"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

U.S. 'secret war' expands globally as Special Operations forces take larger role

Beneath its commitment to soft-spoken diplomacy and beyond the combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Obama administration has significantly expanded a largely secret U.S. war against al-Qaeda and other radical groups, according to senior military and administration officials. Special Operations forces have grown both in number and budget, and are deployed in 75 countries, compared with about 60 at the beginning of last year. In addition to units that have spent years in the Philippines and Colombia, teams are operating in Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia....
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1,000th GI killed in Afghan war was on 2nd tour

KERRVILLE, Texas-The 1,000th American serviceman killed in Afghanistan was born on the Fourth of July. He died several days before Americans honor fallen troops on Memorial Day.
Marine Cpl. Jacob C. Leicht was killed Thursday when he stepped on a land mine in Helmand province that ripped off his right arm.
It was the 24-year-old Texan's second deployment overseas.Leicht had begged to return to the battlefield after a bomb took out his Humvee in Iraq. He spent two painful years recovering from face and leg injuries, all the while pining for combat in letters from his hospital bed.He finally got back to the front lines, but was killed less than a month into the tour of duty he desperately wanted....
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Picture Left:Jonathan Leicht, left, and Jesse Leicht, right, pose with a photo of their brother, Marine Cpl. Jacob Leicht, Saturday, May 29, 2010, in Kerrville, Texas.(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Hundreds of drunken parrots fall from sky in Australia...

SYDNEY-Hundreds of seemingly drunk parrots are falling out of trees and the sky in a northern Australian town, mystifying veterinary surgeons who are struggling to care for them.The brightly coloured lorikeets are showing classic signs of drunkenness by losing all coordination and passing out, and then cowering in cages as they recover from their "hangovers"."They definitely seem like they're drunk," said Lisa Hansen, a veterinary surgeon at the Ark Animal Hospital in Palmerston, near Darwin...
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Picture Left:(AFP/File/Greg Wood)

Debt under Obama increases $5 billion per day -- 3 times the Bush rate...!!!

The federal government is now $13 trillion in the red, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday, marking the first time the government has sunk that far into debt and putting a sharp point on the spending debate on Capitol Hill.Calculated down to the exact penny, the debt totaled $13,050,826,460,886.97 as of Tuesday, leaping nearly $60 billion since Friday, the previous day for which figures were released.At $13 trillion, that figure has risen by $2.4 trillion in about 500 days since President Obama took office, or an average of $4.9 billion a day. That's almost three times the daily average of $1.7 billion under the previous administration, and led Republicans on Wednesday to place blame squarely at the feet of Mr. Obama and his fellow Democrats....

BIG SIS IN CONTROL:Bill would give "Homeland Security" emergency cyber powers...

We're learning more about the cybersecurity package forming in the Senate.Wired.com reports Sen. Joe Lieberman, (I-Conn.) wants to give the federal government the power to take over civilian networks' security, if there's an "imminent cyber threat." It's part of a draft bill, co-sponsored by Senators Lieberman and Susan Collins, that provides DHS with the authority to ensure that critical infrastructure stays up and running in the face of a looming hack attack...

OIL SPILL DISASTER WATCH

--FEDS HALT ALL NEW DRILLING IN GULF...

Oil Spill Nears Florida Panhandle Beaches.. .

PENSACOLA, Fla.—As oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill neared Florida's Panhandle beaches Wednesday, its effects were already rippling through the politics and troubled economy of the nation's largest swing state.A six-foot-long oil sheen was spotted "close to the beach if not right on the beach" near Pensacola in the northwest part of the state, according to a spokeswoman for officials monitoring the spill in Mobile, Ala. A larger sheen was also sighted 35 miles off the coast of Pensacola. Officials said they expect oil to wash up on the state's western shores as soon as Thursday as winds push the slick northeast.Oil could also wash up in other parts of Florida. Recent satellite imagery showed a narrow band of oil sheen within the Loop Current, an underwater movement in the Gulf that could carry oil around the lower part of the state, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said...
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Picture Left:Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and staffers inspect a boom near Pensacola Pass on Wednesday. Oil threatened to arrive as peak tourist season was getting into full swing along the Panhandle.(AP)

OIL SPILL DISASTER:"Director Cameron says BP turned down offer to help:"Those morons don't know what they're doing"...

