The Vanishing The curious case of the much-quoted Bush critic and political ‘insider’ “George Harleigh,” the man who might have been there, but then wasn’t and who is now being erased from the blogs on which he was before he wasn’t.

A bang-up job of cyber-sleuthing by Eric @ Classical Values complete with a flow chart that makes it all clear…. sort of.

Civilians in an Age of Terrorism Alan Dershowitz considers who is a civilian in an era of terrorism. “We need a new vocabulary to reflect the realities of modern warfare.”

MidEast War: 31
“Sending out an S.O.S. Sending out an S.O.S”

July 22, 2006 18:00 PDT

Frequent updates. Scroll. Previous coverage @ right. Links to Lebanese and Israeli bloggers covering the conflict are @ Truth Laid Bear, plus a map view with pointers to the location of the bloggers in war zone. Map of war zone here.

News Breaks (Blogs & Opinion below)

23:18 PDT The Washington Post quotes Israeli Ambassador Daniel Ayalon as saying a Hezbollah “that is engaged in the political system in Lebanon, but without terrorism capabilities and fighting capabilities. That will be acceptable to Israel.”

21:41 PDT UN Broke Again: “UN in Frantic Need of More Than $100 Million in Aid for Lebanon.”

20:39 The New York Times reports the US is seeking ways to detach Syria from Iran.

20:30 The AP reports that “France will participate in an international peacekeeping force for Lebanon under certain conditions”.

20:12 Fox News reports that officials said on conditions of anonymity that the main Palestinian groups in Gaza have unofficially agreed to a unilatral ceasefire with Israel. But Palestinian groups later denied this.

20:04 PDT “An emergency draft has been activated.”

18:54 PDT Ynet News describes the new detention facility being constructed to house Hezbollah members captured in Lebanon.

18:06 Senior officials say the US will give Israel a week to complete the military offensive in Lebaon, according to Haaretz. Here are more details on a supposed diplomatic package to end the fighting in Lebanon.

---

Blog & Opinion Reaction

23:26 PDT Carl In Jerusalem reports on the rumored ceasefire in Gaza focusing on the possible diplomatic detachment of Hamas from Iran, possibly as part of the Egyptian brokered deal. “But according to HaAretz, it is not clear whether Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader in Damascus, will sanction the Egyptian-brokered deal.”

22:05 PDT BENJAMIN NETANYAHU in the Wall Street Journal: No Cease-Fire

“JERUSALEM—Some 44 years ago, when Soviet missiles in neighboring Cuba threatened American cities, John F. Kennedy set one goal and ultimately prevailed in achieving it: Remove the missiles. Today, when Israel’s cities are pummeled by Hezbollah missiles launched from neighboring Lebanon, our goal should be the same: Remove the missiles. Or destroy them.”

20:40 PDT Joshua Landis commenting on the NYT’s article that the US seeks to detach Syria from Iran says the US will need to offer Syria a lot of money, return the Golan and more.

20:22 PDT Brutally Honest notes “Alan Dershowitz is doing what the MSM should have been doing all along,”

20:19 PDT Meryl Yourish comments on the rumored ceasefire in Gaza, saying it’s yet another terrorist time out.

19:54 The New York Times says Iranian aid to Hezbollah is causing unease in Teheran’s streets.

19:46 PDT “Quagmire” Called Up As Media Masses Headlines On Newspaper Border.

18:49 PDT The American Thinker considers Ahmadinejad’s personality.

18:00 PDT Chickenhawk looks at a photo from a Wayne Madsen report purporting to show an IDF soldier preparing a chemical weapon for firing and shows by photo comparison it is a minefield mreaching system.

[Earlier coverage here]

India: Acting From Fear At WorldNet Daily, The Jawa Report’s Rusty Shackleford—whose weblog, along with sixteen others, was specifically banned by the Indian government in the wake of the Mumbai bombings—expounds on that government’s actions. “These websites were singled out because, according to the Indian government, they might incite religious violence. The nine American websites banned by India are all critical of the Islamist movement. Not a single website of Islamic extremists justifying and even celebrating the Mumbai bombings has been banned…India is afraid of its own Muslim citizens.”

