Instant Karma: Obama accused of crimes against humanity for bin Laden killing

Remember how the left has been pushing for the US to join the ICC?

...A classic case of "be careful what you wish for". (Telegraph) A Spanish lawyer has formally accused Barack Obama of crimes against humanity for ordering the assassination of Osama bin Laden. Daniel Fiol lodged a written complaint at the International Criminal Court accusing the US president of breaching the Geneva Convention. Navy Seals acting on Mr Obama’s orders shot the al-Qaeda leader dead on May 2 after storming his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. In his written complaint, the Majorca-based lawyer said bin Laden should have been “pursued, arrested, tried and convicted” on behalf of “the victims of some terrible and appalling atrocities”. The killing of bin Laden was even worse as it took place in foreign territory, Pakistan, without the permission of that government, he said.
“I am not being paid by al-Qaeda,” Mr Fiol joked. More... H/t: WZ via eye-on-the-world

Prince Charles talks about Jewish history without once mentioning Israel

Over 2000 words about 250 years of history of British Jewry and he didn't mention the word 'ISRAEL' once! "Moses Montefiore"; "Jerusalem"; "Holocaust victims"; "Kindertransport" ... but not one mention of Israel and what that represents for Jews in the diaspora and could have represented for those who died in the Holocaust. Not one mention of the key role that was played by British Jews and the British Government in the founding of the State of Israel, for example through the Balfour Declaration. No mention of Chaim Weizmann who spent much of his life in the UK. No mention that one of the Board's nine objectives is to "take such appropriate action as lies within its power to advance Israel's security, welfare, and standing.
By Jonathan Hoffman July 16, 2011 @thejc.com

...the U.K. and it's behavior towards Israel makes my blood boil.

Question from commenter on israellycool:
Did the palace have a free hand in this, or was he constrained by the foreign office?

I'm getting a little tired of hearing the excuse that the British royalty were tied by "the foreign office" and therefor slighted the Jewish Republic. Are the British monarchy mice? Would that argument hold water if it was the United States he was humiliating? I find it amusing the the U.K. can find new reasons to have empathy with blood thirsty terrorists and attempt to force a state in a territory that the British Mandate itself said could not be decided outside of the mandate, but they can not recognize a Jewish state... this done by a Christian state (so don't start with any Anti Religion jive). from my comment on  israellycool

Another "Day of Rage", in Yemen

Masked women participate in a demonstration to demand the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the southern city of Taiz July 17, 2011. (Reuters Pictures)A contingent of female Yemeni pirates, brandishing skull and cross bones and the ever present portrait of the psychotic mass murderer Che Guevara (seen below on the left), were there.
Women march during a demonstration to demand the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the southern city of Taiz July 17, 2011. (Reuters Pictures)(AFP) Tens of thousands of Yemenis marched through the country's second city Taez on Sunday in what they called a "day of rage" against President Ali Abdallah Saleh on the anniversary of his rise to power in 1978.
Demonstrators assembled on Taez's main arterial road, chanting anti-Saleh slogans and waving black flags to mourn the embattled president's 33-year rule, the rally's organisers said.
Protesters called for the resignation of Saleh, who has been in Saudi Arabia for the past six weeks receiving treatment for wounds sustained in a June 3 bomb blast at his presidential compound in Sanaa.
Three soldiers and seven civilians were killed in Taez on Friday as supporters of the regime clashed with its opponents, leaving at least 37 other Yemenis injured.
More... via Eye-On-The-World

@JIDF Glen Beck’s Rallies in Israel: Pro-Israel or Pro-Apocalypse?

I don't think Beck is an Anti-Semite, but I really do think he isn't fully aware of what he is doing. I actually think he really loves Jews. I also think he has in the past put Jews in a situation on television that inspires people to retaliate against Jews. I do not believe he is lying to us. I believe he is lying to himself. I also think he really intends well. It would really help me take him seriously if he would owe up to what happened in the past with him. It would show some humility. What I see from here is a guy with a huge ego who can't apologize. His ego does not allow him to see the trouble he caused. This tells me he really wants to do the right thing. I'm really getting tired of this subject, because the truth is I think he is a very talented man who enlightened the country from our leftist economic indoctrination. Even my own indoctrination. Because of this I think he subconsciously has too much to lose by saying sorry.

