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The Situation Room
Hezbollah Launches Deepest Rocket Attacks Yet Into Israel; Israel Bombing Major Routes Out of Lebanon; Situation In Mideast Could Lead to Iraq Fallout; Seeds of Peace Camp Helps Israeli and Arab Children
Aired August 04, 2006 - 16:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
04 WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And to our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time.
Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you today's top stories.
Happening now, a new target to terrorize. Hezbollah rockets land the deepest ever into Israel and the closest yet to Tel Aviv. I'll speak about that and more with the former Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Also, passionate pleas for the deaths of America and Israel. On a Muslim holy day, thousands of Hezbollah supporters protest not in Lebanon, but in Baghdad. Could the explosive crisis along the Israeli-Lebanese border spill into Iraq?
And their parents are Muslims and Jews who view each other as bitter enemies, so might Arab and Israeli children grown up to hate each other as well? Not if one unique program for peace can stop it.
I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
There's new concern around Israel tonight as Hezbollah rockets reach farther into the country than ever before. As many as three rockets landed in the coastal town of Hadera. No deaths or injuries are being reported, but Hadera is just 25 miles north of Tel Aviv, which Hezbollah has threatened to strike. And there's growing concern the city could be targeted any time.
Meantime, at least 20 people are dead in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon. Lebanese officials say the target was a produce storehouse. Israel says it was a Hezbollah weapons site.
And at the same time, Israel is stepping up attacks on Lebanese roads and bridges, saying it's trying to cut off routes being used to smuggle weapons into Lebanon from Syria.
We have two reporters standing by with all the latest developments.
Brent Sadler is in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.
Let's go to Matthew Chance, first, though, in northern Israel. An hour or so ago, Matthew, we heard those rockets whizzing over your head, explosions from presumably Israeli artillery fire going in the other direction.
What's the latest?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's been this fierce barrage continuing in both directions. Certainly from the Israeli side, really pounding southern Lebanon from this side of the border.
You may be able to make out behind me the noise of those artillery shells striking just across the border into southern Lebanon, where fierce fighting has been under way for several days now between the thousands of Israeli troops that have been deployed there in villages and towns across that area to really root out the Hezbollah positions that have been firmly entrenched in that place for the past six years since Israel ended its occupation of southern Lebanon.
There's been very fierce fighting on the ground. Very close combat. At least three soldiers killed in clashes with Hezbollah fighters over the course of the day.
In the other direction, as you mentioned, a ferocious barrage of rockets coming from Hezbollah positions, striking at Israeli towns and cities as well. That one in Hadera we've talked about already, just 25 miles north of the biggest city in Israel, Tel Aviv, and really the furthest south any one of these Hezbollah rockets has landed so far in this bitter conflict. It is another terrible landmark in it -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Matthew, as you -- as you take a look at the overall situation -- and you've been there now for days and days -- at least from our vantage point in Washington it seems to be escalating on a daily basis. There are now an estimated, what, 10,000, 12,000 Israeli ground forces operating inside Lebanon at any one point?
CHANCE: Well, the Israeli military that we speak to aren't giving us the exact figure of the number of troops they've got on the ground, but certainly it's around that number. But what we've been seeing is, over the past week or so, Israel call up tens of thousands of its reserve soldiers.
They have to undergo a certain amount of training, refreshing training before they go into combat. But as every day goes past, the number of combat troops available to Israel increases. And so we're seeing them expanding their ground operations across southern Lebanon.
They have a very firm objective in mind. They want to secure territory, a broad band of southern Lebanon north of the Israeli border, secure that, make it what they call a Hezbollah-free zone. Then hold on to it, until such times as the international community, if the international community can agree, a multinational force to be deployed in southern Lebanon to take over from the Israeli forces there.
Until then, there will be Israeli boots on the ground in Lebanon -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Matthew. Thanks very much.
Let's head out north to Beirut -- Brent Sadler is our bureau chief there -- for a complete wrap what's happened in Lebanon today -- Brent.
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: Thanks, Wolf.
Continuing and wider air assaults by Israel against targets in Lebanon. The most recent one, a deadly result from that airstrike in the northeastern corner of Lebanon. This after the Israelis earlier today launched a series of devastating airstrikes against key infrastructure north of Beirut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SADLER (voice over): Emergency crews race to the rescue after Israeli warplanes unleash a renewed blitz on Lebanon's roads and bridges, retaliation for Hezbollah's deadly rocket fire at Israel the previous day. The main coastal highway connecting Beirut to Lebanon's northern border with Syria targeted.
Lebanese motorists caught in the early morning attack in sight of the famed Casino du Liban. Vehicles entangled in the wreckage of concrete and steel.
