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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (65064)	8/28/2004 5:46:49 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 793963

OK, so I don't get accused of being anti-Israel, here's a nice story about the Israeli ambassador and Pat Robertson at a rally for the Religious Right. >>Ambassador from Israel rallies local Christians By STEVEN G. VEGH, The Virginian-Pilot © August 23, 2004 Last updated: 8:13 AM NORFOLK — Ties between Israel and the United States are stronger than ever, "due in large part to Christians like you," Israeli Ambassador Daniel Ayalon said Sunday to several hundred evangelicals who gathered to hear him speak at the Harrison Opera House. "At times when others were silent, you raised your voices," Ayalon said. "You are our friends. You are our brothers." O rganized by evangelical Christians such as the Rev. Jerry Qualls of Glad Tidings Church in Virginia Beach, the event was billed as an opportunity for Christians to learn facts about Israel’s situation that the mainstream news media withholds or distorts. Some members of South Hampton Roads’ Jewish community also attended. "We see a very definite bias in the news media that thwarts most of us actually knowing what’s going on in the Middle East," Ruth Sims, a co-organizer, said earlier. Sims is a founder of Sun of Righteousness International, a Virginia-based group that promotes Christian support for Israel. Israel’s biggest block of supporters in the United States are evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. Many of them consider modern Israel a fulfillment of biblical prophecies that also predict that Jews will accept Jesus as the Messiah as Christians do. "We believe God is going to do more than just restore the land to Israel and the Jews, as he already has," Qualls said last week. "We believe the Jews’ Messiah will come back and establish his kingdom and rule there the world." Ayalon, who declined to be interviewed, emphasized in his speech that the modern state of Israel is a vital cause not just for Jews, but for Christians who see ancient Israel and the Hebrews as their own forefathers. "We are there not just to survive; we are there to prevail because this is God’s word and this is his plan," Ayalon said. "Christians and Jews are united; we are eternally linked, both in purpose and a vision." The ambassador said the goal of the "Islamic radical terrorists" who attack Israel is "to melt down all our democratic institutions." But in the past 3 ½ years, he said, Israel has stopped 93 percent of the terror attacks launched against it. In his single jab at the news media, Ayalon said that a security strip that Israel is building along a 200-mile boundary is largely a fenced buffer zone. But the foreign press, he said, continues to emphasize the small portion that consists of tall, concrete walls – walls that Ayalon said will block terrorist sniper attacks. Ayalon also praised religious broadcaster Pat Robertson as "a true and loyal friend to our country and the people of Israel. He stands tall with us, in good times and bad." Robertson founded the Christian Broadcasting Network, which is based in Virginia Beach. Preceding Ayalon on stage, Robertson said that Israel’s existence was foretold by the prophet Ezekiel, one of the many ancient Jewish leaders whom Christians and Jews revere equally. "You must realize that the God who spoke to Moses on Mt. Sinai is our God," he said. "The whole city of Jerusalem is our spiritual capital." Robertson also described Israel as an island of democracy amid a "sea of dictatorial regimes" and "a fanatical religion intent on returning to the feudalism of eighth-century Arabia." "The entire world is being convulsed by a religious struggle; the struggle is whether … the moon god of Mecca, known as Allah, is supreme, or whether the Judeo-Christian Jehovah God of the Bible is supreme," he said. home.hamptonroads.com

To: Ilaine who wrote (65064)	8/29/2004 2:29:09 AM
From: KLP	Respond to of 793963

You're right CB...and getting "weirder"...Spy probe goes beyond Israeli claim Sources say FBI investigators also are focusing on other civilians in Pentagon office By WARREN P. STROBEL Knight Ridder Tribune News Aug. 29, 2004, 1:03AM chron.com WASHINGTON - An FBI probe into the handling of highly classified material by Pentagon civilians is broader than previously reported, and goes well beyond allegations that a single mid-level analyst gave a top-secret Iran policy document to Israel, three sources familiar with the investigation said Saturday. ADVERTISEMENT The probe, which has been going on for more than two years, also has focused on other civilians in the secretary of defense's office, said the sources, who spoke on condition that they not be identified. In addition, one said, FBI investigators in recent weeks have conducted interviews to determine whether Pentagon officials gave highly classified U.S. intelligence to a leading Iraqi exile group, the Iraqi National Congress, which may in turn have passed it on to Iran. INC leader Ahmed Chalabi has denied that his group was involved in any wrongdoing. The linkage, if any, between the two leak investigations, remains unclear. But they both center on the office of Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, the Pentagon's No. 3 official. Before the war, Feith and his aides pushed the now-discredited theory that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was in league with al-Qaida. The Israeli government on Saturday strenuously denied it had spied on the United States, its main benefactor on the global scene. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the powerful pro-Israel lobby that top officials said is suspected of serving as a conduit to Israel for the mid-level analyst, also has denied any wrongdoing. That analyst, Larry Franklin, works for Feith's deputy, William Luti, and served as an important — albeit low-profile — adviser on Iran issues to Feith and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. Officials and colleagues said Franklin had traveled to Israel several times, including during duty in the Air Force Reserve. Franklin could not be reached for comment Saturday. Investigators are said to be looking at whether Franklin acted with authorization from his superiors, one official said. Two sources disclosed Saturday that the information believed to have been passed to Israel was the draft of a top-secret presidential order on Iran policy. Because of disagreements over Iran policy among President Bush's advisers, the document is not believed to have ever been completed. Having a draft of the document — which some Pentagon officials may have believed was insufficiently tough toward Iran — would have allowed Israel to influence U.S. policy while it was still being made. Iran is among Israel's main security concerns. In a prepared statement, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee said any allegation of criminal conduct was "false and baseless." Israeli officials insisted they stopped spying on the United States after the exposure of Jonathan Pollard, who was arrested in 1985 and sentenced to life in prison for spying for Israel. INVESTIGATION Sources say the FBI is investigating whether Pentagon civilian officials may have given some classified material to Israel and to an Iraqi exile group. • The probe: Investigations center on the office of Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, the Pentagon's No. 3 official. • Charges possible: Officials cautioned that the investigation could result in charges of mishandling classified information, rather than the more serious charge of espionage. • Previous controversy: Feith's office, which oversees policy matters, has been the source of controversies over the past three years. • Post-war planning : His office was responsible for post-war Iraq planning that the administration has now acknowledged was inadequate.