PALOS VERDES, Calif--Film director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron said on Wednesday that BP Plc turned down his offer to help combat the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "Over the last few weeks I've watched, as we all have, with growing horror and heartache, watching what's happening in the Gulf and thinking those morons don't know what they're doing," Cameron said at the All Things Digital technology conference.Cameron, the director of "Avatar" and "Titanic," has worked extensively with robot submarines and is considered an expert in undersea filming. He did not say explicitly who he meant when he referred to "those morons"...

AID FLOTILLA RAID:Imams and mourners pray behind the Turkish flag-wrapped coffins of activists...

Imams and mourners pray behind the Turkish flag-wrapped coffins of activists, who were killed when Israel seized a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza, during a funeral ceremony at Fatih mosque in Istanbul June 3, 2010.
(REUTERS/Murad Sezer)

Israel eyes int'l force for Gaza blockade - TV

JERUSALEM--Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed easing Israel's blockade of Gaza by means of an international force that could monitor the territory's ports, an Israeli television station said on Thursday...

Turks mourn dead,president warns Israel on ties

ISTANBUL-Thousands thronged an Istanbul mosque for the funeral of Turkish activists killed in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship, and President Abdullah Gul said ties with Israel would never be the same again.Draped in Turkish and Palestinian flags, the coffins of eight of the nine dead were brought on Thursday to Fatih mosque, a grand Ottoman structure, for a service before being dispersed around the country for burial."You head to heaven. May God bless your martyrdom," read a huge banner on one side of a square brimming with mourners, among them some who had been aboard the Gaza-bound aid flotilla and had arrived back in Istanbul hours earlier."We are deeply sad but at the same time we are outraged," said Hulya Sekerci, 36, a charity worker from Istanbul."Nine people were killed. The whole world must react to this. The government must do more than just speak angry words"...
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Picture Left:Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (2nd R) shakes hands with an activist, wounded when Israel seized a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza, in an ambulance plane at the Etimesgut military airport in Ankara early June 3, 2010.(REUTERS/Cengiz Oguz Gumrukcu/Turkish Foreign Ministry/Handout)

Biden:Israel Has Right to Stop Gaza Ships

Vice President Joe Biden backed Israel's right to board ships bound for Gaza to prevent weapons smuggling on Wednesday, but said Washington remained concerned about the plight of Palestinians there.Israeli commandos boarded a flotilla of six aid vessels trying to break Israel's three-year-old naval blockade of the Palestinian enclave on Monday. Nine activists were killed in the assault and dozens injured, including some commandos....

UN investigator calls for halt to CIA drone killings

GENEVA--A United Nations investigator called Wednesday for a halt to CIA-directed drone strikes on suspected Islamic militants, warning that killings ordered far from the battlefield could lead to a "Playstation" mentality.Philip Alston, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, said missile strikes could be justified only when it was impossible to capture insurgents alive instead and only if they were carried out by regular U.S. armed forces operating with proper oversight and respect for the rules of war.The Central Intelligence Agency's use of unmanned Predator or Reaper drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan against al Qaeda and Taliban suspects had led to the death of "many hundreds," including innocent civilians, he said in a 29-page report....

Russia says rebels planning 2014 Olympic attacks

MOSCOW--Russia believes rebel groups are planning attacks on the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014, the chief of the state security service said on Thursday, according to Russian news agencies.The Black Sea resort city of Sochi is close to Russia's North Caucasus region, scene of a long-running Islamist insurgency.Alexander Bortnikov, the chief of the FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said he believed that Islamist groups would try to force the cancellation of the Games, but did not mention any specific plots....

