Saturday, September 06, 2008

SYRIA - PEACE PROPOSAL TO ISRAEL

Russia accuses West of warship provocation SEPT 6,08

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused the West on Saturday of acting provocatively in and around the Black Sea, where the United States is using warships to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia.I wonder how they would feel if we now dispatched humanitarian assistance to the Caribbean, suffering from a hurricane, using our navy, Medvedev said, adding that a whole U.S. fleet had been dispatched to deliver the aid.The United States has used warships to ferry relief supplies to Georgia after the brief but intense war with Russia in early August, in part to send a signal to Moscow.Its biggest ship yet arrived on Friday, when the USS Mount Whitney dropped anchor off Georgia's Russian-patrolled port of Poti.NATO has also rejected talk of a buildup of its warships in the Black Sea, saying their recent presence in the region was part of routine exercises.Russia has accused U.S. warships of rearming Tbilisi's defeated army, a charge dismissed as ridiculous by Washington.Medvedev was speaking at a meeting of his advisory state council, which meets regularly and comprises regional governors.Medvedev said he had summoned the state council to discuss changes in Russia's foreign and security policy after the conflict in Georgia.The South Ossetian conflict showed that Russia will not allow anyone to make an attempt on the lives and dignity of its citizens, its peacekeepers, he told officials gathered in the gold-and-white St Alexander Hall in the Kremlin palace.Russia is a state (whose interests) will now be taken into account, he added.

READY FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW

Medvedev had earlier set out five principles of Russia's foreign policy, including a readiness to abide by international law and a claim of special interests in specific areas around the globe.Medvedev said Russia was disappointed with the concerted Western condemnation of its operation in South Ossetia.We haven't heard words of support from those who, in similar situations, spoke broadly of freedom of choice, national dignity and a right to use force to punish an aggressor.Medvedev did not go into detail, but was clearly referring to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and to Western support for the self-proclaimed independence of Serbia's breakaway region Kosovo. Russia bitterly opposed both.Russia will not back down under international pressure and will not row back on the recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Medvedev added.We are under political pressure, but this is not something new for us, he said.He urged the regional governors to offer comprehensive assistance to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, including the shaping of their statehood.The new states should become examples of civil peace, national accord and commitment to democratic principles, he said.(Reporting by Oleg Shchedrov, editing by Tim Pearce)

Hamas breaks up Islamic Jihad protest in Gaza SEPT 06,08

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Hamas-run security forces dispersed some 150 teachers loyal to the Islamic Jihad movement who had gathered on Saturday to protest against the politicisation of the civil service in the Gaza Strip. Hamas police forcibly dispersed the teachers in Gaza City to protest against both the Islamist-run government's sacking of loyalists of the rival Fatah party and the resulting strikes by teachers and medical workers.They also prevented photographers from approaching the demonstration, witnesses said.Senior Islamic Jihad member Nafid Azam slammed the dispersal of what he said had been a peaceful and non-political protest, calling it a dangerous and unacceptable situation.The teachers did not demand anything beyond insulating public education from political differences, he told AFP, referring to the rivalry between Hamas and the secular Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.The two main Palestinian movements have been bitterly divided since Hamas seized power in the impoverished territory of 1.5 million people after routing Abbas's security forces in a week of bloody street battles in June 2007.Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian factions have remained mostly neutral in the Hamas-Fatah dispute while calling for national unity.Regrettably (police) attacked some of the teachers who were participating in the demonstration, which was entitled Preserving the Unity of the Teachers and was not allied with any party at the expense of another party, Azam said.

A spokesman for the Hamas-run interior ministry said the demonstration was illegal because the teachers had not obtained a permit, but Azam said the organisers had informed police of their plans.Thousands of doctors and teachers across the isolated territory have been on strike for more than a week in protest at the Hamas-run government's firing of dozens of civil servants belonging to Fatah.In recent days Hamas security forces have shut down private clinics and dragged doctors from their homes to force them to go to work.Abbas's Palestinian Authority, which has been confined to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the Hamas takeover but continues to pay civil servants workers in Gaza, has denied any involvement in the strikes.

Abbas says doubts peace deal possible this year Fri Sep 5, 12:54 PM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was quoted as saying on Friday that he doubted a full peace deal with Israel could be reached this year and urged the next U.S. administration to continue negotiations. Launched last November with the goal of reaching a statehood agreement before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in January, the peace talks have been marred by violence and disputes over Jewish settlement building.It appears as if we will not be able to reach full agreement on the issues of Jerusalem, borders, refugees and water by the end of the year,Abbas told Israeli President Shimon Peres, Peres's office said in a statement.

But we are determined to continue accelerated diplomatic negotiations concurrently with the change of administration in the United States, Abbas was quoted as saying. Abbas and Peres were attending a conference in Cernobbio, Italy.Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, in Cernobbio with Abbas, told Reuters officials still held out some hope that an agreement could be reached this year.We do not give up the possibility of an agreement this year but if we don't reach an agreement, we are going to continue negotiating uninterrupted, Erekat said.Ehud Olmert left the peace talks in limbo by announcing that he would step down as Israeli prime minister once his centrist Kadima party had chosen a new leader later this month.But Olmert will remain caretaker premier until a new government is formed, a process that could take months.

Both sides say some progress has been made.

Under one recent Olmert proposal, Israel would hand over to the Palestinians some 92.7 percent of the occupied West Bank, plus all the Gaza Strip, according to Western and Palestinian officials briefed on the negotiations.In exchange for West Bank land that Israel would keep, Olmert proposed a 5.3 percent land swap giving the Palestinians a desert territory adjacent to the Gaza Strip.But Olmert's proposal did not offer a solution to competing claims on the holy city of Jerusalem, and would only be implemented once Abbas reined in militants and re-established control of the Gaza Strip, which Hamas seized a year ago.Abbas has in recent days rebuffed any partial agreement with Israel.(Writing by Adam Entous; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)

Ninety thousand throng Jerusalem mosque for Ramadan Fri Sep 5, 10:47 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Ninety thousand Muslims attended the first prayers of Ramadan at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City on Friday amid tight security, police said. The Israeli authorities deployed thousands of police but reported no incidents in the Holy City.Everything was calm, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.He said, however, that a few dozen Palestinians hurled rocks at Israeli security forces who refused to let them through a checkpoint between the occupied West Bank to Jerusalem.

No one was injured in the incident, Rosenfeld said.

Palestinians from the West Bank are generally not allowed to enter Israel or east Jerusalem, which was seized and annexed by the Jewish State in 1967.The defence ministry has eased the restrictions to allow Palestinians to pray in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound during the fasting month of Ramadan.Married men over 50 and women over 45 have free access to the mosque compound, and those aged 30 to 45 can join them if they obtain a special permit issued by Israeli military authorities.The compound is known as Al-Haram Al-Sharif to Muslims and is Islam's third holiest site after the Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina.Jews refer to the same area as the Temple Mount, the location of the Second Jewish Temple razed by the Romans in 70 AD and Judaism's holiest site.

Israel allows weapons transfer to Palestinians By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer Fri Sep 5, 8:26 AM ET

JERUSALEM - Israel allowed Palestinian security forces in the West Bank to receive a shipment of about 1,000 Kalashnikov rifles and tens of thousands of bullets in a step aimed at bolstering the moderate Palestinian government there, an Israeli defense official said Friday. Shipments of this type remain sensitive for Israel because weapons provided to Palestinian security forces during peace talks in the 1990s were used against Israelis when those talks broke down in violence in 2000. But balancing those concerns are fears that if moderate forces are too weak they might lose control of the West Bank to Hamas, the hardline Islamic group that seized power in the Gaza Strip last year.The weapons shipment reached the Palestinians through Jordan about one week ago, the Israeli official said. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arranged the transfer when they met August 31, he said.The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make the shipment public, though it seemed likely Israeli authorities wanted the information in the open.Israel is under pressure to at least appear to be supporting Abbas as part of U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations. However, critics both at home and abroad say Israel has not carried out key confidence-building measures, such as halting settlement activity and dismantling roadblocks, that could help the negotiations succeed.

