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"PALESTINIAN STATE" a la WASHINGTON and LONDON

October 17, 2001

Peres Declares Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad will be destroyed

"It is necessary to fight Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the P.F.L.P., and Hizbullah with no compromises. We must see to it that they are finished. All means are justified. If Arafat is not going to do that, either we, or the West will do it. There is no compromise with terrorism."

"On this issue I recommend to kill and annihilate." Shimon Peres - Israeli Foreign Minister (30 Sept)

MID-EAST REALITIES © - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 10/16: As for the British, what's going on in both Palestine and Kashmir, the two most likely potential nuclear flashpoints in our world today, can be traced back directly to what the British did in these areas when they were the "Empire" -- their classic "divide and rule" strategies; how they "withdrew" fomenting civil wars that created millions of refugees; the deep political, territorial and cultural disputes the "Empire" exaccerbated.

As for the Americans, their policies for generations now have been designed to further their own self-serving national interests and pocketbooks at the expense of basic democracy and freedoms for the people of the Middle East. Their actual policies have been so militarist while their words have been so peaceful. They have been so pro-Israeli and anti-Arab while constantly professing "even-handedness". They have actually been so deceptive and dishonest while seemingly oozing sincerity to their own citizens. And thus now at the dawn of the 21st century cheap words and slogans coming from Washington (and London for that matter) resonnate as disingeneous and chicanerous in the Middle East, especially while the actual actions emmanating from Washington are more blood-kurdling and destructive than ever. Past history has indeed produced an excess of hatred, disbelief, and revenge-seeking; and ad nauseum TV appearances with soothing rhetoric by Presidents, Prime Ministers, and their public relations hacks cannot change this situation very quickly.

This crucial history must always be appreciated as the foundation from how events today are analyzed and understood. That said, if one wants a glimpse at the future for Israel and Palestine -- the future that is even still today being primarily prepared in Washington and London with much Israeli assistance -- this interview with Shimon Peres deserves very careful scrutiny. Not even very far between the lines are crucial aspects of the supposedly clever strategy now being vigorously pursued by the very same powers and the very same economic/ideological/political forces that are responsible for having brought about today's crisis situation.

The strategy goes something like this:

Yasser Arafat will be used, while still around for that purpose, to endose a very much shrunken, fractured, retarded, controlled Palestinian Statelet with "foothold" in Jerusalem. Except for terminology, the situation will not be all that different for most Palestinians than what exists today, with some kind of further fudging done regarding how things are handled in Jerusalem and some small number of Palestinian refugees either "allowed to return" or "resettled". In doing so Arafat will be used on the world stage to very publicly recognize Israeli legitimacy in some kind of historic ceremony/document, thus "legalizing" the new arrangements that many key Israelis recognize. as does Peres, as far better than anything any other Palestinian leader could or would endorse. In tandem with this attempt to deceive the world one more grand time, all organized opposition among the Palestinians will be branded "terrorist" and thus hunted down and destroyed in the "phases" yet to come of the new Anglo-American war to enforce their post cost-war "new world order".

The "Palestinian State" now in the news because of the post-Sept 11 world is far too little far too late far too unreal to come even close to meeting basic requirements of historical justice, not to mention Palestinian aspirations. Indeed, the Palestinian people will be far worse off In actuality the Palestinians are being forced to accept about 20% of historic Palestinian, devoid of most of its original resources and agricultural lands which are now in the hands of the Jewish State, everywhere intersected by Israeli settlements and "by-pass" roads; everywhere surrounded by Israeli military checkpoints and de facto control. It is a Bantustan neo-apartheid arrangement at best no matter how repackaged and regardless of what kind of political masquerade is created to sell it far and wide. It's purpose is not to fulfill Palestinian rights or aspirations, but rather to attempt to force on the Palestinians Israeli domination and on the world Israeli conquests at a historic moment when those Israelis who see things as Peres does bring about the deal with Arafat they have been manuevering towards for so many years now.