Richard Landes

Glenn Beck presents himself to Israel as a dedicated and whole-hearted friend. In the context of the last decade’s dramatic developments (2000-2010), that puts Beck in a special category. Because lately, very few people are as nice to Israel as he is. When the second (phase of the) Intifada exploded with particular violence in October 2000, the “left” – progressives who want peace in the world – split into two opposing currents. On the one hand, some Israeli observers in particular, argued that the enemy they wanted to make peace with had no desire for peace, that the Palestinian leadership – Fatah or Hamas – viewed Israeli concessions as a sign of weakness, and responded with violence. On the other hand, other observers blamed Israel for the failure, and called for her to make still more concessions. In a highly vocal and most extreme form, this “peace-camp” assault on Israel involves disturbingly vindictive rhetoric (Israel is the new Nazi). In Israel where the confrontation with Jihad was deadly daily, the majority turned to the first school (electoral drop for “left”; widespread support for the separation barrier). In the diaspora, defenders of Israel found themselves increasingly beleaguered, silent, embarrassed in the public sphere, while radical prophets of “self-criticism” – most of them identifying “as a Jew” – relentlessly assailed Israel. One can understand the solitary dilemmas of a liberal Jew in Israel when faced with this inexplicable assault. We know that Israel sets exceptionally high standards for itself, and in failing to meet them, still perform at the highest standards (C- to A- absolute; A+ on a curve). We understand, alas, that our enemy openly embraces those very desires we deny ourselves (massive revenge, genocidal hatreds, religious violence). So why on earth would the progressive left, the peace camp, turn against us, and not against the Palestinians? Under these circumstances, it’s understandable that Zionists would listen gladly to a voice that said: “We’re with you, guy. We understand what a terrible enemy you have. We identify with you because you uphold the same values that we do: freedom, independence, the sacredness of human life. You are not alone. We recognize your efforts to adhere to civilized values, and admire you for your courage and your successes against all odds… “remain faithful to your ideals, and strong in your struggle.” This expresses a Philo-Judaic Christian Zionism that many fundamentalists enthusiastically voice.It’s tempting then to respond favorably when someone like Glenn Beck, an emotional, charismatic, articulate man, who openly expresses his love for Israel, comes with his arms open in embrace. Apparently some Israelis open up their arms in response. MKs Danny Danon (Likud) and Nissim Ze’ev (Shas), recently hosted him in the Knesset. Beck is especially music to the ears of those who believe with him that “Jews have a right to live in all parts of the Land of Israel, and that while Arabs have a right to live here, the do not have a right to sovereignty.”The problem, of course, is: what strain of Philo-Judaic Christian Zionism does Glenn Beck represent? At one end of the spectrum that goes from Dual Covenant to Supersessionism, we have simple-hearted love: “I admire you; I want your friendship; I extend my hand in an act of mutual respect.” Those who feel this way are, I suspect, many; and their feelings are both good and true. They embrace “those who bless you will be blessed” without envy. They engage Jews without wanting to convert them.But there is another end of this spectrum of Philo-Judaism, one significantly less open and simple. On the contrary, this form of Christian Zionism views the Jews as their Messiah’s donkey, as the vehicle for bringing about a triumphalist Christian apocalypse in which all the evil – including those Jews who refuse to convert to Christianity – will be exterminated by the armies of the Lord. According to this apocalyptic scenario, the Battle of Armageddon and the return of Christ (the Parousia) would not happen until the Jews had reassembled in the land. Hence, their ardent Zionism has a significant ulterior motive linked to both conversion and war. For the latest block-buster rendering of this scenario, see Jerusalem Countdown coming to a theater near you this Fall.There are two points to be made in “defense” of this apocalyptic scenario. 1) It is resolutely passive: the apocalyptic drama may be horrible, but the tribulation is a divine punishment, not a human one. And 2) compared with earlier Christian apocalyptic scenarios, it is the only one that even provisionally favors Jewish redemptive movements (like Zionism). All earlier and much subsequent Christian apocalyptic belief illustrated the law of apocalyptic dynamics: one person’s Messiah is another’s Antichrist. For them – and for current Muslim – apocalyptic thinkers, any messianic stirring among Jews triggered paranoid visions of Antichrist/Dajjal, and in its worst forms, triggered slaughters of Jews. So, as bad as the news is on the apocalyptic front – “Rapture” Christians are the least hostile – it could be worse.Philo-Judaic Christians constantly struggle between these two currents, and combine them in various ways, at once to preserve their good conscience in befriending the Jews, and to maintain links with particularly charismatic circles within their faith community. And at moments of real crisis, however, they may have to choose between the two. After the millennial Nazis took power, Buber and Rosenzweig were astounded to find their Protestant theological dialogue partners would not defend or protect them: “What did you expect?” they replied, “You didn’t convert.” Hopefully, this time, Protestants faced with choosing between their commitment to positive-sum relations with Jews – mutual respect, mutual benefit – and their attraction to a zero-sum, cataclysmic apocalyptic scenario – Christians triumph, Jews disappear – will choose the former path. Everyone’s fortune depends on it.Under normal circumstances, it is difficult to tell a genuinely philo-Judaic Christian from an apocalyptic one, because they both express an enthusiastic love for Jews and