The Year of Iran: Tehran’s Challenge to American Hegemony in 2014

The Year of Iran: Tehran’s Challenge to American Hegemony in 2014 (Leveretts in The World Financial Review)

'US Officials concede: The US may not have the will or the means to insist on the outcomes it wants'

'... US officials realize that the point under discussion in foreign policy circles around the world is not the level of US activity in the world. This remains high. Next week, for example, Kerry will engage in the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue and Deputy Secretary of State Burns has just concluded the latest round of the US-China Asia Pacific Consultations. US reaction to world events, for example in Egypt, South Sudan orUkraine, remains instantaneous and global. The real point, these same officials concede in private, is whether the US has the will or the means to insist on the outcomes it wants. Here the evidence is more ambiguous. On issues as diverse as putting the Joint Plan of Action with Iran into operation, negotiating bilateral security agreement with Afghan President Karzai, steering the Geneva II conference on Syria, managing the direction of the Arab Spring or mediating between the increasingly bitter exchanges between China and Japan senior Administration policy-makers acknowledge some tangible loss of leverage...'

Reuters Allows Anonymous to Blame Syria for Delays Mostly US Fault

"... Yesterday, Reuters granted anonymity to “sources”, including two who are each identified as “a senior Western diplomat”, to blame Syria for delays in shipping its chemical weapons-related materials out of the country. Only when we get to the very last paragraph of the article, though, do we get to the fact that these chemicals are to be destroyed aboard the Cape Ray, a ship which the US has outfitted with equipment for destroying the chemicals at sea. The article does note that the Cape Ray is now in transit to the region, but it fails to note that even though theoriginal plan was for the Cape Ray to begin its work by the end of December, the ship did not leave the US until January 27. Allowing for transit time to get to the region, it would appear that the US delay in supplying the Cape Ray can account for the bulk of the 6-8 weeks by which Syria is reported to be behind schedule..."

Public Finally Realizes Military Failed in Iraq & Afghanistan, But Will Pentagon & Pols Learn?

Public Finally Realizes Military Failed in Iraq & Afghanistan, But Will Pentagon & Pols Learn?

http://youtu.be/VlSFjyybo4k

"... The Saudi-owned "news" channel al-Arabiya aired in its show "al-Hadath" (the Event) a report showing captured fighters from al-Qaeda’s "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL). Then al-Arabiya made the mistake of showing, in one of the interviews with one of the fighters captured by the "Free Syrian Army" (FSA), him responding to a question as to why his group monitors the movements of the Western-backed FSA by stating that those were orders coming from the leadership of ISIL, specifically from Prince Abdul Rahman al-Faisal, who is the son of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia and the brother of current Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal..."

Cracks in the Alliance?

"... But the problem runs deeper still. Just too much bad blood has built up between these two allies during Netanyahu’s term. The feud is not only over Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians but on the related matter of US handling of what Israel considers its strategic environment in the wake of the Arab Spring.Netanyahu is angry that the US has not taken a more decisive hand in shoring up Israeli interests in Egypt and Syria, and near-apoplectic at what he sees as a cave-in on Iran and what Israel claims is its ambition to build a nuclear weapon.He appears ready to repay the White House in kind, rousing pro-Israel lobby groups in Washington to retaliate on almost-home turf, in Congress, through initiatives such as a bill threatening to step up sanctions against Iran, subverting Obama’s diplomatic efforts..."

Cairo rocked by deadly explosions

"... The first blast at the police HQ, at about 6:15am local time, killed four and injured about 70 others, according to state sources. The blast, reportedly a bomb in a vechicle, also damaged the nearby Museum of Islamic Art building.In a second blast hours later, a small IED was detonated next to police vehicles near the Behooth metro station in the Dokki district. One person was reported killed in the explosion.A third blast hit a police directorate in Talbiya, in Giza. The explosion was caused by a crude home-made device, police said, and there were no casualties..."

"The iceberg of sanctions against Iran is melting..."

