-Caveat Lector- Makes me wonder, would America show restraint if we were the target of a terrorist attack? I think not. And Powell is well aware of this. Does anyone really believe that if the Israelis do nothing that the Palestinians will stop their "Jihad"? At least the Israelis will not target family hang-outs or schools. Thursday, 9 August 2001 22:28 (ET) Israel attacks despite Powell's call for restraint By ELI J. LAKE WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Despite urgings from Secretary of State Colin Powell to restrain his response to Thursday's deadly Palestinian suicide bombing in central Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered F-16s to strike a Palestinian police station outside Ramallah and his army to seize offices of the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization. Powell spoke with Sharon by telephone Thursday afternoon after answering questions from reporters outside the State Department. "It was largely a call to express condolences," a senior State Department official told United Press International Thursday evening. The phone call followed a suicide bomb attack by a Palestinian militant that killed 15 people -- including the bomber -- and injured more than 130 others at a busy fast-food restaurant. This official said "Sharon told him where he stood on the situation as he saw it." He said Sharon, "talked about the pressure he was under to do something," but added, "he didn't ask for a green light," referring to Thursday evening's Israeli counter attacks. The phone call wrapped up a day of intense diplomacy for Powell, who in between meetings with top Mexican officials, spoke with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Foreign Minister Louis Michel of Belgium -- the current head of the European Union -- and EU foreign minister Javier Solana. This official said Powell echoed his message to reporters regarding the need to break the cycle of violence that has engulfed Israel and the Palestinian territories for nearly eleven months. Earlier Thursday Powell told reporters, "they both have to do everything they can to reduce the violence, reduce the provocations and the counter-response to provocations." But it appears Powell's consistent calls for calm has fallen on deaf ears. Despite early reports from the region that Thursday's F-16 strikes resulted in no casualties, the State Department has publicly and privately urged the Israelis not to use the fighter jets designed for air-to-air combat against civilian targets. On Wednesday, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in response to questions about Israel's use of U.S. hardware for counter strikes that the United States was not investigating potential violations of the Arms Export Control Act, which governs the circumstances under which U.S. weapons exports can be used. Should the State Department find that Israel's use of the American arms, such as the F-16, was not defensive in nature or decreased stability in the region, the United States would be forced to at least consider limiting or cutting off future arms shipments to Israel. -- Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved. -- _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
