Saudi Arabia and the Muslim Brotherhood: exposing the lies!

 

"This book is issued (see top, right) by the Ministry of Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  It is titled: "Jihad for God" and includes essays by Abu Al-A`la Al-Mawdudi, Hasan Al-Banna, and Sayyid Qutb.  It is hilarious to see Saudi papers AND Western newspapers talking about the historical enmity between the Saudi Kingdom and the Muslim Brotherhood."

US Intel: 'The focus on Ukraine is allowing Assad to make substantial military gains"

'President Obama is trying to prevent Ukraine from becoming the single policy issue that defines his presidency. However, the perception is rising in the White House that, rightly or wrongly, the crisis has become a personal contest which can only be settled between Obama and President Putin.  NSC officials tell us that this is both an advantage in that it lends weight to the exchanges between the two men and a drawback in that it involves Obama more intensively in the management of the crisis than he would otherwise wish. This week he has attended for example to budgetary matters and to the Middle East Peace Process. However, with a visit looming to Brussels at the end of the month for EU and NATO meetings, the White House knows that all eyes are on the Ukraine crisis. As an NSC official commented to us: “Against all the odds, Obama continues to believe that he can do a deal with Putin. His telephone exchanges lead him to conclude that Putin is intent on building a position of strength from which he will then negotiate.” From talking to other high-level contacts in Washington, our sense is that Obama’s conviction that a deal is doable is not widely shared. Even in the State Department there are senior officials who are much less optimistic that Putin is interested in negotiating. The Pentagon is also skeptical, but its military moves in the Baltics and Black Sea should not, as a senior strategist there commented to us, be seen as preparations for belligerence (See Dempsey's comments). “We are supporting diplomacy, not undermining it,” was his comment. In summary, therefore, Obama remains committed to diplomacy but is facing rising discontent at home, with pressure increasing to be tougher. Ironically, in the P5+1 negotiations on Iran, Russian experts are taking part in ongoing exchanges with the Iranians alongside US officials. State Department official tell us that they remain cautiously optimistic that an end agreement is possible. On Syria, by contrast, Intelligence Community analysts are worried that the focus on Ukraine is allowing the regime to make substantial military gains. As one commented to us: “The price of maintaining Crimea in Ukraine may be losing Syria.” Obama is due in Saudi Arabia at the conclusion of his European visit, so attention is back to the mideast'

Our friends, the Syrian rebels

"... Al-Qaeda affiliated rebels in Syria have taken control of Yarmouk camp, ceasing the flow of aid to tens of thousands of civilians who are trapped and living in desperate conditions.Jabhat al-Nusra, a rebel group that swears its loyalty to al-Qaeda, has seized checkpoints inside primarily Palestinian neighbourhood of Damascus, ending a fragile ceasefire that was being negotiated by the regime and the opposition, residents of Yarmouk said..."

Al Qaeda, the US, Israel & some Arabs alliance: more evidence

"... Jordan denies the existence of the international operations command centre, which monitors the Syria conflict and oversees the distribution of weapons and funding to allied rebel units fighting against forces loyal to Mr Al Assad.None of the Western or Arab states that have intelligence and military staff working at the MOC has publicly acknowledged it, but the centre’s existence has become an open secret.The night of Tuesday, February 25, appears to have been one of the command centre’s most fraught periods, as a sense of panic set in at the prospect of an Al Qaeda faction getting its hands on the weapons stockpile.The command centre has not intervened in this way when other regime storage facilities in Deraa province have been overrun, and has been content to let the rebels share out any weapons they capture.This time, however, as fighting around the Tal Al Jabiyeh facility raged and the prospect of it falling into rebel hands came closer to reality, the command centre bluntly demanded guarantees from rebel forces that they hand over to it any weapons stored in a white, reinforced concrete bunker with thick metal, electrically operated shutters blocking its east facing entrance.Rebels were told if they failed to give that guarantee, an Israeli airstrike would immediately be called in on the area to destroy the entire compound and everything in it.This ultimatum was passed on, through an intermediary, to Jabhat Al Nusra’s emir in Deraa province. The Nusra leader agreed to leave weapons in the bunker alone, as did all of the other rebel units in the area.In the early hours on Wednesday, February 26, four hours after the first call, rebels were contacted again by the Amman command centre and told to expect an “international operation” directed at the weapons bunker.With the rebels pushing to take control of the Tal Al Jabiyeh, the operations room immediately halted all weapons supplies to the assaulting forces, apparently in a successful effort to delay their advance on the bunker..."

'The Saudis and Pakistan’s strategic shift on Syria'

Saudis whipping sectarian warfare in the Mideast. In the FT.