The Palestinians, for their part, have been criticized for not doing enough to crack down on militants — which is also seen as key to the talks' success.Abbas adviser Nimr Hamad and Diab Ali, a West Bank security commander, denied knowledge of the weapons transfer.Israel has approved similar shipments in the past, and is allowing Abbas' security forces to assume a larger role in some parts of the West Bank. But Israel's military maintains overall control of the West Bank and of its border crossings with Jordan, including the Allenby Bridge terminal where the weapons crossed into the territory, according to the Israeli official.In current peace talks between Israel and Abbas' government, Israel is insisting that a future Palestinian state be demilitarized. The Palestinians are balking, and the issue is emerging as one of a number of sticking points in the negotiations, according to Palestinian officials close to the talks.Also on Friday, around 90,000 Muslims congregated at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem for the first communal prayers of the holy month of Ramadan, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. He said thousands of police were deployed around the city to prevent any disturbances.Citing security concerns, police restricted the entry of Palestinians, banning men under 45 and requiring many women to produce valid entry permits. In the past, some Friday services at the site —sacred to both Muslims and Jews — have ended in riots.At one checkpoint north of Jerusalem, Palestinians threw stones at troops, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades. No injuries were reported.

Blair to AP: West Bank downward spiral halted By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer Fri Sep 5, 7:24 AM ET

BEIT IBA, West Bank - Tony Blair toured a Palestinian aluminum factory and was told it runs at one-third capacity because of Israeli import restrictions. He promised he'll take it up with Israeli authorities. It's a typical encounter in the Mideast envoy's yearlong push to boost the West Bank economy.In an interview summing up his efforts, Blair said Thursday he'd like to see much quicker progress toward freedom of movement for Palestinians. Israeli roadblocks and obstacles, set up after the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in 2000, keep disrupting life and trade.After years of downward spiral, the situation stopped going down in the West Bank, it started to go back up again, but not nearly fast enough, the former British prime minister told The Associated Press.Despite the slow pace, Blair said he'll stick with the assignment and keep slogging through the mundane details of the conflict, such as negotiating with Israel over the fate of individual checkpoints.For me, I'm content to work on it as long as I can and as long as I'm useful, he said, sitting in an office in the aluminum factory, NAPCO, in the village of Beit Iba, just outside the West Bank city of Nablus.Blair became envoy of the Quartet of Mideast mediators — the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia — in June 2007, but was given only a limited assignment. He was asked to prepare the ground for a Palestinian state by encouraging reform, economic development and institution-building, while Israeli-Palestinian peace talks remained under Washington's sole purview. Peace talks resumed in November but have made no apparent progress.

Perhaps his biggest achievement was a conference in which donor countries promised $7.7 billion in aid to the Palestinians over three years. The idea was that Palestinians would gradually become less dependent on aid, as the private sector drove an economic recovery.However, the World Bank said in a report in April that the Palestinian economy won't grow this year, largely due to Israeli movement restrictions.Nablus, once the West Bank's commercial center and during the uprising a militant stronghold, remains hard hit by travel restrictions. Roadblocks ring the city, and only one access road is open to motorists. At Nablus' southern entrance, the Hawara checkpoint is a major bottleneck, especially during rush hour when thousands cross on foot. Waiting times can range from a few minutes to an hour.The Israeli military said it's sprucing up Hawara to ease the flow, but would not give details. One of the Nablus checkpoints was removed several months ago, opening access to parts of the northern West Bank.During Thursday's visit to Nablus, Blair met with Palestinian business leaders, who announced the city would host an investment conference in October.Monib al-Masri, one of the West Bank's wealthiest men, said the group hopes to draw 200 to 300 investors, but added that removing checkpoints is vital.I told Mr. Blair today that nobody will come here if Hawara and other checkpoints are there, he said.Blair said he's pushing to get checkpoints removed, but that it requires patience. Israel has genuine security concerns, he said, and more time is needed to rebuild trust destroyed during years of violence.

What we are saying is that in time they (checkpoints) have got to be removed, but in the meantime, for goodness' sake, make them work effectively, he said.Blair met Tuesday with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who said that while Israel is working to improve life in the West Bank, its main commitment is to the security of Israeli citizens. Israel says checkpoints are key to preventing attacks by Palestinian militants who killed hundreds of Israelis in bombings and shootings during the uprising.Naim Aker, who sells bathroom tiles in Nablus, said he's running out of time. Sales are down and transportation costs up because of the checkpoints, he said, adding that he's been dipping into his savings and plans to move to the Gulf if the situation does not improve within a year. The aluminum factory in Beit Iba, which employs 140 people, has been operating at 27 percent capacity, mainly because Israel banned the import of a key ingredient, sulfuric acid, said technical manager Jamal Daraghmeh. The factory needs the chemical, which can also be used in bombs, for most of its products. Blair said the factory could employ another 100 people if it got the necessary raw materials. He also pointed out the bumpy access road to the plant, noting that Israel has not granted permission to pave it. The envoy said he'd raise both issues with the Israeli authorities. Blair said he remains motivated to help resolve the Mideast conflict, despite slow progress. I think it is ... the single most fundamental issue for us to resolve, in terms of peaceful coexistence, not just between Israelis and Palestinians, but between the West and Islam, the world and Islam, he said. Additional reporting by Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah.

Syria makes peace proposal to Israel By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer
Thu Sep 4, 5:04 PM ET


DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria's leader said Thursday he offered a proposal for peace with Israel but also refused to break off ties with Hezbollah and militant Palestinians — a key Israeli demand. President Bashar Assad also said indirect negotiations with Israel were on hold until that country chooses a new prime minister and that direct talks would have to wait until a new U.S. president takes office.Assad's comments came after meetings with France's leader and regional mediators in talks focusing on Mideast peace and Iran's nuclear program. France hopes that warmer relations with Syria, Iran's ally, could help the West in its efforts to persuade Iran to curb its nuclear program.Assad said his proposal for Israel was intended to serve as a basis for direct talks. He said he would wait for a similar document laying out Israel's positions before any face-to-face talks. So far, negotiations between the two foes have been held indirectly through Turkish mediators.Although Assad didn't divulge details of his proposal, the move reflected a desire to break with Syria's past policies. The quest was given a boost by France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, who visited Damascus on Wednesday and Thursday, becoming the first Western leader in several years to come to Syria.Sarkozy has encouraged face-to-face Syria-Israel negotiations and offered to sponsor such talks in the future. The French president has been trying to forge better relations with both Syria and Libya, a longtime international pariah that has significantly improved ties with the West.

Assad and Sarkozy were joined Thursday in a four-way summit by Turkey's prime minister and the leader of Qatar, a key broker in inter-Arab disputes, to discuss Mideast stability and peace.Washington made clear it expects more from Syria before any warming of ties. Overall what we'd like to see out of Syria is for it to play a much more productive role in the region. It hasn't until now. We'd like to see it not meddle in the affairs of the sovereign government of Lebanon, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said. He said the U.S. would like to see Syria reach a peace with Israel and establish diplomatic relations.In an interview with French television, Assad ruled out any recognition of Israel before a peace deal. But when there is a peace accord, of course there will be reciprocal recognition. This is natural, he said.Syria and Israel have held four rounds of indirect talks through Turkish mediation in the last year.Assad said at the summit that in the peace proposal, given to Turkish mediators, Syria outlined six points on the issue of the withdrawal line — a reference to the extent of an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.This has been a major sticking point in the previous talks, causing the collapse of U.S.-brokered direct negotiations in 2000. Syria has long demanded the complete return of the heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel has sought to keep a strip of land around the Sea of Galilee.Assad did not say whether the six points changed the demand for a full withdrawal.Assad said a fifth planned round of indirect talks with Israel had been postponed until after Israeli leadership elections and that the future of negotiations rested on whether a new prime minister in Israel will be committed to pursuing peace with Syria.Any direct talks would also have to wait until a new American administration is in place, Assad added, acknowledging the importance of strong U.S. backing for such an effort.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the target of several corruption investigations, has announced he will step down after his party chooses a new leader this month. That has left peace prospects with both Syria and the Palestinians uncertain.We want the support of all states, basically France, Qatar and Turkey in order to be assured that the next (Israeli) prime minister will follow the same direction Olmert had followed through his readiness for complete withdrawal from the occupied territories in order for peace to be achieved, he said.In Israel, an official said contacts were already being made to set up more talks. He said Israel has a genuine intention to reach an agreement. The official declined to be identified because the diplomatic efforts are ongoing. Israeli officials have insisted that Syria also must end its support for militant groups opposed to Israel, namely Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. But Assad on Thursday sought to reassure the groups that he would continue to back what he described as the resistance against Israeli occupation. We don't see any interest in abandoning the resistance, he told Hezbollah's Al-Manar television. Our position has always been clear. Our position toward the resistance against any occupation in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine is firm and has not changed.Associated Press writer Amy Teibel in Jerusalem and Emmanuel Georges-Picot in Paris contributed to this report.

