Theodore's World

Image not from ad, to see actual ad see link for Video below write up

New York – Senator Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., took time out from an event commemorating 9/11 to take a swipe at a campaign commercial by John Spencer, her likely Republican opponent in November.
In the commercial, slated to run in New York City and on suburban cable stations, Spencer, the former mayor of Yonkers, accuses Clinton of being soft on national security issues and as such, aiding al-Qaida strongman Osama bin Laden.
It was Clinton who helped lead the Democratic attempt to filibuster the renewal of the Patriot Act, though she eventually voted for it.
The controversial Spencer commercial proceeds to superimpose images of Clinton and bin Laden together.

An angry Sen. Clinton told a group of huddled reporters: “It’s just outrageous that we see for political purposes someone not only being factually inaccurate about my voting record, but putting Osama bin Laden on the TV screen and trying to make a connection with me,” Clinton said.

“This is beyond outrageous. We need to get back to the business of trying to work together in a bipartisan, or really a non-partisan way to win the war against terror. I think people do a great disservice accusing patriotic Americans of being in bed with Osama bin Laden. It is a terrible injustice to use that in a campaign.”

Clinton then added: “I take a seat to nobody when it comes to the issue of national security.”

The Republican primary is slated for Sept. 12, when Spencer is expected to defeat Katherine (KT) McFarland, the only other candidate on the Republican ballot. McFarland, like Clinton has also criticized the Spencer campaign tactics.
Latest polls give Clinton more than a 25 point advantage over either Republican opponent.
The former first lady is seeking her second term as New York’s junior senator and is widely believe to be eyeing a run for the White House.

Here is the LINK to the AD

Bangladesh and France offers troops for Lebanon

UNITED NATIONS – Nearly 50 countries that could contribute the 13,000 new troops needed to expand the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon met Thursday amid concern over the ground rules and firepower the soldiers could use.
Bangladesh pledged up to 2,000 troops and France offered 200, a disappointment to some who expected more from the country likely to lead the force.
In an opening speech, Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said at least 3,500 troops are needed to deploy within 10 days to expand the 2,000-strong U.N. force trying to help maintain an uneasy truce between Israel and Hezbollah militants.
“Every moment we delay is a moment of risk that the fighting could re-erupt,” he said.
Malloch Brown told diplomats from the 49 countries invited to the meeting that details on how the expanded force will operate and the rules of engagement will make clear that “this will be a strong, robust force, equipped and authorized to take all necessary action in its key tasks.”
The U.N. resolution that led to Monday’s cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah after a brutal 34-day war authorized up to 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help 15,000 Lebanese troops extend their authority throughout south Lebanon, which Hezbollah controls, as Israeli troops withdraw. The aim is to create a buffer zone free of Hezbollah fighters between the Litani River and the U.N.-drawn border, about 18 miles to the south.
Malloch Brown said the draft rules of engagement call for the use of force to prevent hostile activities in the buffer zone and to resist attempts to prevent the U.N. force, known as UNIFIL, from discharging its duties. The rules also allow UNIFIL to use force in assisting the Lebanese government if asked to secure its borders to prevent foreign forces, weapons and ammunition from entering the country, he said.
France and Italy said earlier Thursday that the peacekeeping mandate — partly written by the French — is not explicit enough, and demanded the U.N. set clear rules of engagement for troops that would bolster the force. A key concern, not mentioned by Malloch Brown, is whether the force will be called on to disarm Hezbollah fighters, as called for in a September 2004 U.N. resolution.
Even though the Israel withdrawal and handover to U.N. forces has gone well thus far, some potential contributors are believed to be concerned about avoiding confrontation with Hezbollah or being caught in the middle of a future conflict. Germany — uneasy given its Nazi past of any possible military confrontation with Israeli soldiers — said it wouldn’t send any but is expected to provide logistical support.
Italy has said it could quickly send as many as 3,000 soldiers — up from its current contribution of about 50 — but Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s office said that he was pushing for explicit ground rules. In a telephone conversation late Wednesday with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Prodi called for “a clear mandate, without any ambiguity and with very precise rules of engagement, for the soldiers who will be deployed,” the premier’s office said.

