Caroline Glick ,
The Olmert-Livni-Barak-Yishai government's liquidation sale of Israel's strategic assets opened officially this week. Iran's proxies have pounced on the merchandise.
The first asset sold was the security of southern Israel. The Olmert-Livni-Barak-Yishai government's "cease-fire" with Hamas transferred all power to determine the fate of the residents of southern Israel to Iran's Palestinian proxy.
Under the "agreement," Hamas will refrain from attacking Sderot, Ashkelon, Netivot and surrounding kibbutzim for as long as it serves its interests. Since temporarily halting its attacks on southern Israel is the only thing that Hamas has agreed to do, it will use the lull in fighting to build up its arsenal and its military infrastructures in Gaza. When it has built up its forces sufficiently, or when its Iranian overlords give it the order, Hamas will again attack southern Israel. And when it reengages, it can be assumed that it will do so with a vastly expanded missile range. So under the guise of the "cease-fire," Hamas will place hundreds of thousands more Israelis at its mercy.
The Olmert-Livni-Barak-Yishai government's agreement with Hamas does more than sell out the security of the South. The agreement also divests Israel of its former ability to ...   more »

Gil Hoffman
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed confidence Thursday that a miracle will save his premiership.
Asked in an interview published in the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel how confident he was that he would survive politically until the end of his term, Olmert said, "Look, miracles in the Middle East are a reality."
He added: "Ben-Gurion once said, 'Only those who believe in miracles are realists in the Middle East.' So anything can happen. My predecessors were all investigated, all were accused, all were prosecuted - in an atmosphere that was sometimes intolerable. And they are all still alive and kicking - except for Ariel Sharon, whom I wish the best for a complete recovery."
Olmert recalled that when he took over for Sharon following his stroke in January 2006, there were very few Israelis who believed he would still be prime minister at the end of June 2008. "But here I am," Olmert said. "I am sitting here and I have no intention of pulling out."
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Olmert said he was "going nowhere" and he did not rule out running again for the leadership of Kadima. To demonstrate his faith in his ...   more »

Yaakov Katz
With three planes still grounded, the Israel Air Force will hold a joint experiment next month in the United States in an effort to discover what is causing high levels of carcinogenic material found in the advanced F-16I fighter jet, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
The test on the plane will be held in conjunction with the US Air Force, the plane's manufacturer Lockheed Martin and the manufacturer of the engine Pratt & Whitney. The four have already set up a joint team that has met regularly since the crisis erupted. Earlier this month, a team of IAF officers were in the US for meetings with Pratt & Whitney, whose F100-PW-229 is installed in the aircraft.
In March, then-OC IAF Maj.-Gen. Elazar Shkedy decided to ground all F-16I training flights after a high level of formaldehyde was found in the cockpit of one of the aircraft. Shkedy suspended training flights after a number of pilots complained of a bad smell coming from the cockpit of one of the planes.
The IDF Medical Branch discovered that the smell was caused by a type of formaldehyde known to be carcinogenic in high concentration.
Last month, Shkedy decided to approve the ...   more »

U.N. nuclear watchdog chief warns of dangers of military strike on Iran
Attack may lead Iran to a more-aggressive nuclear stance, he says
Iran official reportedly criticized the Israeli exercises
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief warned in comments aired Saturday that any military strike on Iran could turn the Mideast to a "ball of fire" and lead Iran to a more aggressive stance on its controversial nuclear program.
Mohamed ElBaradei made the remarks in an interview aired on Saturday by Al Arabiya TV. The interview comes a day after reports emerged that Israel conducted an large-scale military exercise that the United States believes is in part a message to Iran that Israel has the capability to attack its nuclear program.
"In my opinion, a military strike will be the worst. ... It will turn the Middle East to a ball of fire," ElBaradei said on Al-Arabiya television. It also could prompt Iran to press even harder to seek a nuclear program and force him to resign, he said.
Iran also criticized the Israeli exercises Saturday. The official IRNA news agency quoted a government spokesman as saying the exercises demonstrate that Israel "jeopardizes global peace ...   more »

