Indonesia is next on the hit list!
Goss on Moore:

In Michael Moore's new movie Fahrenheit 911, Porter Goss defends the Patriot Act to the hilt and urges anyone who has problem with it to call his 1-800 #.

Problem is, he doesn't really have one, so Moore put his office number on the screen.

According to Goss's staff people were calling from theaters while they were watching the movie to see if it was a real number.

Goss told the local paper in Naples Florida, "I can go along with a good prank as well as everybody else, but we are a nation at war.

And I'm not sure how suitable a forum this is to be playing these kind of games when we've got people out in places like Afghanistan and Iraq and Indonesia and elsewhere putting their lives in harm's way for our freedoms."

Indonesia? We invaded Indonesia and no one told me? Goss is suppossedly in line to take George Tenet's job, so it's good to see we've got another able DOI to provide more slam dunks for the president.

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Cheney prepares to deliver "F" bomb.

Cheney told FOX that "I expressed myself rather forcefully, felt better after I had done it.

I think that a lot of my colleagues felt that what I had said badly needed to be said, that it was long overdue.

[His colleagues? At Halliburton?]

Ordinarily I don't express myself in strong terms, but I thought it was appropriate here."

[The senate was the appropiate place for "fuck yourelf?"]

----------------------------------------------------
BUsh spreading the love around:

Bush continues his good will tour around the world and in Turkey before he arrived yesterday the love was evident as this AP story relates:

(AP)Saturday, June 26, 2004; 4:01 PM

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkish police fired tear gas at more than 150 left-wing demonstrators who hurled rocks and tried to smash through a barricade in Ankara on Saturday, just hours before President Bush arrived for a NATO summit.

Police used bomb-detecting dogs to comb the area around the hotel where Bush is expected to stay, and security officials closed streets throughout the capital, part of a massive operation following Thursday bombings in Ankara and Istanbul that killed four people and injured 17.

Also Saturday, supporters of Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said they had kidnapped three Turkish workers in Iraq, Arab TV station al-Jazeera reported.

An al-Jazeera employee told The Associated Press that the group threatened to behead the hostages within 72 hours if Turkish companies did not withdraw from Iraq.

Bush is unpopular in Turkey, where the overwhelming majority of the public opposed the war in neighboring Iraq. If Turkish hostages were executed in Iraq, that could considerably increase tensions.

Bush making a big slash in Ireland.

Summit disrupted by protests:

The EU-US summit is drawing to a close but the protests in Co Clare are just gaining momentum.

Ambush, a protest against the Bush administration in Iraq and his war policies, has gathered outside the 'Peace Camp' at the N18 is making its way to Shannon Airport.

Many detours have been put in place throughout the county, the main road to Shannon has been closed and several check points have been erected.

A press conference due to begin at 1.40pm was delayed as buses carrying about 300 journalists were unable to get past the traffic and protestors.

President Bush was due to leave directly after the press conference, but his flight from Shannon will now also be delayed.

http://breaking.examiner.ie/2004/06/26/story154269.html

And on to Turkey where the police are already battling protesters in Ankara...

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From yesterday:

U.S. Airstrike Kills Up to 25 in Fallujah (Associated Press )

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. jets targeted terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, pounding one of his suspected hideouts Friday in Fallujah in a strike U.S. officials said killed up to 25 people.

Iraqi leaders warned of more insurgent attacks after a wave of bloodshed blamed on al-Zarqawi, and said they were considering drastic measures to combat the violence -- including declaring martial law or a state of emergency in some areas.

"It's the people who want us to take stronger measures," said interim Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan. "We have to be patient. Building democracy requires patience."

[As usual a lack of intelligence is made up for in tonnage of bombs dropped]

A senior administration official acknowledged that intelligence about al-Zarqawi's network was limited.

"I don't think we have, really, any idea how broad it is," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He added that al-Zarqawi likely has "some kind of command and control" role.
-----------------------------------------------------

Warren and me in the school yard.

