Be INFORMED

Monday, December 29, 2008

Israel Planned Attack 6 Months Ago...

  which is kind of pathetic seeing as they were in the process of working out a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

   Haaretz      By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent

Long-term preparation, careful gathering of information, secret discussions, operational deception and the misleading of the public - all these stood behind the Israel Defense Forces "Cast Lead" operation against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, which began Saturday morning.
The disinformation effort, according to defense officials, took Hamas by surprise and served to significantly increase the number of its casualties in the strike.

Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. According to the sources, Barak maintained that although the lull would allow Hamas to prepare for a showdown with Israel, the Israeli army needed time to prepare, as well.

Barak gave orders to carry out a comprehensive intelligence-gathering drive which sought to map out Hamas' security infrastructure, along with that of other militant organizations operating in the Strip.

The plan of action that was implemented in Operation Cast Lead remained only a blueprint until a month ago, when tensions soared after the IDF carried out an incursion into Gaza during the ceasefire to take out a tunnel which the army said was intended to facilitate an attack by Palestinian militants on IDF troops.     ( My emphasis )

   This attack on the bridge is where Israel broke the ceasefire which was in effect. I know that most of the media ( U.S.) and the White House have twisted this attack around in order to place the blame on Hamas. Israel is the aggressor here!

   And talk about disinformation! Israel really set Hamas and the rest of the citizens up to be slaughtered.

While Barak was working out the final details with the officers responsible for the operation, Livni went to Cairo to inform Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, that Israel had decided to strike at Hamas.
In parallel, Israel continued to send out disinformation in announcing it would open the crossings to the Gaza Strip and that Olmert would decide whether to launch the strike following three more deliberations on Sunday - one day after the actual order to launch the operation was issued.
"Hamas evacuated all its headquarter personnel after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday," one defense official said, "but the organization sent its people back in when they heard that everything was put on hold until Sunday."

   I, for one, do not care to have my tax dollars supporting a terrorist state such as Israel. Israel is one of those countries who brings the majority of their problems upon themselves.

Lehman Wiped Out Billions In Bankruptcy Filing...

     ... according to the Wall Street Journal in a report on Monday, via Biz Journals.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's emergency bankruptcy filing wiped out as much as $75 billion of potential value for creditors based on an analysis by the bank's restructuring advisers.

Had Lehman Brothers been able to pursue a more orderly filing – including the sale of assets prior to filing for bankruptcy protection—the bank might have had time to sort out its derivatives portfolio and a maintained some value, the Journal reported from an analysis by Alvarez & Marsal, the bankruptcy advisers.

Losses through derivatives alone could cost creditors up to $50 billion, the Journal reported.

The Journal reported it is too soon to know how much money the company’s creditors will recover through bankruptcy proceedings. Unsecured creditors of the failed brokerage have said in court filings they are owed $200 billion.

The Journal reported that creditors might only recover 10 cents on the dollar – or about $20 billion – given the current bond market.

The disorderly bankruptcy filing also pushed down the value of other Lehman Brothers assets, hurting recovery efforts, the analysts told the paper.

  And yet, the government forces us taxpayers to give Lehman, and others, our tax dollars in a massive Wall Street bailout, but none of the CEO's get punished or prosecuted, or not even a pay cut for fucking up many retiree's 401k plans or other retirement plans in this " ponzi scheme ". It's fucking amazing!