This was the last high-speed link for people to enter and leave the country by road. Travel now severely restricted by slow-moving byways and detours. Some eyewitness report heavier than usual movements of trucks along this now battered route just hours before the attack.
"My brother let one of the trucks pass him," says Camille Fakiya (ph), "a split second before the road went up in a big explosion."
Under the flattened heap of a bridge that spanned this wide gully, a desperate search for more victims. A man is missing, and they think he's buried under the mountain of rubble.
Bystanders in this Christian heartland of Lebanon watch in resentful silence, reeling from shock. Camille Chamoun is a Maronite Catholic activist. "Now that Israel has broadened the air assault," he explains, "hitting more of their vital infrastructure, the politically divided Christians are now under pressure to unite and rally behind the defense of the country."
CAMILLE CHAMOUN, NATIONAL LIBERAL PARTY: Public opinion is today against Israel 100 percent from this area, although before people were, you know, divided, saying maybe it will come to a happy end. But this is absolutely -- it has no explanation. In my opinion, it's very stupid.
SADLER (on camera): The punishing airstrikes may have achieved an Israeli military objective of strangling main supply routes into Lebanon from Syria for Hezbollah. But for the Lebanese as a whole, say government officials here, it's another devastating blow against a country that's been slowly dragged to its knees...
(voice over): ... day by agonizing day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SADLER: Wolf, officials here say that 71 bridges throughout Lebanon have now been totally destroyed or badly damaged by the Israeli airstrikes. The cost so far of infrastructure damage alone is estimated at more than $2 billion. And that's a low estimate, they say -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Brent. Thanks very much.
Brent Sadler in Beirut.
Meanwhile, there are growing concerns the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah may make the situation in Iraq even worse.
CNN's Brian Todd is picking up that part of the story -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, those are fed by some very telling images from Baghdad today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice over): By the thousands they flood the streets, carrying certain flags, burning others, shouting their adoration for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, not in Beirut, but in Baghdad. They were called to the streets by their own Shiite leader, the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has proven to be a lethal foe to coalition forces in Iraq and now denounces Israel.
A show of solidarity that brings a warning from experts. Israel's cross-border war with Hezbollah may be crossing another.
COL. PATRICK LANG, MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: The more excited the Shia are about the fate of their brothers in Lebanon, the more they are to become aggressive on the ground in Baghdad. So this can only make the situation worse.
TODD: Worse in a city that, according to top military chiefs in the Pentagon, is becoming more chaotic and violent every day. But asked about the possibility that this rally supporting Hezbollah could lead to more destabilization in Iraq, an American combat commander plays down the threat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are some who would try to whip the normal man into -- into a frenzy to have him attack the Americans, but most people understand that our role here is not -- is not one of aggression at this point.
TODD: Still, many remember the way al-Sadr led his militias against the Americans just two years ago: vicious, costly street battles in Shia-controlled areas of Iraq that put a price on al-Sadr's head before he backed down. THOMAS RICKS, AUTHOR, "FIASCO": I think in the eyes of a lot of Iraqis he successfully attacked U.S. forces. He never paid a price for that. Many U.S. soldiers died at the hands of his militia, yet here he is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Here he is, very publicly throwing his support behind Hezbollah. Support that analysts believe may lead him to send some of his militia to join Hezbollah in Lebanon and for Hezbollah to possibly one day return the favor with the blessing and possible support, they say, of Iran -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting.
Thank you, Brian. Good report.
Let's go to New York. Jack Cafferty's got "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: It's just unbelievable what's going on. Unbelievable. Working real well this plan we had.
Within days is how soon Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expects a U.N. resolution to address the fighting in the Middle East. She thinks that that resolution will include a cease-fire and an enduring peace. You couldn't tell that by looking at the devastation and fighting that's raging on between Israel and Hezbollah, but I suppose anything's possible.
Anyway, according to a new poll, most Americans think that Rice knows what she's doing. A CNN poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation shows 59 percent of Americans are confident in Rice's ability to handle the situation in the Middle East -- 39 percent are not.
Condoleezza Rice fares much better on this subject than her boss. Only 43 percent of those polled approve of how President Bush is dealing with the situation over there, 46 percent disapprove.
So here's the question: How much faith do you have in Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to handle the crisis in the Middle East?
E-mail your thoughts to CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile.
I don't know how much worse it can get. Do you, Wolf?
BLITZER: Well, potentially a breakout moment for the secretary of state if she can really do something, quiet the situation down.
CAFFERTY: Well, she has my prayers. I hope she can get it done, but I also have big doubts.
