Friday, July 28, 2006

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.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

BULLETIN No.148

International Crisis Group Israel/Palestine/Lebanon: Climbing Out Of The Abyss
WSJ Come Back, Bashar . . . Let Syria deal with Hezbollah. By EDWARD N. LUTTWAK
NRO JAMES S. ROBBINS: What we see are the outlines of a new international alignment in the Middle East. “Let’s Be Friends with Syria
KR Syria at the Center of Diplomatic Efforts to End War in Lebanon
Syria Emerges Front and Center by Patrick Buchanan
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Talking Turkey With Syria
Getting the Syrians on board with putting an international force in Lebanon would be very hard, but it's worth a shot.
News Analysis: Why Syria Has Much to Lose if Hezbollah Is Finally Halted
Aljazeera Why is Syria not doing something about this conflict?? For me it ... Why is Syria not doing something about this conflict?? For me it seems that the war is aimed at Syria and maybe Iran is coming closer, but why not fight now?!?
Syria Comment
Damascus Moves Back into the Center as Lebanon is Turned into a Failed State
U.S. Plan Seeks to Wedge Syria From Iran

Independent The Middle East: What happens next?
Israel withdraws unilaterally? Diplomatic settlement? Israel snared in counter-insurgency? Lebanese government falls? Israel invades Lebanon? We analyse the options.
Ha’aretz – Annan: UN base was 'apparently deliberately targeted'
Washington Post In Lebanon's Crisis, a Chance for U.S. to Broaden the Stakes By Robin Wright
A Way Forward By David Ignatius
Jerusalem Post Analysis: The IDF's new definition of victory By ANSHEL PFEFFER French and Saudi troops firing on Hizbullah; That's the current idea of an Israeli victory.
New York Times The Enemy of My Enemy Is Still My Enemy
By BERNARD HAYKEL The rise of Hezbollah makes it all the more likely that Al Qaeda will soon seek to reassert itself through increased attacks on Shiites in Iraq and on Westerners.
Los Angeles Times Hezbollah Is Nobody's Puppet By Reza Aslan
If the Bush administration thinks this is a proxy war, it's making a tragic mistake.
Christian Science Monitor In Middle East, US diplomacy by proxy Syria is a key to the crisis, but Secretary Rice, now in the region, delivers the US message via others.
CFR Multilateral Intervention in the Middle East: An Uninspiring Legacy
Al Hayat On the Eve of the Most Difficult Stage Abdel Wahab Badrakhan - CIearly at this point of the war, Israel cannot consider itself victorious. The only thing it has demonstrated is that it is a terrorist State that does nothing except commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against any future for peace and co-existence in the Middle East. Because this war concerns the US, just as it concerns Israel, the next imminent phase of hostilities will be open to all possibilities, including the most dangerous and the most foul.
The Times When terror becomes error Rosemary Righter Iran and Syria are delighted at the mayhem in the Middle East — but they have overplayed their hand
Daily Telegraph Worldstage
Der SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH LEBANESE PRESIDENT EMILE LAHOUD 'Hezbollah Freed Our Country'
Der Spiegel INTERVIEW WITH ISRAEL'S FOREIGN MINISTER"There Can No Longer Be a Hezbollah"
Ha’aretz – Annan: UN base was 'apparently deliberately targeted'
Schiff The war so far / No goals attained
Benn Was there a proper decision process?
Military Intelligence Chief: Syrian army now at its highest state of alert
Four peacekeepers killed in IAF strike on UN base Nasrallah: We will hit targets south of Haifa
Hezbollah: Strong Israeli response surprised us
Editorial There are no free wars
What would count as success
Rice, Olmert agree on need for multinational force in Lebanon
Analysis: Is the criticism of IDF's military intelligence justified?
Nasrallah vows to begin firing missiles deeper into Israel
New Republic Why Israel fights Once again, the Jewish people finds itself facing a totalitarian ideology with aspirations to rule the world. by Yossi Klein Halevi
Yedioth Ahronoth Poor intelligence Better military intelligence would have facilitated opening stage of ground offensive
Congressional Research Service "Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah: The Current Conflict" (pdf), July 21, 2006
Debka After Losing Bin Jubeil, Hizballah Avoids Frontal Encounters, Switches to Guerrilla Tactics Print
New Republic Roll Back by Dennis RossWhat the United States stands to gain from Israel's war with Lebanon.Con Coughlin says 'ask the US Marines what happens to troops in Lebanon'
Jul 25 SD# 1211 - Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah: I Told Lebanese Political Leaders We Would Abduct Israeli Soldiers
MEMRI Jul 26 SD# 1213 - Lebanese Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt on Al-Arabiya TV: Do Lebanese Really Agree That the Battle of the [Islamic] Nation Should Be Launched From Lebanon?; I Was First to Warn of the Iranian-Syrian Alliance; I Have the Right to Challenge Nasrallah's Heroism
Washington Times Tehran likely to gain if Lebanon fighting continues (Katie Stuhldreher)
Djerejian Hezbollah's Staying Power
Ha’aretz Ma’oz Morality is not on our side The consensus that morality is on our side is based on short-range selective memory, an introverted worldview, and double standards.
Asia Times The war Hezbollah is really fighting With diplomacy making scant progress and with neither Israel nor Hezbollah showing any signs of backing off, the asymmetrical warfare drags on. Hezbollah could take the (moral) initiative by unilaterally stopping all rocket attacks on Israel, focusing on Israeli ground forces making incursions into Lebanon. Hezbollah might still be defeated, but its phoenix would rise from the ashes of Lebanon. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi
Der Spiegel ISRAEL GOES TO WAR With an Iron Fist As Beirut is reduced to rubble under a barrage of Israeli bombs and residents of northern Israel flee constant Hezbollah rocket attacks, the prospect of a cease-fire seems remote. Meanwhile, the rest of the world looks on as the latest Middle East catastrophe unfolds
Editorial Lebanon as a Middle East turning point
Ha’aretz – Ze'ev Schiff: Tyre in Lebanon vs. Haifa in Israel
Israel to Occupy Area of Lebanon as Security Zone
D.C. argument / Operation time
Editorial The bigmouth policy
Eldar How to make a multinational force
Opening a window on intelligence
Firepower versus brainpower Instead of an army that is small but smart, we are catching glimpses of an army that is big, rich and dumb
Oren Litani operation with an Iranian flavor
Ma’oz Morality is not on our side The consensus that morality is on our side is based on short-range selective memory, an introverted worldview, and double standards.
IDF surrounds Hezbollah stronghold of Bint Jbail
Akiva Eldar: Peace in the Galilee depends on peace with Syria
UPI Outside View: What about proportionality? By ALON BEN-MEIR
Washington Times Law and war (Louis Rene Beres)
Der Spiegel Why Israel's Reaction is Right The natural reaction to the current violence in the Middle East is one of horror. It's time for a cease-fire, right? Not necessarily. Pacifism would only help the radicals. By Matthias Küntzel
In Lebanon strife, memories of past war for Israel
New Republic Assymmetric Warfare by Jonathan Chait Why Israel's use of "disproportionate force" is justified.
Rice Details Proposal to Deploy Lebanon Force Plan to use foreign military presence in buffer zone on border greeted skeptically by officials in Beirut; Israeli forces push deeper into southern cities.

