Suicide Bombings Kill 18 in Israel: first in 5 months; [B'Tselem reports more that 316 Palestinians killed in same 5 months. ed]
Suicide Bombings Kill 18 in Israel (washingtonpost.com): "Attacks on Two Buses Shatter a Five-Month Respite | By John Ward Anderson and Molly Moore | Wednesday, September 1, 2004; Page A01

BEERSHEBA, Israel, Aug. 31 -- Nearly simultaneous explosions tore through two buses in the heart of this southern Israeli city Tuesday afternoon, killing at least 16 passengers along with the two Palestinian suicide bombers and wounding dozens of people in blasts that shattered a five-month respite from major attacks inside Israel.

Israeli police said two Palestinian suicide bombers detonated their explosives within 20 seconds of each other on two buses about 100 yards apart near city hall, shredding bodies and spewing clothes, groceries and schoolbooks through the shattered windows. "
- posted by Editor @ 8:28 PM

Depleted Uranium: "dirty bomb": Cause of Gulf War Syndrome? Babies with birth defects? US has used equivalent to 400,000 Nagasaki bombs ...
San Francisco Bay View - National Black Newspaper of the Year: Depleted uranium: Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets | A death sentence here and abroad | by Leuren Moret

But since 1991, the U.S. has staged four nuclear wars using depleted uranium weaponry, which, like Agent Orange, meets the U.S. government definition of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Vast regions in the Middle East and Central Asia have been permanently contaminated with radiation.

And what about our soldiers? Terry Jemison of the Department of Veterans Affairs reported this week to the American Free Press that “Gulf-era veterans” now on medical disability since 1991 number 518,739, with only 7,035 reported wounded in Iraq in that same 14-year period.

This week the American Free Press dropped a “dirty bomb” on the Pentagon by reporting that eight out of 20 men who served in one unit in the 2003 U.S. military offensive in Iraq now have malignancies. That means that 40 percent of the soldiers in that unit have developed malignancies in just 16 months.

Since these soldiers were exposed to vaccines and depleted uranium (DU) only, this is strong evidence for researchers and scientists working on this issue, that DU is the definitive cause of Gulf War Syndrome.
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Not only were soldiers exposed to DU on and off the battlefields, but they brought it home. DU in the semen of soldiers internally contaminated their wives, partners and girlfriends. Tragically, some women in their 20s and 30s who were sexual partners of exposed soldiers developed endometriosis and were forced to have hysterectomies because of health problems.

In a group of 251 soldiers from a study group in Mississippi who had all had normal babies before the Gulf War, 67 percent of their post-war babies were born with severe birth defects. They were born with missing legs, arms, organs or eyes or had immune system and blood diseases. In some veterans’ families now, the only normal or healthy members of the family are the children born before the war.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has stated that they do not keep records of birth defects occurring in families of veterans. ...
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A Japanese professor, Dr. K. Yagasaki, has calculated that 800 tons of DU is the atomicity equivalent of 83,000 Nagasaki bombs. The U.S. has used more DU since 1991 than the atomicity equivalent of 400,000 Nagasaki bombs. Four nuclear wars indeed, and 10 times the amount of radiation released into the atmosphere from atmospheric testing! ...


- posted by Editor @ 4:20 PM

Is the US's word as good as Sharon's? Palestinians accuse United States of tearing up its own peace "road map"
Excite - News: "Palestinians Say U.S. Destroys Hope Over Settlements | Aug 22, 7:37 am ET | By Mohammed Assadi

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinians accused the United States on Sunday of destroying the Middle East peace process after Washington signaled it could accept some growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Until now, the United States had demanded the freezing of all building on land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and which are seen as illegal by most of the world -- though Israel disputes this.

But the Bush administration signaled flexibility on Saturday on some limited growth in West Bank settlements to help embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as he tries to get a plan for withdrawal from occupied Gaza past his far right.

"I do not believe that America says now that settlements can be expanded. This thwarts and destroys the peace process," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie told reporters.

Palestinians, who fear uprooting the Gaza settlers is a cover for strengthening Israel's hold on bigger West Bank enclaves, said the United States was tearing up its own peace "road map" -- a blueprint for a Palestinian state that has been stalled by violence.