Following IAF drill said to be preparation for attack on Iran if it continues its nuclear program, Iranian government spokesman says 'Israel impediment to peace, calm in world'
ReutersIran called Israel a "dangerous regime" on Saturday after a US paper reported that the Air Force (IAF) had carried out a large military exercise, apparently a rehearsal for a potential bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities. 
Threatening to Quit   
IAEA Chief ElBaradei: Military strike on Iran's nuke sites would turn region into a 'fireball'; US: We told Israel we want diplomatic solution    
The comments by Iran's government spokesman came a day after the UN nuclear watchdog chief said a military strike on Iran would turn the Middle East into a fireball and prompt Tehran to launch a crash course to build nuclear weapons.  
When asked about the reported exercises, Iranian government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham said: "It demonstrates the Islamic Republic of Iran's view that this (Israel ) is a dangerous regime and an impediment to peace and calm in the region and world."  
Elham added that the exercises prove Israel's leadership ''jeopardizes global peace and security.'' He also said in the Saturday comments that Iran believes Israel has ...   more »

Pressure is building on Iran. This week Europe agreed to new sanctions and President Bush again suggested something more serious – possible military strikes – if the Islamic Republic doesn't bend to the will of the international community on its nuclear program.
But increasingly military analysts are warning of severe consequences if the US begins a shooting war with Iran. While Iranian forces are no match for American technology on a conventional battlefield, Iran has shown that it can bite back in unconventional ways.
Iranian networks in Iraq and Afghanistan could imperil US interests there; American forces throughout the Gulf region could be targeted by asymmetric methods and lethal rocket barrages; and Iranian partners across the region – such as Hezbollah in Lebanon – could be mobilized to engage in an anti-US fight.
Iran's response could also be global, analysts say, but the scale would depend on the scale of the US attack. "One very important issue from a US intelligence perspective, [the Iranian reaction] is probably more unpredictable than the Al Qaeda threat," says Magnus Ranstorp at the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defense College in Stockholm.
"I doubt very much our ability to manage ...   more »

(CBS) America has been struggling with its image in the Middle East for decades but, after Iraq, Arab opinion plummeted. The Bush administration felt it had to act fast to explain America to the Arab world. So it began spending about $100 million a year on a U.S. government news channel in Arabic. It's called "Al Hurra," meaning "The Free One."
As correspondent Scott Pelley reports, Al Hurra's symbol is a herd of unbridled horses, and for American taxpayers it's been a wild ride.
60 Minutes has been looking into Al Hurra in a project with ProPublica, a new, non-profit news organization dedicated to investigative journalism. With so much at stake at Al Hurra, we were surprised to find what it's putting on the air. Some of it has supported terrorism and denied the Holocaust; insiders say Al Hurra has been undermined by loose financial and editorial controls, while its executives try to manage 24-hour news in a language most of them don't understand.
In 2004, as the president prepared to make his State of the Union Address, any Arabs who were watching were probably tuned in to popular Arabic news channels like Al Jazeera, which tend to devote airtime ...   more »

By ALAN FRAM and EILEEN PUTMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) - Is everything spinning out of control? Midwestern levees are bursting. Polar bears are adrift. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Home values are abysmal. Air fares, college tuition and health care border on unaffordable. Wars without end rage in Iraq, Afghanistan and against terrorism.
Horatio Alger, twist in your grave.
The can-do, bootstrap approach embedded in the American psyche is under assault. Eroding it is a dour powerlessness that is chipping away at the country's sturdy conviction that destiny can be commanded with sheer courage and perseverance.
The sense of helplessness is even reflected in this year's presidential election. Each contender offers a sense of order - and hope. Republican John McCain promises an experienced hand in a frightening time. Democrat Barack Obama promises bright and shiny change, and his large crowds believe his exhortation, "Yes, we can."
Even so, a battered public seems discouraged by the onslaught of dispiriting things. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll says a barrel-scraping 17 percent of people surveyed believe the country is moving in the right direction. That is the lowest reading since the survey began in 2003.
An ABC News-Washington Post survey put that figure at 14 ...   more »