New York Times Our Corner of Iraq By PETER W. GALBRAITH While the Bush administration professes a commitment to Iraq’s unity, it has no intention of undertaking the major effort required to put the country together again.
AEI Event The Future of the Iraqi Armed Forces
Washington Post Editorial A Slipping Last Chance Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visits Washington with little to show for his new government.
A widening sectarian rift pushes Iraq to the brink of civil war Al Qaeda is now actively pitting Sunnis against Shiites, fueling civil violence. By Fawaz A. Gerges
Center for American Progress Iraq – Getting Worse
Progress Report, 7/25/06 IRAQ: Transitioning From Bad To Worse
New questions about American military's 'aggression' in Iraq
Reports allege tactics for operations, interrogations led to continued prisoner abuse, wrongful deaths
Shiite Party Leader Outlines 4 Steps for Iraq to Curb Violence Establishment of People's Committees Needed to Restore Security, Hakim Says
When bombs stir a Shiite political revival By Augustus Richard Norton

BBC Iranian puppets Tehran's role in the ongoing Middle East crisis remains hazy
Iran Pulls the War Strings - Richard Chesnoff, New York Daily News

Weekly Standard Things Fall Apart The era of "Arab" unity may be coming to an end and the map of the Middle East may be about to change. by Lee Smith

Monday, July 24, 2006

BULLETIN No.147

Ha’aretz – What will happen next? Can Israel take advantage of this window of opportunity to break the back of Hezbollah and eradicate the mythic cult surrounding its leader, Hassan Nasrallah?
Guardian Israel gears up for ground war Troops mass on border in preparation for new phase of the crisis. 'We'll make this place a graveyard'
Al Hayat WHY IS ISRAEL DESTROYING LEBANON? Patrick Seale –
Washington Post Israel Calls Up Reserves, Reinforces Border
Troop movements, warnings to Lebanese to flee northward, add to indications that Israel is planning a large-scale ground operation against Hezbollah
CSIS CORDESMAN: ROAD TO NOWHERE: STRATEGIC FAILURES IN LEBANON
CORDESMAN: LEBANESE SECURITY AND HEZBOLLAH
CORDESMAN: IRAN'S SUPPORT OF HEZBOLLAH IN LEBANON
Financial Times COMMENT: A strategy for resolving the conflict in Lebanon By Martin Indyk
Viewpoint: George Shultz on how to disarm Hizballah
Yedioth Ahronoth America's honey trap US has no strategic pact with Israel, but still it acts like Israel is its proxy, Yossi Ben-Ari says
NYT Magazine Ballots and Bullets By NOAH FELDMAN We wanted to use both elections and force to transform the Middle East. Hamas and Hezbollah, it turns out, had the same idea.
Debka Washington Expected an IDF Grand Slam to Dispose of Hizballah Print
Rice: Poor Syria Relationship Overstated
Ehsan Ahrari Hezbollah’s Strategy: Creating “Perpetual Revolution” Through “Fourth Generation War”
Diplomacy: U.S. Must Deal With Damascus and Hezbollah to Ease Mideast Crisis, Syrian Says
Newsweek Q&A: What's Israel's Next Step?
Tony Karon Six Fallacies of the US Hezbollah Campaign
Lebanon: The Battle of Maroun al-Ras and Israel's Strategy Stratfor
Special Report: Why Hezbollah Fights Stratfor
Foreign Policy Seven Questions: The Fight for Lebanon
An End to Unilateralism
The List: Clerics of Consequence
Christian Science Monitor Israel looks ahead to buffer-zone troops Israel's defense minister said Sunday that NATO forces could help stabilize the country's border with Lebanon.
Can Syria really rein in Hizbullah?
Syria offers to talk but warns it may join conflict As the US Secretary of State prepared to set out the American plan for ending the fighting, Israel said that it would agree to the deployment of a Nato force
Syria wants to have its say, but US is determined not to listen Syria, the main Arab backer of Hezbollah, has not been invited to the emergency talks, but has made it made clear that it has plenty to say
Syria wants dialogue with Washingtonon Mideast peace
Financial Times COMMENT: A strategy for resolving the conflict in Lebanon The Bush administration needs to send a clear message to Iran and Syria: if they do not stop supporting Hizbollah, they will be held responsible, writes Martin Indyk, former US ambassador to Israel
Syrian Minister: Major Invasion of Lebanon Would Draw Syria Into War
Syria Wants Cease-Fire Within Framework
Hezbollah's Apocalypse Now By Amal Saad-Ghorayeb
Israel Fights To Secure Key Region In Lebanon
Limited Ground Invasion May Suffice, Officials Say
MEMRI Jul 21 IA# 288 - The Middle East Crisis – Local, Regional, and Global; Conventional and Nuclear
Jul 24 IA# 289 - The Middle East Crisis – Local, Regional, and Global; Conventional and Nuclear (2): The War in the Perception of Iran, Syria, and Hizbullah
Israel Will Accept a Disarmed Hezbollah
Envoy Talks of Future As a 'Political Group'
Ha’aretz – IDF expanding presence in south Lebanon, says Hezbollah capable of firing rockets for a month
ANALYSIS: A road map for Lebanon studded with mines
Eldar Between Katzrin and Nahariya Israel has been asking Syria to stop Hezbollah. But what incentive has Damascus to comply with Jerusalem's request as long as the Golan Heights remains in Israeli hands?
A voluntary 'putsch' In Israel the military plan is the only plan. Diplomats tend to take commands from the soldiers.
Proportionality in the war As long as Israel upholds its first responsibility to provide security for its citizens then it has not blown the war out of proportion.
Editorial Separate PA from Lebanon
The prying game
Schiff ANALYSIS: Hezbollah cell based in Tyre wreaking havoc on Haifa