Think fruity. Think refreshing. File under “YCMTSU!.” It’s GoogleGulp: “Think a DNA scanner embedded in the lip of your bottle reading all 3 gigabytes of your base pair genetic data in a fraction of a second, fine-tuning your individual hormonal cocktail in real time using our patented Auto-Drink™ technology, and slamming a truckload of electrolytic neurotransmitter smart-drug stimulants past the blood-brain barrier to achieve maximum optimization of your soon-to-be-grateful cerebral cortex. Plus, it’s low in carbs!”

Mario Conquers the Galaxy From TechE Blog: “IGN’s Matt Casamassina provides us with a video walkthrough of Nintendo’s upcoming Super Mario Galaxy game — with commentary.” If you’ve got the system you will be buying this game.

Say Hello. Win $100 (Maybe) The always wonderful grow-a-brain has had 5 million hits and is running a contest: “If I get 500 or more Hello’s, I will award $100 cash prize to one random commentator. Here are the only rules: The 500 comments have to be posted within 30 days of today.”

MidEast War: 30 July 22, 2006 12:00 PDT

[Coverage continues here]

Frequent updates. Scroll. Previous coverage @ right. Links to Lebanese and Israeli bloggers covering the conflict are @ Truth Laid Bear, plus a map view with pointers to the location of the bloggers in war zone. Map of war zone here.

News Breaks (Blogs & Opinion below)

17:42 PDT Ynet News reports that the IDF is set to move on “Hezbollah villages” north of the border, including the Hezbollah “capital” Bint Jabel.

16:48 PDT The Daily Mail reports that “senior security sources told The Mail on Sunday Hezbollah could be preparing reprisal attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets in British cities.”

16:19 PDT The Khaleej Times says Hezbollah destroyed 3 tanks and caused IDF casualties in the battle for Maroun al-Ras.

15:40 PDT Reuters reports that British “Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells criticised Israeli attacks in Lebanon on Saturday, suggesting they were indiscriminate”.

14:55 PDT The AP reports that the border town of Maroun al-Ras is in IDF hands.

14:28 PDT The IDF has warned the inhabitants of 13 villages to move north of the Litani River or risk their lives. Ynet News has a list of the villages.

12:54 PDT UN official accuses Israel of war crimes in Lebanon (warning: very graphic—and uncaptioned—photo on this page.)

12:49 PDT As of the time of this report, 92 Hezbollah rockets have reached their northern Israel targets. TV news reports indicate that the count is now at around 130 and, of course, rising.

11:57 PDT The ‘militants’ don’t agree to the Gaza cease-fire planned by Abbas and Haniyeh; Israeli officials said that it did not to them matter one way or the other, since the main condition for an Israel cease-fire was not being discussed.

---

Blog & Opinion Reaction

17:08 PDT Captain’s Quarters links to articles where Nasrallah now claims that he controls Lebanon.

16:40 PDT Tigerhawk comments on Stratfor’s analysis of the ground war. The Counterterrorism Blog has its own thoughts.

16:37 PDT Samizdata wonders whether Nasrallah isn’t making the same mistake as Nasser.

16:10 PDT Austin Bay has extensive analysis of the Hezbollah antiship attack on the Israeli corvette.

15:45 PDT Gateway Pundit looks at George Galloway’s reaction to events in Lebanon. “Hizbollah is not a terrorist group and I am here to glorify the Lebanese resistance movement.”

14:07 PDT Via Tonecluster, some DEBKA rumors: “Our sources add Syrian fighter pilots are sitting in their cockpits.”

