Operation Cast Lead: Day 8

Hamas continues firing kassams and mortars into Israel in the hopes of killing and maiming Israelis. It's wanton destruction that Hamas is after, and they've gotten lucky.

Israel is continuing its airstrikes against Hamas, so Hamas' latest statements are that they intend to capture more IDF soldiers to be used as pawns to demand the release of Palestinian terrorists from Israeli jails.

Gilad Shalit remains in Hamas clutches, and it's been more than 2.5 years since he was captured. I still don't hear demands on Hamas to release Shalit as a humanitarian gesture. Perhaps the real reason for the silence on that front is the fact that everyone recognizes that Hamas is incapable of engaging in humanitarian actions. Israel has repeatedly engaged in prisoner releases, and Israel has suffered for it - as some of those released have gone back to kill again. It's a self-destructive policy and it undermines Israel's national security.

The diplomats continue to engage in pseudoreality, hoping to get a sustainable truce. That includes US Secretary of State Condi Rice. There is no such thing. Hamas violated the last truce within five days - it was incapable of going more than a few days without the urge to kill Israelis. Hamas has no intention of ever engaging in a sustainable truce - a real genuine one that involves Hamas laying down its arms; it would go against their religious and ideological beliefs.

The UN continues to worry more about what Israel might do to Gaza than to what Hamas has done to Israel over the years. Years of rocket attacks didn't spur much of a response from the UN, but the threat that Israel might go after Hamas in a ground operation has gotten the UN into a frenzy.

It really comes as no surprise that a majority of Democrats and leftists are against Israel's ability to defend itself from terror attacks. These are the same people who have hamstrung America's ability to protect itself and have engaged in lawfare that benefits no one but terrorists captured on battlefields around the world. These are the same people who extend Geneva Convention protections to a class of people specifically excluded from such protections.

Terrorists don't believe in human rights or the Geneva Convention. They aren't reading Miranda rights to those they kidnap - and then truly torture and brutally murder. Hamas celebrates the brutal murders of Israelis and aspires to so much more blood running - so long as it's Israelis who die. Then again, they don't mind if Palestinians die in huge numbers either, since the media backlash against Israel is useful for the terrorists as well.

And time and time again the media complies. Hamas uses the dead as props. Let's just ignore how and why that came to pass. Terrorists hiding behind women and children, indoctrinating children into a nihilistic and genocidal world where Israel cannot be allowed to exist. Hamas, and the other Islamic terror groups think nothing of turning children into suicide bombers. They glorify, extol, and honor terrorists who kill Jews.

Hamas teaches hatred and venom. The idea that there is a path other than terrorism doesn't even enter their consciousness. Israel's destruction is the only priority.

Of course, that hatred and venom is shared by more than just Hamas. Their supporters around the world - including many Muslims call for jihad as well. That's holy war of a non-spiritual nature to kill the infidels and nonbelievers.

UPDATE:
Still more kassams have been fired into Israel by Hamas, and the targets remain women and children. Hamas knows that Israeli military forces are nearby, and yet they're still targeting Sderot, Ashdod, and beyond. This isn't about attacking Israel's military, but to kill civilians.

Israel responded by taking out another major Hamas terrorist.

If Hamas had chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapons, they would have used them against Israel - not only to kill as many Jews as possible, but to provoke a regional conflict since Hamas could procure such weapons from only a few places - namely Iran or Syria.

While Palestinians throw Molotov cocktails at Israeli hospitals, Israeli doctors are busy treating Gazans who were injured in the fight at those same hospitals. Palestinians receiving medical care for their injuries try to injure the same doctors who are trying to treat them.

Arabs march in Israel to protest Israel's defense against the rocket attacks, but refuse to speak out against the incessant terrorist attacks from their brothers and sisters in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas is set to release Hamas thugs from his jails. That's a partner in peace? These are terrorists helping fellow terrorists. Fatah can be trusted no more than Hamas can.

UPDATE:
The ground campaign has begun, and I wish the IDF good hunting. The second phase of Operation Cast Lead has begun. The Israelis are going to take plenty of flak from the usual suspects, whether it's the insanely biased media that ignores kassam attacks on Israel, but focuses intently on Israel's response or the Islamists around the world that call for Israel's destruction at the drop of a hat and need no pretext to do so.

It's interesting that the Israelis have allowed a foreign reporter working for Iranian press to cover the story from inside Israel. The authorities are looking for him now, because he leaked details prior to the official kickoff announcement as permitted by the military establishment. In other words, this journalist was hoping to give Hamas and their terror masters a hint at the oncoming attacks.

UPDATE:
The jihadis have found themselves face to face with Israeli forces on the ground in Northern Gaza. Ynet reports that multiple terrorists have been wounded as the IDF has taken hold of areas from which Hamas has regularly fired kassams towards Israel.