Israelis warned of very high risks in Egypt and Jordan Thu Sep 4, 11:34 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel on Thursday warned its citizens of a very high risk of kidnapping or acts of terror if they travel to Jordan or Egypt, the two Arab countries which have made peace with the Jewish state. The anti-terrorist office's report listed several countries where it said Israelis were at risk.The report, published twice a year, said those risks were very high in Egypt and Jordan.The warning came just weeks before the Jewish New Year holiday, which falls on September 30.Every year, several thousand Israelis travel to resorts along the Red Sea in Egypt's Sinai region during the holiday.In Egypt, the risk of kidnappings and terrorist attacks is particularly serious in the Sinai, the report said.It also warned that the Lebanese Hezbollah militia continues blaming Israel for the assassination of one of its top commanders, Imad Mughnieh, in Damascus in February.
This, the report said, increases the Hezbollah terrorist threat against Israelis abroad.

Police to decide on Olmert indictment in days Thu Sep 4, 9:13 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli police said on Thursday they will decide within days whether to recommend that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert be charged in several different cases of suspected graft. Senior police officials met on Thursday to examine the evidence in three probes against Olmert, who announced in July he would step down following a public uproar over the graft suspicions.The material will be examined by the head of the investigation department. The police opinion (on the indictment) will be brought together with all the findings before the state prosecution, a police source told AFP.We will decide whether to recommend indictments in several or all of the cases within days, he said on condition of anonymity.Israeli media said that police was likely to recommend indicting Olmert on a number of charges, including bribery and money laundering.While police and the state prosecution can recommend legal steps against a premier, it is the attorney general who decides whether to press formal charges.Olmert has been questioned several times in past weeks over suspicions he had accepted cash-stuffed envelopes from a US businessman to finance election campaigns and a lavish lifestyle before he became premier in 2006.He is also suspected of having billed the same overseas trips several times over, allegedly using the ill-gotten gains to finance private trips for himself and his family.In the third case, Olmert is suspected of trying to steer the sale of Bank Leumi towards a friend, Australian real estate magnate Frank Lowey, when he was trade and industry minister between 2003 and 2006.Olmert, 62, insists he is innocent of the allegations of wrongdoing in the 13 years before he took office in 2006, when he also served as mayor of Jerusalem.But he announced on July 30 that he would step down after his centrist Kadima party holds an internal leadership election in mid-September.

Attack on Israeli aircrew in Canada thwarted: report Wed Sep 3, 2:30 PM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Plans by an unknown group to attack staff of Israel's national carrier El Al in Canada have been thwarted, Israel's private Channel Two television reported on Wednesday. Without giving the nationalities of the alleged attackers, it said they had monitored the comings and goings of El Al aircrew at a Toronto hotel.

Security procedures for crews overnighting at the hotel between flights have now been changed, it added.On Tuesday, Israeli newspapers reported that at least five attempts by the Lebanese Hezbollah militia to abduct Israeli businessmen in Africa, Asia, and South America had been foiled.Each time, Hezbollah -- which fought a bloody war against Israel in the summer of 2006 -- tried to use sleeper cells embedded in far-flung Shiite Muslim communities, the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot reported.It and other newspapers cited unnamed Israeli security officials and said further details about the plots remain under official censorship.Israel has been on high alert since senior Hezbollah commander Imad Mughnieh was assassinated in a car bombing in Damascus in February, in an attack welcomed by the Jewish state but for which it denied any responsibility.Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah blamed Israel and has repeatedly vowed to avenge the killing.Last month Israel warned its citizens living and travelling abroad to take extra precautions against possible Hezbollah attacks or abductions.The warning came at peak travelling season, and the Jewish state has urged Israeli tourists and businessmen to take special care in hotels, restaurants and recreational spots.They were also urged to spurn unexpected and alluring proposals in both business and recreation and to alter routines and habits.

In July 2006, Hezbollah seized two Israeli soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid, sparking a 34-day war in which more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, were killed.The bodies of the two captured soldiers were returned to Israel as part of a prisoner swap in July.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

SARAH SLAMS HEAD PUFFED OBAMA

WOW WHAT A SPEECH LAST NIGHT, SARAH PALIN LEFT THE GODLESS LUKEWARM LEFT LIBERAL DEMOCRATES, CRYING WITH THEIR TAILS BETWEEN THEIR LEGS.

WOW THE AMERICANS FINALLY GET A TRUE CHRISTIAN IN THEIR LEADERSHIP TO GO AGAINST THE GOD HATING LIBERAL DEMOCRATES. THE ONLY BETTER COMBINATION FOR AMERICA WOULD HAVE BEEN MIKE HUCKABEE FOR PRESIDENT AND SARAH PALIN AS VICE-PRESIDENT.

ALL THESE SPEECHES WERE IMPRESSIVE THATS WHY I PUT THE TEXT OF ALL 4.

SARAH PALIN VP SPEECH
VIDEO - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWt5ME_4WX0
TEXT - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94258995

SARAH PALIN ACCEPTANCE VP SPEECH AT RNC - TEXT
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/johnmccain/2678962/Sarah-Palins-speech-to-the-Republican-Convention.html

TEXT OF SARAH PALINS SPEECH SEPT 03,08 ON SEPT 04,08

Sarah Palin's speech to the Republican Convention.Sarah Palin, John McCain's running mate, won sustained applause when she hit back at her critics during the Republican Convention. Here is the text of her speech: 1:49PM BST 04 Sep 2008

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin addresses the Republican convention. ; http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1488655367/bctid1772859770 http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=1139053637

Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens: I am honored to be considered for the nomination for Vice President of the United States... I accept the call to help our nominee for president to serve and defend America. I accept the challenge of a tough fight in this election... against confident opponents ... at a crucial hour for our country. And I accept the privilege of serving with a man who has come through much harder missions ... and met far graver challenges ... and knows how tough fights are won - the next president of the United States, John S. McCain. It was just a year ago when all the experts in Washington counted out our nominee because he refused to hedge his commitment to the security of the country he loves. With their usual certitude, they told us that all was lost - there was no hope for this candidate who said that he would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war. But the pollsters and pundits overlooked just one thing when they wrote him off. They overlooked the caliber of the man himself - the determination, resolve, and sheer guts of Senator John McCain. The voters knew better.

And maybe that's because they realize there is a time for politics and a time for leadership ... a time to campaign and a time to put our country first. Our nominee for president is a true profile in courage, and people like that are hard to come by. He's a man who wore the uniform of this country for 22 years, and refused to break faith with those troops in Iraq who have now brought victory within sight.

And as the mother of one of those troops, that is exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief. I'm just one of many moms who'll say an extra prayer each night for our sons and daughters going into harm's way. Our son Track is 19. And one week from tomorrow - September 11th - he'll deploy to Iraq with the Army infantry in the service of his country. My nephew Kasey also enlisted, and serves on a carrier in the Persian Gulf. My family is proud of both of them and of all the fine men and women serving the country in uniform. Track is the eldest of our five children.

In our family, it's two boys and three girls in between - my strong and kind-hearted daughters Bristol, Willow, and Piper. And in April, my husband Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. From the inside, no family ever seems typical. That's how it is with us. Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges and the same joys. Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge. And children with special needs inspire a special love. To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House. Todd is a story all by himself. He's a lifelong commercial fisherman ... a production operator in the oil fields of Alaska's North Slope ... a proud member of the United Steel Workers' Union ... and world champion snow machine racer. Throw in his Yup'ik Eskimo ancestry, and it all makes for quite a package. We met in high school, and two decades and five children later he's still my guy. My Mom and Dad both worked at the elementary school in our small town. And among the many things I owe them is one simple lesson: that this is America, and every woman can walk through every door of opportunity. My parents are here tonight, and I am so proud to be the daughter of Chuck and Sally Heath. Long ago, a young farmer and habber-dasher from Missouri followed an unlikely path to the vice presidency. A writer observed: We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity. I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman. I grew up with those people. They are the ones who do some of the hardest work in America ... who grow our food, run our factories, and fight our wars.

They love their country, in good times and bad, and they're always proud of America. I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better. When I ran for city council, I didn't need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too. Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.

We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco. As for my running mate, you can be certain that wherever he goes, and whoever is listening, John McCain is the same man. I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people. Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it. No one expects us to agree on everything. But we are expected to govern with integrity, good will, clear convictions, and ... a servant's heart. I pledge to all Americans that I will carry myself in this spirit as vice president of the United States. This was the spirit that brought me to the governor's office, when I took on the old politics as usual in Juneau ... when I stood up to the special interests, the lobbyists, big oil companies, and the good-ol' boys network. Sudden and relentless reform never sits well with entrenched interests and power brokers. That's why true reform is so hard to achieve. But with the support of the citizens of Alaska, we shook things up. And in short order we put the government of our state back on the side of the people. I came to office promising major ethics reform, to end the culture of self-dealing. And today, that ethics reform is the law. While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for. That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.

