If there was ever any doubt that the Israeli government is dealing with the Palestinians in bad faith, we can lay those doubts to rest now in view of a new report ob the Israeli group Peace Now.

Israeli W Bank building 'doubles'
Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank has nearly doubled since last year, the Israeli campaign group Peace Now has said.

In the first five months of 2008, 433 new homes were started, compared to 240 in the same period last year, it said.

The group said tenders for West Bank construction had increased fivefold.

Settlements are a crucial issue for Palestinians, who fear they will create "facts on the ground" rendering a viable Palestinian state impossible.

Under the US-sponsored peace process initiated in Annapolis last November - and the "roadmap" initiative it is based on - Israel agreed to freeze settlement activity.

"Imagine Denver under missile attack from nearby Boulder."

That's the first line of a real ad, running on television, being run by a group called "The Israel Project." I personally saw it during the Daily Show - I thought it was parody at first. It's not.

Much has been made recently of President Carter being a controversial figure.  Most of this stems from Carter's 2006 book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, and his meeting earlier this year with leaders of Hamas.

Because of this, the conventional wisdom has been that no Democrat should touch Carter with a ten-foot pole.

But is Jimmy Carter really that unpopular?  Do most Democrats think of him as a controversial figure who is a cancer to the Democratic party?  

Despite the violent threats of the Israeli Occupation forces to the boats, the two boats with 44 human rights activists protesting the illegal and brutal siege of Gaza have reached Gazan waters.  

A main strength of nonviolent activism is that it challenges the opponent with very difficult options, making a violent response by the oppressor less likely. In this specific case, it is clear with the media attention these boats have received worldwide (even some limited coverage in the US) have made a violent response by the Israeli military politically impossible. So despite the threats of the Israeli military to "stop this provocation", it seems the mighty Israeli military has caved to boats filled with rubber balloons for the children of Gaza.

The siege of Gaza, for today, has been broken.
This is truly an historic day for the people of Palestine, for nonviolent struggle, for bringing peace to the Middle East.

The ongoing display of new wealth and power consumption by the Chinese during the Beijing Olympics adds a new wrinkle to the discussion on U.S. Middle East policy: Why did we attack Iraq, and what are the reasons behind out current position on Iran, considering other global issues related to oil production and consumption and possible WMD threats? The United State's assistance in the sharp increase Asian oil demands contribute to market instability[3], and is just one of many pieces of information that conflict with two popular views of U.S. Mid East policy: where a conflation of oil is positioned on one side, and a conflation of Israel on the other.  Unfortunately, adherence to these exclusive paradigms obfuscates the many instances where these two categories (as crude conflations) thread together, revealing a more complicated picture where neither explanation is truly adequate as a sole explanation. Revealing the complexity of Mid East policy needs to break with these exclusive and restrictive paradigms as both of these viewpoints (among others) can bring information that serves to illustrate the larger, multifaceted picture.

^{(revised draft version- I'm not sure if this is too long for this site and may need to chop it up and re-post)}

You gotta get your ducks all in a row there before tooting those horns:

At a press conference she and Zebari said the negotiators were close to signing the deal but cautioned it had not yet been clinched.

Everyone says how intelligent you are, and after all you're the Secretary of State with a whole department working for you, or are they being allowed to.

As you may recall, the brains heading up the British Israel Communications and Research Centre claimed in a recent(ish) letter to the Guardian that the death of Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana (pictured below) was "accidental" (see my earlier response here).

I came to this message board as a conservative, and still am a conservative.

I came to this message board as someone who disliked President Bush and thought he was an idiot, and I still think he is an idiot.

I came here liking some things about Obama, and disliking other things about Obama. I've engaged in many, many discussions with many, many of you. Some topics we've agreed, and other topics we have disagreed.

Some topics I have changed my mind on, others my views have become stronger on.

<more after the break>

BBC story on purported satellite launch

Iran claims to have launched a satellite, no word on whether this is real, or whether the satellite made orbit. However, if there is an Iranian satellite in orbit, there will be a lot of yelling and screaming tonight from the Wingnuts, so some careful analysis is in order.

Cross-Posted At Democrashield

Right now, Fox News is asking me "Which candidate is better handling the Georgia conflict?"

