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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bilow who wrote (192368)	7/20/2006 7:06:35 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

American Petrocracy _______________________________________________________ by Kevin Phillips The American Conservative July 17, 2006 Issue Among the shifting rationales for the war in Iraq, the most plausible motive may be the least discussed: access to oil. amconmag.com

To: Bilow who wrote (192368)	7/20/2006 7:31:07 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

General says extremists planning 'all-out' attack on Baghdad ____________________________________________________________ U.S. military confirms sharp rise in attacks BAGHDAD, Iraq - Bombings and shootings soared by 40 percent in the Baghdad area in the past week, the U.S. military said Thursday. An American general said extremists were preparing “an all-out assault” on the capital in a decisive battle for the future of Iraq... msnbc.msn.com

To: Bilow who wrote (192368)	7/20/2006 7:40:30 PM
From: sylvester80	Respond to of 281500

NEWS: Israeli choppers collide near Lebanon, casualties 20 Jul 2006 23:24:36 GMT Source: Reuters alertnet.org JERUSALEM, July 21 (Reuters) - Two Israeli attack helicopters have collided near the Lebanese border, causing four casualties, military spokesmen said on Friday. Army Radio said the two U.S.-made Apache helicopters crashed on Thursday night on a road near Ramat Naftali, 10 km (6 miles) from the frontier where Israeli forces and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas have been fighting for nine days. A witness interviewed by the radio described the casualties as being inside the wreckage of the aircraft, each of which carry a two-person crew. Al Jazeera television said there were four deaths in the collision. This was neither confirmed nor denied by Israel. Thursday's helicopter collision was the second combat air accident in Israel in as many days. An F-16 jet crashed upon takeoff from a southern air base on Wednesday, but both crew safely bailed out, military sources said. According to media reports, the warplane was en route to a bombing run in Lebanon. Earlier, Israel confirmed two of its soldiers had been killed in heavy fighting with Hizbollah guerrillas just inside the Lebanon border on Thursday. Al Jazeera television had said four Israeli soldiers had been killed in the village of Maroun al-Ras. In 1997, two Israeli transport helicopters crashed en route to Lebanon, killing more than 70 Israeli servicemen.

To: Bilow who wrote (192368)	7/20/2006 7:43:16 PM
From: sylvester80	Respond to of 281500

NEWS: Hardened Hizbollah no pushover on Lebanon border 20 Jul 2006 20:58:08 GMT Source: Reuters By Dean Yates alertnet.org JERUSALEM, July 20 (Reuters) - Elite Israeli forces are finding Hizbollah guerrillas entrenched just inside southern Lebanon a tough adversary as they try to clear them from the hilly frontier and cut rocket attacks on the Jewish state. Hizbollah killed four Israeli soldiers in fierce clashes in the southern Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras on Thursday, Al Jazeera television said. The army has said there were eight casualties, but has not been more specific. The army said the firefight took place not far from where Hizbollah killed two soldiers and wounded nine on Wednesday. As part of Israel's overall offensive against Hizbollah, small groups of elite troops have been carrying out small-scale attacks to try to destroy guerrilla positions and bunkers inside the Lebanese border. One Israeli political source said the casualties would concern the army but were unlikely to dent its determination to dislodge guerrillas deployed in underground bunkers and trenches along a rocky and scrub-filled terrain. He said the army needed two weeks to root them out. "No question about it, there will be some concern, but don't draw any conclusions," the source said. Alon Ben-David, Israel analyst for Jane's Defence Weekly, said special forces had tackled five villages inside the border that were part of the Hizbollah network in the past two days. "We are talking about hundreds of guerrillas, all of them well-trained, intensely motivated, and fighting autonomous of Hizbollah's high command," Ben-David told Reuters. "They are deployed in a Viet Cong-style network of trenches and tunnels, which allow them to emerge for quick Katyusha or gun attacks and take cover again." Israel's army has said it killed four Hizbollah fighters in two days of fierce clashes. Three Israeli soldiers were wounded, two seriously, in earlier firefights in the area on Thursday. Israeli artillery batteries lined up along the 80 km (50 miles) frontier have also been shelling southern Lebanon since Hizbollah captured two soldiers and killed eight others in a border raid one week ago, sparking the crisis. Hizbollah has killed at least 29 soldiers and civilians in Israel. Israel has killed at least 311 people in Lebanon. AMBUSH Ben-David said Israel's special forces were at a tactical disadvantage in that Hizbollah was waiting to ambush them. Military sources say troops are operating up to 2 km (miles) inside southern Lebanon. "Also it is also possible that these commandos are used to taking on the less formidable Palestinian terrorists and have underestimated the capabilities of Hizbollah," he said. Giora Eiland, Israel's former national security adviser and an ex-general, said the army was prepared to absorb some losses. "The results of such a campaign are not measured in terms of an absolute nor a quick victory, nor in terms of having no casualties on our side or no innocent casualties on the other side," Eiland told Channel One Television. Analysts said this was more effective than carrying out what Eiland referred to as a "steamroller" sweep throughout southern Lebanon, where Israeli casualties could be much higher. Defence Minister Amir Peretz raised the possibility on Thursday of a ground offensive into Lebanon, and senior generals have repeatedly said they do not rule this out. (Additional reporting by Dan Williams)