Bush's Last Press Conferencce

Harry Reid - Meet the Press Interview Transcript

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): Thank you very much.

MR. GREGORY: Let me ask you about the ground invasion into Gaza. Do you think on the part of this Israeli--of the Israelis this was offensive or defensive?

SEN. REID: I spoke to Prime Minister Olmert a couple of days ago. He indicated that they would do the ground activities. Let's understand the background. For eight years they've been firing rockets into Israel. They've become more intense the last few months. Israelis have been killed, maimed and injured. Sometimes more than 200 a day coming into Israel. If this were going on in the United States from Vancouver, Canada, into Seattle, would we react? Course we do. We would have to. I think what the Israelis are doing is very important. I think this terrorist organization, Hamas, has got to be put away. They've got to come to their senses. The Fatah group, which is--makes up part of Palestinian group, has a peace arrangement with Israel. Hamas should do the same.

MR. GREGORY: And they're in power in the West Bank.

SEN. REID: That's right. And, and, and Israel, for--since 1967, controlled Gaza. They gave it to the Palestinians as a gesture of peace. And all they got are a bunch of rockets in return.

MR. GREGORY: So you think that Israel ought to move forward and try to remove Hamas from power?

SEN. REID: They have to. I, I'm not concerned about removing Hamas from power, I'm concerned about stopping the rocket fire and the mortar fire into Israel. That is the key, and that's what Israel's up to according to the prime minister.

MR. GREGORY: Should there be an immediate cease-fire?

SEN. REID: If the Hamas organization will agree and there is some degree of certainty that they will follow through. They, in the past, have simply not lived up to what they said they would do. If there's a way of enforcing this cease-fire, then yes. Otherwise, Israel has to continue till they stop the rockets and mortars coming into Israel, maiming, injuring...

MR. GREGORY: Right.

SEN. REID: ...and killing Israelis.

MR. GREGORY: So you, you're in sync with the Bush administration on this point?

SEN. REID: Yes, I am.

