Last March the Swiss - having bankrolled the last Holocaust - sent their FM to Tehran to wrap herself in a humiliating hijab and beg Ahmadinejad to let them bankroll the next one:

Iran and Switzerland on Monday signed a major agreement for Iranian gas exports to a Swiss company, in a rare energy deal between Tehran and the West as their nuclear showdown drags on. "Today we witnessed the signing of a gas contract between the two countries,"... You might remember [FM] Calmy-Rey as the woman who invited Ahmadinejad to a Geneva conference so he could discuss "various perceptions of the Holocaust. That deal failed when people pointed out that it was kind of disgusting.

Now she can't understand why Israel is grumpy with her:

Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has expressed disappointment that no member of her country's government is invited to attend the celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary, according to a Swiss newspaper. Switzerland will be represented at the festivities through its ambassador in Tel Aviv, she told the weekly Sonntag, published Sunday. "But, personally, I am disappointed that our country was not invited at government level," she was quoted as saying.

You can understand her confusion: the international community constantly gives money to genocidal lunatics in Gaza and the West Bank. So why shouldn't the Swiss be allowed to pull the same stunt with the Iranians? Hint:

References:
* Swiss Foreign Minister Dons Hijab, Tosses Iran An Economic Lifeline [MR]
* Swiss FM disappointed her gov't received no invitation to Israel's 60th [JPost]

Previously:
* Swiss President Invites Iran To Offer "Various Perceptions Of the Holocaust" At Conference
* Iran Producing Its Own Nuclear Fuel (Plus: Obama Would Meet With Iran, Give Them Security Guarantees, Etc)
* No New Sanctions On Iran. Sophistication On Display.

Just so everybody's clear:

Iran's top leader said his country would not bend to international pressure and give up its nuclear program, according to state television. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters, said Iran would continue its nuclear program despite Western efforts to thwart it with sanctions. "No threat can hinder the Iranian nation from its path," he said.

And of course the global "what the fuck" reply to the NIE has done absolutely nothing to stop the left from insisting that talk of Iranian nuclearization is just so much neocon warmongering. But maybe an incentives package will dissuade Tehran. Sure we've been skeptical to the point of pedantry about the possibility - but maybe it could happen:

An Iranian diplomat says the West's package of incentives is aimed at damaging Tehran's image and bringing more pressure on it. "They (Western powers) expect Iran to exchange its valuable achievements with their worthless incentives, but they should know that the Iranian officials and people are united in defending their great achievements on the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," Iran's Ambassador to Indonesia, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said in a meeting with the Indonesian Parliament Vice Speaker, A.M. Fatwa.

Or not. At least Iran isn't upgrading its ties with Egypt with an eye on slipping nonconventional weapons into Gaza. And at least NATO SecGen Scheffer isn't convinced that Iranian nuclearization will trigger an unstoppable tsunami of global proliferation.

And at least Obama's commitment to dialogue is exactly the kind of thing that works with the Iranians:

Iran says it will not hold a new round of talks with the US on security in Iraq until American forces end their current assault against Shiite militias. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini's announcement Monday is the first official confirmation that the talks will be suspended. Iran's semi-official Fars news agency quoted an unnamed senior Iranian negotiator Saturday as saying new talks were not possible with continued US attacks against the Iraqi people.

Super.

References:
* Ayatollah: Iran won't stop nuke program [JPost]
* 'Iran may have resumed nuclear program' [JPost]
* Mathematical Proof That Negotiating With Iran Is Stupid. Not Wrong. Stupid. [MR]
* 'West's incentive package worthless'
* Renewed Iran-Egypt Ties? [JPC]
* NATO chief: More nations could follow Iran and North Korea [JPost]
* Iran suspends talks with US over security in Iraq [JPost]

Previously:
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Iran Has Legal Slavery And Rape Of Prepubescent Girls. They Call It "Temporary Marriage".
* Obligatory Post About Iran's "Hezbollah Radiation Will Destroy Israel" Threat (Plus: Mugniyah Assassination Dramatically Demonstrates Absurdity Of Liberal Foreign Policy Sophistication)
* Iran: Israeli Self-Defense is a Cause for War

The international community insists that Israel should take "risks for peace" because - should the Palestinians turn out to actually mean all the stuff they say about their eternal jihad against Israel - international leaders will have Israel's back. The entire basis for the peace process, from the bolstering of Palestinian political authority to the disengagement from Gaza, was supposed to happen under that framework. So when cynics talk about anti-Israel diplomatic baits and switches, this might be kind of what they're talking about:

The international community's efforts at trying to weaken Hamas have failed and should be reevaluated, the EU's two leading diplomats to Israel and the PA said Monday, although they stopped well short of saying that Hamas should be engaged. "The policy implemented in the last year [toward the Gaza Strip] aimed at strengthening people [through providing direct economic assistance and humanitarian aid], and weakening Hamas... is having the opposite effect," said Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal, the EU's ambassador to Israel. "We need to think about alternative policies, because this has not been successful. This is important to recognize."

Fair enough. How about instead of that policy, the international community try a policy of not providing direct economic assistance and humanitarian aid to a population that backs a genocidal warmongering government? That would be new.

Cibrian-Uzal said that opening the crossings into Gaza could help strengthen Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. "Many people would share the view that what we are seeing now is strengthening Hamas," the ambassador said. "We have to see what we can do so that Abbas can show a peace dividend, and the opening of the crossing into Gaza could do this."

Actually, it would kind of do the opposite. But why quibble? It's not like there was another rocket today.

