Solidarity With Israel Rally
Wednesday July 19 Noon
Freedom Plaza (PENN & 14th NW)
Washington, DC

Not a lot of information at this time; I’ll try to update as I learn more.
WHAT: Solidarity With Israel Rally

WHEN: Wednesday, July 19, 2006, 12:00 p.m.

WHERE: Freedom Plaza in downtown Washington, DC. (Pennsylvania Avenue, between 13th and 14th streets, NW)

WHY: The State of Israel is fighting on two fronts, in Lebanon and Gaza, and under constant rocket attacks into populated civilian centers in cities and towns along its northern border. The local Jewish community will show its unity in support of its brothers and sisters in Israel with a rally that will include Jewish leaders, local elected officials and others.

WHO: The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington  (JCRC) are co-sponsoring this rally.

OpFor says says that the current Israeli air campaign is prepping the battlefield for a ground war.

One of the lessons America, and the world, drew from the lightning campaigns of Gulf Wars I & II was the importance of battlesplace preparation. That is, the conditioning of the battlefield’s environment prior to initiating full scale military operations.

What we are witnessing in southern Lebanon is concurrent with actions designed to prep a battlefield for the insertion of ground forces. So far, Israel has relied on its dominance in sea and air forces to isolate Hezbollah, rather than focusing their brunt of their superior forces on actual enemy positions. By blockading the coast, neutralizing Beruit’s airport, and damaging roads and bridges into and out of Lebanon, the IDF has cut off Hezbollah’s supply routes by land, sea, and air, and blocked all lines of escape.

These isolation actions are eerily similiar to Coalition movements prior to Operation Hail Mary during the first Gulf War, where allied aircraft severed supply lines to foward deployed Iraqi Army units.

So does Stratfor:

Hezbollah’s strategy has been imposed on it. It seems committed to standing and fighting. The rate of fire they are maintaining into Israel is clearly based on an expectation that Israel will be attacking. The rocketry guarantees the Israelis will attack. Hezbollah has been reported to have anti-tank and anti-air weapons. The Israelis will use airmobile tactics to surround and isolate Hezbollah concentrations, but in the end, they will have to go in, engage and defeat Hezbollah tactically. Hezbollah obviously knows this, but there is no sign of disintegration on its part. At the very least, Hezbollah is projecting an appetite for combat. Sources in Beirut, who have been reliable to this point, say Hezbollah has weapons that have not yet been seen, such as anti-aircraft missiles, and that these will be used shortly.

And so does DefeneseTech.

I am not a battle analyst, nor do I play one on TV. But it makes no sense to me that Israel would withdraw before dealing Hezbullah a death-blow.

In closing, an in-depth analysis of Hezbullah, Iran, and Syria’s involvement, in the International Herald Tribune—originally published in parent company New York Times corp. How is it they can get it so right in this article, and still write those wretched editorials decrying “disproportionate” force?

The use of the longer-range rockets has led many regional experts to conclude that Iran gave at least tacit approval for the current clash - and it was not just a few rogue Revolutionary Guard advisers in southern Lebanon who decided to let rip with more powerful weapons.

“Would Hezbollah use a sophisticated missile that can hit Haifa without permission from Iran?” said Prof. Abbas Milani, chairman of Iranian studies at Stanford University. “I doubt it.”

Read the rest.

My subject this week is “disproportionate force.”

The feature interview is with Amit Varma. The subject: The Mumbai terrorist bombings.

Northern Israel is now under martial law.

The IAF took out five long-range rocket launchers. They obviously need to take out more; that’s what’s hitting Haifa.

The Israeli Air Force hit five long-range rocket launchers in Lebanon, a senior Air Force commander revealed Sunday afternoon. “Every strike on rocket launchers damages Hizbullah’s firing ability, as the group has limited quantities of the weapon,” he said.

Sunday afternoon it was released for publication that an IDF soldier was severely wounded Sunday morning when a long-range Fajer rocket hit an IDF base near Haifa. The soldier was hospitalized at a Haifa hospital and his family was informed of his condition.

They’re using bunker-busters to try to get Nasrallah. Keep your fingers crossed.

According to the military chief, Air Force sorties over Lebanonhit 60 buildings in the Dahiya quarter, Beirut’s Shiite quarter, in which Hizbullah infrastructure is located. During the air strikes, “bunker buster” bombs were fired in attempt to destroy underground targets. The officer said, “In one of the strikes in the Tyre area, a number of senior Hizbullah leaders were hit,” but refused to detail their identities.

Hosni Mubarak says he stopped Olmert from sending a ground force to Beirut.

Egypt persuaded Israel against a planned land attack on the Lebanese capital Beirut following Hezbollah’s abduction of two Israel Defense Forces soldiers earlier this week, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Sunday.