UPDATE:
President Jacques Chirac announced Thursday that France will immediately double to 400 troops its contingent in the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
The statement from Chirac’s office came after he spoke by phone with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. France currently leads the UNIFIL force in southern Lebanon, and its decision-making on its role in a strengthened force has been closely watched.
Chirac told Annan that France “will immediately double its current contribution by sending 200 men,” the statement said.
The plan will be presented at a U.N. meeting in New York later Thursday to flesh out which countries will participate in the peacekeeping force as it expands from the current 2,000 troops to as many as 15,000, Chirac’s office said.

Wild Thing’s comment……
That’s almost enough cooks for the fighting men who need to be stationed there. Hey maybe they can teach Hezbollah how to surrender.

Iran to launch major military maneuvers
The Jerusalem Post
Iran will launch a series of large-scale military maneuvers across the country and has not made plans for an end to the ongoing war games, the army said Thursday.

“The maneuvers are aimed at introducing Iran’s new defensive doctrine,” military spokesman Gen. Mohammad Reza Ashtiani was quoted as saying by state-run television.

He said the exercises would begin on Saturday in the south east of the country. “It will continue in the whole of Iran, stage by stage for an unspecified period,” Ashtiani said.

The announcement came as Iran faces heightened international scrutiny because of its contentious nuclear program and for supporting the Lebanese Hizbullah guerrillas.
Iran denies Israeli accusations it is arming and training Hizbullah fighters.
Ashtiani praised Hizbullah for its month-long fight against Israel. “Human forces can decide fate of a war. We saw it in Lebanon,” the general said, echoing Hizbullah claims it won the war by resisting a massive bombing and ground offensive for more than a month before a UN-brokered cease-fire came into place earlier this week.

The military spokesman said Iran’s maneuvers reflected the current level of tension in the Middle East. “We have to be prepared against any threat and we should be a role model for other countries,” local newspapers quoted Gen. Ashtiani, as saying. “Our army is ready to defuse all plots against Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The military exercise, involving 12 infantry regiments, is called “The Blow of Zolfaghar,” in reference to a sword that belonged to Imam Ali, one of the most revered figures of Islam for Shi’ite Muslims. A majority of Iran’s 70 million people are Shi’ite.
On Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said that Iran also plans to boost security patrols on its borders.

Wild Thing’s comment…..
So who are they planning on going to war with?
And here a question I have. When they are at war such the Hezbollah and the so called army of Iran etc. They are supposed to pray 5 times a day, I mean IF they are a good Muslim / Muzzbolla and all. . So how do they work in their prayer time and shooting time.
In the film industry there are stand-ins for us. They stand their when lighting a set and for all kinds of reasons. Does the Iranian military have stand-ins for praying for them? Or maybe they are exempt as long as they are killing innocent people.

The government of Iran is going from building to building in Tehran, smashing satellite dishes. This can only be construed as an effort to cut Iranians off, as much as possible, from news originating in the outside world.

And from Deja vu — Judith Apter Klinghoffer

Hundreds of police in Tehran have begun dismantling satellite antenna dishes from the city’s rooftops – part of a campaign to prevent Iranians from watching Western television programmes. The move follows a recent police order that all satellite dishes – officially banned but tolerated until now – be removed. The campaign against satellite television was launched by the Minister for Culture and Islamic Orientation, Hassan Saffar Harandi, who said “we have to halt the West’s cultural offensive,” on Iran.
Some observers believe that the clampdown is aimed at keeping the government’s control over news regarding Iran’s dispute with the international community regarding its nuclear programme.
The government on Tuesday reiterated its intention to respond to a package of incentives, devised by the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, to persuade Tehran to drop its uranium enrichment plans.