References:
* Annapolis As A Rosetta Stone For How Anti-Israel Bait And Switch Diplomacy Works [MR]
* EU: Int'l policy on Hamas has failed [JPost]
* Hamas: If Israel Doesn't Surrender We'll Blah Blah Blah [MR]
* Kassam rocket fired at Sderot; no wounded or damage reported [JPost]

Previously:
* Sharon Tries To Make Peace, Get Europe's Support, Build Moon Base
* Take Away Hezbollah's Collaborators, Human Shields, And Useful Idiots. Disband UNIFIL Now.
* The UN Makes It Official: There Is Absolutely No Agreement That Won't Be Changed If Israel's Genocidal Enemies Refuse To Accept For Long Enough

Just kidding, obviously. When the Palestinians do it in the West Bank, it's a US-backed security campaign:

A Palestinian teen was seriously wounded in Kabatiya Tuesday when gunmen fired at Palestinian Authority security forces that began deploying in the village located south of Jenin. The PA forces set up roadblocks in their search for the assailants. The PA police commander in the Jenin district told Israel Radio that when the new police forces entered the village they were pelted with stones. On Saturday, 600 PA policemen were deployed in the district in a bid to restore law and order.

Oh did they? And here we thought that security roadblocks were verboten on account of the whole "they make it hard for terrorists to get around and therefore make the Palestinian public grumpy" thing. Apparently establishing security in the West Bank requires a roadblock or two after all. Perhaps the difference is that the Palestinian police officers are considered legitimate by the local population - a distinction that, in addition to being trivial given the level of hysteria surrounding roadblocks, also happens to be untrue:

Palestinian Authority policemen that began deploying in the Jenin area Saturday haven't all been greeted with roses and champagne. n Tuesday, an unarmed 21-year-old Palestinian man was seriously wounded in Kabatiya when gunmen fired at the PA security forces that were deploying in the village located south of Jenin. Officials say the man is now on life support at a hospital. The PA forces set up roadblocks in their search for the assailants.The PA police commander in the Jenin district, Suleiman Imran, told Israel Radio that when the new police forces entered the village they were also pelted with stones. Medics say police later shot two stone-throwers in the legs.... Tuesday's shootout was the first violence since Palestinian forces deployed in the area last weekend. The operation is part of PA President Mahmoud Abbas' efforts to assert control throughout the West Bank.

Israel is already being set up by the State Department to take the fall for the PA forces' impending failure. Keith Dayton - the reflexively Israel-blaming State Department general who got moved to the West Bank to set up this force - always seems to need more weapons, aid, and Israeli security concessions to accomplish his mission. The billions and billions spent thus far and the current Israeli withdrawals are never quite enough. But in the meantime he's willing to deploy inadequately trained and vetted Palestinian troops despite previous agreements - almost as if international diplomacy works by trading Israeli concessions for security assurances and then pocketing the concessions without meeting the obligations.

References:
* Palestinian teen seriously wounded as gunmen fire at PA forces in Kabatiya [JPost]
* Palestinian Recruits Hit Streets Unprepared [WaPo]
* Kabatiya man hurt as PA police attacked [JPost]
* US Security Envoy Blames Israel For Palestinian Rocket Attack On Israel. Or Something. [Video] [MR]
* State Dept Pushing Congress To Move Abject Failure Keith Dayton To West Bank [MR]

Previously:
* Abbas: Good Chance We'll Use Our US Security Assistance To Go Back To Killing Israelis
* Hamas Has 200 Tons Of Explosives That The US Gave To Fatah (Plus: Egypt Says It's Israel's Fault)
* Abject Failure Keith Dayton Moves Goalposts To Justify US Security Assistance, Lets Abbas Try Again

But only 24 in the last year and a half:

Since the state was established in 1948, 1,634 Israelis have been killed in terror attacks, and over 14,000 people have been wounded, a report published by the National Insurance Institute revealed on Monday. Eight of the fatalities occurred in 2007, while 16 deaths have already been reported in the first four months of 2008.

Experts attribute the sharp drop in terrorism - what some security analysts cringe-inducingly label as the "tolerable level" - to a combination of roadblocks, new technology, and the fence. After the jump we've got a video about the new reinforced busses that Israel is using to reduce the impact of sniper fire and "drive up next to the bus and blow your car up" terror attacks. But before that happens, here's the UN pressuring Israel to dismantle the fence and here's Rice demanding that Israel dismantle roadblocks. This morning:

Israel's removal of some roadblocks in the West Bank recently has not done enough to improve the lives of Palestinians there, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday night, as she concluded her visit to the region. According to Army Radio, Rice said US diplomats had toured the areas in question and deduced that the roadblocks that were removed were insignificant.

Luckily Israel still has access to materials and technological collaboration that the international anti-Israel lobby has in now way tried to cut off through boycotts:

They've even got pie charts. The JPost writeup focuses on two broad charges, both of which naturally elicit shocked, shocked denials mingled with oh-so-righteous indignation.

(1) HRW only trots out "collective punishment" when it's Israel protecting itself from Palestinian terrorism:

Human Rights Watch has systematically condemned Israel for "collective punishment" in the Gaza Strip, undermining its stated agenda of promoting human rights universally, according to a report released this week by the Jerusalem-based watchdog NGO Monitor... "This report shows, yet again, that any claim of even-handedness by Human Rights Watch is hollow," said NGO Monitor's executive director, Bar-Ilan University Prof. Gerald Steinberg. "Their exclusive condemnation of Israeli 'collective punishment' is discriminatory, and should end immediately... "The idea that we exclusively condemn Israel is absurd," said HRW Middle East Division Deputy Director Joe Stork. "We do criticize the Israeli blockade of Gaza as collective punishment, and solidly so."