By DAVID BROOKS
God, Republicans are saps. They think that they're running against some academic liberal who wouldn't wear flag pins on his lapel, whose wife isn't proud of America and who went to some liberationist church where the pastor damned his own country. They think they're running against some naïve university-town dreamer, the second coming of Adlai Stevenson.
But as recent weeks have made clear, Barack Obama is the most split-personality politician in the country today. On the one hand, there is Dr. Barack, the high-minded, Niebuhr-quoting speechifier who spent this past winter thrilling the Scarlett Johansson set and feeling the fierce urgency of now. But then on the other side, there's Fast Eddie Obama, the promise-breaking, tough-minded Chicago pol who'd throw you under the truck for votes.
This guy is the whole Chicago package: an idealistic, lakefront liberal fronting a sharp-elbowed machine operator. He's the only politician of our lifetime who is underestimated because he's too intelligent. He speaks so calmly and polysyllabically that people fail to appreciate the Machiavellian ambition inside.
But he's been giving us an education, for anybody who cares to pay attention. Just try to imagine Mister Rogers playing the agent Ari in "Entourage" ...   more »

 MOSCOW, - The U.S.-proposed European missile shield will eventually spread along Russia's borders and may neutralize Russia's nuclear potential by 2012-2015, a Russian political analyst said on Wednesday.
Commenting on reports that the United States and Lithuania were formally discussing deploying elements of the U.S. missile shield in the ex-Soviet Baltic state should Warsaw reject Washington's plans to station 10 interceptor missiles in Poland, Leonid Ivashov, the head of the Moscow-based Academy of Geopolitical Sciences, said: "We should expect that elements of a U.S. missile shield will be placed not only in Lithuania, but also in all territories bordering Russia and controlled by NATO."
So far, the Czech Republic has agreed to host an early-warning radar on its territory. Poland has taken a tough stance in missile talks with the U.S., demanding that Washington upgrade its air defense systems in return.
Ivashov said the main purpose of the U.S. global missile shield was to neutralize Russia's nuclear potential by 2012-2015 and that NATO eastward expansion was part of this plan.
He said Ukraine's and Georgia's possible accession to NATO would have dire consequences for Russia's defense capability.
"There is no doubt that elements of the U.S. missile shield will be ...   more »

Calls for leading oil producers to raise production to try and bring down soaring prices have intensified at a crucial meeting in Saudi Arabia.
The US, UK and other consumers urged producers to boost supply, blaming lack of capacity for the recent price surge.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said more production was needed to ease price "uncertainty" and "volatility".
Saudi Arabia blamed speculation, not lack of supply, for surging prices but said it was willing to raise output. 'Ready to act'
The world's largest oil producer has already announced plans to lift daily quotas to 9.7 million barrels by the end of July, an increase of about 500,000 barrels since May.
But, in an effort to calm worries over supply shortages, it said it would be prepared to pump more "if demand for such quantities materializes and our customers tell us they are needed".
 We are very concerned for consumers in all countries
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz 
Saudi officials also indicated they could raise its oil "cushion" - the spare production capacity it maintains - above the current 12.5 million barrels per day planned for the end of 2009.
"We are very concerned for consumers in all countries," ...   more »

(IsraelNN.com) Saudi Arabia will sponsor an interfaith dialogue between Muslims, Christians and Jews in Madrid, Spain next month, Saudi media reported Saturday. The dialogue, called for by King Abdullah and supported by Sunni and Shi'ite clerics, will be held from July 16-18 and will include secular and religious personalities from all three faith groups.
Despite the conference, Jews are not permitted to travel to Saudi Arabia, and Riyadh failed to indicate whether or not it would discontinue support for radical "wahabbi" Islamist groups around the world. Wahabbi Islam is an important voice calling on young Muslims to "martyr" themselves by killing Jews and westerners.
Original Source
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