The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, meets Tony Blair in London today as violence in Iraq reaches a new crescendo and senior Iraqi officials say the break up of the country is inevitable.

A car bomb in a market in the Shia stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad yesterday killed 34 people and wounded a further 60 and was followed by a second bomb in the same area two hours later that left a further eight dead. Another car bomb outside a court house in Kirkuk killed a further 20 and injured 70 people.

“Iraq as a political project is finished,” a senior government official was quoted as saying, adding: “The parties have moved to plan B.” He said that the Shia, Sunni and Kurdish parties were now looking at ways to divide Iraq between them and to decide the future of Baghdad, where there is a mixed population. “There is serious talk of Baghdad being divided into [Shia] east and [Sunni] west,” he said.
independent.co.uk

In the public relations battle brewing on-line, there is a new eye to the center of the storm surrounding the war with Hizbullah – a series of photos showing Israeli children writing messages on shells meant for targets in Lebanon.

Questions over the photos’ authenticity have been put to rest by authorities that were present during the incident, which occurred on July 17 near the northern border. The mostly local children had been brought to see the shells by their parents. Although it remains unclear who encouraged them to write the messages, their colorful scribbles, including a Star of David, hearts, and “From Israel, with Love,” have appeared in dozens of blogs, or on-line journals, and on-line photo hosting sites.

Although the IDF has failed to issue a response to the incident, a spokesman from the IDF said it “appeared as though the situation occurred unofficially.” Although an officer was present during the incident, the soldiers, and the IDF as a whole, did not condone or condemn the incident.

An official close to Israel’s public relations campaign said that there was “no way” to spin the incident in a positive light. “Some people are simply irresponsible,” said the official.
jerusalempost.com

As a ‘liberal,’ even ‘treasonous’ newspaper, the New York Times has the curious ability to suck up to the racist sociopaths in Israel and here in America and make profuse if not nauseating excuses for mass murder.

Consider Noah Feldman, not only a law professor at New York University but a ‘senior fellow’ at the Council on Foreign Relations, who writes for the ‘newspaper of record,’ or maybe it should be characterized as the newspaper of pro-Israel propaganda and scandalous apologia for crimes against humanity:

“For its part, Israel is gambling that the right strategy is to make the people who elected Hamas and a government that includes Hezbollah reckon the costs of their representatives’ recklessness. That is why Israel has targeted not only Hezbollah leaders and strongholds but has also bombed infrastructure that sustains daily life for everybody in Lebanon. From Israel’s standpoint, this is no longer a fight with nonstate terrorists who are holding their fellow citizens hostage to their tactics. It is, rather, war between Israel and countries that are pursuing (or tolerating) violent policies endorsed (or at least accepted) by their electorates.”

How utterly and criminally disgusting.
kurtnimmo.com

PARIS, July 24 (Reuters) – Lebanon’s president accused Israel on Monday of using phosphorous bombs in its 13-day offensive and urged the United Nations to demand an immediate ceasefire.

“According to the Geneva Convention, when they use phosphorous bombs and laser bombs, is that allowed against civilians and children?” President Emile Lahoud asked on France’s RFI radio.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said arms used in Lebanon did not contravene international norms.

“Everything the Israeli Defence Forces are using is legitimate,” the spokeswoman said.
Lahoud gave no details but said the United Nations had to take concrete action to force Israel to stop its assault.

“The massacre must be stopped as soon as possible. Afterwards we can talk about everything,” he said. “A decision has to be taken so that there is an immediate ceasefire.”
Lahoud’s comments came as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew to Beirut to seek a “sustainable” ceasefire in Lebanon.
alertnet.org