(Reuters) - Iran has halted its most sensitive nuclear operations under a preliminary deal with world powers, winning some relief from economic sanctions on Monday in a ground-breaking exchange that could ease a threat of war.
The United States and European Union both suspended some trade and other restrictions against the OPEC oil producer after the United Nations' nuclear watchdog confirmed that Iran had fulfilled its side of an agreement made on November 24.
The announcements, which coincided with a diplomatic row over Iran's role at peace talks on Syria, will allow six months of negotiation on a definitive accord that the West hopes can end fears of Tehran developing nuclear weapons and Iran wants to end sanctions that are crippling its economy.
Iranian officials hailed a warming of ties that will also see their new president make a pitch to international business leaders at Davos later this week: "The iceberg of sanctions against Iran is melting," the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, told Iranian state television..."

A homebred 'revolution' indeed!

WaPo:

"... The decision was apparently eased by a surprise message of support from commanders of some of the biggest rebel groups fighting on the ground, who had been summoned by their international sponsors to a parallel meeting in Ankara, the Turkish capital...But the arrival of the message at the secret location outside Istanbul where the coalition members were meeting helped them overcome their misgivings and take a decision on the controversial issue, said Abdulrahman Haj, one of those who participated in the vote... Turkey and Qatar hosted the Saturday meeting, at which rebel commanders were threatened with a cutoff of aid if they did not support the peace talks, according to rebel officials who spoke to people at the meeting..."

Syria's Head of NSB Mamluk hosts plethora of European spooks

"... Des responsables espagnols des services de renseignements étaient, il y a une semaine, en visite à Damas, où ils ont rencontré le général Ali Mamlouk, (Head of National Security Bureau & special adviser to Pres. Assad) l'un des principaux dirigeants des services locaux.Les Espagnols sont, comme d'autres pays européens, très préoccupés par l'afflux de leurs ressortissants en Syrie pour accomplir le djihad, la guerre sainte, contre l'armée de Bachar el-Assad.
Les services espagnols ont arrêté récemment un membre du Front al-Nosra, lié à Al Qaida, qui était en charge d'une filière de recrutement de jeunes désireux d'aller se battre en Syrie.
Ce n'est pas la première fois que les grandes oreilles de Madrid font le chemin de Damas, depuis que la révolte a été lancée contre le régime syrien, il y a bientôt trois ans.
Elles ont été suivies ces derniers mois par plusieurs services européens, les Allemands, les Italiens, un émissaire britannique et même par des Français..."

'Western intelligence services have reached out to Assad for information about foreign, European extremists'

'As the US enters next week’s Geneva II conference on Syria, US policy is quietly undergoing a profound transformation. Having started from a firm position that the departure of President Assad constituted a non-negotiable Western demand, the debate inside the Administration is now more nuanced. As Secretary of State Kerry works closely with his Russian counterparts and as doubts have grown about the orientation of the rebel fighters, we are advised that Western intelligence services have reached out to Assad for information about foreign, especially European, extremists inside the rebel ranks. There is now a growing body of opinion inside US diplomatic and intelligence circles that sees Assad’s survival as – at least – a necessary evil. With this debate in the background, US expectations for the conference are far from unified. Some of this confusion was reflected in the pre-conference discussion about possible Iranian inclusion – as was wanted by the UN. Our conversations with State Department officials suggest that this was also Kerry’s preference. However, with an uphill battle with Congress to defend the Joint Plan of Action, the implementation of which starts on January 20^th, he included that further outreach to Tehran was premature. With regard to the preliminary nuclear accord with Iran, White House officials are lobbying strongly against a Senate bill – which enjoys significant Democratic support – that sets conditions for the talks and imposes new sanctions should the talks fail. The White House hopes that, despite the current majority support for the bill, they are optimistic that they will be able to postpone legislative action for at least a month. To compound US foreign policy travails, the bombing in Kabul involving IMF and UN officials and the escalating violence in Iraq have prompted calls for areassertion of US airpower there. We very much doubt that the Administration will pay attention. Away from the Middle East, a number of senior State Department visits are underway to Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo. Secretary of State Hagel has met Japan's newly appointed National Security Adviser. Despite some suggestions that the South and East China Seas are the new crisis zones where activist US engagement is required, we still see the Middle East as drawing the majority of top-level attention for the foreseeable future.'