The growing consensus in the media seems to be that it's John McCain.  But, if you look at what's going on, it becomes immediately clear that Georgia is a losing issue for McCain.

Let's take a look at why...

Today I spent a few hours with a group of Armed Guard and Merchant Marine veterans.  Their monthly meeting is always held at Hoss’s though it is difficult to navigate a buffet with canes and walkers.  The group is 59 strong if all are in attendance – some bring their spouses or are driven there by a relative since they can travel 30 miles to be there.  

Mikhail Saakashvili is in the same position as Slobodan Milosevic.  The Kosovar and Ossetian conflicts are nearly identical, and Russia wants to put him on trial for war crimes... just like the West planned to do with Milosevic. Saakashvili has nothing to rely on but propaganda, press spin and the surprising restraint shown by Russia up to this point, along with the irrational support of a public that rallies around him when the country is at war.  The same thing happened in Yugoslavia... Serbs watched their country destroyed and rallied around the idiot who got them

The American people and in fact, all citizens of the world, should examine what we have done in the four years since reclaiming our government from the lobbyists and war criminals in the election of 2008. They will have to agree that the results have been unique in all history.

—Future Speech of Barack Obama

Four years are behind us. Look at what has happened during these four years. People are forgetful. They accept good and wonderful things as they happen — and then forget about them. But we do not want to forget how things were, and what has happened. This is the transformation which the whole world calls the American miracle. Let us look back and examine the unprecedented achievement and progressive policy that has occurred since the 2008 election.

What was it like four years ago? Think back on the great and moving events: how America was despised in the world, how millions responded to Barack's speech in Berlin with overflowing hearts and indescribable joy. Only people who have been freed from some burden rejoice like that. That is the message of change that Barack Obama has brought. That is the greatest thing a statesman can do: to bring hope to a country!

This is HUGE.

Israeli Newspaper Haaretz is reporting that the Bush Administration has turned down Israel's request for weapons to help it attack Iran's nuclear facilities.

U.S. rebuffs Israeli request for arms geared toward Iran strike

The American administration has rejected an Israeli request for military equipment and support that would improve Israel's ability to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.

The Americans viewed the request, which was transmitted (and rejected) at the highest level, as a sign that Israel is in the advanced stages of preparations to attack Iran. They therefore warned Israel against attacking, saying such a strike would undermine American interests. They also demanded that Israel give them prior notice if it nevertheless decided to strike Iran.

A red light from Bush makes an Israeli attack on Iran less likely. This also makes it less likely that the U.S. would be dragged into a regional conflict following an Israeli attack on Iran.

Becoming embroiled in a regional war would be too high a price for the U.S. to pay to preserve Israel's nuclear monopoly in the region (if that's what is even at stake here).

I am sure most Kossacks are much better versed in Geography than I am, but thought I would try to share my morning's journeys with maps.  Educated in the US after 8th grade, I have a shallow understanding of any region outside North America and Western Europe.

I will never forget when I first realized that Iran was sandwiched between Iraq and Afghanistan, well since Iran is considerable bigger than either - sandwiched may not be the right phrase.  That simple peek at a map transformed my understanding of the Middle East and gave me to believe that perhaps Iranian oil was the real target after all in all this.  Oh, how I long for an energy economy that eliminates all this intrigue.

More below the fold

Remember that "birth pangs" war, oh a mere two years ago, in the 21st century, mind you...

The U.S. backed negotiations between Israel and Palestinians have ground to a halt. Israel’s government is unwilling to talk about both peoples sharing Jerusalem as the capital of two States. Ahmed Qurie the Head Palestinian negotiator has come to the sad realization that the negotiations have been in vain. Qurie now knows that Israel is as unlikely to negotiate a Two State Solution in good faith. Now he is looking at a very different solution, a solution that rapidly is becoming the only path forward as Israel carves off more and more chunks of the occupied West Bank foreclosing any possibility of a contiguous State for the Palestinians on the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian negotiator considers binational state

"If Israel continues to oppose making this a reality, then the Palestinian demand for the Palestinian people and its leadership (would be) one state, a binational state," he added at the meeting held in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

His comments were carried in a statement issued after the meeting.

From Israel's Haaretz: PA: We may demand binational Israeli-Palestinian state