It doesn't look good at this point. I mean, those street demonstrations in Baghdad are a little scary. BLITZER: Yes, that is the situation there in Iraq, as it looks like it's getting so much worse.
Jack, thank you.
Up ahead, we're going to talk about all of the latest developments in the Middle East crisis with the former Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and also with James Zogby, of the Arab American Institute. They're standing by to join us in THE SITUATION ROOM.
And U.S. military planners are closely watching the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. We're going to show you what they hope to learn and where they might us that knowledge.
Plus, how the fighting is impacting efforts to bring Arab and Jewish young people together.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
Let's talk some more about the fresh developments in this war between Israel and Hezbollah now in day 24.
Joining us is James Zogby. He's the president of the Arab American Institute here in Washington.
Jim, thanks very much for coming in.
JAMES ZOGBY, PRESIDENT, ARAB AMERICAN INST.: Thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: Let's talk a little bit about your proposals. You want an immediate cease-fire
ZOGBY: Yes.
BLITZER: That would be followed basically by the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army taking charge. But can they do it?
ZOGBY: Well, the issue is not them taking charge right away. The issue is beginning an internal Lebanese process that expands the base of the Lebanese government. As a part of that, the disarming of Hezbollah. Not unlike the Irish peace process.
Lebanese -- the Lebanese need an internal mediation effort that will help them reconstruct their government and broaden its base on the principle of disarming for expansion of positions for the Shia community. That's what happened in Ireland. It could work there, and I think it could work in Lebanon.
It would have been a lot easier before all of this violence and all of this destruction in Lebanon and the enhanced popularity that Hezbollah got. BLITZER: Because in the past two years, since that U.N. Security Council resolution was passed calling for the disbanding and the disarming of all militias in Lebanon, the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army basically didn't do anything.
ZOGBY: But there was never an effort to resolve the internal problem in Lebanon. I mean, the U.S. in fact failed.
We got Syria out, but then we left the Lebanese without the assistance they needed to transform their internal political system. That is what was needed.
They called for that. It called for a new international accord as part of the disarming practice. That's what 1559 left out and that's what didn't happen.
BLITZER: But I think you'll agree that he Lebanese government and the Lebanese army would need this international stabilization force proposed, backed by the U.N., to come in and help them.
ZOGBY: No question that you'll need something on the border. But what you don't need is what the U.S. is calling for, which is, in effect, for a fighting force to forcibly sort of supplement what Israel is doing, or to replace what Israeli is doing, and become a combatant in Lebanon.
You need a cease-fire, you need an agreement on a cease-fire. Then you have to begin.
First, stabilize the border. Yes, a presence there, a peacekeeping force like the French are calling for. But what the French are also calling for is a support for what the prime minister of Lebanon has said, which is help us with our internal stuff, help us with reconstruction, help us to expand our military.
Everyone knows that's going to mean absorbing Hezbollah into the military as part of the disarming process.
BLITZER: Because you realize that the Israelis, from their perspective, they've got all these rockets, hundreds of rockets coming into northern Israel, big parts of the country feeling terrorized right now. They are not going to just go back to the status quo and allow Hezbollah to rearm, if you will, during any interim.
The question is, who can prevent more rockets coming in from Iran through Syria in to Hezbollah?
ZOGBY: Well, there's no question that the disarming function is critical. And I think that everyone in Lebanon now agrees with that. You cannot have a state within a state...
BLITZER: So who is going to disarm them?
ZOGBY: Well, the point right now is that you have to disarm as part of an agreement. An internal Lebanese agreement, not unlike that worked for -- it worked for the IRA, it worked in Ireland with the Protestants. It can work in Lebanon.
I believe that a new Lebanese consensus can be formed. I only fear that this new consensus is now going to show a strengthened Hezbollah which will somehow create disruptions.
You heard in the earlier part of your program the Charoun (ph) and other Lebanese now thinking and speaking very differently. One of the impacts of what Israel has done is, I think, to distort the internal political life of Lebanon. That's a tragedy. And I think -- I fear for what the future may bring.
But the sooner we end the violence, the sooner we strengthen the Lebanese government, the sooner we bring about internal reform, the easier it will be to disarm and absorb Hezbollah and other Shia into the government and into the military in a disarmed single Lebanese state.
BLITZER: Here's what the under secretary of state, Nicholas Burns, said earlier this morning here on CNN.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICHOLAS BURNS, UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE: You can't expect the state of Israel to have direct negotiations with an organization that has vowed to destroy the state of Israel. It doesn't make any sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And the United States government doesn't want to have any negotiations with Hezbollah either, which it regards as a terrorist organization.