Israel. The presence of strong “evangelical” desire to convert Jews is one fairly strong (but hardly infallible), normal-time, indicator of zero-sum apocalyptic tendencies. But the surest give-away comes when an apocalyptic Zionist begins to believe that the final moment is in motion. At this point, they become more open about their apocalyptic scenario, more open about their specifically Christian agenda, more impatient with frustration.Alas, Glenn Beck looks very much like this latter kind of believer. His enthusiasm for Israel is great; his commitment to a triumphalist Christianity increasingly assertive, his interest in all matters apocalyptic acute, his plans for a series of gatherings in Jerusalem, grandiose. Indeed, in his discussion with Chuck Hagee, Beck looks determined to see Ahmadinejad or some other Muslim apocalyptic pretender as the Antichrist, thus illustrating the first zero-sum law of apocalyptic dynamics: one person’s messiah is another’s anti-Christ.Beck’s ambitions to play a leading role in a national and international drama were on full display at his August 28, 2010 “Restore Honor” Rally on the Washington Esplanade before the Monument. Language like “it will be a historic moment… provide a shock-wave to this nation, a defibrillator to the heart of America, something miraculous…” suggests that Beck sees himself and his charismatic media presence as a history-changing phenomenon. While far from the full-grown messianic pretensions of Ahmadinejad, these are signs that a Glenn Beck, buoyed by his successes in the media, has shifted towards an evangelical style – much to some evangelicals discomfort – that increasingly mobilizes mass emotions. His speech to the Knesset replayed these themes, his “Abrahamic moment” in which God chose him to play a key role, his reference to himself as a new Esther, who alone was in a position to play the key role in the redemption of the Jews (for Esther it was being queen; for Beck, apparently, it is his voice in the media).The repeated expressions of support for him, including among the most thoughtful of Zionist commentators, suggests that many would prefer to see a friend. Often the argument is about the past: there is no evidence in earlier Beck pronouncements on Jews and the Arab-Israeli conflict to suggest that he’s an advocate of replacement theology. The problem is not the past. Apocalyptic beliefs arise sometimes seemingly out of nowhere, out of some millennial stew that marries the narcissistic dream (shared by many, both Christians and Muslims) that all the world will become like them with a sense of crisis that suggests that now is the time, and we (I, Glenn Beck) are called upon to act.It is at times like this that a passive scenario can gain significant elements of active human participation. And one of the common moves from passive to active among those with a cataclysmic apocalyptic scenario (like pre-millennialists), is to trigger the battle that will force God’s hand to intervene. There’s a community of fundamentalists in Amarillo Texas who arm US military nuclear weapons (not an easy thing to get Americans to do), because they believe that an atomic war is what God wants.Beck is not that kind of an arsonist. On the contrary, I’m not sure he’s sure about his role in all this. My sense is that he’s feeling his way into a apocalyptic role, and following the path of most drama – from electrifying events in DC to cosmic ones in Jerusalem.A large assembly of charismatic and enthused Christians just below al Aqsa mosque is a bold move, and participants like Joe Lieberman and Sarah Palin raise the electoral stakes in the USA. Some, aware of how short a fuse governs Muslim behavior about anything to do with the Temple Mount – i.e., Haram al Sharif – might even think it provocative. And I think that Glenn Beck honestly does not want to trigger a violent conflagration. He is sincere in his love of Israel and his desire to do good. But the apocalyptic scenario with which he flirts, and which promises the Endtime victory for Christianity, involves a war; and if that’s what God wants from this earthly vessel, then Beck will fulfill his assigned role, filled with love for the nation upon whose head he brings down Armageddon.In many ways, Beck’s challenge to Israel embodies so many of the tragic contradictions that play out in the public sphere these days. Here the committed apocalyptic believer can recognize and will talk about Muslim apocalyptic ambitions, while the allegedly more sober seculars are inexcusably silent. (The Post-911 site at NYU which has a whole section on ChristianMedia, says nothing about the far more dangerous Muslim apocalyptic currents which caused 9-11.) Beck’s comments on the reluctance of people to hear or speak about Israel’s foes, his advice to Israel not to try and win over the media but speak directly to the American people, and the value of cyberspace in this effort, are all, in my opinion, quite sound.Here Israel, abandoned by the progressive camp, finds itself forced to/wanting to embrace a friend with such outrageous and disturbing hopes, while the allegedly sober seculars, who refuse to note the apocalyptic shrieks from Muslim anti-Semites, detect the anti-Semitic “dogwhistles” coming from Beck. Here Israel must navigate between the Scylla of apocalyptic Christian love/hate and the Charybdis of genocidal apocalyptic Muslim hatred. And her natural allies, the alleged “peace camp,” where they are not hypocritical and counterproductive, have, wittingly or unwittingly, joined with her worst enemies. Glenn Beck may or may not be crazy, but his story illustrates the pervasive folly of our times. And it seems to me that those most ready to call him mad and anti-Semitic, are themselves deeply committed to a similar, in some ways far more disturbing madness. Posted by GS Don Morris, Ph.D./Chana Givon via docstalk.blogspot.com
Glenn Beck's full Knesset presentationI've been looking for this all week, and I've finally found it. Here's Glenn Beck's full presentation to the Knesset. It's in two parts. Here's Part One. Let's go to the videotape.Here's Part Two. Let's go to the videotape.
via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

