Friday, September 23, 2011
'... Because the status quo favored American interests & the crackdowns were effective!'
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Lang: AIPAC "will have access to ALL the deepest secrets of the US intelligence community!"
"Zelikow's re-appointment to the "President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board" (PFIAB) is testimony to the enduring power of AIPAC in Washington. On this board Zelikow will have access to ALL the deepest secrets of the US intelligence community."
Obama: "Palestinians! Back of the Bus!"
"...Perhaps most disappointing is that President Obama, who in earlier years at the UN chastised Mahmoud Abbas, Benjamin Netanyahu, and George Mitchell for not getting more quickly on a constructive peace track, who felt that achieving an Israel-Palestine two state deal was of such strategic significance to the United States that he made it one of the very first out-of-the gate priorities of his administration, has not only offered nothing new to break the Israel-Palestine negotiations deep freeze but has acquiesced to the very narrative that on the negotiations that Israel embraces. For Israel at the moment, doing nothing is best.
Obama continues to parrot the line that peace can only be achieved between the "two parties", that only they can really bring this global ulcer to a close, when they decide to negotiate. The fact is that the status quo of frozen negotiations is benefiting the dominant, settlement-expanding Israel -- and the US, in promising to veto at the UN Security Council Palestine's bid for official state recognition, is playing guarantor to one side, undermining the aspirations of others on the other side of the equation. What if the US had said to Kosovo -- no statehood, no recognition from the US until you resolve all of your ongoing issues with Russia? ..."
Arab intelligence agencies warn the US over 'veto' and Syria!
The decision of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to seek approval from the UN Security Council to be admitted as a sovereign nation will, as we have foreshadowed, provoke a crisis for US relations in the Middle East. Should the PA action go ahead in the face of intense US lobbying against it, there is no doubt that the US will use its veto to block approval – current political dynamics in the US allow no other choice – but there is growing concern at the National Security Council and State Department that the consequences will be far-reaching. For example, senior visitors to Washington from Saudi Arabia have warned the White House publicly and privately that a veto would prompt the Saudis to review their ‘special relationship’ with Washington. With regard to Egypt, intelligence community analysts are warning that a veto will boost Islamist elements in the ongoing political debate and send Egyptian-Israeli relations into a further downward spiral. Similar warnings are in play over US efforts to coordinate tougher international pressure on Syria. Overall, the impact on the future course of the ‘Arab Spring’ is seen as seriously negative. The emerging role of Turkey as regional adversary of Israel is also undermining what used to be the cornerstone of the US posture in the Middle East. This challenge comes at awkward time for Obama. With economic recovery still anemic and having lost a recent interim election in a normally solid Democratic district in New York City, he is trying to stamp his authority on his proposed job package. He will now come under Congressional pressure to curtail or cut off economic aid to the PA. We expect that he will be able to resist this, but at the expense of raising new questions about his foreign policy coherence. He is under pressure from defense hawks to slow the pace of withdrawal from Iraq. The recent upsurge in violence in Afghanistan has raised new questions about the viability of the US timetable there. The White House is trying to counter by pointing to the relatively benign outcome of its Libya policy, but this is finding little resonance in wider public opinion. Indeed, the talk in Washington is the advice from a top Democratic that Obama should "panic". We do not detect that the White House is as yet at this stage but there is no doubt that little is going Obama’s way.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
On the Khanfar-Al Jazeera 'resignation': 'Dropping all pretence of independence'
"...Khanfar is at the top of his game. So why did he resign? ... A couple theories are making the rounds, none of which seem to be based on any inside information. So what follows is purely speculative.
One potential clue is Khanfar's replacement: Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, a member of the royal family. Al Thani is not a journalist; he is an executive at QatarGas, a state-affiliated natural gas producer. Given that the chairman is Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani, another royal family member, this may not ultimately be such a big deal. But the optics certainly don't look good.
There were already strong reasons to question just how much editorial independence the network really has. The U.S. State Department clearly views Al Jazeera as a tool of Qatar's foreign policy; one cable from November 2009 claims that the Persian Gulf state uses the channel "as a bargaining tool to repair relationships with other countries, particularly those soured by al-Jazeera's broadcasts, including the United States." Al Jazeera devotes suspiciously little time to covering the politics of the Gulf; for instance, after Qatar's rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, criticism of the Saudi royal family dropped dramatically.
In recent weeks, the details of conversations between U.S. officials and Al Jazeera executives, including Khanfar, had been the subject of much chatter in the Arab world (Omar Chatriwala details that story for FP here). One October 2005 cable describes U.S. officials presenting Khanfar with the findings of a Defense Intelligence Agency report complaining about the network's coverage, and him agreeing to remove a particularly inflammatory slideshow from Al Jazeera's website. The cable was taken out of context and seized upon by the network's critics as evidence of a CIA-Qatari conspiracy to manipulate Arabs in the service of U.S. foreign-policy goals.