Russia says terrorists seeking nuclear materials...

MOSCOW--The chief of Russia's state security service said on Wednesday that terrorists were seeking access to nuclear materials across the former Soviet Union, Interfax news agency reported.
Alexander Bortnikov, the chief of the FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, gave no further details about the attempts or which groups had sought the materials...

Outrage spills onto US streets over Israeli raid on Gaza Flotilla

Hamas Stops Flotilla Aid Delivered by Israel...

Jerusalem-Israel has attempted to deliver humanitarian aid from an international flotilla to Gaza, but Hamas-which controls the territory-has refused to accept the cargo, the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday.Palestinian sources confirmed that trucks that arrived from Israel at the Rafah terminal at the Israel-Gaza border were barred from delivering the aid.Ra'ed Fatooh, in charge of the crossings, and Jamal Khudari, head of a committee against the Gaza blockade, said Israel must release all flotilla detainees and that it will be accepted in the territory only by the Free Gaza Movement people who organized the flotilla.Israel said it had 20 trucks of aid found on the ships, such as expired medications, clothing, blankets, some medical equipment and toys....
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Fears of new flashpoint as defiant Israel prepares for showdown with two more Gaza aid ships

World Condemnation:An israeli flag burns outside the embassy in Manila,Philipines today as global anger over the attack on the Gaza aid convoy increased.
Fury: Protesters shout slogans during an anti-Israeli protest in front of the Israeli embassy in Vienna, Austria today
Israel is facing another potentially explosive confrontation at sea as pro-Palestinian activists sent two more boats to challenge its blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Reports in Israel claimed the navy was prepared to use even more force to stop ships from breaking the blockade.
A top commander told the Jerusalem Post yesterday: ‘We boarded the ship and were attacked as if it was a war.
‘That will mean that we will have to come prepared in the future as if it was a war’....
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Former Ambassador Describes Gaza Ordeal

Raw Video:Dueling Protests Over Israeli Raid

Paintballs to pistols,Israel admits ship blunders

JERUSALEM-Wrong intelligence, wrong guns, wrong tactics. Israel's military acknowledged big mistakes on Tuesday during the bungled boarding of a Gaza-bound aid ship in which elite troops killed nine international activists.Though Israelis rallied to their conscripts in the face of foreign fury, the domestic recrimination-with "Foul-up" and "Fiasco" dominating newspaper headlines-betrayed an erosion of confidence recalling the setbacks of the 2006 Lebanon war.One commentator demanded that Defense Minister Ehud Barak step down. Cabinet members vowed to investigate, but their insistence that the pro-Palestinian activists had provoked the bloodshed found a ready ear among an irate Israeli public....
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Picture Left:An Israeli armed naval boat, right, escorts a ship from the Gaza-bound flotilla, center, with Israeli troops on board into the port of Ashdod, Israel, Monday, May 31, 2010.(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Raw Video: Flotilla Detainees Cross Into Jordan

US consulate issues advisory for Israel

An advisory message was issued Tuesday to US citizens in Israel and the Palestinian territories by the US consulate in Jerusalem in the aftermath of heightened tension in the region, following the deadly battle at sea between Navy commandos and pro-Palestinian activists onboard a Gaza-bound flottila.The consulate advised American citizens to be "on alert for possible road blockages, demonstrations and protests," adding that US citizens "should specially use caution in places with large Arab populations, including Umm el Fahem, Acre, Jaffa, Haifa, East Jerusalem and Jerusalem's Old City. Demonstrations are likely in various West Bank cities as well as in Gaza"...

"Activists threw stun grenades":New IDF footage shows attacks before soldiers boarded 'Mavi Marmara.'

