"A Hezbollah response is not long in coming"

"... But there are indications that Israel may have miscalculated on this last point. The way Hezbollah announced the martyrdom of Laqqis, and the speed with which he was buried in unexceptional circumstances – without, for example, any positions declared by Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah – all suggest to those who know how the Resistance operates that in fact its response is not long in coming...."

the US talks to al Qaeda to undecut al Qaeda!

"The U.S. and its allies have held direct talks with key Islamist militias in Syria, Western officials say, aiming to undercut al Qaeda while acknowledging that religious fighters long shunned by Washington have gained on the battlefield.At the same time, Saudi Arabia is taking its own outreach further, moving to directly arm and fund one of the Islamist groups, the Army of Islam, despite U.S. qualms.... Some officials in Western capitals remain wary about courting these groups, whose ultimate goal is to establish a state ruled by Islamic law, or Shariah, in Syria.... The Saudis and the West are pivoting toward a newly created coalition of religious militias called the Islamic Front, which excludes the main al Qaeda-linked groups fighting in Syria—the Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, known as ISIS..."

Needless to repeat this for the ... time: The Islamic Front components SHARE LOGISTICAL & HUMINT WITH al NUSRA & ISIS! 

“We need to start talking to the Assad regime again”

"... “We need to start talking to the Assad regime again” about counterterrorism and other issues of shared concern, said Ryan C. Crocker, a veteran diplomat who has served in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. “It will have to be done very, very quietly. But bad as Assad is, he is not as bad as the jihadis who would take over in his absence.”

Some 'revolution' ...

"... Rebels of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant had previously set fires in the two churches and knocked the crosses off them, replacing them with the group’s black Islamic banner.Abdurrahman sent photographs of the Church of Armenian Martyrs, with a black ISIL flag flying from where the cross once stood. Below, a black banner read, “The proselytizing office, region of Raqqa.”

'The philosophic nature of Bandar'

"... the meeting between the Russian president and the Saudi prince “was of philosophic nature..."

West' MSM: 'Sunnis are of Usama bin Laden's sect?'

The Angry Arab News Service

"... OK, you want to remind readers that Bashshar is `Alawite is fine, but why not refer to Sunnis thus: "are mostly of Usamah Bin Laden's sect"?

“Bandar is now clearly the 'tip of the spear'”

"... Yesterday, Dick Cheney lackey John Hannah wrote a remarkable screed about Saudi complaints. It starts by warning that Obama’s Iran deal’s “greatest impact is not ensuring that Iran doesn’t get the bomb, but that the Saudis will.” In part to support this, he describes Mr. Tip of the Spear’s close consultations with the Pakistanis (who not only have the bomb but have thousands of our troops held hostage to supply lines through Pakistan). 

"... Bandar is now clearly the tip of the spear in King Abdullah’s efforts to combat the Iranian threat around the region — not to mention the principal point of contact in the kingdom’s thick relationship with Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment..."

Then after laying out the Saudi complaints (basically, that the US is not serving as meat in its efforts to extend its hegemony over the region), and after condemning John Kerry with a mix of emasculation and Saudi distrust, Hannah issues the threat Bandar likely suggested he issue:

"...  An atmosphere this poisonous is dangerous, to say the least. The incentive for the Saudis to engage in all kinds of self-help that Washington would find less than beneficial, even destructive, is significant and rising. Driven into a corner, feeling largely abandoned by their traditional superpower patron, no one should doubt that the Saudis will do what they believe is necessary to ensure their survival. It would be a mistake to underestimate their capacity to deliver some very unpleasant surprises: from the groups they feel compelled to support in their escalating proxy war with Iran, to the price of oil, to their sponsorship (and bankrolling) of a much expanded regional role for Russia and China at America’s expense...."

(...)

Khan’s Protests Succeed: US Halts Use of Northern Supply Route Through Pakistan

"... Believing that this interruption will be brief, the US has called for the transport trucks to wait in holding areas in Afghanistan. Will these holding areas be the sites of the next “tactical success” for opponents of US policy?..."

"'Rebels' seem to have decided that operating directly in Lebanon is safer than Syria,”

"... The ongoing battle between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and anti-Assad rebels for the rural mountainous region of Qalamoun, along the Syria-Lebanon border, has pushed scores, if not hundreds, of fighters from a variety of Syrian rebel groups into Lebanon, where security officials say their presence is destabilizing an already-volatile situation.“Some rebels seem to have decided that operating directly in Lebanon is safer than Syria,” one exasperated Lebanese security official said, speaking only on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to reporters. “Some of these are normal rebels tired of war who have entered Lebanon with their families as refugees, but we’re seeing evidence some are with al Qaida or the Nusra Front,” an al Qaida-affiliated rebel group..."

