State Department: "We’re concerned" by the Saudi incursion ...

In the WSJ/ here

"The State Department is "concerned" about reported Saudi incursions over the Yemeni border. "It's our view there could be no long-term military solution to the conflict between the Yemeni Government and the the Houthi rebels," Kelly said

" ... The Houthis, who aren't connected to al Qaeda, are fighting against what they call an ineffectual and corrupt central Yemen government. The Yemeni government calls the uprising treasonous. Saudi Arabia is a strong supporter of the Yemeni president and is a major financial donor to Yemen's internal security...."

UNGA adopts 'Goldstone' and Israel hurries a predictable boat-arms story...

"An Arab Child...South Lebanon..."

Usurper-in-Chief says: ""This was a ship carrying a massive amount of weapons which the Iranian regime tried to ship to Syria, and from there to Hezbollah,..... The bulk of the shipment included rockets whose aim is to hurt our citizens and kill as many civilians as possible. This constitutes a war crime. .... The UN General Assembly should have investigated and condemned this crime and the UN Security Council should have convened a special session to debate this incident,"..."

Note to Netanyahu: Katiyushas are NOT the arm of choice of Hezbollah.

"... Tyre, South Lebanon..."

Israel continues window dressing: Ambassadors, Military Attaches invited to 'check' the weapons of the Francop

IDF/ here

"Rent-a-Talib" price tag: $1.3 billion

UPI/ here

"A defense appropriations bill signed by U.S. President Barack Obama includes ... $1.3 billion to fund "reintegration" programs in Afghanistan meant to court individuals "who have renounced violence against the government of Afghanistan."

"Stop the presses: the Egyptian government is riddled with corruption & cronyism ..."

FP/ here

"The United States provides Egypt with an annual injection of around $200 million in development aid -- a vestige of the U.S. wheel-greasing that accompanied the 1979 peace deal between Israel and Egypt. It is the job of USAID to distribute a portion of that money to democracy promotion programs. A recent audit offers a depressing verdict on USAID's efforts: the impact of its programs was "unnoticeable" in improving Egypt's democratic environment. Of the programs for which USAID distributed funds, donors carried out only 65% of the activities promised and achieved only 52% of the planned results, based on predetermined metrics.

The audit lays the blame for USAID's failure at the feet of the Egyptian government. The government, "has shown reluctance to support many of USAID's democracy and governance programs and has impeded implementers' activities," says the report. Egyptian delays are caused by a combination of resistance to democratic reforms, bureaucratic red tape, and plain old cronyism...."

IAEA: "nothing to be worried about ... a hole in a mountain"

Beware of Israeli window dressing.

Reuters, here

"U.N. inspectors found "nothing to be worried about" in a first look at a previously secret uranium enrichment site in Iran last month, the International Atomic Energy chief said in remarks published Thursday.

Mohamed ElBaradei also told the New York Times that he was examining possible compromises to unblock a draft nuclear cooperation deal between Iran and three major powers that has foundered over Iranian objections.....

ElBaradei was quoted in a New York Times interview as saying his inspectors' initial findings at the fortified site beneath a desert mountain near the Shi'ite holy city of Qom were "nothing to be worried about." "The idea was to use it as a bunker under the mountain to protect things," ElBaradei, alluding to Tehran's references to the site as a fallback for its nuclear program in case its larger Natanz enrichment plant were bombed by a foe like Israel. "It's a hole in a mountain," he said..."

Abbas is said to be "pushing back" (but in the photo he seemed like holding on!)

Politico, here

"A day after Hillary Clinton returned from a swing through the Middle East where she pushed the Palestinians to go into peace talks with Israel short of a full Israeli settlement freeze, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is threatening to not run (again?) in Palestinian elections he has called to be held in January, reports say. UPDATE: He won't run. Decision is final.

Abbas is expected to give a major speech at 1:30pm EST. His expected announcement that he will not run in Palestinian elections "set off a flurry of calls from regional leaders, with the presidents of Egypt and Israel, the king of Jordan and Israel's defense minister all urging Abbas to change his mind, aides said," the AP reports. .... "What Abbas is trying to do is leverage his weakness to the extreme," said one Washington Middle East hand who asked for anonymity. "'Give me something or you will have no leadership here.' Conceivably what he is asking for is a setlement freeze. .... His sense is that 'Hillary tried to push me around. And I will show her.' Then fine, you [try to] go on without me."

"This is vintage Abbas ..."Like elections themselves (unlikely to be held) the threat of resignation is a ploy as well -- reflecting his personal frustration, but also designed to grab attention and get others not to take him for granted. On balance the threat changes nothing, although an actual resignation would."......

