Iran blocks release of IDF soldier
Iran blocks return of Israeli soldier: Israel's ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman has accused Iran of paying Hamas $50m to block the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants. The payment, which Iran denies making, allegedly went to the head of Hamas' political bureau Khaled Meshaal. (BBC)
Iran is apparently party to a war which the papers described as being between Israel and Lebanon. And somehow Lebanon is never central to the proceedings. In the Wizard of Oz Dorothy was misled until Toto noticed the Man Behind the Curtain. What a charade international relations sometimes is.
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Steve Schippert over at Threatswatch had a post yesterday describing how a terrorist, involved in the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, had been killed by IDF troops recently.
The article did not report on the status of Shalit. Is he alive? Is he the hostage we are talking about here.
Using the same metric Kim Jong Il uses, this must surely be an act of war. One wonders what must be going through the mind of Olmert now that Amhadinijad has again threatened the nation of Israel.
This is between Hamas and Israel, with Iran standing behind Hamas. Lebanon isn't really involved.
All the Arabs are aware that Iran is behind the failure to strike a deal that would return Gilad Shalit. The Egyptians have made statements to the effect that Israel had agreed to release prisoners in exchange for the release of the soldier but the agreement was held up by Mashaal in Damascus.
There are some reports that Israel should or will mount a large-scale attack on Gaza to pressure Hamas to release the soldier. They have upped the tempo of their attacks in Gaza recently and have destroyed a number of arms smuggling tunnels.
The Israelis have killed over 300 terrorists in Gaza since Shalit was kidnapped. However, Meshaal and Iran are happy to fight to the last Gazan.
I wonder sometimes if the bellicose statements made by Ahma-nutjob are intended simply to raise the price of oil.
Nay, it is a proxy war between the US and Iran. It is being fought on multiple fronts. Iraq is another. We are going to have to blow Iran up and soon.
Utopia Parkway said "I wonder sometimes if the bellicose statements made by Ahma-nutjob are intended simply to raise the price of oil."
David Ignatius of the WaPo went to Iran in late August and had a series of nice op-eds about his trip. In the last one he wrote that:
"Indeed, Iranians see a perverse economic benefit in defying the international community. 'If we cooperate, oil is $7 a barrel. If we don't, it is $70', former defense minister Ali Shamkhani observes at the investment conference."
I had a few comments on Ignatius' article in a post entitled Pain in the Gas.
I wonder sometimes if the bellicose statements made by Ahma-nutjob are intended simply to raise the price of oil.
The market is discounting that now.
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