Comment: Comment: There are a number of points in this report on the "suicide bombing" that need to be looked at more closely.

First, we should note that in any long standing conflict like that between Israel and Palestine, between state oppressor and non-state resistance force, the resistance is invariably infiltrated by agents of the state oppressor. Despite what is generally understood, such infiltration does not only (and perhaps not even primarily) facilitate information gathering by state forces, but also affords the oportunity to, if possible, divert the tactics of the resistance towards activities that cast them in a negative light.

If we look at some of the Western "terrorist" organisations of the 20th century, it is clear that the leadership of these groups realised, if not from the beginning then very soon thereafter, that the indiscriminate murder of innocent civilians, regardless of what "side" they are on, is counterproductive to winning the propaganda war and therefore the war in general. Of course, the state oppressor is also well aware of this fact, and while it generally tries and succeeds in covering up any state-orchestrated massacres, it is not beyond using any and all means to pain the resistance as a indicriminate murderer of the innocent. It is from this perspective that we should view all alleged "suicide bombings", not only in Israel but also in Iraq.

It comes as no surprise then when we learn that "Islamic Jihad" in Palestine has been infiltrated by the Israeli Mossad.

Let's turn then to the details of this most recent "suicide bombing" in Israel by Islamic Jihad.

We are told that the attack occurred when a man carrying a black bag crossed the street in front of the mall and an Israeli driver waiting at a red light noticed the suspicious man

Why would a man crossing a street with a black bag be immediately deemed as "suspicious" when we have been repeatedly told that "suicide bombers" wear their bombs under their clothing?

The claim that this suspicious man was the bomber rests on the testimony of a security guard who pinned him up against a wall before he allegedly detonated his bomb:

"I was looking [the bomber] in the eye and he pressed [the button] and blew up," Hudra said. "I flew, and all I remember is that I was looking in his eye. I saw his gaze."

We are then told that the explosion was "huge" that "the blast shattered windows and pock-marked the outside of the brown multistory building. Pieces of concrete were ripped off the facade", yet apparently the explosion was not so huge that the men who had the bomber pinned to wall at the point of detonation could not chirpily recount the event just a few hours later. Cearly something is not right with this picture.

It is our contention that a majority, if not all, suicide bombings in Israel that are alleged to be the work of Islamic Jihad are not in fact sucuide bombings at all but rather carefully orchestrated bombings by agents of the Israeli state, designed to demonise any legitimate Palestinian resistance to Israeli state terrorism.

As is usual in such cases, we are presented with an insight into the real reasons for such attacks by the subsequent words of Israeli government officials:

"Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said the bombing is more proof of the ineffectiveness of the Palestinian Authority. Israel will act against the terror organizations with all its might and all the means at its disposal. Israel's response will be hard and painful."

"In Washington, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli called on the Palestinian Authority to "take immediate steps to prevent these attacks, to end the violence and to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism."

He also demanded that Syria shut down the Islamic Jihad offices in Damascus."

Comment: Comment: Bono's former favourite politician, Paul Martin, continues to show his true colours. So much wiggle-room...

As for Condi: