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Demand for purchase mortgages weakest since 2003

USATODAY.com

"NEW YORK (Reuters) — Mortgage applications fell for the first time in four weeks as demand for home purchase loans dropped to the lowest level in nearly three years, an industry trade group said Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and purchasing loans, for the week ended Aug. 25 decreased 0.9% to 556.5 from the previous week's 561.5.

Borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 6.39%, up 0.01 percentage point from the previous week when they sank to their lowest since March. Interest rates were above year-ago levels of 5.73% but below a four-year high of 6.86% touched in June."

How Fantasy Football Works

Howstuffworks "How Fantasy Football Works"



For many pigskin-loving Americans, the ability to control a professional football team is the ultimate dream. Fantasy football allows this dream to become a (virtual) reality. Players can compose a team of athletes to compete against both friends and strangers!

شورای امنيت ماه سپتامبر درباره ايران بحث می کند

BBCPersian.com: "وی گفت 'من انتظار دارم که فعاليت های سازمان ملل با نزديک شدن به نيمه سپتامبر آغاز شود' يعنی زمانی که دولت ها 'تصوير روشن تری از اينکه گام بعدی بايد در چه جهتی باشد خواهند داشت.'


اما ديپلمات ها به خبرگزاری رويتر گفتند که يونان، که رياست دوره ای شورای امنيت برای ماه سپتامبر را به عهده خواهد گرفت، هيچ تاريخی برای گفتگوهای شورا درباره ايران تعيين نکرده است."

'خروج ايران از ان پی تی مطرح نيست'

BBCPersian.com: "رييس مجلس ايران خروج از پيمان منع گسترش جنگ افزارهای هسته ای - ان پی تی - را رد کرده است و مقامات چين و فرانسه راه حل سياسی برای بحران هسته ای ايران را مورد حمايت قرار داده اند.



به گزارش خبرگزاری دولتی ايران - ايرنا - روز چهارشنبه، 30 اوت، غلامعلی حداد عادل، رييس مجلس ايران، در گفتگو با خبرنگاران گفت که ايران با پاسخ به بسته پيشنهادی اروپا باب مذاکره را گشوده و افزود که 'بحث خروج ايران از ان پی تی هم اکنون مطرح نيست.'"

همزمان، دومينيک دو ويلپن، نخست وزير فرانسه نيز گفته است که برای بحران هسته ای ايران برون رفتی جز راه حل سياسی وجود ندارد.

زيان دهندگان اصلی ممنوعيت همکاری با تلويزيونهای ماهواره ای

BBCPersian.com

مسئولان شبکه های تلويزيونی فارسی زبان خارج از ايران می گويند بخشنامه وزارت ارشاد ايران مبنی بر ممنوعيت هرگونه همکاری با اين شبکه های ماهواره ای، ادامه فعاليت آنها را با مشکل مواجه کرده است.

وزارت ارشاد ايران طی اطلاعيه ای که يکشنبه گذشته (27 اوت) انتشار يافت، هرگونه همکاری با شبکه های تلويزيونی ماهواره ای فارسی زبان خارج از ايران، شامل حضور در برنامه‌ ها، سفارش آگهی، مصاحبه و مشارکت در توليد برنامه‌ برای اين شبکه ها را غيرمجازخوانده و هشدار داده که دست زدن به چنين اقداماتی، تبعات قانونی دارد.

اين وزارتخانه دليل اين ممنوعيت را "فعاليت غيرقانونی و محتوای مغاير با شئونات شرعی و اخلاقی" اين شبکه ها دانسته است.

شبکه تلويزيونی فارسی زبان هما تاکنون بيش از هر شبکه تلويزيون ديگری تحت تأثير تصميم وزارت ارشاد ايران قرار گرفته، تا آنجا که گردانندگان شبکه تصميم گرفته اند فعاليت آن را تا زمانی که در اين ممنوعيت تجديدنظر نشود متوقف کنند.

گردانندگان اين شبکه خواهان آنند که دست کم شبکه هايی که خود را به قوانين ايران مقيد بدانند، امکان فعاليت در داخل کشور بيابند.

اين عبارت بيشتر تداعی کننده نامهای تلويزيونهای هما و مهاجر است که معمولاً برنامه های خود را با معيارهای داخلی ايران هماهنگ می کرده و همزمان، از همکاريهايی تجاری و حرفه ای از داخل ايران برخوردار بوده اند.

مهرداد کيا، گرداننده تلويزيون پی ام سی هرچند بخشنامه وزارت ارشاد را بر فعاليت اين شبکه مؤثر می داند اما خاطرنشان می سازد که آگهی دهندگان عمده اين شبکه شرکتهای بين المللی اند که در دوبی نيز دفتر دارند و آگيهای آنها اگرچه برای ايران پخش می گردد، اما قرارداد پخش آنها در دوبی و در خارج از ايران بسته می شود.

رامين جهانبگلو آزاد شد

BBCPersian.com

رامين جهانبگلو، پژوهشگر ايرانی پس از حدود چهارماه بازداشت، از زندان اوين تهران آزاد شد.

حوزه رياست قوه قضائيه ايران طی اطلاعيه ای اعلام کرده که آقای جهانبگلو بعدازظهر چهارشنبه سی ام اوت (هشتم شهريور) با سپردن وثيقه از زندان آزاد شده است.

رامين جهانبگلو که از چهره های سرشناس عرصه فلسفه ايران به شمار می رود و سرپرست گروه انديشه معاصر دفتر پژوهشهای فرهنگی ايران است، اوائل ارديبهشت (اواخر آوريل) گذشته پس از ورود به ايران در فرودگاه مهرآباد تهران بازداشت گرديد.

طرح ارتقای بهداشت مساجد اجرا می‌شود - Irna

طرح ارتقای بهداشت مساجد اجرا می‌شود - Irna: "طرح ارتقاي سلامت و بهداشت مساجد بويژه درايام ماه مبارك رمضان توسط معاونت اجتماعي شهرداري تهران اجرا مي‌شود.


دكتر'عباس استاد تقي زاده' مديركل سلامت شهرداري تهران روزچهارشنبه درحاشيه نخستين كارگاه تربيت متوليان سلامت مساجد به خبرنگار ايرنا گفت : براساس اين طرح 25 نفر توسط هيات امناي مساجد انتخاب و معرفي شده‌اند كه به مدت سه هفته تحت آموزش‌هاي مختلف در حوزه سلامت قرار خواهند گرفت."

Annan brands Israeli blockade a humiliation

IrishExaminer.com
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday called Israel’s air and sea blockade of Lebanon a “humiliation”, even though Israel insisted the embargo would stay until peacekeepers arrive.


Mr Annan arrived in Israel after visiting UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, who will play a key role in maintaining the fragile truce that ended 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.

