Israel will not give up the Golan Heights as long as Syria is aligned with Iran, Shimon Peres said.
“Israel will never agree to return the Golan Heights, only to get, in return, Iranian-Syrian control over Lebanon,” the Israeli president was quoted as telling visiting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday.
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Afraid at first, then welcome, welcome, welcome
I have to admit that before I came to Syria, I was afraid of the place. All I knew about it was what I had read beneath newspaper headlines: Terrorist cells. Hezbollah. Car bombs. Unsanctioned nuclear power sites. Mysterious Israeli bombings in the middle the night. The attack on [...]

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Kouchner should be worried, however, because if the magic is really over for America, France and the rest of Europe can’t be far behind.
Since the end of World war II, Europe has made a habit of letting the United States do its heavy lifting. It was U.S. generosity and leadership that, through the Marshall Plan, [...]

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While the United States remains focused on the Middle East, China quietly and relentlessly creeps forward as a national security challenge. Its economic rise is being followed by its military rise. In 2006, a Chinese Song-class attack submarine, equipped with Russian-made wake-homing torpedoes, stalked the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk carrier strike group in the Pacific. The [...]

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Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak told visiting US Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday that “no option” would be ruled out in Israel’s bid to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons. “Israel considers that (economic) sanctions are still the order of the day, but no option should be ruled out,” said Barak, according to a ministry [...]

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DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the Syrian deployment is backed by the concentration of pro-Syrian Palestinian factions in the Beqaa valley of Lebanon, amid rising war tensions between Hizballah and Israel.
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Syria Deploys Three Military Divisions on the Border with Lebanon
Naharnet, Lebanon - 16 hours ago
Syria has deployed three military divisions along the borders with Lebanon amidst [...]

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In recent weeks, two news reports have circulated about Iran’s relationship with al-Qaeda. On Tuesday, March 18, Sen. John McCain repeatedly stated that Iran was aiding al-Qaeda in Iraq. Later, however, he retracted this statement.
Senator McCain was right the first time. In fact, al-Qaeda and Iran have a rather long history of cooperation.
A few days [...]

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India successfully tested a short-range version of its most powerful nuclear-capable missile Sunday, the defense ministry said.
The Agni-I missile, which can travel up to 435 miles, was test-fired over the Bay of Bengal from Wheeler’s Island off India’s east coast in the morning, a ministry statement said. The Agni-1 can carry both conventional and nuclear [...]

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Five years ago, the US government presented what it said was proof that Iraq harbored biological weapons. The information came from a source developed by German intelligence — and it turned out to be disastrously wrong. But to this day, Germany denies any responsibility. By Erich Follath, John Goetz, Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark more…

SPIEGEL [...]

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