Yedioth A hronoth America's honey trap US has no strategic pact with Israel, but still it acts like Israel is its proxy, Yossi Ben-Ari says
Are we doing the wise thing?/ Golan
Israeli Troops: Hezbollah a Tough Enemy
FPIF Congress and the Israeli Attack on Lebanon: A Critical Reading
New York Times A First Step Back From the Brink The Op-Ed editors asked Paul Salem, Richard Perle, Avishai Margalit, Judith Kipper, Chibi Mallat, Rashid Khalidi and Robert Malley what the first step in defusing the crisis in the Middle East should be.
New York Times Weighing Foreign Forces: Sea Change for Israel After decades of resisting foreign intervention, Israel is embracing the idea of having an international force on its northern border with Lebanon.
U.S. Plan Seeks to Wedge Syria From Iran
NRO VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: We’re more grateful to Israel than we’ll ever admit. “A Strange War
Financial Times Editorial Israel is on the way to defeating its aims
WSJ No Ceasefire in the War on Terror Hezbollah must be disarmed. By BENJAMIN NETANYAHU
No quick fix on Rice crisis mission Doubt attends Rice's Mideast test
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: In Beirut it - almost - feels like the 1980s all over again
Weekly Standard Letting Israel Be IsraelBush's consistent approach to war and peace in the Middle East. by Fred Barnes
IHT Middle East: The revenge of the spider YOSSI ALPHER It is striking to note how well Israel's first entirely civilian leadership team has read and indeed led the public.
The failure of Israeli unilateralism MANUEL HASSASSIAN Ten months after Israel's disengagement from Gaza, the escalating crisis throughout the Middle East demonstrates the resounding failure of this policy.
Washington Realist Hamas, Hezbollah and Israel
What Now for the Lebanese Army? Stratfor
Lebanon or Palestine: Israel is after the wrong addresses By Paul Scham
Ha’aretz – What will happen next? Can Israel take advantage of this window of opportunity to break the back of Hezbollah and eradicate the mythic cult surrounding its leader, Hassan Nasrallah? Four experts on Lebanon think this can and must be done, while a fifth, Dr. Reuven Erlich, believes 'there are no solutions to the Lebanon tangle.'
Segev Osher's first war
Halutz: Ground operations will be limited in scope, we need weeks to complete military plan
Envoy: Israel will not hold talks with Hezbollah via third party
Rice: Truce must also address root cause of Lebanon violence
Siniora's Hezbollah nightmare
Support groups Shultz and not Weinberger, Olmert and not Begin, Rice and not Albright: Thus do leaders shape history.
IDF chief: Close to 100 Hezbollah gunmen killed
Report: U.S. rushes precision-guided bombs to Israel
Lebanon, and on, and on In spite of the expectation of a turning point, the recipe for solving the current crisis has not yet been found. There may be more weeks of mutual pounding.
DEBKAfile Special ActiveMap: Hizballah Rocket and Missile Ranges against Israeli Targets Click HERE for the full-size map!
Der Spiegel Hezbollah's Dead Neighborhood
Daily Star The time to to prepare for Lebanon's uncertain future is now
Lebanese army no match for Israel, experts say
Let's You and Him Fight The Syrians cheer on Hezbollah.by Lee Smith
Hezbollah's Arsenal It's more lethal than everyone thought.by Dan Darling
Slate
The Middle East Buddy List:
Does Hezbollah get along with Egypt? What about Hamas and Iran?
This Isn't World War III:
The war in Lebanon is a limited, local conflict.
Shmuel Rosner
assessment
Ehud Olmert:
Israel's prime minister had one epiphany. He needs another. Gershom Gorenberg
Europe Meets Israel What a week for a journalists' junket.by Jeffrey Gedmin
The Times Israel calls up troops to clear out 'sterile' buffer zone
WSJ Israel Draws Little U.S. Ire
When Condoleezza Rice heads to the Middle East next week, she'll be coping with a lot of pressures. Most surprising, though, is one kind of pressure she won't be feeling: There is little public outcry back home.
The Nation Nasrallah's Game
OpenDemocracy Hit Beirut, target Tehran Washington's support for Israel in Lebanon is part of its Iran strategy, says Paul Rogers
The New Republic Casus Belli The question of where Israel ends up setting its permanent borders can no longer be seen as the underlying cause of regional mayhem. That distinction belongs to Syria, Iran, and their radical Islamist proxies. Hemming their power is the best chance Israel and the West have of cutting off terrorism at its real roots.
Washington Institute Hizballah’s Global Terror Option
Israel Planned Attack on Lebanon Over a Year Ago
Ha’aretz Shavit The war of 2006: Report of the commission of inquiry
Sectarian Divide: On Web, a Sunni-Shiite Split on Hezbollah
Lobe Backing for Israel Stymies Larger US Aims in Region

Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria meets US officials, Syrian pressure continues
USIP Weak Viability: The Iraqi Federal State and the Constitutional Amendment Process Special Report
Asia Times BOOK REVIEWOn the ground in Iraq In the Belly of the Green Bird by Nir Rosen
Heritage Foundation Is Iraq Another Vietnam? Not for U.S. Troop Levels
It’s Official: There Is Now a Civil War in Iraq By NICHOLAS SAMBANIS How we know the conflict in Iraq is no longer just an insurgency.
Los Angeles Times U.S. Plans Shift in Iraq Strategy
Rebuilding and Reforming the Iraqi Security Sector View Full Paper (PDF—696kb)
Video What are the U.S. Policy Choices in Iraq Now? Leslie Gelb Center For American Progress
U.S. Policy: Hypocrisy, Principles, and Reform in the Middle East Steven A. Cook