Abbas' expected threat comes a day after Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat reportedly floated a one-state-solution "warning shot to the Israelis," the former U.S. official said. "'We don't want independence. We want you to impose Israeli law on all of us, with passports, etc.' This is something being talked about in closed intellectual circles in Palestine."..."

The regime which fought US-backed Saddam ...., unaided by anyone, would not be swayed by "crippling sanctions"...

Via the Race for Iran, In the AsiaTimes, here

"While the tone of the Barack Obama administration is different from that of its predecessor, and some of its foreign policies diverge from those of George W Bush, both administrations subscribe at their core to the same doctrine: whatever the White House perceives as a threat - whether it be Iran, North Korea, or the proliferation of long-range missiles - must be viewed as such by Moscow and Beijing.

In addition, by the evidence available, Obama has not drawn the right conclusion from his predecessor's failed Iran policy. A paradigm of sticks-and-carrots simply is not going to work in the case of the Islamic Republic. Here, a lesson is readily available, if only the Obama White House were willing to consider Iran's recent history. It is unrealistic to expect that a regime which fought Saddam Hussein's Iraq (then backed by the United States) to a standstill in a bloody eight-year war in the 1980s, unaided by any foreign power, and has for 30 years withstood the consequences of US-imposed economic sanctions will be alarmed by Washington's fresh threats of "crippling sanctions".

Most important, the Obama administration is ignoring the altered international order that has emerged in the wake of the global financial crisis triggered by Wall Street's excesses. While its stimulus package, funded by taxpayers and foreign borrowing, has arrested the decline in the nation's gross domestic product, Washington has done little to pull the world economy out of the doldrums. That task - performed by the US in recent recessions - has fallen willy-nilly to China. History repeatedly shows that such economic clout sooner or later translates into diplomatic power........

When it comes to the nuclear conundrum, what distinguishes China and Russia from the US is that they have conferred unconditional diplomatic recognition and acceptance on the Islamic Republic of Iran. So their commercial and diplomatic links with Tehran are thriving. Indeed, a sub-structure of pipelines and economic alliances between hydrocarbon-rich Russia, Iran, and energy-hungry China is now being forged. In other words, the foundation is being laid for the emergence of a Russia-Iran-China diplomatic triad in the not-too-distant future, while Washington remains stuck in an old groove of imposing "punishing" sanctionsagainst Tehran for its nuclear program.

There is a deep and painful legacy of animosity and ill-feeling between the 30-year-old Islamic Republic of Iran and the US. Iran was an early victim of Washington's subversive activities ...... Half a century later, the Iranians watched the Bush administration invade neighboring Iraq......

Iran's leaders know that during his second term in office, as Seymour Hersh revealed in The New Yorker, Bush authorized a clandestine CIA program with a $400 million budget to destabilize the Iranian regime. They are also aware that the CIA has focused on stoking disaffection among Sunni ethnic minorities in Shi'ite-ruled Iran. These include ethnic Arabs in the oil-rich province of Khuzistan, adjoining Iraq, and ethnic Balochis in Sistan-Balochistan Province, abutting the Pakistani province of Baluchistan.

............ unless Washington ends its clandestine program to destabilize the Iranian state and caps it with an offer of diplomatic acceptance and normal relations, there is no prospect of Tehran abandoning its right to enrich uranium. On the other hand, the continuation of a policy of destabilization, coupled with ongoing threats of "crippling" sanctions and military strikes (whether by the Pentagon or Israel), can only drive the Iranians toward a nuclear breakout capability.

Bush's eight-year presidency, .......What he passed on to Obama was the Great Recession in a world where America's popularity had hit rock bottom and its economic strength was visibly ebbing. All this paved the way for the economic and political rise of China, as well as the strengthening of Russia as an energy giant capable of extending its influence in Europe and challenging American dominance in the Middle East.

In this new environment, expecting the leaders of Iran, backed by China and Russia, to do the bidding of Washington means placing a bet on the inconceivable."

Hillary & the "Bibi-does-Gandhi show"...