ZOGBY: Nobody is talking about the U.S. or Israel talking to Hezbollah. What we're doing is talking about strengthening the Lebanese government and finding a place for the Shia community with greater enhanced participation in Lebanese governance.
They are the dispossessed in Lebanon. They have to be invested in the state.
BLITZER: Do you believe Hezbollah is a terrorist organization?
ZOGBY: I believe Hezbollah has committed terrible terrorist acts and they are to be condemned for those acts. But it is also a much broader social and political institution and has to be recognized for that.
You cannot have 40 percent of the population feeling dispossessed, feeling that they fought alone against 22 years of occupation, bearing all those wounds and have internal peace in Lebanon or have peace between Israel and Lebanon. And what's happened in the last several weeks has only deepened those wounds.
You talk about the hundreds of rockets? I can counter with the thousands of air sorties in Lebanon that have left southern Beirut in shambles, left villages, Bint Jbeil and others in the south, in shambles and killed hundreds of people. The longer this madness goes on, as secretary -- as Senator Hagel said the other day, the longer the madness goes on, the worse it gets.
I think that King Abdullah of Jordan is absolutely right. All the good that's come of this is extremism has been enhanced, moderates have been weakened. It's got to stop.
BLITZER: And the spillover, as far as U.S. interests in the -- not only in the Arab world, but let's talk specifically about Iraq, where we see an enormous amount of outrage and support by Iraqi Shia for fellow Shia in Lebanon.
ZOGBY: You know, I can only shrug and say, didn't anybody figure that? With 130,000 American soldiers in the back yard of Iran, in a majority Shia country, didn't anybody figure that at some point there would be a spillover and that we would be putting our own folks at risk?
This is not a good thing. Nobody was thinking. There's no military solution to this. We've got to find a political way out, and the first step, stop the violence.
BLITZER: Jim Zogby is the president of the Arab American Institute
Thanks for coming in.
ZOGBY: Thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: And coming up, new rocket attacks on Israel's largest northern city. That would be Haifa.
CNN's Paula Hancocks is there. She's going to have the latest for us.
Plus, is the fighting foreshadowing what the U.S. could face in Syria or Iran? We'll check in with our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Let's check back with Zain Verjee. She's got a closer look at some other important stories making news -- Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, the mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, isn't mincing words. He says, "These are the monsters we've been hunting."
Authorities in Phoenix say they have arrested two men who were responsible for 15 months of terrifying attacks in the so-called "Serial Shooter" case since May of 2005. Six people have been killed in apparently random shootings, 18 others injured. The most recent killing was on Sunday.
Police are still looking for the suspect in another serial shooting spree.
What was Tropical Storm Chris is now a tropical depression. Chris disintegrated into a massive thunderstorm today as it moved through the Turks and Caicos islands. But forecasters say it's possible the weather system could recover strength by tomorrow and pose problems for Cuba. Residents of southern Florida are also being told to keep a close eye on the storm.
China's deadly typhoon season isn't letting up. Authorities say a massive typhoon has killed nine people in southern China. Heavy rains, 74 miles an hour, winds are occurring. Landslides also have destroyed several homes. Nearly half a million people have been force to flee.
Now, the storm itself has weakened to a tropical depression, but rough weather is being forecast through tomorrow. Storms have killed nearly 1,500 people in China this typhoon season.
And Germany is reporting the deadly bird flu has apparently struck at its Dresden Zoo. Officials say the H5N1 virus killed an Australian black swan. It was found just floating dead on a pond a little bit earlier this week. The zoo has quarantined its other black swans.
Until now, bird flu has only killed wild animals and farm poultry in Germany. Officials are speculating though, Wolf, that the virus may have come from wild birds who flocked to the zoo's pond last winter -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Zain, thank you very much.
Much more coming up, including all the latest developments on the crisis in the Middle East.
Also coming up, while some of their parents fight, the children of some Muslims and Jews wonder, will they grow up to be bitter enemies as well? Our Mary Snow will introduce you to some who have very strong views, even one who was willing to risk his life for what he believes.
And she has what President Bush could use, popularity and the majority of support from the American people. So, how much faith do you have in Condoleezza Rice's ability to handle this crisis in the Middle East?
Stay with us. Jack Cafferty will have your e-mail.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.
We want to bring you the latest on the crisis in the Middle East. Not long go, Hezbollah rockets dropped down on a new target. It's the deepest strike yet into Israel and the closest ever to Tel Aviv. As many as three rockets landed in Hadera. That's only 25 miles north of Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes have slammed Beirut's southern suburbs again. And Israeli warplanes also bombed major roads out of the Lebanese capital.
