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Purveyor's JournalIsraeli Attacks Show Why Obama Must Step Up In Syria
Last weekend, Israel saw a threat to its interests and acted, staging aerial attacks on Syria’s military research facilities and on a shipment of Iranian missiles waiting to be sent from Syria to Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
Israel’s action -- which it has yet to acknowledge -- and the retaliation it might trigger from Syria, Hezbollah or Iran are potent reminders of the dangers posed by Syria’s escalating conflict. Indeed, unless the U.S. works more resolutely to end the conflict, it risks a spiral into a wider regional war.
The Israelis had good reason for their Damascus raid. Hezbollah is intent on the destruction of Israel. During their 2006 war, Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets into Israel, and has since stockpiled thousands more. The shipment that was hit reportedly included solid-fueled missiles that can be deployed quickly and fired precisely to reach targets in Tel Aviv from Lebanon. For the Israelis, such weapons, along with the shipment of anti-aircraft weapons that it attacked in late January, would have been a “game-changer,” to use a phrase favored by U.S. President Barack Obama.
While Israel moved quickly to respond to this threat, the Obama administration was caught up in an unseemly debate about what extent of chemical weapons usage, and by whom, in Syria would constitute a crossing of the “red lines” it set for a more forcible intervention.
Israel’s Attack
Let’s clarify where things stand: Israel’s attack has increased the odds that Syria’s conflict will embroil the region; the U.S., France, the U.K. and the United Nations have all acknowledged credible reports of chemical weapons usage; more than a million Syrian refugees are putting pressure on Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey; and the al-Nusra Front, one of the more effective members of the Syrian rebel coalition against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, has declared its loyalty to al-Qaeda. Facing these realities, the U.S. has to understand that the situation isn’t going to improve.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-06/israeli-attacks-show-why-obama-must-step-up-in-syria.html
WP: Special Ops Halted From Responding To Benghazi Attacks, U.S. Diplomat Says
By Ernesto Londoño, Updated: Monday, May 6, 5:39 PM
As the weakly protected U.S. diplomatic compound in eastern Libya came under attack the night of Sept. 11, 2012, the deputy head of the embassy in Tripoli 600 miles away sought in vain to get the Pentagon to scramble fighter jets over Benghazi in a show of force that he said might have averted a second attack on a nearby CIA complex.
Hours later, according to excerpts of the account by the U.S. diplomat, Gregory Hicks, American officials in the Libyan capital sought permission to deploy four U.S. Special Operations troops to Benghazi aboard a Libyan military aircraft early the next morning. The troops were told to stand down.
Defense Department officials have said they had no units that could have responded in time to counter the attack in Benghazi, but Republicans on Capitol Hill have questioned whether the Obama administration could have saved lives with a nimbler, more assertive response. They say that the reluctance to send the Special Operations troops may have, at the very least, deprived wounded Americans in Benghazi of first aid.
Congressional investigators released a partial transcript of Hicks’s testimony Monday ahead of a hearing Wednesday at which he is scheduled to appear. His remarks are the first public account from a U.S. official who was in Libya at the time of the attacks about the options that were weighed as militants mobbed the American diplomatic outpost and CIA station in Benghazi, killing U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other government employees.
The new details are certain to reignite a debate over whether the Obama administration has been sufficiently forthcoming in its public accounting of the events and missteps that resulted in the first death of a U.S. ambassador in the line of duty in a generation. If Republicans in Congress succeed in portraying the administration’s response as feckless, the episode could dog any future political aspirations of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was secretary of state when the attacks happened.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/special-ops-halted-from-responding-to-benghazi-attacks-us-diplomat-says/2013/05/06/c3f311d4-b677-11e2-aa9e-a02b765ff0ea_story.html
US, S.Korea Launch Naval Drills in Yellow Sea
SEOUL, May 6 (RIA Novosti) – South Korea and the United States began an antisubmarine exercise in the Yellow Sea on Monday, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The drill, which will continue until Friday, involves a nuclear-powered Los Angeles-class submarine, Aegis destroyers and P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft deployed from US bases, as well as South Korean destroyers, submarines and maritime aircraft, military officials said.
"It is part of an annual routine drill held to prepare against an adversary's submarine infiltration," Yonhap quoted a military official as saying.
The antisubmarine drill comes after the US and South Korea completed their two-month-long Foal Eagle joint exercises last week, amid high inter-Korean tensions.
North Korea reacted angrily to the latest drills on Sunday, with a spokesman for the Policy Department of the National Defense Commission calling on Seoul to stop "hostile acts and military provocations."
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http://en.rian.ru/world/20130506/180993194/US-SKorea-Launch-Naval-Drills-in-Yellow-Sea.html
Kerry to Lay Wreath at Moscow WWII Memorial
WASHINGTON, May 6 (RIA Novosti) – US Secretary of State John Kerry is planning to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow on Tuesday as part of a two-day trip to Russia this week that a senior US State Department official on Monday called part of “more intensified dialogue with the Russians at the highest levels.”
Kerry’s trip comes just ahead of the nationwide May 9 Victory Day celebrations to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, widely considered the most important holiday in Russia, the official told reporters during a call.
“And so appropriately, we’re going to honor veterans, and I think we’ll even meet a few of them there,” the official said.