And yet:

While Stork could not point out any other country HRW had accused of "collective punishment," he stood by his organization's use of the term, and its application to Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip.

(2) HRW is so enamored with "cycle of violence" narratives - which de facto excuse Arab aggression - that they label indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israel "retaliatory":

The report also mentions that while HRW condemns IDF actions against Hamas-sponsored rocket attacks from Gaza, the attacks themselves are labeled as "retaliatory," thus faulting Israel for the violence on both sides. "That's absolutely false," said Stork. "We do not characterize these attacks as such, and if it's quoted in the report, it's been taken out of context. I'd be surprised if they're quoted at all."

He's actually kind of right, although this is JPost's mistake not Steinberg's. The "retaliation" quote that some HRW hack dropped isn't about Hamas - it's about Hezbollah:

The argument that Israel committed “worse” atrocities makes the Islamic Resistance’s violations no less significant. That Israel violated the laws of war does not justify the Islamic Resistance’s failure to abide by such laws; that Israel carried out indiscriminate strikes on populated areas in southern Lebanon in no way justifies the Islamic Resistance’s retaliatory strikes on civilian areas in Israel.

In fairness to JPost, it's an easy mistake to make. All of the genocidal anti-Israel organizations call themselves resistance organizations. Although it's a little curious that Hezbollah had stockpiled all those rockets up for "retaliation" Were they expecting that Israel might have a reason to come after them in the near future?

The full report is extensive, but it still can't include all of HRW's absurd anti-Israel shilling. This particular piece of nonsense, for instance, gets only the most cursory allusion.

References:
* NGO Monitor’s 2007 Report on HRW: Bias and Double Standards Continue [NGO Monitor]
* NGO accuses HRW of Israel obsession [JPost]
* The Protection of Civilians Has No Limits [HRW]
* HRW: "No Basis" For Claims That Hezbollah Used Human Shields. MR: What About All The Photos And Videos [Video] [MR]

Previously:
* Shameless, Textbook Example of Anti-Israel Bias: The LA Times Reports on Hezbollah Cluster Bombs Fired At Israel
* Dr. Freud, Line 1
* The Problem Isn't Any Particular Religion...

The Palestinians have apparently concluded that international media outlets will shill for them no matter what they say or do. They're not even pretending to make sense any more:

More than 100,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon are expected to march toward the border with Israel on May 14 in the context of the Palestinian Authority's plan to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Israel, PA officials told The Jerusalem Post Thursday... Fatah's top representative in Lebanon, Sultan Abu Aynain, has also been instrumental in organizing the event, the Post has learned. The two have been coordinating their efforts with PA Deputy Minister for Prisoners Affairs, Ziad Abu Ein, who has drawn up a plan calling on Palestinian refugees to "invade" Israel by land, air and sea in protest against Israel's anniversary celebrations... Entitled "The Initiative of Return and Coexistence," the plan urges all Israelis to "welcome the Palestinians who will be returning to live together with them in the land of peace."

Peace is always the intention of invading mobs. And on a related note, our State Department is awesome:

The United States on Thursday called on Arab nations to make good on aid they have pledged to the Palestinian Authority but have yet to deliver. "It's extremely important that people pay their pledges," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters as she flew to London for talks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran and Kosovo. "States that have resources ought to be looking not for how little they can do, but how much they can do," she added. Rice did not mention any names but a senior U.S. official made clear Washington had in mind oil-rich Arab states whose contributions he called "woefully short." Of $717.1 million in budget support for the Palestinians promised by Arab League members, only $153.2 million has been delivered.

That's too bad. Fatah could definitely use another two or three hundred million to help implement their "invasion" of Israel. Maybe the State Department can find it somewhere else - it sounds important. And peaceful.

References:
* Lebanon Palestinians to march on border [JPost]
* U.S. urges Arab donors to pay pledges to Palestinian Authority [Ha'aretz]

Previously:
* Reuters Mistranslation Responsible For Idiotic "Holocaust" Slander
* Reminder: Palestinians Hide Behind Children, Morbidly Embrace Death Porn (Plus: The Media Lies)
* Abbas: "If You Don't Give Me Everything I Won't Accept Anything"

Of course it is:

Gaza's water authority has dumped 60 million liters of partially treated and untreated sewage into the Mediterranean Sea since January 24, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report released on Wednesday. "The sewage discharge is contaminating Gaza seawater and posing health risks for bathers and consumers of seafood. The sewage flows northward to Israeli coasts, including near the Ashkelon desalination plant. Urgent studies are needed to examine the extent of the impact," the report reads. The report's authors blamed Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip for the Gazans' inability to treat the sewage. "This sewage cannot be treated due to the lack of a steady electricity supply within the Gaza Strip, Israel's restrictions on fuel imports and prohibitions on the import of materials and necessary spare parts," according to the report.

(1) The manufactured fuel crisis has been deliberately created by Hamas, which alternates between refusing Israeli fuel imports and stealing what they do get for terrorism ops. A few days ago they helped themselves - at gunpoint - to 45,000 liters.

(2) Linking the recent lack of fuel to poor sewage management would be really persuasive if there hadn't already been a literal river of sewage that killed 10 people in Gaza last year. They've been having critical problems with their sewage infrastructure for at least half a year - the consequence, some would suggest, of cannibalizing it for rocket material.