Breast Milk Baby Doll

So, along comes this doll and our liberals are alarmed:

New Doll That Teaches How To Breast Feed Causing Controversy

A new doll hitting stores in the U.S. is causing some controversy with parents. It’s called The Breast Milk Baby and it claims it teaches young girls how to breast feed.  The doll is made by Berjuan Toys, a company out of Spain. It comes with a special halter top that has two flowers where nipples would be. When a little girl puts on the top and holds the baby doll up the flowers, it makes suckling sounds.

...the toy has many parents asking if it’s going too far.

“I think that it’s totally bizarre to teach a prepubescent child how to breastfeed,” said Nicole from Manhattan. “Quite strange.”

“I think it’s very creepy,” said one woman. “I don’t think little kids should be breastfeeding.”

“I don’t approve of it at all. I think it’s ridiculous for a child. Let her learn it when she’s older,” said another woman.

...U.S. spokesman for Berjuan Toys, Dennis Lewis, says “Breastfeeding is good for babies, it’s good for mommies and it’s good for society. We really don’t understand why this has created such controversy.” Lewis also claimed in a release promoting the doll’s introduction to the U.S. market, that the company has “been asked by millions of U.S. women to offer the doll here.”

What ever happened to liberal values, multiculturalism, free enterprise?

via YMedad
and the Oakland Press

Muslim Brotherhood says, "Whose your Daddy"?

....The Muslim Brotherhood participated in the revolution from the very beginning and has not abandoned it, said Essam al-Erian, vice president of the Freedom and Justice Party, on Friday. Al Masry Alyoum via Docs Talk

I trust the Muslim Brotherhood before I trust Obama. What a horrible situation. I suspect that Obama thinks he has a plant in the Brotherhood. they will catch him... and when they do we will be stuck with chaos.
Interesting given that the Administration said this same "Brotherhood" was not involved in the uprising-very interesting that the Administration either was ignorant or intentionally lied to the public-which is it? - GS Don Morris, Ph.D.