A little more information:

Tehran, 16 August (AKI) – Hundreds of police in Tehran have begun dismantling satellite antenna dishes from the city’s rooftops – part of a campaign to prevent Iranians from watching Western television programmes. The move follows a recent police order that all satellite dishes – officially banned but tolerated until now – be removed. The campaign against satellite television was launched by the Minister for Culture and Islamic Orientation, Hassan Saffar Harandi, who said “we have to halt the West’s cultural offensive,” on Iran.
Some observers believe that the clampdown is aimed at keeping the government’s control over news regarding Iran’s dispute with the international community regarding its nuclear programme.
The government on Tuesday reiterated its intention to respond to a package of incentives, devised by the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, to persuade Tehran to drop its uranium enrichment plans.
In recent months, all news coverage on the issue in Iran has had to be done with the approval of the Supreme Council of National Security, prompting people who wish to be informed by non-government sources to watch and listen to television and radio programmes broadcast from abroad.

Wild Thing’s comment…..
If our government did that to us can you just imagine what would happen?! Even for people that seldom watch TV shows, news shows or care about world events. To be under that kind of government control sure shows me how afraid the Iran government is of their people finding things out. Little cowards one and all in that Iran government. But wait, are they still going to make those incessant stupid threatening videos they send to us that we see on FOX News, CNN and other networks?

* HNN…Judith Apter Klinghoffer
* Vital Perspective

Weapons from Iran discovered in Iraq’s port city
An array of weapons made in Iran were discovered in Iraq’s southern port city of Um Qasr, the Iraqi television channel al-Zora reported on Monday. In the weapons cache were hundreds of Katyusha rockets and mortar shells as well as several thousand light arms, the report said, adding that the weapons had all been manufactured in neighbouring Iran.
The weapons were discovered in the city’s al-Hora district, it said.
Um Qasr, the country’s largest deepwater port city, is close to the city of Basra which Iraqi officials say has become a hub for agents of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).

Wild Thing’s comment…..
So what is the deal are we supposed to imagine that the weapons were not allowed to continue through or what. Talk about half assed reporting.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ORGAN E, Afghanistan – Army Capt. Paul Deis, Civil Affairs Officer for 27th Engineer Battalion from Fort Bragg, N.C., hands out humanitarian assistance supplies to Afghan children. The 27th Engineers accomplished another milestone recently in Afghanistan with the joint opening of a solar well and water tower in the town of Sarobi in Paktika Province.

BAGHDAD – U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jessie Mendez, military working dog handler, 2nd Security Forces, Barksdale Air Force Base, Shreveport, La., attached to Multi-National Division – Baghdad’s 4th Infantry Division, waits while his assigned dog, “King,” takes a breather from searching buildings and cars during a joint clearance operation conducted by Iraqi National Police and Soldiers from Company C, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, in the Abu T’Shir neighborhood Saturday. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin Lovel, 363rd MPAD)

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David J. Spicer looks through an Iraqi’s truck while conducting a snap vehicle checkpoint near Gharmah, Iraq. Marines from 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment conducted snap VCPs to try to catch insurgents moving supplies. The VCPs restrict the insurgents’ abilities to gain free movement in the region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Erik Villagran)

GHARMAH, Iraq, Aug. 16, 2006 — Marines from 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, are demonstrating to insurgents there is no safe passage through their area of operations.
Marines from the battalion’s Weapons Company performed mounted and dismounted patrols in Gharmah, to interrupt insurgents moving in the area. The aim was to disrupt insurgent activity, interdict insurgents and weapons being transported through the area and maintain security in the region.
Vehicle checkpoints are important because, although, we don’t always catch people, it shows we are out here,” said Lance Cpl. Thomas A. Upton, a 20-year-old assaultman from Mooresville, N.C. “We’re still constricting the flow of supplies from the north to the south.”
Marines stopped vehicles along a road in the area, searching the drivers and passengers. At the same time, Marines checked every corner of the vehicle – peeking under hood, into trunks and even in the fold in seat cushions – for hidden weapons or insurgent paraphernalia.
Most times, searches went without incident. Identifications were returned. Marines thanked the Iraqis for their patience and they were sent on their way.
Still there was one intense moment
One Iraqi driver approached the checkpoint and stopped his car. He hesitated a moment, drove in reverse and stopped once more. Then he approached the checkpoint one more time, passing the first Marines guarding the checkpoint.
Another Marine grabbed a signal flare and shot it over the top the Iraqi’s truck. He stopped immediately as Marines approached the truck.
The vehicle was inspected and nothing was found. The driver told Marines he was in a hurry.

