UN deaths put pressure on Rome talks for ceasefire

By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel's killing of four U.N. observers piled pressure on an international conference in Rome on Wednesday to end a 15-day-old Middle East conflict, as Hizbollah vowed not to accept any "humiliating" truce terms.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan demanded an Israeli investigation into the "apparently deliberate targeting" of a U.N. post in southern Lebanon where an Israeli air strike killed the four U.N. military observers on Tuesday.

Israel said it would investigate the incident and expressed regret at the deaths, but said it was shocked Annan had suggested the observers may have been deliberately targeted.

Continued...

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Bush mishandles Mideast Crisis

Besides screwing up Afghanistan and Iraq, now Bush has taken his eye off the ball again with the latest meltdown in Lebanon. Bush has taken the side of Israel as the rest of the world condemns Israel's over reaction. It's like if you were squirted with a water gun and responded by shooting someone with a bazooka, that's how Israel reacts to events. Meanwhile Bush is busy blaming Syria for Hezbollah and waits while innocent people are being slaughtered on both sides of this conflict. Like everything he has ever done he is screwing it up.

Now his buddies from Saudi Arabia have arrived to plead with this dolt to intervene and call for a ceasefire in Lebanon. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, chief of the Saudi National Security Council, met with Bush for more than an hour Sunday. Remember Prince Badar is such a close friend of the Bush family he has affectionately been named "Bandar Bush." So this meeting is probably more of a dog and pony show than it will actually result in any action by the U.S.

Yes Condi Rice is headed to the Mid East to futher appease the world with a weak attempt at a resolution. Meanwhile the U.S. is sending precision weapons to Israel to aide their attack on Hezbollah. And Syria reaches out to talk to the U.S. about this conflict but John Bolton, the worst diplomat ever, quickly refuses the gesture.

Don't forget Dick "Shoot 'em in the Face" Cheney. He's out stumping for the 2006 elections and is using this crisis as a reason why Americans should be stupid enough to "stay the course" and re-elect the rubber stamp Congress we currently are victims of in this country. Unfortunately for the scatter shot VP the bigger terrorists are Israel from my vantage point. Cheney wants this war. He moved his investments around to take advantage of the current events in Lebanon. Here's what he said on Friday: "This conflict is a long way from over," Cheney said at a fundraising appearance for a GOP congressional candidate. "It's going to be a battle that will last for a very long time. It is absolutely essential that we stay the course."

They want the war. They want it to escalate. If it does and Syria is drawn into it be Israeli aggression, then Iran will come to Syria's aid. Which is exactly what Cheney wants because then he can bomb Iran. Which is what the Neocons have been stumping for this last week on all the right-wing news shows when they are calling this conflict the start of World War III.

Cheney-Specter bill ratifies the president's illegal spying

The deal reached between the White House and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) concerning the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program is a "compromise" only in the sense that it compromises our fundamental freedoms as Americans.

The Cheney-Specter bill (S. 2453) ratifies the president's illegal spying and uses the disclosure of this illegal activity as a springboard to authorize even broader spying on Americans.

This bill is worse than the Patriot Act. It gives the president vast new powers, including a blank check to spy on Americans without an individualized warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

If the Cheney-Specter bill passes, President Bush and future presidents will be able to wiretap without showing a court that an American is conspiring with al Qaeda or any foreign power - eliminating the mandatory judicial check required by federal law to protect constitutional rights.

Under the bill, warrantless wiretaps would not be limited to Americans "talking to al Qaeda," which current law already governs, but would sweep in innocent Americans who have done nothing wrong.

The bill eliminates the statutory requirement that the government get a warrant from a court to search Americans' homes or businesses in times of war.