I also drive myself to work. And I thought we could muddle through without the governor's personal chef - although I've got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending - by request if possible and by veto if necessary. Senator McCain also promises to use the power of veto in defense of the public interest - and as a chief executive, I can assure you it works. Our state budget is under control. We have a surplus. And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending: nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes.

I suspended the state fuel tax, and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress thanks, but no thanks, for that Bridge to Nowhere. If our state wanted a bridge, we'd build it ourselves. When oil and gas prices went up dramatically, and filled up the state treasury, I sent a large share of that revenue back where it belonged - directly to the people of Alaska. And despite fierce opposition from oil company lobbyists, who kind of liked things the way they were, we broke their monopoly on power and resources. As governor, I insisted on competition and basic fairness to end their control of our state and return it to the people. I fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history. And when that deal was struck, we began a nearly forty billion dollar natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence. That pipeline, when the last section is laid and its valves are opened, will lead America one step farther away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart. The stakes for our nation could not be higher. When a hurricane strikes in the Gulf of Mexico, this country should not be so dependent on imported oil that we are forced to draw from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And families cannot throw away more and more of their paychecks on gas and heating oil. With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.

To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies ... or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia ... or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries ... we Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas. And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both. Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems - as if we all didn't know that already. But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines ... build more new-clear plants ... create jobs with clean coal ... and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources. We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers. I've noticed a pattern with our opponent. Maybe you have, too. We've all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers. And there is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate.

This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word victory except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it. Victory in Iraq is finally in sight ... he wants to forfeit. Terrorist states are seeking new-clear weapons without delay ... he wants to meet them without preconditions.

Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America ... he's worried that someone won't read them their rights? Government is too big ... he wants to grow it. Congress spends too much ... he promises more. Taxes are too high ... he wants to raise them. His tax increases are the fine print in his economic plan, and let me be specific. The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes ... raise payroll taxes ... raise investment income taxes ... raise the death tax ... raise business taxes ... and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. My sister Heather and her husband have just built a service station that's now opened for business - like millions of others who run small businesses. How are they going to be any better off if taxes go up? Or maybe you're trying to keep your job at a plant in Michigan or Ohio ... or create jobs with clean coal from Pennsylvania or West Virginia ... or keep a small farm in the family right here in Minnesota. How are you going to be better off if our opponent adds a massive tax burden to the American economy? Here's how I look at the choice Americans face in this election. In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change. They're the ones whose names appear on laws and landmark reforms, not just on buttons and banners, or on self-designed presidential seals. Among politicians, there is the idealism of high-flown speechmaking, in which crowds are stirringly summoned to support great things. And then there is the idealism of those leaders, like John McCain, who actually do great things. They're the ones who are good for more than talk ... the ones we have always been able to count on to serve and defend America. Senator McCain's record of actual achievement and reform helps explain why so many special interests, lobbyists, and comfortable committee chairmen in Congress have fought the prospect of a McCain presidency - from the primary election of 2000 to this very day. Our nominee doesn't run with the Washington herd.

He's a man who's there to serve his country, and not just his party. A leader who's not looking for a fight, but is not afraid of one either. Harry Reid, the Majority Leader of the current do-nothing Senate, not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee. He said, quote, I can't stand John McCain. Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we've chosen the right man. Clearly what the Majority Leader was driving at is that he can't stand up to John McCain. That is only one more reason to take the maverick of the Senate and put him in the White House. My fellow citizens, the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery. This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn't just need an organizer. And though both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they are always, quote, fighting for you, let us face the matter squarely. There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you ... in places where winning means survival and defeat means death ... and that man is John McCain. In our day, politicians have readily shared much lesser tales of adversity than the nightmare world in which this man, and others equally brave, served and suffered for their country. It's a long way from the fear and pain and squalor of a six-by-four cell in Hanoi to the Oval Office. But if Senator McCain is elected president, that is the journey he will have made. It's the journey of an upright and honorable man - the kind of fellow whose name you will find on war memorials in small towns across this country, only he was among those who came home. To the most powerful office on earth, he would bring the compassion that comes from having once been powerless ... the wisdom that comes even to the captives, by the grace of God ... the special confidence of those who have seen evil, and seen how evil is overcome. A fellow prisoner of war, a man named Tom Moe of Lancaster, Ohio, recalls looking through a pin-hole in his cell door as Lieutenant Commander John McCain was led down the hallway, by the guards, day after day. As the story is told, When McCain shuffled back from torturous interrogations, he would turn toward Moe's door and flash a grin and thumbs up - as if to say, We're going to pull through this. My fellow Americans, that is the kind of man America needs to see us through these next four years. For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words. For a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his deeds. If character is the measure in this election ... and hope the theme ... and change the goal we share, then I ask you to join our cause. Join our cause and help America elect a great man as the next president of the United States. Thank you all, and may God bless America.

TEXT OF MIKE HUCKABEE SPEECH AT RNC SEPT 03,08 - SEPT 04,08
Republican National Convention 2008.Filed Under Presidential Campaign 2008, Republican National Convention Source: AP


As much as I appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight, I really was originally hoping for the slot on Thursday called the acceptance speech. But I am delighted to speak on behalf of my 2nd choice for the Republican nomination for President, John McCain — a man with the character and stubborn kind of integrity that I want in a President. I grew up at a time and in a place where the civil rights movement was fought. I witnessed first hand the shameful evil of racism. I saw how ignorance and prejudice caused people to do the unthinkable to people of color not so many years ago.So, I say with sincerity that I have great respect for Senator Obama’s historic achievement to become his party’s nominee — not because of his color, but with indifference to it. Party or politics aside, we celebrate this milestone because it elevates our country.But the Presidency is not a symbolic job, and I don’t believe his preparation or his plans will lift America up.Obama was right when he said this election is not about him, it’s about YOU.

When gasoline costs $4 a gallon, it makes it tough if you’re a single mom to get to your job each day in the used car you drive. You want something to change.If you’re a flight attendant or baggage handler and you’re asked to take a pay cut to keep your job, you want something to change.If you’re a young couple losing your house, your credit rating, and your American dream, you want something to change.John McCain offers specific ideas to respond to this need for change. But there are some things we never want to change — freedom, security, and the opportunity to prosper.

Barack Obama’s excellent adventure to Europe took his campaign for change to hundreds of thousands of people who don’t even vote or pay taxes here.It’s not what he took there that concerns me. It’s what he brought back. Lots of ideas from Europe he’d like to see imported here.Centralized governments may care for you from cradle to grave, but they also control you. Most Americans don’t want MORE government — they want a lot less.

Abraham Lincoln reminded us that a government that can do everything FOR us can also take everything FROM us.I really tire of hearing how the Democrats care about the working guy as if all Republicans grew up with silk stockings and silver spoons. In my little hometown of Hope, Arkansas, the 3 sacred heroes were Jesus, Elvis, and FDR, not necessarily in that order.My own father held down two jobs, barely affording the little rented house I grew up in. My Dad worked hard, lifted heavy things, and got his hands dirty. The only soap we had at my house was Lava.Heck, I was in college before I found out it wasn’t supposed to hurt to take a shower.I’m not a Republican because I grew up rich, but because I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life poor, waiting for the government to rescue me.John McCain doesn’t want the kind of change that allows the government to reach deeper into your paycheck and pick your doctor, your child’s school, or even the kind of car you drive or how much you inflate the tires.He doesn’t want to change the very definition of marriage from what it has always meant throughout recorded human history. It is not above John McCain’s pay grade to grasp the simple fact that human life begins at conception, and he is committed to protecting it.Maybe the most dangerous threat of an Obama presidency is that he would continue to give madmen the benefit of the doubt. If he’s wrong just once, we will pay a heavy price.John McCain will follow the fanatics to their caves in Pakistan or to the gates of hell.What Obama wants to do is give them a place setting at the table.