Middle East Online is running with the headline "WikiLeaks topples Al Jazeera director." But if Khanfar somehow had to resign because of the cable controversy, which has hurt Al Jazeera's credibility in certain quarters, it doesn't wash that his replacement would be a member of the Qatari royal family. Middle East Online also reports that unnamed Qatari officials were already looking to cashier Khanfar over a supposed dispute with Azmi Bishara, a Palestinian intellectual and former Knesset member who lives in Doha (and appears frequently on Al Jazeera).
So perhaps something else is going on. My sense from watching the Arabic network's coverage over the past few months is that it had more or less dropped the pretense of independence, and at times seemed like the official network of the Qatari Foreign Ministry. For instance, its Libya coverage was utterly over-the-top, enthusiastic cheerleading for the rebels -- and it just so happened that Qatar was heavily engaged in overthrowing Muammar al-Qaddafi. When Qatar brokered a peace agreement between warring factions in Darfur, Al Jazeera broke away from its normal coverage for two hours to show the final announcement. And, as many have noted, the Arabic channel's usual aggression has been noticeably lacking when it comes to Bahrain.
It's hard to imagine a hard-charging guy like Khanfar -- who clearly has his own ideological leanings -- putting up with that sort of thing for very long. So maybe he just didn't want to toe anybody's line. Whatever the reason, Arabs will be watching closely to see if his successor clips Al Jazeera's wings. ..."
Jewish Americans for Obama: "Israel has never had a better friend than President Obama."
"... The new website--Jewish Americans for Obama--was disclosed Tuesday in a call to Jewish community activists. It features a video testimonial from Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon saying Israel "has never had a better friend than President Obama."
Two key Obama campaign surrogates--Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) and former Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Florida)--joined the call to Jewish activists...."
Iran releasing US hikers to Omani custody
"... Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29, were handed over to an Omani official ... Swiss and Omani diplomatic vehicles had been waiting for them outside Tehran's Evin prison Wednesday as their release paperwork was being processed ...The Iranian Judiciary "has confirmed the release of two U.S. nationals, who had been convicted of illegal entry and espionage in Iran, on bail," Iranian State TV reported, according to USA Today...."
Iraqi killings go unanswered and for a reason!
The new Iraqi landlords and their allies will not be drawn into this game until the last American soldier leaves Iraq. Enen then, conventional wisdom goes that those doing the killing will resign to the fact and accept the new realities and negotiste for perks.
Deadly car bomb in Ankara
"... A car bomb which exploded outside a secondary school in Ankara has killed at least three people and injured 24. The blast on Tuesday, near government buildings, including the prime minister's office in the Turkish capital, was a terrorist attack, the prosecutor's office said. "The explosion occurred in a place where car and people traffic is intense. It looks like the intention was to inflict as much harm to people as possible," said the interior minister, Idris Naim Sahin...."
'Disinformation' cannot get any more misleading than that!
The official statement on the full withdrawal of America from Iraq came and went unoticed! By Thanksgiving, ALL US troops will be out of Iraq, and Baghdad is fully integrated in the (yes) 'axis' of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. This is huge, HUGE! As for the Commander of the Faithfull in Ankara, he will be reminded that Turkey's NATO membership was 'allowed' when it was perceived as purely for Turkey's defense. But when this becomes a regional threat, he should expect major domestic and regional ripples. Figurative carpet bombing is in motion now, as US troops prepare to leave...
The NYTimes just came up with this guy at a time where under, over and beside the table Iraq is fully supportive of Assad: 130000 oil BPD is just the tip of the iceberg.
"..,An adviser to the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, said in an interview on Tuesday that the Iraqi government had sent messages to Mr. Assad that said he should resign.
“We believe that the Syrian people should have more freedom and have the right to experience democracy,” said the adviser, Ali al-Moussawi. “We are against the one-party rule and the dictatorship that hasn’t allowed for the freedom of expression.” The statements from Mr. Moussawi mark a significant change for Iraq..."
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
France to Maronite Patriarch: "Bashar Assad est fini ...fini!... Pas vraiment!"
During Patriarch Rai's visit to Paris and his meeting with French President Sarkozy (a meeting attended by FM Alain Juppe), almost after every sentence the Patriarch was surprised to hear Sarkozy say "naah, Assad est fini, fini!".
On his way out, the Patriarch inquired with the accompanying Juppe about his boss's certainty to finally hear Juppe say, "mais non il n'est pas fini, il a l'armee, toute la structure gouvernementalle et une partie du peuple avec lui".
El Rai' returned to Lebanon with Juppe's verdict and not Sarkozy's, in mind.
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