His 11-day Middle East tour will also take him to Syria and Iran — Hezbollah’s main benefactors."

China to invest in Venezuela energy | Reuters.ca

China to invest in Venezuela energy | Reuters.ca: "CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - China will invest around $5 billion in energy projects in Venezuela by 2012 as part of a plan to boost Venezuela's oil output, the South American country's energy minister told state television on Monday.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez just completed a visit to China to sign cooperation accords as part of an effort to reduce Venezuela's dependence on U.S. energy markets.

Rafael Ramirez said China's participation in Venezuela energy ventures would 'require in first instance around $5 billion in investment.'"

آمريکا به محمد خاتمی رواديد سفر داد

BBC News

دولت آمريکا برای محمد خاتمی، رئيس جمهور سابق ايران، رواديد سفر به اين کشور صادر کرده است.

تام کيسی، سخنگوی وزارت خارجه آمريکا، گفت اين رواديد که روز سه شنبه صادر شد به آقای خاتمی امکان خواهد داد به عنوان يک شهروند خصوصی به آمريکا سفر کند.

آقای خاتمی تهديد کرده است که اگر قرار باشد ماموران گمرک آمريکا از او و همراهانش انگشت نگاری کنند به آن تن نخواهد داد.

آقای کيسی در اين مورد که آيا هنگام ورود به آمريکا از محمد خاتمی انگشت نگاری خواهد شد يا نه توضيح نداد اما براساس قوانين مهاجرت در آمريکا اکنون از بسياری از مسافران خارجی انگشت نگاری می شود و نه فقط از بازديدکنندگان کشورهای اسلامی.

پيشنهاد مناظره احمدی نژاد با بوش رد شد

BBCPersian.com: "کاخ سفيد، نهاد رياست جمهوری آمريکا پيشنهاد رئيس جمهور ايران برای مناظره تلويزيونی با رئيس جمهور ايالات متحده را رد کرد.

دانا پرينو، جانشين سخنگوی کاخ سفيد هدف رئيس جمهور ايران از طرح پيشنهاد مناظره را انحراف افکار جهانيان از نگرانی مشروعی خواند که به گفته وی، نسبت به رفتار ايران دارد.

احمدی نژاد در حالی بوش را به مناظره دعوت کرد که بوش نامه او را با گذشت بيش از چهار ماه همچنان بی پاسخ گذاشته بود

محمود احمدی نژاد رئيس جمهور ايران در نشست خود با خبرنگاران که به مناسبت هفته دولت برگزار شد، جورج بوش، رئيس جمهور آمريکا را دعوت کرد با وی در مناظره ای تلويزيونی شرکت جويد."

احمدی نژاد بوش را به مناظره دعوت کرد

BBCPersian.com: "محمود احمدی نژاد رئيس جمهور ايران در نشست خود با خبرنگاران که به مناسبت هفته دولت برگزار شد، جورج بوش، رئيس جمهور آمريکا را دعوت کرد با وی در مناظره ای تلويزيونی شرکت جويد.

آقای احمدی نژاد موضوع اين مناظره را مقايسه 'پيشنهادهای ملت ايران برای اداره جهان' با شيوه هايی اعلام کرد که به گفته وی آمريکا 'با زور سلاح و استفاده از حق امتياز ويژه' می خواهد بر جهان تحميل کند.



وی از جورج بوش خواست تا با شرکت در مناظره او با او، ديدگاه خود را درباره مسائل جهانی و راه حل آنها مطرح کند و در جريان ديدگاههای آقای احمدی نژاد در اين زمينه قرار بگيرد."

Iran ex-president invited to Washington - Yahoo! News

Iran ex-president invited to Washington - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON - Despite a diplomatic standoff over nuclear weapons and other difficult issues, a former Iranian president is making plans to speak next month at the Washington National Cathedral.

The former president

Mohammad Khatami, would be the most senior Iranian official to visit Washington since Islamic fundamentalists seized the U.S. Embassy in 1979 and held Americans there hostage for 444 days.

At the Cathedral, the Rev. Canon John L. Peterson, director of its Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation, said U.N. Secretary-General

Kofi Annan had invited Khatami to participate in a conference Sept. 5-6 to promote dialogue.

He said the church's center "thought it would be appropriate to invite the president to speak on the role that the three Abrahamic faiths can play in shaping peace.

Evan Anderson, deputy director of the Center, said the former president was in Dubai preparing to apply for permission to visit the United States.

Iran’s Friends Fend Off Action at the U.N. Security Council: Here’s Why

Iran’s Friends Fend Off Action at the U.N. Security Council: Here’s Why

The Chinese Connection

Iran is now the third-largest oil supplier to China’s oil-thirsty economy. Moreover, China is investing nearly $100 billion in developing Iranian oil and gas fields. By some estimates, Iran will provide China with over 250 million tons of natural gas and 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day over the next 30 years.

The Russian Connection

Just last December, Russia agreed to sell Iran another $1 billion in arms, including $700 million worth of advanced surface-to-air missiles (SAM), the TOR-M1. Each TOR unit is capable of tracking 48 targets and firing at two targets at the same time. Once deployed, these SAMs could pose a deadly threat to aircraft involved in any strike against Iranian targets, including the high-value nuclear-related sites at Bushehr, Natanz, Arak and Isfahan. In October 2005, Russia launched Iran’s first satellite, which is capable of taking photographs that could provide valuable military intelligence.

پادکست، واژه برگزيده سال

BBCPersian.com: "

فرهنگ جديد آمريکايی آکسفورد واژه پادکست را برترين واژه سال ناميده است.

اين لغتنامه اين لغت را چنين تعريف کرده است: 'برنامه ای راديويی يا مشابه که ديجيتالی ضبط شده و جهت پياده کردن (داون لود کردن) برای دستگاه های شخصی پخش صدا در اينترنت گذاشته می شود.'

قرار است اين واژه که ترکيبی از broadcast و iPod است، در جريان بهنگام سازی بعدی نسخه آنلاين اين لغتنامه در اوايل سال آينده به آن اضافه شود."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2005/03/050306_ra-podcast-iran.shtml

راديوی اينترنتی دانشجویان ایرانی دانشگاه مريلن

BBCPersian.com:

"'راديو کالج پارک' پادکستی است که به وسيله تعدادی از دانشجويان ايرانی دانشگاه مريلند بر روی اينترنت قرار گرفته است.

پادکست یکی از راه های ارائه فایل های صوتی مانند برنامه های رادیویی و موسیقی بر روی اینترنت است که مخاطبان اجازه شنیدن آن بر روی رایانه شخصی و یا انتقال به دستگاه های پخش MP3 را دارند."

Israel army chief admits failures

BBC NEWS

Israeli military chief of staff Lt Gen Dan Halutz has for the first time publicly admitted to failings in the conflict with Hezbollah.

