BULLETIN No. 195

Before Talking, See if There is Anything to Talk About By: Tony Badran The Daily StarDamascus doesn't want the kind of arrangement the congressman hopes for, but rather unilateral US concessions, especially on Lebanon. The Syrian leadership is not interested in anything else. Issa is right to observe: "What matters is the substance of the dialogue and the action that follows," but even he admits that implementing agreements with Syria is always elusive.
Syrian official: Damascus wants to renew talks with Israel
Israeli-Syrian ‘war’ may be cover for peace Israeli headlines have been dominated in recent days by warnings of a possible summer war with Syria, an alarming prospect for a public still coming to terms with the consequences of last year’s conflict in Lebanon
Independent The Big Question: Is Israel heading for a peace deal with Syria - or another war?
Olmert calls for peace with SyriaIsraeli PM seeks to calm fears of war breaking out
Report: Syria Doubts Israel Wants Peace
Syria Strengthening Forces on Border with Israel
Schiff Israel and Syria / Threats' silver lining
US, Israel: Time Not Ripe for Talks With Syria
Syria Upgrading Army with Iranian Aid
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Syria holds back full-scale war with Israel as last resort while its proxies win low-intensity conflicts in Lebanon and Gaza
Yedioth Ahronoth Assad wants talks, not peace
Israel won't try to change UN mandate on Golan
Wall Street Journal Syria Is Exporting Instability - Michael Young
Jun 07 IA# 361 - Syrian Oppositionists Call for International Action
Lebanon, Syria: A Political Breakup and an Explosive Summer
Portraits of Shiite resistance
In Lebanon, resistance from cradle to grave
'Hizbullah continues to rearm' Shiite group will never leave southern Lebanon, Transportation Minister Mofaz tells US Secretary of State Rice during Washington visit. 'It is arming with missiles that could hit central and even southern Israel,' he warns

Benn The invisible governmentIn Israel things are run by 'the invisible government.' Its deliberations and its decisions are hidden and leave no traces in official records and archives, but they determine the fate of the country.
Why Israel does not engage with the Saudi initiative Carlos Strenger: For sake of peace, Israel must accept its role in Palestinian Nakba
Marcus Five comments on the situationWhat those now denouncing the 40th anniversary of the occupation do not understand is that the Six- Day War was the most justified war Israel ever fought - because it knocked out of the Arabs' heads the idea that Israel could be destroyed by force.
Samet Will there be a war?
Ze'ev Schiff: Hamas defeated Israel in the battle for Sderot
The Nation The Six-Day War,40 Years Later by Jon Wiener

Financial Times Leader The irreconcilable When the latest deadline for a reconciliation package of laws designed to end Iraq's violent insurgency came and went with little progress being shown, few people...
Time is running out for political solution in Iraq The country is divided, but the possibility of a unilateral withdrawal by the US may help to concentrate minds
Dennis Ross on how to contain the conflict in Iraq.
Washington Times Decision time in Iraq By James A. Lyons Jr. We need a plan that bypasses Mr. al-Maliki's sectarianized government and restores stability by empowering the Iraqis themselves.
Iraq's Leader Can't Get Out of 1st Gear By: Ned Parker Los Angeles Times Iraq's government is teetering on the edge. Maliki's Cabinet is filled with officials who are deeply estranged from one another and more loyal to their parties than to the government as a whole.
Washington Post Nominee to Oversee War Offers Grim View on Iraq General Sees Few Gains on Violence or Political Fissures

Crackdown in Iran By: H. Abrishami The Nation When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced a $75 million appropriation to support Iranian civil society in February 2006, she made the regime's job far easier. Suddenly, everyone became a potential spy or recipient of US funds.
Rafsanjani: New Middle East War Possible
Who Can Shake Iran's Economy? Randa Takieddin - Iran of a population of 70 million garnered oil proceeds amounting to $60 billion in 2006. However, Iran continues to strive with a frail economy, unemployment rates exceeding 11%, and growing inflation rates, notwithstanding a reasonable growth rate ranging between 5 and 6%