The US, Saudia & minions to attend GVA II

"... The secret ballot was a result of pressure from Western and Arab sponsors of the opposition..."

Our good friends in Syria

"... A top official of a major Syrian rebel group acknowledged Friday that he considers himself a member of al Qaida, an admission that undercuts Western hopes that the new Islamic Front would prove to be an acceptable counter to the rising influence of other al Qaida affiliates in Syria...Ahrar al Sham is one of the most militarily effective groups fighting to topple the regime of President Bashar Assad and is one of the largest groups aligned with the [Saudi controlled] Islamic Front, a coalition of rebel groups that announced its formation in September as a counter to the U.S.-backed Supreme Military Council. Ahrar al Sham’s leader, Hassan Aboud, is the political chief of the Islamic Front.
Some analysts of jihadi organizations said al Suri’s admission makes it likely the United States will move to designate Ahrar al Sham a foreign terrorist organization..."

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/01/17/214966/key-anti-assad-rebel-leader-acknowledges.html#storylink=cpy

Saudi Arabia: A Retrograde Rentier Dictatorship and Global Terrorism

"... In reality, Bandar bin Sultan is the protégé and successor of Bin Laden; he has deepened and systematized global terrorism. Bandar’s terror network has murdered far more innocent victims than Bin Laden. That, of course, is to be expected; after all he has billions of dollars from the Saudi treasury, training from the CIA and the handshake of Netanyahu!"

CIA's Riedel: 'There was no al Qaeda in Iraq (and consequently, in Syria) before Bush-Cheney!'

... and by association, widening the Shia'-Sunni schism

"... There was no al-Qaeda in Iraq before 9/11—the terror organization moved into Iraq only when Osama bin Laden saw George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were getting ready to invade Iraq in 2003.  He set a trap.  By 2006 Al-Qaeda in Iraq had plunged the country into civil war, pitting Shia against Sunni...."

Pressure by Russia & China ...

"... The weeks of bargaining to put the November agreement in force were more difficult than anticipated, with one brief walkout by Iranian envoys and rancor among the bloc of nations that negotiated the deal. Russia and China, long Iran’s protectors at the United Nations, pushed the United States to accept technical concessions that further make clear that Iran will retain the ability to enrich uranium, a key Iranian demand, once a final set of restrictions on its program is approved..."

Iran nuclear deal to take effect this month

"... "With today's agreement, we have made concrete progress. I welcome this important step forward, and we will now focus on the critical work of pursuing a comprehensive resolution that addresses our concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme," the White House said in a statement.Iran will get a first installment of $550m of $4.2bn being unblocked under the nuclear deal around February 1, a US official said Sunday..."

Iran says Hezbollah's missile power improved

"... In comments posted on the Guard's website, sephanews.com, Hajizadeh said: "Hezbollah's capability has improved so tremendously in recent years that it can hit and destroy any target in the occupied lands with very little inaccuracy and pinpoint ability."...
Hajizadeh also said that the deceased Hezbollah commander Hassan Al Laqis had played a key role in boosting the group's military strength but added no further details..."

Sharon might be dead ...

... but many of those who butchered Arabs are still alive, including but not limited to,  Netanyahu, Olmert, Barak, Peres ... etc.

All eyes on the US Congress (aka. Israeli Occupied territories)

"... The EU has reported "very good progress" at talks with Iran on the implementation of a deal on Iran's nuclear programme.Earlier Iran's deputy foreign minister was quoted as telling state media all outstanding issues had been resolved.In November Iran agreed a deal to freeze its nuclear programme in return for sanctions being eased.In recent weeks Iranian negotiators have been meeting with representatives of the "P5+1" group (US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany) to discuss how technical details of the deal would be implemented."We found solutions for all the points of disagreement," Iran's deputy Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister earlier told state television, according to AFP.However, Mr Araqchi also said implementation of the agreement depended "on the final ratification of the capitals".
He added that no further meetings at expert level were planned for the moment.For its part the US state department also said "good progress" had been made."There have been a few outstanding issues, but at this point, the reports that everything has been finalised are incorrect," state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, according to Reuters..."