“Popping the pop-up was the right thing to do,” said Sgt. Tim C. Stellhorn, a 23-year-old section leader from Batlimore. “It was the correct step in the escalation of force.”

The outcome could have been worse for the driver but the Marines did not lose their nerve. They kept their composure, holding their fire and keeping an innocent Iraqi from getting harmed.

“They did what they were trained to do,” said Gunnery Sgt. Shawn M. Dempsey, a 33-year-old platoon commander from Jersey City, N.J.

Marines collapsed the checkpoint and moved along into the city to patrol through the maze of buildings. They stopped to search homes and speak to Iraqis, learning of their needs and concerns and asking about insurgent activity in the region.
Dempsey said he planned to continue conducting checkpoints to interfere with insurgents’ plans. The checkpoints and patrols, he explained, remind the insurgents Marines are always on the prowl, never allowing the insurgents a chance to get established and launch attacks against Marines, Iraqi Security Forces and terrorize local residents.

“I think checkpoints are effective as long as we don’t set a routine,” Dempsey said.

Stellhorn said he was pleased with his Marines’ actions from the day’s activities. He said they kept their wits about them and maintained their awareness despite the heat and long hours of walking through the city.

“The patrol went well,” Stellhorn said. “The VCP’s looked good. The Marines are tired but they are working real hard.”

The battalion is serving with Regimental Combat Team 5 near Fallujah.

Former US president Jimmy Carter: “I don’t think that Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon.”
And his recent Spiegel interview HERE
Former US president Jimmy Carter speaks with DER SPIEGEL about the danger posed to American values by George W. Bush, the difficult situation in the Middle East and Cuba’s ailing Fidel Castro.

Carter: “I don’t think that Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon. What happened is that Israel is holding almost 10,000 prisoners, so when the militants in Lebanon or in Gaza take one or two soldiers, Israel looks upon this as a justification for an attack on the civilian population of Lebanon and Gaza. I do not think that’s justified, no.”

Wild Thing’s comment…..
The same man who couldn’t get a handful of American hostages freed. And then there is the Panama Canal………..sheesh the list with this jerk is very long.
And I actually thought that the damage he wanted to do this country would have ended on 1-20-81. Not even close. He keeps on going and going.

A dear friend Delftsman is back at the hospital, waiting to get a room in a cardiac unit.
Please say a prayer for Delfts.
Thank you so much

Israel Finds Evidence That Syria, Iran Arm Hezbollah With Russian Weapons
Wed, 16 Aug 2006, 01:04
Abandoned Hezbollah positions in Lebanon yesterday revealed conclusive evidence that Syria — and almost certainly Iran — provided the Russian-made anti-tank missiles that have blunted the power of Israel’s once invincible armor, the Daily Telegraph reported.
After one of the fiercest confrontations of the war, Israeli forces took the small town of Ghandouriyeh, east of the southern city of Tyre, on Sunday evening, hours before a ceasefire brokered by the United Nations took effect.
At least 24 Israeli soldiers were killed in the advance on the strategic hilltop town as Hezbollah fighters were pushed back to its outskirts, abandoning many weapons.
The discovery helped to explain the slow progress made by Israeli ground forces in nearly five weeks of a war which Hezbollah last night claimed as “a historic victory.” Israeli political and military leaders are facing mounting criticism over the conduct of the offensive, which was intended to smash the Iranian-backed Shia militia.
Outside one of the town’s two mosques a van was found filled with green casings about 6ft long. The serial numbers identified them as AT-5 Spandrel anti-tank missiles. The wire-guided weapon was developed in Russia but Iran began making a copy in 2000.
Beyond no-man’s land, in the east of the village, was evidence of Syrian-supplied hardware. In a garden next to a junction used as an outpost by Hezbollah lay eight Kornet anti-tank rockets, described by Brig Mickey Edelstein, the commander of the Nahal troops who took Ghandouriyeh, as “some of the best in the world”.

Written underneath a contract number on each casing were the words: “Customer: Ministry of Defence of Syria. Supplier: KBP, Tula, Russia.”