The IDF Spokesperson's office on Wednesday afternoon released more new footage of Gaza flotilla activists attacking soldiers with a stun grenade, a box of plates, and water hoses.
The video was taken before the soldiers boarded the Mavi Marmara in Monday's raid



Picture Above:by Youtube

Turkish lawmakers urge government to review Israel ties

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey's parliament called on the government Wednesday to review all ties with Israel as the country prepared a huge welcome home for hundreds of Turks detained after Israel's bloody raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.In Israel, all of the nearly 700 activists from the aid ships were at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, waiting to be deported, airport officials said. Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said Israel decided not to prosecute any of them, writing in an order Wednesday that "keeping them here would do more damage to the country's vital interests than good"...
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Picture Left:Detained activists from the Gaza-bound flotilla gesture as their bus arrives at Ben Gurion airport before leaving the country, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, June 2, 2010.(AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

LOONEY TUNES WATCH:Pelosi Says She Has a Duty to Pursue Policies in Keeping With The Values of Jesus,"The Word Made Flesh"...

(CNSNews.com)House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says she believes she must pursue public policies "in keeping with the values" of Jesus Christ, "The Word made Flesh."Pelosi, who is a Catholic and who favors legalized abortion, voted against the ban on partial-birth abortion that was enacted into law in 2003.At a May 6 Catholic Community Conference on Capitol Hill, the speaker said: “They ask me all the time, ‘What is your favorite this? What is your favorite that? What is your favorite that?’ And one time, ‘What is your favorite word?’ And I said, ‘My favorite word? That is really easy. My favorite word is the Word, is the Word. And that is everything. It says it all for us. And you know the biblical reference, you know the Gospel reference of the Word”...


PS:Yes...you have entererd the TWILIGHT ZONE...It is always the TWILIGHT ZONE when she speaks...Here you have the word of a mentally disturbed individual and a pathological liar...Just take a look at where she stands in matters of life and death...How in the world did this woman get to be the 3rd in power in our government...?It is offensive that she even tries to talk about Jesus the way she does...God help us...!
As in the days of Noah...

Tropical Storm Agatha blows a hole in Guatemala City swallows three-storey building...

A sinkhole that swallowed a three-storey building in Guatemala City has been blamed on a combination of Tropical Storm Agatha and poor drainage systems. (Photograph: Luis Echeverria/AP)
Tropical Storm Agatha swept across Central America yesterday, bringing torrential rain that killed more than 100 people and opened a 60m-deep sinkhole in Guatemala City which reportedly swallowed up a three-storey building.The first named storm of the 2010 Pacific season dumped more than a metre of rain in parts of Guatemala, also hitting El Salvador and Honduras. At least 113 people were reported killed, with around 50 missing in Guatemala alone as rescue workers searched through the rubble.The 30m-diameter sinkhole opened up in a northern district of Guatemala City, with residents blaming the rains and substandard drainage systems. Local reports said one man was killed when the building was swallowed. In 2007, three people died when a similar sinkhole appeared in the same area....
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GLOBAL COOLING:Al and Tipper...What Happened...???

It's already on WIkipedia: Al and Tipper Gore are separating after 40 years of marriage.Today's announcement by the couple is a huge blow to anyone still left in the "happily-ever-after" camp. The Gores enjoyed a fabled relationship that withstood Tipper's depression, their six-year-old son's near-fatal accident, Al's painfully close miss at the presidency, and his eight years in office as vice president. Donna Brazile, his 2000 campaign manager—single at the time—once told me it was the couple's intense love for each other that made her realize what she was missing in her life.As the AP reports, the Gores circulated an email today that described the decision as "a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration"...

Stocks, Oil Drop, Treasuries Rise as Middle-East Tension Grows

Stocks and oil dropped, while the dollar and Treasuries rose, as a report that Lebanon fired on Israeli warplanes spurred concern tensions in the Middle East are escalating. Energy companies led declines in equities after BP Plc failed to halt the biggest oil spill in U.S. history....

IDF's Global Jihad on flotilla:" Israel concerned next flotilla will be accompanied by Turkish Navy"..