Most of all, however, at this particular moment in history the purpose if is Washington and London who are reasserting their dominance and they are using both Arafat and Peres for their own purposes -- with such a long history of doing so together for so many years past. In modern history the situation in the Middle East goes back some eighty years, to the breakup of the Ottoman Empire and to the Paris Peace Conference of 1918, the "Peace to end all peace" Now on the crusade warpath is is convenient once again to trot out all this "Palestinian State" talk -- actually something enshrined in U.N. resolutions going back to the late 1940s -- o hoodwink

PERES DECLARES WAR TO THE FINISH, "NO COMPROMISES, ALL MEANS JUSTIFIED"

ARAFAT IS OUR MAN PERES TELLS ISRAELIS MORE CLEARLY THAN EVER

[English translation excerpts from the original Hebrew as published in Israeli dailyYediot Ahronot on 1 October]

Yediot Ahronot (Y.A.): "The Foreign Minister's urgency to renew negotiations with [Yasser] Arafat runs into stubborn adversaries; the Deputy Chief of staff, Major General Moshe (Bugy) Ya'alon, and the entire IDF leadership. Peres' men complain that for every discussion, the IDF forum is bringing in a battalion of officers; the Chief of Staff, his deputy, the Head of Intelligence, the Head of the Planning Division, the Head of the IDF Intelligence Research Unit, and others. All of them are holding on to the same opinion [opposing Peres]. Peres is convinced that Ya'alon has decided to finish off Arafat. 'Let's say that we do finish him,' says Peres. 'What will happen next? With all of the criticism directed against Arafat, he is the only Palestinian who recognizes the map where Israel and Jordan exist. In fact, Israel's map doesn't even appear on new Palestinian textbooks. [If he is gone] Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hizbullah will come in his place. They will try to establish one state between Iraq and the ocean. Arafat wants to speak with us, whereas they, want to do here what they did in Lebanon. Arafat wishes to be accepted by the West, whereas they could care less about the West. At one point, Arafat wanted to abandon terrorism, whereas they are full-time terrorists.'"

Y.A.: "I believe Ya'alon had it with Arafat when he realized that Arafat was lying to his face."

Peres: "I don't know any one person in the Middle East who speaks nothing but the truth. So what do you suggest that we do? Take a vacation, immigrate to Uganda, and wait until they learn to speak the truth?"

Y.A.: "According to the prevailing thesis, every time that Arafat gets himself in trouble, you are there for his rescue. This was the case in '93, with the Oslo Agreement, and this is how it is today."

Peres: "It is not Arafat who I rescue but rather ourselves. There is also a moral consideration here. We do not need to control another people. And there is also a political consideration. Had we stayed in the territories, the entire world would turn against us. Make no mistake, the world will never give legitimacy to the settlements."

"We must appear not as the oppressors of the Palestinians, but as the oppressors of terrorism. We must relieve the [Palestinian] residents. (Ya'alon) does not understand this. Similar to the fact that there is no good terror and bad terror, there is also no good occupation and bad occupation. Many around the world perceive the Palestinian war against us, as a war against occupation. In the eyes of the world, Arafat is not one of the bad guys."

Y.A.: "Contrary to the evaluations coming out of the I.D.F., Peres separates between Arafat and terror organizations."

Peres: "It is necessary to fight Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the P.F.L.P., and Hizbullah with no compromises. We must see to it that they are finished. All means are justified. If Arafat is not going to do that, either we, or the West will do it. There is no compromise with terrorism."

Y.A.: "And what about the Tanzim?

Peres: "I asked Arafat, 'What about Marwan Barghouti?' Instead of answering my question, Arafat asked me about one of the right wing ministers in the Israeli government."

Y.A.: "Is it possible for Arafat to enjoy both worlds, to continue terrorism here and at the same time support America against Bin Laden?"

Peres: "Yes, he can. [But only] up until the next stage when the war against terrorism will target terror wherever it may be."

Y.A.: "And do you think he will do this? [fight terrorism]" Peres: "To a large degree it depends on us."

Y.A.: "Do you believe that he will abide by agreements you concluded with him?"

Peres: "What is so bad with the ceasefire that we have reached in Beit Jallah? It has been two months and no shots have been fired on Jerusalem. Even a week would be good. Even one day. The head of the General Security Services says that there is a drastic decline in violence. Is that a sin?."

Y.A.: "According to your assessment, do you believe that Arafat will reach a ceasefire?"

Peres: "Not a complete ceasefire [hundred percent in the original text]. This is why I want to refine the debate. [Arafat should] make terror organizations illegal. I don't know if he will arrest terrorists, but I wish to put pressure on him with the help of the Americans. [I want] To tell Arafat, 'if you wish to be a part of the coalition, you must do this.'"

Y.A.: "It looks like the unity government will not last for too long. The common assessment predicts its end before March of next year."

Peres: "Sharon must do some soul-searching, no one can escape the dilemma. There is no substitute for an agreement. Fences will not stop Katyusha missiles or suicide bombers."

Y.A.: "Do you believe that Ariel Sharon will return to the [pre]'67 borders?"

