Newspaper ad calls for Israel to bomb Iran

atience in some Israeli quarters seems to be running out with what they see as the world community’s lame efforts to persuade Iran not to join the nuclear weapons community.
An advertisement on Israel’s Haaretz website is calling on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to make good on his (alleged?) promise to bomb Iran in two weeks’ [...]

Tory stance on Europe looms over ’special relationship’

or all the photo opportunities and broad smiles that followed William Hague’s meeting with the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, the new foreign secretary must know that he has his work cut to convince the US that Britain is still a reliable, major player on the world stage. Its position on Europe will have [...]

‘Time running out over Iran’, Obama warned

Patience is running thin in the US Congress over President Barack Obama’s perceived dithering over Iran.
US military chiefs have told Congress that Iran could enrich enough weapons-grade uranium for a single bomb within a year, and overcome technical difficulties with the Shahab-3 missile, which has the range to hit Israel, within three to five years. [...]

Israel’s missile claims may thwart Obama’s latest peace efforts

It may be just a coincidence, but Israel’s recent charge that Syria is shipping Scud missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon comes just as Barack Obama is trying to engage Damascus in his efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian question.
Mr Obama’s nomination of a career diplomat, Robert Ford, as the first US envoy to Damascus in five [...]

Sturgeon ‘happy to consider’ presumed consent for organ donation

Doctors’ leaders in Scotland are calling for a change in the law on organ donation, saying it is needed to save lives.
In an article for The Caledonian Mercury, the BMA says that moving to a system of “presumed consent” would increase the number of organs available for transplant and warns that for many people, it [...]

Confrontation comes naturally to Israel’s prime minister

It is hard to decide whether Israel’s row with the United States and Britain over the expansion of Jewish settlements and the Israeli embassy’s forgery of British passports for a Mossad hit squad runs as deep as it appears to, or whether all sides are just playing to the gallery.
Judging by the breathtaking arrogance displayed [...]

Analysis: Change is in the air – all over the world

World events over the past few months suggest that a major rethink of everyone’s position is under way; the chess pieces are on the floor again and it is still not clear whether we will emerge from this tumult enlightened or confused, richer or poorer, alive or dead. The Great Game [...]

Top brass wants US to have military role in occupied territories

Accustomed as Israel became during the Bush years to influencing US policy in the Middle East, the row between the United States and Israel over the expansion of Jewish settlements in Arab East Jerusalem may have more profound implications for Israel than it would like to admit: the US Central Command (CentCom) is reportedly concerned [...]

Netanyahu feels backlash of Biden gaffe

srael’s prime minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, seems to have shot himself in the foot by embarrassing the US vice-president, Joe Biden, last week – he has come under withering attack by the Israeli liberal and right-wing media alike.
The Obama administration is taking a hard line after the Netanyahu government announced plans to expand the Ramat Shlomo [...]

Neo-con support for Uribe reveals double standard

Last month the Colombian constitutional court rejected a bid by right-wing President Alvaro Uribe to hold a referendum that might have seen him elected to an unprecedented third term in office – and US hawks think that’s a good thing.
At first glance, this seems odd, because Uribe is the best friend the US has in [...]

Israeli concern at Turkish crackdown on secular forces

srael is carefully watching a crackdown by the Turkish government on the country’s staunchly secular armed forces, with observers warning that Turkey no longer regards Iran as an enemy, and one newspaper suggesting a coup might be the way out of the crisis.
Turkish General Saldiray Berk, commander of the 3rd Army, on Tuesday became the [...]

Uproar over ‘apartheid’ reference to West Bank and Gaza

Over on Salon magazine, Glenn Greenwald has reopened a big can of worms by using the word “apartheid” in reference to Israel and its control of the West Bank and Gaza – or rather, someone else has…
Apparently, there is a big pro-Israeli lobby move afoot to “Get Carter”, and the Washington Post has been picking [...]

Ex-CIA analyst hits out at Haig’s record

A former senior CIA analyst on Soviet affairs has hit out at the mainstream US media for eulogising the late former US Secretary of State General Al Haig, who died on 20 February.
Melvin Goodman, writing in Truthout, says most obituaries “failed to capture the full extent of the controversy and confrontation that marked General Alexander [...]

Carter fights back over foreign policy legacy

ormer US President Jimmy Carter has made an impassioned defence of his administration’s foreign policy in the face of a flurry of references to “Carter syndrome” in the US media.
“Carter syndrome” is the term used by neo-conservative commentators to describe President Barack Obama’s perceived weakness in dealing with Iran, Russia, China and other real and [...]

Ahmadinejad claims Israel will attack within months

ranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expecting an Israeli attack in the Middle East in the coming months.
“According to information we have they [Israel] are seeking to start a war next spring or summer, although their decision is not final yet,” the Jerusalem Post quotes Ahmadinejad as saying. “But the resistance and regional states will finish [...]

Iran’s nuclear programme gives energy to US neocons

President Barack Obama seems to be responding at last to American neo-conservative calls for a tougher stance with Iran over its nuclear programme, though he may balk at “regime change”.
With the Obama administration nowhere near the stage where it might declare that “all options are on the table”, increased covert backing of ethnic groups in [...]

Bin Laden’s return stirs US questions over Gaza

sama bin Laden is apparently back from the dead, claiming responsibility for the failed Christmas Day plot to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight, and warning the US that it must stop supporting Israel or face more attacks.
Two interesting points arise from his reappearance. Firstly, bin Laden’s alleged statement comes two days after Britain raised [...]