In a letter to troops, he said it had exposed shortcomings in the military's logistics, operations and command.

There would be a thorough and honest investigation, he said.

Apart from his conduct of the war, Gen Halutz has faced criticism for selling his entire stock market portfolio hours before the outbreak of fighting."

Girl escapes after eight years locked in cellar - World - theage.com.au

Girl escapes after eight years locked in cellar - World - theage.com.au:

"A YOUNG Austrian woman has escaped a kidnapper after being held for eight years in a sealed cellar, resolving a missing child case that shook the nation.



Police said relatives identified the woman as Natascha Kampusch, who vanished in 1998 at age 10 while walking to school.

A 44-year old man suspected in the crime committed suicide after evading a police manhunt. The man, named as Wolfgang P, threw himself in front of an night express train in Vienna after running away from police, authorities said.

Police said Natascha was in good physical health, although she looked pale and shaken. She bore no indications of having suffered sexual abuse.

Natascha's captor would occasionally allow her to take walks with him through his neighbourhood and she had access to radio, television, newspapers and books, and the cellar was equipped with a bed and wardrobe, according to police and local media.

Mr Zwettler, when asked why she had not fled while on any of her outings, said she seemed to have had "Stockholm Syndrome", a psychological condition in which long-held captives identify with their captors.

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Pluto no longer a planet

Pluto no longer a planet: "Thursday, August 24, 2006 (Prague):


Pluto which has been considered a planet since 1930 was stripped of the title.

Leading astronomers from around the world finally defined what would be considered a planet and what would not.

Under the new guidelines, Pluto gets disqualified partly because it is too small and partly because its orbit overlaps with Neptune.

The need for definition was felt because astronomers have discovered a number of bodies that also have claims to the status of planets like Xena or Sedna in space beyond Pluto or the asteroid Ceres or even Pluto's satellite Charon.

Till Thursday, many believed that many of those bodies would be upgraded so that we would end up with 11-12 planets.

But instead, the astronomers decided to follow stricter norms, Pluto and the others will now be called dwarf planets."

Home Sales Fall to Unexpectedly Low Rate - New York Times

Home Sales Fall to Unexpectedly Low Rate - New York Times

Sales of existing homes fell in July to an unexpectedly low rate, a sign that a widespread softening of the housing market is taking hold.

Existing Home Sales Data (Excel)

The National Association of Realtors reported today that purchases fell 4.1 percent last month to an annual rate of 6.3 million homes, the slowest since early 2003. The rate was 11.2 percent higher a year ago.

At the same time, the inventory of unsold homes on the market swelled to a 7.3-month supply, the most in more than a decade.

Timeline: US-Iran ties

BBC NEWS

1953 US and British intelligence services help Iranian military officers depose Prime Minister Muhammad Mussadeq, a leading exponent of nationalising the oil industry.

Ayatollah Khomeini's legacy still overshadows US-Iranian relations

1979 16 January - US-backed Shah of Iran forced to leave the country after widespread demonstrations and strikes.

1979 1 February - Islamic religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini returns from exile and takes effective power.

1979 4 November - Iranian students seize 63 hostages at US embassy in Tehran, prompting drawn-out crisis leading to severing of diplomatic ties and sweeping US sanctions against Iran. Their initial demand is that the Shah return from the US to Iran to face trial. Later Iran also demands the US undertake not to interfere in its affairs.

book on islam free quran download,

book on islam free quran download,

Throw away your TV - 60 Minutes: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Throw away your TV - 60 Minutes: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "60 Minutes: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mike Wallace is joined by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who hasn't spoken to the American media in six months. Very interesting timing. "

More 60 Minutes clips...

Interesting comments:
------------------------

Mike Wallace exaggerated his body language so much he looked silly. Ahmadinejad did well in the interview, but did not convince me. In a day and age when Bush spends most of his time dodging the press (and when, after all, he's supposed to be one of the 'good guys') I find it odd that I can't even contemplate him giving a similar interview.

By Phantamage, at 5:24 AM

I went into the interview biased against the Iranian President but was pleasantly surprised to see him gracefully answer the questions and it makes me wonder if this administration that I support could redouble it's efforts in reaching out to people like him. I believe he made some valid points and was pleased to see that he does not appear to be the total radical that he is portrayed in the news media. I am not in full accord with the way that this administration is handling itself and believe that we should make every effort to resolve differences rather than dictate to other nations how they should live. After all they are sovereign nations and should be treated with respect. Nickie

By Nickie Stevens, at 12:19 PM

I think that Almajdinajad treats his people very poorly, and do the governments of many countries. But more can be accomplished with talking than with war. Bush would not respond to his letter. I truly believe Bush wants war with Iran. And President Bush does what he pleases, with no regard to what the American people want.

By Pat, at 11:46 AM

This was an embarrassment. Wallace was a disaster. His "red baiting" was disgusting. Shame on Wallace and shame on the USA!

By spinoza750, at 3:00 AM

Truthdig - Reports - Taking On the Israel Lobby

Truthdig - Reports - Taking On the Israel Lobby:



Illustration by Karen Spector

"Two professors from Harvard and the University of Chicago have touched off a firestorm with their controversial report, published last week in the London Review of Books, which argues that the United States’ pro-Israel lobby has damaged America by pushing it to act in ways contrary to its strategic interests.

Check out a summary of the report.

Read the report as published in the London Review of Books.

Read the full report, submitted as a working paper at Harvard (.pdf file).

Israeli Influence in the Americas

Israeli Influence in the Americas

Interesting source of information from Yale.edu:

http://www.yale.edu/isps/seminars/antisemitism/ottolenghi.pdf#search=%22Stephen%20Walt%20%20John%20Mearsheimer%20%20argued%20the%20pro-Israel%20lobby%20has%20unduly%20influenced%20the%20United%20States%22

Christians United for Israel: New Christian Zionism Lobby Hopes to Rival AIPAC

Democracy Now! | Christians United for Israel: New Christian Zionism Lobby Hopes to Rival AIPAC:

"In March of this year, a study on the role of the Israel lobby in US foreign policy caused an uproar in the academic community and in the media. The paper's authors, Professor Stephen Walt of Harvard University and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, argued the pro-Israel lobby has unduly influenced the United States to set aside its own security in order to advance the interests of Israel. The study emphasized the activities of the pro-Israel lobby group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.

