January 16th

Haaretz Probe: Shin Bet Count Of Gaza Civilian Deaths Is Too Low ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - January 16, 2008 - 5:33pm Israeli security forces killed 810 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in 2006 and 2007, Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin reported Sunday at the weekly cabinet briefing in Jerusalem. He estimated that some 200 of those killed were not clearly linked to terrorist organizations. » Read more

One Soldier's Assessment Of The Global War On Terror ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - January 16, 2008 - 5:32pm I do not spend much time mingling with officers in the United States armed forces, but when I do, usually at a conference or international gathering, or reading texts on the Web, I always come away from the experience more heartened than threatened. Presumably, so does President George W. Bush, who spends much of his time deploying or threatening to use the US military against terrorists around the world, Iran, or mainstream Islamist movements that defy the US. » Read more

Election Power Of The Israel Lobby ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al Jazeera English by Rob Winder - January 16, 2008 - 5:31pm As US presidential candidates battle it out to become the leader of the world's only superpower there is one subject on which they all, in public at least, agree - the US relationship with Israel. To leading politicians on both sides of the partisan divide the special relationship is sacrosanct, largely due, critics say, to the power of pro-Israel lobby groups. » Read more

Optimism Drives Bush's Peace Push ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News by Matthew Price - January 16, 2008 - 5:29pm George W Bush has changed his approach to the Middle East but, as he heads home from his tour to the region, the question is whether it is too late to make any difference. The president, who came to power seven long years ago with little knowledge of global affairs, rounded off a marathon trip to a region that more than any other has been at the receiving end of his foreign policy. For over a week, we have heard from an optimistic president. But ask White House insiders for a list of concrete achievements from the last eight days, and there are few specifics. » Read more

Bloody Reality Bears No Relation To The Delusions Of This President ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Robert Fisk - (Opinion) January 16, 2008 - 5:28pm Twixt silken sheets – in a bedroom whose walls are also covered in silk – and in the very palace of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, President George Bush awakes this morning to confront a Middle East which bears no relation to the policies of his administration nor the warning which he has been relaying constantly to the kings and emirs and oligarchs of the Gulf: that Iran rather than Israel is their enemy. » Read more

Holy Land Killing Begins Again As Bush Wraps Up Middle East Visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Sydney Morning Herald by Ed O\'loughlin - January 16, 2008 - 5:27pm AS THE US President, George Bush, wrapped up his first extended Middle East tour, the Holy Land returned to the grim status quo, with violence flaring in Gaza and the West Bank. Only the scale of the killing is in any way remarkable - at least 19 Palestinians in Gaza, including five civilians, and an Ecuadorean labourer working on an Israeli kibbutz. It is the highest daily death toll in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in over a year. In the West Bank a senior leader of the Islamic Jihad group was killed by Israeli troops early yesterday. » Read more

One Hand Clapping ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times (Editorial) January 16, 2008 - 5:25pm The first thing to say about U.S. President George W. Bush's travels around the region to push the cause of an Israeli-Palestinian peace is that it is extremely welcome: The second thing to say is that it would have been much more welcome had it occurred seven years ago, before 3,000 to 5,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis had lost their lives during the second intifada. » Read more

Bush Gets Peace Talk Promises ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Anne Gearan - (Analysis) January 16, 2008 - 5:24pm President Bush received renewed promises of bargaining for Mideast peace and a polite hearing for his warnings about Iran, and he collected major bling from his Arab hosts. But neither Israel nor its Arab neighbors assured Bush that they will do what the United States asks on issues ranging from democratic reform and unauthorized Israeli housing expansion to high gas prices. » Read more

Bush Trip Revives Israeli Push For Pardon Of Spy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Jonathan Finer - January 16, 2008 - 5:23pm A balding, bearded visage loomed over President Bush's visit here last week, peering down from banners and from posters on buses barreling along quiet streets. The face was that of Jonathan Pollard, an American who pleaded guilty in 1986 to passing top-secret information to Israel. Israeli supporters seeking his release were rebuffed by President Bill Clinton during the last period of extended negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Now they are ramping up their campaign for a presidential pardon. » Read more

Faith, Freedom And Bling In The Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Maureen Dowd - (Opinion) January 16, 2008 - 5:21pm As a Saudi soldier with a gold sword high-stepped in front of him, President Bush walked slowly beside King Abdullah through the shivery gray mist enveloping the kingdom, following the red carpet leading from Air Force One to the airport terminal. When the two stepped onto the escalator, the president tenderly reached for the king’s hand, in case the older man needed help. He certainly does need help, but not the kind he is prepared to accept. » Read more