And an Israeli airstrike in northeast Lebanon, in the town of Qaa, has killed more than 20 people. Some of them Syrians. Qaa is in the northern Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border.
While we've been telling you about those Hezbollah rockets that landed, the deepest yet into Israel and Hadera, Hezbollah rockets also are falling once again in the city of Haifa.
Our Paula Hancocks is there with details -- Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the Israeli death toll is rising steadily for the second day running on both the military and the civilian front. Hezbollah once again showing that some Israeli politicians may have spoken too soon, when they said they believed Hezbollah had been dealt a heavy blow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS (voice-over): A father and his daughter buried together Friday, victims of a Hezbollah rocket in Akko on Thursday. As the bodies are covered, more Israelis are killed in rocket attacks. One woman died in a direct hit on her house in an Arab Jews village in northern Galilee, according to police. Another person killed when a rocket landed near his car on the outskirts of Israel's northern most town of Kiryat Shmona.
Rockets once again were widespread across northern Israel, several landing around the city of Hadera late Friday, 50 miles or 80 kilometers south of the Lebanese border. The furthest Hezbollah rockets have hit during this war. But even many of those in the line of fire believe the war has to continue.
MICKEY ROSENFELD, ISRAELI POLICE SPOKESMAN: We leave and we still get attacked. So we once and for all we have to make an end to this situation and to win this war period.
HANCOCKS: One rocket that fell in Kiryat Shmona was Syrian made according to police, packed with 100 kilograms of explosives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The destruction that this type of rocket can cause if it lands inside the city, the destruction and devastation and the number of people that will be killed will be huge.
HANCOCKS: Israeli troops edge slowly deeper into Lebanon, but at a cost. More Israeli soldiers killed Friday after Hezbollah fighters launched an anti-tank missile at the force operating in the village of Macabi. Israel continues to fight on two fronts. Troops are still operating in Gaza. More Palestinians were killed there Friday by strikes Israel says were aimed at militants.
Tension over Israel's military operations spilled over in east Jerusalem after Friday prayers. Muslim worshippers through bottles at Israeli police, at least four were arrested. Residents in Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv as yet untouched physically by the war on the northern border are now preparing for the possibility they could be next on Hezbollah's target list. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah threatened Thursday to launch rockets at Tel Aviv if Israel continued to target Beirut.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We used to get the missiles from Saddam a couple of years ago, so we're not afraid.
HANCOCKS: Israel's most popular city has been on heightened alert for a couple of weeks. Patriot missile factories were installed on the outskirts, just in case Nasrallah means what he says.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS: Close to 600 rockets have landed in northern Israel over the past three days alone. During the same time period we've seen many more residents heading south to try and escape the danger. Two dozen bus loads left Kiryat Shmona, the northern most town in Israel, headed for Alask (ph), the red sea resort, 300 miles south, and it's the furthest south you can actually get without leaving Israel -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right Paula, thank you very much. Paula Hancocks reporting for us. The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is giving the Pentagon a good idea of what it could face should the United States decide to take on Syria or Iran militarily. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is joining us with more on this story -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, it is Hezbollah's resilience that has caught the Pentagon's attention.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): U.S. war planners and intelligence analysts are watching closely to see exactly how Hezbollah is fighting Israel and for good reason. As one U.S. army general told CNN, you're watching how we would have to fight Iran. The Pentagon needs to know if its forces are ready to fight Hezbollah-type tactics if it came to war with Iran or Syria.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Our people clearly are watching what's taking place. I think anyone who ever underestimated Hezbollah were few and far between.
STARR: Hezbollah has about 10,000 troops, Israel, nearly half a million. But, analysts say Hezbollah is using tactics and weapons to its advantage. First, Hezbollah has Iranian and Syrian-supplied fire power.
GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Hezbollah fields greater and longer range weapons than most regional armed forces.
STARR: Its rockets have hit 50 miles inside Israel. If the target was a U.S. position, the U.S. military would be forced to commit manpower to defend it. Second, Hezbollah has forced Israel to fight on Hezbollah's home turf and fight in civilian areas.
COL. THOMAS X. HAMMES (RET.), U.S. MARINE CORPS/AUTHOR: They have learned how to draw Israeli forces in close so that they take away most of the advantages the Israelis have and reduce it to a small unit on small unit fight in a built-up area.
STARR: Third, Hezbollah has shown it can challenge Israel's air power. Dropping bombs is killing Lebanese civilians and isn't defeating Hezbollah.
