How much influence does Iran wield in Iraq? This question has long been a matter of debate and in light of the US troop withdrawal has become all the more relevant, especially with rumors of Iranian plans to have Mahmud Shahrudi, who is an Iraqi-born member of Iran’s Guardian Council and advocates clerical involvement in government, succeed the quietist Ali al-Sistani in Najaf.
Unfortunately, partisan politics on the left and right have precluded serious analysis on the subject.
In any event, we can begin by noting that Iraq has close economic ties with Iran. According to the Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, quoted in a report by the Tehran Times, trade transactions between the two countries over the past Iranian calendar year (ending on 19th March 2012) amounted to more than $11 billion.
In one of his first statements since leaving office, former President George W. Bush remarked on Middle East developments in an article, “The Arab Spring and American Ideals,” in the Wall Street Journal, May 18. The former president reflects certain American misconceptions about the Middle East that are starting to blow up big-time in the region.
Bush writes:
“We do not get to choose if a freedom revolution should begin or end in the Middle East or elsewhere. We only get to choose what side we are on.”
The fetid, dark heart of the Arab war on Israel, I have long argued, lies not in disputes over Jerusalem, checkpoints, or “settlements.” Rather, it concerns the so-called Palestine refugees.
So called because of the nearly 5 million official refugees served by UNRWA (short for the “United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East”), only about 1 percent are real refugees who fit the agency’s definition of “people whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict.” The other 99 percent are descendants of those refugees, or what I call fake refugees.
The Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank fired a Christian employee who refused to wear a scarf to cover her hair as part of uniform for female staff. Vivian Salameh said that she, “refused to wear the partial head cover because it is against my principles,” and is religious coercion. “The bank uniform registered at the trade and industry ministry does not include wearing anything to cover my hair,” she added.
American intellectual Will Durant’s The Lessons of History—co-written with wife Ariel and published in 1968, when the Soviet Union posed a threat to the United States—still offers insightful lessons, especially concerning American-Muslim relations.
In the chapter titled “History and War,” the Durants posit some hypothetical speeches and approaches concerning war. First, an imaginary U.S. president says before the leaders of communist Russia:
Louise Arbour is undeserving of a place on a Canadian stamp — a recent honor bestowed upon her. While she held the important position of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights she exhibited a high degree of hate for Israel and disrespect for the Jewish people. She had a dismal record of promoting one-sided, Israel-hate events that demonized and vilified Israel during her career with the UN.
by Yoram Ettinger (Based on Jewish Sages), “Second Thought”
May 23, 2012
1. Shavou’ot (Pentecost) is the holiday of the Torah, which impacted the US Constitution in particular and the state of Western morality, liberty and democracy in general. Shavou’ot is celebrated by decorating homes and houses of worship with Land of Israel-related fruit, vegetables, herb and flowers, demonstrating the endemic-connection between the Torah of Israel, the People of Israel and the Land of Israel.
2. Shavou’ot – a spiritual holiday – follows Passover – a national liberation holiday: from physical liberation (the Exodus) to spiritual liberation/enhancement.
An article in the May 24 Boston Globe highlights the problems created when the executive branch tries to make an end run around Congress by using its rule-writing authority to allow illegal aliens to remain here in virtual amnesty, but then cannot deliver the green cards.
Egypt’s long awaited and much anticipated presidential elections—the first of their kind to take place in the nation’s 7,000 year history—are here. As we await the final results—and as the Western mainstream media fixate on images of purple-stainedfingers—it is well to remember that there is much more at stake in Egypt’s elections than the mere “right” to vote.
While some Egyptians are certainly voting according to their convictions, the fundamental divide revolves around religion—how much or how little the candidates in question are in favor of Islamic Sharia law. In other words, Islamists are voting for Islamists—Abdel Mon’im Abul Futuh and Muhammad Mursi—whereas non-Islamists (secularists, liberals, and non-Muslims) are voting for non-Islamists, such as Amr Musa and Ahmed Shafiq.
Ilan Berman, an expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, is the vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council and has consulted the CIA and the Department of Defense. He has authored several books, including Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (2005) and Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive against Radical Islam (2009). On April 23, 2012, Berman addressed the Middle East Forum via conference call.
Tehran’s October 2011 attempt to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington using a Mexican drug cartel has focused international attention on what had until then been a largely-overlooked political phenomenon: the Islamic Republic’s intrusion into the Western Hemisphere. But how deep is this penetration, and what does it seek to achieve?
In recent years, especially under the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the (Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps) IRGC has taken over many aspect of Iranian society. The group oppresses Iranian citizens and must be ostracized and punished by the civilized world.
The establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 was the beginning of horror for Iranian citizens and greatly hindered the process of peacemaking in the Middle East and the world.
If I’ve ever seen a single sentence that spells disaster for the Middle East it’s this one:
“‘People say things in a campaign and then when they get elected they actually have to govern,’ [U.S. State Department] spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.”
The specific context of this statement were remarks by the Obama Administration’s favorite Egyptian presidential candidate, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, in a debate. He called Israel racist, an enemy of Egypt, and a state based on occupation (that is, has no right to exist), then calling to alter the Egypt-Israel peace treaty.
Despite all the archeological/historical evidence of three thousand of years of a flourishing, continuous Jewish presence in their undivided city of Jerusalem, many people are inundated with lies about Arab claims to the city. In reality, the division of Jerusalem began in 1948 when Jordan invaded and physically cut the city into two pieces. In the video shown below by HonestReporting.com, hear living testimony from an eighth generation Jerusalem Jew and from one whose family arrived in the great city in 1835. Then study up on your history and learn the truth that Jerusalem has, shall, and always will be the undivided capital of the Jewish State. Period.
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