Archive for the 'WMD' Category

The Northern Tinder Box

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

By Jonathan Spyer

The war of words is continuing. The latest salvos were fired last week by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, and his Lebanese ally and client Hassan Nasrallah. Ahmedinejad reportedly told Nasrallah that if Israel attacks Hizballah, the response should be sufficient to lead to the closure, once and for all, of the Israeli ‘case.’ In the same week, Nasrallah promised attendees at a ‘Resistance Martyrs Day’ celebration that his movement would target Israel’s infrastructure in the event of further hostilities. The Hizballah leader mentioned airports, factories and refineries as possible targets.

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The U.S. Military Looks at the Middle East: Bows to the White House but Knows Its Mission Too

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

By Barry Rubin

The Department of Defense has just released its new Quadrennial Defense Review Report for 2010. What does it say about the Middle East? Far less than you’d expect in terms of space but still some extremely important points about what might involve the United States in future wars there.

Aside from some scattered references on the need for more civilian nation-building experts, funding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and energy conservation efforts (that’s an area, no doubt, where money could be saved), that region takes up less than two pages, about two percent, of the 97-page report.

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Sarah Palin Endorses ‘Bomb Iran’

Monday, February 15th, 2010

by Daniel Pipes*

My National Review Online column last week carried the provocative title, “How to Save the Obama Presidency: Bomb Iran,” and provoke it surely did.

Leftists on websites like ThinkProgress and DailyKos reacted voluminously and in slightly crazed ways, misrepresenting my argument even as they called me unrepeatable names. Die Welt, a German newspaper, published the article in translation but came under such vehement criticism that the editors pulled my analysis.

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Some Common Sense in Egypt and Saudi Arabia

Friday, December 25th, 2009

by Daniel Pipes*

Invited recently by the newly formed Pechter Middle East Polls to ask three questions of 1,000 representative Egyptians and 1,000 urban Saudis, the Middle East Forum focused on Iran and Israel, the countries that most polarize the region. The results are illuminating.

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For Obama, 2010 in the Middle East Looks More Like the Precipice of Doom than Achievement

Friday, December 25th, 2009

By Barry Rubin

The year 2010 is going to be interesting. Well, all years in the Middle East are interesting; many of them are far too interesting.

For the Obama Administration, I’m going to predict, it will not be a fun year. True, the best face will be put on things. Since it is protected-perhaps next year to a lesser degree — by the media, the administration has a special advantage over its predecessors. Yet there are two huge and two potentially serious problems which it cannot solve.

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The Israelis and the Iranian Bomb

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

By Phyllis Chesler

In 2009, Israeli athletes were at one point shunned in the United Arab Emirates; humiliated in Vienna; and forced to play without an audience for their own safety in Sweden. The jackals took over the asylum and tossed a prominent Israeli advocate out of the United Nations; J-Street, the allegedly “pro-peace and pro-Israel” organization, held a Soros- and Arab-funded conference; and the calls to boycott Israeli academics continued apace. Today, Departments of Jewish Studies at American universities display anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian posters on their front doors.

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Tehran’s Domestic and International Fronts

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

A briefing by Patrick Clawson*

Patrick Clawson is an economist, deputy director of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy, and senior editor of the Middle East Quarterly. He graduated with a B.A. from Oberlin College in 1973 and a Ph.D. from the New School of Social Research in 1978. He taught at Seton Hall University in 1979-81 and served as an economist for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Mr. Clawson addressed the Middle East Forum on November 4, 2009 in Philadelphia.

Mr. Clawson’s talk revolved around two key points concerning the present situation in Iran.

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Don’t Sacrifice Human Rights for Iran Diplomacy

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

by Michael Rubin*

Iranians who took to the streets this summer to protest electoral fraud failed to win a new election. But they nevertheless returned concerns about the Islamic republic’s human rights record to the international stage.

On June 20, U.S. President Barack Obama declared: “The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.”

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Iranian Regime’s Charm Plus Western Credulity Equals “Diplomatic Success” in Geneva

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

By Barry Rubin

The United States — along with Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany — met with Iran in Geneva and officials, media, and experts proclaim it a success. Was its nuclear program what Iran defused or merely Western pressure?

It is widely claimed that the meeting in Geneva obtained three great achievements toward ending the long-running Iran nuclear arms’ campaign.

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Avoiding the Unthinkable: Missile Defense is Israel’s “Secret” Weapon Against Iran’s Nuclear Weapons

Monday, September 28th, 2009

By Barry Rubin

Remember the name Uzi Rubin because he might emerge as the most important individual in the issue of Iran’s nuclear weapons drive. Rubin is the former head of Israel’s missile defense program and now a defense consultant. He has developed the best alternative (or supplement) to blocking the dangers of a radical Islamist, genocidal-oriented, terrorist supporting, antisemitic regime having nuclear-tipped missiles pointed at Israel.

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Our Common Foe: Obama should support the Iranian people by speaking out against their oppressors

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

by Michael Rubin*

Tear gas was still wafting through the streets of Tehran when, at a June 23 White House press conference, The Huffington Post’s Nico Pitney conveyed an Iranian’s question to President Obama: “Under which conditions would you accept the election of [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad? And if you do accept it without any significant changes in the conditions there, isn’t that a betrayal of what the demonstrators there are working towards?”

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North Korea Takes Missile Aim at Hawaii

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

By Andrew L. Jaffee

North Korean “fearless leader” Kim Jong-il seems to be planning another missile “test” — aka a plan for harassment and/or extortion against the West — this time taking aim at Hawaii. Kim will probably get away with it again… and be offered some kind of concessions to placate his lunacy (see below). From the AP:

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Iran: Yes, Stealing an Election and Imposing Ahmadinejad is Rather Significant

Monday, June 15th, 2009

By Barry Rubin

Many Western analysts and journalists are treating the stolen election in Iran as something of no international significance. After all, they say, it is only an internal matter. Why should it affect Western attempts to engage with the Islamist regime?

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Israel and America: Neither Surrender nor Confrontation

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

By Barry Rubin

The United States demands that Israel stop construction on settlements. If this doesn’t happen, it hints at dire retaliation.

If Israel agrees to this step, President Barack Obama promises great things. First, he claims this will bring dramatic progress toward Israel-Palestinian peace.

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Analysis: Damascus Gets What it Needs

Friday, May 29th, 2009

By Jonathan Spyer

In his letter to Congress announcing the renewal of US sanctions on Syria, President Barack Obama was specific regarding the reasons for his decision.
Syria, the President said, was “supporting terrorism, pursuing weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, and undermining US and international efforts with respect to the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq.”

These three accusations are related to verifiable activity currently being undertaken by the Damascus regime. Syria’s activity in turn reflects the firmness of the regime’s strategic choice to align itself with the regional alliance led by Iran.

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