Peres: "I do not know, I have seen so many things in my lifetime. Would you have believed that Begin would return the entire Sinai?"

Y.A.: "It seems that you are assured that everything will be fine once an agreement is reached."

Peres: "(replied determinately) This will all be a done deal at the moment when there are agreed upon borders."

Y.A.: "I was wondering, would [the Palestinian] dreams about Jaffa and Haifa suddenly disappear?"

Peres: "On this issue I recommend to kill and annihilate."



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October 2001


Magazine






Bio and Nuclear Threats Escalate As Purposeful Leaks Proliferate to Mass Media
(October 26, 2001)
The timing of newsstories like this in the major Western media should be suspect now more than ever. For more than ever in fact governments and intelligence agencies are using the mass media by leaking things at times of convenience and more importantly with their own twists and turns.

"Stop Israel!" Pleads Israeli Professor
(October 26, 2001)
One Israeli, not invited by the naive and misguided American Jewish "liberals" to the USA, speaks up from Israel with tremendous courage and conviction. Her name is Tanya Reinhart and she deserves to be taken very seriously -- though far too many don't even know about her.

"Palestinian Statehood" - Another Grotesque Deception Unfolds
(October 25, 2001)
The political smokescreens are lifting a bit as the pressures build to go beyond mere words, yet at the same time a purposeful distorting haze is taking over. Bottom line: the kind of "Palestinian State" Yasser Arafat has maneuvered his people toward and is being cornered into implementing is a grotesque distortion of their aspirations and of what use to be meant by the term "Palestinian State."

"A Pen Bought And Sold" - A Saudi Poem Revisited - MER FlashBack
(October 21, 2001)
Change comes in the Middle East, as elsewhere, in complex ways. There is the regular daily news of course; and in the region especially it is inextricably intertwined with an ever-more-sophisticated and propagandistic journalistic establishment.

WHY AMERICA MUST STOP THE WAR NOW
(October 24, 2001)
Both of the Georges are oh so full of themselves cocky -- just the personality type so many American's truly love. One is (to the amazement of many who wonder how in the world the U.S. chooses such persons to lead it) the President of the United States.

Massacres and Devastation Escalate Further In Palestine
(October 24, 2001)
The Palestinians are essentially defenseless with their backs up against the wall, the firing wall. Their "leadership" has been so corrupted and infiltrated that the Arafat regime has hardly any credibility with its own, not to mention anyone else.

Torture Now Coming to USA?
(October 22, 2001)
Adopting the tactics (as well as the goals) of the Israelis, and the methods long taught by the CIA in Latin America as well as the Middle East, the brave new world post 11 September is changing the face of the American homeland in ways nearly all Americans would have seriously resisted just a few long weeks ago.

Millions Likely To Die in Afghanistan U.N. Warns
(October 21, 2001)
As for Afghanistan, the American CIA worked behind the scenes to bring on the Soviet invasion of 1979, then engaged the Soviet Empire in a way that brought about the near-total devastation of Afghanistan and a huge uncounted death toll.

It's "New Imperialism" says leading British MP
(October 21, 2001)
Much pressure is building at the United Nations to not open itself to still more charges of being complicitous in "genocide", not to mention to do something to stop being seen as "an extension of the American State Department" (the actual private words of a senior U.N. official).

"Comply! Resistance Is Futile!"
(October 20, 2001)
British MP (Member of Parliament) George Galloway calls it the "new imperialism" (his article coming later today). On the whole the Anglo-British press is working up quite a frenzy (with notable exceptions like The Guardian and The Independent in the UK, sometimes The Nation in the U.S.).

The "Arafat Era" Collapsing or About To Be Reborn?
(October 20, 2001)
Yasser Arafat is losing both his grip on power (extended to him by the Israelis and the Americans for the past decade since the Gulf War) and his credibility (with his own people) at the same time.

The Coming Arab Crash
(October 19, 2001)
The west's most important friends in the Arab Middle East - Fahd of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah of Jordan, Mubarak of Egypt and the PLO's Yasser Arafat - are probably the world's most vulnerable political quartet.

Saudi Amb Bandar Badly Fails, Saudi Royals in Paralysis, US Relations in Doubt
(October 19, 2001)
Prince Bandar bin Sultan's 20+ year strategy has now substantially failed. Years ago, very much behind-the-scenes of course, the very controversial and in some circles much despised Saudi Ambassador in Washington began a relationship with the some of the most conservative and militant circles in Washington, very much including those associated with the powerful Israeli/Jewish lobby.

