Gaza War & Its Rhetoric Escalate

Now Osama bin Laden wants a piece of the pie. In a 22-minute audio tape, bin Laden is encouraging a "jihad" against Israel and US allies across the Middle East. Bloomberg is reporting that a UN relief agency was struck by Israeli forces today, which they quickly apologized for, claiming that Hamas operatives fired on them from that location. Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated "...it has become clear that the continuation of the Zionist regime's life in the region is not feasible," and is calling on the Saudi Arabian government to speak out on the situation, as well as enforce an oil embargo. Reuters is claiming that cease-fire talks are "taking shape," although it seems that little cooperation is being offered openly from any side. Egypt is the primary broker and relay medium of the cease-fire, and being deeply embroiled in Arab coalition politics themselves, are not really in a position to exert power. The US has halted shipments of munitions to Israel, adding fire to a spat between Jerusalem and Washington wherein Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert bragged on Monday that he strong-armed President Bush into ordering Secretary Rice to cast the US abstain vote on the UN peace resolution last week. Of course the US is denying it. Directly following this playground politics, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is calling on President-elect Obama to "stop supporting Israel." Not likely. Venezuela and Bolivia have already severed ties with Israel over the conflict, following the call of Iran for all nations to do so. Qatar may soon follow suit, as may Turkey indicating they would be willing to contribute to an international peacekeeping force to monitor crossings into the Gaza strip. Qatar may soon find itself at the center of the debacle, as a debate is beginning surrounding the Arab League's ability to achieve quorum at an Arab summit in Qatar this week on Israel's offensive in Gaza, underscoring huge divisions in Arab nations.