Dozens of passengers who were aboard the Mavi Marmara Turkish passenger ship are suspected of having connections with Global Jihad-affiliated terrorist organizations, defense officials said Tuesday, amid growing concerns that Turkey will dispatch Navy warships to accompany a future flotilla to the Gaza Strip.According to the defense officials, the IDF identified a group of about 100 passengers on the ship that could have terrorist connections with Global Jihad affiliated groups...

Syria conducted nuclear experiments: IAEA document

Syria has told the UN atomic watchdog about past nuclear experiments, but is still refusing to cooperate over allegations that it was building a secret nuclear reactor with North Korea's help, a new report revealed Monday.In a restricted four-page report obtained by AFP, the International Atomic Energy Agency said that Syria "provided the Agency with information concerning previously unreported uranium conversion and irradiation activities" at a small research reactor in Damascus.Syria insists the scale of the experiment was small, "involving tens of grammes of nuclear material" and took place in 2004....

IAEA: Iran has over 2 tons enriched uranium -2 bombs' worth

VIENNA-Iran has amassed more than two tons of enriched uranium, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday in a report that heightened Western concerns about the country preparing to produce a nuclear weapon.Two tons of uranium would suffice for two nuclear warheads, although Iran says it does not want weapons and is only pursuing civilian nuclear energy...

'Israeli commandos are wild dogs'

The Iranian president on Tuesday demanded a strong UN Security Council resolution against Israel over its raid on an aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip.In a speech broadcast live on state TV, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the Security Council to adopt a resolution that would "cut off" Israel's hands, thus preventing it from committing more "crimes"...

Thousands of Gazans rush for Egyptian border...

RAFAH, Gaza Strip-Several thousand Gazans are making a furious rush to the Egyptian border, hoping to take advantage of a rare chance to escape the blockaded territory.Egypt announced Tuesday it was temporarily opening the border, a day after an Israeli naval raid killed nine pro-Palestinian activists sailing to Gaza.Cars with suitcases piled on their roofs are streaming to the border, while many others are lugging overstaffed bags on foot. Dozens of Hamas police with automatic weapons are patrolling the area to maintain order....

Activists send new boat to challenge blockade...

JERUSALEM-Pro-Palestinian activists sent another boat to challenge Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and Egypt declared it was temporarily opening a crossing into the Palestinian territory after a botched raid on an aid flotilla that ended with Israeli soldiers killing nine activists.The raid provoked ferocious international condemnation of Israel, raised questions at home, and appeared likely to increase pressure to end the blockade that has deepened the poverty of the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the strip. Turkey, which unofficially supported the flotilla, has led the criticism, calling the Israeli raid a "bloody massacre"...

Ireland to Israel: Let new aid ship break Gaza blockade

International activists vowed on Tuesday to try to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip with another ship carrying humanitarian aid, a day after an Israel Navy blockade on the first six-ship convoy left nine people dead and several more wounded.The Irish-owned MV Rachel Corrie, a converted merchant ship bought by pro-Palestinian activists and named after an American woman killed in the Gaza Strip in 2003, set off on Monday from Malta, organizers said....

Israel envoy in Geneva: Gaza flotilla activists linked to terror groups

Israel, in the dock at the top United Nations human rights body over its bloody raid on a humanitarian aid flotilla en route to the Gaza Strip, accused the activists on Tuesday of being a "lynch mob" with ties to terror groups including the Islamist Hamas.But Israel appeared isolated at the UN Human Rights Council, where even its closest ally the United States said it expected a credible, transparent investigation into Monday's attack in which nine activists died....

Rice Facing Criticism for U.N. Job Performance, Low Profile on Key Issues

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is facing revived criticism of her job performance after she chose to stay in Washington during Monday's emergency meeting over the Israeli raid on an aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip.Susan Rice, who lives in the nation's capital and works most days in New York City, where the U.N. is headquartered, was with her family on Memorial Day when the news broke that the clash between Israeli forces and pro-Palestinian activists had left at least nine dead and dozens more wounded.In her place, Deputy U.S. Representative Alejandro Wolff successfully pressed the U.N. Security Council to tone down its rebuke of Israel...

