A friend sent me this. I didn't find a source for it other than the Feb. 2006 The Jewish Magazine, but I find it provacative and food for thought. What do you think?

The Global Islamic population is approximately 1,200,000,000, or 20% of the world population.

They have received the following Nobel Prizes:

Literature:
1988 - Najib Mahfooz

Peace:
1978 - Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat
1994 - Yaser Arafat
1990 - Elias James Corey
1999 - Ahmed Zewa

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended his country's nuclear program today, denounced the U.N. Security Council demand that Iran stop its enrichment program and called upon Bush to debate him in a world-wide televised event. The White House turned him down, calling the challenge a diversion.

The Security Council has given Iran until Thursday to suspend enrichment, a process that can produce either fuel for a reactor or material for weapons, or face economic and political sanctions.

"The U.S. and Britain are the source of many tensions," Ahmadinejad said at a news conference. "At the Security Council, where they have to protect security, they enjoy the veto right. If anybody confronts them, there is no place to take complaints to. "This (veto right) is the source of problems of the world. ... It is an insult to the dignity, independence, freedom and sovereignty of nations," he said.

The fragile truce between Israel and Lebanon has begun.

Israeli still has thousands of troops deep inside southern Lebanon after expanding its ground offensive throughout the weekend. However, some Israeli forces did start withdrawing as the ceasefire came into effect.

....Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, vowed over the weekend that his fighters would respect the ceasefire but would resist any continued Israeli presence in Lebanon after the deal came into force, raising fears of further clashes.

How likely is the truce to suceed?

Finally some good news from the middle east. The Wall St. Journal reports the Israeli cabinet has agreed to halt the Lebanon war at 7am Monday. Hezbollah has agreed to abide by the U.N. to cease-fire resolution.

Here is the text of the resolution. The next steps are here.

Late this afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert endorsed a cease fire proposal. The Israeli cabinet will vote on it Sunday.

The agreement calls for the deployment of 30,000 Lebanese and U.N. troops along the Israel-Lebanon border. It falls short of some of Israel's demands, including a strong mandate for the U.N. forces to take on Hezbollah guerrillas.

Lebanon has not officially responded, but word is they view it favorably.

Newsweek reports the war between Israel and Lebanon could get much bigger in the next several months, paving the way for a military confrontation with Iran.

Over at Alternet, Larisa Alexandrovna, who has been writing about Iran for the past year, explains why Iran and Syria will be drawn into the conflict.

Elian Gonzales, now 12 years old, has written a letter to Fidel Castro.

Elian Gonzalez sent a note Sunday wishing a speedy recovery to "my dear grandpa Fidel," and Cuba's vice president said the world's longest-serving leader is recuperating well after surgery..... Gonzalez, the Cuban boy at the center of an international custody battle with family members in Miami six years ago, published a letter in the Communist Youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde signed with "little kisses" from him and his half-siblings and cousins.

"We send you this letter to let you know that we are worried about your health," Elian, now 12, wrote. "We hope for your speedy recovery and take the opportunity to wish you a happy birthday, may you have many more."

In other Castro news, August 13 is the Cuba leader's 80th birthday and Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage denies Fidel has stomach cancer.

The LA Times today reports on newly released Pentagon documents showing atrocities committed by U.S. armed forces during the Vietnam War were far greater in number and scope than previously acknowledged.

The files are part of a once-secret archive, assembled by a Pentagon task force in the early 1970s, that shows that confirmed atrocities by U.S. forces in Vietnam were more extensive than was previously known. The documents detail 320 alleged incidents that were substantiated by Army investigators -- not including the most notorious U.S. atrocity, the 1968 My Lai massacre.

....The records describe recurrent attacks on ordinary Vietnamese -- families in their homes, farmers in rice paddies, teenagers out fishing. Hundreds of soldiers, in interviews with investigators and letters to commanders, described a violent minority who murdered, raped and tortured with impunity. Abuses were not confined to a few rogue units, a Times review of the files found. They were uncovered in every Army division that operated in Vietnam.

Much of the 8 page article concerns the slaughter of 19 civilians in an incident previously reported but never confirmed until now. The LA Times has put some of the records online. My Left Wing has more about the article. As to the sourcing, it is

Bump and Update: al-Jazeera reports Lebanon has rejected the proposed U.N. resolution. Lebanon's foreign minister said the only proposal it will accept is one that calls for every member of the Israeli military to leave Lebanon.

"We [will] abide by it on condition that no Israeli soldier remains inside Lebanese land. If they stay, we will not abide by it" Mohammed Fneish, Hezbollah minister in Lebanese cabinet

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Original Post 12:22 pm
U.N. to Vote on Resolution on Israel and Lebanon

After 25 days of war between Israel and Lebanon, France and the U.S. have agreed on a U.N. Security Council resolution.

Cuba is taking no chances. It doesn't trust the U.S. one bit.

Former revolutionaries promised to keep fighting for Cuba on Saturday as the island beefed up security, saying it fears a U.S. attack during Fidel Castro's health crisis. The government, under the control of Castro's brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, has mobilized citizen defense militias and asked military reservists to check in daily.

The White House has insisted no such threat exists, with press secretary Tony Snow dismissing the suggestion that the United States would attack the island as "absurd."

The war in Lebanon is escalating. Israel has captured 7 Hezbollah soldiers in Baalbek, Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, and taken them to Israel.

The BBC's Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says many in Israel expect the fighting to intensify over the next few days. Israel launched the current offensive after Hezbollah militants seized two of its soldiers in a cross-border raid.

Another BBC analyst says despite what Condoleezza Rice said today about a cease-fire by the end of the week, it's not likely.

Did Ms Rice misread the Israeli mood, which seems to be more committed than perhaps some optimistic outsiders have realised? ....Much depends on what the US does, but Condoleezza Rice herself is in a difficult position. She has in effect promised but delivery is uncertain. Will she be sidelined by a President Bush unwavering in his support for Israel?

An era may be coming to an end. Cuban leader Fidel Castro handed over the reins of power Monday to his brother Raoul Castro following surgery. Apparently, the 79 year old Fidel, who has outasted nine U.S. Presidents, developed complications.

White House reaction:

White House spokesman Peter Watkins said: ''We are monitoring the situation. We can't speculate on Castro's health, but we continue to work for the day of Cuba's freedom.'' The State Department declined to comment Monday night.