Worse Than Worthless Wartime "Promises"
(October 18, 2001)
The list of broken and disingenuous "promises" made to the Arabs by Western political leaders is something befitting a "Saturday Night Live" parody skit -- if only they would dare!

"New Era" Says Sharon Reacting In Character to "Gandhi" Assassination
(October 17, 2001)
He had called the Palestinians "lice" and "vermin" and "cancer", and he had urged their "transfer" or "extermination". Just Monday he has tendered his resignation as Minister of Tourism, insisting that Ariel Sharon was being too moderate and too compromising.

"PALESTINIAN STATE" a la WASHINGTON and LONDON
(October 17, 2001)
As for the British, what's going on in both Palestine and Kashmir, the two most likely potential nuclear flashpoints in our world today, can be traced back directly to what the British did in these areas when they were the "Empire"

FAR RIGHT-WING ISRAELI MINISTER ASSASSINATED THIS MORNING
(October 17, 2001)
For some time now Palestinians have been warning that because of Israel's assassination of Palestinian leaders, "crossing the red line" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they would respond.

Red Cross Bombed in Kabul Before Presidential Red Cross Visit in Washington
(October 16, 2001)
You gotta love the chutzpa of the Americans. Today the President went a few blocks from the White House to the Headquarters of the American Red Cross -- a little photo op designed to further enlist "the children of America" in his recently announced effort to help the children of Afghanistan. But just as President Bush was getting ready to do his Red Cross pictures reports came in from Afghanistan that the major Red Cross center in Kabul, complete with large Red Cross emblem on its roof, was destroyed by American bombs.

Saudi/U.S. "Meltdown"? And Neutralizing Al Jazeera With A Firm Embrace
(October 16, 2001)
While American and British officials rush to make one TV appearance after another with continual reassurances everything is going "as planned", that's not quite the reality of the situation as this article in today's Guardian makes quite evident.

What Can We Do About Terrorism? by Lt. Col Robert M. Bowman (ret)
(October 15, 2001)
"Mr. President, you did not tell the American people the truth about why we are the targets of terrorism. You said that we are the target because we stand for democracy, freedom, and human rights in the world. Baloney! We are the target of terrorists because we stand for dictatorship, bondage, and human exploitation in the world."

Pentagon Far More Confused and Uncertain Than Americans Realize
(October 15, 2001)
The Bush administration is growing increasingly alarmed by the direction of the military campaign in Afghanistan after a week of almost continuous bombing has failed to dislodge either Osama bin Laden or the Taliban leadership.

Al-Qaeda Weekend Statement
(October 15, 2001)
This isn't really about "secret messages". Anyone with a $300 satellite dish can watch the statements in full, in Arabic, on al Jazeera; and the text is widely available on the Internet, in this case from London and the BBC!

Hundreds Dead in Nigeria
(October 14, 2001)
Hundreds of people have been killed in religious clashes after anti-U.S. protests turned violent, sources have told CNN. The demonstrations against the U.S.-led missile strikes on Afghanistan began peacefully on Friday but spiralled into a killing spree during Saturday, CNN's Lagos bureau chief Jeff Koinange said.

akistan's Benazir Opens Campaign in Washington as Pakistan Trembles Anarchy
(October 14, 2001)
Benazir Bhutto came to Washington this week to open her campaign for a third term as Prime Minister of the world's second largest, and only nuclear armed, Muslim State -- her first two terms she was overthrown, political and financial corruption was rampant, and her arranged husband remains in a Karachi prison.

Iraq Likely To Be Next "Phase"
(October 14, 2001)
A powerful coalition of "hawkish" government officials, lobbyists (especially those connected with the Israelis and the arms corporations), conservative press publications and columnists, many of the national Jewish organizations, as well as millions of Christian fundamentalists associated with Pat Robertson and his daily TV "700 Club" program, is mobilized to make sure that "America's new war" does not end with Afghanistan and al-Qaeda.

Saudi Royals Bugged, Embarrassed, Unstable
(October 13, 2001)
The following information is about to come out in THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE on Monday and is being leaked in Washington this weekend to stir up interest and try to get publicity for the magazine and author on the Sunday talk shows tomorrow.

Attacks and Demonstrations Escalating in Arab and Muslim Countries
(October 13, 2001)
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in various cities in the Middle East to protest the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan. Many more thronged to mosques for Friday prayers throughout the region and heard anti-American sermons.