(3) Also this:

Israel Water Authority spokesman Uri Schor said the problem was not new and that Israel was doing all it could to help Gaza process its sewage. "The Palestinians have been pumping partially treated or untreated sewage water into the sea for years, and not just since the beginning of this year. The State of Israel assists in various ways to the pumping and water distribution and to the continued operation of the sewage treatment plants. That assistance includes approval to transfer most of equipment the Palestinian Authority has requested - the rest is in the process of being verified - and all the diesel fuel necessary to run the plants," Schor said. These plants had not been affected by any cutbacks to electricity, he said.

(4) Pumping raw sewage into the Mediterranean is not a sign of crumbling infrastructure - it's the Palestinians' actual, literal, official infrastructure plan for getting rid of Gaza sewage. That's been the case since at least 2005. Why treat sewage in a modern and sustainable way when you can just make it go away?

(5) And then there's of course this factoid:

But a security source familiar with the situation told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that the vast majority of Gaza's electrical needs were being met by Israel and Egypt. "Gaza is receiving 141 megawatts a day out of [its normal requirements of] 200 megawatts at this time from Israel and Egypt," the source said.

So Gaza has enough electricity. And even if they didn't have enough for everything, they still have enough to specifically run the sewage plants. And even if they didn't have enough to specifically run the sewage plants, it would be because Hamas is stealing fuel for terrorism. And even if it wasn't because Hamas was stealing fuel for terrorism, the sewage problems that the UN is citing have nothing to do with a lack of fuel anyway - and everything to do with idiotic Palestinian policies and incompetent implementation.

And yet somehow the UN has come up with an explanation that just happens to excoriate Israel in exactly the way that promotes the narrative that Hamas is promoting to demonize the Jewish State. Strange, that.

References:
* UN: Gaza is dumping sewage into the sea [JPost]
* Hamas Creates Humanitarian Crisis By Stealing Fuel For Terrorism, Preventing Israeli Gas Shipments, And Cutting Off Gaza Civilians. Again. (Plus: International Press, Human Rights Groups Blame Israel. Again) [MR]
* Hamas stole 45,000 liters of fuel at gunpoint today [Elder]
* Seriously, the Palestinians Just Suck At Everything [MR]
* Palestinians Prove Totally Incompetent [MR]
* Palestinians Going Global With Program To Demonize Israel For Deliberate, Hamas-Engineered Gaza Humanitarian Crisis (Updated: WaPo Hops On Board) [MR]

Previously:
* Hamas Intentionally Creating Humanitarian Disaster In Gaza - Now They're Shutting Down The Few Medical Clinics That Are Still Working
* IDF Colonel: Hamas Creating Humanitarian Crisis. No Kidding.
* AP: Yup, Humanitarian Crisis Intentionally Caused By Hamas Is Still Israel's Fault

Hey, maybe Obama really is the post-racial candidate:

The Black press is just as enthusiastic as African Americans in general at the prospect of a Black man becoming the next occupant of the White House. But Black newspaper owners also expected that they would be beneficiaries of what is already the most lavish campaign advertising budget in history: Barack Obama's bulging war chest. Instead, Black publishers say they have been locked out of Obama's advertising game plan - and even shunned in their attempts to cover the Obama operation. The Illinois Senator's handlers - and maybe the man himself - "think that we as black people are so anxious to get a black president that we'll support him no matter what," said one editor. "So why waste money on us?"... Publishers and editors of African-American newspapers - the beacons who live and breathe the blackness of their communities and who regulate the pulse of black America - are fighting mad at what has now become blatantly clear to them: The Democratic Party doesn't give a damn about them. The Hillary Clinton presidential campaign doesn't give a damn about them and, alack and alas, neither does the Barack Obama campaign.

If we were inclined toward generosity we'd suggest that this is another campaign tactic meant to insulate Obama against unfair attempts at ghettoization. But since we're not, we feel comfortable suggesting that Obama - for all that he's a relative political novice - has apparently been around long enough to pick up the Democratic Party's habit of taking black support for granted.

References:
* Does the Democratic party take blacks for granted? [Black Agenda Report]
* Key anti-identity-politics, anti-ghettoization passage in Obama's victory speech [Kausfiles]
* Does the Democratic party take blacks for granted? [Larry Elder]

Previously:
* Obama's Sophistication Is Actually Kind Of Unsophisticated, Incoherent
* CNN: Obama, Clinton "Clearly Uncomfortable" Criticizing Carter's Hamas Visit
* Obama Draws Line In The Sand: Invading Israel OK But Calling Hillary A Mean Name Is A Firing Offense

Heh:

Paraphrasing a reader's suggestion, foreseeing an Oval Office address near the end of Obama's first term: "The Prime Minister Ahmadinejad who ordered the nuclear strike on Tel Aviv yesterday... is not the same man I met in Tehran at our summit back in 2009."

The problem being, of course, that this isn't really a joke. The left's emphasis on self-styled sophistication - their "only we're smart enough to understand what Arab leaders really mean when they say they want to wipe out Israel" conceit - has caused them to get the Middle East wrong again and again. Despite Iran's obvious and increasing intransigence during the 1990s, foreign policy experts were sure that reformists were just about to sweep to victory. And then when that didn't happen they insisted that newly categorized "conservative pragmatists" were going to take the day. Wrong and wrong. Despite Iran's obvious role in linking Hezbollah and Mugniyah, these same experts insisted for decades that Mugniyah was anything but a Hezbollah operative. Laughingly wrong. Despite a broad consensus across the Iranian regime that the Islamic Republic should nuclearize, the foreign policy left focuses on subtle intrigues that may or may not exist. Not really important. Despite Iran's obvious progress toward the bomb, they came up with the suggestion that we didn't have to worry because Iran could never get enough of their Pakistani-bought centrifuges to work. Problem solved. And then of course there's the whole "Sunnis and Shiites don't work together" smugness with which the left greets any suggestion that Iran is backing terrorism against Israel. Right.

