'We don't talk to evil' - in 2003, during the term of former president Khatami, Iran contacted the United States, and offered to end support for Hamas and Hezbollah, and help stabilize Iraq. Cheney said no. Skip forward to the present, and Iran are having tea and crumpets with North Korea.
posted on Jan 18, 2007 - View this thread

Murder Update: "Syria's Lebanese allies are trying to undermine the Hariri investigation from within, and are expected to escalate their efforts very soon, maybe even this week."
posted on Nov 21, 2006 - View this thread

Beirut: Before and After
posted on Sep 5, 2006 - View this thread

In the days after Hezbollah crossed from Lebanon into Israel, on July 12th, to kidnap two soldiers, triggering an Israeli air attack on Lebanon and a full-scale war, the Bush Administration seemed strangely passive... The Bush Administration, however, was closely involved in the planning of Israel’s retaliatory attacks. President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were convinced, current and former intelligence and diplomatic officials told me, that a successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah’s heavily fortified underground-missile and command-and-control complexes in Lebanon could ease Israel’s security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American preëmptive attack to destroy Iran’s nuclear installations, some of which are also buried deep underground.

Not just another news blip; UN Security Council passes Lebanon cease-fire resolution. The resolution calls for a "full cessation of hostilities" and tells Hezbollah to stop all attacks immediately and Israel to end "all offensive operations". Let's hope this brings about an end to all the madness.
posted on Aug 11, 2006 - View this thread

This Saturday, an aid convoy of internationals and civilians plans to make a political statement by risking their own lives to deliver desperately needed aid from Beirut to the south of Lebanon in defiance of the Israeli military. Israeli threats to bomb any moving traffic have put a halt to aid convoys through traditional channels and curtailed the ability of journalists to cover the conflict. But the activists are hoping extensive media coverage of their "non-violent direct action" generates political pressure to protect them as they head for the "no-drive" zone without any guarantee of safety from the Israeli government.
posted on Aug 10, 2006 - View this thread

Right-wing bloggers accuse photojournalists of photoshopping, posing bodies, and engaging in fraud. Warning: Not for the sqeamish. I think my favorite is the guy who poses as being dead. Or perhaps the photoshop skills of Adnan Hajj. Also, this video shows Hezbollah fighters driving around in UN ambulances. Feels alot like Rather-gate around here.
posted on Aug 9, 2006 - View this thread

How To Put Your Thumb on the Scales of World Opinion. In the past week nearly 5,000 members of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) have downloaded special “megaphone” software that alerts them to anti-Israeli chatrooms or internet polls to enable them to post contrary viewpoints. A student team in Jerusalem combs the web in a host of different languages to flag the sites so that those who have signed up can influence an opinion survey or the course of a debate.
posted on Jul 31, 2006 - View this thread

"God's Army Has Plans to Run the Middle East" is an article that argues that Hezbollah is Iran's "spearhead" towards controlling the entire region. The author? Amir Taheri. You might remember him as the guy who fabricated the story about Iran imposing "yellow star" regulations on religious minorities (previously on mefi). James Wolcott connects the deceitful dots.
posted on Jul 23, 2006 - View this thread

PINR presents a well educated guess over what is going to happen with the Israel - Hezbollah conflict. They also offer significant background and insight into the mood and motives of some surrounding states.
posted on Jul 20, 2006 - View this thread

In this episode of the George & Tony Show the President and the Prime Minister are in Russia eating brie, discussing geopolitics, leaving their mics open, and whatnot.
posted on Jul 17, 2006 - View this thread

IN THE PARTY OF GOD This is archival from New Yorker but well-worth know in light of events taking place in Middle East.
posted on Jul 15, 2006 - View this thread

American brands PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Western Union are advertising on Hezbollah television. The Iranian-backed and funded group has been implicated in the attacks against the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 Americans in 1982.
posted on Oct 27, 2002 - View this thread

Click here for martyrdom (In Arabic though) The Financial Times reports volunteers are invited by Ansar-e-Hizbollah, Iran's radical Islamic shock-troops, to register by internet for worldwide suicide attacks in the event of a US military strike.
posted on Feb 22, 2002 - View this thread

Interesting intelligence report points possible responsibility to terrorists other than bin Laden... Israel’s military intelligence service, Aman, suspects that Iraq is the state that sponsored the suicide attacks on the New York Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington. Directing the mission, Aman officers believe, were two of the world’s foremost terrorist masterminds: the Lebanese Imad Mughniyeh, head of the special overseas operations for Hizbullah, and the Egyptian Dr Ayman Al Zawahiri, senior member of Al-Qaeda and possible successor of the ailing Osama Bin Laden.

Includes information about connections and previous activities... check it out...
posted on Sep 19, 2001 - View this thread

Hizbollah supporters arrested for Cigarette smuggling.

The men may have netted up to $10,000, and according to an "confidential Canadian source" were under orders to buy night vision goggles for Hizbollah, which is considered a terrorist group by Israel and the United States. Their leader is said by another(?) source as being "very comfortable around weapons."

I don't think it's a coincidence that this story is coming to our attention during the peace talks at Camp David. There's nothing in any article I have read on this story giving any substantial proof that these people and their arrest were really front-page events. Does anyone else feel that reportage of the Middle East, and indeed US policy, is clouded and indeed skewed, perhaps in much the same way as the States' Cuba policy?
posted on Jul 21, 2000 - View this thread