Army officials confirmed that dozens of terrorists were hurt in clashes with IDF ground troops, some of them were killed. In several cases, armed terrorists approached Israeli forces and were shot at by ground troops and IDF gunships. There are no reports of Israeli casualties at this time.

Large IDF ground forces, including Armored and Engineering corps units, as well as infantry soldiers are currently operating in the Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun areas, from which rockets have been launched toward Israel.

The army is preparing to enter the third phase of the operation, which is expected to be much broader in scope. In this framework tens of thousands of reserve soldiers will be pouring into training bases in north and south Israel during the early hours of Sunday morning.

At least 20 terrorists have been killed. Hamas has reported that they've killed Israeli soldiers. Hamas is also attempting to track down those they consider are collaborators and are killing and maiming them. Many are affiliated with Fatah.

Even now, the rockets continue hitting Israel and injuring Israelis. We can expect the attacks to continue, and perhaps intensify as Hamas tries to fire off what it has left before Israel destroys them in place. Meanwhile, Israel has to watch that Hizbullah doesn't attempt to open a second front. Israel faced just that situation during the Hizbullah war in 2006 as Hamas began launching barrages to take the heat off Hizbullah.

The UN does what it always does - ignore that Hamas is a terrorist group dedicated to Israel's destruction and instead focuses on Israel's sovereign right to defend itself and finds fault with that.

The Spanish Foreign Ministry chooses terrorists over Israel. Nice. Stay classy Spain. The Islamists will destroy you last, or so you think.

The Stability Fallacy

The peace process. Negotiations between Hamas and Israel. Conflict avoidance. All are undertaken in the name of seeking stability in the Middle East.

Since when is stability a good thing in a region where all too many regimes seek to do the US (or Israel) harm?

Since when is stability a good thing in a region where those decisions to stabilize matters means that terrorist groups end up having a veto over the democratic government in Lebanon?

Since when is stability a good thing when a terrorist group gets to set up shop on the border with Israel and continues a war of attrition?

Stability is now the name of the game since President Bush has only months left in his term as President. So, that's why we get Secretary of State Condi Rice peddling stability as an end unto itself. She now says that power-sharing in Lebanon between Hizbullah and the other political factions is necessary.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday she welcomes a new power-sharing arrangement in Lebanon even though it increased the power of Hezbollah militants at the expense of U.S.-backed moderates.

"Obviously in any compromise there are compromises," Rice said during a surprise visit to meet Lebanon's new consensus choice for president. The election of former army chief, Michel Suleiman, last month is the clearest sign that Lebanon stepped back from the brink and that the deal with Iranian-backed Hezbollah is taking hold.

Hezbollah's ascendancy is a bitter pill for the U.S., which is worried that Iran's influence is spreading in the Middle East and had spent millions backing the Lebanese government for three years.

Rice's blessing is a sign that the Bush administration has accepted that Western-backed democratic leaders who helped Lebanon throw off three decades of Syrian domination could not govern the country alone. Lebanese politics operate on ambiguity and consensus, and in this case that meant giving veto power to Hezbollah, a militia and political force that the United States lists as a terrorist group.

Where does one start with this muddled mess that supposedly passes as analysis by MSNBC?

Syria is still in charge in Lebanon, precisely through its proxy force in the face of Hizbullah. They are still pulling the strings. The Syrians might not have their armed soldiers roaming the streets, but Hizbullah has enabled them to retain control and expand the sphere of influence for both Syria and Iran. Millions of Lebanese will suffer more for it.

The compromise that made the situation in Lebanon a reality came about because the March 14 lost its will to stand up for what it believed in and the belief that accommodation with Hizbullah would prevent a bloody civil war. Never mind that Hizbullah already engaged in a destructive war with Israel and seeks to do so once again. By deciding to cave now, the likelihood for an even more destructive war in the future is all too real. Hizbullah hasn't changed its motivations, and by controlling what happens in Lebanon, it can game the system wholly to its benefit.

And that means that the Lebanese lose. Israel loses. And the notion of stability loses.

Same Old Song and Dance

US Secretary of State Condi Rice is busy trying to get Israel to make more concessions, particularly on the issue of settlements in the West Bank. This is the same issue that crops up every few years. The Palestinians complain, whine and seethe over Israel's construction of housing settlements on areas captured from Jordan in 1967 saying that they're an impediment to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

It's utter bunk, since the Palestinian terrorists, including Fatah and Hamas, seek all of Israel for their own thugocracy. They don't want to limit their demands to just areas captured by Israel in 1967, but seek all of Israel.

And while Rice is busy trying to force Israel to stop construction of housing projects, the diplomats are busy ignoring the incessant rocket barrages fired by the Palestinians against Israel. The latest kassam barrages injured one Israeli. Oh, and there were mortar attacks as well. Despite all this, Egyptian officials are claiming that a ceasefire agreement between the terrorists and Israel may be concluded in days.

We've heard this before, and it will only provide the terrorists with an opportunity to regroup and rearm. Again.