A letter to Warren Olney of KCRW Santa Monica's "To the Point" radio program on the PRI network:

Dear to the point--

Wednesday's program was entitled "Using 9-11 Fears to Set National Security Policy." I thought, initially, the discussion would be centered on William Greider's Nation article, which was:

"When President Bush called Americans to enlist in his "war on terror," very few citizens could have grasped the all-encompassing consequences of the proposition. The terrifying events of 9/11 were like a blinding flash, benumbing the country with a sudden knowledge of unimagined dangers.

Strong action was recommended, skeptics were silenced and a shallow sense of unity emerged from the shared vulnerabilities. Nearly three years later, the enormity of Bush's summons to open-ended "war" is more obvious.

It overwhelmed the country, in fact deranged society's normal processes and purposes with a brilliantly seductive political message: Terror pre-empts everything else."

[http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040621&s=greider]

What actually occurred, however, couldn't have been further from the provocative lead in. William Greider got several minutes at the beginning of the show to state his position and then, in his own words, was made the "the liberal foil" for a rambling tirade by an American Enterprise Institute flak and some nobody from the Kerry campaign, who wasn't even really speaking for the campaign.

They were allowed the opportunity to make their political points, ad infinitum, without being made to answer the very valid issues that were raised by Mr.Greider.

Almost 50 minutes into the show; the host gave Mr. Greider a chance to confront his critics; who had spent the entire program talking about the same old warmed over issues that you, Warren, me and everybody else has heard a million times before. (And studiously avoiding the very uncomfortable conclusions Greider was coming to.)

To top it all off, despite his protestations to the contrary, (That he didn't use Greider as a foil), Warren Onley gave the AIE shill and Mr. Nobody a rebuttal, to boot!

I am truly disgusted with this pathetic excuse for a supposed radio program claiming to get to the point on the important issues of the day. The moral cowardice displayed by the producers and host of the show is truly distressing.

Please review the description of the topic of the show and compare it to the actual broadcast and tell me what relation it had to the very real and thoughtful issues William Greider has brought to the table.

What a wasted opportunity to debate very serious issues that no one will touch in the "liberal media."

And what a waste of my valuable time.

----------------------------------------------------

Warren's response:

Dear Mark,

We tried to relate Greider's brilliant analysis to the political campaign--and particularly the question of whether Kerry offers an alternative to Bush--since the election will provide an opportunity for voters to act on the issues Greider raises. Not all our listeners already know everything there is to know about other points of view.

As Greider pointed out, many conservatives agree with his basic point about the political use of the war on terror--including William Arkin, one of our other guests. Unfortunately, Arkin chose to ignore their agreement and referred to Greider as a "leftist," which offended Greider. Apparently, that's all you were able to hear.

[Well, you listen to the program and you tell me:]

http://www.kcrw.org/cgi-bin/db/kcrw.pl?show_code=tp&air_date=6/23/04&tmplt_type=show

Dick Cheney is a "big time" asshole.

Yesterday's post about them 'losing it' at the White House doesn't seem so far off now.(See below)

From today's Washington Post:

"Cheney and the 'F-Word:'

At a photo session on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Cheney ran into Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. That sparked an exchange about Cheney's ties to Halliburton and the White House's bare-knuckle tactics on judicial nominees.

Helen Dewar and Dana Milbank write in The Washington Post: "The exchange ended when Cheney offered some crass advice.

'Fuck yourself,' said the man who is a heartbeat from the presidency. . . .

As it happens, the exchange occurred on the same day the Senate passed legislation described as the 'Defense of Decency Act' by 99 to 1."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/administration/whbriefing/

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They bombed another "Zarqawi safe house" in Fallujah today. Next they'll be telling us they're bulldozing houses to find tunnels to Egypt.

-----------------------------------------------------

The death toll from yesterday's attacks in Iraq is at 100 with 320 wounded. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs told the senate armed services committee today it "appeared" the attacks were coordinated. Appeared?

No wonder we still don't know who is attacking us after a year. These guys are real sharp.

