BULLETIN No. 206

Report: Syria confirms target of IAF attack was nuclear facility Army Radio: Syrian UN delegate told disarmament panel that September 6 raid targeted nuclear plant
DEBKAfile: US sources dwarf peril of Syrian nuclear target bombed by Israel last month. They aim to clear way for resumed Washington-Syrian dialogue
Syria: We never said nuclear facility was target of IAF strike
Rights group hits at Syrian repression Human Rights Watch accuses the country’s security forces of routinely harassing activists and calls on authorities to stop repressing human rights organisations

Lebanon's Government By Murder - David Schenker, Los Angeles Times
ANALYSIS: Hezbollah chief sets his sights on 'the big deal' One may conclude that Nasrallah has received a solid Israeli commitment that prisoners will be released
Oren Nasrallah's victory If, like in the case of revolutions, wars should be judged only after time has past, then the prisoner exchange deal in the works between Israel and Hezbollah suggests that Nasrallah won the Second Lebanon War.
Iran Deeply Involved in 2006 Lebanon-Israel War (MEMRI)
Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah says major exchange deal with Israel is in the works
Israeli-Hizbullah swap sparks speculation about further exchanges
DEBKAfile reports: Tehran is choreographing all swap deals with Israel after Nasrallah’s authority wanes in Hizballah

Political Dynamics Shifted During 2006 Israel-Hezbollah Conflict
Yedioth Ahronoth 'Israel cannot be destroyed' Former Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy believes Iran was the big loser in Second Lebanon war
How Israel Thinks Forward
Former Mossad chief downplays Iranian threat
Palestinians pessimistic on peace talks As a series of high-profile international visitors, including Condoleezza Rice and Tony Blair, traipse through the Holy Land, Palestinians are looking on with a mixture of indifference and despair

Before We Bomb Iran by Jonathan Alter
Asia Times Caspian summit a triumph for Tehran This week's summit of the Caspian littoral states in Tehran has opened up new breathing space for Iranian diplomacy from the Caspian to the Arab world and brought Iran to the verge of a new strategic relationship with Russia. Simultaneously, the US's coercive diplomacy in the region has been frustrated. Washington will be particularly incensed by Moscow's siding with Tehran on its nuclear program. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi
Christian Science Monitor Russia, Iran harden against West
NYT Putin Is Said to Offer Idea on Standoff Over Iran
Washington Post Divisions in Europe May Thwart U.S. Objectives on Iran
By Robin Wright

IHT The U.S. has run out of tricks By RAMI G. KHOURI
Most people in the Mideast no longer fear America's power