The Egyptian leader also disclosed an Iranian offer to negotiate a settlement with Hezbollah as part of Arab initiatives to resolve the crisis, but called Tehran’s bid “a trap.”

“Egypt was keen not to let the Israelis into Beirut,” Mubarak told reporters Sunday after talks with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayid al-Nuhayyan. “If we hadn’t stepped in, Beirut would have been destroyed,” Mubarak said.

How can Tehran’s bid be a trap? They’re the ones who are bankrolling Hezbullah and calling the shots. Oh, wait. I see. If Iran can brag about being a peacemaker in the Middle East, then Gorilla Boy’s rep goes up—and it gets harder to impose sanctions on them for violating the non-proliferation treaty. That, plus it minimizes Mubarak’s role. Yeah. Trap.

This one’s big: The U.S. will not try to negotiate a cease-fire, according to Condi Rice. Translation: This time, Israel gets to kick the bad guys’ asses. There’s also a note about selling Israel jet fuel in the article, another crucial piece of information. President Bush has obviously instructed his people to block all attempts to stop Israel, as is usually done, before the situation can be fully resolved. Think about how different the world would be if the UN had not stopped Israel on the road to Damascus in 1967.

“Extremists in Hamas, Hizbullah, and their supporters in Syria and Iran do not want to see a resolution of these situations on the basis of 1559 and the road map, because then they would have no reason for violence,” Rice said.

The US government will object the reaching of a cease-fire at the G-8 summit or at the United Nations.

It’s obvious that W. has finally figured out that not going all-out on terrorists doesn’t accomplish anything. Hezbullah must be utterly destroyed in order for the region to move forward. (Syria needs to be regime-changed as well, but that’s a story for another day.)

Funny, I thought the Iraqis didn’t hate Israel. Guess a whole bunch of ‘em do. This appears to be the only issue that’s managed to unite the Iraqi parliament.

Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has been pleading with fellow Iraqis to put aside deep sectarian and ethnic divisions of the kind that plunged Lebanon into civil war 30 years ago.

His pleas have gone largely unheeded, but Israel’s five-day-old assault on Lebanon that has killed more than 116 people, all but four of them civilians, has evoked strong feelings of solidarity among Iraqis, bridging the sectarian divide.

And a hearty effyouverymuch to you, too.

The war is still on in Gaza. Six palestinians were killed by the IDF on Sunday, and the IDF thinks Cpl. Gilad Shalit is still alive.

Shin Bet security chief Yuval Diskin said Sunday he believes the Israel Defense Forces soldier who was captured three weeks ago by militants from the Gaza Strip is alive, an official said.

Diskin made the comment during a closed meeting of Cabinet officials in Jerusalem, said one of the officials who attended it.

Oh, and kassams have been landing in Israel every day. I just haven’t been writing about that much.

Go elsewhere for more information. I’m off to take my last year’s class rock climbing. Four of them saved up 100 points each and claimed their prize. I’m thinking the subject of the war won’t come up. They’re fourth graders.

But I will be thinking about, and praying for, my friends in Israel—and the innocents in Lebanon.

This is Hassan Nasrallah.

This is the man I would most like to kill with my own hands.

This is the man who currently heads Hezbullah, and lies every single time he opens his mouth. These are his latest lies:

Nasrallah stressed in his speech that while his operatives were acting against military targets only, and while his group was trying not to hurt civilians, Israel has been aiming its strikes only solely against civilians, instead of targeting Hizbullah’s missile reserves.

“The Zionists did not understand our warnings and carried on with their strikes. Today we had no choice, and therefore we bombed Haifa. We are aware of the danger in this town, and that is why we did not strike the petrochemical factories,” he stated.

“Had we targeted the plants, this would have been a disaster for the residents. We hit around these factories in order not to escalate the situation, and out of belief that our weapon is the weapon of deterrence,” Nasrallah explained.

I do not often pray for someone’s death.

I’m praying for his.

Hizbullah tries not to hurt innocent civilians, the group leader said, “but when Israel crosses all the red lines, we have to do the same.”

Over 700 katyushas on 20 Israeli towns and cities. Nasrallah lies. People die.

Reuvan Levi, 43 year-old from Kiryat Ata
Danis Lapidos, 24 year-old from Kiryat Yam
Shmuel Ben Shimon, 41 year-old from Yokneam Ilit
Nisim Elhariri, 43 year-old from Kiryat Ata
Asa’el Damti, 39 year-old from Kiryat Yam
David Feldman, 28 year-old from Kiryat Yam
Sholomi Mansura, 35 year-old from Nahariya
Rafi Hazan, 30 year-old from Haifa. (Ynet)

May they be remembered long after his name is forgotten.