A senior U.S. administration official, commenting on Israel's plan to build 1,000 more settler homes, said on Saturday: "There is some flexibility there." ...


- posted by Editor @ 5:39 AM

"It's worse than failing [to counter Muslim anger]. Failing means you tried and didn't get better." "If this is so important, where's the money?" ...
U.S. Struggles to Win Hearts, Minds in the Muslim World | Diplomacy Efforts Lack Funds, Follow-Through | By Robin Wright | Washington Post Staff Writer | Friday, August 20, 2004; Page A01

The Bush administration is facing growing criticism from both inside and outside its ranks that it has failed to move aggressively enough in the war of ideas against Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda and other Islamic extremist groups over the three years since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The Sept. 11 commission last month called for a vigorous strategy for promoting image and democratic values of the United States around the world, and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that the administration is working hard on those efforts.

But Middle East experts -- and some frustrated U.S. officials -- complain that the administration has provided only limited new direction in dealing with anti-American anger among the world's 1.2 billion Muslims and is spending far too little on such efforts, particularly in contrast with the billions spent on other pressing needs, such as homeland security and intelligence. ...
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"It's worse than failing. Failing means you tried and didn't get better. But at this point, three years after September 11, you can say there wasn't even much of an attempt, and today Arab and Muslim attitudes toward the U.S. and the degree of distrust in the U.S. are far worse than they were three years ago. Bin Laden is winning by default," said Shibley Telhami, a member of a White House-appointed advisory group on public diplomacy and Brookings Institution scholar.

The dissatisfaction extends to some in the State Department who are involved in public diplomacy.

"This is all feel-good mumbo jumbo," said a State Department official familiar with public diplomacy efforts who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Particularly in light of [people detained without charges at] Guantanamo Bay, it's unclear how this will make us safe. If this is so important, where's the money?" ...

- posted by Editor @ 9:12 PM

Israel PM approves 2,000 new West Bank homes on eve of crunch party vote -- flouting terms of roadmap, "political ploy", no respect for commitments
Yahoo%21 News - Israel PM approves 1%2C000 new West Bank homes on eve of crunch party vote:

Tue Aug 17,12:07 PM ET Add World - AFP to My Yahoo!

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) gave the green light to the construction of 1,000 new homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank in an apparent move to placate right-wing opponents of his Gaza pullout plan.
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A total of 604 of the homes would be constructed in the Beitar Elite settlement close to Bethlehem, 214 in Ariel, 141 in Maale Adumim and 42 in Karnei Shomron.
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Sharon had ordered the tenders frozen earlier in the month after US criticism over an apparent flouting of the terms of the roadmap peace plan which obliges Israel to halt all settlement activity in the occupied territories.
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"This is ugly manipulation, a political ploy and fraud with a view to the convening of the Likud convention," Pinhas Wallerstein, a leader of the Yesha settlers' council, told the Yediot Aharonot daily.

Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat said the construction of the new homes would "lead to the burying of the roadmap".

"This shows that Sharon has no respect for any of the commitments that he has given to President (George W.) Bush to dismantle the outposts and freeze construction in the settlements," he told AFP.



- posted by Editor @ 8:19 PM

Gaza: drone attacks wiht missile: 5 dead, 12 wounded, Hamas leader injured (but not killed)
Excite - News: "Israel Kills 5 in Attempt to Assassinate Hamas Man
Aug 17%2C 7%3A19 pm ET %0D%0A%0D%0ABy Nidal al-Mughrabi%0D%0AGAZA %28Reuters%29 -

GAZA (Reuters) - A senior Hamas leader survived an Israeli assassination attempt on Wednesday but at least five other Palestinians were killed in the night-time explosion that tore through his Gaza home.

Hamas gunmen said a missile fired by an Israeli drone hit the residence of Ahmed al-Jabari, a top commander in the militant Islamic group's armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades. Doctors said he suffered leg wounds.
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Medics said five people -- Jabari's son, a brother, a son-in-law, a cousin and one of Rantissi's son-in-laws -- were pronounced dead in hospital and about a dozen others were wounded. At least three of the dead were known militants.
- posted by Editor @ 8:16 PM