Friday, July 21, 2006

BULLETIN No.146

Ha’aretz –Schiff 1982 versus 2006 The current conflict differs from its 1982 processor in terms of its background, objective and modus operandi
Asia Times Lebanon left for dead Events in Lebanon fall into the pattern of a master plan drawn up by US neo-conservatives for Israel 10 years ago. The "getting rid of Saddam Hussein" part has already been accomplished. The degradation of the Palestinians is ongoing. The "destabilizing of Syria in Lebanon" took place last year. The next step would be hitting at both Syria and Iran via Lebanon. - Pepe Escobar
PINR "Intelligence Brief: Israel's Strategic Security" Full text of report
Marcus A race against the clock Complete victory is not the probable outcome of Israel's battle against Hezbollah. Instead, Jerusalem should set its goal as teaching it a lesson it won't forget soon.
The Economist The accidental war A pointless war that no one may have wanted and no one can win should stop now:
Editorial More Than a Cease-Fire Needed Lebanon needs more than U.S. marines to evacuate Americans. It needs the fighting to stop and the international community to step in and guarantee the security of Israel and Lebanon.
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Order vs. Disorder The forces of disorder — Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, Iran — are a geopolitical tsunami that we need a united front to defeat.
Christian Science Monitor Can Israel's use of force fell Hizbullah? Sheer might may curb Hizbullah's ability to strike, but won't destroy it, some say
Hezbollah is fighting to the death, but who is it? For ten days, Israel's F16 warplanes have pounded Hezbollah with hundreds of tonnes of bombs, yet the guerrilla group shows few signs of cracking
Damage assessment Drawing breath would not be a sign of Israeli weakness
Israel Preparing Major Ground Invasion
Hostage to Hezbollah "The violence done to Lebanon shall overwhelm you." By FOUAD AJAMI
The Times All-out war ahead as Israel says: Get out of southern Lebanon Using radio broadcasts and text messages to local officials, the Israelis told the remaining inhabitants of southern Lebanon to move above the Litani River
Rand Corporation Protecting U.S. Interests In the Middle East, By Robert E. Hunter
Dispatch From Beirut:
Why the current attacks are worse than the siege of 1982. Michael Young
Middle East: Israel's perilous overkill H.D.S. GREENWAY / The Boston Globe Which does the bombing of Beirut's civilian airport hurt more, Hezbollah or the vulnerable economy of Lebanon?
Siniora deserves full credit for wise leadership in Lebanon's darkest hour
Daily Star Giving some perspective to the Iran-Israel-US triangle By Trita Parsi
OpenDemocracy Israel: losing control Its Lebanese assault may at last bury Israel's "old" security model, says Paul Rogers
Financial Times COMMENT: The west's strategic failure lit the fires in the Middle East Tony Blair’s arc of extremism becomes an excuse for inaction, a diversion from the tasks at hand. Exhortation replaces engagement, emotional rhetoric hard commitment, writes Philip Stephens.
Rice poised for peace mission to Damascus
Arab regimes fear Islamists' political dividend
Guardian Government at odds on Lebanon Rift between Downing St and Foreign Office over Israel's bombing.
Christian Science Monitor Can Israel's use of force fell Hizbullah? Sheer might may curb Hizbullah's ability to strike, but won't destroy it, some say
Geopolitical Diary: Iran's Motives in Lebanon Stratfor
Daily Star Is Tehran emerging as regional winner? By Iason Athanasiadis
Forward Abbas Maleki: Why Not Involve Iran in Effort To Establish Order in Mideast?
Washington Isntitute Israel and Hizballah at War: A Status Report
RFE/RL Middle East: Hizballah -- Past And Present
Heritage Foundation U.S. Should Not Impose a Ceasefire Deadline on Israel by Ariel Cohen
Washington Post Lebanon's Dividers By Jim Hoagland, Once the region's business and pleasure center, Lebanon has allowed itself to become the killing ground of the Middle East. Today's Lebanon is a meeting place for the poisons and hatreds that six decades of conflict have spawned in its own citizens and its neighbors.
To Save a Revolution By David Ignatius, Supporting Israel and Lebanon at the same time is tricky -- but the U.S. needs to do it fast if it wants to defuse the Mideast conflict.
American Prospect Power Ploy by Marc Lynch Why three Arab regimes are publicly aligning themselves against Hezbollah and Iran.
Israel Aims to Create Lebanon Buffer Zone
Lebanon's Dividers By Jim Hoagland, Once the region's business and pleasure center, Lebanon has allowed itself to become the killing ground of the Middle East. Today's Lebanon is a meeting place for the poisons and hatreds that six decades of conflict have spawned in its own citizens and its neighbors.
Ha’aretz –Schiff 1982 versus 2006
The current conflict differs from its 1982 processor in terms of its background, objective and modus operandi
Analysis: The ground operation has begun under our noses
Hezbollah Shows No Signs of Breaking
4 IDF soldiers killed in clashes in south Lebanon
Nearly 20 percent of Lebanese population displaced by fighting
Yedioth Ahronoth Back to mutually assured destruction
Boston Globe Editorial The time to cease fire
KR Israel defiant as demands for cease-fire grow
In area around Hezbollah HQ, devastation is widespread
UPI Analysis: Hamas , Hezbollah, terrorists?
Outside View: U.S. vulnerable in Mideast
Military Matters: Hezbollah's achievement
Forward Experts Say Hezbollah Has Global Reach
Special Report: Hezbollah's Iranian Connection Stratfor
Lebanon: Hezbollah's Bunkers Stratfor
Is Israel Blackmailing the US?
Heritage Defanging Hezbollah: A Directed Energy Defense Could Help by James Jay Carafano,
BBC Hezbollah defies Israeli pressure Hezbollah's leader says Israeli attacks have not dented his group and resists calls to give up captured soldiers.
At-a-glance: Evacuations
Conflict tests Israeli leaders
Divided voices Lebanon crisis reveals stark divisions among its people Sistani calls for end to violence
Gaza: Despite Ties to Hamas, Militants Aren’t Following Political Leaders
me-ontarget.com Confronting Syria? There are those who demand that Israel engage Syria, seeing the Assad regime as responsible for the Hezbollah’s strength and overt hostility.
National Review Online Blogs Syria's Plan feature of Brammertz’s low-key June 2006 report was its stress on the central significance of “full and unconditional cooperation from Syria
David BrooksThe Fever Is Winning Can we use political reform to spark cultural change in the Middle East, or do we have to wait for cultural reformation before we can change politics?
Washington Post Bush Sees Mideast Strife As a Step Toward Peace In administration's view, the new conflict is not just a crisis to be managed, but also an opportunity to seriously degrade a big threat in the region.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