President Emile Lahoud, a bought-and-paid-for tool of Syria, whines:

Meanwhile, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, a pro-Syrian close ally of Hizbullah, said that Israel’s bloody assault could push desperate Lebanese citizens to sacrifice their lives to defend their country - and even commit acts of terrorism. He added, however, that the Lebanese “will not surrender,” and pleaded for the UN Security Council to “stop violence and arrange a cease-fire” so discussions could take place.

We heard the same line from Arafat for years, claiming that so-called “civilians” taking matters into their own hands, when for years he was funding, arming, and training them himself with…. (drumroll please) Iranian and Syrian help (Karine-A).
Until the Lebanese have the courage to stop being Syrian and Iranian tools, they should not be surprised if those toolboxes become their tombs.

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if the Russians hadn’t have scattered Hitler’s ashes and charred body parts. Would the Germans have destroyed the remnants or venerated them like holy relics as if he were some saint? Or would they have turned the bunker into a holy shrine, just as the Mukatah parking lot has become for another benefactor of Syrian and Iranian explosive largess?
Sadly, Emile Lahoud is just as protected by the United States as Mahmoud Abbas is, despite the fact that neither are genuine in their claims of being reformers or peacemakers.

Just tools, transforming their kingdoms into not into independent societies, but better tools to fit the hands of their masters.

All those of you who danced last year, waving cedar tree flags around… the so-called “democracy hotties” salivated over by the blogopshere and the press… where are you now? Has your facepaint faded along with your spirit, or has it been smeared with the spatters of blood from embracing Hezbollah and other tools of Syria, unwilling to let them go?

We’ll see where Emile Lahoud is buried, Syria or Lebanon, and judge the soul of the Lebanese people then.

Over at J-Blogosphere, there is a list of bloggers who are live-blogging the war. The post also carries a list of suggestions, how you can help, and news sources.

Once you’re finished reading here, go over there.

Meryl expressed here her take on the latest curious opinion of president Putin on the war on Hizbullah:

President Putin has suggested Israel has ulterior motives in Lebanon rather than simply the return of abducted soldiers. “We condemn any terrorist act including hostage-taking but we have the impression that besides the return of its abducted soldiers, Israel is pursuing other, wider goals,” he said on Saturday.

Of course, at the first glance the above quote looks as another stupid utterance by a politician past his shelf date. After all, Vladimir Vladimirovich knows for sure that we do not intend to behave like the Soviet (and later Russian) army that killed more than 100,000 people, most of them unarmed citizens, in Chechnya. And leveled their capital city to boot.

So what is the real meaning of that sinister utterance? Taking into account the profession of the man - KGB nurtured and trained character, the Elders decided to check on what he knows. Using our mind control team, we have discovered that Vladimir Vladimirovich got wise to our latest enterprise, which is to take over the area known today as Calininskaya “oblast” with Caliningrad as its capital. Of course, Germans have the temerity to address it as Königsberg, but no matter - in any case, we have decided that the Russian lease has expired and we need an access to Baltic sea. It seems that the fishes in the northern waters carry more of that Omega stuff that is good for one’s heart or liver or whatever.

So, here is the map.

The blue line on the map marks our planned high speed railway that will expedite the supply of the fish and other goods from the North. Of course, the countries that happen to be in the way of the railway will be offered a choice between joining the new Protectorate of the Elders or form the railway gangs as the custom requires.

And we suggest that you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, take as a man the imminent loss of that (relatively small) area of Calininsk. After all, it is you and your European friends who are preaching that any country, no matter how murderous were the intents of her foes, should return the territory gained by means of war. We have decided that you be the one to show the world how it is done. And since the Germans are not too eager to ask, we’ll safekeep the area for them. For a while, you know what we mean…

P.S. The railway could have been much shorter from Italy, which is planned for our future residence in tune with Mahmoud the gorilla’s suggestion. However, due to the natural tardiness of Italians, the date for our move is not set yet.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

For years various newspapers and miscellaneous information sources were reporting that Hizbullah is accumulating thousands of missiles and artillery pieces transferred from their sponsors in Tehran via Syria. For years these reports were disregarded and even derided.

And of course, the Ayatollahs strongly denied any and all accusations of feeding the flames of war on our northern border. But now the truth comes out:

London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted a senior Iranian army official as saying that The Islamic republic’’s Revolutionary Guard set up dozens of advanced rocket and missile bases in the Lebanon Valley and along the border with Israel. Between 1992 and 2005 Hizbullah received some 11,500 missiles and rockets, 400 short and mid-range artillery shells as well as rocket launchers. According to the report, Iran transferred some 40 different types of missiles and rockets to Hizbullah over the years.

In 2005, for instance, Hizbullah received the first shipment of huge 333 millimeter rocket launchers, as well as large quantities of ant-aircraft SAM-7 shoulder missiles and C-802 missiles, originally manufactured in China. The C-802 was used in the recent attack on the Israeli Navy ship off the Lebanon coast.