Meanwhile,
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert continues talking with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, discussing permanent borders, despite the fact that Abbas and his Fatah thugs don't control Gaza and are barely in control of Palestinian Authority areas in the West Bank.

"These were the most serious talks the sides have ever conducted," said Mark Regev, spokesman for the PM's Office. A senior Israeli official added that major progress was achieved mainly on the issue of the permanent borders of a future Palestinian state and the security arrangements such a development would entail.

However, no progress as reported on the core issues of Jerusalem and the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

Olmert's meeting with Abbas was held just a few hours after the PM met Condoleezza Rice for the second time during the US secretary of state's 2-day visit to the region. Rice left Israel a short while later.

Considering that the Palestinians want to divide Jerusalem and demand that the Palestinians have a right to return to land within the borders of Israel and have never wavered from those points in decades of demands, nothing will change unless and until the Palestinians give up the ghost and recognize Israel's inalienable rights to Jerusalem and recognize that the right of return for Palestinians will not happen.

The Palestinians are hoping to use those two issues to get the media to portray Israel as the party that stands in the way of peace, despite the fact that these issues go to the core of Palestinian long term plans to undermine Israel's right to exist and Israel's identity as a Jewish state. What they cannot win in war, they hope to change through negotiations and demographics. The Palestinians hope to use the issue of refugees - grossly inflated numbers of Palestinians who were displaced in 1948 and 1967 and who the UN now considers all their descendants as refugees despite never having lived in Israel - as a wedge against Israel with no concessions on their part.

Once again, we're watching the Palestinians make demands on Israel with Israel getting no concessions from the Palestinians other than lip service to carrying out previously agreed-to obligations that they've failed to carry out for years.

The Israeli Shas party says that they will resign from the government should Olmert make any concessions over the status of Jerusalem, but I wonder just how dedicated they are to that proposition since we know that the issue of Jerusalem continues to come up in negotiations and discussions between Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinians want to make Jerusalem their capital despite the fact that Jerusalem was never a Palestinian capital and the Palestinians want to redivide the capital.

The UN, for its part, continues to play lackey for the Palestinians, claiming that they can't deliver food shipments in Gaza because Israel is not allowing fuel shipments. It's utter bunk, and the responsibility for the situation in Gaza resides wholly on the shoulders of the Palestinians - it is their ongoing war against Israel, including attacks against the very same Israel fuel depots that supply Gaza with fuel that has resulted in the shortages in Gaza when combined with Hamas thugs taking their customary cut of whatever aid enters Gaza plus hoarding by those terrorists.

Terrorists Target Preschool Center; Calm Exuded By Media

Once again, Palestinian terrorists fired kassam rockets at Israel, and by the good fortune of a teacher's quick reactions, no children were killed when kassam rockets slammed into a preschool building.

Three Kassam rockets were fired at Israel from the northern Gaza Strip on Friday morning, one of them hitting the outer wall of a preschool in one of the kibbutzim in the Sha'ar Hanegev region moments after the children were taken inside by their teacher.

The teacher and a parent of one of the children suffered shock and the building was damaged.

Two other Kassam rockets that were fired at the western Negev landed in open areas and caused no wounded or damage.

This is all part of the media's coverage of the ongoing calm in the Palestinian war on Israel. The US media in particular ignores the ongoing kassam rocket fire and terrorist attacks against Israel, except and until Israel mounts a response that results in dead terrorists in larger numbers. This is just background noise for the media.

Meanwhile, Hamas' leader, Khalid Meshaal defends the use of kassams against Israeli children, but says that they'll consider the benefits of a hudna. That suggests that Hamas has either: 1) been getting pummeled and Hamas needs a breather; or 2) needs time to rearm as they're almost out of kassams to strike Israel with.

In either case, Israel should accelerate its attacks on Hamas and not give them the opportunity to conduct more attacks. Any truce, hudna, or pregnant pause in Israel's defensive actions will only benefit the terrorist group.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak warns that Hamas is in a position that they could very easily eliminate Fatah in the West Bank. No kidding. Fatah has repeatedly shown itself incapable of dealing with Hamas and yet the Israelis and the West (including the US and EU) continue to live in dreamworld by pumping hundreds of millions of dollars and euros into Fatah, despite the fact that Fatah cannot and will not fulfill its obligations under Oslo to curtail terrorism and incitement to violence against Israel. They may think that throwing enough money at the problem will coopt the Fatah thugs, but all it does is enrich the leadership while allowing the terrorists to operate with fresh infusions of funds for their operations.

Secretary of State Condi Rice is once again heading to the region to try and keep the process going. Resistance is futile, despite the fact that there is no process when the Palestinians continually refuse to accept Israel's very right to exist. You cannot have peace or a peace process unless and until you get past that key point.

State Department Reports Still More Passport File Breaches

After yesterday's report noting that two contract workers were fired and a third suspended for unauthorized access to Presidential candidate Democrat Barack Obama, we have learned today that other individuals engaged in the same conduct with regard to Democrat Hillary Clinton's records and Republican John McCain's records.