Well, there's another side of the pro-Israel lobby that's drawing increasing attention -- and some say its far more influential. A new group was recently established called Christians United for Israel - CUFI. They're an evangelical organization that believes supporting expansionist policies of the Israeli government is: 'a biblical imperative.' In a new article for The Nation, journalist Max Blumenthal reports group members have held several meetings with White House officials to talk about US policy in the Middle East. They've apparently lobbied the administration to adopt a confrontational posture toward Iran, refuse aid to the Palestinians and give Israel a free hand in its attack on Lebanon"

Raed in the Middle-- Iraq: Raped

Raed in the Middle:


Omar Al-Janabi, a neighbor and relative of Abir, was informed by Abir's mother that the young girl was being harassed by U.S. soldiers stationed in a nearby checkpoint. That is why Abir was sent to spend the night in her neighbor's home. The next day, Omar Al-Janabi was among the first people who found Abir with her 34 year old mother Fakhriyah, her 45 year old father Qasim, and her 7 year old sister Hadil murdered in their home. Abir was raped, killed by a bullet in her head, and then burned on the 12th of March, five months before her fifteenth birthday.


The 'Hadji Girl' song is yet another indicator that what happened to Abir is most like not an anomolous case. 'Hadji Girl' is a videotaped song about killing Iraqis written and performed by U.S. Marine Corporal Joshua Belile while he was at the Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq. The song became controversial a few weeks ago when the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) discovered it on the internet and objected to its lyrics. The lyrics, accompanied by loud laughter and applause, include lines as such as: 'So I grabbed her little sister and pulled her in front of me. As the bullets began to fly, the blood sprayed from between her eyes, and then I laughed maniacally. Then I hid behind the TV, and I locked and loaded my M-16, and I blew those little fuckers to eternity. And I saidÂ… Dirka Dirka Mohammed Jihad, Sherpa Sherpa Bak Allah, they should have known they were fucking with a Marine'. A two-week investigation held by the U.S. army ended with no punishment for Corporal Belile. Furthermore, according to the spokesperson for the Mike Church Show, the host is planning to record and release 'Hadji Girl' and give royalties to Belile. The right-wing presenter will sing and release the song on air this week"

Hadji Girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54LUNBHGC-4&search=haji%20girl

I Was a Propaganda Intern in Iraq

Democracy Now!

"I Was a Propaganda Intern in Iraq" - Fmr. Lincoln Group Intern Describes Paying Iraqi Press to Plant Pro-American Articles Secretly Written by U.S. Military:


"We speak with Willem Marx, a former intern with the Washington-based government contractor, the Lincoln Group. He spent a summer in Baghdad paying to plant pro-American articles secretly written by the U.S. military in the Iraqi press. [includes rush transcript] He held a loaded submachine gun while being driven through Baghdad by two Kurdish security men.

He had three million dollars in cash locked inside his bedroom in the Green Zone.

Armed with a gun, he interrogated Iraqi employees about whether they were doing their job.

He spent a summer in Baghdad paying to plant pro-American articles in the Iraqi press that were secretly written by the US military.

He was just 22 years old and he was an intern at the Lincoln Group, the Washington-based government contractor. The company gained notoriety last November after the Los Angeles Times first revealed it was being paid by the Pentagon to plant stories in the Iraqi press as part of a secret military propaganda campaign. A subsequent Pentagon investigation in March cleared the Lincoln Group of any wrongdoing.

Today, we speak with that former intern of the Lincoln Group. Willem Marx is a freelance writer and a graduate student in journalism at New York University. His article detailing his experience is published in the latest issue of Harpers Magazine. It's titled 'Misinformation Intern: My summer as a military propagandist in Iraq.' He joins us on the line from Uzbekistan."

Read Transcript

Show mp3

President Bush Admits Iraq Had No WMDs and 'Nothing' to Do With 9/11

Democracy Now! | President Bush Admits Iraq Had No WMDs and 'Nothing' to Do With 9/11


Watch 128k stream

AMY GOODMAN: On Monday, Present Bush admitted the Iraq war is "straining the psyche of our country," but he vowed to stay the course. A reporter questioned him about why he opposed withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

REPORTER: A lot of the consequences you mentioned for pulling out seem like maybe they never would have been there if we hadn't gone in. How do you square all of that?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I square it, because -- imagine a world in which you had Saddam Hussein who had the capacity to make a weapon of mass destruction, who was paying suiciders to kill innocent life, who would -- who had relations with Zarqawi. Imagine what the world would be like with him in power. The idea is to try to help change the Middle East.

Now, look, I didn’t -- part of the reason we went into Iraq was -- the main reason we went into Iraq at the time was we thought he had weapons of mass destruction. It turns out he didn't, but he had the capacity to make weapons of mass destruction. But I also talked about the human suffering in Iraq, and I also talked the need to advance a freedom agenda. And so my question -- my answer to your question is, is that -- imagine a world in which Saddam Hussein was there, stirring up even more trouble in a part of the world that had so much resentment and so much hatred that people came and killed 3,000 of our citizens.

You know, I've heard this theory about, you know, everything was just fine until we arrived, and then, you know, kind of that we're going to stir up the hornet's nest theory. It just -- just doesn't hold water, as far as I'm concerned. The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East.

REPORTER: What did Iraq have to do with that?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: What did Iraq have to do with what?

REPORTER: The attack on the World Trade Center?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Nothing, except for it's part of -- and nobody has ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a -- Iraq -- the lesson of September the 11th is, take threats before they fully materialize, Ken. Nobody has ever suggested that the attacks of September the 11th were ordered by Iraq.

AMY GOODMAN: President Bush at his news conference yesterday.

Show mp3

CONFLICT IN IRAQ / 'We're not leaving, so long as I'm president,' emphatic Bush says

CONFLICT IN IRAQ / 'We're not leaving, so long as I'm president,' emphatic Bush says

(08-22) 04:00 PDT Washington -- President Bush offered a pointed rebuttal Monday to those who question his policy in a war that has already killed 2,600 Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis, asserting that pulling out of Iraq would be even more dangerous.

"We're not leaving, so long as I'm the president," he declared.

"I understand why people are discouraged about Iraq,'' Bush said Monday, adding that the war is "straining the psyche of our country.''

To make sure he made his point, Bush also said it would be "wrong,'' "a disaster,'' "a big mistake,'' a move that would "embolden extremists,'' "embolden Iran,'' "send a terrible signal,'' send "a wrong signal,'' "create a more dangerous world'' and threaten the United States.


The American psyche isn't the problem. The problem is this administration's disastrous Iraq policy,'' said Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who lost to Bush in the 2004 election.

"Patience is strained because almost five years later, Osama bin Laden is still on the loose, and gone is the promise of 'wanted dead or alive.' The administration's credibility is strained because the president's mantra that 'U.S. troops will stand down as Iraqis stand up' is another misleading myth, and 'stay the course' is a recipe for disaster when the course is broken,'' Kerry said.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/scp_v3/viewer/index.php?pid=16598&rn=49750&cl=735811&ch=49799&src=

Iran ex-president invited to Washington

Iran ex-president invited to Washington - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON - Despite a diplomatic standoff over nuclear weapons and other difficult issues, a former Iranian president is making plans to speak next month at the Washington National Cathedral.



