LEADING ARTICLE: Time for change in Iraq
The Realities Of Trying to Rebuild Iraq By Dan Senor
Breathing Room by Joseph R. Biden, Jr. U.S. policy in Iraq—and elsewhere around the world—ought to be based on reality. Iraq is already a partitioned country. Recognizing that allows us to craft a strategy to salvage success.
Rice Tells Kurds That Unity Is Key for Security

Iran’s Ahmadi-Jejad faces electoral test Registration has opened elections to Iran’s Assembly of Experts - arguably the country’s most important body.
Weekly Standard Why Is Ahmadinejad Smiling?by Waller R. Newell
New York Times U.S. Says It Has Deal With Other U.N. Members to Penalize Iran for Nuclear Drive
Nuclear bomb test 'just a day away'
Powers Agree to Take Next Step on Iran Chief negotiator will remain available for talks if country chooses to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
Mother Jones Has Washington found its Iranian Chalabi? Introducing the talented Mr. Fakhravar Laura Rozen
Zakaria: Iran Is Riding High, But Its Fortunes Will Wane
Jerusalem Post Rogues' game By SAUL SINGERThere is a simple way for the US to defuse demands hampering the formation of an anti-Iran coalition.
New York Times U.S. Says It Has Deal With Other U.N. Members to Penalize Iran for Nuclear Drive
Analysis: Iran's Ahmad Chalabi?
NRO SAUL SINGER: Why did Condoleezza Rice visit the Middle East this week? “Coalition Building Better”

Lobe Appeals Grow For Comprehensive Mideast Settlement
Al-Jazeera may transmit Islamist rhetoric, but that's the Middle East's reality By khalid Hroub