Rice expressed concern over the privacy violations as well as the fact that they weren't reported right away. Rice said the incident "should have been made known to senior management. It was not to my knowledge and we also want to take every step we can to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again."

Rice said the State Department will launch a "full investigation." Spokesman Sean McCormack said the probe wiould include checks to see whether the records of Clinton and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., were also breached.

McCormack said the three employees involved in the unauthorized looks into Obama's personal records do not appear to be connected and were in three different passport offices in the Washington, D.C. area.

This morning McCormack said Acting Inspector General Bill Todd has been in touch with the Department of Justice "so they can proceed together" in case the IG's investigation determines any laws were broken.

In a hasty late-night conference call Thursday, embarrassed officials of the State Department acknowledged that two employees had been fired and a third disciplined for improperly accessing Obama's passport file.

Today McCormack said he wasn't trying to suggest anything other than the initial assessment that the employees were anything other than curious Obama fans but was not dimissive of other possibilities.

The State Department has a serious problem on its hands with unauthorized access to these records. Damage control efforts are underway, but if someone could access those records, they just as easily could be looking at other records of the average joe, and use them for more nefarious purposes.

UPDATE:
Sen. Obama now wants to get Congress involved and have them investigate the State Department. He says that it's to keep the investigation from being a purely internal matter. It should be an open investigation, but Congress will do what it always does - grandstand before the cameras.

UPDATE:
Also following the story: Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, and Stop the ACLU.

UPDATE:
Meet the companies whose employees are responsible for the security breaches:

Two of the government contractors who accessed Sen. Barack Obama's passport records worked for a Virginia-based firm called Stanley, Inc., the company said in a statement. A third contractor who looked at passport information for Sen. Obama and Sen. John McCain worked for a company called The Analysis Corporation, the State Department said.

"Two Stanley subcontractor employees were involved in the unauthorized access of Senator Barack Obama's passport files," a Stanley, Inc., spokeswoman said. "In each of these instances the employee was terminated the day the unauthorized search occurred."

"While this is a rare occurrence, we regret the unauthorized access of any individual's private information," Stanley spokeswoman Joelle Pozza added.

Stanley, Inc., is headquartered in Arlington, Va. The State Department awarded it a contract for $164 million in 2006, to print and mail millions of new U.S. passports. Stanley announced on Monday that it was awarded an additional $570 million contract to "continue support of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs/Passport Services Directorate."

One Stanley, Inc., contractor looked at Obama's passport records on January 9, and then a second Stanley employee accessed similar Obama records on February 21, U.S. officials familiar with the controversy told NBC News. The Stanley spokeswoman would not identify the workers or explain why they had accessed Obama's passport data. The State Department Inspector General is now investigating.

Another contractor, who worked for The Analysis Corporation of McLean, Va., gained unauthorized access on March 14 to the passport records for Obama and McCain, a State Department spokesman said. That employee's employment status is pending.

Resurrecting a Dead Process

So, suicidal tendencies by Palestinian terrorists will not stop Sec. State Rice from trying to resurrect a totally dead and hopeless peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

How many times do you have to hit your head against the same problem to realize the futility of trying to force a terrorist group and its minions to stop its ideological and theological war against Israel's very existence to try and make peace with Israel?

It can't be done. In fact, it's delusional to think that a deal can be done in 2008. There's absolutely no reason to think that the Palestinians will simply give up their ideological and theological opposition to Israel's existence.

Fatah is incapable of doing it - they can't even bother eliminating the "symbolic" stuff in their own charter calling for Israel's destruction. If they can't do that, how can you trust them to do anything else, like stop the rocket attacks and all the other plotting of attacks against Israel that occur on a daily basis. Indeed, they were supposed to do that all the way back in 1993, and have never done so. 15 years later, and the calls for incitement are present in the Palestinian media just as they were back then. The mullahs call for Israel's destruction and the Palestinian media gives them a bully pulpit on which calls for Israel's destruction are broadcast regularly.

And Fatah is the least of Israel's concerns, given that if Israel weren't in the West Bank, Fatah there would likely fall to Hamas within days, giving the jihadi group control over both Gaza and West Bank from which to expand its war against Israel.

Hamas Claims Gaza "Victory" As Israel Pulls Back

Proving, once again, exactly what Lawhawk has been saying since the first day he created this blog (and for several years before that as well), any sign of diplomacy, any sign of humanity, any sign of capitulation, is seen and exploited as weakness.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli troops pulled out of the Gaza Strip on Monday after a U.S. appeal to end days of fighting that killed more than 100 Palestinians and rescue peace talks.

The Hamas Islamists who control the coastal enclave declared "victory" and vowed to continue firing rockets into Israel, launching one into the main southern city of Ashkelon shortly after the troops withdrew, and wounding one person.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that despite the end of the five-day operation, Israel would pursue further military action in Gaza until rocket fire was reduced significantly.