Brig Edelstein said: “If they tell you that Syria knew nothing about this, just look. This is the evidence. Proof, not just talk.”

The discovery of the origin of the weapons proved to the Israelis that their enemy was not a ragged and lightly armed militia but a semi-professional army equipped by Syria and Iran to take on Israel. The weapons require serious training to operate and could be beyond the capabilities of some supposedly regular armies in the Middle East. The Kornet was unveiled by Russia in 1994. It is laser-guided, has a range of three miles and carries a double warhead capable of penetrating the reactive armour on Israeli Merkava tanks. Russia started supplying them to Syria in 1998.
Israeli forces were taken by surprise by the sophistication of the anti-tank weapons they faced. They are believed to have accounted for many of the 116 deaths the army suffered. Dozens of tanks were hit and an unknown number destroyed.
The missiles were also used against infantry, in one case bringing down a house and killing nine soldiers. They played an important part in Hezbollah’s tactics of using a network of concealed positions to set up ambushes for the Israelis as they inched in.
Last night, Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, said his men had achieved “a strategic, historic victory” over “a confused, cowardly and defeated” enemy. He said the militia would not disarm, as Israel and the UN Security Council were demanding. It would be “immoral, incorrect and inappropriate,” he said. “It is the wrong timing on a pyschological and moral level.”
As the militia leader was claiming victory, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, defended his handling of the crisis and said that the massive air, ground and sea attack had changed the face of the Middle East. But he admitted that the military and political leadership was guilty of “shortcomings”, not least in underestimating the threat from anti-tank weapons.
Critics say that he placed too much faith in the ability of the air force to break the back of Hezbollah and delayed launching a major ground offensive until it was too late.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud Party leader and a rival, said:

“There were many failures — failures on identifying the threat, failures in preparing to meet the threat, failures in the management of the war, failures in the management of the home front.”

Last night, President George W. Bush blamed Iran and Syria for fomenting the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. “We can only imagine how much more dangerous this conflict would be if Iran had the nuclear weapon it seeks,” he said.

Wild Thing’s comment…….
I am not surprised at all. Thanks for nothing Russia you must want to go backward in history instead of forward. Sure we can say Russia is doing this to garner protection to their country, but in all honesty I think it goes much deeper and sicker then that. It is one thing to know your enemy and we should, it is another thing to sleep with them. Will the Hezbollah call you in the morning Russia? Only time will tell.

The Jerusalem Post
Kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who is being held in the Gaza Strip, will be released only if Israel agrees to free thousands of Palestinian prisoners, a senior Hamas official announced on Tuesday.
The announcement came as Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas held a closed meeting in Gaza City with PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and urged him to release Shalit immediately. The two also discussed the possibility of establishing a national unity government.
Abbas, who arrived in the Gaza Strip on Monday, called on Hamas to release Shalit in return for promises that Israel would free Palestinian prisoners in the future. Abbas suggested that the soldier be handed over to the Egypt, which has been acting as a mediator ever since Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas last June. Egyptian mediators have been trying to persuade Hamas to soften its position, but to no avail.

“Israel must pay a heavy price for its soldier,” said Khalil al-Hayeh, head of Hamas’s parliamentary list. “We have rejected demands to release the soldier in return for promises that Israel would release our prisoners sometime in the future.”

Hayeh said Hamas was “disturbed” by pressure on the kidnappers to release Shalit unconditionally: “To all those who are exerting pressure on us, we say: Enough!” No Palestinian will ever agree to the release of the Israeli soldier without getting anything in return. They know what our conditions are and I don’t think that they are hard to fulfill.”

At the meeting, Abbas briefed Haniyeh on the outcome of his recent tour of Arab countries and discussed with him the prospects of forming a joint Fatah-Hamas government.
PA officials said after the meeting that there was still no room for optimism regarding the fate of Shalit. They pointed out that while Haniyeh appeared to be flexible on the issue, he clearly does not have influence on the kidnappers.

“Haniyeh wants to resolve the case by tomorrow,” one official told The Jerusalem Post. “His problem is that he has no control over the kidnappers and their patrons in Syria and Iran.”

For the rest of the article see The Jerusalem Post HERE