BULLETIN No.145

The Gaza/Lebanon Crisis A Brookings Saban Center Briefing
Guardian US: Israel has one more week Israel given window of a week to blast Hizbullah, say diplomatic sources
Lebanon: The Only Exit Strategy By Charles Krauthammer, There is crisis and there is opportunity.
Financial Times Editorial Lebanon needs an international force
Interview With Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
Bush: Syria trying to get back into Lebanon US President George W Bush on Tuesday accused Syria of trying to get back into Lebanon and again urged Syria to use its influence on Hezbollah to
Ha’aretz Bar’el - ANALYSIS: Nasrallah's terms of surrender will be hard to change
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Not So Smart Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has set back the whole fledgling Arab democracy movement.
Slate What's Next for Israel?:
And where's the Arab outrage? Fred Kaplan
Weekly Standard The Road to Damascus Trying to get into the authoritarian state. by Lee Smith
Hezbollah's Options Don't count them out yet. by Dan Darling
Raad Warriors Iran's role in the attack on Haifa. by Dan Darling
The Trendy Parts of BeirutHezbollah and its admirers. by Lee Smith
Israel hits Lebanon, but thinks Iran By Augustus Richard Norton
Daily Star Back to Beirut, ready to defy Israel By Rami G. Khouri
Asia Times Leviathan run amok Israel's tactic of trying to turn the Lebanese as a whole against Hezbollah seems to be doomed. Hezbollah is betting that Lebanon will be able to absorb the extreme limits of collective punishment it is receiving - and the resistance movement will come out stronger than ever. - Pepe Escobar
BBC Bush accuses Damascus over crisis The US president says Syria is trying to use the Middle East crisis to reassert its influence in Lebanon. Analysis: Israel's strategy
Ha’aretz – IDF: We need two weeks to end Lebanon operation Rice expected to arrive for Mideast visit on Sunday
Bar’el - ANALYSIS: Nasrallah's terms of surrender will be hard to change
The ghost of 1982 David Hirst To break Hizbullah, Israel will have to tackle it on the ground and perhaps blockade Lebanon. But how much of that will the world permit?
A protracted colonial war Tariq Ali: With US support, Israel is hoping to isolate and topple Syria by holding sway over Lebanon.
Ha’aretz – ANALYSIS: Hezbollah is still showing no signs of breaking
Benn How I erred Nasrallah did not resist the temptation to sting Israel and appear once again as the hero of the Arab world. He probably believed in his own rhetoric about the weakness of the "Zionist entity," and when he saw the Israeli failure in the face of the kidnappers of Corporal Gilad Shalit in Gaza, he wanted a similar success.
PINR "The Role of Iran and Syria in the Israel-Lebanon Crisis" Full text of report
PBS Israel Says It Destroyed Half of Hezbollah's Power
Daily Star The meaning of a Hizbullah victory By Michael Young
Slate What Is H ezbollah Up To?: Maybe time really is on their side. Fred Kaplan
Strange Bedfellows: What's behind the enduring alliance between Syria and Iran? Daniel Byman
Financial Times Israel warns Damascus but says it will avoid all-out war
(Nasrallah is) Not So Smart By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
OpenDemocracy A proxy war Israel vs Hizbollah is becoming a surrogate for an even more dangerous confrontation: the United States vs Iran, says Paul Rogers
Editorial Who's in favor of ending terror? The operation against Hezbollah is likely to significantly reinforce our deterrent capabilities, on which any future arrangement, both on the northern border and our other borders, will ultimately depend.
Olmert: Too soon to speak of international force in Lebanon
Israel seeks to weaken Hezbollah, not crush it
America's deadly messengerNot only does America not oppose the Israeli offensive in Lebanon - it is encouraging it
The way to get out of this The balance between costs and gains in the eyes of the players in this war and its observers will be affected not only by the overall cost, but also by the relative cost, to each side.
How good it feels to be just This is the second time since 1948 that Israel has been defending its territory rather than occupied territory - what a strange, yet wonderful, feeling to know that the government is suddenly doing something that only a negligible minority in Israel and abroad will find flawed.
Israel's goals in the present conflict Israel must show its military strength in order to deter terror attacks
Weekly Standard The Road to Damascus Trying to get into the authoritarian state. by Lee Smith
Ha’aretz – ANALYSIS: Hezbollah is still showing no signs of breaking
Benn How I erred Nasrallah did not resist the temptation to sting Israel and appear once again as the hero of the Arab world. He probably believed in his own rhetoric about the weakness of the "Zionist entity," and when he saw the Israeli failure in the face of the kidnappers of Corporal Gilad Shalit in Gaza, he wanted a similar success.
Editorial Talking from strength
IDF chief warns against war of attrition in Lebanon IAF targets top Hezbollah figures in Beirut bunker
Jerusalem Post IAF attempts to assassinate Hizbullah leadership
Lebanon's rising Shi'ites The composition of Lebanon's political and sociological landscape becomes more salient than ever.
Israel: The High Risk of Suicide Attacks Stratfor –
Israel: The Militant Distraction from Lebanon
Eye of the Storm: Playing the Israel card
The New Republic War Fair by Michael Walzer Just war theory and the Middle Eastern conflict.
Help Wanted by John B. JudisOnly American diplomacy can resolve the Middle East crisis
Yedioth Ahronoth Warning to Syria
Financial Times Israel warns Damascus but says it will avoid all-out war
France calls for UN force to disarm Hizbollah
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Israel is contravening terms of Convention
Lebanese PM warns Israeli attacks risk helping Hizbollah
UPI Analysis: Hezbollah still in Iran's shadow
Analysis: Sending army south uneasy task
Analysis: U.S., Israel face spreading war
Coffee with the Lebanese'Once Hezbollah was a national hero, and everyone supported it in the war against the Israeli occupation,' M., a Lebanese, says. 'But today they no longer have a case. We are paying the price of the extremists.'
IDF: Hezbollah may have drone laden with explosives
Israeli PM Says Iran Behind Soldiers' Abduction
Israel Capable of Air Strike on Iran
Elimination of Hezbollah the ultimate goal
Israeli military re-enters Gaza
Hezbollah's gamble How the Lebanese militant group's strategy could backfire
World Opinion: Can Israel Defeat Hezbollah?
US: Israel has one more week Israel given window of a week to blast Hizbullah, say diplomatic sources
Foreign Policy An End to Unilateralism
Israel’s peaceful disengagement from the Gaza Strip was the first step in what was supposed to be the end-all solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Fast-forward 10 months, and all hell has broken loose in the Middle East. What went wrong? And how can this kind of crisis be prevented again? By Gershom Gorenberg
Israel says it is ready for talks but the strikes will continue
Bush warns Syria to keep out of Lebanon
COMMENT: Two preconditions for hope in the Middle East First, the UN must help Lebanon disarm Hizbollah. Second, the Quartet group must put pressure on both Israel and the Palestinians, writes Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Ask the expert: Anthony Cordesman on Lebanon
Rice poised for peace mission to Damascus
Hizbollah 'capable of sustained missile campaign'
Lebanon puts cost of Israeli raids up to $2bn
Hezbollah critics may bring progress, if not unity Will the Middle East crisis prompt the Arab League at last to do something coherent and useful? Surely not; it is hard to imagine that day ever arriving
The Times Hezbollah critics may bring progress, if not unity Will the Middle East crisis prompt the Arab League at last to do something coherent and useful? Surely not; it is hard to imagine that day ever arriving
Knight-Ridder Diplomats predict weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah
Debka The Lebanon War Is Not Yet Ripe for Diplomacy Print
Jerusalem Post Syria, Iran comfortably watch from the sidelines Analysts say Teheran will not jump in, should Damascus be drawn into the fray.
WSJ Middle East News Tracker
PBS Newshour Brzezinski, Kissinger Debate U.S. Role in Mideast Crisis
Financial Times COMMENT: Two preconditions for hope in the Middle East First, the UN must help Lebanon disarm Hizbollah. Second, the Quartet group must put pressure on both Israel and the Palestinians, writes Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Arithmetic of Pain What's a "proportional" defense for Israel? By ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ
New York Times News Analysis: The Militias: An Embodiment of Iran’s Long Shadow: Missiles for Hezbollah