In TIME, here

"... It was Halloween night in Jerusalem, and Benjamin Netanyahu came dressed as a peacemaker. ......It was a tough moment for Clinton, playing second fiddle at the Bibi-does-Gandhi show. President Barack Obama had softened his language on the settlements a few weeks earlier: instead of a total freeze, he had talked about Israeli "restraint" in settlement-building. And now Clinton seemed to cement the Administration's retreat, agreeing that Netanyahu's proposal was, indeed, "unprecedented," even though the U.S. still favored a total freeze. The most important thing, she added, was for the parties to get to the table as quickly as possible. The onus was back on the Palestinians — and the Palestinians quickly expressed outrage at the Obama Administration's retreat. Their Arab neighbors soon joined in, causing Clinton to backtrack two days later, telling reporters the Israeli plan "falls far short" of U.S. expectations, although she still insisted on calling it "unprecedented," which was neither diplomatic nor wise.

Suddenly the Obama Administration seemed wobbly on the Middle East; clearly, Clinton had been too bullish on Netanyahu's proposal (which had been negotiated over months with Middle East envoy George Mitchell and was seen, privately, by the Americans as real progress). But the Administration's mission was to get the parties into peace talks without preconditions. The Israelis were now in favor of talks. The Palestinians were setting preconditions. And Clinton had violated an essential rule of her job: boring is almost always better...."

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"... It's not Mousavi, Khatami, or Karroubi ..."

Dismay with Iran's 'reformers' continues. It was only yesterday that the 'reformers' were lauded as champions, just to come tumbling down with the appearance of Mohajerani at WINEP's conference. (see story below.) Mehdi Kalaji (WINEP) and the 'dismayed' pro-Israel crowd are fantasizing about grass root movements ... in FP/ here

"... But the solidarity on the streets hides wide -- and growing -- splits within. The ostensible leaders of the movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mohammad Khatami, and Mehdi Karroubi, are former high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic who would likely keep much about the Islamic Revolution in place. Contrast this with the young men and women on the streets, and you see differences that go beyond the generational. The protesters are aiming to bring down the very system of which their leaders are a part.

Despite being lauded as modernizers, opposition front-runner Mousavi and his two green movement colleagues are deeply loyal to the ideals of Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, and advocate a theocratic political system. Had Mousavi come into office following the June 12 presidential election, he would not have challenged the political order. He would have tried to fix the Islamic Republic's internal and external crises through slight policy tweaks. Nor would the West have seen an "opening" of the sort that some suggest. Indeed, Mousavi's rivalry with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has little to do with the current regime's foreign policy and far more to do with internal power struggles, economic policy, and, to some extent, cultural agendas. A new leader would not have fundamentally changed Iran's position on nuclear policy or its regional role. The reason is simple: Everyone who ran for president concedes that foreign-policy decisions should fall to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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"... He represents all that is wrong with Egyptian politics and society ..."

In the Guardian, here

"... What Egypt needs, the younger Mubarak cannot offer. He represents all that is wrong with Egyptian politics and society. He achieved his position at the top of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) not because of his qualifications as a politician, but because his father is president..."

Saudi air force hits Yemen rebels after border raid

Reuters/ here

" ... Saudi Arabia has launched heavy air strikes on rebels in northern Yemen and is moving troops nearer the border after a raid into its territory by the Shi'ite insurgents, a Saudi government adviser said Thursday.

Saudi government officials said only that the air force had bombed Yemeni rebels who had seized a border area inside the kingdom, which they said had now been recaptured. The officials said at least 40 rebels had been killed in the fighting.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has become increasingly anxious about instability and militancy in Yemen, which is also facing separatist sentiment in the south and a growing threat from resurgent al Qaeda fighters....

Al Jazeera television quoted a rebel spokesman as saying the Saudi air force had raided six locations inside Yemen. One position had been hit by about 100 missiles in one hour.....

The Saudi government adviser said no decision had yet been taken to send troops across the border, but made clear Riyadh was no longer prepared to tolerate the Yemeni rebels......Saudi Arabia and the United States fear the conflict in Yemen's north and a separatist movement in the south will loosen already tenuous government control and empower al Qaeda...."

Abul Ghayt: "Hizbullah's arms are not obstacles to cabinet formation ...& no indications or criticisms pointing at Syria in the Hariri report..."

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu Al Ghayt said that Hizbullah's arms have nothing to do with the fact that Lebanon has failed so far to reach a Cabinet formation considering that "the Internal Lebanese balances on one side and the foreign visions on the other are what's weighing heavily on this government and its formation."

On the other hand, Abu Al Ghayt announced in a statement in Al-Siyasa newspaper that he has taken a look at the reports referred to the Security Council found in the court file regarding President Rafik Hariri's assassination. "There are no indications or criticisms pointing at Syria; on the contrary, there's an international confession of Syria's cooperation in the matter," he added. The Egyptian minister found it hard to believe that anyone can escape the international investigations for "it is a decision coming from the Security Council".

al qardawi to oversee 'Muhammad biopic'...