HAMMES: They have underground paths between buildings, they have bunkers they can retreat to. They have set up the houses so they're not fighting from the outside part of the house but more inside.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: You know Wolf a lot of these type of tactics are decades old, they date all the way back to the Vietnam War and even beyond that. But U.S. military planners say this time it is different, because Iran is the backer of Hezbollah and has been able to exert its influence inside Lebanon. The concern of course is, where Iran may turn its attention next and where the U.S. military might have to confront that -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Barbara we know that for many, many years, the Israeli military has had an extraordinarily close liaison relationship with the U.S. military across the border, whether the army, the navy or the air force. How much information are the Israelis providing on a day to day basis to their U.S. military counterparts?
STARR: Well, the general understanding, is it's not that hard for the U.S. military to have a pretty good view of what the Israeli military is doing, their airplanes, their tanks, their ground units. That all can be seen and it's something that the U.S. military understands very well.
But let's reverse the equation, Wolf. What concerns the U.S. military is, they don't have a very good picture they believe at this point, of how Hezbollah is fighting on the ground, and what specific influences right now Iran and Syria are exerting on those Hezbollah ground units -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And Barbara, as Harris Whitbeck reported earlier here in THE SITUATION ROOM from Baghdad and Brian Todd reported, there clearly is a spillover on what's happening between Israel and Hezbollah in the Middle East on what's happening inside Iraq right now, where there's potential ramifications for the U.S. military.
As you well know, there was a huge demonstration, Muqtada al- Sadr's Shiite supporters in Baghdad today. At one point, I take it, the U.S. government issued a press release, saying what, that had to be corrected?
STARR: Wolf, this was a very peculiar incident and it's not at all clear that it's been formally corrected yet. We have been reporting at CNN all day about this very large demonstration in Sadr City in Baghdad, in which thousands of Iraqis turned out and demonstrated in favor of Hezbollah. It was peaceful by all accounts, but clearly we see the yellow flags, we see the support for Hezbollah and for extremist movement.
But what the U.S. military did, was put out, let me hold it up for everybody, this press release. And the title on this press release Wolf is, "Iraqis Demonstrate Peacefully in Support of Lebanon." But by all accounts, all of the video we see, of course much of this demonstration was not in support of Lebanon as the U.S. military said, but was in support of Hezbollah -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Who specifically is the address, if you will, of that press release? Who put it out?
STARR: This press release came from Multi National Corps Iraq. And let's be very clear, there is an undercurrent here. There is a concern that this may be, what they call in the military, an information operation, what we call in the civilian world, propaganda.
Was this press release put out saying that there was a peaceful demonstration in Sadr City in favor of Lebanon, when clearly this demonstration, all of the pictures the world has seen today, is most of this demonstration in Sadr City, Baghdad was in favor of Hezbollah. It puts the military in the very awkward position of having equated Lebanon with Hezbollah. That's something perhaps the Lebanese government might disagree with -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And there may have been a lot of peaceful demonstration there, but a lot of burning of not only the Israeli flag but the U.S. flag as well. Barbara thank you very much. Barbara Starr reporting. Still to come, will the children do as they see? Will young Muslims and Jews take after their parents and fight each other when they grow up? There's a unique program that hopes to stop that before it happens. Our Mary Snow standing by with the details.
And getting well or getting worse? What's the current condition of the Cuban president Fidel Castro? The Cuban government is putting out new details. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: As the situation in the Middle East intensifies. How are the children of Muslim and Jews from the region actually viewing the conflict? Mary Snow caught up with some of them and we got some surprising admissions. Mary this is a very important story.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Wolf, because these kids are very frank about what's happening. They're a half a world away from the Middle East but Israeli and Arab teenagers are having to face each other at a camp that was started back in 1993. Now the hope is to foster peace but this summer that hope is really being put to the test.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): This tight rope challenge has both nothing and everything to do with the Middle East crisis. 15-year-old Nitzan (ph) is from Israel. Asil (ph), also 15, is from the West Bank. 30 feet above the ground, they're forced to rely on each other to make it across. It is one of the number of trust building exercises at the Seeds of Peace Camp in Maine. Many of these Israeli and Arab campers say until now, they have never known somebody from the so-called other side. Here they work, play and live together.
ZAQLOUB SAID, MALE HEAD COUNSELOR: It's not easy for teenagers to have to deal with the reality and what they hear on the news and having to do dialogue with the so-called enemy.
SNOW: War headlines are posted in Hebrew and Arabic. It's all brought into daily dialogue sessions held with kids like 17-year-old Omer from Israel and 16-year-old Kareem from the West Bank.
Is it always in the back of your mind that the other side is the so-called enemy?
KAREEM: Of course, my point of view, I think -- I always look at Omer going to the army at 18. And she may go on the field and she may stop me at a checkpoint and humiliate me. I always think of that.
