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(Talj/Blitzer, AUG 6th || Talj/Blitzer, AUG 4th)

(The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer || CNN || August 6th, 2006) online essay writing help examples professionally

WOLF BLITZER: Roula, Thanks for coming back. Let me read to you what the prime minister of Israel said the other day, Ehud Olmert. He said, "We wish to live side by side with you in peace and tranquility and with God's help and peace as well, but we shall not renounce our right for the state of Israel to exist and protect our right to live here."

What do you think the Israeli government should be doing in the face of this barrage of deadly rockets and missiles coming in to Israel on a daily basis?

ROULA TALJ, LEBANESE POLITICAL ANALYST: First of all, I think the state of Israel should stop the hostilities and the attacks and killing civilians and destroying infrastructure and causing famine and diseases and, you know, all sorts of disasters has been going on in Lebanon for the last three weeks. I think this has to stop immediately.

And then appreciate what he said. I can completely agree with him that he wants to secure his people a state of Israel that will not be threatened of non-existence one day. But you also have to bear in mind that the Palestinians also need to have a state. And they need to live in peace and have a normal life, go to work, feed their kids, not be threatened or humiliated by Israeli soldiers any more. This has to stop.

BLITZER: Roula, what about Hezbollah? What do you want Hezbollah to do right now?

TALJ: I think when Israel withdraw from southern Lebanon, from Shebaa Farms, and returns all the prisoners, this is the minimum Israel should do in order for Hezbollah to stop retaliating. Because I don't know if you heard Nasrallah on the television a few days ago. He said we are reacting to hostilities and to Israel's attacks, and we are not acting.

And I truly believe him. I think that if Israel stops, he will stop, too. But then if they withdraw from southern Lebanon, then Hezbollah will find it very difficult to keep shelling bombs into Israel. And I don't think he would.

BLITZER: But are you...
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(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Roula, Roula, Roula, are you justifying the launching of these Katyusha rockets with these ball bearings randomly against civilian targets in Haifa and elsewhere in northern Israel? Is this appropriate?

TALJ: Are you talking about the shelling of the Katyusha now?

BLITZER: Yeah. I'm talking about what Hezbollah is doing right now.

TALJ: I think it's a reaction to all the destruction and to the massacre that took place in Lebanon, Wolf. I think we have more than 1,200 dead. And we have 3,000 severely injured. Seventy percent of those are women and children. I don't know if you're seeing the pictures.

BLITZER: But what a lot of people are trying to understand, Roula, is who started this. Because, as you know, on July 12th, Hezbollah came into northern Israel unprovoked, kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, killed eight others. And as a result, the Israelis began their moves against Hezbollah. Do you accept that Hezbollah started this current war?

TALJ: Wolf, I don't think it's any more about the soldiers, about the kidnapping of the soldiers. But I do believe that there was a build-up which started in 1948. But I'm not going to go back to that point. But I want to tell you and tell the American people a very short story. And I want you to judge who is behind all this mess in the middle east.
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In 2004, September 2004, a common friend of yours and mine, Wolf, and I won't say his name now, came to Lebanon and Damascus. And he is a very close friend to Israel, believe me. Nobody more than this guy loves Israel's interests. He came to see whether there is a possibility for a certain peace talk in the future.

And, you know, when -- a week later, President Bush made a presidential statement forbidding any peace talks to go between Israel, Lebanon and Syria. So I will let you now and the smart people in Washington and the United States to judge who is behind this mess in the Middle East today.

BLITZER: We're almost out of time, Roula. But very quickly, do you see this current draft U.N. Security Council resolution that the U.S. and France have put forward as a basis to stop this fighting?

TALJ: I think the U.N. resolution came too little too late. If it came before the killing of Qana, the massacre of Qana and the other massacres that you're not talking much about, I think then, maybe then, it would have been a possibility. But I don't think -- I think they need to push for a complete cease-fire, unconditional cease-fire right now and get somebody else, another entity that the United States and Ambassador Bolton should not state a word anymore.

They should let more neutral partners to deal with this issue and be the go-between between Israel and Lebanon. Because I don't -- Washington, this administration, lots of people in Lebanon, the main player in this conflict don't trust it. They don't trust Washington. So I see -- I can't see it playing an effective role, to be honest with you.

BLITZER: All right. Roula Talj is a Lebanese political analyst, a former adviser to the Lebanese government. Thanks, Roula. Good luck to you. Good luck to everyone in Beirut. I know these are difficult, dangerous times for a lot of people in the region. Much more ahead on our special "Late Edition," including the story of an Israeli prisoner of war. We're going to talk about that with his wife and his father.

Plus, a special conversation with Lebanon's economy minister, Sami Haddad, about his government's handling of Hezbollah. This special "Late Edition: Crisis in the Middle East," continues right at the top of the hour. auto insurance quotes

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(The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer || CNN || August 4th, 2006) good thesis writing service here: Dissertation Master. the teacher was surprised

Lebanon's president, meanwhile, accused Israel today of waging a -- quote -- "war of starvation" against his people. Crippling Israeli airstrikes have wiped out some major roads north of Beirut, isolating the Lebanese capital.

Roula Talj is a former adviser to Lebanon's government, a Lebanese political analyst. She is joining us once again from Beirut.

Roula, on this day, you have released an open letter that you have written to the former President of the United States Bill Clinton. I want to get to that in a moment.

But why did you write to Bill Clinton, as opposed to President George Bush?

ROULA TALJ, LEBANESE POLITICAL ANALYST: Because President Bill Clinton, I believe, was the last president of the United States that was legitimately accepted and liked in the Middle East, in both Arab countries and in Israel.

And I'm urging him and people like him, peace lovers, to do something in order to save the people of the Middle East from the crusade war of George W. Bush.