Obama's foreign policy advisers are part of a community - and they embody a certain way of thinking - that has gotten every major question about Iran wrong. They have consistently given the Islamic Republic the benefit of the doubt based on counterintuitive hunches grounded in inscrutable assumptions. And they'll do it right up until Iran successfully tests a nuclear weapon. And then - after having spent a decade preventing the US from addressing Iranian proliferation - they'll complain that none of this would have ever happened if only they had been in charge.

References:
* It Turns Out the Critics Knew Wright Better Than Obama Did [Campaign Spot]
* Smug Liberal Sophistication Untroubled By Undeniable Evidence That Hardliners Are Winning In Iran [MR]
* Obligatory Post About Iran's "Hezbollah Radiation Will Destroy Israel" Threat (Plus: Mugniyah Assassination Dramatically Demonstrates Absurdity Of Liberal Foreign Policy Sophistication) [MR]
* Mathematical Proof That Negotiating With Iran Is Stupid. Not Wrong. Stupid. [MR]
Iran Misses Memo About How Sunnis And Shiites Don't Cooperate, Gives Syria Cutting Edge Offensive Missiles (Plus: Expert Sophistication Wrong On Iranian Nuclearization. Again) [MR]
* Hezbollah Outreach To "Sunnis Who Are Loyal To Hezbollah" Not So Kind To Expert Expertise Of Foreign Policy Experts Who Deny Sunni-Shiite Cooperation [MR]
* State Department And Pentagon Plotting Insubordination, Pretty Much Lying To Prevent Action Against Iran [MR]

Previously:
* Obama's Sophistication Is Actually Kind Of Unsophisticated, Incoherent
* New Poll Shows Peace-Loving Palestinians Somewhat Less Than Peaceful
* State Dept: That Syrian Nuclear Reactor We Tried To Protect Was No Big Deal Anyway

So the State Department spent four years pressuring Israel not to bomb Syria's nuclear reactor. And then when Israel did it anyway the Bush Administration covered up the true extent of Assad's nuclear plans for another half a year. So naturally State Department Middle East specialists - having almost presided over the nuclearization of another member of the Axis of Evil - are using their friends in the press to insist that there was never anything to worry about anyway:

The prospect of nuclear technology in the hands of another terrorism-sponsoring state is scary enough. Worse is the notion that Syria's reactor is no big deal. That's the interpretation being shopped in Washington by anonymous Administration officials, presumably at State, who have been quoted as saying the CIA has "little confidence" that the goal was to build a bomb. The no-big-deal thesis expounded by the President's men directly contradicts their boss. After briefing Congress behind closed doors, the White House put out a statement expressing "confidence" that "this reactor was not intended for peaceful activities." CIA Director Michael Hayden said yesterday an operational reactor could have produced enough plutonium to make one or two nuclear bombs.

We're kind of surprised State hasn't figured out a way to blame Israel for failures caused by State's own analytical and diplomatic failings. That's how their incompetent anti-Israel experts and generals usually do it.

References:
* Syria's Been Building Their Nuclear Reactor Since 2003 And The State Department Still Tried To Stop Israel From Taking It Out (Plus: Awesome IDF Bombing Raid Just Got Filled With Even More Awesome) [MR]
* Bush: Disclosing Syrian reactor details sends a message to Iran [JPost]
* Memo To Foreign Policy Sophisticates - You'd Sound A Lot Less Stupid If You Stopped Mixing Your Condescension With Demonstrably False Fantasies Of Competence [MR]

Previously:
* Syria To Launch Bio-Weapons Against Jewish State If The US Attacks Iran
* Syria To Launch Bio-Weapons Against Jewish State If The US Attacks Iran
* State Department Tries To Cleanse Obviously Illegal "No Jews Allowed" Application But Is Too Fucking Stupid To Turn Off Track Changes

The Israeli government was so disgusted by Carter's terrorist-bolstering tour of the Middle East that they refused to meet with him. President Peres, a fellow Noble Prize winner, called him out for being a terrorist-enabling tool. The IDF even withheld security coordination from him, treating him like they would any other foreign national who wants to try his luck in Palestinian-majority areas. So you'd think that the three candidates' relative stances on Carter's lovefest would somehow matter to Jewish voters:

When it comes to former President Jimmy Carter and his recent controversial meetings with Hamas leaders in the Middle East, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama seem to be on pretty much the same page. They say they didn’t like the meetings and they, themselves, wouldn’t meet with leaders of a group the U.S. government brands as a terrorist organization. Still, they are clearly uncomfortable in criticizing the former President. Obama and Clinton do suggest that they would have a dialogue with the leaders of North Korea, Syria, Iran and Venezuela, but only under the right circumstances and with the appropriate advance preparation. They differentiate between meetings with these kinds of state leaders as opposed to leaders of Hamas. John McCain says Barack Obama should have gone further in condemning Carter’s meetings with Hamas. “He should repudiate President Carter, reprimand him, and specifically tell him he should not have that meeting,” McCain said.

Then again, we've written about liberal Jewish Obama voters before:

We were at a talk given by the ultra-left editor of a far-left but very prominent New York Jewish publication a few weeks ago. A woman raised her hand and hesitantly begged "I'm already voting for Obama so this doesn't matter, but I'd feel better if he had any answer to these accusations - please tell me he does." Then the speaker rattled off some nonsense about how most Israelis want to give away land and that was that. Really.