In the Guardian/ here

"Producer Barrie Osborne cast Keanu Reeves as the messiah in The Matrix and helped defeat the dark lord Sauron in his record-breaking Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now the Oscar-winning American film-maker is set to embark on his most perilous quest to date: making a big-screen biopic of the prophet Muhammad.
Budgeted at around $150m (£91.5m), the film will chart Muhammad's life and examine his teachings. Osborne told Reuters that he envisages it as "an international epic production aimed at bridging cultures. The film will educate people about the true meaning of Islam".

Osborne's production will reportedly feature English-speaking Muslim actors. It is backed by the Qatar-based production company Alnoor Holdings, who have installed the Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi to oversee all aspects of the shoot. In accordance with Islamic law, the prophet will not actually be depicted on screen..."

WaPo: Pro-Israel crowd "infuriated" by Iran's 'reformers'

WaPo/ here

"... The mostly pro-Israel crowd was primed to cheer what they expected would be a harsh condemnation of Ahmadinejad... What they heard, instead, was a speech that started with a rehashing of U.S. involvement in the 1953 coup in Tehran and went on to echo much of Ahmadinejad's rhetoric about the United States and the nuclear program. ...

But he went on to assert, as per the current regime, that the countries seeking to freeze Iran's nuclear program themselves possess nuclear weapons, as does Israel; that Israel had contracted to supply nuclear weapons to Iran's former shah; and that Ahmadinejad's threats to destroy Israel were no different than what Hillary Clinton had said about Iran during her presidential campaign. Asked whether Israel had a right to exist, he refused to respond. (at WINEP, hoohoooo...) As for Western support for Iranian democracy and human rights, "the green movement has no expectations whatsoever," Mohajerani declared with a sarcastic smile. "When we say we have no expectations, then our expectations will be met."
....... "We don't disagree with whatever Ahmadinejad says," Mohajerani told me in an interview after his speech. "The point of disagreement is mainly the election," in which there was blatant government-sponsored fraud. ...... He concedes readily enough that Iran's opposition is a coalition of many disparate elements, some of which are considerably more liberal than he is. Maybe that's the reason for his other discouraging message -- that the green revolution should not be expected to succeed anytime soon..."

Jeff Feltman half asleep & ... Dan Brown?

photo by Laura Rosen, somewhere on the tarmac in Cairo....

"Hey Congress: Grow a spine on Israel!"

Steve Walt in FP/ here

"Back in 2007, we wrote that AIPAC has an "almost unchallenged hold on Congress." Little has happened since then to alter that conclusion, and we will probably get another demonstration of Congressional spinelessness this week. On Tuesday, the House is scheduled to vote on H.R. 867 (see below story), an AIPAC-sponsored resolution denouncing the recent Goldstone Report on possible war crimes by Hamas and Israel during the Gaza War last year. You can read the resolution here. You should then read Judge Goldstone's response here, which points out the errors in the House resolution. And then read historian Tony Judt's eloquent statement here. If you're convinced that the resolution makes a mockery of America's professed commitment to justice and human rights, then you might express that sentiment here or here. Or just call your Congressman's office and tell him/her to grow a backbone and vote against it.

Meanwhile, over in Israel itself, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is completing the Obama administration's humiliating retreat from the principles set forth in the president's Cairo speech of less than five months ago...."

US House of Representatives: Goldstone is "irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy,..."

In the CABLE/ here

"... The Congressional resolution, which simply expresses the opinion of Congress and has no actual force of law, deems the report "irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy," and "calls on the President and the Secretary of State to strongly and unequivocally oppose any further consideration of the [report] and any other measures stemming from this report in multilateral fora."

Sponsored by House Foreign Affairs heads Howard Berman, D-CA, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-FL, the measure is expected to pass by a wide margin.
Justice Richard Goldstone, the primary author of the report, wrote a lengthy memorandum to the bill's sponsors criticizing the text of the House resolution. In a dear colleague letter circulated Monday, Berman and Gary Ackerman, D-NY, responded to each of Goldstone's complaints...."

Israel admits spying on its northern neighbor ...

LATimes Blog, here

"Israel has openly admitted to collecting intelligence in Lebanon, an uncharacteristically frank admission and a slap in the face of its neighbor.

But in the past, for the sake of politesse, Israel has refused to acknowledge mounting espionage operations in Lebanon, although their existence is an open secret........

Israel is unlikely to face serious criticism from the international community over its latest revelation...."