"We are not willing to show tolerance, period. We will respond," Olmert said in broadcast remarks.

A senior Israeli official said, however, there would be a "two-day interval" for a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Israel had been under pressure from its allies in Washington to halt the violence after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended U.S.-backed peace talks in protest at the bloodshed.

Speaking after the pullout, senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the talks, which Washington hopes can result in a statehood deal this year, would remain frozen for now.

"We are working hard to reach a full calm, a full cessation of hostilities. We want to make sure that what happened will not recur," Erekat said.

Addressing his centrist Kadima party, Olmert said he hoped to continue talks with Abbas, but "under no circumstances will we restrain ourselves in the face of terror from Gaza."

In Gaza City, several thousand Hamas supporters took to the streets in celebration of the withdrawal. Some snapped festive photographs with gunmen as the chant "The invaders fled and the army of Jews was defeated" rang out from loudspeakers.

Israel concedes to the United States desires and Hamas turns around and says they won. This despite over 100 casualties on the Palestinian side. Also, have the rocket attacks stopped? NO!!! They vowed to continue them.

Olmert has a problem. He has no idea how to deal with the current situation. Truthfully, he wants peace, and seems caught up in the rhetoric that Fatah is the better terrorist group to deal with. Hamas and Fatah will only allow peace when they achieve their goal. Unfortunately, their goal is not coexistence with Israel. It is Israel's destruction.

Add to that the fact that Iran and Syria are funding and supporting them, and you have several countries with the stated goal and intention to destroy Israel. And the world takes a blind eye and calls for Israeli restraint, or worse, cites Israeli "human rights violations" for their retaliation attacks. Forget the thousands of rockets and mortars falling on Israeli cities. Forget the terrorist attacks that are attempted daily. The word focuses on Israel and not the cause of the problem.

Steel Rain

Yet again, the Palestinian terrorists fire rockets at Israel, and yet the diplomats act as though nothing is happening. This time, the target was in Northern Israel - Shlomi.

The firing of two Katyushas at Shlomi is a "severe incident but we do not plan to allow a change in the status quo," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday, the day after two 107-millimeter rockets landed in the northern neighborhood.

During a tour of the northern border, Barak added that he spoke with Shlomi Municipality head Gabi Ne'eman and that together with IDF officers he intended to examine the incident, carefully assess the situation and then decide how to respond. "We will do what needs to be done," added Barak.

In the overnight attack, one of the rockets landed on the balcony of a house while the other hit a lamp post. No one was wounded but the house sustained slight damage.

It was not yet clear which group fired the rockets, but the defense establishment was examining the possibility that they were fired as an attempt by Hizbullah or other terror groups in Lebanon to disrupt Wednesday's visit of US President George W. Bush.

President Bush should be keen to understand that the terrorists sense weakness in Israel by continuing negotiations while under fire. They have accelerated their attacks on Israel, and don't fear repercussions knowing that Israel is far too restrained to take the necessary action to break the terrorist groups in Gaza, West Bank, and Hizbullah in Southern Lebanon. Therefore, those terrorist groups continue to plot further attacks.

Once again, UNIFIL has failed to do its job in clearing Southern Lebanon of terrorist groups and militias, which is nothing new since that's how the August War began in 2006. UNIFIL failed to fulfill its duties under UN SCR 1559, which called for the disarming of all militias operating in Southern Lebanon and to ensure the territorial integrity of Lebanon. UNIFIL failed on all counts, and Israel suffered greatly for it - as did Southern Lebanon as Israel engaged Hizbullah dug into civilian dominated areas and used them as human shields to exploit should casualties occur.

That's not to say that UNIFIL isn't safe from the terrorists either - a roadside bomb injured two Spanish peacekeepers just days after the Spanish Prime Minister visited Lebanon. I suspect Hizbullah was following the al Qaeda plan in trying to get Spain to withdraw its contingent from UNIFIL just as the pro-US government was voted out after the Madrid bombings. [ed: see updates below.]

Sec. State Rice continues to equate Jerusalem construction with that of the West Bank, which is extremely troublesome given that US law notes that Jerusalem is the undivided capital of the State of Israel.

The diplomats are also considering an international force to police the West Bank. That's quite an interesting idea given that the Palestinians have shown absolutely no interest in a two-state solution and international forces in Southern Lebanon have failed to disarm the terrorist group Hizbullah that operates in full view of everyone in the region.

Hamas continues to engage Israel in firefights, the latest incident occurring offshore Gaza. Terrorists firing mortars fell short of the Gaza/Israel border.

Meanwhile, al Hayat is reporting that a deal is in place to swap Gilad Shalit for the murderous terrorist Marwan Barghouti. No confirmation from Israeli sources, but if true, it's a bad precedent and foreshadows still more kidnappings to pressure Israel to make still more prisoner swaps.