Try making an argument to that person. Because that's clearly how she's making her political decisions.

References:
* Peres Notifies Carter: Actually You're Kind Of A Vicious Tool [MR]
* Blitzer: Democratic candidates careful on Carter [CNN]
* Anti-Israel Activists To Anti-Israel Voters: Don't Worry, We Pretty Much Own Obama [MR]

Previously:
* Obama's Circle Of Openly Anti-Semitic Spiritual Advisers Widens, Now Kind Of A Trend (Plus: Wes "NY Money People" Clark For Obama VP?) (UPDATE: More On Obama Spiritual Adviser Eric Lee's Anti-Semitism)
* Ohio Jewish Democrats: "Hey, How About We Make The Most Anti-Israel Candidate Evuh The Next US President?"
* Mel Levine's Defense Of Obama: He'll Make Obsessed Anti-Israel Lunatics Love The US. Presumably By Magic.

Tool:

Israel may have 200 nuclear warheads, but Hamas has 200,000 people who want to blow themselves up inside Israel, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said Tuesday. Zahar, who was speaking to supporters at the Islamic University in Gaza City, said Israel would pay a heavy price if it rejected the Egyptian initiative for truce with the Palestinians. "If Israel says no, it will pay a heavy price," he said. "We are a besieged people and we will have to use all our tools to defend ourselves against Israel." Zahar said he expected Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman to brief Israeli leaders next week on Cairo's efforts to achieve a truce. He said that once Israel accepted the Egyptian initiative, all the border crossings into the Gaza Strip would be reopened. "The issue of the truce initiative will be determined finally next week," he added. "I believe Israel will accept the initiative, although it will try to drag its feet on some issues."

That's a really big number. Let's see though: Hamas has managed to get a grand total of three suicide bombers out of Gaza since the security fence was completed. Two of them were British nationals - naturally - and they got through the crossing as tourists. So that leaves one suicide bomber who's been able to make it past the crossings after about a decade of trying. At this rate the sun will go nova before Hamas gets through half of this glorious suicide army they've put together. Thank you, super effective security fence that the left insists can never stop suicide bombers.

The good, true argument against relying on fences, of course, is that they can't stop rockets. Hamas shot another 13 rockets and mortars at Israeli schools and hospitals yesterday. Hey, you don't think that that's why Hamas wants to reopen the crossings do you?

References:
* Zahar: We have 200,000 suicide bombers [JPost]
* Barak: This isn't the time for a truce [JPost]

Previously:
* UN Finally Notices Hamas Bombing Of Israeli Civilians, Rushes To Condemn Israel For Responding (Update: The EU Too!)
* Carter "Understands" Why Hamas Has To Bomb Israeli Schools And Hospitals
* Hamas Blocks Israeli Food Shipments, Intentionally Starves Gaza Civilians To Create A Humanitarian Disaster - Again!

Last month we missed the chance to blog this example of media cycle of violence idiocy from Spiegel's Gaza correspondent Ulrike Putz:

In the coming weeks, there will probably be the usual trading of blows between the two enemies. Meanwhile, the conflict's direction will crystallize. But will it escalate or ease off? Hamas has shown that it can cripple life in an entire Israeli city, should it choose to. Now the ball is in the Israelis' court.

But now this charming combination - thuggish pseudo-celebration of Hamas's war crimes in the context of cycle of violence sophistication - has been revitalized in international discourse by that guy:

Jimmy Carter... sounds like a moral relativist, for whom there are no universal truths by which to judge behavior. This is manifested in the juxtapositions he so effortlessly makes. Speaking Monday, he denounced the Palestinians' "despicable terrorism" against Sderot. Yet when Israel tracks down and arrests the "despicable" terrorists, Carter gets equally passionate about the need to release them. To Carter's muddled thinking, Palestinians and Israelis are equally responsible for the conflict. After all, Palestinians launch Kassams into Israeli kindergartens, and Israelis live over the Green Line.... "despair leads some people on both sides to resort to violence."... He "understands" that Hamas feels "some violence is necessary" to keep the Palestinian issue alive, and that when the organization is sidelined, the "cycle of violence" is exacerbated.

Because what would anti-Israel nuance be without an unseemly, ostensibly grudging appreciation for terrorist "resistance"? At least he's not being unoriginal. (h/t for the Spiegel article: Jason)

References:
* Hamas Pursues Dangerous Strategy with Ashkelon Attacks [Spiegel]
* Hamas's Apologist [JPost]

Previously:
* CNN: Poor Hamas Victims Being Mourned Right This Moment By Long-Suffering Palestinians
* New Poll Shows Peace-Loving Palestinians Somewhat Less Than Peaceful
* UN Finally Notices Hamas Bombing Of Israeli Civilians, Rushes To Condemn Israel For Responding (Update: The EU Too!)

Peres told Carter that it wouldn't work. The State Department asked him not to do it. Even Abbas is saying told ya so:

Meanwhile, Abbas said on Tuesday that Carter failed in his attempt to talk Hamas into accepting a future two-state peace deal with Israel. "Carter gave them [Hamas] the right advice," Abbas told reporters in Iceland, where he made a stopover en route to talks with U.S. President George W. Bush in the United States. "He urged Hamas to accept a two-state solution and accept past Palestinian agreements with Israel, but unfortunately he failed to convince them and his visit did not end up with positive results."