Maybe some more police dogs will do the trick!

The new Israelis or Iraqi Tet?

The U.S launched air strikes in Fallujah on June 19 on a supposed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi "safe house" in Fallujah killing 20. They missed him.

Mark Kimmit, the military spokesman claimed "This was not an attack on the people of Fallujah, but against a known safe house... It is standard operating procedure to conduct a detailed collateral damage estimate prior to approval of this type of mission. The collateral damage estimate was within permissible limits, and this operation was within standing rules of engagement."

I'm sure the families of those who were killed will understand and we haven't made a hundred new enemies.

You just can't eat one, though:
June 22, 2004

ASSOCIATED PRESS

"The United States launched an air strike Tuesday in Fallujah on a safe house used by followers of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi-- the second strike against the terror network in three days, the U.S. military said.

"Wherever and whenever we find elements of the Zarqawi network, we will attack them," he said.

Large explosions rocked the restive Sunni Muslim city west of Baghdad. Ambulances raced to the area after the 10:30 p.m. blasts. Wounded and dead were being evacuated, said Iraqi Police Col. Mekky Zeidan.

U.S. officials offered no casualty figures, but Al-Jazeera television reported that three people were killed and six were wounded."

Air strikes in a city of 200,000 civilians! Looks like that training our forces got from Israel in urban warfare is really paying off.

-----------------------------------------------------

More acts commited by a small group of thugs who hate freedom:

(From A.P.)

BAQOUBA, Iraq - Insurgents launched coordinated attacks against police and government buildings across Iraq on Thursday, less than a week before the handover of sovereignty. The strikes killed 69 people, including three American soldiers, and wounded more than 270 people, Iraqi and U.S. officials said.

The large number of attacks, mostly directed at Iraqi security services, was a clear sign of just how powerful the insurgency in Iraq remains and could be the start of a new push to torpedo Wednesday's transfer of sovereignty to an interim transitional government.

Guerrillas struck in Baquba, Falluja, Ramadi, Mosul and Baghdad, wounding more than 250 people in an intensification of a bloody campaign by Iraqi rebels and foreign militants. Three U.S. soldiers were killed. (Reuters)
Insurgents killed 75 people on Thursday in a wave of attacks across Iraq aimed at sabotaging the handover to Iraqi rule in six days' time.

Fierce clashes raged for two hours in Falluja where U.S. Marines called in air strikes by planes and helicopters on guerrilla targets in the rebellious town west of Baghdad.

More thoughts on North Korea

If there really are four U.S. Navy aircraft carriers deploying to the Taiwan Strait (See previous post), this is a startling development. Just today "U.S. negotiators presented the first detailed American proposal Wednesday on resolving the standoff with North Korea, offering the North energy aid and a security guarantee in exchange for dismantling its nuclear program."(Reuters) (Hardly the stance you'd expect us to be taking if we were planning a preemptive attack.}

This is a reversal from the standing U.S policy of not "rewarding" North Korea by negotiating before they freeze their nuclear program. Now, we're willing to give them food aid, fuel oil and give assurances we won't attack them. It is strangely enlightened and reasonable. Quite a departure from the treatment most "Axis of Evil" countries receive and a long way from Undersecretary of State John Bolten's ham handed bull in a china shop approach. I'm suspicious.

Either the Bush administration has taken Colin Powell's advise, finally, to resume the Clinton administrations policy of engagement or, any back talk from the North will be used as an excuse to end talks and start the war.

Deja vu all over again?

In 2003, during the last crisis with North Korea an article in the Scotsman described what may turn out to be d?j? vu all over again:

"The US military assets now being sent to the region could stage air and missile strikes against the nuclear plant at Yongbyon and other sites where the North may have concealed production facilities for, and stockpiles of, nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

Strikes would also target the production and launching sites of North Korea's growing ballistic missile programme.

But the odds are not good for the US. According to its own estimates, one million casualties could be expected in the first 24 hours of a war.