"The more relationships the US has in the region, the less significant Israel is to Washington"

Israel in 10 Years

"... Right now, Israel does not need the United States, nor American aid, which means much less to them now than it did in 1973. They need it as a symbol of American commitment and will continue to need it. But the real Israeli fear is that the United States is moving away from direct intervention to a more subtle form of manipulation. That represents a threat to Israel if Israel ever needs direct intervention rather than manipulation. But more immediately, it threatens Israel because the more relationships the United States has in the region, the less significant Israel is to Washington's strategy..., ...  Israel becomes not the anchor of U.S. policy but one of many considerations. This is Israel's real fear in these negotiations.In the end, Israel is a small and weak power. Its power has been magnified by the weakness of its neighbors. That weakness is not permanent, and the American relationship has changed in many ways since 1948. Another shift seems to be underway. The Israelis used to be able to depend on massive wellsprings of support in the U.S. public and Congress. In recent years, this support has become less passionate, though it has not dried up completely. What Israel has lost is twofold. First, it has lost control of America's regional strategy. Second, it has lost control of America's political process. Netanyahu hates the U.S.-Iran talks not because of nuclear weapons but because of the strategic shift of the United States. But his response must remain measured because Israel has less influence in the United States than it once did."

A new wave of 'Westernized-Weaponized-Vetted', Jihadi converts, convicts & mercenaries heads to Syria

"... A new wave of Europeans is heading to Syria, their ranks soaring in the past six months as tales of easy living and glorious martyrdom draw them to the rebellion against Bashar Assad.The western Europe-based rebels, mostly young men, are being recruited by new networks that arrange travel and comfortable lodging in the heart of rebel territory, and foster a militant form of Islam that Western security officials fear will add to the terror threat when the fighters return home..."

Opposition fighters in Syria 'move' 12 nuns from captured village

Kidnapping becomes 'moving' when it involves the kind & properly vetted cannibals of ISIS & co.
Opposition fighters in Syria move 12 nuns from captured village

NYTimes: "Tacit Israeli-Sunni Arab cooperation"

"... But is this good news? At one level, yes. I attended a Gulf security conference here in Abu Dhabi that included officials and experts from all over the Arab/Muslim world. In the opening session, Shimon Peres, Israel’s president, flanked by the white and blue Israeli flag, gave an address by satellite from his office in Jerusalem. Good for the United Arab Emirates, the conference sponsor, for making that happen. Seeing the Israeli president speak to an audience dotted with Arab headdresses reminded me of the Oslo days, when Israelis and Arabs held business conferences in Cairo and Amman... But this tacit Israeli-Sunni Arab cooperation is not based on any sort of reconciliation, but on the tribal tradition that my enemy’s enemy is my friend — and the enemy is Iran ... "

White House: 'Pro-Israeli lobbying groups on Capitol Hill are gradually dialing back their initial vociferous opposition to the US-Iran deal'

'While President Obama’s domestic political standing remains embattled over healthcare, once again on foreign policy he is enjoying something of a charmed life. Some of this derives from apparent missteps by US competitors. Intelligence Community analysts who have assessed China’s delineation of a new Air Defense Identification Zone in the East China Sea have concluded that China now appears to have overplayed its hand and is softening its initial position in the face of a firm US reaction...  A more positive source of satisfaction for Obama arises from the first step agreement with Iran. While this has plenty of outright critics – most notably Prime Minister Netanyahu whom Obama has sought to placate – Administration spokesmen have to a large extent blunted this criticism by pointing out the real concerns made by Tehran and the limited scope of the sanctions relief granted. Senior officials realize that the hard bargaining that will be necessary to reach an end state agreement lies ahead and that there is absolutely no guarantee of success. However, they believe they have made a good start, including on some of the most contentious parts of Iran’s nuclear program like the Arak reactor. They are also encouraged that pro-Israeli lobbying groups on Capitol Hill are gradually dialing back their initial vociferous opposition to the deal. The feeling inside the White House and State Department is that they have a chance at an historic realignment with Iran if the second stage agreement can be achieved. By contrast, with regard to Afghanistan, US officials are voicing near 100% frustration with President Karzai over his refusal to sign the Bilateral Security Arrangement needed to underpin the proposed continued US military presence in the country post 2014 and an uninterrupted flow of international aid. The US will be very reluctant to walk away from Afghanistan, but that possibility is growing larger.'

"Will the US become less interested in the global military role it plays now?"