After the wreath-laying ceremony, Kerry is supposed to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, after which he will hold a “full bilateral meeting” with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the official said.
Kerry will discuss a range of bilateral issues, including Iran, North Korea, trade and counterterrorism cooperation in the wake of deadly Boston Marathon bombing last month that two men with ties to Russia’s mainly Muslim North Caucasus region have been accused of carrying out, the official said.
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http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130507/181001198/Kerry-to-Lay-Wreath-at-Moscow-WWII-Memorial.html
3D Printer? Staples Says, 'Yeah, We've Got That'
The office supply retailer is becoming the first US retail outlet to sell a 3D printer, the $1300 Cube 3D Printer.May 06, 2013, 2:24 PM — 3D printers are taking another step in the long haul toward the mainstream, with a little help from Staples.
On Friday, the office supply retailer began selling the Cube 3D Printer online for $1300, becoming the first major U.S. retailer to sell a 3D printer. Staples says it will offer the printer in "a limited number" of retail stores by the end of June.
Cube 3D Printer
The Cube, made by 3D systems, can create items measuring up to 5.5 inches in any dimension, using ABS and PLA plastic cartridges in 16 colors. Staples will also sell replacement cartridges, stabilizers, and print pads.
Other features include Wi-Fi connectivity, plug-and-play support and 25 free design templates.
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http://www.itworld.com/hardware/355257/3d-printer-staples-says-yeah-weve-got
I thought they would be more expensive than this. In a couple of years they be a couple hundred bucks...
Israel Issues Demolition Orders To 11 Ramallah Homes
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces issued demolition orders to 11 homes in a Ramallah village on Monday, homeowners told Ma'an.
Military forces raided the village of Deir Nidham, located around 2km south of Nabi Saleh, and issued demolition orders to Ahmad Tamimi, his sons Abdul-Raziq, Hasan and Mahmoud, and their cousins Kafour, Abdul-Hafizh, Salih, Mustafa and Haitham Tamimi.
Israeli forces also issued Abdul-Kashif Tamimi with a stop-work order for his house, which is currently under construction.
Around 40 people will be made homeless if the demolition orders are carried out.
The homes slated for demolition are located opposite the Israeli settlement of Hallamish. The majority of the homes were built before the illegal settlement was founded, locals said.
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http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=592916
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Senate Passes Bill Letting States Tax Online Sales
Source: Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate has passed a bill that could end tax-free shopping on the Internet for many shoppers.
The Senate voted 69 to 27 Monday to pass the bill, sending it to the House where it faces opposition from some lawmakers who regard it as a tax increase.
The bill would empower states to require businesses with more than $1 million in out-of-state sales to collect taxes for products they sell on the Internet, in catalogs and through radio and TV ads. Under the legislation, the sales taxes would be sent to the states where a shopper lives.
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_INTERNET_SALES_TAX?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-05-06-19-01-25
Syria's Assad Likely Behind Chemical Weapons Use, White House Says
Source: Associated Press
By BRADLEY KLAPPER and MATTHEW LEE 05/06/13 04:55 PM ET EDT
--CLIP
The chemical weapons argument is now under surprising attack, with former war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte saying over the weekend she and fellow members of a four-member U.N. human rights panel have indications the nerve agent sarin was used by Syrian rebel forces, but not by government forces.
Despite a clarification from the UN that it is has not yet made any definitive determination on chemical weapons use, Washington pushed back on del Ponte's assertion, saying it's highly likely that the Assad regime, and not the rebels, has been behind any chemical weapons use in Syria.
"We are highly skeptical of suggestions that the opposition could have or did use chemical weapons," Carney said. "We find it highly likely that any chemical weapon use that has taken place in Syria was done by the Assad regime. And that remains our position."
The State Department said the administration continues to believe that Syria's large chemical weapons stockpiles remain securely in the regime's control.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/06/syria-assad-chemical-weapons-white-house_n_3224057.html
Israel Tries To Tamp Down Syrian Anger After Killing Dozens Of Its Elite Soldiers
Israel is straining to arrest a slide toward regional conflict after staging an airstrike on a military facility outside Damascus, reportedly to stop a transfer of weapons to Hezbollah.By Arthur Bright, Staff writer / May 6, 2013
A day after it launched an airstrike outside of Damascus, killing scores of Syrian soldiers, Israel sought to play down the attack as a strike against regime-ally Hezbollah, not President Bashar al-Assad.
Reuters reports that Israel has made several soothing overtures to its war-racked northern neighbor after launching airstrikes in Syria on Friday and Sunday. Tzachi Hanegbi, a confidante of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Israeli radio on Monday that Mr. Netanyahu aimed to avoid "an increase in tension with Syria by making clear that if there is activity, it is only against Hezbollah, not against the Syrian regime."
Hezbollah, which seeks Israel's elimination, has long relied on the Assad regime to transfer weapons from Iran into its own hands. Damascus and the Lebanese Shiite militant group appear to have drawn closer together as a result of Syria's civil war, with Hezbollah fighters battling the Syrian opposition from inside the country.
Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's biggest-selling newspaper, said the Netanyahu government had informed Mr. Assad through diplomatic channels that the attacks were not attempts to affect the outcome of Syria's civil war.
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http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2013/0506/Israel-tries-to-tamp-down-Syrian-anger-after-killing-dozens-of-its-elite-soldiers-video
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