UPDATE:
Israel has filed a complaint with the UN over the katuysha rocket firing from Lebanon into Israel. I'm sure the UN diplomats will get right on the case and demand action by UNIFIL and the Lebanese government to crack down on Hizbullah directly. Meanwhile, Sec. State Rice continues to ignore federal law on the status of Jerusalem.

UPDATE:
The fact that Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade is responsible for more than 30% of the kassam attacks and 40% of the mortar attacks does nothing to dissuade Olmert from going forward with negotiations with Fatah's Abbas.

Meanwhile, the AP doesn't have any problem with telling the world how the US plans on protecting President Bush during his ill-advised visit to Ramallah. Why provide that level of detail? That's not a good idea as you have terrorists running all over the place that seek to disrupt the visit and maybe take a shot at President Bush.

UPDATE:
Earlier reports that indicated that it was Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers who were injured appear to be incorrect. The nationality of the peacekeepers isn't clear, but it isn't Spanish according to both UN and Spanish officials.

Palestinian Restiveness

Yet another car bomb has gone off in Gaza, as Hamas security installations were hit in the latest in a series of bombings. Hamas blamed Fatah, which denied responsibility. Fatah says that Hamas is stealing fuel from Gaza hospitals. Heh.

Yet another kassam rocket hit Israel after being fired from Gaza. Secretary of State Condi Rice instead focused on Israel's proposed construction of homes in Har Homa as being problematic for the peace process. Secretary General of the UN Ban echoed Rice's statements, again ignoring the rockets falling on Israel, like the one that hit an apartment building in Sderot as the occupants were celebrating Hannukah Wednesday night.

The Palestinian terrorists are busily upgrading their rocket capabilities, even as the infrastructure in Gaza decomposes. They're able to store the rockets for a longer period of time, and have extended their range, putting more Israelis at risk of coming under fire.

Israeli Foreign Minister Livni is pushing for an international peacekeeping force in Gaza. No one wants that job. No one.

Livni also says that Israel with evacuate settlements in the West Bank. Good luck convincing the Israeli public that any good will come from that given how the Gaza withdrawal resulted not in peace, but a rocket war that continues to this day.

Diplomatic Pseudorealism

Sec. State Rice continues to proffer the view that a Palestinian state is inevitable and that Israel will accept some Palestinian state next door. It completely ignores the fact that the Palestinians will never accept Israel - they don't want a two-state solution, but a one-state replacement of Israel with their version of hell on earth.

The time has come for establishing a Palestinian state and it’s in the interest of the U.S. to do so, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday in one of her most forceful statements yet on the issue.

The comments from Rice, after a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, suggested that the Bush administration is determined to try to bridge the wide gaps between Israel and the Palestinians ahead of a U.S.-hosted Mideast conference.

The gathering is expected to take place next month, though a date has not been announced. Moderate Arab countries, whose participation is widely viewed as critical, have not committed to attending.

Standing next to Abbas, Rice defined Palestinian statehood as a U.S. interest. “Frankly, it’s time for the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Rice said.

It's not that simple, though I think the latest diplomatic flurry is designed to keep everyone focused on the Palestinian terror mess (when they refuse to accept the latest Israeli appeasement/capitulation gesture) and to keep Rice and the pseudorealists busy while the real work of safeguarding Israel and the US gets done in the shadows (see the September 6 raid into Syria for example).

The Palestinians will not accept even this most generous offer. It's against their nature to accept the terms set out by Israel, even if Israel is giving up sole control over Jerusalem. The Palestinians will simply add terms to their demands, which really haven't changed one whit since 1967 (or 1948) - the destruction of Israel. Arafat couldn't pull the trigger on a similar deal in 2000 at Camp David, and Abbas will not do so either.

Abbas is simply working off the Arafat template. He knows that he can't accept anything less than Israel's destruction because his life would be over because he would have left other "grievances" on the table like right of return, which no nation would ever accept.

Further, the Palestinians have already turned those areas under its control into terrorism home-base, as rockets and mortars continue flying into Israel on a near daily basis from Gaza, and terrorist operations continue to get disrupted in Palestinian areas of the West Bank.

Palestinians complain that Olmert's comments on Jerusalem are insufficient. Partitioning Jerusalem will be insufficient. Sole control and access to the Temple Mount will be insufficient. Give an inch, and the Palestinians will demand a mile - and then some.

Yossi Beilin, who helped craft Oslo, is a proponent of splitting Jerusalem, calling Jerusalem a divided city despite Israel's claim to the entirety. Here's a newsflash for Beilin - Jerusalem can have a diverse population and still be united as a city as Israel's capital.

In the end, this latest peace process flurry will end as Madrid did all those years ago - lots of talking, but nothing accomplished except a further undermining of Israel's security posture. The talks simply set the tone for the next set of diplomatic efforts, which further undermine Israel's capabilities to defend itself.