Sderot Writes an Open Letter to Mainstream Media

We ask that you change your reports to the following: 1.If there are no injuries, it is important to stress that there were no physical injuries reported.There surely are mental injuries, even though we will not let the terrorists change our lives. 2. It is crucial to mention each time how many rockets have been launched against Israel since the last ceasefire of January 18, 2009. As of today July 15th 2011, there have been 788 rocket launchings from Gaza aimed at the southern residents of Israel. This has to be brought home again and again so the world will know. Noam Bedein Sderot Letter to MSM. More via Docs Talk

Former Egyptian president reportedly told investigators that Israel pays more for Egyptian natural gas than any other country.

No really... Every Jew in Israel feels sodomized by Egypt.

The main charge in the Egyptian government's case against Mubarak is that the price of gas set in a contract with Israel was below the market price. Prosecutors claim that the deal cost Egypt $715 million.

Israel says that this figure is based on a New York Times article, which the paper later corrected. Yosef Maiman's Merhav Group, a shareholder in Egypt's East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), which handles exports to Israel, said that Israel paid Egypt more than all its other export markets. 

Mubarak added, "The deal dates from the time of [former prime minister] Yitzhak Rabin, I can't recall the exact date. He told me in a meeting that there was a clause in the peace treaty which allowed Israel to purchase petrol from Egypt by entering a public sale alongside other buyers and indeed petrol was exported to them for some time.

"When we were in need of gas I asked him whether we could exchange the export of petrol to the export of gas through public sales too. Then Dr. Atef Ebeed became prime minister. I instructed him to enter negotiations with the Israelis regarding the export of gas and eventually the gas line was built."  Ebeed was a representative of Egyptian Intelligence, which is the body responsible for Egypt's relations with Israel. via jpost.com

What a bizarre world it is where a former leader has to defend himself from a peace treaty because he was too nice to Jews.

News Corp.'s Tangled Web

News Corp. closed its British tabloid newspaper, News of the World, founded in 1843, on July 10 after allegations that it obtained phone, medical, and bank records from as many as 3,870 people ranging from celebrities, politicians, and the police.

This is what happens when you have Conservatives that think they can do business with the Saudis.  Those of us that support Israel are not shocked at this at all.

Data: Bloomberg, The Guardian; Photos: Bloomberg; ABACA; AP Photo (6); Corbis (5); Getty Images (18); Newscom (4)

via businessweek.com

this is bigger then I thought.  Shariah controlled News corp and David Cameron (no friend of Israel's) are in some deep shit.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has been among those publicly decrying the hacking, blasting Murdoch's company Wednesday as he launched a high-powered judge-led investigation into the nation's press.
Yet he has his own ties to the scandal, given his relationship with Andy Coulson.
Coulson resigned as News of the World editor in 2007, after his former royal editor and a private detective were convicted of conspiracy to hack into royals' voice mails. But while offering his resignation, he insisted he had been unaware of the crimes and he was not charged at the time.
After last year's election, Cameron became prime minister -- and appointed Coulson as his communications director.
Coulson resigned as Cameron's spokesman in January when the scandal blew up afresh.
Cameron hosted Coulson overnight in March at Chequers, the prime minister's country estate, a Downing Street source said Friday. The aim of the invite, added the source, was to thank his former communications director for his work on Cameron's behalf.
Earlier this month, Coulson was arrested in connection with claims of phone hacking and corruption dating to his days as the News of the World editor.
After the arrest, the prime minister took full responsibility for hiring Coulson. But while not denying this personal connection, Cameron has maintained public pressure against News Corp.
Meanwhile, the FBI is also investigating News Corp. after a report that employees or associates may have tried to hack into phone conversations and voice mail of September 11 survivors, victims and their families.

Murdoch's News Corp. encompasses Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and Harper Collins publishers in the United States. News International -- a British subsidiary of News Corp. -- owns the Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times in Britain.