Porter Bush's Double Game on an Iraq Withdrawal Timetable
Christian Science Monitor Civil war in Iraq? While the world watches the fighting in Lebanon, in Iraq there's growing fear of a 'full-scale conflict.'
Lobe Back to Sunni Authoritarians?

Der Spiegel AMERICA AND IRANOpening a Second FrontOstensibly Israel and Hezbollah are the two sides battling each other in renewed fighting in the Middle East. But in Washington the conviction is growing that Iran is trying to deflect attention from its dispute with the United States by stoking the conflict.
WSJ Iran Against the Arabs Arab unease over the Iranian menace has been growing. By MICHAEL RUBIN

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

BULLETIN No.144

Heritage Iran and its Hezbollah Allies Escalate Their Aggressive Policies in the Middle East by James Phillips
CSIS CORDESMAN: IRAN'S SUPPORT OF THE HEZBOLLAH IN LEBANON
Washington Post Back From the Brink E. J. Dionne Jr.
The question in Israel's war with Hezbollah is not whether the Israeli government had a right to retaliate. It is whether there is a way of avoiding full-scale war in the Middle East.
UPI Analysis: What Israel hopes to accomplish By CLAUDE SALHANIFor the first time since Israel pulled out of Lebanon six years ago after its 18-year occupation of the south, the Jewish state is getting involved once
NYT Diplomacy’s Turn in Lebanon Stopping the fighting in the Middle East won’t be easy, but the dangers of escalation are too great to permit the major powers, or worried Arab rulers, to turn away.
Washington Post Hunker Down With History Richard Cohen The greatest mistake Israel could make at the moment is to forget that Israel itself is a mistake.
BBC Israeli jets in new Lebanon raids
Israel launches air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, as the UN warns of a humanitarian crisis.
Nations start evacuations
Glimmer of hope for diplomacy
FT Bush doubts Lebanon peace plan
World leaders sought to build momentum behind a United Nations plan to send soldiers to the conflict zone in Lebanon, but George W. Bush raised doubts about the viability of such a move.
Weekly Standart Hunkered Down by Lee Smith
IT'S SUNDAY, day after what was so far the fiercest day of shelling, and everyone is exhausted for lack of sleep. I'd spent the night in the mountains, sure that it would be quieter than West Beirut, but since my refuge in the Metn overlooks the Beirut suburbs in the valley down on the water, every bomb rippled up the side of the mountain
Jul 18 SD# 1208 - Iran and the Recent Escalation on Israel's Borders (5): Reactions in Iran, Lebanon, and Syria
Jul 17 SD# 1207 - Iran and the Recent Escalation on Israel's Borders (4): Reaction in Iran, Lebanon, and Syria
Jul 14 SD# 1206 - Iran and the Recent Escalation on Israel's Borders (3): Reactions in Iran, Lebanon, and Syria
Jul 14 SD# 1205 - Iran and the Recent Escalation on Israel's Borders (2): Reaction in Iran, Lebanon, and Syria
Jul 13 SD# 1204 - Iran and the Recent Escalation on Israel's Borders
Ha’aretz – IDF refuses to rule out major ground invasion of Lebanon
Source: Israel will not let Hezbollah regain its fire power
Government to demand disarmament of Hezbollah Israel fears Hezbollah will use cease-fire to rearm
Condoleezza Rice: Cease-fire won't help
Marcus Take a deep breath When the attack on Hezbollah first began, there was a sneaking suspicion we were looking at an Olmert-Peretz ego trip orchestrated by Dan Halutz.
Israel destroys missile capable of reaching Tel Aviv...
UPI Analysis: What Israel hopes to accomplish
Outside View: Disastrous miscalculations By ALON BEN-MEIR
Yedioth Ahronoth Out with deterrence, in with attrition
Jerusalem Post The Region: The Arab mind-set By BARRY RUBIN Nobody should have any illusions about the Lebanese gov't doing anything positive to solve this crisis.
The Lebanese army and the Hizbullah question
Der Spiegel Israel's Costs and Rewards
PBS Israeli, Syrian Ambassadors Speak Out on the Middle East
Justin Raimondo Will We Go to War for Israel?
Israel Readies for Iran Showdown by Attacking Lebanon
Israel: Shaken Awake by War By David Grossman The country is fighting two-headed enemies, one preaching moderation, the other hate.
- Editorial: Who's to Blame in the Middle East?
Dar Al Hayat Proxy Wars