A State Department official, who was not authorized to be identified by name, said notice had been received of Khatami's intention to apply for a visa but no formal request had been made.

Until the request is received U.S. officials said they could not say whether it would be granted.

At the Cathedral, the Rev. Canon John L. Peterson, director of its Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation, said U.N. Secretary-General

Kofi Annan

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Kofi Annan had invited Khatami to participate in a conference Sept. 5-6 to promote dialogue.

He said the church's center "thought it would be appropriate to invite the president to speak on the role that the three Abrahamic faiths can play in shaping peace."

"We have a special commitment to embracing the children of Abraham," he said, referring to Muslims, Christians and Jews.

"The Church calls upon us to engage in reconciliation and understanding by having conversations with people with whom we might disagree," he said.

Evan Anderson, deputy director of the Center, said the former president was in Dubai preparing to apply for permission to visit the United States.

"Any headway that is to be made in U.S.-Iranian relations is very important," Anderson said. Religious groups should play a role in fostering dialogue with Iran, he said.

Khatami would speak at the Cathedral Sept. 7 on the role of Muslims, Christians and Jews in improving world understanding.

Iran ready for 'serious' nuclear talks

Iran ready for 'serious' nuclear talks - Yahoo! News: "'Iran is prepared as of Aug. 23 to enter serious negotiations' with the countries that proposed the package, state-run television quoted Larijani as telling the envoys.



Iranian officials close to the meeting said Iran offered a 'new formula' to resolve the dispute as part of its formal response to the Western incentive package. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

'Iran has provided a comprehensive response to everything said in the Western package. In addition, Iran, in its formal response, has asked some questions to be answered,' one official said, without elaborating.

European Union officials declined to comment, saying they needed to study the Iranian offer.

State-run television said Iran's response meant Tehran was committed to its promises.

'Iran's response suggests Iran is committed to dialogue and its promises. ... It is in contrast with America's policy of unilateralism,' the television said."

No survivors on Russian airliner

Report: No survivors on Russian airliner - Yahoo! News:


"KIEV, Ukraine - A Russian passenger jet with at least 170 people aboard crashed Tuesday in Ukraine after sending a distress signal, authorities said. A news agency reported no survivors and that Russian officials had ruled out terrorism."

CNET TV

CNET TV


In beta, still ;-)

Federal judge orders halt to NSA spy program | CNET News.com

Federal judge orders halt to NSA spy program | CNET News.com:

The warrantless Internet and telephone surveillance program authorized by the Bush administration violates the U.S. Constitution and must cease immediately, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

The landmark decision makes U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's once-secret program. The American Civil Liberties Union had filed suit against the government, claiming the program "ran roughshod" over the constitutional rights of millions of Americans and ran afoul of federal wiretapping law.

In a sweeping victory for the ACLU and its clients, which included organizations representing criminal defense lawyers, journalists, Islamic-Americans and academics, Taylor appeared to knock down several major legal arguments that the Bush administration has used to defend the program since it was revealed by The New York Times last December.

'Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution,' the judge wrote in her 43-page opinion (click here for PDF).

The decision immediately drew an appeal from the U.S. Department of Justice, which argued in a statement that 'the Terrorist Surveillance Program is an essential tool for the intelligence community in the War on Terror.' The Bush administration also requested that the judge's opinion be put on hold until the appeals process is complete. The government appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

The terrorist surveillance program, Taylor ruled, violates the First Amendment's right to freedom of expression and the Fourth Amendment right to privacy--that is, freedom from unreasonable searches. It also ignores requirements of a 1978 electronic wiretapping law known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and represents an overstepping of presidential powers, she wrote.

Remember to Vote for her in the next election, she is a brave woman!!

Amazing technology for blind

ABC News

Amazing technology gives blind veterans and their families a new lease on life.

ABC News: Kansas Teen Perfect on SAT, ACT

ABC News: Kansas Teen Perfect on SAT, ACT: "Jakub Voboril, 17, a senior at Bishop Carroll High School, learned last month that he had scored a 36 on his ACT, which he took in June. His perfect score, one of only two in Kansas on the June test, came after he scored 32 and 34 on his first two tries.

'Part of me said, 'That's good enough. You can stop there,'' he said. 'But I decided to take it one more time to see what happened.'

He took the SAT the same week. Those results a perfect 2400 came in shortly after he got his ACT scores."


Sorry No Photo!! Shame on ABC with today's technology!!??

The JonBenet Ramsey Case

CNN.com - Special Reports - The JonBenet Ramsey Case




John Mark Karr, a 41-year-old schoolteacher, was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, on suspicion of murder in the 1996 killing of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, authorities in Boulder, Colorado, announced late Wednesday. It is the first arrest in the decade-long investigation of the child beauty pageant contestant's slaying.

Karr knew murder scene secrets

CNN.com - Source: Karr knew murder scene secrets - Aug 18, 2006

BOULDER, Colorado (CNN) -- John Mark Karr gave authorities graphic details about the condition of JonBenet Ramsey's body that have been kept secret for nearly a decade, a U.S. law enforcement source told CNN on Friday.Karr's confession is not the end of the JonBenet Ramsey case, authorities caution.

رئيس پليس تهران: قبح ماهواره شکسته شده بود

BBCPersian.com

"گزارشها در تهران حاکی از آن است که برخورد با آنتنهای ماهواره ای عمدتاً متوجه مجتمعهای مسکونی بوده و آنتنهايی بوده که در نقاط پنهان از ديد عمومی قرار داده نشده اند.



سرتيپ مرتضی طلائی فرمانده انتظامی تهران در نشستی که با خبرنگاران داشته تصريح کرده که مأموران پليس برای جمع آوری آنتنهای ماهواره ای به هيچ وجه داخل منازل شخصی و حريم خصوصی افراد نمی شوند و تنها در مورد مجمتعهای مسکونی و در صورتی که مدير يا ساکنان مجمتع حاضر به تحويل دادن تجهيزات ماهواره ای نشوند آنها می توانند وارد بخشهای عمومی مجتمع همچون پشت بامها شوند و تجهيزات ماهواره ای را جمع آوری کنند.

پليس برای ورود به منازل مسکونی نياز به مجوز از مراجع قضائی دارد؛ چنين مجوزهايی بايد برای هر واحد مسکونی به صورت جداگانه صادر شود و قانوناً نمی توان مجوزی کلی برای ورود به شمار زيادی از منازل مسکونی صادر کرد.

به همين دليل و با توجه به ميزان بسيار چشمگير استفاده از تجهيزات ماهواره ای در تهران، امکان دريافت مجوزهای جداگانه برای تک تک منازلی که پليس قصد ورود به آنها را دارد عملاً بسيار دشوار است."

