Bush caught off-guard in chat with Blair  —  President: 'They need ... to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s___'  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (CNN) — An open microphone caught President Bush in an unguarded moment Monday as the escalating crisis in the Middle East prompted him to use …

Bush & Blair Raw & Uncut  —  A fascinating conversation between Tony Blair and George Bush has been caught by the microphones at the G8, when the two men didn't think they were being overheard.  It tells us a lot about the relationship between the two men, about the US-UK special relationship and the two men's views on the Middle East.

Things That Make Me Proud To Be A Journalist  —  If I were crafting a parody of the political media's decline, I could hardly construct a better set piece than today's reportage.  A live mic at the G8 Summit caught Tony Blair and George Bush talking privately about the conflict in Lebanon.

Neocons Resurrect Plans For Regional War In The Middle East  —  In 1996, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith and David Wurmser (all later senior officials in the Bush administration) had a plan for how to destroy Hezbollah: Invade Iraq.  They wrote a report to the newly elected Likud government …

STAND WITH ISRAEL RALLY NYC OVERWHELMING  —  In a word.  Unbelievable.  Tens of thousands of regular folks, all walks of life, came out to Stand with Israel.  And stand they did.  In broiling heat, the young, old, Jewish, Christian, chanted their support for Israel.  It was gorgeous.

Olmert: Our enemies misjudged us  —  PM addresses Knesset plenum regarding fighting in north: 'Israel didn't ask for these confrontations, but there were those who interpreted our will for peace as a sign of weakness,' he says  —  Prime Minister Ehud Olmert addressed the Knesset plenum Monday regarding …

Microphone Captures Bush's Unscripted Comments at G-8  —  ST. PETERSBURG, July 17 — President Bush should know that in Russia, someone is always listening.  In this case, it was the rest of the world.  —  During a lunch with other leaders at the Group of Eight summit on Monday …

There are short-term reasons behind the attacks on Israel by Hezbollah and Hamas.  But underlying all the geo-strategy is a solid foundation of fanatical Jew-hatred, dating back to the founding of Islam.  There is literally nothing Israel or Jews can do to appease those who seek to annihilate them.

Series of rockets strike towns across the north  —  Hezbollah fired more than 50 rockets at Israel on Monday, including a barrage which landed after 10 P.M. in the northern towns of Safed, Rosh Pina, Tzivon, Sakhnin, Hatzur Haglilit and Peki'in.  —  Five people were wounded in the rocket barrage …

Up to 48 Iraqis Killed in Attack on Market  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 17 — Dozens of gunmen went on a chaotic rampage through a mostly Shiite market area in the town of Mahmudiya today, killing at least 48 civilians and injuring scores by firing off assault rifles, heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.