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 …

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 …

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.

Bush: Lean on Syria  —  I cobbled the Bush-Blair exchange on Israel and Lebanon, accidentally caught at the G8 on mike, together fromWaPo and ABC News. … So, the whole blow-up is Syria's fault, for putting Hizbullah up to making mischief.  No reference to Israeli actions in Gaza.

DR. GOEBBELS, CALL YOUR OFFICE  —  In an obscene attempt to obtain political mileage, the Democrats are claiming that President Bush is responsible for the outbreak of war in the Middle East.  Howard Dean claims that the war would not have occurred if the Democrats had been in power …

Arab world fed up with Hizbullah  —  With the exception of the Palestinians, the Arab world appears to be united in blaming Iran and Syria for the fighting in Lebanon.  Until last week, Arab political analysts and government officials were reluctant to criticize Hizbullah in public.

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.

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.