Family faces eviction for loud night prayers | Oddly Enough | Reuters.com

Family faces eviction for loud night prayers | Oddly Enough | Reuters.com:

I really don't want to disturb the neighbors but the high volume is needed in the battle against the devil,' Pierre D., the 42-year-old father of the Christian family, told Bild newspaper. He is fighting an eviction order in court."

فرشته مرگ، ترک موتور

BBCPersian.com: "فرشته مرگ، ترک موتور


يک موتورسوار
موتورسوارها به معضلی برای عابران پياده بدل شده اند

حامد ۲۴ ساله است و خودش چند باری ترک موتور نشسته: 'وقتی موتوری ها را می بينم (به عنوان مسافر کش يا عادی)، فکر می کنم يک عده جان برکف اند. به خصوص با طرز رانندگی شان. يک عده انسان که جانشان را کف دستشان گرفته اند و در خيابان ها حرکت می کنند'.

ظاهرا قرار است پديده ای به نام موتور تاکسی، توسط شهرداری تهران شکل قانونی به خود گيرد

وقتی صحبت از خطرات موتورسواری می شود، حميد خاطرات خودش برايش زنده می شود: '۶ سال از سال ۷۱ تا ۷۶ در نظام آباد موتور سوار می شدم. در بد راندن، اگر نفر اول نبودم، پنجم بودم. ۲ بار تصادف کردم. يک بار زمين خوردم و کاپشنم پاره شد. يک بار هم پژو بهم زد، با سر رفتم تو شيشه اش. اگر کلاه نداشتم، الان اينجا نبودم. بعد از تصادف که داشتم با موتور می رفتم تعميرگاه، مادرم نفرينم کرد، منهم موتورم را فروختم'."

BBCPersian.com

BBCPersian.com

مقام های سابق آمريکايی: واشنگتن نبايد با ايران وارد منازعه شود

	يک مقام سابق آمريکايی می گويد بحرانی خواندن شرایط ایران به معنای لزوم اتخاذ تدابير شديد است

در حالیکه دو هفته بیشتر به جلسه شورای امنیت سازمان ملل متحد برای بررسی پرونده اتمی ایران نمانده، تعدادی از مقام های سابق آمریکایی طی نامه ای به جورج بوش رئیس جمهور این کشور گفته اند برنامه های اتمی ایران به مرحله بحرانی نرسیده است.

روزنامه لس آنجلس تایمز روز چهارشنبه نوشت یک گروه از ژنرالها و دیپلماتهای سابق آمریکایی طی نامه سرگشاده ای به جورج بوش هشدار داده اند که وارد منازعه با ایران نشود.

طرحی در برابر خطر احتمالی موشکهای ايرانی

BBCPersian.com: "طرحی در برابر خطر احتمالی موشکهای ايرانی



موشک ضدموشک بومارک ساخت شرکت بوئينگ آمريکا
ساخت سيستم دفاع ضدموشکی که آمريکا قصد استقرار آن را در اروپا دارد به شرکت بوئينگ سفارش داده شده است
ژنرال هنری اوبرينگ، فرمانده آژانس دفاع ضدموشکی آمريکا نسبت به توان موشکی ايران ابراز نگرانی کرده و گفته احتمال تهديد موشکی ايران عليه اروپا يکی از دلائلی است که باعث شده او طرح استقرار پايگاه دفاع ضدموشکی را به اروپاييها پيشنهاد کند.

ژنرال اوبرينگ پس از سخنرانی در همايش ساليانه دفاع ضدموشکی که در شهر هانتسويل ايالت آلابامای آمريکا برگزار شد در گفتگو با خبرنگاران از طرح احداث پايگاه دفاع ضدموشکی در اروپا خبر داده که وی قرار است در ماههای آينده به دولتهای اروپايی پيشنهاد کند."

More excuses to sell weapons and make american companies richer!! Boeing is getting this one...

Howstuffworks "How Kissing Works"

Howstuffworks "How Kissing Works"


When you really think about it, kissing is pretty gross. It involves saliva and mucous membranes, and it may have historical roots in chewed-up food. Experts estimate that hundreds or even millions of bacterial colonies move from one mouth to another during a kiss. Doctors have also linked kissing to the spread of diseases like meningitis, herpes and mononucleosis.

Yet anthropologists report that 90 percent of the people in the world kiss. Most people look forward to their first romantic kiss and remember it for the rest of their lives. Parents kiss children, worshippers kiss religious artifacts and couples kiss each other. Some people even kiss the ground when they get off an airplane.

Howstuffworks "How Kissing Works"

Howstuffworks "How Kissing Works"


When you really think about it, kissing is pretty gross. It involves saliva and mucous membranes, and it may have historical roots in chewed-up food. Experts estimate that hundreds or even millions of bacterial colonies move from one mouth to another during a kiss. Doctors have also linked kissing to the spread of diseases like meningitis, herpes and mononucleosis.

Yet anthropologists report that 90 percent of the people in the world kiss. Most people look forward to their first romantic kiss and remember it for the rest of their lives. Parents kiss children, worshippers kiss religious artifacts and couples kiss each other. Some people even kiss the ground when they get off an airplane.

How the United Nations Works

Howstuffworks "How the United Nations Works"

Or actually, How it doesn't work!!

Howstuffworks "How the United Nations Works"

Howstuffworks "How the United Nations Works"

Or actually, How it doesn't work!!

Christian Terrorists.... Biggest Bosnian mass grave found

BBC NEWS

Biggest Bosnian mass grave found

Many of the remains at Kamenica were heavily damaged

Forensic experts have finished exhuming remains from what they say is the biggest mass grave from the Bosnia war.

The team unearthed 144 complete and 1,009 partial skeletons at the site in Kamenica, a village in eastern Bosnia near the border with Serbia.

The grave contained victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which about 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb troops.

Certainly more than 8000 were killed!! The entire population was cleaned from Muslims!

How to Detect Lies - WikiHow

How to Detect Lies - WikiHow



Fake Vs. True Smile


Watching facial expressions in order to determine whether a person is lying might just save you from being a victim of fraud, or it could help you figure out when somebody's being genuine. Jury analysts do this when assisting in jury selection. The police do this during an interrogation. A lie detector of course does this, but is a little heavy to carry with you. Therefore, you have to learn the little facial and body expressions that can help you learn to recognize a lie from the truth.

How do liquid explosives work?

Howstuffworks "How do liquid explosives work?"



On August 10, 2006, authorities in Great Britain announced that they had arrested several people in connection with a plot to attack airplanes with liquid explosives. The attackers planned to disguise the explosives as ordinary liquids and smuggle them aboard. For this reason, authorities in both the United States and Great Britain warned all passengers that liquids would not be allowed in carry-on luggage until the crisis passed. The ban on liquids included hair spray, shampoo and beverages -- items people travel with all the time.