Charles Pasqua: Israeli-Russian-French Gaydamak was agent for the French intelligence DST ...

Haaretz/ here

"... Gaydamak was sentenced to six years in prison and a fine of 1 million euros for gunrunning in Angola. Pasqua was convicted in the same trial, for taking bribes from Gaydamak and his business partner, Pierre Falcone. ......

Gaydamak told Haaretz he won citations from the French government for those efforts, but the operations were so secret the citations spoke of his contribution to "agriculture" instead. .......

Pasqua said in the interview that then-president Jacques Chirac knew of Gaydamak's contributions and personally authorized the citations...."

Shin Bet double agent killed in Moscow ...

Haaretz/ here

"... Kalmanovich was one of Israel's most colorful Russian immigrants. He was well connected to Israel's political, military and business elite during the 1970s and 1980s, and as a KGB agent, he made concerted efforts to work his way into the centers of power in Israel...."

“I was having a good stiff drink with a Saudi colleague, ... He told me, ‘This time, do it right...."

In the NYorker's blog, 'Goatmilk', here via AA

" ... On December 19th, the six-month truce between Hamas and Israel formally expired. Israel was willing to extend it, but Hamas refused. Haniyeh complained that Israel had failed to ease the blockade, as the agreement had stipulated. Hamas rockets began flying again. By then, Gaza had run out of allies. Yossi Alpher, the Israeli political analyst, who co-edits the online forum bitterlemons.org, was in Europe when the invasion began. “I was having a good stiff drink with a Saudi colleague,” he recalled. “He told me, ‘This time, do it right.’ ”

Moscow in the Middle

Dimitri Simes (Nixon Ctr.) in TIME Mag., here

" ..... Besides the U.S. and Iran, Russia seems to be the other major player on the nuclear issue. Whether or not Iran follows through on a draft deal to send much of its low-enriched uranium to Russia for further processing into fuel for a medical-research reactor, Moscow is in the middle. If the agreement works, it will boost Russia's international role, securing gratitude from the West without damaging Russia's ties to Tehran. If the accord falls through — or Iran agrees but does not comply — Moscow's support will be essential in imposing U.N. sanctions. China won't come along if Russia doesn't, and the Iranians know it.

The Obama Administration argues that Russia and the U.S. have a common interest in stopping Tehran from building the Bomb. This is true, but only up to a point. Russia has a history of good relations with Iran. It has substantial trade interests there and appreciates Tehran's lack of support for radical Islamists in the North Caucasus. Moscow also fears that a pro-Western Iran would exclude Russian arms, technology and energy firms.

Growing tension between President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin complicates the picture. While Medvedev has been relatively forthcoming to the U.S. line on Iran, Putin (who is indirectly in charge of the state-controlled companies that trade there) has appeared skeptical. Putin said any decision on sanctions would be made not by Medvedev alone but by Russia's Security Council, which also includes himself, his Cabinet subordinates and parliamentary leaders loyal to the Prime Minister. Administration officials deny taking sides. Yet on the eve of his July summit in Moscow, Obama praised Medvedev and referred to Putin as having "one foot in the old ways of doing business." He later praised Putin too, but his Administration has done little to build bridges with the Prime Minister, who remains a crucial national decision maker. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not even see Putin when she was in Moscow recently, because the Administration did not coordinate the trip with his office; he was off signing an energy deal in China.

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Start with the Arab & Islamic world ... The COINist Revolution marches on

In the WaPo, here

"ONE OF THE rhetorical questions frequently tossed out in the debate over Afghanistan concerns the brewing trouble in Somalia and Yemen, both of which are known to host al-Qaeda cadres and training camps. If it's necessary to pacify Afghanistan to protect U.S. security, goes the taunt, must we also intervene in Somalia and Yemen?

The presumed answer is: "Of course not -- and therefore why bother with Afghanistan?" The more sensible response is: If something is not done soon about these lawless places, one or the other may well become the next Afghanistan -- a place where U.S. military intervention was compelled by a devastating attack on the homeland. "

Der Spiegel: "Syrian official's 'puter hacked for info on 'al Kabir' site..."

Haaretz, here

"Israel's Mossad espionage agency used Trojan Horse programs to gather intelligence about a nuclear facility in Syria the Israel Defense Forces destroyed in 2007, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported Monday.
According to the magazine, Mossad agents in London planted the malware on the computer of a Syrian official who was staying in the British capital; he was at a hotel in the upscale neighborhood of Kensington at the time.
The program copied the details of Syria's illicit nuclear program and sent them directly to the Mossad agents' computers, the report said.