Isreal and Hamas - Articles on Conflict

• India Should Emulate Israel in 2009 - B. Raman, Rediff
• Lessons for Us All in Gaza - Mirko Bagaric, The Australian
• Time for Muslim Majority to Unite - Tariq Ramadan, The Guardian
• Defining Victory for Israel - Michael Gerson, Washington Post
• Who Will Broker the Israel-Hamas Ceasefire? - Frida Ghitis, WPR
• Israel's Illusion of Victory - Daniel Barenboim, The Guardian
• Hamas' Strategy of Escalation - Pierre Heumann & Ulrike Putz, Der Spiegel
• Israel's Unwitting Revival of Hamas - Daoud Kuttab, Washington Post
• We're All Middle Easterners Now - Melik Keylan, Forbes
• Israel is Undermining Peace - Marwan Bishara, International Herald Tribune
• The Suffering That Hamas Causes - Jeff Robins, Boston Globe
• Hamas Can't Become Another Hezbollah - Meir Javedanfar, Jerusalem Post
• Palestinians Need Israel to Win - Michael Oren & Yossi Klein Halevi, WSJ
• How Obama Can Promote Mid-East Peace - Washington Institute
• Why Israel Wants a Short War - Shmuel Rosner, New Republic
• Gaza Is About More than Zionism - Mick Hume, Times of London
• What Was Hamas Thinking? - Shadi Hamid, Huffington Post
• Bush's Failed Gaza Legacy - Scott MacLeod, Time
• Beyond Bombs and Rockets in Gaza - Christian Science Monitor
• Can Israel Win 'Soft Power' War in Gaza? - Gerald Steinberg, Jerusalem Post
• The Juicebox Mafia on Gaza - Noah Pollak, Commentary Magazine
• Killing a Two-State Solution - The Guardian
• Talking Is the Only Solution in Gaza - The Guardian
• Lebanon's Quiet Truce - David Ignatius, Washington Post
• The Real Winner May Be Iran - Washington Post
• Israel's Strategic Blunder in Gaza - Tony Karon, The National
• How the Gaza Offensive Came About - Barak Ravid, Haaretz
• A Grand Design for the Middle East - Yehezkel Dror, Jerusalem Post
• Bush Is Winning the War on Terror - Nile Gardiner, The Telegraph
• Christmas on Planet Pope - Giles Fraser, The Guardian
• O, Little Town of Bethlehem - Hela Crown-Tamir, Jerusalem Post
• A Broader Middle East Strategy - Lajeunesse & Wunderle, Middle East Times
• A New Partner in Syria? - David Ignatius, Washington Post
• Who Has Obama's Ear on the Mideast? - Scott MacLeod, Time
• Repeating Failure in Gaza - Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post
• The Rebel Prince Who Hijacked Likud - Gershom Gorenberg, TAP
• Is the Peace Process Irreversible? - Daoud Kuttab, Jerusalem Post
• Turkey's Domino Theory - David Ignatius, Washington Post
• Israel Should Withdraw from Golan Talks - E. Navon, Jerusalem Post
• On My Expulsion from Israel - Richard Falk, The Guardian
• Moshe Feiglin & Israel's Failing Politics - Amotz Asa-El, Jerusalem Post
• Israel's Coming Test for Obama - Walter Rodgers, Christian Science Monitor
• Round and Round Again in the Middle East - Simon Tisdall, Guardian
• Untying Middle East Gordian Knot - Weaver, Couloumbis & Ahlstrom, RCW
• Saudi Plan: 100 Years of Dhimmitude? - Elihu Richter, Jerusalem Post
• Why Not to Engage Iran (Yet) - Geneive Abdo, Foreign Policy
• Fatah's Offensive Against Hamas - Jeffrey White, Washington Institute
• How Israel Defeated Terrorism in West Bank - Ehud Yaari, The Australian
• Financial Crisis and the Middle East - Martin Kramer, Jerusalem Post
• A Symbol of War Against Terrorism - Sadanand Dhume, Forbes
• Tony Blair: Wrong Man for the Middle East - Richard Beeston, Times
• Freeing Barghouti a Lesser of Two Evils - Joshua Gleis, Jerusalem Post
• Barack and Bibi Won't Mix - Jeff Barak, Jerusalem Post
• An F for Bush's Iran Policy - David Ignatius, Washington Post
• Israeli Hawks Ready to Fly on Iran - Paul Sheehan, Sydney Morning Herald
• A Disarmed Palestinian State? - Amitai Etzioni, Jerusalem Post
• A West Bank House in Dispute - Gershom Gorenberg, American Prospect
• Where's the Outrage over Gaza? - Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, The Independent

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It's official: "Hell has frozen over"

Photo: Luxor light beam illuminates snowfall on the strip.
Las Vegas recieves record snowfall...

What would your Draft Number have been in Vietnam

What would your draft number have been in Vietnam?

Selective Service System:

A lottery drawing - the first since 1942 - was held on December 1, 1969, at Selective Service National Headquarters in Washington, D.C. This event determined the order of call for induction during calendar year 1970, that is, for registrants born between January 1, 1944, and December 31, 1950. Reinstitution of the lottery was a change from the "draft the oldest man first" method, which had been the determining method for deciding order of call.

There were 366 blue plastic capsules containing birth dates placed in a large glass container and drawn by hand to assign order-of-call numbers to all men within the 18-26 age range specified in Selective Service law.

With radio, film and TV coverage, the capsules were drawn from the container, opened, and the dates inside posted in order. The first capsule - drawn by Congressman Alexander Pirnie (R-NY) of the House Armed Services Committee - contained the date September 14, so all men born on September 14 in any year between 1944 and 1950 were assigned lottery number 1. The drawing continued until all days of the year had been paired with sequence numbers.

See what your number would have been here.

Million Mile Dump in Pacific Ocean (Video)

Trash collected in the Pacific Ocean stretches from California to China...