Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scoobah who wrote (14030)	7/13/2006 1:10:40 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

EU accuses Israel of 'disproportionate use of force' in Lebanon By Haaretz Service and News Agencies BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union on Thursday criticized Israel for using what it called "disproportionate" force in its attacks on Lebanon following Wednesday's raid by Hezbollah guerillas who killed eight Israel Defense Forces soldier and abducted two soldiers. "The European Union is greatly concerned about the disproportionate use of force by Israel in Lebanon in response to attacks by Hezbollah on Israel," according to a statement issued by Finland which holds the EU's rotating presidency. "The presidency deplores the loss of civilian lives and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. The imposition of an air and sea blockade on Lebanon cannot be justified." United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is sending a three-person team to the Middle East to urge all parties to exercise restraint and help defuse the crisis in the region, a spokesman said on Thursday. Advertisement Earlier in the day, U.S. President George W. Bush said that Israel had a right to defend itself against terrorist acts but it should not weaken the Beirut government. "Israel has the right to defend herself," Bush told a news conference after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "Secondly, whatever Israel does should not weaken the...government in Lebanon." The president's comment came in response to the escalating violence between Israel and Lebanon, on Thursday after IAF warplanes carried out strikes in Lebanon in retalliation to Hezbollah's abduction of two soldiers a day earlier. On Thursday, a U.S. administration official gave a response on condition of anonymity regarding the crisis. "We are urging restraint on both sides, recognizing Israel's right to defend itself," the Uofficial said. The European Union on Thursday called on all sides to halt the renewed violence in the Middle East and take care to avoid more civilian casualties. "I've always felt that Israel has a right to ensure its security but I've also said that disproportionate attacks are not useful," EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel told reporters. "I regret the fact that the reaction was disproportionate." EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin said EU foreign ministers could discuss on Monday whether the IDF attacks on Lebanon were compatible with the bloc's trade and cooperation agreement with Israel, which is conditional on respect for international law. She stressed, however, that the EU recognized "Israel's right to defend itself." Israel's military action came after a cross-border raid by Hezbollah guerillas in which two Israeli soldiers were captured and several others were killed. Greece on Thursday expressed "serious concern" over Israel's attacks on Lebanon, and urged neighboring countries to show restraint. Government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros also urged the militant group Hezbollah to release Israeli soldiers held hostage. "Greece expresses its serious concern and is intensely troubled," Antonaros said. "It is vital, to stop the (situation) worsening, Hezbollah must immediately release the soldiers taken hostage," he said. "At the same time, Greece calls on the government of Israel to avoid the use of excessive and pointless force which cannot provide a solution to the problem." Greece has traditionally close ties with Arab countries but has also recently improved relations with Israel. Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Thursday that Israel's strikes in Lebanon, including the bombardment of Beirut airport, were "a disproportionate act of war." "For several hours, there has been a bombardment of an airport of an entirely sovereign country, a friend of France ... this is a disproportionate act of war," Douste-Blazy told Europe 1 radio station. Douste-Blazy also condemned Hezbollah's firing of rockets into northern Israel and the kidnapping of the soldiers, saying these were "irresponsible acts." "The only solution is a return to reason by both sides," he said. "We are calling for a lowering of tensions," he said. France supported "Lebanon's demand for a referral to the United Nations Security Council as soon as possible", he said, adding the risk of a regional war "absolutely" existed. Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Kamynin condemned both Israel's strikes and Hezbollah's abduction of IDF soldiers in a strongly worded statement released on Thursday. "The continued destruction of civilian infrastructure in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories and the disproportionate use of force by Israel, which causes suffering to the civilian population, can be neither understood nor justified," he said. "Equally unacceptable are any manifestations of terrorism and the taking of hostages, who must be released immediately and unconditionally," he said. Spain on Thursday condemned the kidnapping of the soldiers, and called on the IDF to use restraint in its retaliation. "The Spanish government, very worried about these grave incidents, demands an end to the armed aggression against Israel and the immediate liberation of the kidnapped soldiers," the Spanish Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It also called on "Israel to act with moderation and in proportion to these events given the need to avoid a spreading of violence, which would put the stability of the region in danger and would have as its principal victim, once again, the civilian population." Air Sinai cancels flight to Tel Aviv Air Sinai, the only Egyptian airline which flies to Israel, canceled its flight to Tel Aviv on Thursday morning after Israel launched attacks in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. The flight was due to take off at 9.45 a.m. with 50 passengers but the airline sent them home at the last minute, airport sources said. A manager at Air Sinai, a wholly-owned subsidiary of state carrier EgyptAir, said the decision to cancel the flight came as a surprise. He said he was looking into the reason for the closure. EgyptAir and the Lebanese airline Middle East Airways also canceled their flights between Cairo and Beirut on Thursday because of the Israel Defense Forces attack on Beirut's only international airport.

To: Scoobah who wrote (14030)	7/13/2006 1:39:53 PM
From: Elmer Flugum	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

"We know that in 1947 the U.S. State Department worked diligently at the behest of the Saudis, Egypt and the oil corporations to kill the U.N. proposal to allow the Jews to have their ancient homeland, the only place in the world where they could be safe as Jews and upon which to settle themselves a State." As it works itself out, Isra'El is the MOST dangerous place in the world to be a Jew. "The American people admired the plucky little Jewish nation that could beat a well-armed Muslim civilization numbering millions. But small Arabist cabals in Washington were dedicated to the rivers of oil and the trillions of dollars that flowed out of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and the Gulf States. These became the ‘Shadow Government’ (4) that drove American foreign policy in the Mid East. Every new Secretary of State seemed to change character upon entering the hallowed halls of ‘Foggy Bottom’ - the State Department. Please note that our current Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice hardly ever voiced a negative word against Israel while she was President Bush’s National Security Advisor. However, after entering the State Department, her public statements seem to be extraordinarily slanted against Israel. The recommendation called: “restraint” was more than a mere word spoken through back channels and publically to Israel." The American people were force fed a constant diet of Holocaust/persecution stories and half truths that Palestine was an empty land and the "Jews" made the desert bloom. Now, slowly, truths about Zionism and Isra'El are coming to be known. len