Even though much of North Korea's hardware is old, its army is nearly a million strong and more than half of its soldiers are deployed within 100 miles of the demilitarised zone with 8,000 artillery pieces. It is estimated that North Korea could fire 300,000 shells an hour on to targets in the south.

In addition, it is believed to have about 5,000 tons of chemical and biological agents, including sarin, anthrax, smallpox and the plague."

The fun bunch

It would be nice to think this bunch in the White House wouldn't be insane enough to even consider such a reckless idea, but we know better, don't we? Forget about four more years, how about no more years!

Additionally, according to Global Security.com (Not to be confused with globalsecurity.org)

"President George W. Bush's increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express growing concern over their leader's state of mind.

In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as "enemies of the state."

Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge, increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer trusts his policies in Iraq or at home.

"It reminds me of the Nixon days," says a longtime GOP political consultant with contacts in the White House. "Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. That's the mood over there."

http://www.globalsecurity.com/

(the article is reminisent of the Weekly World News, so I'm not vouching for the accuracy of the piece)

The next show is about to begin
Mood:  incredulous
The following is an excerpt of a much larger article from the Asia Times by Craig B Hulet:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF24Ak05.html

Imperial Hubris

Quoting Anonymous the author of a new book on how we're losing the war on terror called "Imperial Hubris:"

The most profound assertion the author made (Anonymous), who published an analysis of al-Qaeda last year called "Through Our Enemies' Eyes", thinks it quite possible that another devastating strike against the US could come during the election campaign, not with the intention of changing the administration, as was the case in the Madrid bombing, but of keeping the same one in place. Bush is good for the Islamists the world over who want to make war on America and the West. Anonymous again:

I'm very sure they can't have a better administration for them than the one they have now. One way to keep the Republicans in power is to mount an attack that would rally the country around the president. In every age ... the ultimate sources of war are the beliefs of those in power: "their idea about what is of most fundamental importance and may therefore ultimately be worth a war." - Evan Luard, International War

Anonymous believes Bush is taking the US in exactly the direction bin Laden wants, towards all-out confrontation with Islam under the banner of spreading democracy.

It's going to take 10,000-15,000 dead Americans before we say to ourselves: "What is going on?"

-----------------------------------------------------
What's next on the menu?

Monday, February 17, 2003:

US Under Secretary of State John Bolton said in meetings with Israeli officials on Monday that he has no doubt America will attack Iraq, and that it will be necessary to deal with threats from Syria, Iran and North Korea afterwards.

Bolton, who is under secretary for arms control and international security, is in Israel for meetings about preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction. In a meeting with Bolton on Monday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that Israel is concerned about the security threat posed by Iran.

It's important to deal with Iran even while American attention is turned toward Iraq, Sharon said.

(Source: "US official to Israel: We'll deal with Syria, Iran after Iraq war", Monday, February 17, 2003, by Haaretz correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies.)

----------------------------------------------------

Add to that that French intelligence services have seen more on the horizon than Americans would:

It has been reliably reported that the American president and his closest military advisors, in conjunction with the highest military commands, have determined that military operations should be prepared for and executed against two main targets.

The first and primary ones are in the Middle East and comprise Iraq and most especially Iran. The secondary object is North Korea. The use of conventional US ground troops is counter-indicated. US ground troops are being withdrawn from South Korea (2nd Infantry Division etc) ostensibly for replacement duties in Iraq, but in fact to remove these units from any collateral damage from projected nuclear attacks on North Korea.

There are insufficient personnel available for either operation at the present time and increasing their size is not politically viable. Therefore, a determination is made for both a show of force and the ability to launch a powerful attack against these targets if and when the commander in chief deems it necessary.

In furtherance of this policy, the United States naval forces will be utilized as the focus of the attack forces. These units will not be subject to counter attacks because they can stand off at a distance and attack their targets with complete impunity. Naval personnel will not be subject to guerrilla warfare in any sense and will supply a very powerful attack force capable of delivering deadly blows against designated targets.
(Source: TBRNEWS -special edition of June 17.)