...... Der Spiegel further reported on Monday that prior to the strike, the IDF Military Intelligence unit, 8200, listened in on conversations between officials at the Syrian reactor and North Korean experts."

As Clinton 'walks back' remarks Arab states appear cold on 'talks-minus-freeze' request

Laura Rosen, here

Marrakesh, Morocco_ After facing a barrage of press coverage that the U.S. has effectively sided with Israel in downplaying the issue of Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank in an effort to get Israel-Palestinian peace talks relaunched, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today walked back comments she made in Jerusalem at a late night news conference Saturday next to a beaming and self-confident Israeli Prime Minister.........
"Israel has done a few things but needs to do much more," Clinton said, adding that the Obama administration's position is that it does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlment activity. But she also said Israel has put some limitations on itself, which if acted upon would be "unprecedented."
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas "has shown leadership and determination" regarding concerns over security, Clinton said, "and Israel should reciprocate."...
Cilnton is here at the Forum for the Future conference of Arab foreign ministers in Morocco in large part to try to get Arab foreign ministers to throw their support to Abbas who the U.S. has asked to agree to go into talks with Israel with something short of a total Israeli settlement freeze. But Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, also here for the conference, told reporters earlier today that Arab states would not be supportive of such a U.S. request...
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy's David Makosvky said the Obama administration may have to wait for whether those elections are held or not before Abbas -- known as Abu Mazen -- will be willing to go into talks with Israel under the current terms. "A law of Mideast peacemaking is that compromises do not occur during a Palestinian or Israeli election campaign," .... "If Abu Mazen heads for elections, he will find it convenient not to budge so he can flex his nationalist muscles. If this is his intention, Obama Administration peacemaking will be on hold until the Palestinian elections end in early 2010."

"She took sides on settlements" and appeared to "'praise' Israel and Bibi."

Politico/ here

"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's message on Israel-Palestinian peace talks this weekend was not notably different than what President Barack Obama himself said in New York in September at a meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. But the prevailing perception and coverage in the wake of Clinton's meetings in Israel and Abu Dhabi Saturday is that the U.S. has once again returned to its traditional default position of tolerating Israeli unwillingness to abide by demands for a total settlement freeze and once again decided that the way forward is to pressure the Palestinians to cave.
While U.S. officials on Sunday pushed back forcefully on the veracity of that impression, news headlines have been uniformly grim in the region since Clinton appeared at a news conference in Jerusalem with a confident-looking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu....
As Clinton prepares to meet with Arab foreign ministers in Marrakesh Monday night, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, looks weaker than ever, going into the elections he has called to be held in January. U.S. officials say Clinton will urge Arab leaders with whom she is meeting to support Abu Mazen, as he is known, saying he is the only viable option for achieving the creation of a Palestinian state.
But Abbas told Clinton at their meeting that he has been badly hurt by what appears to be a U.S. flip flop on the settlements freeze issue as well as an earlier decision he made apparently in consultation with moderate Arab regimes as well as Washington to refrain from demanding further United Nations action on a recent report by a commission headed by Richard Goldstone ........"I fear her trip to Israel may be the final nail" in the coffin for the Obama administration's efforts to pursue Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, one Washington Middle East hand said on condition of anonymity Sunday.
Clinton "went beyond Obama's talking points in New York City," he said. "She took sides on settlements" and appeared to "'praise' Israel and Bibi.".... "I think [they are] in over their head and there is no strong, capable person navigating this ship. It all seems unprofessional, a policy drifting in different directions. ...
But the impression that the Obama administration now sides with Israel in asking the Palestinians to enter into talks with something less than a settlement freeze to test whether Netanyahu's offer is genuine contributes to Abbas' perceived weakness...."

Let the Maronite Go Back to Syria ...

Juzu's continuous convulsions... A certified Bin Ladenite, Juzu, a "pro-Western" member of March14 apparently abhors "sectarian symbols". Juzu, a 'resident Mufti' of Walid Jumblat's fief, threads lightly and refrains from naming the pendulum Lebanese politicians! He is clear, though in pointing the finger at Hezbollah ... here

"There are politicians who move from right to left and vice versa while their slogans change with the stock exchange. One day you see him a Gulf Arab and another day a Persian Iranian when a third time he becomes an American and then
again a Russian. One day you see him an enemy of Syria and then again Syria's best friend and so on. There are no principles, no morale, no charters and the 'unity' presidency stands bewildered before the political "Sufi-sectarianism"; next to the allies or to the opposition!" he added.