Mohamed Ashab - Israel is not qualified to wage proxy wars as long as it is one of the parties that starts them and is not in the least concerned with ending them. The paradox in the Israeli discourse is that it is addressed to the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples in ambiguous language.The responsibility of the Arab States at the ministerial meeting in Cairo lies in rescuing the whole region from the dangers that have resulted from Israeli calculations.
Gulf News Lebanon is thrown to the wolves
If the Lebanese decide to soldier on, it will take them decades to emerge from the rubble.
Opinion: Lebanon needs protection
The call for an international force to protect Israel from outside attacks is bizzare.
Chrisitian Science Monitor Wider war in Mideast? Not likely. No coalition of Arab governments is willing to unite militarily against Israel.
DEBKAfile Exclusive reveals: Hizballah leader Hassan Nassrallah and top command are holed up in Hermel, the northern Lebanese panhandle bordering Syria More...
Debka Bush Wants the Hizballah-Israel War to Give Iran a Bloody Nose Print
RFE/RL Iran: Tehran Playing A Key Role In Israel-Lebanon Crisis
Israel's path to total war As the tide of war intensifies, it is increasingly obvious that Israel's hidden objective is to inflict such mortal wounds on the weak nation of Lebanon as to bring it to its knees and thus take a giant step toward its grandiose objective of a Pax Israelica. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi
FT Israelis ponder breakdown of 'tenfold deterrence' strategy
Los Angeles Times Israel Signals Willingness to Accept Lebanon TruceOfficial says cease-fire possible if Hezbollah pulls back from border zone and frees two Israeli soldiers
Al Awsat The Proxy War : Amir Taheri
Ha’aretz Source: Israel will not let Hezbollah regain its fire power
A heavily armed militia attacks your territory. What are you meant to do? David Aaronovitch What Hezbollah has done — what Hezbollah is doing — is intolerable to sovereign governments
Being Hassan Nasrallah Anything except total defeat is victory. By BRET STEPHENS
Israel points Syria as assistant in Haifa attack Israeli Transportation Minister and former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz declared on Sunday that the missile which struck the northern Israeli city of Haifa was made in Syria.
From Arab Leaders, Sympathy for Civilians but Not Hezbollah
BAGHDAD, July 17 -- Nearly a week of fighting in Israel and Lebanon has prompted the two countries' Arab neighbors to express broad support for the civilians caught in the path of Israel's military assault and a measure of anger over the Hezbollah attack that triggered it.
Hizbullah winning over the Arab street Key Arab leaders have condemned the Shiite militant group, despite its growing popularity with their citizens.
Leader Stabilising LebanonA UN stabilisation force could give the Lebanese the chance at last to assert control over all their territory. But those setting it up should be under no illusion about the magnitude of the task.
IHT Playing Hamas' game Israel needs to be careful that its far-reaching military responses, however legally and morally justified, do not end up advancing the agenda of Hamas and Hezbollah.
Examining Hezbollah's Anti-Air Capability Stratfor
NRO ANDREW C. MCCARTHY: Israel is doing our heavy-lifting. “Course Correction
MICHAEL RUBIN: Premature recourse to diplomacy backfires. “Eradication First
JAMES S. ROBBINS: This showdown between Israel and Hezbollah had to happen sooner or later “Payback by Proxy
Wider war in Mideast? Not likely. No coalition of Arab governments is willing to unite militarily against Israel
Push Made for U.N. To Go Into Lebanon
ST. PETERSBURG, July 17 -- U.N. and European leaders pressed Monday for an international peacekeeping force to be sent to Lebanon to defuse the conflict with Israel, an approach that ended in failure two decades ago when a U.S.-led foreign troop contingent was driven out by violence.

Assad and Bush The State Department's man in Damascus.

The Price Of Success In Iraq By Anthony H. Cordesman
Dar Al Hayat Turkey in the New Iraqi Stage
Sami Shorosh - Turkey is making a mistake if it thinks that normalizing relations with the Kurds will be at the expense of Baghdad. The Kurds are no longer represented in Iraq as an abstract case of nationality. Throughout the last three years, they have asserted that they are the strongest and most crucial guarantee for the preservation of Iraq's integrity and for bringing together the viewpoints of its different ethnic formations.