BLITZER: Here's what you write in your open letter to President Clinton.

"I urge you, Mr. President, to do something now. I beg you to stop President Bush from leading the world towards another world war. Your compassion and understanding of the sensitivities in this area are the only remedy against the Bush administration's madness."

We haven't heard a lot from President Bill Clinton since the start of this war, but I assume he's taking a line pretty much in support of Israel.
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TALJ: There is no problem, Wolf, to support Israel. I understood, when I lived in Washington, that every politician of the United States support Israel. And that's fine. It's legitimate. It's one way to support Israel's interest through peace, a comprehensive peace, with -- with the neighboring countries, and another thing to support Israel crush the neighboring countries through wars and violence and destruction.

And, to be honest with you, I do not believe this is the way to secure Israel. It's the only way -- as I said in my letter, it's our way -- it's our ticket to hell to all of us, Israelis and Arabs.

BLITZER: So, what specifically, Roula, would you like Bill Clinton, the former president of the United States, to do right now?

TALJ: I think campaigning to the public opinion, explaining to the Jewish-Americans that this is not the way to secure Israel.

This is not the way, because I think President Bush is trying to play on the midterm elections in November. I think he's trying to tell the Jewish-Americans: Here. I gave you everything you need in order to secure Israel. And nobody ever gave you that, you know, the opportunity to launch a war, so disastrous war, against your neighbors.

And what Bill Clinton needs to do, President Clinton needs to speak out and loud, out of his own experience in the Middle East, that this is the only -- this war will only lead to more extremism and more terrorism and more hatred, that will eventually drive the people of Israel out of it.

BLITZER: What about the Hezbollah rockets that keep coming into Israel, going further and further to the south today, reaching Hadera, the most southern point so far in this three-week war? Are the Lebanese people getting ready to stand up to Hezbollah, Roula, and demand that they stop these rocket attacks on Israeli civilians?

TALJ: If Israel withdraw its troops from all Lebanon, you know, from Shebaa Farms and the occupied land of Lebanon, yes, we will stand up and tell Hezbollah to stop the launching of rockets, and we will demand not only a cease-fire, but a peace treaty with Israel. But they have to respect the border line.

BLITZER: But you know the Israelis are not going to withdraw or stop their own actions until the rockets stop, or at least until there's some sort of international stabilization force that can come into south Lebanon and prevent these rockets from terrorizing Israeli civilians in the north.

TALJ: I think, from previous experience, Hassan Nasrallah proved to be serious about the threats. And he's a man of his word, whether we like him or not.

And, so far, he addressed the Israeli people yesterday, and he told them, you know, you withdraw from Lebanon, and you stop throwing bombs on our heads and destroying our bridges and infrastructure, and we will stop shelling bombs.
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I don't think it's his hobby to threaten Israelis. I truly don't believe it. It's not out of religious extremism or any religious agenda. It's a political agenda.

BLITZER: But you know, they have to respect the borderline.

You know the Israelis won't withdraw or stop their actions until the rockets stop or at least until there's some sort of international stabilization force that can come into south Lebanon and prevent the rockets from terrorizing Israeli civilians in the north.

I think from previous experience Nasrallah proved to be serious about threats, and he's a man of his word. Whether we like him or not. So, far he addressed the Israeli people yesterday, and he told them, you know, you withdraw from Lebanon, and you stop throwing bombs on our heads and destroying our bridges and infrastructure, and we will stop shelling bombs. I don't think it's his hobby to threaten Israelis. I don't believe it. It's not out of religious extremism or any religious agenda. It's a political agenda.

But you know, Roula...

TALJ: I'm pretty sure if they would...

BLITZER: You know, Roula, that his ideology is such that he doesn't want to see Israel in existence at all.

TALJ: I truly don't believe -- I don't believe that. I truly believe -- I still believe that Hassan Nasrallah has a political agenda, and not an ideological one, like bin Laden and his friends. These are two separate ideologies and agendas.

BLITZER: But don't you see him...

TALJ: And we need to be very...

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Roula, let me interrupt.

Don't you see him almost fully aligned with the president of Iran, Ahmadinejad, another Shiite, who makes it clear he wants to see Israel wiped off the face of the Earth?
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TALJ: That's another thing.

I think, if Israel is threatened by Ahmadinejad, they need to go and cure the problem at its core. I think, as Hassan Nasrallah -- and I have to believe him. When he came on television and addressed the nation yesterday, he made it clear that his fight is for the Lebanese people, and not to the Iranians.

And the minute we feel that he's fighting for the interests of the Iranians, believe me, even the Shia of Lebanon will be against him.

But, so far, we have to believe him, and by his actions. And his actions prove so far to be only against the Israeli presence in Lebanon, and, you know, the ongoing conflict that never stops.

BLITZER: Well...

TALJ: And, Wolf, I wanted to tell you -- yes, hello?

BLITZER: We're out of time, Roula, but...

TALJ: I wanted to tell you...

BLITZER: Yes, go ahead, very quickly.

TALJ: OK.

BLITZER: Make your final point.

TALJ: No, I said, any international force that would have to use force in order -- will not be able to keep the peace.

So, what we need here, we need, is a broker, a peace broker, to talk to the Israelis and to the Lebanese, get the Israelis to withdraw from Shebaa Farms and the rest of the southern Lebanon. And, then, a peace negotiation must lead to a peace deal.

BLITZER: And, presumably, you would like Bill Clinton...

TALJ: And that will be the solution, the only solution.

BLITZER: You would like Bill Clinton, the former president, to get involved and try to achieve that.

Roula, we got to leave it right there, but we will continue this conversation down the road -- Roula Talj joining us from Beirut.
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