Given the evidence immediately below, one cannot but admit that Bush and his gruesome crew are going to continue the path they have selected as the chosen elite to administer peace through strength under a new definition.

US naval deployment as of June 15, 2004
USS Enterprise - Atlantic (unknown location - possibly headed for the Middle East)
USS George Washington - en route to the Gulf of Arabia
USS John F Kennedy - Atlantic (unknown location - possibly headed for the Middle East)
USS Roosevelt - Atlantic, heading for the Middle East
USS Harry S Truman - Atlantic
USS Kitty Hawk - normally stationed in Japan, now moving towards China (Korea Operation)
USS Stennis - Pacific - headed for Taiwan (Korea Operation)
USS Carl Vinson - Pacific - headed for Taiwan (Korea Operation)
USS Abraham Lincoln - Pacific (backup-Korea Operation)
USS Ronald Reagan - port visit in Rio De Janiero, Brazil
USS Nimitz - Still in drydock, refueling its reactor
USS Eisenhower - Still in drydock, refueling its reactor

Note: Most ships left port with little notice and were markedly understaffed.

[Tell your friends you heard it here second. Read the rest of the article, it's very scary.]

Rummy feels their pain.
(From TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040623/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_prisoner_abuse&cid=544&ncid=716)

[According to the secret torture memos the Bush administration released today, Rummy was willing to let suspected terrorists feel his pain:]

In a Pentagon memo, dated Nov. 27, 2002, the Defense Department's chief lawyer, William J. Haynes II, recommended that Defense Secretary Rumsfeld approve the use of 14 interrogation techniques on detainees at Guantanamo Bay, such as yelling at a prisoner during questioning and using "stress positions," like standing, for up to four hours. [Like what he does to the Washington press corps on a regular basis?]

Haynes also recommended approval of one technique among harsher methods requested by U.S. military authorities at Guantanamo: use of "mild, non-injurious physical contact such as grabbing, poking in the chest with the finger and light pushing." [So warm and fuzzy! Good golly!]

Among the techniques that Rumsfeld approved on Dec. 2, 2002, in addition to the grabbing, the yelling and the stress positions:

_ Use of 20-hour interrogations.

_ Removal of all comfort items, including religious items.

_ Removal of clothing.

_ Using detainees' "individual phobias such as fear of dogs to induce stress. [And presumably, his big phobia, truth telling]

Rumsfeld scribbled a note on Haynes' memo that said,

"However, I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to 4 hours."

[Pansy bastards!]

A day in Iraq.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey on Tuesday cautiously accepted Israel's denial of a report that the Jewish state was training Kurdish commando units in northern Iraq, but made clear it was keeping a close eye on the region.

"Israel has told us it (The New Yorker's story: http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?40628fa_fact) is not true.

We also want this to be the case. Everyone knows Turkey's sensitivities on this issue. Naturally we have to believe what we are told," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters.

"I hope our trust is not in vain."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040622/wl_nm/iraq_turkey_israel_dc

[That's reassuring.]


A DAY IN IRAQ: On the "run up" to the "turn over" of power.

06/22/04 AP: Houston-area Marine killed in Iraq on Monday
The Defense Department says 27-year-old Lance Corporal Pedro Contreras of Harris County died Monday from hostile fire in Al Anbar Province, west of Baghdad.

06/22/04 AP: Kidnappers behead S. Korean in Iraq
In Iraqi militant group has beheaded its South Korean hostage, Al-Jazeera television reported Tuesday.

06/22/04 AP: Saboteurs blast oil pipeline in Iraq
Saboteurs blasted a key oil pipeline transporting crude oil from the northern town of Beji to one of the countries largest oil refineries - another in a series of attacks targeting Iraq's infrastructure, authorities said Tuesday

06/22/04 NBC: 1st Battalion, 5th Marines to be Replaced in Iraq
Hundreds of Marines from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment will enter Iraq to replace the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, another Camp Pendleton unit, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

06/22/04 Xinhuanet: 2 children killed in car bomb blast west of Baghdad
The explosion took place in al-Ameriya suburb west of Baghdad killing two children as their family car was passing near the area and their parents were also wounded in the attack, according to witnesses.