"... “Texas is the most drilled state in the world,” Maugeri said. “To give you an order of magnitude, the number of wells drilled in Texas compared to Saudi Arabia is 1,000 to one.”The ability of the United States to dominate the extraction of shale deposits at home raises another question, troubling to some: Will the United States become less interested in the global military role it plays now?
“One thing this may do is untangle the obsessiveness about Middle East oil, this whole idea that we have to somehow protect these sea routes at all costs,” said Mark Clinton Thurber, associate director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University...
Today, U.S. taxpayers foot the bill for Navy ships that largely protect supertankers headed to Asia. China overtook the United States as the largest importer of Persian Gulf oil two years ago.
That trend will surge, and “it’s going to raise all new questions,” said Amy Myers Jaffe, an expert on global energy production at the University of California, Davis.
“You have the Chinese and other Asians free riding on a U.S. security presence, and I’m not sure that’s sustainable,” said Manning of the Atlantic Council....
Some experts argue that the United States should not disengage from the Persian Gulf because U.S. interests there go far beyond energy supplies. The region is vital to efforts to contain nuclear proliferation and religious extremism, the protection of Israel remains a central U.S. interest, and while the importance of Middle East oil may be on the decline for the United States, any disruption there would send world prices skyrocketing – harming economies in Asia that are vital U.S. markets...
For the short and medium term, oil giants like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait may survive unscathed as they look to Asia, sending as much as 70 percent of their oil there. Smaller oil producers in North Africa and the Middle East, however, may encounter “power struggles or upheaval” as they face declining revenue, according to a report in February from Citigroup, the global financial concern.
Over the longer term, the outlook may be brighter. The Paris-based International Energy Agency forecast in a report this month that rising global demand would allow the Middle East to recapture its role as a key source of oil by the mid-2020s, primarily to meet surging demand in Asia while Europe and the United States reap benefits of improved energy efficiency.
Most U.S. experts concur that a big loser from the growth of the U.S. shale industry will be Russia, which has locked in Eastern and Western Europe as clients for its natural gas, leveraging the reliance on its supplies for political gain..."

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/28/209033/rise-of-saudi-america-will-alter.html#storylink=cpy

'Hysterical Israel'

Al Jazeera English

"... But the US' nonchalance vis-a-vis the Saudis should hardly come as a surprise when it is extending similar treatment to its closest ally, Israel. As a Histrionic Personality disordered regime, Israel has been taking the P5+1 negotiations with Iran much harder than its Saudi counterpart. The histrionic's penchant for "hysteria", "self-dramatisation, theatricality, exaggerated expression of emotions", and discomfort when "not the centre of attention", has been showcased by Israel's "borderline hysterical response" to the interim agreement with Iran, as one Foreign Policy writer described it. These theatrics were most vividly illustrated by Netanyahu's meme-generating, Looney Tunes-inspired,Iranian bomb cartoon which he somberly displayed at the UN last year - a textbook case of the histrionic's "highly impressionistic" style of expression....
But being "excessively sensitive to criticism or disapproval" only sends the histrionic into a tail-spin of self-pity and inconsolable rage which was not in the least bit assuaged by Kerry's assurances that the deal "makes Israel safer". In typical histrionic fashion, Israel merely lashed out further against its partner, as Netanyahu unabashedly called for American Jews to oppose their government for dealing with Iran. As with the borderline personality's reactivity, the histrionic's self-sabotaging gestures are ultimately suicidal.The Economist observes, "Even if Mr Netanyahu were right, an increase in the risk of an Iranian nuclear bomb poses nowhere near as great a threat to Israel's security as losing the solidarity of American Jews."
In the final analysis, the US-Iranian nuclear agreement must be viewed not merely as a breakthrough in international relations, but as a psychological breakthrough in an otherwise pathological world order."

'A narcissistic US, an anxious Saudi Arabia and a hysterical Israel'

Al Jazeera English

"... As expected of borderline personalities, Saudi Arabia reacted to this neglect with fits of rage, impulsivity and a destabilisation of the relationship - a kind of "I hate you, don't leave me" phenomenon - which only serves to push the narcissist further away from the borderline personality. In the case of the Saudi borderline personality, existential fears are especially pronounced as they directly relate to regime survival, which, in no small measure, is dependent on US military and political support.And yet despite all this, Saudi threats of a "major shift" in relations with the US have been met with little more than John Kerry's glib reassurances of Saudi's "indispensability" punctuated by unremorseful, self-congratulatory pats on the back: "Nobody else in the world at this moment - and I don't say this with any arrogance; I say it with pride and I say it as a matter of reality - no one else comes close to what we are able to do to keep the peace or what we do to try to manage and tampen down old animosities and keep them at bay."

'Wave of violence leaves 52 dead in Iraq'

"... The killings come amid a surge in violence that has left more than 600 people dead this month ..."

'Islamo-gangsterism'

"... Added to the mix is the fact that criminality and radical Islamism gradually are intermingling in the suburbs of major cities and in poor peripheral villages. Over time, the emergence of a so-called islamo-gangsterism could contribute to the rise of groups blending jihadism and organised crime within contraband networks operating at the borders – or, worse, to active cooperation between cartels and jihadis..."

Where is this story in US media?

This man, just like Pollard and many others before and after him, spied on America!

"... A big-shot Hollywood producer who for decades was working as an Israeli spy and arms dealer has defended his actions and said it was 'exciting' being his country's 'James Bond.'Arnon Milchan, 68, who's famous for smash hit movies including 'Fight Club' and 'Pretty Woman,' spoke openly for the first time about his espionage work in an Israeli TV special that aired Monday night.The program reveals Milchan, at the special request of his friend Shimon Peres, who is now the country's president' set up and operated some 30 companies in 17 countries that helped Israel obtain parts and plans for its nuclear project in the 1980s. He brokered deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the show..."