And yet somehow Carter didn't manage to swing Hamas over to what the Palestinian public really wants: peace with Israel. And you know why? Because that's bullshit on a stick:

The number of Palestinians who support attacks against Israelis continues to rise and more than half of them favor suicide bombings, according to a poll published this weekend. The survey also showed that Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh is still more popular than Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The percentage of Palestinians who support "resistance operations" against Israeli targets rose from 43.1 percent in September 2006 to 49.5% at present. Support for this option was highest in the Gaza Strip, at 58.1percent, with 24.5percent in the West Bank agreeing.

Which helps to explain why a four year old Israeli boy had to get hit by a Palestinian rocket yesterday. And another house had to get hit today.

Obama better be careful. Another couple polls like this and he'll lose his really, really awful excuse for embracing Iran while ostracizing Hamas:

Time for another round of distinctions without a difference. How does the Iranian mullahcracy differ from Hamas on any of these points except insofar as they possess the dubious “legitimacy” that comes with rigging elections to secure their own power by disqualifying candidates of whom the regime disapproves?... Someone needs to push this guy on this subject because his talismanic invocation of statehood makes no sense, particularly when the left’s own gold standard for diplomatic legitimacy draws no similar line in deciding whom it’ll talk to.

His real excuse, of course, is that "this is the kind of nuance that really makes leftists feel sophisticated". And that never goes out of style.

References:
* Peres Notifies Carter: Actually You're Kind Of A Vicious Tool [MR]
* Carter: Surprisingly, I Failed To Get Hamas To Stop Trying To Murder Israelis [MR]
* Obama wary of Carter's report of breakthrough with Hamas [Ha'aretz]
* Palestinians' backing for terror rises [JPost]
* Qassam rocket hits home in Sderot [YNet]
* Waffle digested, Obama finally answers question about Carter and Hamas [Hot Air]

Previously:
* Turning Over A New Leaf Watch
* Palestinian Moderate With No Power Takes Bold Left Wing Position: Palestinians Willing To Give Up Something They're Not Entitled To In Exchange For Total Israeli Capitulation
* New Poll: "Overwhelming Majority" Of Palestinians Support Murderous Rampages Against Israeli Schoolchildren, Rocket Attacks Against Civilians (Plus: It's Israel's Fault)

Two points for admitting that he got tooled by genocidal lunatics. But several thousand points off for pretending that it could have worked out any differently. And then an additional loss of a point for shamelessly lying about how the State Department may or may not have agreed with him:

Rice said Tuesday the Bush administration explicitly warned former President Jimmy Carter against meeting with members of Hamas, the Palestinian faction that controls the Gaza Strip and which is regarded by the U.S. as a terror group... "I just don't want there to be any confusion," Rice said. "The United States is not going to deal with Hamas and we had certainly told President Carter that we did not think meeting with Hamas was going to help" further a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians...

Carter won no specific concessions from Hamas. He defended his trip during remarks Monday in Jerusalem. He said he failed to convince the top Hamas boss, Khaled Mashaal, that he could gain international goodwill if he stopped rocket fire on Israel for one month. "I did the best I could," Carter said. "They turned me down, and I think they're wrong." In an interview with NPR, Carter said the State Department did not warn him off the trip. A State Department spokesman in Washington took issue with that on Monday, and Rice was more blunt in her account Tuesday.

According to the previous AP report on Carter's quest to bolster the world's most intransigent lunatics, "Hamas has repeatedly confounded observers with its conflicting messages." Yes, it's very confusing how Hamas declares that they're going to eradicate Israel and then they try to kill Israelis. You need years of academic Middle East Studies training and an internship in a top foreign policy think tank to crack that nut.

References:
* Rice says Carter was warned against meeting with Hamas [AP]
* Carter says Hamas willing to be Israel's neighbor [AP]

Previously:
* Jimmy Carter: Hamas Made Up of "So-Called Terrorists"
* Peres Notifies Carter: Actually You're Kind Of A Vicious Tool
* Is Jimmy Carter Just An Old-Fashioned Christian Fundamentalist, Anti-Semitic Bigot?

It's not a ban on actual jihad being waged by actual jihadists. Because if they were doing that, that would actually be something. This is just a ban on labeling it the way that everyone else on the planet - from the victims to the terrorists - labels it. Because the best way to solve a problem is to go out of your way to obfuscate it:

Condoleeza Rice has approved a new lexicon for State Department usage, absolutely forbidding the use of the terms "jihad" and "jihadist" by any State Department official. The argument... [is] that by using the word jihad, we're validating the jihadist claim to be waging jihad. Of course, it's ridiculous to think that the U.S. State Department carries any validating authority within the Islamic world to determine what is Islam and what isn't... Also, the claim is that by using the word "jihad," we are insulting the peaceful Muslims who are waging the daily jihad of the struggle against sin, the struggle against the dirty dishes, etc. And that's great, if that's what any Muslim actually believes is the sum and substance of jihad, but it is an understanding of jihad that is at odds with the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence.

But at least it's not unsophisticated! Although it's still not as stupid as that Orwellian "anti-Islamic activity" stunt that the Brits pulled a few months ago. And as long we're banning words - any chance we can get the State Department to ban the word "espionage" because it reeks of anti-Semitic double-loyalty insinuations.

You're thinking no?