SNOW: Omer has thought about it too.
OMER: When you're coming to a checkpoint with a soldier, would you prefer him to be from that he's known Palestinians and respect them and will treat you to respect -- he has learned during his time in the organization, we just want some soldiers to be there.
SNOW: Omer says she'll be proud to serve and is willing to die for her country. Kareem says he won't rule out dying for Palestine.
KAREEM: The thing that they call terrorists, I call them freedom fighters.
SNOW: Would you ever become a freedom fighter?
KAREEM: Well it depends on what happens. If it's a personal revenge, of course I will become a freedom fighter. But I believe right now the resistance I can give to my country, I can get an education, I can fight by words, I can do a lot of other stuff.
SNOW: How does it make you feel when you hear that?
OREM: It's not the first time I am hearing it the Palestinians willing to go sacrifice myself or I'm willing to kill you. I guess it's like the same for them to hear I'm going to the army. So, I see freedom fighters as my enemy and he sees soldiers as the devil. So I guess it's kind of like the same.
SNOW: They say the fact they can even talk about these things is progress. They move on with their camp day. At one point they work together to field calls from campers families overseas. There are times when these kids are just kids, united in cheering for the soccer team. But with reality lurking, these teens will be on the front lines of decision-making when they return home.
STEVEN FLANDERS, COO, SEEDS OF PEACE: They come and they sleep with one eye open and one eye shut, because they're sleeping with what they otherwise thought was the enemy. When they go home they go home with eyes wide open because they've just experienced a whole new opportunity for life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: And Wolf, as one counselor told me, he doesn't expect to change the world but hopes that by empowering one teenager at a time, it will one day make a big difference -- Wolf.
BLITZER: They're doing very important work up there. Thank you Mary very much. Seeds of Peace, they're camp in Maine. Up ahead, some U.S. companies have earned the ire of the United States. They allegedly gave Iran items that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction. We're going to tell you where the companies are based and how the U.S. is punishing them.
And ever since Fidel Castro, the president of Cuba, fell ill, it's been difficult to get independent word on how he's doing. The Cuban government putting out another notice on his recovery. We're going to have details as well as all the latest on the crisis in the Middle East. Stay with us.
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BLITZER: There's a story developing on the southern part of Israel as well, in Gaza. What's going on between Israel and Gaza right now, Zain?
VERJEE: Wolf, news wire reports quoting medics on the ground as saying an Israeli air strike has killed two Palestinians including a child in southern Gaza. Several people have apparently been wounded. Israel as you know has been targeting what it calls the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas and Islamic jihad.
The fighting has mainly been going on in the southern town of Rafa, that's close to where the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was seized back on the 25th of June. And his kidnap has triggered a five week Israeli ground offensive and their air offensive in that area. But we're learning that an air strike just now has killed two Palestinians including a child.
In other news, seven overseas companies face U.S. sanctions. The State Department said they provided Iran with materials that potentially could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction. Now that's in violation of the Iran Syria non proliferation act. The companies are from North Korea, Russia, India and Cuba. The sanctions mean no U.S. government agency can sell them weapons or munitions and their U.S. licenses are suspended. Cuba's health minister says Fidel Castro is recuperating and will return to his position as president of Cuba. That's the word from the state run news agency. Castro underwent intestinal surgery and temporarily handed over power to his brother Raul on Monday. The health minister says that Raul Castro is firmly holding the reins of government. But Raul has not actually been seen in public yet, Wolf?
BLITZER: We'll see him hopefully one of these days. Thanks Zain very much. Raul and Fidel. More now on the crisis in the Middle East. There are new details of diplomacy at the highest levels. President Bush discussing a new United Nations resolution, presumably with the Secretary General Kofi Annan. Let's get all of the specific details, everything we know from our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth. What's going on Richard?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, as the weekend nears a fever pitch now on the diplomacy towards trying to find some solution, at least even temporarily on the Middle East fighting. Kofi Annan, the secretary general, talked by phone with President Bush, Annan on the road in the Dominican Republic. Annan also talking with France's leader Jacque Chirac.
France and the U.S., the two key players, state department sources and other diplomats saying that we may have a text on a resolution ready for the Security Council to look at this Sunday maybe, and maybe a vote as early as Monday -- Wolf.
BLITZER: In a nutshell, what's the big difference between the U.S. stance and the French stance on a U.N. resolution?
ROTH: France wants an immediate cessation of hostilities. The U.S. says that's all well and good but you need to sketch in all the other details. Maybe the wording has changed, maybe it'll be suspension of hostilities. Just enough of a truce to get some type of robust international emergency team of soldiers on the ground and then build from there. That's what they continue to work on. Sequencing and order of all of these events in a resolution.