John McCain is by far the most prepared, experienced, and tested Presidential candidate. Thoroughly tested.When John McCain received his country’s call to service, he didn’t hesitate, and he didn’t choose the easy path. He sat alone in the cockpit, taking off from an aircraft carrier to fly in unfriendly skies, knowing he might not make it back.And one day, he didn’t make it back. He was shot down and captured. He was brutally tortured.He could have eased his own pain and even cut short his imprisonment by uttering a few simple words renouncing his country. But he loved his country and knew that to return with honor later was better than to return without it now.Most of us can lift our arms high in the air to signify that we want something. His arms can’t even lift to shoulder level, a constant reminder that his life is marked not by what he wants to receive, but by what he’s already given.Allow me to tell you about someone who understands this type of sacrifice better than anyone.On the first day of school in 2005, Martha Cothren, a teacher at Joe T. Robinson High School in Little Rock, was determined that her students would not take their education or their privilege as Americans for granted. With the principal’s permission, she removed all the desks from her classroom. The students entered the empty room and asked, Mrs. Cothren, where are our desks? You get a desk when you tell me how you earn it, she replied.Making good grades? asked one student.You ought to make good grades, but that won’t get you a desk, Martha responded.I guess we have to behave, offered another.You WILL behave in my class, Mrs. Cothren retorted, but that won’t get you a desk either.

No one in first period guessed right. Same for second period.By lunch, the buzz was all over campus… Mrs. Cothren had flipped out ….wouldn’t let her students have a desk. Kids had used their cell phones and called their parents.By early afternoon, all 4 of the local network TV affiliates had camera crews at the school to report on the teacher who wouldn’t let her students have a desk unless they could tell her how they earned it. By the final period, no one had guessed correctly.As the students filed in, Martha Cothren said, Well, I didn’t think you would figure it out, so I’ll have to tell you.Martha opened the door of her classroom. In walked 27 veterans, some wearing uniforms from years gone by, but each one carrying a school desk.As they carefully and quietly arranged the desks in neat rows, Martha said, “You don’t have to earn your desks…these guys already did.They went halfway around the world, giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so you could have the freedom you have.No one charged you for your desk. But it wasn’t really free. These guys bought it for you. And I hope you never forget it.I wish we all would remember that being American is not just about the freedom we have. It’s about those who gave it to us.Ladies and Gentlemen, John McCain is one of those people who helped buy the freedom that we enjoy and the school desks we had.It’s my honor to do what I can to help him have a desk that he has earned one in the Oval Office.

TEXT OF MITT ROMNEYS SPEECH AT RNC SEPT 03,08 ON SEPT 04,08
Text of Mitt Romney's speech By The Associated Press


Text of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's speech Wednesday to the Republican convention, as prepared for delivery:

For decades, the Washington sun has been rising in the east — Washington has been looking to the eastern elites, to the editorial pages of the Times and the Post, and to the broadcasters from the coast.If America really wants change, it's time to look for the sun in the west, cause it's about to rise and shine from Arizona and Alaska!

Last week, the Democrats talked about change. But let me ask you — what do you think Washington is right now, liberal or conservative? Is a Supreme Court liberal or conservative that awards Guantanamo terrorists with constitution rights? It's liberal! Is a government liberal or conservative that puts the interests of the teachers union ahead of the needs of our children? It's liberal! Is a Congress liberal or conservative that stops nuclear power plants and offshore drilling, making us more and more dependent on Middle East tyrants? It's liberal!Is government spending — excluding inflation — liberal or conservative if it doubles since 1980? It's liberal! We need change all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big government liberals and elect John McCain!

It's the same prescription for a stronger economy. I spent 25 years in the private sector. I've done business in many foreign countries. I know why jobs come and why they go away. And I know that liberals don't have a clue.They think we have the biggest and strongest economy in the world because of our government. They're wrong. America is strong because of the ingenuity and entrepreneurship and hard work of the American people.The American people have always been the source of our nation's strength and they always will be! We strengthen our people and our economy when we preserve and promote opportunity. Opportunity is what lets hope become reality.

Opportunity expands when there is excellence and choice in education, when taxes are lowered, when every citizen has affordable, portable health insurance, and when constitutional freedoms are preserved.Opportunity rises when children are raised in homes and schools that are free from pornography, promiscuity and drugs; in homes that are blessed with family values and the presence of a father and a mother.

America cannot long lead the family of nations if we fail the family here at home!

Liberals would replace opportunity with dependency on government largesse. They grow government and raise taxes to put more people on Medicaid, to take work requirements out of welfare, and to grow the ranks of those who pay no taxes at all. Dependency is death to initiative, risk-taking and opportunity.It is time to stop the spread of government dependency to fight it like the poison it is! It's time for the party of big ideas, not the party of Big Brother! Our economy is under attack. China is acting like Adam Smith on steroids, buying oil from the world's worst, and selling nuclear technology. Russia and the oil states are siphoning more than 500 billion dollars a year from us in what could become the greatest transfer of economic wealth in history. This is no time for timid, liberal empty gestures.Our economy has slowed down this year and a lot of people are hurting. What happened? Mortgage money was handed out like candy, speculators bought homes for free — when this mortgage mania finally broke, it slammed the economy. And stratospheric gas prices made things even worse.

Democrats want to use the slowdown as an excuse to do what their special interests are always begging for: higher taxes, bigger government and less trade with other nations.It's the same path Europe took a few decades ago. It leads to moribund growth and double-digit unemployment.The right course is the one championed by Ronald Reagan 30 years ago, and by John McCain today. It is to rein in government spending and to lower taxes, for taking a weed whacker to excessive regulation and mandates, for putting a stop to tort windfalls, and to stand up to the tyrannosaurus appetite of government unions! It is to pursue every source of energy security, from new efficiencies to renewables, from clean coal to non-CO2 producing nuclear, and the immediate drilling for more oil off of our shores! And I have one more recommendation for energy conservation — let's keep Al Gore's private jet on the ground! Did you hear any Democrats talk last week about the threat from radical, violent Jihad? Republicans believe that there is good and evil in the world. Ronald Reagan called-out the Evil Empire. George Bush labeled the terror-sponsor states the Axis of Evil.And at Saddleback, after Barack Obama dodged and ducked every direct question, John McCain hit the nail on the head: radical violent Islam is evil, and he will defeat it! Republicans prefer straight talk to politically correct talk!

Republicans, led by John McCain and Sarah Palin, will fight to preserve the values that have preserved the nation. We will strengthen our economy and keep us from being held hostage by Putin, Chavez and Ahmadinejad.And we will never allow America to retreat in the face of evil extremism! Just like you, there has never been a day when I was not proud to be an American. We inherited the greatest nation in the history of the earth.It is our burden and privilege to preserve it, to renew its spirit so that its noble past is prologue to its glorious future.To this we are all dedicated and I firmly believe, by the providence of the Almighty, that we will succeed.President McCain and Vice President Palin will keep America as it has always been — the hope of the world.

TEXT OF RUDY GUILIANIS SPPEECH AT RNC SEPT 03,08 ON SEPT 04,08

(CNN) — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani addressed the Republican National Convention on Wednesday. Here is the text of that speech:

Giuliani: Thank you very much, and good evening. Almost exactly one year ago today, during a presidential debate in Durham, New Hampshire, I said that, if I weren’t running for president, I’d be supporting John McCain.Well, I’m not running for president, and I do support John McCain.Every — every four years, we’re told that this presidential election is the most important in our lifetime. This year, with what’s at stake, 2008 is the most important election in our lifetime. And we’d better get it right.This already has been the longest presidential campaign in history, and sometimes to me it felt even longer.The American people realize this election represents a turning point. It’s the decision to follow one path or the other. We, the people, the citizens of the United States, get to decide our next president, not the left-wing media, not Hollywood celebrities, not anyone else but the people of America.

That’s right, USA.Thank you. Thank you.

To those Americans who still feel torn in this election, I’d like to suggest one way to think about this to help make a choice in 2008.Think about it this way. You’re hiring someone to do a job, an important job, a job that relates to the safety of yourself and your family. Imagine that you have two job applications in your hand with the name and the party affiliations blocked out.They’re both good and patriotic men with very different life experiences that have led them to this moment of shared history. You’ve got to make this decision, and you’ve got to make it right. And you have to desire — you’ve got to decide, who am I going to hire? On the one hand, you’ve got a man who’s dedicated his life to the service of the United States. He’s been tested time and again by crisis. He has passed every test.Even his adversaries acknowledge — Democrats, Republicans, everyone acknowledges that John McCain is a true American hero.He — he loves America, as we all do, but he has sacrificed for it as few do.As a young man, he joined the military. And being a Top Gun kind of guy, he became a fighter pilot. He was on a mission over Hanoi when his plane was shot down.He was tortured in a POW camp, but he refused his captors’ offer of early release, because this is a man who believes in serving a cause greater than self-interest, and that cause is the United States of America. America comes first.He has proved his commitment with his blood. He came home a national hero. He had earned a life of peace and quiet, but he was called to public service again, running for Congress, and then the United States Senate, as a proud foot soldier in the Reagan revolution.His principled independence never wavered. He stood up to special interests. He fought for fiscal discipline and ethics reform and a strong national defense.That’s the one choice. That’s the one man.