"There's no civilized nation in the world like that of our Great Lebanon. The Lebanese people abhor this category. To those I ask you, what's your true identity? Who robs the electricity money, the foreign, internal, sea and land telecommunications' money? A nation that lives the culture of hate with leaders leading them to sectarian wars, hating each other; hatred in the name of religion, in the name of sectarianism and in the name of the parties," he added.

"Our educated youth is faced with only one exit, that of emigration. They have grown to hate their country and their nationality and have traveled in quest of finding another one keen to protect their integrity and protect them from the politicians and their resentment," he continued.

This is the Lebanon of today, so why don't all the people emigrate and offer our country as a gift to Syrian and their infidels? Did not the Maronite come from Syria, so why not go back to it and along with them all of Lebanon and not just those who have missed Syria?," he concluded.

Before Israel, the US "kneels & pleads" ... In other spots, "it bombs, invades & threatens sanctions"...

(... and another: How dare he suggest the US to wake up?) Gideon Levy, in Haaretz, here

"Barack Obama has been busy - offering the Jewish People blessings for Rosh Hashanah, and recording a flattering video for the President's Conference in Jerusalem and another for Yitzhak Rabin's memorial rally. Only Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah surpasses him in terms of sheer output of recorded remarks.
In all the videos, Obama heaps sticky-sweet praise on Israel, even though he has spent nearly a year fruitlessly lobbying for Israel to be so kind as to do something, anything - even just a temporary freeze on settlement building - to advance the peace process.
The president's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, has also been busy, shuttling between a funeral (for IDF soldier Asaf Ramon, the son of Israel's first astronaut Ilan Ramon) and a memorial (for Rabin, though it was postponed until next week due to rain), in order to find favor with Israelis. Polls have shown that Obama is increasingly unpopular here, with an approval rating of only 6 to 10 percent.

He decided to address Israelis by video, but a persuasive speech won't persuade anyone to end the occupation. He simply should have told the Israeli people the truth. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who arrived here last night, will certainly express similar sentiments: "commitment to Israel's security," "strategic alliance," "the need for peace," and so on .
Before no other country on the planet does the United States kneel and plead like this. In other trouble spots, America takes a different tone. It bombs in Afghanistan, invades Iraq and threatens sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Did anyone in Washington consider begging Saddam Hussein to withdraw from occupied territory in Kuwait?
But Israel the occupier, the stubborn contrarian that continues to mock America and the world by building settlements and abusing the Palestinians, receives different treatment. Another massage to the national ego in one video, more embarrassing praise in another.
Now is the time to say to the United States: Enough flattery. If you don't change the tone, nothing will change. As long as Israel feels the United States is in its pocket, and that America's automatic veto will save it from condemnations and sanctions, that it will receive massive aid unconditionally, and that it can continue waging punitive, lethal campaigns without a word from Washington, killing, destroying and imprisoning without the world's policeman making a sound, it will continue in its ways.
Illegal acts like the occupation and settlement expansion, and offensives that may have involved war crimes, as in Gaza, deserve a different approach. If America and the world had issued condemnations after Operation Summer Rains in 2006 -which left 400 Palestinians dead and severe infrastructure damage in the first major operation in Gaza since the disengagement - then Operation Cast Lead never would have been launched.
It is true that unlike all the world's other troublemakers, Israel is viewed as a Western democracy, but Israel of 2009 is a country whose language is force. Anwar Sadat may have been the last leader to win our hearts with optimistic, hope-igniting speeches. If he were to visit Israel today, he would be jeered off the stage. The Syrian president pleads for peace and Israel callously dismisses him, the United States begs for a settlement free ze and Israel turns up its nose. This is what happens when there are no consequences for Israel's inaction.
When Clinton returns to Washington, she should advocate a sharp policy change toward Israel. Israeli hearts can no longer be won with hope, promises of a better future or sweet talk, for this is no longer Israel's language. For something to change, Israel must understand that perpetuating the status quo will exact a painful price.
Israel of 2009 is a spoiled country, arrogant and condescending, convinced that it deserves everything and that it has the power to make a fool of America and the world. The United States has engendered this situation, which endangers the entire Mideast and Israel itself. That is why there needs to be a turning point in the coming year - Washington needs to finally say no to Israel and the occupation. An unambiguous, presidential no."

" ... We let them eat, don't we? ..."

Larry Derfner (another self-hating-Jew, another Anti-Semite?), in the JPOst, here

"The kill ratio was 100-to-1 in our favor. The destruction ratio was much, much greater than that. To this day, thousands of Gazans are living in tents because we won't let them import cement to rebuild the homes we destroyed. We turned the Gaza Strip into a disaster area, a humanitarian case, and we're keeping it that way with our blockade.