BLITZER: Are they on the same page, the U.S. and France, when it comes to how robust this international stabilization force should be?
ROTH: They are somewhat on the same page but the big issue is, does Israel get to keep its troops there before a force arrives? That's a big concern to Lebanon and the others.
BLITZER: Richard thank you very much. Richard Roth watching all the diplomacy for us. Up next, polls say Americans trust her but Jack Cafferty is wondering how much faith you have in the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to handle the current crisis in the Middle East. Jack standing by. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
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BLITZER: Let's go to Jack Cafferty in New York. There he is. Hi Jack? CAFFERTY: There he is. Thanks Wolf. The question this hour is, how much faith do you have in Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to handle the crisis in the Middle East? In a recent poll, she got higher marks from Americans than her boss on that subject. So here's some of what you've written and we've got a lot of mail on this.
Andy in Virginia writes, "When Israel is ready, madam secretary will be successful. If we're really lucky, she'll observe closely how Israel handles this situation. I bet Israel has an exit strategy."
Janet in Bixby, Oklahoma, "I have very little faith that Ms. Rice will make any difference at all in the Israel Hezbollah fight. Ms. Rice has shown herself to be an ineffective secretary of state so far. She looks good at meetings, has a lovely smile, however, that won't carry any weight in this battle."
Rod writes in Kansas, "Jack I have more faith in Ms. Rice than any other cabinet position at this time. It seems she has the handle on this crisis, as she said previously this didn't occur overnight and it won't be solved in that time period either."
David in Chouteau, Oklahoma, "That's the craziest thing I have ever heard. Nobody wants to talk to her except Israel, so how is she going to be able to do anything?"
Brad in Michigan, "Secretary Rice is doing a fantastic job. She's the only one political face globally who understands the situation needs a long term solution for peace, not just a temporary short term solution."
Phillip in Tennessee, "At this point I have no confidence in Rice or anyone else affiliated with the Republican Party. I say the only way to peace is to nuke Iran then ask the Middle Eastern countries "Who wants to be next?"
John in New Jersey, "Jack do us a favor, call the NFL owners, plead with them, beg if you must, to not ever hire Condoleezza Rice ever. The NFL is much too important, they can't let her screw that up or we will be really, really upset."
And my favorite letter in a long time is from a kid named Pippie in California, "My teacher said if you read my e-mail I'll get extra credit. If I get extra credit I'll get an A. If I get enough A's, then I can go to college, make a lot of money, have some kids and start the whole process all over again. If you don't read my e-mail, well I'll just let that eat at your conscious for the rest of your life." Pippie, I'm going to sleep all right tonight.
BLITZER: Pippie, a smart kid, he's going some place. He's going to be in THE SITUATION ROOM one of these days. Jack thanks very much. In streets and newspapers throughout the Arab world, many are focusing their frustration with the foreign policy of the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Now some highly charged political cartoons are showing up online as well and they aren't very flattering. Let's bring in our internet reporter Abbi Tatton. Abbi? ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, these numerous cartoons that are going around in the Arab press range from political satire to more extreme caricatures. This is London's Al Haaet Newspaper, an independent Arab daily, showing the secretary of state playing the piano as Israeli jets are flying overhead. A reference to the secretary of state's recent skip at a conference in Malaysia. Far harsher here at Jordan's Al Distor newspaper, this one has the secretary of state dropping bombs on Arabs, but flowers on Israel.
Similarly, in Anahar, which is in Lebanon, they have the Condi as missile image. A spokesman for the state department was asked at a briefing about these anti-Rice images. He responded that they encourage the development of a free press but along with those freedoms comes certain responsibilities. Wolf, the state department spokesman added that the secretary of state is focused on doing her job.
BLITZER: Thank you Abbi. Let's close this hour with some of the hot shots coming in from our friends at the "Associated Press", pictures on the Middle East likely to be in your hometown newspapers tomorrow. In southern Beirut, a ball of fire erupts into the sky after an Israeli air strike. In Tehran, Iran, nervous police officers guard the British embassy during an anti-Israeli protest downtown.
In Lebanon, north of Beirut, Red Cross personnel carry a man who was injured when an Israeli air strike took out a bridge. And in northern Israel, Israeli soldiers pray in an artillery position near the border with Lebanon. Some of today's hot shots, pictures often worth a thousand words.
We had hoped this hour to bring you an interview with the former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, unfortunately he had to cancel. We'll have him back though, we'll be coming back in one hour ourselves. Much more coming up, in the meantime let's go to Kitty Pilgrim filling in for Lou. Kitty?
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