Shimshon 9

I already reported that Jimmy Carter wanted to meet Hezbollah leaders. After being rejected a meeting he is now regretting that terrorist Hezbollah doesn’t want to meet:

Jimmy Carter said Friday he would have been “delighted” to meet with Hezbollah officials during his visit to Lebanon and regretted the group’s leaders refuse to meet with current or former American presidents.

Carter offered to have his Atlanta-based Carter Center monitor Lebanon’s parliament elections next year.

During a lecture at the American University of Beirut on Friday, Carter expressed disappointment Hezbollah refused to see him.

“We came here with the hope that we can meet with all the political parties and factions in Lebanon,” he said. “If the leaders of Hezbollah wanted to meet with me, I would have been delighted.“

Hezbollah had refused to see him.

“Hezbollah does not meet with anyone from a US administration which supports Zionist terrorism,” said Mohamed Raad, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc.

But he added that his group is not opposed to election monitors being sent to Lebanon to oversee the parliamentary vote.

“We are not concerned with election monitoring, we don’t reject it,” Raad said. “We will accept whatever decision the cabinet takes.”

The parliamentary elections could well see a majority grabbed by Hezbollah and its allies.

Carter planned to go to neighboring Syria on Saturday for meetings with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hamas leaders based in Damascus.

In his speech, Carter said Iran and Syria could have a major role in Mideast peacemaking efforts.

Carter is widely respected for his bold pro-peace stances. His critics, often Israel apologists, have failed to deter him from campaigning for a just peace in the region. (Middle East Online)

More than that. Now Carter also backs the partition of Jerusalem.

The average Arab in the Middle East reads approximately four pages worth of literature a year (IsraelNN.com).

That’s why they really know what they are talking about!

CNSNews.com is reporting that:

former President Jimmy Carter has not ruled out a meeting with representatives of Hezbollah, the Iranian-sponsored terrorist organization which prior to 9/11 was responsible for more American terror-related deaths than any other organization.

He already caused controversy when he visited the Middle East in April. Although advised by Washington not to meet with leaders of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas – whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel – he did so anyway.

I hope that everybody now realizes just how passionately anti-Israel Carter is. Just read his book called Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid .

In my opinion Carter’s anti Israel stance is helpful… but only to those who also hate the state of Israel.

Must read Article by Denis MacEoin:

The use by Westerners of the word hudna highlights an anomaly. Whenever journalists, diplomats, or commentators covering the Middle East use a non-English word, it will almost always be Arabic or perhaps Persian; seldom do they use any Hebrew words. Never has a U.S. or British newspaper, for example, used the Hebrew word for cease-fire (hafsakat esh). This is odd as Israel is the other side to these cease-fires. The majority of Arabic terms reproduced in Western language newspapers are concerned with either military topics (jihad, mujahideen, fida’iyin, shahid) or religious affairs (fatwa, mulla, ulema, ayatollah, Shari‘a, Allahu akbar). There is nothing wrong with borrowing Arabic words. However, doing so without understanding the word’s nuance and historical development will render deficient any understanding of that word’s true meaning.

Read it all

‘All Options Are on the Table’

SPIEGEL (Germany) 11/17/2008
www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,590805,00.html

In order to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb, the Israeli army is preparing itself for a possible military strike on Iran. “We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us,” Israeli Air Force Major General Ido Nehushtan tells SPIEGEL in an exclusive interview.

SPIEGEL: What does the Iranian nuclear program mean for the Israeli Air Force?

Nehushtan: The Iranian regime ist not only a problem for the Air Force or the State of Israel. It is a problem for the entire free world. It is shameful that 70 years after the Reichskristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) there are still heads of state who call for the destruction of our people.
History teaches us that we have to take those announcements seriously. And we take them very seriously.

SPIEGEL: Will a military strike take place if the international sanctions do not prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb?

Nehushtan: This is a political decision. But if I understand it correctly, all options are on the table.

SPIEGEL: The Israeli Air Force is ready for it?

Nehushtan: The Air Force is a very robust and flexible force. We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us.

SPIEGEL: Iran’s nuclear facilities are spread around the country and are partly located underground. Is it even technically possible to destroy them?

Nehushtan: Please understand that I do not want to get into details. I can only say this: It is not a technical or logistical question.

SPIEGEL: Is technology the main advantage that the Israelis have over their enemies?

Nehushtan: Modern technology is one thing, but the biggest advantage we have is our soldiers and officers. Israel is a small country. We neither have a big population nor natural resources. Our biggest asset is our human resources. And it is the Air Force that makes best use of it.

SPIEGEL: What is your biggest challenge in cooperation between the Air Force and those on the ground?

Nehushtan: We have to interlock the various forces more with each other. The Air Force, for example, must better support the ground forces. That is a lesson we learned from the Lebanon War in 2006.

SPIEGEL: In 2006 the Israeli army attacked mainly Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon or south Beirut. Will that change the next time?

Nehushtan: In any case, Hezbollah has been part of the Lebanese government since this spring. It is not a fringe terror organization — it is supported by the state. Militarily, Hezbollah is stronger than the regular Lebanese army. If they attack us, we might react differently.

SPIEGEL: Dozens of rockets could reach Israeli soil without problem; the same is true for the Qassam rockets being made in the Gaza Strip. Why hasn’t Israel developed more effective protection against these weapons?

Nehushtan: Each type of rocket requires a different defense system. Up until today, only the “Arrow” System, is functioning. It can intercept ballistic missiles. In order to defend ourselves against the short-range rockets of Hamas and Hezbollah, we are building the “Iron Dome” system. In response to the threat of medium-range rockets, we are developing a system called “David’s Sling”. This is all very expensive. It is like an insurance policy: You pay a lot, even if nothing happens.But if something then does happen, then you are satisfied with the investment.