No where in these discussions are requirements that Palestinians fulfill their obligations under Oslo or any successor documents. How can Abbas agree to anything when he doesn't speak for all Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank?

Keep in mind that the Palestinians aren't even united in this - Abbas only control parts of the West Bank and doesn't speak for all Palestinians. Hamas controls Gaza and still seeks dominion over all Israel and Hamas further refuses to recognize Israel except as a legitimate target for destruction. How a diplomat thinks that they can bridge that gap with soothing words is asinine. Of course, the diplomats simply ignore the reality of Hamas controlling Gaza with the fiction that Abbas represents the legitimate government of the Palestinians.

Abbas could agree to everything Israel sets forth and it changes nothing on the ground for Israel since Israel's security posture is not improved one iota while Palestinian terrorists claim a victory in terms of land and expanded grievances against Israel for not moving fast enough. Gaza will continue to be a launching pad for rockets, and Abbas can issue platitudes all while Israelis die and are injured by rocket attacks and terrorists plot mass casualty attacks against Israel.

All the while, the Syrians and Iranians and their proxies loom in the distance watching and waiting for a time to strike.

Olmert's Gambit

I received the following from the Israeli Consulate in New York. I'm on their mailing list, and today's email contained the following from Haaretz:

Olmert's new offer to Abbas: Agreement of Principles toward Palestinian state Haaretz reported that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is offering to hold negotiations toward an "Agreement of Principles" for the establishment of a Palestinian state on most of the territory of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Olmert's proposal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is based on his view that it is important to first discuss issues that are relatively easy for the two sides to agree upon. No less important is Olmert's assessment that such an accord will enjoy the overwhelming support of the Israeli public and the Knesset.

If Olmert's proposal is accepted by the Palestinians, the two sides will begin negotiations on the characteristics of the Palestinian state, its official institutions, its economy, and the customs arrangement it will have with Israel.

After an "Agreement of Principles," the two sides will tackle the more sensitive diplomatic issues, like final borders and the transit arrangements.

Such agreement is believed to offer both Abbas and Olmert domestic political gains, and the Palestinian leader will be able to use it as part of his reelection campaign.

According to surveys, Olmert knows that the Israeli public is overwhelmingly supportive of a two-state solution, and that the current balance of power in the Knesset will allow him to rally a firm majority of 82 MKs behind such an agreement.

In the prime minister's view, this is not the time to deal with the minute details of the agreement, because it will be very difficult to reach agreement on final status issues, such as borders, Jerusalem and the refugees. These, Olmert proposes, should be left to the end of the negotiations.

Olmert would like to reach an agreement on principles, and then proceed to more difficult issues. This way, the prime minister claims, it will be possible to restart the peace process, in spite the weakness of the Palestinian Authority, and the skepticism regarding its ability to keep its part of the agreement and guarantee security.

The likely principles that Olmert will offer as part of the the agreement will be as follows:

*The establishment of a Palestinian state comprising about 90 percent of the territory of the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

Even prior to the 2006 elections, Olmert suggested that Israel unilaterally evacuate from such territory in the West Bank, and withdraw to the separation fence, for the primary purpose of retaining a Jewish majority in its territory, behind a defensible border.

Palestinian support for such agreement will contribute to Israeli public and political support for the deal.

*Exchange of territory to compensate for the large settlement blocs that will remain under Israeli control in the West Bank.

*Connecting the West Bank and the Gaza Strip through a tunnel in order to offer the Palestinians territorial contiguity, prevent friction between Israelis and Palestinians, and preserve security.

Israel will request territorial compensation for the digging of a tunnel in its sovereign territory. From Israel's point of view, a tunnel connecting the West Bank and the Strip is the best option to link the two, and is better than the elevated or sunken highway proposals.

*The Palestinians will be able to declare Jerusalem their capital. In the past Olmert has hinted that he would be willing to withdraw from the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem "on the edge," which have never been considered part of the historical city. The Old City, its environs and the Mount of Olives would remain in Israel's control.

The prime minister initiated discussions on the political vision during his recent meetings with Abbas. The goals and the framework of the negotiations was also discussed during the routine meetings between Olmert's senior aides, Yoram Turbowicz and Shalom Turjeman and their Palestinian counterparts, Rafik Huseini and Saeb Erekat.

Olmert turned down the proposal of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for a "shelf agreement," which would be a complete final status agreement, negotiated by the U.S., whose implementation would be postponed. The prime minister explained that he is concerned that the PA will be unable to implement the agreement.

Olmert is also worried that such a plan would be used as the starting points for further negotiations, as happened to the proposals of Prime Minister Ehud Barak at Camp David in 2000, and the Clinton Plan, that are now seen by the international community as the basis to any future agreement.

Where does one begin with this? Well, let's start with the things that Israel and Palestinians agree on. Palestinians want territory, and it appears that Israel is more than willing to give territory up. The only question is how much. I doubt Israel would ever accept the Palestinians final demands - to cease existing, so we're left with something along the lines of the 2000 Camp David maps.

