A couple items about Israel

First off, are you aware they've built a large mock city in the desert in which they're training for their next excursion into Lebanon? Or will it be Iran or Syria? Hard to tell.

Under the cover of thick smoke, a Muslim call to prayer ringing in the background, masked Israeli commandos stormed a concrete building in a dense mock neighborhood and "killed" a pair of guerrillas — preparing for the next round with the Lebanese Hezbollah after last summer's 34-day war.

The Monday war drill, including simulations of helicopter, tank and rocket fire, took place in a recently constructed mock Arab city in the Negev desert, under the assumption that the techniques will be used in combat sooner rather than later.

"The year 2007 is the year of preparedness," Brig. Gen. Udi Dekel, a top army officer, said Sunday at the Herzliya conference, a yearly gathering of Israel's political and security elite. "The goal is to reach a level of professional capacity that will enable us to face the current threats, and in parallel to build a multiyear program in order to face future threats."

The unveiling of the Urban Training Center, which covers 20 square kilometers (eight square miles) and includes some 500 structures, came as Israel moved closer to naming its next army chief of staff. It was nearly certain that Gabi Ashkenazi, a retired general, would replace Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, who resigned last week following harsh criticism for leading Israel's mighty army in its inconclusive war against Hezbollah.

If Dr Hesham Tillawi's right, there's a lot more coming than just Lebanon.

Saddam is dead, but Saddam’s hanging had nothing to do with Saddam. Saddam is dead, but his death had nothing to do with how many people he killed or caused to die. All aboard, friends, Saddam’s death is just one stop on this long Israeli train of Arab holocaust.

What exactly happened in that execution chamber? Inquiring people wanted to know. Who was there and what did they say? Was it Muqtada Alsader’s people? Was it the Americans? Was it the Shiites? The inquiry goes on and on. The Media - TV, Radio, Print, Internet, and a plethora of talking heads all are concentrating on what will happen now between the Sunnis and Shiites. The Arab media is to be blamed before the Western media. The real story got buried in the sensational details of what took place during the hanging and the case was used to yet inflame sectarian violence amongst the Iraqi people.

Robert Ellis is a military nurse who was assigned to keep Saddam alive. "That was my job: to keep him alive and healthy, so they could kill him later." Ellis said.

Saddam once asked Ellis” Why did the Americans invade Iraq?” And that is the tragedy of Arab leaders. A president of what once was the strongest and most technological Arab country had no clue why he was invaded and his country destroyed. How many other Arab leaders have no clue of what’s coming to them?

Saddam’s hanging had nothing to do with Saddam. Chew on the following: In his Complete Diaries, Vol. II. p. 711, Theodore Herzl, the founder of Zionism, says that the area of the Jewish State stretches: “From the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates.” Rabbi Fischmann, member of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared in his testimony to the U.N. Special Committee of Enquiry on 9 July 1947: “The Promised Land extends from the River of Egypt up to the Euphrates, it includes parts of Syria and Lebanon.”