Western Commando Forces Getting Ready
(October 13, 2001)
This article in The Telegraph today is a good outline of what now seems likely to be immediately ahead in Afghanistan, pushed forward by weather considerations as well as by current expectations that American-sponsored key governments in Pakistan, Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan, as well as the Arafat Regime, will all be able to weather the political storms with much expanded and mostly covert continual help from the western governments and intelligence services.

"War of the Worlds" by Mark Bruzonsky
(October 11, 2001)
In the case of America's new war, the full might of the USA is being mobilized not against the armies of other nation states, but against the fanatical descendants of a puritanical militant Islam whose calling has become relentless opposition to American hegemony and passionate assertion of their own quaintly medieval religious constructs.

Arafat Begs Israelis To Save Him
(October 10, 2001)
It's a most complicated political dance than ever at this historical crossroads. But bottom line Yasser Arafat and his regime have now, even more than before, thrown their future to the Israelis and the now omnipresent CIA...

Uri Avneri - Fronting for Arafat and for a Castrated "Palestinian State"
(October 10, 2001)
The Israeli writer and activist Uri Avneri is "on tour" in the USA on his way to Washington. It shouldn't come as a surprise that a few naive or on- the-take "peace groups" -- Jewish and otherwise -- have invited him to speak.

After Afghanistan, U.S. has Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine in its Sights
(October 10, 2001)
In this case there should be no one saying down the road that they didn't know what was being planned. The Americans have said publicly and in many different ways right from the start of this "new war" that it wasn't going to end with Osama bin Laden, with the Taliban government, or with Afghanistan.

The "Palestinian State" Charade
(October 9, 2001)
Most of the Arab regimes, including that of Yasser Arafat, have proved themselves so co-opted and so gullible over the years that you can't blame the Americans for continuing to try their little tricks and deceptions -- just look how well, at least from their point-of-view, such things have worked in the past..

Anthrax Terrorism Now Likely
(October 9, 2001)
Federal officials suspect foul play rather than an environmental source is at the root of two Florida anthrax cases that have left one man dead and hundreds of co-workers lining up for medical tests.

Biological Attack? Inept or Demonstration?
(October 9, 2001)
Is someone sending a message that they can do it, a kind of primative, and deadly, deterrence attempt to try to protect themselves? Might this be an "inept attack" as today's TIMES in London suggests in its headline? As the third case of Anthrax in Florida is reported this morning, something seems to be up as the following reports indicate.

Bush versus bin Laden - Syria Elected to Security Council
(October 8, 2001)
It's all quite amazing really, President George W. Bush versus Osama bin Laden. On the one hand you have the most powerful man in the world commanding the full might of not only the world's only superpower but a whole entourage of Western European allies, the new Russia, and to a considerable extent at least behind-the-scenes many Arab and Muslim "client regimes".

Arafat's Army Opens Fire On Its Own - More Anthrax in Florida?
(October 8, 2001)
The Palestinian leadership rushed to distance itself Monday from Osama bin Laden while its police forces opened fire on university students protesting the U.S.-led military strikes on Afghanistan.

FBI Knocked...He's Not Home But You Can Find Him at the White House
(October 8, 2001)
Now the world will become much more confusing and dangerous, and the opponents of the American Empire will obviously be forced even deeper underground -- both literally and figuratively -- becoming even more insular and isolated among themselves leading to who knows what kind of future blowback.

US Journalist Warns: "Do not try to change the government in Afghanistan!"
(October 7, 2001)
Late friday evening one of the leading American journalists who is an expert on the Middle East and Islamic affairs was asked a question on CNN to which she immediately briefly answered...and that was that...no more was asked or answered.

"Our Friends are Killers, Crooks and Torturers"
(October 7, 2001)
Surely the British Prime Minister should know better than to try to simplify such a complex world we live in to that understandable by a third-grader. If not we have a little weekend reading Mr. Blair should be doing, starting in one of his own newspapers which we surely hope, especially now, he can find a few moments to read on a regular basis, The Independent.

History Corrected - U.S. Wanted Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
(October 6, 2001)
The world believes that there was an invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union on 24 December 1979 and then, in response, the U.S. and Muslim countries rallied to help Afghanistan repel the invaders. Wrong...just as so much of the widely accepted history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the actual realities of U.S. involvements in the Middle East are wrong because of the manipulation of history by various governments and intelligence agencies -- most especially the U.S. and Israel, the CIA and the Mossad.

UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTHS FOR AMERICANS TO PONDER
(October 6, 2001)
"Could it be that the stygian anger that led to the attacks has its taproot not in American freedom and democracy, but in the US government's record of commitment and support to exactly the opposite things - to military and economic terrorism, insurgency, military dictatorship, religious bigotry and unimaginable genocide (outside America)?"

MER EDITORIAL: POSSIBLE WAY OUT!
(October 5, 2001)
The government in Afghanistan, popularly known as The Taliban, has finally taken what could be a significant step. Just hours ago through its official representative in Pakistan the Afghan government has publicly offered to turn Osama bin Laden over...not to the United States, but to another Islamic country.

CANADIAN PROFESSOR TAKES ON THE U.S.A
(October 5, 2001)
"The women in the audience -- academics, union members, mental health workers and advocates for female inmates, embraced her anti-American rhetoric, repeatedly interrupting her with cheers and standing ovations."

THE CIA, ISI, PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN - A LITTLE HISTORY
(October 5, 2001)
Now we know that a few years ago, when President Bill Clinton was meeting privately one-on-one with the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, the U.S. "hired" the agents of the infamous Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) to assassinate Osama bin Laden.

NEWSFLASH: LAST MOMENT ARAB COLD FEET - RUMSFELD RUSHES TO THE REGION
(October 3, 2001)
The United States and Britain yesterday called off military strikes against terrorist targets in Afghanistan at the last minute. Washington officials say today that a severe attack of last-minute cold feet by some key Arab members of the coalition caused President Bush to postpone the operation.

WHERE DID THE TALIBAN COME FROM?
(October 3, 2001)
Osama bin Laden, arch nemesis of America today, is blowback from recent history -- the Gulf war, the permanent stationing of American forces in Arabia, and other American policies in the region, including the deceptive "peace process" fronting for Israel's brutal subjugation of the Palestinians.

BOTH SAUDIS AND PAKISTANIS CONTINUE TO ACTUALLY SAY NO
(October 3, 2001)
The American Secretary of Defense is rushing to the Middle East, goal #1 to try one more time to "convince" the Saudis that Prince Sultan Airbase and its super-modern regional control center -- just completed in fact during the summer at a cost of many billions -- is needed for the new war.

U.S. PREPARES FOR CRUSADER WAR - "OPEN-ENDED WAR WITHOUT CONSTRAINT"
(October 2, 2001)
"Drafted with a small coterie of loyal aides, mainly civilian political appointees at the Pentagon, the plans argue for open-ended war without constraint either of time or geography and potentially engulfing the entire Middle East and central Asia... The plans put before the President during the past few days involve expanding the war beyond Afghanistan to include similar incursions by special ops forces - followed by air strikes by the bombers they would guide - into Iraq, Syria and the Beqaa Valley area of Lebanon, where the Syrian-backed Hizbollah (Party of God) fighters that harass Israel are based."

READYING THE CRUSADE - ARMIES, PRESS, PUBLIC
(October 2, 2001)
Anyone with an ear tuned to Washington's politicians, lobbyists, and opinion molders can hear it quite loudly and clearly at this point. After taking down Osama bin Laden's al Queda network (said to be in some 50+ countries), after changing the government in Afghanistan, the American-led crusade (now more politely known by Colin Powell's term "campaign") will attempt to march on through the Middle East, next stop Baghdad.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT SAYS POWELL - "PALESTINIAN STATE"
(October 2, 2001)
It took them who intially talked of "crusade" nearly three weeks to figure out that all the "coalition building" wasn't going nearly as well as they keep saying in public and that doing something about all the Israeli oppression and "terrorism" against the essentially imprisoned Palestinian population would be a good idea in the post 11 September world and before the bombs start falling on Muslims here and there.

ARMY WANTS TO KILL ARAFAT SAYS PERES!
(October 1, 2001)
The situation is now so tense in Israel in dealing with the "Palestinian Authority" -- which it should be remembered the Israelis themselves created just a few years ago -- that Shimon Peres is getting more and more desperate.

DAMASCAS GATHERING OF PALESTINIANS
(October 1, 2001)
The Palestinian opposition is usually very weak and confused. Had that not been the case for some time now Yasser Arafat would never have been able to do the things he has done for so long now, especially since the Gulf War; nor would Arafat have have been able to retain power these past few traumatic years, however weakened himself at this point.

CHOMSKY ANSWERS
(October 1, 2001)
Yes, it will be very interesting to see if and how Noam Chomsky answers the at first blush surprising attacks from Christopher Hitchens, who has now not only endorsed the new war but also at least parts of the "New World Order" that underpins it.




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