To remind our readers: ostensibly the reason for Hizbullah’s armed wing existence is to “free” the tiny piece of ground called Shaaba farm, the fact that according to UN measurements and the Syrian claims belongs to Syria notwithstanding.

An astute reader will definitely ask him/herself: why would anyone need thousands of missiles, including the long range ones and even ground-to-sea ones, in order to free a smallish piece of real estate that lies on the border?

In Israel, an intelligence official said Saturday that elite Iranian troops helped Hizbullah fire a sophisticated radar-guided missile at the Israeli warship. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said 100 fighters from Iran’’s Revolutionary Guard were in Lebanon.

These nice folks should be between the first to be targeted. They have no business to conduct on the soil of Lebanon, but all the good reasons to be planted in this soil.

So, after all, at least one good thing is happening amidst the death and destruction: the ugly face of the terror instigator and sponsor is showing itself more and more clearly to the whole world from under the dilapidated mask of pious religious purity.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

Hezbullah killed eight civilians in Haifa today, in a deliberate attempt to—kill civilians. Let’s look at the AP coverage.

Hezbollah Fires Rocket Barrage at Israel
Jul 16, 5:26 AM (ET)
By ODED BALILTY
HAIFA, Israel (AP) - Hezbollah guerillas fired a barrage of rockets into Israel’s third-largest city Sunday, killing eight people and wounding seven in the worst attack on Israel since violence broke out along the border with Lebanon last week.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed there would be “far-reaching consequences” for the attack - the second against the northern city of Haifa in four days.

The attacks came hours after Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs and bombed a major power station south of the Lebanese capital.

Comments: Passive headline; no notice that the rocket barrage killed eight. Notice the immediate insertion of scary threat by Israeli PM, and the inclusion of a cause-and-effect in the third paragraph. Realize that this headline, and these three paragraphs, are generally what end up in the “World” section of your local paper.

Next, the update is inserted into the main Israel story:

Israel Escalates Bombardment of Beirut
Jul 16, 7:43 AM (ET)
By HAMZA HENDAWI
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Airstrikes reduced entire apartment buildings to rubble and knocked out electricity in swaths of the Lebanese capital Sunday as Israel dramatically escalated the ferocity of its campaign after Hezbollah rockets hit the northern city of Haifa.

Before the attack on Haifa, Israel had already unleashed its worst bombardment yet in southern Beirut, a teeming Shiite districts where Hezbollah has its headquarters. A series of 18 explosions rocked the city before sunrise.

The airstrikes started again soon after the Haifa attack, which killed at least eight people.

Beirut, a city of 1.5 million people, was emptying as residents fled to the relative safety of the mountains and the eastern Bekaa Valley - though in the past 24 hours Israel expanded its strikes to the entire country. Police said 130 people, almost all civilians, have died in Lebanon in the five-day Israeli onslaught. In Israel, 23 have died.

Comments: Spun as a tale of vengeance by Israel. The context is they hit us, we hit them back harder—there is absolutely no context or regarding the Hezbullah origin of this war. In fact, they whitewash UN Resolution 1559, a binding Security Council resolution which demands the disarming of Hezbullah, this way:

The United States and United Nations have long demanded the Lebanese government deploy the army in the south, which Hezbollah guerrillas effectively control.

But any effort by Saniora’s Sunni Muslim-led government to use force against the guerrillas could trigger another bloody civil war in Lebanon. Many fear the 70,000-strong army itself might break up along sectarian lines, as it did during the 1975-90 civil war.

Now, the most recent update:

Hezbollah Rocket Barrage Kills 8 in Haifa
(Link that will not break is here. MyWay News clears its links after a few months.)
Jul 16, 9:14 AM (ET)
By JOSEF FEDERMAN
HAIFA, Israel (AP) - Lebanese guerillas fired a relentless barrage of rockets into the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Sunday, killing eight people at a train station and wounding seven others in a dramatic escalation of a five-day-old conflict that has shattered Mideast peace.

Soon afterward, Israeli warplanes hit the south Beirut stronghold of Hezbollah with at least six airstrikes, shaking the Lebanese capital and sending up a cloud of thick smoke. Hezbollah’s firing of at least 20 rockets at Haifa came after Israel unleashed its fiercest bombardment yet of Beirut, reducing apartment buildings to rubble and knocking out electricity in many areas of the city.

Comments: Balance at last. The information is given to the reader, who then gets to make up her own mind about how to feel.

Do I think it has anything to do with the fact that there is not an Arab-sounding byline on the article?

Yes. I’ve been reading the wire services long enough to see the difference. Check my archives, and you’ll see why I say: Yes. It matters.