Israel, Egypt easing blockade on Gaza after 9 activists killed in Israeli raid on aid flotilla

JERUSALEM-Israel and Egypt signaled a temporary easing of the Gaza Strip blockade Tuesday following harsh international condemnation of the deadly Israeli raid on an aid flotilla en route to the sealed-off Palestinian territory.Egypt said it was freely opening its border with Gaza for the first time in more than a year to allow in humanitarian aid, setting off a mad rush to the crossing by thousands of residents, while an Israeli official said there is an "ongoing dialogue" with the international community on how to expand the amount of goods entering the area.At the same time, Israel began expelling some of the nearly 700 activists it rounded up in the naval raid, and strongly rejected criticism of its heavy-handed tactics....

Israel Says Gaza Aid Flotilla Connected to al-Qaeda

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he regretted the loss of life sustained by international activists after Israel Navy commandos stormed a flotilla bringing aid to the Gaza Strip, but said the Israeli troops who opened fire were justified for defending themselves. Netanyahu, who earlier in the day canceled his planned visit to Washington where he was to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama, said that Israel was prepared to bring all humanitarian aid carried on the ship to civilians in Gaza.“Our policy was and will continue to be that Israel would let humanitarian aid, any kind of goods that are meant for peace, to the civilian population of Gaza,” he said....

Flotilla Activists "Tried to Lynch Israeli Soldiers":'They were fully prepared to provoke this deadly confrontation'

Activists on a six-ship flotilla headed to the Gaza Strip had planned to lynch the Israeli commandos who stormed the ship, according to indications at the scene encountered by Israeli forces.Officials in the Israel Defense Forces told WND that when IDF forces stormed the ship, some participants onboard attempted to grab the Israeli commandos to lynch the forces with rope."They were fully prepared to provoke this deadly confrontation," said an IDF official."Some of the participants tried to grab our forces while others were standing by with rope," the official said. "The indications are the participants were trying to lynch the Israeli forces"...

Israeli footage shows activists' attacks...

U.N. Security Council Condemns ‘Acts’ in Israeli Raid

UNITED NATIONS — After hours of negotiations, the United Nations Security Council early on Tuesday condemned “acts” resulting in the deaths of nine civilians in Israel’s attack on an aid flotilla trying to breach the Gaza blockade.In a formal statement that seemed less forceful than what had been demanded by the Palestinians, Arab nations and Turkey, the council also demanded an impartial investigation into the confrontation.The statement urged that aid ships seized in the raid on Monday be released along with civilians held by Israel.“The Security Council deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza,” the statement said, adding that the 15-member body “in this context, condemns those acts which resulted in the loss” of lives....

Authorities Seek Flag-Burning Vandals...

Flag Vandalism Mars Memorial Day in Several States

From Oregon to Minnesota to Ohio, vandals trampled on Old Glory over the Memorial Day weekend. In one Ohio town alone, approximately 25 American flags were found set ablaze on Monday.At least one national veterans group called for those responsible for the "shocking and reprehensible" acts of vandalism to be quickly arrested and prosecuted.Police in Wooster, Ohio, were going door-to-door early Tuesday in search of the people who torched roughly 25 flags and flagpoles along Saunders Drive and Morgan Street, Capt. John Quicci said."They were set on fire," Quicci told FoxNews.com, adding that an investigation is ongoing....
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Picture Left: Christian Ashby, of Portland, Ore., holds an American flag that was vandalized outside of his home sometime late Saturday or early Sunday(KPTV.com)

Bikers Pay Respect to US Fallen Troops

Brendan Marrocco Is the Only Soldier to Survive the Loss of All Four Limbs

"I am very fortunate..."
•CBS News: One U.S. Soldier's Hope for New Arms

Widows Caught in Military,Civilian Worlds

Joann Yost still feels the stares of the other military wives five years after her husband was killed in Iraq: It happens at ceremonies honoring fallen soldiers or when she's grocery shopping with her son...