As for connecting Gaza with the West Bank with a tunnel, I think that would be a problem since it would be easy for Palestinian terrorists to use the underground passage to start tunneling into Israel and launching terrorist attacks that way. If you were talking about an aboveground viaduct, Israeli forces could keep an eye on who and what was passing through - including disrupting terrorists attempting attacks and infiltration into Israel proper.

Finally, the idea that Israel would withdraw from a portion of Jerusalem and not cede the Temple Mount to the Palestinians would not pass muster with the Palestinians. Israelis might be willing to give up the Arab areas of Jerusalem, but none would give up the Temple Mount, the holiest spot on the planet for Jews.

It's interesting what what remains unmentioned in this - right of return. That's as it should be. There should be no right of return to Israel proper.

So, what does this get Olmert? Time.

He gets more time. It doesn't give Israel security, since Fatah is just as committed to Israel's destruction as Hamas - they just are willing to appear reasonable and have no problem destroying Israel through thousands of paper cuts. Also, the failure to adhere to earlier agreements should give Israel caution.

Abbas says that he could reach an agreement with Israel in less than a year. That's funny. You had seven years since Camp David in 2000 to provide a counter offer and yet you never did. There's a reason for that - because the US and or Israel would provide one for you. There's no incentive for Abbas to negotiate. If he waits long enough, Israel will provide concessions and Abbas can hold out for more.

Concessions also give Palestinians the opportunities to demand more without having to give up anything themselves. Note that Abbas is demanding more prisoners to be released.

You want progress, you must break that cycle. Make Abbas and the Palestinians hold to a position and negotiate in good faith. However, as I've noted before, when Palestinians continue to seek all of Israel as a Palestinian state, there is no common ground on which to build. Hamas is even more extreme in its view - it wants Israel destroyed sooner rather than later.

US Secretary of State Rice is deluded if she thinks that the future of the state of Israel is building up the Negev. Israel should not be forced to make concessions when Palestinians have yet to live up to their obligations under existing agreements.

And don't bother bringing up the fact that the Negev and areas surrounding Gaza have been under rocket and mortar fire nearly constantly for months by the Palestinian terrorists of Hamas, PIJ, and their branch outfits.

President Bush calls on Hamas to recognize Israel, but that's like talking to a wall, although if Hamas does manage to do so, one has to be extremely caution that they're simply engaging in deception to gain time and space to build up their weapons and terror forces for an attack on Israel.

Confused on the Strategery

Wasn't it only days ago that Democrat Sen. Carl Levin was sounding the call to retreat and cut and run from Iraq? So what is up with the fact that he's now sounding like he wants to expand military operations into Syria and Iran based on the evidence presented thus far by the military, intel community, and observations about the Syrian and Iranian government backing of the insurgency and terrorist groups. Video here.

SEN CARL LEVIN (D-MI): “Now, in terms of the weapons coming in from Syria, those weapons that you’ve described as coming in from Syria and perhaps other Sunni neighbors are killing our troops. Do we have a plan to address the Syrian weapon source -- of killings of our troops?”

JOHN MCCONNELL, Director of National Intelligence: “Sir, I know the military is working that border area to close it down from not only weapons but also jihadists coming in --”

LEVIN: “It’s more than just -- we’re trying to close down the Iranian border area too. The problem is that these weapons are coming from a state which is -- doesn't recognize Israel either, just like Iran doesn't. We’ve got to try to stop weapons coming into Iraq from any source that are killing our troops. I agree with the comments about trying to stop them coming in from Iran, I think we have to try stop them that are going to the Sunni insurgents as well as to the Shia. I was just wondering, does the military have a plan to, if necessary, to go into Syria to go to the source of any weapons coming from Syria? That are going to Sunni insurgents? That are killing our troops? … I think we ought to take action on all fronts including Syria and any other source of weapons coming in, obviously Iran is the focus – but it shouldn’t be the sole focus.” (Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 02/27/07)

In other words, Sen. Levin is proposing to take the fight to those who are backing enemies of the US. It's a position that I happen to support and which the Administration cannot pursue because Democrats like Levin have been sniping at his Iraq strategy for years without offering up a cogent policy to deal with Iraq, Iran, Syria, and other terror supporting regimes.

Mark Levin first commented on this earlier tonight. His segment left me wondering where exactly everyone is standing on the subject. After all, he points out that the US is considering sitting down with Syria and Iran to discuss Iraq. It would seem that brain transplants have occurred throughout D.C. What exactly does Sec. State Rice think that accomplishes? Those two rogue nations have absolutely no interest in peace in Iraq. They'd like to see Iraq in pieces, where they can benefit most from the anarchy. If it reduces US capabilities in the region, even better since their long range goal is to dominate the rest of the region - especially the Sunni populations.

Others confused about Levin's stance include Outside the Beltway and Wizbang.