"At the behest of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan has made a strategic shift from its so far neutral position on Syria’s civil war – to one that portends to back the Syrian rebels and even provide them with arms through Riyadh.
The shift will have serious regional consequences as it has already deeply antagonised Iran, which supports the Syrian regime, and angered Pakistan’s large Shia community which could prompt further sectarian conflict. It is also bad news for Afghanistan, where Pakistan-Iran rivalry may restart once US troops leave that country.
Saudi Arabia is on a diplomatic offensive to woo all those Muslim states who have held a neutral position – to one where they fall in line with the Gulf Arab states that want an interim government in Damascus and the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. All the Gulf states are petrified of Iran, fear its potential nuclear weapons capability and deeply distrust the Americans for their recent overtures to Tehran.
However, if Saudi Arabia which practices Wahabbism – an extreme form of Sunni Islam – gets its way, it could put more Muslim states on a collision course with Shia Iran. It would also involve them in taking sides in the Shia-Sunni divide that has escalated recently and has already plunged the Middle East and Pakistan into sectarian bloodbaths.
Further divisions along sectarian lines are dangerous in what is already a fragile Muslim world, because they further polarise Islamic countries and turn Shias into more of a persecuted minority everywhere. That means the plight of other minorities in Arab states such as Christians and Jews could be further jeopardised.
Media reports say that the Saudis would buy small arms from Pakistan’s arms industry and that it would recruit more Pakistani retired soldiers and policemen for the Gulf state of Bahrain that has been facing long months of unrest as Shia protests against the Sunni ruling family have escalated ..."

Lest we forget who supported (our friends) the Northern Alliance & who supported the Taliban!

"... More recently the entire region from Pakistan to Lebanon has been affected by profound, seismic changes during the course of the last three decades.  As Giandomenico Picco has noted, these began in the late 1970s, in the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran triangle, when Saudi Arabia entered the war in Afghanistan, and a bitter Sunni-Shi’i struggle ensued (little noticed by the West)—as Iran backed the Northern Alliance against the Saudi supported Taliban..."

Lest we forget who supported (our friends) the Northern Alliance & who supported the Taliban!

"... More recently the entire region from Pakistan to Lebanon has been affected by profound, seismic changes during the course of the last three decades.  As Giandomenico Picco has noted, these began in the late 1970s, in the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran triangle, when Saudi Arabia entered the war in Afghanistan, and a bitter Sunni-Shi’i struggle ensued (little noticed by the West)—as Iran backed the Northern Alliance against the Saudi supported Taliban..."

Al Qaeda & Saudia 'pushing back Syrian regime in Qalamoun

McClatchy:

"... But progress has been slow, as hundreds of ISIS fighters, as well as a unit of radical fighters from Saudi Arabia, have bolstered the rebel forces, according to Syrian activists who maintain close contact with radical groups that are fighting to topple the regime of President Bashar Assad..."

Read more htp://tchydc.com/2014/03/04/220092/isis-joins-other-rebels-to-thwart.html#storylink=cpy

Syria on track

OPCW:

"... "Nearly one third of Syria's chemical weapons material has now been removed or destroyed," the Special Coordinator told the Council. "This is good progress and I expect further acceleration and intensification of effort."

Egypt court bans Palestinian Hamas group

"... Hamas is an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which has been declared a terrorist group by Egypt's army-backed government and has faced a security crackdown since the military ousted one of its leaders, Mohamed Morsi, from the presidency last July...."

Merkel: 'The US is lying!'

'b' at MoA:
'...Yesterday I doubted that a certain Obama administration "leak" to the New York Times was truthful:While Merkel and other EU politicians seems to want to calm the situation down the White House feels domestic political pressure to do more of "something". That is likely why we see this "leak" in today's New York Times:

'... Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told Mr. Obama by telephone on Sunday that after speaking with Mr. Putin she was not sure he was in touch with reality, people briefed on the call said. “In another world,” she said..."

This does not sound like typically Merkel but rather strange for her. I doubt that she said that the way the "people briefed on the call" told it to the Times stenographer. It is rather an attempt to discredit Merkel and to make it more difficult for her to find a solution with Russia outside of U.S. control.The German government, through the conservative, Merkel supporting daily Die Welt, denied the correctness of that quote. Die Welt writes (my translation):

"...The chancellery is unhappy about the report in theNew York Times. Merkel by no means meant to express that Putin behaved irrational. In fact she told Obama that Putin has a different perspective about the Crimea [than Obama has]....'

The US & EU allies recognize that their options in Ukraine are 'extremely limited'

'US attitudes to the Ukraine crisis are vacillating wildly. Having feared initially at the beginning of the week that the Ukraine crisis might take on almost global dimensions, US officials started to believe that it could be contained within manageable proportions. Now, alarm is beginning to rise again – as President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry have made clear. The immediate source of concern is the military maneuvers on Ukraine’s borders and the status of armed units inside Crimea.  Although Obama has received assurances from President Putin of respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the consensus among Intelligence Community analysts is that the units inside Crimea are controlled from Moscow and could potentially be used as precursors to a full Russian takeover of Crimea.  Putin’s request to the Russian parliament to allow the deployment of forces inside Crimea have set alarm bells ringing. The White House does not for the moment share the more alarmist views of Russia’s intentions and is disinclined to take action that would propel the US toward “owning” the Ukraine problem. However, any out-and-out move by Russia to invade Ukraine would quickly change that calculus, albeit with the recognition that US and wider Western options are extremely limited.  Kerry is in frequent telephone contact with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to keep information flowing and the crisis from escalating. Ukraine is far from the only item on the US foreign policy agenda. Syria is no closer to a settlement and, as the February 27^th  NATO ISAF meeting showed, the exit strategy from Afghanistan is in disarray. With Kerry due to address the AIPAC conference and Israeli Prime Minister scheduled to meet Obama on March 4^th, Iran will be a major topic next week. Administration officials will make the case that progress is being made in the P5+1 talks and that they will not agree to any deal that leaves Tehran with a nuclear “breakout” capability. While there will be plenty of skepticism that a deal of this sort is achievable, the White House is confident that it will be able to manage the debate in Washington. Meanwhile, the political upheavals in Venezuela and Thailand are causing concern. The Administration has little attachment to the Maduro government, but has no interest in seeing instability in that country. It is working in partnership with Colombia to mediate.'

Kerry comes out clean on Iraq

"... “You just don’t in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pre-text,” 

Wait a minute! Sorry Kerry was talking about Putin & Ukraine.

My bad!

Meanwhile, the little rulers of Bahrain continue to fight 'vandals'!

"... The Interior Ministry said on its Twitter feed: "Police dispersed a breakaway group of vandals that diverted from the funeral route in Daih."

IDF to the rescue of Neo-Nazis in Ukraine!

"... Delta, a Ukraine-born former soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, spoke to JTA Thursday on condition of anonymity. He explained how he came to use combat skills he acquired in the Shu’alei Shimshon reconnaissance battalion of the Givati infantry brigade to rise through the ranks of Kiev’s street fighters. He has headed a force of 40 men and women — including several fellow IDF veterans — in violent clashes with government forces."

G'town University & the promotion of 'minorities' studies'

"... The fellowship was established by a generous grant from the American Druze Foundation. Its aim is to promote specialized academic research on Arab minorities generally..."

Reports: Iraq signs arms deal with Iran

"... The Obama administration pressed the Iraqi government on Monday to explain the media reports."We've certainly seen those reports. If true, this would raise serious concerns," Jen Psaki, State Department spokeswoman, said.She said that "any transfer of arms from Iran to a third country is in direct violation" of the UN embargo."We are seeking clarification on this matter from the government of Iraq and to ensure that Iraqi officials understand the limits that international law places on arms trade with Iran," Psaki said.Some in Washington are nervous about providing sensitive US military equipment to a country they worry is becoming too close to Iran. Several Iraqi legislators said Maliki had made the deal because he was fed up with delays to US arms deliveries..."

No objectivity on Syrian conflict

McClatchy

"... After reviewing more than 38 million Twitter posts about the Syrian conflict, a team of Middle East scholars from The George Washington University and American University concluded that rather than an objective account of what’s taken place, social media posts have been carefully curated to represent a specific view of the war. It said the skewing of the social media view of the conflict has been amplified by the way more traditional news outlets make use of the postings – for example, passing along social media posts written in English over those written in Arabic.."

Nusrah Front, the 'moderate' terrorist organization

"... the US media will now suddenly start peddling articles to the effect that Nusrah Front was unfairly classified as a terrorist organization and that it is in fact a moderate terrorist organization that the US government can do business with."

Why Western “experts” on Hizbullah cannot predict its response

"...And I am equally confident that if any committed observer is asked “will Hizbullah really respond to Israel’s attacks on Monday?” he or she will tell you that as the first such attack since the end of the July War in 2006, Hizbullah has no choice but to respond, irrespective of how deeply mired it is in the Syrian conflict and in safeguarding Lebanon from terrorist infiltration. It has to respond because confronting Israel will always constitute the larger part of its raison d’etre, even if its mission has expanded over the years. And it will respond because to not respond would upset its doctrine of deterrence and “balance-of-terror” with Israel which it painfully earned after two decades of blood and sacrifice. Hizbullah will respond because there is no precedent of Hizbullah not retaliating for an Israeli attack (I am not including assassinations here) and it is highly unlikely that it would want to set a new precedent for its enemies. We just have to wait and see when and how it will do so, because no matter how committed we are as observers we are not privy to Hizbullah’s military strategy. ."