These orders went out from Syrian president Bashar Assad July 20 when Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander Brig.-Gen Yahya Rahim Safavi (picture) assumed command of the Lebanon war from Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Tehran’s direct military intervention in the conflict was accompanied by an Iranian weapons airlift which began landing Wednesday, July 19, at the Abu Ad Duhur military airfield north of Homs. The deliveries include large quantities of new missiles, including the long-range Zelzal and Fajr 3 and Fajr 5 missiles, Katyusha rockets, anti-tank and anti-air missiles sent out from RG HQ in Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf.”

13:10 PDT The corporate-sponsored war.

12:12 Lileks on Screed:“‘The problem with Moral Authority is its antonym, the Palestinian Authority.”

12:04 PDT Why the Arab League doesn’t have Hezbollah’s back—it spoils the narrative.

[Earlier coverage here]

Talk About Perks! Over at Dean’s World, Mary Madigan puts forth a great PR idea for the creators of the lithium-battery-powered Tesla Roadster.

The Cubical War “So do you see this war as coming to an end any time soon?”

[Video in extended entry at “More”]

The Global Meaning of Mumbai “If Mumbai Falls… India falls. You and I know this. Unfortunately, so do the terrorists.” An in-depth look @ “The City of Dreams” by Vinod Mehta in Outlook India.

Would It Have Been Better? Asks Andre Glucksmann @ Sign & Sight: “Would it have been better not to topple Saddam Hussein, to let him reign on for another decade and complete his horrible agenda of torturing, maiming and killing - with one or two million victims in a quarter of a century? “

UNIFIL at the Lebanese Border David Kopel at Volokh Conspiracy recalls the part UNIFIL played in a Hezbollah kidnapping of Israeli soldiers from Lebanon — in the year 2000.

Battle of Baghdad 3 18:00 PDT The BBC reports that the Iraqi Army foiled an Katyusha rocket attack on a British barracks in Basra.

14:49 PDT A major gunbattle against a Shi’ite death squad in Mahmoudiya is reported by the AP: 11 terrorist suspects, four Iraqi soldiers and three policemen. US gunships provided support.

Fox News reports that seven Shiites died in a drive-by shooting at noon in the Furat neighborhood near Baghdad International Airport.

---

17:38 PDT Iraq the Model talks about the new thinking among Iraqis in Baghdad and what he hopes MNF does next.

06:34 PDT The Security Watchtower has a recap of recent coalition operations in the Baghdad area.

Previous coverage is here.

MidEast War: 29 July 22, 2006 06:00 PDT

Frequent updates. Scroll. Previous coverage @ right. Links to Lebanese and Israeli bloggers covering the conflict are @ Truth Laid Bear, plus a map view with pointers to the location of the bloggers in war zone. Map of war zone here.

News Breaks (Blogs & Opinion below)

11:22 PDT Anti-Israel rallies in Australia and New Zealand.

10:52 PDT Lebanon’s Daily Star dissects Hezbollah chief Nasrallah’s Al Jazeera interview.(HT: Power Line)

10:30 PDT
Israel is building a POW facility.

09:59 PDT The US rushes a pre-ordered delivery of precision-guided weapons to Israel and CAIR promptly condemns it.

09:28 PDT Fox News reports that Palestinian President Haniyah and Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas have agreed to a unilateral cease-fire for Gaza’s part starting midnight tonight (their local time).

08:48 PDT As Cyprus fills to the popping point with refugees, the Cypriot foreign minister George Lillikas, asks the EU for financial help in order “to help the island cope with the influx.”

07:31 PDT Ynet: “Palestinian sources in Gaza reported that Said Siam, Palestinian Minister of Interior, dismissed the head of the Palestinian preventative security service in Gaza, Suliman Abu-Mutlek. Circumstances surrounding the dismissal are unknown.” Suliman is a member of Fatah, so this could increase tensions with Hamas.

Meanwhile up north, a new barrage of rockets fall on Haifa and Galilee.

