memeorandum: Fatah: Hamas ready to accept deal on ceasefire, release of Shalit (Avi Issacharoff/Haaretz)

Israel Will Accept a Disarmed Hezbollah — Envoy Talks of Future As a 'Political Group' — The United States, Israel, the United Nations and the European Union have reluctantly concluded that despite punishing military attacks, Hezbollah is likely to survive as a political player in Lebanon …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Israel Matzav

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Matthew Kalman / San Francisco Chronicle:

Israel set war plan more than a year ago — Strategy was put in motion as Hezbollah began gaining military strength in Lebanon — (07-21) 04:00 PDT Jerusalem — Israel's military response by air, land and sea to what it considered a provocation last week by Hezbollah militants …

Discussion: Informed Comment, The Huffington Post and The Agonist

Hamza Hendawi / Associated Press:

For Hezbollah, survival may mean victory — BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah acknowledges that Israeli troops can sweep across south Lebanon. But if he and his militants can survive and keep fighting, he will cement his image as the unlikely new hero of Arab nationalism.

Discussion: Ynetnews, The Sundries Shack, The News Blog and Marc Cooper

CNN:

Israeli military seizes Lebanese town — Attacks rain down from both sides of border — AVIVIM, Israel (CNN) — Denying that it plans a full-scale ground invasion, the Israeli military entered the southern Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras on Saturday to establish its "first foothold" …

Steven Erlanger / New York Times:
Troops Ready, but Israel Bets on Air Power

Discussion: Counterterrorism Blog, Blue Crab Boulevard and TigerHawk

Media Matters for America: Fox News: "Are Saddam Hussein's WMDs Now in Hezbollah's Hands?"

Elise Labott / CNN: Annan: Lebanon en route to 'humanitarian disaster'

Aljazeera:
Rice sees bombs as birth pangs

Discussion: rubber hose

Aron Heller / Associated Press:
Israel Hastily Musters Its Citizen Army

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs and Ynetnews

Lenin / LENIN'S TOMB:
Israel kills more in Lebanon: media blackout protests.

Discussion: Harry's Place

Avi Issacharoff / Haaretz:

Fatah: Hamas ready to accept deal on ceasefire, release of Shalit — Senior Fatah sources in Gaza said on Saturday that Hamas is ready to accept a deal that involves freeing abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, a joint cease-fire and an end to IDF actions in the Gaza Strip.

Discussion: Israel Matzav, All Things Beautiful, Right Wing Nut House, Captain's Quarters and Liberty and Justice

Time:

Lieberman's Last Stand — The Connecticut senator's almost saintly civility may be coming back to haunt him on Iraq — On a brain-foggingly hot Sunday afternoon in July, a wistful Senator Joseph Lieberman tried to summon his inner Samuel Gompers as he accepted the Connecticut AFL-CIO's endorsement …

Discussion: The Next Hurrah and spazeboy

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Haaretz:
Lebanese FM: Abducted soldiers in 'good health'

Discussion: Israel Matzav

Warren Hoge / New York Times:
Bolton's Ways Foil Goals, Envoys Say

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Atlas Shrugs, DownWithTyranny! and Blue Crab Boulevard

CBS News:

Buckley: Bush Not A True Conservative — In Exclusive Interview, Buckley Criticizes President For Interventionist Policies — (CBS) President Bush ran for office as a "compassionate conservative." And he continues to nurture his conservative base — even issuing his first veto this week against embryonic stem cell research.

Discussion: Eschaton, NewsBusters.org, The Moderate Voice and Liberty and Justice

Times of London:

God's army has plans to run the whole Middle East — Hezbollah, the group at the heart of the Lebanese conflict, is the spearhead of Iran's ambitions to be a superpower, says Iranian commentator Amir Taheri — 'You are the sun of Islam, shining on the universe!

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and The Corner

Jason Lewis / Daily Mail:

Outcry as border guards seize British 'dirty bomb' lorry heading for Iran — Border guards seized a British lorry on its way to make a delivery to the Iranian military - after discovering it was packed with radioactive material that could be used to build a dirty bomb.

Patrick Cockburn / Independent:

America's domestic policy vs America's foreign policy — This week, George Bush used his presidential veto to block a bill on stem cell research, saying he couldn't support the 'taking of innocent human life'. In Iraq, six civilians are killed by a US air strike, while casualties in Lebanon and Israel mount.

Discussion: Informed Comment, AMERICAblog, Just a Bump in the Beltway and Rising Hegemon

Darrel Rowland / dispatch.com:

Strickland far ahead, early poll indicates — Democrat strong across board; Brown maintains 8-point edge over DeWine in Senate race — Democrat Ted Strickland has surged to a surprising lead of 20 percentage points in the first Dispatch Poll on Ohio's Nov. 7 race for governor.

Discussion: MyDD

Michael Slackman / New York Times:

In Iran's Streets, Aid to Hezbollah Stirs Resentment — TEHRAN, July 22 — There is a huge amount of anger here about what is happening in Lebanon, but it is not all the result of Israeli bombs, missiles and artillery. — "Of course I am angry,'' said Hamid Akbari, 30, a deliveryman. "

Alan Finder / New York Times:

Feeling Strains, Baptist Colleges Cut Church Ties — GEORGETOWN, Ky. — The request seemed simple enough to the Rev. Hershael W. York, then the president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. He asked Georgetown College, a small Baptist liberal arts institution here, to consider hiring …

Discussion: Mercury Rising and Pharyngula