On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community organizer. What? He worked — I said — I said, OK, OK, maybe this is the first problem on the resume.He worked as a community organizer. He immersed himself in Chicago machine politics.Then he ran for — then he ran for the state legislature and he got elected. And nearly 130 times, he couldn’t make a decision. He couldn’t figure out whether to vote yes or no. It was too tough.He voted — he voted present.I didn’t know about this vote present when I was mayor of New York City. Sarah Palin didn’t have this vote present when she was mayor or governor. You don’t get present. It doesn’t work in an executive job. For president of the United States, it’s not good enough to be present.You have to make a decision.

A few years later — a few years later, he ran for the U.S. Senate. He spent most of his time as a celebrity senator: no leadership, no legislation to really speak of.

His rise is remarkable in its own right. It’s the kind of thing that can happen only in America.But he’s never — he’s never run a city. He’s never run a state. He’s never run a business. He’s never run a military unit. He’s never had to lead people in crisis.He is the least experienced candidate for president of the United States in at least the last 100 years.Not a personal attack, a statement of fact. Barack Obama has never led anything, nothing, nada.Nada, nothing.The choice — the choice in this election comes down to substance over style. John McCain has been tested; Barack Obama has not.Tough times require strong leadership, and this is no time for on-the-job training.We agree. We agree with Joe Biden… one time, one time, when he said that, until he flip-flopped and changed his position. And, yes, being president means being able to answer that call at 3:00 in the morning. And that’s the one time we agree with Hillary.But I bet you never thought Hillary would get applause at this convention. She can be right. Well, no one can look at John McCain and say that he’s not ready to be commander-in-chief. He is. He’s ready.And we can trust him to deal with anything, anything that nature throws our way, anything that terrorists do to us. This man has been tested over and over again, and we will be safe in his hands, and our children will be safe in his hands, and our country will be safe in the hands of John McCain. No doubt.I learned as a trial lawyer a long time ago, if you don’t have the facts, you’ve got to change them. So our opponents want to re- frame the debate.They would have you believe that this election is about change versus more of the same, but that’s really a false choice, because there’s good change and bad change.Because change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy.John McCain — John McCain will bring about the change that will create jobs and prosperity. Let’s talk briefly about specifics.John McCain will lower taxes so our economy can grow.

He’ll reduce government to strengthen our dollar. He’ll expand free trade so we can be more competitive. And he will lead us to energy independence so we can be free of foreign oil.And — and he’ll do it with an all-of-the-above approach, including nuclear power, and, yes, off-shore oil drilling.Drill, baby, drill? Drill, baby, drill.This — this — this is the kind of change — now, you guys are ready to break out. Whoa.This — this — this and a lot more is the kind of change that will create growth, jobs, and prosperity, not what they want to do, tax us more, increase the size of government, increase tariffs, hurt jobs, send jobs elsewhere.We need John McCain to save our economy and make sure it grows, but we need it for a more important purpose. There’s one purpose that John McCain understands, Republicans understand, that overrides everything else: John McCain will keep us on offense against terrorism at home and abroad.For — for four days in Denver, the Democrats were afraid to use the words Islamic terrorism.

I imagine they believe it is politically incorrect to say it. I think they believe it will insult someone. Please tell me, who are they insulting if they say “Islamic terrorism”? They are insulting terrorists.Of great concern to me, during those same four days in Denver, they rarely mentioned the attacks of September 11, 2001. They are in a state of denial about the biggest threat that faces this country. And if you deny it and you don’t deal with it, you can’t face it.John McCain can face the enemy. He can win, and he can bring victory for this country.Let’s look at just one example at a lifetime of principled stands that John McCain’s brought about: his support for the troop surge in Iraq. The Democratic Party had given up on Iraq.And I believe, ladies and gentlemen, when they gave up on Iraq, they had given up on America.The Democratic leader — the Democratic leader of the Senate said, and I quote, This war is lost.Well, well, if America lost, who won, Al Qaeda, bin Laden?

In the single biggest policy decision of this election, John McCain got it right, and Barack Obama got it wrong.Senator McCain — Senator — Senator McCain was the candidate most associated with the surge, and it was unpopular. What do you think most other politicians would have done in a situation like this? They would have acted in their self-interest, and they would have changed their position in order to win an election. How many times have we seen Barack Obama do this? Obama — Obama promised to take public financing for his campaign, until he broke his promise. Obama — Obama was against wiretapping before he voted for it.When speaking to a pro-Israeli group, Obama favored an undivided Jerusalem, like I favor and like John McCain favored. Well, he favored an undivided Jerusalem — don’t get too excited — for one day, until he changed his mind.Well, I’ll tell you, if I were Joe Biden, I’d want to get that V.P. thing in writing.Our hero, our candidate, John McCain said, I’d rather lose an election than a war. Why? Because that’s John McCain.

When Russia rolled over Georgia, John McCain immediately established a very strong, informed position that let the world know how he’ll respond as president at exactly the right time. Remember his words? Remember what John McCain said? We are all Georgians.Obama’s — talk about judgment. Let’s look at what Obama did. Obama’s first instinct was to create a moral equivalency, suggesting that both sides were equally responsible, the same moral equivalency that he’s displayed in discussing the Palestinian Authority and the state of Israel.Later — later, after discussing this with his 300 foreign policy advisers, he changed his position, and he suggested the United Nations Security Council could find a solution.Apparently, none of his 300 foreign policy security advisers told him that Russia has a veto power in the United Nations Security Council.By the way, this was about three days later. So — so he changed his position again, and he put out a statement exactly like the statement of John McCain’s three days earlier.I have some advice for Senator Obama: Next time, call John McCain.He — he knows something about foreign — he knows something about foreign policy. Like Ronald Reagan, John McCain will enlarge our party, open it up to lots of new people.In choosing Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain has chosen for the future.The other guy looked back. John looked forward.

Gov. Palin represents a new generation. She’s already one of the most successful governors in America and the most popular.And she’s already had more executive experience than the entire Democratic ticket combined.She’s been a mayor. I love that.I’m sorry — I’m sorry that Barack Obama feels that her hometown isn’t cosmopolitan enough.I’m sorry, Barack, that it’s not flashy enough. Maybe they cling to religion there.

Well — well, the first day — as far as I’m concerned, the first day she was mayor, she had more experience as an executive than — than Obama and Biden combined.Then she became governor. She’s reduced taxes. She’s reduced government spending. She’s encouraged more energy exploration.She’s been one of the most active governors — she’s been one of the most active governors in the country, and Alaska can be proud of having one of the best governors in the country.She’s got an 80 percent approval rating. You never get that in New York City, wow.As U.S. attorney, a former U.S. attorney, I’m very impressed the way she took on corruption in Alaska, including corruption in the Republican Party. This is a woman who has no fear. This is a woman who stands up for what’s right.She — she — she is shaking up Alaska in a way that hasn’t happened in maybe ever. And with John McCain, with his independent spirit, with his being a maverick, with him and Sarah Palin, can you imagine how they’re going to shake up Washington? Whew, look out. Look out.

One final point. And how — how dare they question whether Sarah Palin has enough time to spend with her children and be vice president. How dare they do that.When do they ever ask a man that question? When? Well, we’re at our best when we are expanding freedom. We’re the party that has expanded freedom from the very beginning, from ending slavery to making certain that people have freedom here and abroad.We’re the party that believes in giving workers the right to work. We’re the party that believes that parents — parents should choose where their children go to school.And we’re the party — and we’re the party that unapologetically believes in America’s success, a shining city on a hill, a beacon of freedom that inspires the world. That’s what our party is dedicated to.So, my fellow Americans, we get a chance to elect one of our great heroes and a great American. He will be an exceptional president. He will have with him an exceptional woman who has already proven that she can reform and that she can govern.And now the job is up to us. Let’s get John McCain and Sarah Palin elected, and let’s shake up Washington and move this country forward.God bless America. Thank you.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

WALL FOUND IN JERUSALEM

REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE (THE EU DICTATORS TEMPLE)

REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

DANIEL 9:27
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

REBUILT 4TH TEMPLE (THE TRUE MESSIAHS TEMPLE)

ZECHARIAH 6:12-13
12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

ISAIAH 60:9-10
9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

ISAIAH 2:1-5
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

MARK 11:9-10,15-17
9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

EZEKIEL 40 TO 48 IS THIS 4TH TEMPLE TO BIG FOR THE MOUNT I BELIEVE TO BE BUILT 25 MILES FROM JERUSALEM.

ISN'T THIS STORY INTERESTING WHEN GOD GIVES THE ISRAELS TIMELINE IN HISTORY DEALING WITH ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM IN DANIEL 9:24-27.

Experts unearth more than 2,100-year-old Jerusalem wall SEPT 03,08

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli archaeologists said on Wednesday they had rediscovered rare remains of the wall that surrounded Jerusalem more than 2,100 years ago after locating the site of a 19th century dig. The Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists said they also discovered at the same site a section of the city walls dating from the later Byzantine period between the 4th and 7th centuries AD.

The earlier findings include a 3.2-metre (10-foot) tower and parts of the wall built during the second century BC under the Hasmonean dynasty and that was destroyed together with the Jewish Second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD.The two important finds were at a large excavation on Mount Zion outside the limits of today's Old City, whose Ottoman-era walls date from the 16th century.The city had never been as big as it was during those two periods, the director of the excavations, Yehiel Zelinger, told a news conference.In the Second Temple period the city, with the temple in its centre, was a focal point for Jewish pilgrimages from all over the ancient world and in the Byzantine period it attracted Christian pilgrims, he said.

The site for the dig was determined from a map drawn by British archaeologists of the Palestine Exploration Fund who first excavated the area at the end of the 19th century.The lost site, whose shafts and tunnels had since been filled and covered with soil, was rediscovered by cross-referencing the plans of the old excavation with updated maps of the area, Zelinger said.The Israeli archaeologist discovered souvenirs left behind by the British excavators 120 years ago -- including a shoe, the top of a gas light and fragments of beer and wine bottles.

Tony Blair's sister-in-law stranded in Gaza SEPT 03,08

JERUSALEM - The sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday that Israel and Egypt are preventing her from leaving the Gaza Strip, more than a week after she entered the territory in defiance of an Israel-led blockade.

Lauren Booth said she has been trying to leave Gaza since Friday, but was turned away at Israeli and Egyptian border crossings.Booth was among 46 pro-Palestinian international activists with the Free Gaza Movement who sailed into Gaza waters on Aug. 23 to draw attention to Israel's blockade, which has prevented the area's 1.4 million Palestinians from traveling abroad and crippled the local economy.Most of the protesters left Gaza on the same boats last Thursday and sailed to Cyprus, but Booth and several other activists chose to remain behind to do human rights work.

Booth said she has turned to British diplomats in the region to get her out of Gaza. High-level diplomatic maneuvering is going on when none should be needed, she said.

She said she has not spoken to Blair, who now serves as the international community's Mideast peace envoy. Neither Blair's office nor the British Embassy in Tel Aviv returned calls seeking comment.Israel and Egypt sealed Gaza's borders after the Islamic militant group Hamas violently seized power in June 2007. The sanctions have halted the movement of virtually all goods and people across Gaza's border. Israel considers Hamas a terrorist group.Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said his government was still weighing whether to let her into Israel, but noted that Israel, like any country, has the right to decide who enters its territory.This is something she should have thought about before entering Gaza, he said. Nothing was coordinated with Israel.Egyptian officials were not immediately available for comment.

LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.

DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

Palestinians study options if peace talks fail By Wafa Amr
Wed Sep 3, 8:29 AM ET


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Support among Palestinians for a binational state with Israel will grow should U.S.-brokered talks on creating an independent Palestine fail, a Palestinian think tank forecast in a new report released on Wednesday. Israel has long rejected the idea of becoming a binational country, in which Jews would lose their majority. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he remains committed to a two-state solution despite slow-moving negotiations.A 50-page document, formulated by the Palestine Strategy Studies Group (PSSG) and titled Palestinian Strategic Options to End the Israeli Occupation, noted Palestinian frustration over Jewish settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.If the current negotiations fail, Palestinians will be driven to replace the 1988 (two-state solution) offer (by the Palestine Liberation Organization) by a new strategy, not just rhetorically but in reality, the report said.The negotiated two-state outcome will then be definitely cancelled, it added.The PSSG is made up of 30 Palestinian intellectuals and professionals from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the diaspora. The study was funded by the European Union.The document has sparked a debate within the Palestinian society on the next steps to be taken should negotiators fail to meet Washington's goal of achieving at least a framework peace deal by the end of the year.Palestinian negotiators have said that Israeli proposals fall short of Palestinian aspirations for a viable state on lands Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East war.Abbas plans to meet U.S. President George W. Bush on September 26 on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session in New York, Palestinian Information Minister Riyad al-Malki said on Wednesday.

OPTIONS

We must be prepared with options and scenarios, Palestinian writer Hani al-Masri, a member of the PSSG, told Reuters.The document lists a number of options, including a binational state. It doesn't say the two-state solution must be ruled out but it says that the two-state solution is being eradicated by settlements and Israeli facts on the ground, Masri said, referring to the Jewish enclaves on occupied land.

The Palestinian leadership has also started debating options if no deal is reached.

Senior Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo said one possibility under discussion was a unilateral declaration of independence.The idea caused an international uproar in 1999 when then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat threatened to declare statehood in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.The entire Palestinian discourse must change. Our aim is to end the occupation and not have a process without peace, Fatah official Mohammad Ishtayeh, a member of the PSSG, told Reuters.Another PSSG member, Samir Abu Eisheh, a former cabinet minister close to the Islamist Hamas group that controls the Gaza Strip, said options included placing that territory and the West Bank under international trustreeship.

Sarkozy heads to Syria for Mideast peace talks Wed Sep 3, 7:03 AM ET

PARIS (AFP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday headed to Damascus on the first visit by a Western head of state since the 2005 murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri left Syria isolated. Sarkozy's two-day visit -- for bridge-building talks and a four-way summit to promote peace negotiations between Syria and Israel -- was the latest step towards restoring ties frozen after the killing of Hariri, a close friend of Sarkozy's predecessor Jacques Chirac.The French leader, who will dine with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad Wednesday ahead of joint talks with regional mediators Turkey and Qatar Thursday, said before leaving that France and Syria were key to Middle East peace.As I told President Bashar al-Assad when he came to Paris on July 12, the path of peace in this region passes through our countries, he told Syria's Al-Watan daily, which is close to government circles.

Syria can provide an irreplaceable contribution to solving Middle East issues. It is important that Syria plays a positive role in the region.The visit marked an important new step in drawing Syria back into the international fold after years out in the cold, six weeks after Assad made a comeback on the world stage in Paris.Today there is a new era between Syria and France based on France's new policy, a realistic, pragmatic policy that is aimed at achieving peace and that calls for dialogue, Assad told French TV on Tuesday.Assad has called on France and the United States to mediate in negotiations towards a peace accord between Syria and its historic foe Israel, which are holding indirect negotiations with Turkey acting as go-between. The fifth round of talks is expected to be held in Ankara on Sunday.

On Thursday Sarkozy, whose country holds the European Union presidency, will join a four-way summit on the Syria-Israel issue with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.Negotiations broke down in 2000 over the fate of the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in 1981 in a move not recognised by the international community.Israel urged Europe to exercise utmost caution in dealing with Damascus, without referring directly to Sarkozy's visit.

Europe must be very careful in its relationship with Syria as that country opens up, foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP Wednesday.Except for a slight change in tone, Syrian policies have not changed, he said, charging that Damascus continues to support terrorist organisations -- a reference to the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

But in Damascus, Al-Watan columnist Ghassan Yusef praised Sarkozy's clear approach to cooperation with Syria, saying the French president understands the Syrian position both on Israel and Lebanon.Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon two months after Hariri's death, ending three decades of domination of its small neighbour.The election of Lebanese President Michel Sleiman in May and the decision to establish diplomatic relations between Beirut and Damascus for the first time opened the door for a resumption of top-level ties between France and Syria.Syria's official Tishrin newspaper predicted an excellent and positive outcome to Sarkozy's visit, both for regional security and ties with Europe.After a careful examination of history, the French leadership under Sarkozy has realised that Syria is key to the Middle East and to solving its regional issues, agreed the ruling party newspaper Al-Baath. France knows now that American pressure on Syria does not and will not serve peace.Both Paris and Washington accused Syria in 2005 of orchestrating Hariri's assassination in a Beirut car bombing, but while Sarkozy has moved to end the country's isolation, the United States continues to blacklist it as a sponsor of terrorism.

SONIC KABOOOOOOM.

Israel warplanes break sound barrier over Lebanon Wed Sep 3, 6:11 AM ET

TYRE, Lebanon (AFP) - Six Israeli jets flew over south Lebanon and broke the sound barrier twice over the port city of Tyre on Wednesday, a security official said. Six Israeli warplanes flew all over southern Lebanon and the city of Tyre at low altitude for more than an hour and broke the sound barrier twice over Tyre, the official told AFP.The overflight prompted scared shoppers to flee Tyre's main market, an AFP correspondent said.Residents also poured on to the streets nervously watching the skies, little more than two years after the summer 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah devastated much of southern Lebanon, the correspondent added.