MEMORIAL DAY 2010

Monica McNeal (R) cries as she hugs a U.S. Marine at the grave (L) of her 19-year-old son Eric Ward, at Arlington National Cemetery, May 27, 2010.
Lance Corporal Eric Ward, a fourth-generation U.S. Marine, was killed in Afghanistan on February 21, 2010.
The United States is commemorating Memorial Day this weekend
(REUTERS/Jason Reed)

US troops in Afghanistan mark Memorial Day

A U.S soldier observes a moment of silence during a ceremony marking Memorial Day at the main U.S. base in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, May 31, 2010.
(AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan remembered friends and colleagues Monday in solemn Memorial Day ceremonies to commemorate all of their nation's war dead.The nearly 9-year-old war raged on, meanwhile, with NATO forces launching airstrikes against Taliban insurgents who had forced government forces to abandon the Barg-e-Matal district in Nuristan, an eastern province on the border with Pakistan. No casualty figures were given.At the sprawling Bagram Air Field, the largest U.S. military base, about 400 soldiers in camouflage uniforms and brown combat boots stood at attention for a moment's silence as Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of some 94,000 U.S. troops in the country, led the ceremony....
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Gaza aid ship: Israeli commandos stormed a six-ship convoy

Hamas leader says American envoys making contact, but not openly

The United States is sending a succession of envoys to engage with Hamas but lacks the bravery to talk to the Islamist movement openly, its leader, Khaled Meshal, said in an interview with the Guardian.Meshal praised President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia for meeting him in Damascus and the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, for hosting the discussion 10 days ago. He told Medvedev that the US was also talking to him. "I thanked him for that meeting and told him the Americans contact us, but are not brave enough to do so openly," said Meshal. "I am confident that in the very near future, everyone will realise that they will have to deal with Hamas"...
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Picture Left:Hamas leader Khaled Meshal.(Photograph: Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty)

On-board video of Gaza Freedom Flotilla storm, aid workers & Israeli troops clash

Israel recoils as US backs nuclear move

Washington's unprecedented backing for a UN resolution for a nuclear-free Middle East that singles out Israel has both angered and deeply worried the Jewish state although officials are cagey about openly criticising their biggest ally.The resolution adopted by the United Nations on Friday calls on Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and urges it to open its facilities to inspection.It also calls for a regional conference in 2012 to advance the goal of a nuclear-free Middle East....

Israel stations nuclear missile subs off Iran

Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organisation in Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers.The submarines of Flotilla 7 — Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan — have visited the Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence of at least one of the vessels.The flotilla’s commander, identified only as “Colonel O”, told an Israeli newspaper: “We are an underwater assault force. We’re operating deep and far, very far, from our borders”...

"Israel aid ship attack is terrorism":Hezbollah

Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah guerrilla group said Monday Israel's action against Gaza-bound aid ships in which at least 10 people were killed, was a "terrorist act that deserves international punishment."Israeli commandos stormed the ships before dawn and at least 10 pro-Palestinian activists on board were killed, unleashing fierce criticism from the Jewish state's friends and enemies.The Israeli navy escorted the vessels which were carrying hundreds of people and 10,000 tonnes of supplies into Israel's port of Ashdod."Israel's kidnapping of civilian hostages from international waters and their arrest constitutes a barbaric aggression and Israel bears complete responsibility if anything happens to them," Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters....
PS:We may agree or not on Israel's actions against this aid flotilla,but I think we all agree that it is rather hilarious that Hezbollah--of all people--condemn these actions as a "barbaric aggression"that deserves"international punishment" since their record is not clean from innocent blood...BUT they are justified of the same "barbaric aggression" they condemn in others...even more they are "justified"aren't they...?It's a kinda psychotic rethoric that they play as a broken record time and time again.
Look WHO'S TALKING....!!!!
As in the days of Noah....