Meanwhile, here on the Israeli side of the border, it's hard to remember when life was so safe and secure. So let's decide: Who was the victim of Operation Cast Lead, them or us?

No question - us. We Israelis were the victims and we still are. In fact, our victimhood is getting worse by the day. The Goldstone report was the real war crime. The Goldstone report, the UN debates, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Red Cross, B'Tselem, the traitorous soldiers of Breaking the Silence and the Rabin Academy - those were the true crimes against humanity. This is what's meant by "war is hell."

It is we who've been going through hell from the war in Gaza. It is we who've been suffering. Gazans? Suffering? What's everybody talking about?

We let them eat, don't we?

This imaginary monologue is how we actually see ourselves today. We initiated the war in Gaza, we waged one of the most one-sided military campaigns anyone's ever seen - and we're the victims. We're fighting off the world with the Holocaust; witness Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the UN with his Auschwitz props. "We won't go like lambs to the slaughter again," vowed his protégé, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, in a cabinet discussion of the Goldstone report. Auschwitz, lambs to the slaughter, Operation Cast Lead. To Israelis today, it's all of a piece, it's one story, one unbroken legacy of righteous victimhood.

The truth is that the State of Israel has never been a victim, and our likening of ourselves to the 6 million has been embarrassing from the beginning - but now? After what we did in Gaza? With the stranglehold we have on that society, while we over here live free and easy?

Victims? Lambs to the slaughter? Us? No, this has gone beyond embarrassing; this is out-and-out shameful.

And, despite our excuses, it's not that we're "traumatized" by the past into believing that we're still weak, still the frightened, powerless Jews about to be led to the gas chambers. Many Holocaust survivors still believe this, and to some very limited extent, this vestigial fear still takes up space in the Israeli mind.

But by now, 64 years after the Holocaust, 42 years after seeing in the Six Day War how strong we'd become, we know, whether we admit it to ourselves or not, that we aren't the victims anymore. We know we aren't a continuation of the 6 million but rather a deliberate and stark departure from them. ..

(continue, here)

What of Washington's 'silence' on Iran's 'counterproposal' ?

Melman in Haaretz, here

"Washington is expected to continue to engage Tehran toward a deal on Iran's nuclear program, according to both government sources and American sources accompanying U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her lightning visit to Israel Saturday.
The sources based their expectation on Washington's official silence following Iran's response Thursday to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The response was not made public and conflicting reports have been coming out of Iran.
Last Thursday, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said he had received a preliminary response to the proposal, but on Friday Tehran said it had not yet given its response....
The United States and the European Union have responded neither to the lateness of Tehran's reply nor to its ambiguity, and have yet to demand clarification. The lack of response seems to stem from the realization that Russia and China will not join the United States and Europe if the latter seek greater sanctions against Iran."

Clinton endorses Israeli view: 'Settlments are not obstacles...'

That should make Abbas stronger and more loved by his people! Can't arm twist the usurpers? I bet we can pressure the victim!

Reuters, here

"Hillary Clinton turned U.S. pressure on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday when she endorsed Israel's view that its expansion of settlements on occupied land should not be a bar to resuming peace talks.

On a flying one-day visit across the Middle East, President Barack Obama's secretary of state appeared to complete what is at least a shift in emphasis from the new U.S. administration, which in its first months in office this year strongly endorsed Palestinian demands that all Jewish settlement must be halted.

Obama himself, after persuading Abbas in September to meet new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called only for "restraint" in settlement, not the "freeze" he initially spoke of. On Saturday in Jerusalem, Clinton agreed with Netanyahu that it was unprecedented for Abbas to shun talks due to settlements.....

Clinton praised Israel's efforts and said she expected its proposals for talks would address past criticism: "The prime minister will be able to present his government's proposal about what they are doing regarding settlements, which I think when fully explained will be seen as being not only unprecedented but in response to many of the concerns that have been expressed."..... Obama faces an early setback in his presidency if the two sides refuse even to talk.

Netanyahu's coalition, including pro-settler groups, does not believe Abbas is strong enough to deliver Israel security in any deal. Some analysts see Netanyahu's cooperation with Obama's demand for a resumption of talks intended mainly to ensure U.S. support against Iran. ...

Clinton's spokesman denied a suggestion that she had specifically asked Abbas to accept Netanyahu's offer to limit settlement building to 3,000 new units in return for a resumption of talks."