06:44 PDT Fox News reports: “Hundreds of Israeli troops moved into southern Lebanon on Saturday, taking control of a village and engaging Hezbollah militants by land, sea and air as part of the country’s limited ground campaign. The soldiers — backed by artillery and tank fire — moved into the large Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras in several rounds and took control, military officials said on condition of anonymity.”

06:09 PDT Reuters: “Israel bombed mobile telephone and television masts in Lebanon on Saturday and pledged to pursue its war on Hizbollah with more military incursions, but said it plans no full-scale invasion for now.”

---

Blog & Opinion Reaction

10:58 PDT Rick Moran thinks that it’s clear who the boss is in Lebanon: “Speaking more like a head of state than the leader of a minority political party and terrorist organization, Nasrallah emphasized that it was Hizbullah that would determine the length and intensity of the conflict with Israel…”

09:54 PDT Krauthammer argues that Israel should be allowed to do what others won’t: “Everyone agrees it must be done. But who to do it? No one. The Lebanese are too weak. The Europeans don’t invade anyone. After its bitter experience of 20 years ago, the United States has a Lebanon allergy. And Israel could not act out of the blue because it would immediately have been branded the aggressor and forced to retreat…Hence the golden, unprecedented opportunity. Hezbollah makes a fatal mistake. It crosses the U.N.-delineated international frontier to attack Israel, kill soldiers and take hostages.

09:14 PDT Allison Kaplan Sommer: “If we were in this same situation with Sharon in the helm, can’t you just imagine the level of personal vilification that would be happening in Europe and the Arab world?”

08:38 PDT Volokh: Some of the UN’s “peacekeeping” members may have been complicit in the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. If true, to what level of responsibility should the UN be bound?

08:27 PDT Ralph Peters: “Israel is losing this war…And the situation’s worsening each day…Israel has to pull itself together now, to send in ground troops in sufficient numbers, with fierce resolve to do what must be done: Root out Hezbollah fighters and kill them. This means Israel will suffer painful casualties - more today than if the Israeli Defense Force had gone in full blast at this fight’s beginning… Israel tried to make war halfway, and only made a mess.

08:11 PDT Some Canadian evacuees from Lebanon receive a sound thrashing from the Edmonton Journal’s Lorne Gunter due to their perceived ingratitude. “[W]hy is it too much to expect they might be thankful simply for being extracted from a danger zone, regardless of how uncomfortably?”

07:48 PDT Eugene @ Live From An Israeli Bunker writes on the latest rocket barrage in Haifa (see 07:31 in the news section) and on the accusations that there’s a humanitarian catastrophe in Lebanon: “Blows my mind that they don’t say anything about the million people who have been living in bunkers for the past 10 days and all of those who had (or decided) to drop everything and move south until this is over. Kofi is out of there come December. In other news, the US is providing us with precision missiles. Thank you US. What’s really great is how people here are holding firm, 10 days and they show no sign of breaking. We can do this siren thing all day.”

07:32 Wretchard @ Belmont Club takes a look at the beginning of the ground campaign.

07:23 PDT Roger Simon has a post-modern war moment, while Allison @ An Unsealed Room writes on a radio station that broadcasts nothing.

07:14 PDT Also on Haaretz, an interview with Martin Kramer, an expert on Lebanon and search fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

07:08 PDT Ze’ev Schiff @ Haaretz writes on the differences between the wars of 1982 and 2006.

06.49 PDT AbbaGav discovers President Bartlet’s doctrine of proportional response. It’ll surprise a few people.

06:28 PDT Disturbingly Yellow brings up a Bob Dylan song from 1983, Neighborhood Bully: “I’d like to say it’s prophetic but it only sounds prophetic because it’s just the same old story again.” He has the lyrics.

06:11 PDT Media Blog finds a good article in the NY Times which provides essential context.

[Earlier coverage here]

MidEast War: 28 July 22, 2006 00:00 PDT

[Coverage continues here]

Frequent updates. Scroll. Previous coverage @ right. Links to Lebanese and Israeli bloggers covering the conflict are @ Truth Laid Bear, plus a map view with pointers to the location of the bloggers in war zone. Map of war zone here.