Middle East Fury: Video of angry protests as Israel attacks Gaza Freedom Flotilla

Ten dead as Israel storms aid ships,sparks outcry

Israeli commandos stormed a convoy of Gaza-bound aid ships on Monday and more than 10 of the mostly international activists aboard were killed, provoking a diplomatic crisis and Palestinian charges of a "massacre."The violent end to a Turkish-backed attempt to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip by six ships carrying some 600 people and 10,000 tonnes of supplies raised an outcry across the Middle East and far beyond.As the navy escorted the vessels into Israel's port of Ashdod, accounts remained sketchy of the pre-dawn interception out in the Mediterranean, in which marines stormed aboard from dinghies and rappelled down from helicopters. Israel said "more than 10" activists died. Israeli media spoke of up to 19 dead....

World condemns Gaza flotilla raid, Israel says aid convoy 'had weapons on board'

Netanyahu plans to visit Washington,meet Obama

OTTAWA, May 31-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to fly to Washington and meet U.S. President Barack Obama despite a crisis over Israel's storming of a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza, a spokesman said on Monday.Netanyahu, in Ottawa for talks with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, had been due to meet Obama on Tuesday...

Israel flotilla action criticised by friends and foes...

DUBAI, May 31-Israel's storming of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla set off a diplomatic furore, drawing criticism from allies and enemies alike and straining ties with regional ally Turkey, which called off planned joint military exercises.Washington said it deeply regretted the loss of life and was examining the circumstances that led to Monday's killing of 10 of the mostly international activists aboard the six-ship convoy as it tried to break Israel's blockade of Gaza. The head of the Arab League said Arab states should reconsider their ties with the Jewish state while Turkey, Israel's strongest Muslim friend in the region, summoned Israel's ambassador and said it would recall its own."Israel's attack indicates Israel is not ready for peace. Israel attacked the liberty fleet because it feels it is above the law," Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said in Doha."There is no benefit in dealing with Israel in this manner and we must re-assess our dealing with Israel," he said....

Israelis say self-defense; were attacked with knives, sticks, gunfire...

ABOARD INS KIDON, Mediterranean Sea, May 31-Israeli commandos who raided a Gaza aid ship on Monday were set upon by activists with knives and clubs and some troops jumped overboard to save themselves, according to an Israeli account.Israel said commandos opened fire in self-defence and 10 activists were killed and seven troops wounded. With Israel jamming signals and censoring media, there was little independent reporting of the events at sea. An Israeli military spokesman said some of the commandos were equipped with paintball guns but the non-lethal weapons were not enough against activists who charged in with batons."They had pistols with live ammunition as back-up, to defend themselves," he said.One of the commandos told reporters he descended by rope from a helicopter onto one of the six ships in the convoy and was immediately attacked by a group of people waiting for them."They beat us with metal sticks and knives," he said. "There was live fire at some point against us"...
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Israeli commandos storm aid flotilla:10 killed

This video image released by the Turkish Aid group IHH Monday May 31, 2010 purports to show Israeli soldiers aboard a military vessel in international waters off the Gaza coast surrounding a Turkish ship.
(AP Photo/IHH via APTN)
JERUSALEM – Israeli naval commandos stormed a flotilla of ships carrying aid and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists to the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 10 passengers in a predawn raid that set off worldwide condemnation and a diplomatic crisis. Israel said the forces encountered unexpected resistance as they boarded the vessels. Dozens of passengers and at least five Israeli soldiers were wounded in the confrontation in international waters.Israel's tough response triggered widespread condemnation across Europe; many of the passengers were from European countries. The raid also strained already tense relations with Israel's longtime Muslim ally Turkey, the unofficial sponsor of the mission, and drew more attention to the plight of Gaza's 1.5 million people...
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