By Barry Rubin

“We must once again restore the Israeli army’s deterrence, because there is no other way,” explains Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Quite right. The place to start is Syria.

Israel’s strategic policy toward Syria should be based on two simple, basic principles:

1. Israel should make the Syrians believe it wants to see the current regime there overthrown even if it has no intention of making this happen or even really wants that outcome.

2. Israel should make clear that if there is a future Hizballah attack leading to a war like last summer’s that Syria, not Lebanon, will be the main target of retaliation.

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by Michael Rubin*

Testimony given to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
U.S. House of Representatives
Tuesday, July 17, 2007, 10:30 AM

Mr. Chairman, Honorable Members. Thank you for this opportunity to testify from Camp Pendleton, California, where the 11^th Marine Regiment is preparing for deployment to Iraq. The danger they face and their willingness to undertake this courageous mission adds gravity to our discussion here today.

The Initial Benchmark Assessment Report, released on July 12, 2007, painted a mixed picture: While the surge has created space to further training of the Iraqi security forces and reduced death squad activity and ethnic and sectarian cleansing, it has not, however, stopped terrorism. Nor have Iraq’s political leaders met our political benchmarks. Still, there is reason for guarded optimism. It took five months after President Bush’s announcement of the surge approach to deploy the five additional Army brigades and Marine elements into theater. Only on June 15, 2007, with the commencement of Operation Phantom Thunder, did Generals Petraeus and Odierno inaugurate the surge strategy in earnest. Its success after only one month is impressive.

Nevertheless, today policymakers in this room and outside debate cutting short the surge and switching course. While few favor immediate withdrawal, there is open debate about other options:

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Today, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Taliban. I wish it weren’t so, but I just can’t get enthusiastic about the Bush Administration’s latest claims. It is not that I doubt Iran is stoking the flames in Afghanistan. It is whether I — or anyone else, especially among our allies — have any reason to believe that Bush’s people can provide evidence. The U.S. has been flexing its military muscle in the Persian Gulf, and now in the field of diplomacy — but will it have the desired effect of quieting down Iran’s Islamists? I’ve heard a few too many officials crying wolf; I’ve seen a lot of bad spin control and awful public relations. The President has squandered his post-9/11 political capital.

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by Daniel Pipes*

Federal prosecutors have named CAIR and two other Islamic organizations, the Islamic Society of North America and the North American Islamic Trust, as “unindicted co-conspirators” in a criminal conspiracy to support Hamas, a designated terrorist group.

In a filing last week, prosecutors described CAIR as a present or past member of “the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee and/or its organizations.” They listed ISNA and NAIT as “entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.” Josh Gerstein of The New York Sun reports that spokesmen for CAIR did not respond to requests for comment.

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By Canadian Coalition for Democracies

Ottawa, Canada - The Canadian Coalition for Democracies welcomes Hon. Frank Iacobucci’s ruling of 31 May 2007, concerning his mandate as Commissioner of the Internal Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin. (See “Ruling on Terms of Reference and Procedure“)

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by Michael Rubin*

On January 20, 2005, after President George W. Bush took his second oath of office, he delivered an address in which he laid out his vision for his second term. In his speech, he reiterated his intention to tie U.S. policy to be the promotion of freedom and democracy abroad. “All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you,” he declared.[1] Many European commentators were aghast. Robin Cook, the former British foreign secretary, wrote in The Guardian, London’s left-wing flagship, that “On the very day when the president set forward his mission to bring liberty to the world, a poll revealed that a large majority of inhabitants believe that he will actually make it more dangerous.”[2] The conservative Daily Telegraph questioned whether Bush’s “ringing encomium of freedom” could survive Iraq.[3] Spain’s El Pais, Germany’s Die Tageszeitung, and Austria’s Die Presse all expressed concern. Sueddeutsche Zeitung observed, “The whole world is seeking an answer…to the question of whether George Bush will really be a changed president in his second term.”[4]

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By Joe Kaufman, posted by permission

Editor’s note: If you would like to help in exposing the ICNA’s funding of Hamas, please click here.

(Coral Springs, FL) Americans Against Hate (AAH), the terrorist watchdog group, is calling on the United States government to shut down the offices and freeze the assets of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) for its role in the financing of Hamas. As well, AAH is calling on the U.S. government to place the Muslim Brotherhood of Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), on the State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) for the same.

In August of 2006, just nine short months ago, JI announced on its website that it had presented, via its charity Al-Khidmat Foundation (AKF), a check for $99 thousand (six million rupees) to the head of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal. Mashaal thanked JI and stated that Hamas would continue to wage Jihad (war) against Israel.

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By Michael Jacobson*

In mid-April, nearly two months into his tenure as the nation’s second Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Michael McConnell announced a “100 day plan,” outlining what he hopes to accomplish during this period. McConnell stated that his plan to improve the “integration and collaboration” of the US Intelligence Community (IC) marks the “next stage in intelligence reform.”

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