Over the last few weeks a rift has been brewing between the U.S. and Israel. The Obama administration is asking Israel to stop developing settlements in the West Bank. For those who do not know, the West Bank is a disputed territory between Israel and Palestine. As Palestinians try to achieve statehood, many clashes have come about because of the continued growth through settlements. It seems that Palestine is now ready to work with Israel, unfortunately it does not seem Israel is ready to work with Palestine.

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On Sunday, several bodies of victims from the Air France disaster began to be recovered. Pieces of the plane, including the tail have also been discovered floating in the ocean. Now the hunt continues to find the black box and figure out what went terribly wrong on that stormy night.

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Its Californias favorite time of the year: budget time. And of course our buddies in Sacramento are doing what they do every year, arguing over what to cut and who to tax. Governor Schwarzenneger continues to cry wolf and say that if cuts are not made the state will fall apart. It was even reported today that the Governor is contemplating cutting all welfare as a way to save the state and get it out of its $24 billion debt. Unlike businesses, the state can not file for bankruptcy.

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On the war front, Monday marked the beginning of the new surge in Afghanistan. As reported, about 7,000 troops were deployed into Afghanistan. This is only the beginning with an additional 14,000 being deployed throughout the summer. Much of the surge is to chase out Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The new surge hopefully will work like it did in Iraq especially with presidential elections happening in Afghanistan later this year.  

I really don't know why Israel keeps holding interviews with Al Jazeera television. In this video and the last one I posted each Israeli spokesperson gets tongue tied and Al Jazeera pretty much roasts them.

In the video below the spokesperson talks about the UN school that was shelled. She says that Hamas fighters had been launching rockets from that vicinity. The host gets her though when he asks if the Hamas fighters had been killed and she does not have an answer.

Ok, so maybe your one of those people who really doesn't believe in propaganda and conspiracy theories. After you watch this interview you might. Its between Israeli spokesman Dan Gillerman and Al Jazeera host Shihab Rattansi. They each takes shots at the other side, Al Jazeera host indicating war crimes may have been committed by Israel. Israeli spokesman shoots back by saying what did Hamas expect after they themselves had been rocketing innocence in Israel.

The best part is when the Israeli spokesman doesn't know what to say so he looks off screen for an answer.

Let's compare the propaganda war being waged between Israeli website Jerusalem Post and Pro Palestinian website Al Jazeera. Both are screen shots taken at 11:09 PM Western Time on January 6.

On the Jerusalem post site it is about CONFRONTING HAMAS: Day 11. Sounds like something that Fox News would come up with. It also shows a picture of US and Israeli diplomats next to each other as to show strength and unity between the two.

Here on the Al Jazeera site we also have a picture of Condoleza Rice but this time she is backing an Egyptian ceasefire. Also to get the emotions going they have a picture of a kid with blood on her face. Not very comforting. And for a slogan Al Jazeera went with WAR ON GAZA.

I must warn the viewers, some the scenes shown in this segment are graphic and should be viewed with discretion.

As Americans, we are allies with Israel. Over the weekend though my allegiance has shifted. Israel has been carrying out airstrikes that have left over 230 Palestinians dead and over 700 injured. The airstrikes were in retaliation for rockets being fired from Palestine into Israel. Those rockets have been reported to have killed one Israeli.

The United Nations has even come out and said that Israel should halt all military action immediately because of the scale of attacks. I certainly agree with the UN. Israel must stop their disproportionate use of force.

Israel Pounds Gaza for Second Day [Reuters]

UN Security Council Urges End to All Military Activities in Gaza [AFP] 

Today the Jerusalem Post has reported that the Israeli Defense Force is readying to attack Iranian nuclear facilities without the support of the US. Israel is getting fed up with the Iranians and are willing to go it alone showing the seriousness of the matter. The Post did not specificy a time frame for attack and if one were even capable. 

Later in the day though the same people told Times Online(UK) that if Israel were to go it alone the attack might not be completely succesful because there are so many targets.

Looks like Iran is going to get the bomb!