There has been a mounting war of words between the Shiite militant group and Israel in recent weeks with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowing to destroy Israel in any new conflict.For their part Israeli cabinet ministers have warned that Lebanon's civilian infrastructure could be targeted in any new war, now that the Hezbollah-led opposition has secured veto powers in a national unity government.Israeli jets have repeatedly overflown Lebanon in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brought an end to the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah.The United Nations has called on Israel to stop violating Lebanese air space. It says the overflights undermine the credibility of UN peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon and compromise efforts to bring stability to the region.

Hezbollah attempts to kidnap Israelis foiled: Barak By Dan Williams
Wed Sep 3, 4:05 AM ET


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas have tried to abduct Israelis abroad and several such attempts have been thwarted, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said. Israel, which fought a war with Hezbollah in 2006, has been on alert for reprisals since the Iranian-sponsored group's military mastermind Imad Moughniyah was assassinated in Syria in February.Israeli media reported on Tuesday that Israel's intelligence services, in cooperation with foreign counterparts, prevented Hezbollah agents from kidnapping as many as five Israelis who were traveling or living abroad.There have been quite a few intelligence alerts in recent weeks and there were a number of very important thwarting operations, Barak said in a briefing to reporters, according to a transcript released by his office on Wednesday.An Israeli security source said intelligence warnings were received last month about a west African country that has a small group of business people from the Jewish state, as well as a sizeable Lebanese expatriate community.Israel sent emissaries to warn its citizens in the African country to be vigilant, the source said. Israel's National Security Council also issued an advisory urging Israelis abroad to beware of kidnapping attempts.Last June, the U.S. television network ABC reported that Hezbollah was suspected of having reconnoitred Israeli and Jewish targets in Canada ahead of a possible attack. An Israeli security source dismissed that report as baseless.Hezbollah vowed open war on Israel to avenge the death of Moughniyah in a Damascus car bombing. Israel denied involvement.Seizing Israelis could help Hezbollah press its demand for Israel to quit a disputed zone straddling the Lebanese and Syrian borders or to negotiate for the release of Arabs jailed in Israel.An Israeli businessman abducted by Hezbollah while on a 2000 visit to Dubai was freed as part of German-mediated prisoner swap between the Lebanese group and Israel four years later.(Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Syria warns of 'catastrophic' effect of any Israeli strike on Iran Tue Sep 2, 2:18 PM ET

PARIS (AFP) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned Tuesday that an attack by Israel on Iran would have catastrophic consequences for the entire world. We think that Israel could try to launch attacks against Iran, even against Lebanon or Syria, he said in an interview with France 3 television.Any attack by Israel or by anyone else will have catastrophic results not only on the region but on the whole world, he said.In recent months several Israeli politicians have talked of the possibility of a preemptive military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities to avoid any possibility of Tehran acquiring an atomic weapon.Iran has responded by threatening retaliatory strikes with its Shahab-3 missiles which have a nominal range of 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) -- enough to reach Israel.

Gaza strike deepens Palestinian rift: U.N. envoy By Nidal al-Mughrabi
Tue Sep 2, 1:21 PM ET


GAZA (Reuters) - An education and health dispute that has sparked a huge strike in Gaza may deepen the rift between Hamas and Fatah and harm chances of Palestinian reunification, a United Nations envoy said on Tuesday. Middle East envoy Robert Serry made the remarks as a pro-Fatah employees union in Gaza announced plans to extend the strike, involving thousands of educators and health care workers, for another week.Some 85 percent of education workers and about 70 percent of primary care personnel have walked off their jobs in Gaza since Saturday, paralyzing services, a U.N. source said. They accuse Hamas rulers of transferring Fatah supporters from their posts.In a statement, Serry expressed concern at the reports of transfers and replacements of health and teaching professionals in the Gaza Strip.

These actions and the subsequent strike called by unions threaten the provision of health and education services to the people of Gaza who already face considerable hardship, he said, alluding to an Israeli blockade that already limits supplies.

Israel has restricted border crossings into Gaza since Hamas Islamists seized the territory violently from President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement a year ago and stepped up rocket attacks against Israel. These have been curtailed by a mid-June truce.Serry said the situation created by the strikes only further entrenches the division between Gaza and the West Bank and prejudices the prospects for Palestinian reunification.Palestinian factions have made little progress in talks held in Egypt to reconcile the divisions that, added to differences with Israel, have further complicated chances of achieving a goal of statehood in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.Bassem Zakarna, head of the pro-Fatah union, said the Gaza sanctions, initially planned for four days, would continue for another week to press Hamas to reverse its policy and end its seizure of a teachers' union headquarters in Gaza City.The teachers went on strike on August 24, and were joined by the health workers on Saturday.Zakarna also accused Hamas of exercising suppression by arresting some striking workers.Hamas has condemned the strike and denies any services have been paralysed. It rejects accusations that its officials have moved personnel for political motives, saying any job transfers have been done for technical and administrative reasons.

Assad to host Sarkozy, Turkey, Qatar leaders By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer Tue Sep 2, 11:50 AM ET

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Syria's leader is looking to rebuild some trust with the West, and this week French President Nicolas Sarkozy, along with other U.S. allies, is testing out whether new warmth with Damascus can bring progress in Mideast peace efforts.

Sarkozy's visit is a reward to Syrian President Bashar Assad for a recent sign of flexibility — his agreement in August to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon, a longstanding demand of the Lebanese and the West.Sarkozy, the prime minister of Turkey and the emir of Qatar will hold a joint summit with Assad in Damascus on Thursday, hoping to sound out whether the cautious good feelings can be built on, at a time when Syria is engaged in indirect peace negotiations with Israel.The players are significant. France, close to Lebanon, has joined the United States as the sharpest Western critics of Syria's interference in its smaller neighbor. Turkey is the mediator in the Israeli-Syrian talks over the past months. The tiny Gulf nation of Qatar, an ally of the U.S., is a key broker in inter-Arab disputes and mediated a compromise deal in Lebanon between pro- and anti-Syrian factions that was crucial to easing tensions there at least for now.For Assad, Sarkozy's visit is a major break in the West's isolation of his regime. Sarkozy is the first Western head of state to come to Syria in several years and the highest-profile Westerner since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came to Damascus in 2007.The U.S., other Western countries and most Arab governments have been shunning Assad, accusing him of trying to control Lebanon, not doing enough to stop infiltration of militants into Iraq and backing Lebanon's Hezbollah and Palestinian groups that Washington brands terrorists.

France is changing gears and starting from scratch, telling (Syria) We trust you but you've got to make progress, said Antoine Basbous, director of the Paris-based Observatory of Arab Countries.Basbous described Sarkozy's visit as a win-win situation for both nations, although it entails a gamble by Paris, which is betting on a change in the regime's behavior.Suleiman Haddad, head of the Syrian parliament's foreign relations committee, said his country can play a distinguished role in (resolving) the Middle East problem.We hope for a new era in relations between Paris and Damascus, he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

The top concern is Syrian-Israeli negotiations. The summit is not expected to bring a breakthrough, but is a chance to look into prospects for movement. Syria is demanding a full return of the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau occupied by Israel in the 1967 war, and Israel wants Damascus to cut support for the Palestinian Hamas and Hezbollah, which has battled Israel repeatedly at the southern Lebanese border.Syria has said it is open to direct talks, but only after a new U.S. administration comes to office next year. U.S.-brokered direct negotiations collapsed in 2000 over the extent of Israeli withdrawal from the heights. Syria's foreign minister said recently the indirect talks are focusing on the same sticking point.The recent standoff between the West and Russia also may be another reason for Sarkozy to woo Damascus after helping broker a cease-fire in the conflict between Russia and Georgia. Apparently exploiting the renewed U.S.-Russia tensions, Assad traveled to Russia last month and asked for weapons while offering more strategic military cooperation with Moscow.Assad also has close alliance with Iran. He promised Sarkozy during his Paris trip in July to try to persuade Iran to offer proof to the West that it isn't developing nuclear weapons, but apparently failed to win Iranian concessions during a visit to Tehran in August.The New York-based Human Rights Watch on Tuesday also urged Sarkozy to press Assad to release Syrian political activists who have been arrested over recent years in what rights groups have called a stepped-up crackdown on dissent. The arrests have brought criticism from Washington.Associated Press writers Jenny Barchfield and Angela Doland contributed to this report from Paris.