5 Steps To Being More Photogenic - Digital Camera University

5 Steps To Being More Photogenic - Digital Camera University

Use these 5 steps and you too will develop a triggered response that will insure you look your best.

Step 1

If you are standing - turn slightly and rest your weight on one foot. It may FEEL goofy, but you WILL look better.

If you are sitting – angle to one side or the other.

Step 2

Lean slightly toward the camera

Think of having a long neck like a gazelle, and tilt your chin down just a bit to avoid the appearance of a double chin and also to prevent the camera from getting a view right up your nostrils.

Step 3

Learn how to change your state

Models are taught to change state by developing a ‘trigger.’ THE most successful trigger we found over the years was called the ‘rear cheek squeeze.’ You squeeze the cheeks of your rear end together. Don’t make fun of it until you try it. To see it’s effectiveness try this experiment. Ask someone to sit on a chair and then ask them to squeeze their cheeks together. I have not met ONE person who doesn’t immediately smile and say something like, okay, now what?

Step 4

Learn to ¾ smile

Smiling too big exposes gums and causes your eyes to turn into slits.

Step 5

Never look directly at the lens – ALWAYS, look slightly ABOVE the lens.

Funny: Breast implants save woman's life? | Oddly Enough | Reuters.com

Breast implants save woman's life? | Oddly Enough | Reuters.com:

"JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli woman's breast implants saved her life when she was wounded in a Hizbollah rocket attack during Israel's war with the Lebanese group, a hospital spokesman said Tuesday.

Doctors found shrapnel embedded in the silicone implants, just inches from the 24-year-old's heart.

'She was saved from death,' said a spokesman for Nahariya Hospital in northern Israel. The woman has been released from hospital."

I Guess GOD was on her side!! :-D

NASA can't find original tape of moon landing | Oddly Enough | Reuters.com

NASA can't find original tape of moon landing | Oddly Enough | Reuters.com:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has misplaced the original recording of the first moon landing, including astronaut Neil Armstrong's famous 'one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,' a NASA spokesman said on Monday.

Aghaie Hejazi told us about this 3 years ago and we laughed at him!! ;-) I guess he was right!!

A dummy run against Hezbollah

Asia Times Online :: Middle East News - A dummy run against Hezbollah:

A dummy run against Hezbollah
By Ehsan Ahrari

'The Bush administration ... was closely involved in the planning of Israel's retaliatory attacks' against Hezbollah. That is the conclusion of American journalist Seymour Hersh in his latest essay in The New Yorker.

If that, indeed, is true, then America's image as a military power, along with the image of the Israeli military, has been severely tarnished. This is not the end of the negative spillover effect from Israel's palpable failure to damage severely the fighting capabilities of Hezbollah. The United States might be in for more damaging fallout emanating from this fiasco.

According to Hersh, President George W Bush - who joined the
Texas Air Guard to avoid being drafted for Vietnam, and has limited experience and little knowledge of the potential capability air power in warfare - and Vice President Dick Cheney - who used a variety of legal loopholes to avoid being drafted and being shipped to South Vietnam in the 1960s - believed that 'a successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah's heavily fortified underground missile and command and control complexes in Lebanon could ease Israel's security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American preemptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear installations, some of which are also buried deep underground.'

White House sources have "vigorously denied" the veracity of Hersh's report. Press Secretary Anthony Snow said, "The piece abounds in fictions," and "assailed" Hersh's use of "unnamed sources". However, the editors of The New Yorker stand by the story.

US Department of State officials envisaged Israel's bombing campaigns "as a way to strengthen the Lebanese government". One wonders about the basic wisdom of this rationale. How can one destroy parts of Lebanon, kill hundreds and displace thousands of civilians, and expect the Lebanese government to emerge as a strong entity from that disaster?

No amount of air campaigns - no matter how limited the resulting damage - could have had a positive effect on the governing capabilities of the Lebanese government. By the same token, any Israeli ground campaign would have united the Lebanese behind Hezbollah. The uncanny unifying power of a war on a polity under siege was something both the Americans and Israelis totally ignored while they were planning or carrying out the military campaign against the country of Lebanon.

No one in the Bush administration bothered to revisit the historical annals to educate themselves about the carnage that the Israeli invasion and occupation created in Lebanon in the early 1980s. The very creation of Hezbollah is associated with that invasion and the ensuing occupation of that country.

US president John F Kennedy described many decades ago how success and failure, related to major political events, are handled in Washington. He observed, "Success has many fathers; failure is always an orphan." In that context, no one in the Bush administration now admits even having known about the Israeli air campaign, much less having any part in it. Hersh does not believe those statements.

In fact, Robert Novak, another Washington-based columnist with excellent political connections, wrote on August 6: "The Israeli government's effort to clean Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon was carefully planned by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]. US officials informed me 24 days ago they would give the IDF a week to liquidate the terrorists before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could pursue a ceasefire. But the long-planned Israeli operation in southern Lebanon found no quick success as Hezbollah proved itself a formidable fighting machine."

Hersh's report, though in harmony with Novak's analysis, also talks about the Bush administration's lead role in preparing an air-campaign plan to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities and then approaching the Israelis to share intelligence on Iran and Lebanon - since Iran is reported to have played a crucial role in advising Hezbollah in constructing elaborate and complex tunnel systems to store its missiles and other military wherewithal.

The intended plan was to coordinate an air campaign with Israel. An anonymous source close to the US Air Force told Hersh, "The big question for our air force was how to hit a series of hard targets in Iran successfully." Hersh states, "And so the air force went to the Israelis with some new tactics and said to them, 'Let's concentrate on the bombing and share what we have on Iran and what you have on Lebanon.' The discussions reached the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld."

Hersh's essay supports what has become part of intuitive thinking - if not conventional wisdom - among Iran specialists in Washington about the real intentions of the Bush administration. There is little doubt that the neo-cons, both within and outside the government - are champing at the bit about attacking Iran - the last major confrontational state, after North Korea perhaps. Syria has never been regarded as a challenge of the same caliber as Iran to the US or to Israel. That was one reason the template for an air attack on Iran was handed over to Israel by the Bush administration. The thinking in Cheney's office, according to Hersh, was, "We can learn what to do in Iran by watching what the Israelis do in Lebanon."

The Sunni Arab states were expected to do the dirty work for the Bush administration after Israel successfully destroyed the fighting capabilities of Hezbollah. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan were to put pressure on Iran. That plan would have worked without much pressure from the United States. The three sycophant Sunni states were suffering from the growing paranoia from what they envisaged as the rising Shi'ite power in their region.