Former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks was arrested Sunday in connection with British police investigations into phone hacking and police bribery, her spokesman told CNN.
She is being quizzed by police in London after having come in by appointment, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said.
Brooks did not know she was going to be arrested when she arrived, her spokesman Dave Wilson said.
She resigned on Friday as chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's News International, which published the News of the World.
The company also did not know she was about to be arrested when it accepted her resignation, a News International source told CNN Sunday, asking not to be named discussing internal corporate affairs.
Brooks had agreed to testify Tuesday at a House of Commons hearing on the scandal. It's not clear how her arrest will affect the hearing -- committee member Louise Mensch, a Conservative MP, said the committee chair was "taking legal advice" on the situation.

via cnn.com

The Future Belongs to Drones

The Economist observes that the future belongs to drones.
In this case, referring to the F-35 fighter
and the many problems in the production program...

...The future belongs to the drones...

...But the longer-term outlook for the F-35 is uncertain. Its costly capabilities are intended to make it effective against the air defences of a sophisticated enemy, such as China. But the growing vulnerability of American aircraft carriers to Chinese missiles will mean operating from well beyond the F-35’s 600-mile (1,000km) range.

Some military strategists already think that the job the F-35 is meant to do can be better handled by cruise missiles and remotely piloted drones. In many roles, unmanned planes are more efficient: they carry neither a bulky pilot nor the kit that keeps him alive, which means they can both turn faster and be stealthier. And if they are shot down, no one dies. Even the F-35’s champions concede that it will probably be the last manned strike fighter aircraft the West will build. via volokh.com

What they promised is equality through order. But now all that remains is the order.

They have declared war against every code and standard, while replacing them with themselves as the arbitrators. The absolute judges of right and wrong. This is tyranny. Cultural tyranny swiftly leads to political tyranny and we have both of those today in the form of a political priesthood of organizers, activists and leaders who are determined to control every aspect of our lives. Without any accountability of their own, says the Sultan.

when everything becomes a reference... (a reference to what? power), there is no longer a principle. It's like a brand name without a product.

Palestinians may give up on bid for full UN membership to avoid U.S. veto, sources say

Wishing to avoid an American veto at the Security Council, the Palestinian Authority is considering turning directly to the United Nations General Assembly in September in order to gain international recognition of Palestinian statehood.

	Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah AP

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
attends a meeting of the Palestinian leadership
in Ramallah AP

Palestinian sources and European diplomats say that the Palestinians will give up their effort to be accepted as a full member of the UN - a move that would require approval by the Security Council - and will seek instead recognition by the General Assembly of a Palestinian State within the 1967 borders, which will not be a full member of the organization. via haaretz.com

Following the failed meeting of the Quartet foreign ministers in Washington last week, the Palestinians recognized that the United States will veto any resolution that will be brought before the UN Security Council for unilateral Palestinian statehood. Moreover, the Palestinians have also concluded that turning to the Security Council with a request for full membership in the UN is a more complicated proposition, largely because of time constraints. Palestinian sources and European diplomats said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his aides are increasingly leaning toward a direct appeal to the General Assembly of the international organization. Even though the assembly lacks the authority to offer the Palestinians full UN membership, at the General Assembly the United States is unable to use its veto power against resolutions brought before the plenum for a vote. Also, the Palestinians would like the vote to take place during the General Assembly in the last week of September, and for this there is no need for a great deal of preparation. The vote at the General Assembly could be called with as little as 24 hours notice. A vote at the General Assembly is expected to end with a Palestinian victory and a large majority, as some 140 member states are expected to support recognition of a Palestinian state. Even though a General Assembly resolution is "weaker" than one by the Security Council, the Palestinians are comparing such a decision to Resolution 181 of November 29, 1947, in which the General Assembly approved the plan to partition Palestine. Senior Palestinian officials say that without the decision on dividing Palestine in 1947, Israel would not have had the international legitimacy to declare independence in May 1948.

Except that Israel could have done whatever it wanted in 1948 because the Arabs (there were no 'Palestinians' in 1948) rejected the partition plan and determined to drive the Jews into the sea. Moreover, Israel was admitted by the Security Council in 1949. more via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

there was a whole lot of verbal attacks on the U.S. for this need for Palestine to settle for less.  Catherine Ashton who is the foreign policy head of the E.U. and a member of labor in the U.K. tried to put forward a version that was rejected by the Muslim Arabs for 6o years and would of ignored G W Bush's promises of facts on the ground to Ariel Sharon.