News Breaks (Blogs & Opinion below)

05:56 PDT CNN breaking news alert in homepage: “Israeli tanks head to Lebanese border village of Maroun al-Ras where Israeli troops are already deployed.”

05:39 PDT Ynet: Nablus operation ends with 23 arrests.

04:25 PDT Haaretz’s breaking news ticker: “Lebanese sources: IAF raids hit mobile telephone, TV masts north of Beirut.”

Iranian president Ahmadinejad “said Israel is “a threat to the region’s security”, adding that if its military operation in Lebanon succeeds it will widen its military aggression.”

04:21 PDT Sky News reports that an aid worker told them that 700,000 people have been left homeless since the conflict started; 100,000 are believed to have fled to neighboring countries like Syria, and 600,000 have escaped the Lebanese cities hit by Israel.

04:17 PDT Reuters: “Israel will pursue its war on Hizbollah with more military incursions into south Lebanon but will not unleash a full-scale invasion for the moment, an Israeli army spokesman said on Saturday.”

04:06 PDT According to Fox News, Israeli troops took control of the large village of Maroun al-Ras just across the Lebanese border after the area was pounded by bombs and artillery through the night.

03:57 PDT “IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz told reporters in Tel Aviv on Friday that any military incursion into Lebanon will be limited in scope;” “Hizbullah’s no. 2: Israel fears ground invasion”

03:21 PDT According to Ynet, Israeli planes raided 70 targets in Lebanon overnight, mostly in the South. Target were rocket launchers, buildings used to store them, as well telecommunication centers used by Hezbollah.

02:58 PDT Condoleezza Rice ruled out a quick cease-fire as a “false promise” and defended her decision not to talk to officials from Hizbullah or Syria. “Syria knows what it needs to do and Hizbullah is the source of the problem,” Rice said at the State Department as she outlined US hopes for a diplomatic solution to the current crisis.” (Jerusalem Post)

02:20 PDT Haaretz reports that 65 Katyushas strike north: “Ten people were injured Saturday morning as 65 Katyusha rockets landed across the north of Israel:” Kiryat Shmona Nahariya, Carmiel, Safed, Golan Heights among the targets.

00:44 PDT AP reports that Israeli armor and troops have massed on the Lebanese border in preparation Friday for a likely ground invasion.

---

Blog & Opinion Reaction

05:30 PDT Matt @ Bring it On! says Juan Cole is playing with Kofi Annan’s quotes.

04:47 PDT Brian @ HotAir isn’t exactly please with BBC’s coverage.

04:41 PDT Vox’s Den has some fun at Omar Bakri’s expense.

04:34 PDT Mike Allen @ Time thinks that Bush is planning to build an Arab “umbrella” against Hezbollah: “Although some conservatives have been fretting that Lebanese rocket fire and Israeli warplanes are making President Bush look helpless, administration officials revealed to TIME today that they have plans to harness the chaos as a “leadership moment” for Bush that could wind up helping his flagging goal of transforming the Middle East.”

03:45 PDT From Beirut to the Beltway thinks that “faced with the failure of its Air Force, Israel has two options: Back off and let the Lebanese battle it out politically. Or invade the country.”

02:59 PDT The Sepia Mutiny writes about the Indian grandaddy of the Katuysha rockets.

02:02 PDT Zadigvoltaire @ Beirut Notes, safely in London, explains why he left: for a smile.

00:57 A link to photos of Hamas bunkers from HNN.

00:15 PDT Michael Totten takes an historical tour of Lebanon’s precursor, Iraq, which was preceded by Lebanon, which was preceded by Algeria. A new way of war for which no happy answer has been found.

00:07 PDT Omar in Jordan says, move Israel and abolish the Islamic threat. Augean Stables replies to Omar’s posts.

[Earlier coverage here]