References:
* New State Department lexicon forbids use of the words "jihad" or "jihadist" [Spencer]
* We're Going To Miss Westminster Abbey - Britain More Or Less Gives Up [MR]
* ANALYSIS: New espionage affair may be old story, but will greatly damage Israel [Ha'aretz]

Previously:
* State Department Deliberately Circumvents Anti-Terrorism Laws, Funds Hamas
* State Department: How About We Screw Terrorism Victims, Protect Palestinian Terrorists In US Courts? (Plus: One Jerusalem Launches Campaign)
* Mere Rhetoric: State Department Tries To Cleanse Obviously Illegal "No Jews Allowed" Application But Is Too Fucking Stupid To Turn Off Track Changes

First there was the Onion's brilliant point/counterpoint on the question, where an AQ press rep got salty with a US Truther for trying to deny Sunni jihadists the credit they deserve:

And now there's reality:

Osama bin Laden's chief deputy on Tuesday denied a theory that Israel carried out the Sept. 11 attacks and blamed Iran and Shiite Hezbollah for spreading the idea to discredit the Sunni al-Qaida's strike against the U.S. The comments in a recording posted on an Islamic Web site reflected the increasing criticism by al-Qaida's No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri against Iran... One of the questioners asked about the theory that has circulated in the Middle East and elsewhere that Israel was behind the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Al-Zawahri accused Hezbollah's Al-Manar television of starting the rumor. "The purpose of this lie is clear - (to suggest) that there are no heroes among the Sunnis who can hurt America as no else did in history. Iranian media snapped up this lie and repeated it," he said.

Really? Really?

References:
* Al-Qaida No. 2 says 9/11 theory propagated by Iran [AP]

Previously:
* Iran, Hamas, And Islamic Jihad Meet In Syria To Plan Mideast Turmoil
* Clowns. Total Clowns (UN Speakers Edition)
* Hamas Media Lovefest Goes Awry As Green-Headband Wearing Farm Animals Begin Defecating, Having Sex

Remember that time when UNIFIL commander Claudio Graziano condescendingly dismissed Israeli concerns about Hezbollah activity by saying that UNIFIL was "physically patrolling every corner of southern Lebanon"? And we were more or less like "he's obviously lying because Hezbollah just fired a bunch of rockets into Israel." It turns out that we may have been a little unfair. It's not that UNIFIL isn't aware that Hezbollah is in open violation of the UN resolution that convinced Israel to leave southern Lebanon. It's just that they're too pathetic to do anything about it:

Hizbullah gunmen chased away UNIFIL inspectors in south Lebanon who identified a truck carrying arms belonging to the guerrilla group, a report published twice a year by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon revealed Tuesday. The incident was the first time UNIFIL troops confirmed the presence of Hizbullah gunmen south of the Litani River, in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701... Sources in Jerusalem said the incident was a source of great embarrassment for UNIFIL. The troops trailed the truck and stopped it, but when the troops approached the truck, armed Hizbullah members jumped out and threatened to hurt them if they would not leave the area. The source said UNIFIL's men turned back and left the scene.

The rest of the article says that this was kind of embarrassing for UNIFIL. Which is probably true, but just think how red-faced the Hezbollah guys were - usually they're able to use the UN and Israeli intel that UNIFIL leaks them to totally avoid these kinds of confrontations. Maybe it was a pesky random patrol. Or an officer showing just enough initiative to playact being a real soldier.

References:
* Katyushas Hit Israel Two Days After UNIFIL Commander Promises Peace [MR]
* Hizbullah chases away UNIFIL monitors [JPost]
* UN Peacekeepers Leaking Israeli Intel To Hezbollah [MR]

Previously:
* Hezbollah: We're Going To Commit Genocide To Avenge That Mughniyah Guy Who Never Had Anything To Do With Us
* Take Away Hezbollah's Collaborators, Human Shields, And Useful Idiots. Disband UNIFIL Now.
* Hezbollah Probably Lost the War, But They May Never Have Been In It To Win

What a tool:

Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama on Wednesday disagreed with former President Jimmy Carter's overtures toward Hamas, saying he would not talk to the Islamist group until it recognized Israel and renounced terrorism... Obama said the greatest threat to Israel comes from Iran and said the United States should talk to Iran directly. "My approach to Iran will be based upon aggressive diplomacy," he said. "What it means is that we come to the table with a very clear set of objectives and a very clear set of demands -- that Iran ceases from pursuing nuclear weapons, that it stops funding Hezbollah and Hamas, that it ends its noxious statements about Israel and the threats directed towards Israel," he said.

Rewarding Hamas by having an ex-President meet with them - and ask them to accept Israel - is totally out of bounds. But meeting with Iran - and asking them to ask Hamas to accept Israel - is the height of foreign policy sophistication. All this seems to be the case even though there's at least a very, very tiny chance that Hamas can be talked into pretending to agree to a temporary ceasefire. There is, on the other hand, quite literally zero chance that Iran will give up its nuclear ambitions.

The Obama platform: we're only willing to talk with the genocidal lunatics who are too insane to even consider pretending to recognize Israel. Because that's the Hopeful approach.

References:
* Obama criticizes Carter's Hamas meeting [YNet]\
* Hamas leaders, Carter to discuss siege, Schalit [JPost]
* Mathematical Proof That Negotiating With Iran Is Stupid. Not Wrong. Stupid. [MR]

Previously:
* Mel Levine's Defense Of Obama: He'll Make Obsessed Anti-Israel Lunatics Love The US. Presumably By Magic.
* Top Obama Adviser Explains Iraq War: Turns Out, It's The Jews' Fault. Again. (Plus: Ha'aretz Political Correspondent’s Pro-Obama Apologism Getting Increasingly Desperate)
* Hamas leaders, Carter to discuss siege, Schalit [JPost]