Saturday, January 07, 2006

Sharon's Final Battle and Iran's Opening Gambit

Prime Minister Sharon's condition is stable for the moment and doctors are continuing to monitor his condition closely. The latest CT scans show additional improvement, but Sharon will remain in an induced coma.

Kadima is uniting behind Olmert, which makes it highly likely that the party will not only remain together going forward into the March elections, but that the party will maintain the support that it has garnered thus far. Olmert is looking like the frontrunner for the upcoming elections.

Environmental Republican has some interesting thoughts about the comments made earlier this week by both Pat Robertson and Iranian nutbar Ahmadinejad.
I was waiting to hear who would say the first despicable thing about Sharon's condition. Turns out it came from two likely sources; the demented Pat Robertson (a man of God who may just be turned away at the pearly gates) and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (a man who one can hope is forced to watch more righteous men getting busy with 72 virgins from the other side of the fence before decending to where he belongs).


Meanwhile, Israeli police and the Shin Bet have arrested Jaris Jaris and have accused him of spying for Iran. Jaris intended to run for the Knesset.
Jaris Jaris, 57, was arrested on December 12, after police discovered that he had been recruited by Iran and was asked to use his political contacts to infiltrate the government and the Israeli political system.

Jaris, police said, fled Israel in 1970 and moved to Lebanon after he was caught operating a Fatah terror cell. Once in Lebanon, Jaris continued working for the Fatah and was responsible for sending terrorists across the border into Israel. In 1996, Jaris returned to Israel together with additional officials from the Palestinian Authority and from May 2001 until November 2003 he served as the head of the Fasuta Local Council.

In September 2004, police said, Jaris traveled to Cyprus to meet with Hani Abdullah - a friend he made in Lebanon - to promote the establishment of a joint research center. Abdullah told Jaris that the center, if he wanted, could be funded by the Hizbullah and Iran. Jaris agreed.

Two months later, police said, Abdullah called Jaris and told him to come to Cyprus to meet an Iranian donor for the center. During his police interrogation, Jaris admitted that the man he met was from Iranian Intelligence. The agent asked Jaris to "infiltrate the Israeli political system, to create political contacts and to join an existing Israeli political party," police said.

Jaris joined Meretz towards the end of 2004 and in conversations with political activists expressed interest in becoming a member of Knesset. Three months later, Jaris visited Cyprus for a third time where he met with two Iranian agents who asked him about his past and his connections with politicians in Israel. Following the meeting, Jaris was asked to try and establish contacts with the top political echelon.
Atlas Shrugs has continuing coverage on Iran's plans and intentions.

Iran continues to crack down on free speech, shutting newspapers and outlets that might criticize the mad mullahs. And they're playing the Russians to boot.

UPDATE:
The latest news reports indicate that Sharon will very likely survive the stroke that Sharon suffered on Wednesday. Survival is one thing, quality of life is quite another.
Cohen warned, however, that the prime minister remained in serious condition, and noted: "He will not continue to be prime minister, but maybe he will be able to understand and to speak."

On Sunday morning, an interdisciplinary team of experts at Hadassah-University Medical Center will assess Sharon's condition, then decide whether to perform another computerized tomography (CT) scan of his brain and when to gradually reduce the amount of drugs that have kept him in an induced coma.


UPDATE:
Gates of Vienna has a thought provoking posting comparing Sharon to Abe Lincoln. It's definitely worth a read.

Thankfully there are still some folks worrying about Iran. I know I do. Iran's probing and prodding to exploit weaknesses, including that caused by Sharon's illness. And there are plenty of them - from the EU and IAEA inability to hold Iran to its commitments, to the UN's utter inability to act because countries like Russia and China counter any efforts to hold Iran accountable. All the while, Iran marches closer to having the nuclear weapons they crave.

Oh, and for the record, these folks worrying about the Iranian threat are being critical of the US for not doing more. That means they're criticizing Bush. I agree. More must be done, even if it means expanding the problem in Iraq - considering that the Iranians are busy assisting the terrorists with materials and personnel that are used to kill Americans in Iraq, the threat needs to be addressed, and soon.

Israel is issuing a retort to Ahmadinejad's comments - they're starting an anti-Ahmadinejad website. It's a start, but we already have an unofficial one. It's called Atlas Shrugs.


Posted to: Wizbang and Basil's Blog and Mudville Gazette.

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