06/22/04 Novinite: Karbala Hit by Violence
A convoy of patrolling Bulgarian troops was attacked on Monday with an improvised gun machine in the outskirts of Karbala, Defense Ministry announced.

06/22/04 AP: One of Marine Deaths from 21st is Identified
Twenty-one-year-old T-J Parker of Heber Springs was among four U-S Marines killed yesterday in an ambush in Ramadi, 60 miles west of Bagdad.

06/22/04 AP: Witnesses: Blast rocks neighborhood
They say the blast rocked a neighborhood today, killing two people and injuring two others.

06/22/04 Reuters: Car Bomb Blast Kills Bodyguard of Iraqi Minister
A car bomb exploded in a Baghdad street Tuesday as a convoy of U.S. troops and Iraqi police drove past, killing two Iraqi bystanders, police said.

06/22/04 Turks.us: Kerkuk Boils; Many Dead
Among several tragic events yesterday in northern Iraq, Shiites attacked the governor's office in Kerkuk (Kirkuk); many people reportedly lost their lives in the attack.

06/22/04 Albawaba: Three Americans wounded in Baqouba attacks
Troops were attacked twice on Monday in the predominantly Sunni Muslim city of Baqouba, some 60 kilometers from Baghdad, said Maj. Neal O'Brien of the 1st Infantry.

06/22/04 Al Jazeera: Lecturer and spouse killed in Mosul
A university dean and her husband have been murdered at their home in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

06/22/04 Boston.com: Good summary of Iraq attacks on 21st
A mortar attack in Baghdad and two assaults on U.S. forces northeast of the capital killed one soldier and wounded nine others, the military said Tuesday.

06/22/04 CENTCOM: Death of Soldier in Mortar Attack on 21st Confirmed
One Task Force Baghdad Soldier was killed and seven others were wounded in a mortar attack in north-central Baghdad at about 10 a.m. June 21.

06/22/04 CENTCOM: Deaths of 4 Marines on 21st Confirmed
Four Marines assigned to 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were killed June 21 in action against anti-Iraqi forces near Ar Ramadi.

This from a tremendous resource: Iraq Casualties.org

http://icasualties.org/oif/

Mossad sturs up the Kurds. ( Our best friends)
[Go back to my post on this issue for more background on the Syrian/Kurd uprising: index.blog?start=1080257099]

Mossad, is at it again. With friends like this, who needs enemies?

From Haaretz (Via The New Yorker):

Report: Israel operating hundreds of agents in northern Iraq
By Nathan Guttman, Haaretz Correspondent

WASHINGTON - Israel operates hundreds of agents in the Kurdish areas in northern Iraq, according to a report published in the upcoming issue of The New Yorker magazine.

In an interview to CNN on Sunday, reporter Seymour Hersh said that hundreds of Israelis, some of them Mossad agents, are operating in the region in order to collect information on Iran's nuclear program and monitor events in Syria.

According to the report, Israel in the past has had many ties with the Kurds, which with the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime are currently being renewed.

Israel is not confident of the success of the American program for the stabilization of the country, the report says, and that is why it is interested in setting up independent connections in the region.

Israelis operating in the region are also attempting to assist Kurds living in Syria, the report says.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=441208

Coupled with this bad news the BBC reports:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3828149.stm

UK diplomats have been holding talks with Iran after the seizure of three British naval craft and their crews in a waterway shared with Iraq.

Iran said the boats had entered its part of the Shatt al-Arab waterway without permission on Monday
morning and were duly impounded.

A British embassy spokesman in Tehran said he was looking forward to a swift solution to an "unfortunate mistake".

[I'm sure the Iranians will be reasonable and do the right thing.]

Our correspondent says the worry remains that it could easily escalate into a more serious crisis.

[Don't worry, the Mossad will handle it]