International Glance
John McCain told attendees, “The threats to Israel’s security are large and growing and America’s commitment must grow as well. I strongly support the increase in military aid to Israel . . . our shared interests and values are too great for us to follow any other policy.”
Barak Obama dittoed, “Israel’s security is sacrosanct. It is non-negotiable . . . Our alliance is based on shared interests and shared values. Those who threaten Israel threaten us . . . as president I will never compromise when it comes to Israel’s security.”
As an American citizen, I’d like to think the number one “non-negotiable” of anyone who would be president is the security and the interests of the American people. Instead of reading from the same AIPAC-vetted script, McCain and Obama would better serve their country by reading from the same Constitution — the version enshrined in Washington D.C. not in Jerusalem.
America’s Irrational Defense of Israel
Iran Would Respond to Attack With `Heavy Blow'
June 20 (Bloomberg) -- Iran would respond to an Israeli attack on nuclear facilities with a ``heavy blow,'' a senior cleric said, following a New York Times report that Israel carried out an exercise that could prepare it for such a strike.
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, leading Friday prayers in Tehran, said today that Iran favored dialogue and would resist ``mischievous acts,'' the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said. Such an attack would prompt an ``uproar on the part of our nation,'' Khatami said.
TVNL Comment: Israel is playing a terrbily dangerous game with its threats of a preventive attack against Iraq. They seem to believe they can do as they please with total impunity.
Bush's exit helps U.S. image abroad, survey shows
PARIS: There is good news and bad news for President George W. Bush as he pursues his valedictory tour of Europe this week, according to a new worldwide study by the Pew Global Attitudes Project.
On the one hand, the image of the United States has improved slightly in many countries over the past year. On the other, the new optimism appears to be driven largely by the fact that Bush will soon be leaving office.
British MP resigns over new terror law
Home Secretary David Davisis has resigned as an MP. He is to force a by-election in his Haltemprice and Howden constituency which he will fight on the issue of the new 42-day terror detention limit.
He told reporters outside the Commons: "I will argue in this by-election against the slow strangulation of fundamental British freedoms by this government."
Israeli fire kills girl in Gaza
Palestinian medical workers say a young girl has been killed by Israeli tank fire in the Gaza Strip.
They say the girl's body was recovered from a house that was hit by a tank shell near Khan Younis.
TVNL Comment: The killing of an Israeli child would have been a top news story in the US!
German government backs enhanced surveillance
BERLIN: Despite strong criticism from the opposition and even its own coalition partners, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government agreed Wednesday to give Germany's police forces greater powers to monitor homes, telephones and private computers, maintaining that an enhanced reach would protect citizens from terrorist attacks.
But opposition parties and some Social Democrats who share power with Merkel's conservative bloc criticized the measures in the draft legislation, saying they would further erode privacy rights that they contend have already been undermined, after revelations of recent snooping operations conducted by Deutsche Telekom, one of the country's biggest companies.
TVNL Comment: Back to the Future....and the rise of the Third Reich!
Ramon: Israel's government holding talks with Hamas
Vice Premier Haim Ramon on Monday acknowledged that Israel was holding talks with Hamas, in violation of a government decision not to conduct talks with the Islamist Palestinian group until it complies with the demands of the Quartet.
Ramon's comments marked that first time a minister in the Knesset has confirmed that Israel was holding direct talks with Hamas.
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