BULLETIN No.161

Editorial A change of direction on Assad
Israel Girds for War With Syria, Hezbollah in 2007
Asad's Declarations: Ambiguous Words, Clear Meaning JCSS
Syria Comment
Inching Toward a Deal?
“Will Washington agree to Riyadh’s initiative on Lebanon?” by al-Amine

Washington key to solving Palestinian-Israeli conflict By Sablia Sarsar
Yedioth Ahronoth Status quo ante Israel must change policies from disengagement to preemption
Rice: Better Hamas in power than in streets
Jerusalem Post 'Israel should learn from Kosovo' xclusive: Lieberman calls Balkan conflict test case on int'l intervention.
British envoy: Balfour would have urged two-state solution
BBC Israeli army leaves Beit Hanoun
The Israeli army withdraws after six days in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.
Israeli Sheikh: Temple Mount is Entirely Islamic Arutz Sheva

American Prospect War in Iraq, 2003-?? The Pentagon had no intention of staying in Iraq forever. But the White House won’t answer a simple yes-or-no question about permanent bases, and Pentagon brass are planning -- and building -- for the long haul. By Spencer Ackerman
Financial Times US weighs price of Iraqi territorial integrity Three years after the invasion of Iraq, some voices in Washington have started to ask whether watered-down partition could facilitate a US exit
New Republic Bush family calls on James Baker again to haul their asses out of the fire. Will James Baker save Bush's Iraq policy--or bury it? by Ryan Lizza
BBC Iraq Baathists ban 'to be eased' An Iraqi official says plans have been made to allow ex-members of Saddam Hussein's party to get government jobs.
Iraq's Baath dilemma
Iraq Three into one proves an odd fit
Fallujah once again beset by violence
Outside View: Iraq disaster warning
Hollow victory: The hanging of Saddam Asia Times
Iraqis told not to worry over US elections
COMMENT: America will thrive after Iraq; it is the locals who will suffer
Washington Institute The Saddam Verdict and the Insurgency Despite the justice of the decision, the death sentence for Saddam Hussein is likely to prove a boost to the Sunni Arab insurgency and a complicating factor in Iraqi politics, further alienating Sunni Arab Iraqis from a national government dominated by Shiites and Kurds.
Op-Ed: Partition May Not Be a Bad Thing After All
Plan C for Iraq he Progress Report
Iraq Three into one proves an odd fit
IRAQ'S NEW SECRET POLICE New York Post Ralph Peters
Editorial Justice for Iraq's tyrant?

Walker's World: The eclipse of U.S. influence in Middle East?