Monday, July 17, 2006

BULLETIN No.143

CSIS Lebanese Security and the Hezbollah by Anthony H. Cordesman
The Rogues Strike Back By Robert Satloff
Iran, Syria, Hamas, and Hizballah, the rogue regimes of the “Old Middle East”—as opposed to the shadowy, faceless terrorist groups of the “New Middle East”—have reminded the world that they too can grab headlines and wreak havoc.
Washington Post Inside the Mind of Hezbollah By Robin Wright Hasan Nasrallah is a man of God, gun and government, a cross between Ayatollah Khomeini and Che Guevera. Now, he is also exactly where he always wanted to be.
Hizballah Opens a Second Front Michael Eisenstadt describes Israel’s strategic options now that Hizballah has joined the fight on a new, northern front and brought Syria and Iran closer to open hostilities.
Hizballah: Learning to Live with Resolution 1559 On June 21, 2006, Nicholas Blanford and David Schenker addressed The Washington Institute’s Special Policy Forum. Nicholas Blanford, Beirut-based correspondent for...
Brookings The Gaza/Lebanon Crisis Israel's two-front conflict with Hamas and Hizbollah has greatly escalated in the past week. On July 17, Brookings will convene a discussion to examine whether the increased violence can be slowed and if a diplomatic solution can be achieved—or whether hostilities will intensify into a wider regional conflict.
International Herald Tribune Middle East II: Israel's invasion, Syria's war It must also be seen as a spinoff of a general counterattack against American and Israeli power in the region by Iran and Syria, operating through Hezbollah
New Republic The lesson of the Six Day War To prevent a regional conflagration, Israel should attack Syria. by Michael B. Oren
Syria Comment Will Syria Get Respect?
Los Angeles Times A Divide Deepens in Arab World
Editorial Lebanon crisis about to spiral out of control
Blame by Some Arab Leaders for Fighters Key Arab governments chastised Hezbollah for “unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible acts” at an emergency Arab League summit on Saturday.
Ha’aretz – Schiff ANALYSIS: Israel-Hezbollah fighting yet to reach its zenith
Editorial What was can no longer be In the Gaza Strip, just as in Lebanon, the aspiration should be to achieve a long-lasting cease-fire with whoever can guarantee that it will be upheld, whether that is Mahmoud Abbas or Hamas, or both of them.
Sami Moubayed
Hezbollah and the art of the possible
Rising from the Ashes--again!
Its war by any other name
Eldar Toward a multilateral solution In order to achieve a change of direction, like the pretentious name of the military operation, there is a need for a different policy orientation. Israel cannot and does not need to cope alone with the Iranian threat from Lebanon.
Nasrallah, Palestinian hero In a brilliant move - according to the Damascus Gate pundits - he has succeeded not only in kidnapping the Israeli soldiers, but even more importantly, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah"kidnapped" the entire Palestinian problem and wrested control over it.
Israel Strikes Lebanon After Hezbollah Missile Attack Israel unleashed a fierce bombardment on targets in southern Beirut and southern Lebanon after a Hezbollah rocket attack on Israel’s third-largest city.
FOX News Iran and Syria's Role in Mideast Crisis again and do not want to help us with Iran so all of these put together think — makes them think that Israel in particular won't act against Syria and Iran
Start over Israel is currently waging the most just war in its history. Not a war of occupation, but rather a war of defense. Not a settlements war, but rather a Green Line war. A war over the validity of an international border that was drawn by the United Nations.
As Israel Goes for Withdrawal, Its Enemies Go Berserk
By DAVID BROOKS The Arab world has ceded its destiny to people who do not believe in freedom. And what’s the world’s response? Israel is overreacting
BBC Israeli raids reach north Lebanon Israel extends its air campaign to northern Lebanon, killing at least 14 people, after Hezbollah rockets hit Haifa.
Ha’aretz – Schiff ANALYSIS: Israel-Hezbollah fighting yet to reach its zenith
Editorial What was can no longer be In the Gaza Strip, just as in Lebanon, the aspiration should be to achieve a long-lasting cease-fire with whoever can guarantee that it will be upheld, whether that is Mahmoud Abbas or Hamas, or both of them.
Eldar Toward a multilateral solution In order to achieve a change of direction, like the pretentious name of the military operation, there is a need for a different policy orientation. Israel cannot and does not need to cope alone with the Iranian threat from Lebanon.
Nasrallah, Palestinian hero In a brilliant move - according to the Damascus Gate pundits - he has succeeded not only in kidnapping the Israeli soldiers, but even more importantly, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah"kidnapped" the entire Palestinian problem and wrested control over it.
Start over Israel is currently waging the most just war in its history. Not a war of occupation, but rather a war of defense. Not a settlements war, but rather a Green Line war. A war over the validity of an international border that was drawn by the United Nations.
ANALYSIS: Saudi criticism does not help Lebanon
IDF officer: Israel has no plans to attack Syria
Yedioth Ahronoth On the way to a Lebanese 'nakba'
Israel's Hezbollah headache
Haifa attack changes everything
Newsweek Iran's Stealth War on U.S. and Israel Behind The Crisis: How Iran is wielding its influence to wage a stealthy war against Israel and America.
Guardian The west must recognise that Israel's agenda is in conflict with its own David Clark: The Olmert government, Hizbullah and Hamas are tacitly united in rejection of any moves towards a compromise peace.
Lebanon is made to pay Charles Harb: Israel, the US and key Arab regimes are now determined to crush the widely popular Hizbullah.
Lebanon is made to pay Charles Harb: Israel, the US and key Arab regimes are now determined to crush the widely popular Hizbullah.
High stakes Israel's conflict with Hezbollah risks spreading further Missile punch Israeli forces run into well-equipped enemy in Lebanon Lebanon: Israel's Crisis ExpectationsStratfor
Hizbullah aims to shift power balance
The militant group has transferred the Arab-Israeli conflict to Israeli territory for the first time in more than 50 years.
On the streets of Damascus, a defiant stand toward Israel
Tired of US pressure on their country, Syrians have been expressing support for Hizbullah and Sheikh Nasrallah.
Israel weighs objectives in conflict
Israel hit targets in Beirut after Hizbullah struck Haifa, killing at least eight people.
Why Bush should go to Tel Aviv - and confront Iran Why is this Arab-Israeli war different from all other Arab-Israeli wars? Because it's not an Arab-Israeli war, writes William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard
Washington Times Editorial Give Israel time to complete the mission
A four-front war for Israel?