French FM: 'prepare for war with Iran'

From Haaretz:

The world must "must prepare for the worst" - including the possibility of war - in light of the Iranian nuclear crisis, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Sunday.

"We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst, sir, is war," Kouchner said in an interview on LCI television and RTL radio.

...and about that supposed Israeli airstrike against Syrian targets?

"I think it would be unusual for Israel to conduct a military operation inside Syria other than for a very high value target, and certainly a Syrian effort in the nuclear weapons area would qualify," [former United Nations ambassador John] Bolton told Channel 10 in an interview broadcast Sunday.

"I think this is a clear message not only to Syria, I think it's a clear message to Iran as well, that its continued efforts to acquire nuclear weapons are not going to go unanswered," Bolton said.

Background: former IDF strategist, Dr. Eran Lerman, detailed these very issues - Iran and Syria - in an exclusive interview some nine months ago. Although understandably cautious in his assessments, I think he fairly nailed the issues involved even then.

Previous Israel At Level ground posts about Iran and Israel.

Atlanta Morning (original photography)

Atlanta Morning

A foggy August morn' along I-75 in Atlanta, as the last wisps of fog burned off among the downtown skyscrapers, and rush-hour motorists drove on, unawares.

I shot this on the way to work. Luckily, just after my turn-off, I managed to pull over and grab my camera out of the trunk. Lot's of Photoshopping, to retrieve the look and feel of the moment.

Freakin' cool indie Israeli rock - in English (video)

Ok, this is cool - and "wis' no Ez-rae-lie ak-sent."

L.A. Times: "This band from Israel covers some of the same ground as Coldplay with the kind of sing-along choruses that could appeal to a large audience. Singer Ohad Eilam has an accessible sincerity and, in "Hidden Thieves," when the keening guitar enters on the final chorus, providing a diversion from the center of focus (the piano) one can imagine a concert hall of swaying bodies."

Their clean-cut image matched with their talent appealed to Israel's Foreign Ministry, which in a way has chosen missFlag as cultural ambassadors for Israel. According to the band, it was the Israeli consul in Los Angeles which helped them out with initial contacts in the music industry and media.

"I think it is really down-to-earth stuff... nothing political like one would expect from Israel. The songs are about relationships, hopes, loves and sadness and the things that everyone goes through," Assayas told ISRAEL21c.