However, the powerful resistance of Hezbollah and its enormous popularity in the Arab street also caught the dictators of those states off guard. They originally criticized Hezbollah, but "shifted their position in the wake of public protests in their countries about the Israeli bombings", in the words of Hersh.

Hersh's observations about a number of Bush officials in this episode are also interesting. Rumsfeld was ambivalent ("jaded") about the Lebanon war. Rice, once again, distinguished herself by her traditional characteristic of being bowled over by Cheney and by demonstrating an absence of independent thinking that was an attribute of her predecessor, Colin Powell.

A National Security Council functionary with strong Israeli ties, Elliott Abrams, "supported the Israeli plan", even though his spokesman denied it. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, once again, lived up to their reputation of having no backbone in terms of giving strong advice to the administration that was contrary to the thinking of Cheney and other neo-cons.

Now that there is ceasefire, there are ample discussions of who won and who emerged as a loser in this war. From the Arab perspectives, there are still two clear winners and three equally apparent losers. The chief winner is Hezbollah and its execution of asymmetric war against the high-tech Israeli military. As much as he is berated in the US and in Israel, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has created a niche for himself as an Arab hero of this war.

The second major winner is Iran and its low-tech missiles and training of Hezbollah. It is worth noting, however, that Iran still faces the long shot of becoming a target of the Bush doctrine of regime change that continues to lurk in the background.

The most troublesome aspect of the general foreign-policy approach of the current US administration is that it refuses to learn from its past failures and almost seems eager to repeat them, regardless of the ensuing catastrophic consequences. Hersh discusses how "intelligence about Hezbollah and Iran is [still] being mishandled by the White House the same way intelligence had been ... [when] the administration was making the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction".

The three major losers of this war are Israel, the United States and Lebanese democracy. When the ceasefire was implemented, Hezbollah, though it was bruised as a fighting force, was still defiant and full of its combat spirit. The Israeli government, on the contrary, is already undergoing the post-conflict acrimonious blame game that might end up costing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert his job.

The Bush administration, if it was really using Israel's air-attack plan as a "dry run" against Iran, will have to think long and hard about its next approach toward the Islamic Republic. The very future of democracy in Lebanon is in jeopardy for now.

Once all is said and done, the most welcome development from this fiasco might be the possibility of a diplomatic engagement between Iran and the United States, once Washington finally realizes that giving war a chance in Lebanon did not lead to any lasting or peaceful solution to the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict.

Ehsan Ahrari is the CEO of Strategic Paradigms, an Alexandria, Virginia-based defense consultancy. He can be reached at eahrari@cox.net or stratparadigms@yahoo.com. His columns appear regularly in Asia Times Online. His website: www.ehsanahrari.com

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احمدی نژاد در مصاحبه با سی بی اس: از بوش انتظار جواب داشتم

BBCPersian.com

اما وی پس از اصرارهای مايک والاس گفت: "فکر می کنم آقای بوش می تواند در خدمت مردم خودش باشد. می تواند اقتصاد آمريکا را نجات دهد با استفاده از شيوه های مناسب بدون کشتن مردم، بی گناهان، بدون تهديد. خيلی ناراحت می شوم وقتی می شنوم که يک درصد جمعيت کل آمريکا در زندان است. و 45 ميليون نفر از پوشش بيمه بهداشت بی بهره اند. باعث تاسف است."

پيروز جنگ کيست؟

BBCPersian.com

پيروز جنگ کيست؟

بسياری از روزنامه های چاپ تهران هم گزارش های اصلی شماره روز سه شنبه خود را به تحولات لبنان اختصاص داده و مطالبی را پيرامون پيروزی حزب الله در جنگ اخير انتشار داده اند.

	بوش: حزب الله بحران را آغاز کرد، حزب الله متحمل شکست شد

برخی از روزنامه ها با اشاره به انتقاداتی که به خصوص از سوی سياستمداران راستگرای اسرائيلی از عملکرد دولت اين کشور در جنگ لبنان به عمل آمده تحولات اخير را نشانه شکست اسرائيل دانسته اند.

در مقابل، نخست وزير اسرائيل گفته است که جنگ اخير باعث تضعيف توان نظامی و عملياتی حزب الله لبنان شده و اجرای قطعنامه شماره 1701 شورای امنيت سازمان ملل را به منزله تحولی مثبت برای اسرائيل دانسته است.

اين قطعنامه ضمن درخواست از دو طرف جنگ برای توقف حملات عليه يکديگر، اعزام نيروی بين المللی پاسدار صلح برای نظارت بر آتش بس و همچنين استقرار واحدهای ارتش لبنان در جنوب اين کشور را پيش بينی کرده است.

استقرار واحدهای ارتش ملی لبنان می تواند به منزله خلع سلاح چريک های حزب الله در مناطق مرزی با اسرائيل باشد هرچند سيد حسن نصرالله، دبيرکل حزب الله، زمان را برای چنين اقدامی مناسب ندانسته است.

وی گفته است که چريک های حزب الله به يک "پيروزی استرتژيک و تاريخی" عليه اسرائيل دست يافته است.

در مورد نتيجه جنگ لبنان، جورج بوش، رييس جمهوری آمريکا گفته است که اين بحران، به گفته وی، با شکست حزب الله خاتمه يافته است.

وی گفت که حزب الله به اسرائيل حمله کرد و آغازگر بحران بود و سرانجام حزب الله متحمل شکست شد.

آقای بوش اظهار داشت اگر ايران به تسليحات هسته ای دست يافته بود نتيجه جنگ متفاوت می بود و با متهم کردن ايران به حمايت از گروه های مسلح در لبنان و عراق، خواستار توقف اين گونه حمايت ها شد.

وی گفت که دولت ايران اميدوار است با حمايت از چنين گروه هايی مانع از پا گرفتن دموکراسی در منطقه شود.

جشن 'پيروزی حزب الله لبنان' در ايران

BBCPersian.com:
"جشن 'پيروزی حزب الله لبنان' در ايران


عضو بسيج هنگام توزيع شيرينی
اعضای بسيج سپاه پاسداران 'پيروزی حزب الله' در جنگ لبنان را به مردم تبريک گفتند
مقامات و بسياری از رسانه های گروهی در جمهوری اسلامی برقراری آتش بس در جنگ لبنان را به عنوان پيروزی حزب الله و شکست اسرائيل جشن گرفته اند.

به گزارش خبرگزاری دولتی ايران - ايرنا - شامگاه گذشته اهالی تهران به نشانه شادمانی از پيروزی حزب الله در ميدان ها و بزرگراه های تهران اجتماع کردند و همزمان با اجرای مراسم نورافشانی، شعار الله اکبر سر دادند و در شهرهای ديگر ايران نيز مراسم مشابهی به نشانه خرسندی از نتيجه جنگ اخير لبنان اجرا شد."