Khazen

Kerry sets conditions for troop withdrawal from Iraq

Middle east Online, Conditions are: To measure level of stability in Iraq; outlook for stability to hold; Iraqi security forces’ ability to defend Iraq. WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said he would set three conditions for withdrawing US troops from Iraq if he were elected, and warned that President George W. Bush might cut troop numbers ahead of the November 2 vote. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Kerry said the conditions were “to measure the level of stability” in Iraq, “to measure the outlook for the stability to hold” and “to measure the ability … of their security forces” to defend Iraq.

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Ron Reagan Wrong on Stem Cells

By Steven Milloy, Fox News, Ron Reagan, the younger son of the late Republican president, announced this week that he would give a prime-time address in support of stem cell research (search) at the Democratic National Convention in Boston later this month. “Ron Reagan’s courageous pleas for stem cell research add a powerful voice to the millions of Americans hoping for cures for their children, for their parents and for their grandparents,” said a spokesman for John Kerry to the Associated Press.

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Exclusive Article From Cheikh Wadih el Khazen in occasion of the opening of

  31 تموز 2004 تاريخ مرقم بتاريخ لا يعرف الترقيم لأنه خالد خلود الدهر  وخلود الأرزات الرامزة إلى 76 بطريركاً مارونياً في هذه الحديقة، حديقة البطاركة المباركة،  التي ترعاها العناية الإلهية من نافذة المقرّ البطريركي الصيفي في الديمان.   وإذا كان الإضطهاد قد حمل البطاركة الأوائل على اللجؤ إلى هذه البقعة العصيّة في أعلى جبال لبنان […]

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Cheikh Wadih El Khazen

 قراءة في تاريخ القضية الفلسطينية منذ وعد بلفور الى اليوم وديع الخازن النهـار 14 تشرين ثاني – نوفمبر 2001 فيما ينشغل العالم بمتابعة يوميات الحرب الاميركية على الارهاب في افغانستان، يغتنم القادة الاسرائيليون هذا الانشغال ليمعنوا في طمس القضية الفلسطينية من خلال ارهابهم اليومي المنظم، الذي يمارسونه في حق الشعب الفلسطيني. ولان ما يجري في […]

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The Litani river of Lebanon and the desire of Israel to obtain additional water sources.

The Litani river of Lebanon and  the desire of Israel to obtain additional water sources.

Author: Wadih El Khazen.

 

More forcefully than ever, it has become evident that the next casus belli in the Middle East will be control and use of water. Security of water supply is becoming at least as important as territorial security. Thus resolution of water-related issues is essential for the success of the Arab-Israeli peace process which is now at an ,almost, complete halt. Many Israeli policymakers view the water supply from the Litani River as a promising solution to their country’s impending water crisis. However, the Litani River, whose entire basin is in Lebanon , is crucial for rebuilding and effectively integrating the country in the post-civil-war period. Specifically, the waters of the Litani are essential for agricultural and industrial development of southern Lebanon. This competition for water, a prized resource in a water-scarce region, makes the Litani river a potential source of serious international conflict in the future and complicates the resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The conceptual premise of the analysis presented here is that The Sate Of Israel, suffering from water resources scarcities, will try to reach those waters beyond its  borders using all sorts of pressures including coercive actions  involving the military.

This article  examines the hydropolitics of the Middle East, through a case study of the Litani River of Lebanon. The main thesis is that has been a primary influence on geostrategic interactions of Israel and its Arab neighbors. Israeli efforts to utilize the waters of the Litani help explain the continued tension  in southern Lebanon. The apparent intention of Israel to retain access to the river makes it difficult for Lebanon, at this stage, to regain political stability and economic viability

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