WarSclerotic

Mullen to make unplanned stop in Israel after Afghanistan visit – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff speaks to IDF Chief of Staff on a weekly basis on a secure line connecting their respective offices.
U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen was to arrive in Israel on Sunday for a meeting with Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and senior Israeli military staff. The meeting was to follow the recent visit by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to Washington, and the annual strategic dialogue between Israel and the U.S. in Tel Aviv.

	U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen at the Senate on June 17, 2010
	Photo by: Reuters

Mullen’s unplanned visit to Israel comes as an unscheduled stopover following a visit to Afghanistan. Mullen met with Afghan leaders in Kabul as well as the heads of the U.S. army and NATO in Afghanistan to brief them on the dismissal of the commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal.

McChrystal was relieved of his command after he and his aides made disparaging comments about the U.S. administration in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. U.S. President Barack Obama has named General David Petraeus as his replacement.

Over the last year, the cooperation between the Israeli and American militaries has grown tremendously in a string of joint exercises and the constant exchange of intel.

Ashkenazi and Mullen speak on a secure line connecting their respective offices every week, and meet somewhere in the world every several months. Mullen last visited Israel some two months ago, when he said at a press conference that an attack against Iran would be a last resort.

During his brief visit on Sunday, Mullen was to meet with the heads of the military intelligence and planning units. The meeting was to focus on the preparation by both Israel and the U.S. for the possibility of a nuclear capable Iran.

The meetings with Mullen were to include Israel’s Navy commander Eliezer Marom, which was likely to bring the topic of last month’s raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship into the discussion. In the raid, nine Turkish activists were killed by Israeli navy commandos.

The IDF views Mullen as someone who is capable of effectively presenting Israel’s stance in Washington. Officials hope that Mullen will become convinced during his visit that Israel acted appropriately during the May 31 raid of the Mavi Marmara, and that Israel should be allowed to investigate the event independently, without U.S. interference.

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

Tags: Erdogan Israel-Turkey Kurdish PKK US

Turkish army blames Erdogan for setbacks against rebels

As he took off for the G20 summit opening in Toronto Saturday, June 26, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan came under an exceptionally acerbic US rebuke for a NATO member. He was accused of alienating the US and the West and told he needed to demonstrate Ankara’s commitment to their (NATO) partnership by Philip Gordon, top US diplomat on European affairs, in a clear rejection of the Turkish prime minister’s assertion in parliament Tuesday June 15: “There’s no shift in Turkey’s axis. Turkey is not a city state, it’s not a state on which agendas are imposed,” he said.

Taking Turkey to task for opposing the new UN sanctions on Iran and its anti-Israel rhetoric over the pro-Palestinian flotilla incident, the US official pointed out:  “There are people asking questions about it in a way that is new, and that in itself is a bad thing that makes it harder for the United States to support some of the things that Turkey would like to see us support.”

The Turkish prime minister is also in hot water at home, according to our military sources. Before he flew to Canada, his generals, led by chief of staff Gen. Ilker Basbug, demand that he publicly disavow his insinuations that Israel had a hand in the new Kurdish rebel offensive against the Turkish military. His campaign against Israel, they charged, had caused him to neglect the front against the Kurdish PKK rebels, as a result of which Turkish military deaths were rising. Since June 19, 18 soldiers and several civilians had died in eastern Turkey and Istanbul and 50 in the last two months.

Erdogan promised to consider issuing this disavowal but had not done so before his departure even though high-placed sources in Washington say it would have improved his prospects of seeing the US president and helped ease the frictions between Ankara and Jerusalem. Instead, he was treated to a cold shower from a high-placed US official over Ankara’s turn towards Tehran and its allies and campaign against Israel, instead of the certain prospect of a meeting with US President Barack Obama in Toronto.
Following his tour of the Kurdish-Iraqi front lines Sunday, June 20, the General Staff announced on Friday, June 25, that it will “professionalize the operational military forces serving at the borders in parallel with the process of professionalizing six commando brigades to counter terrorism.”
During that tour, Turkish military leaders warned their prime minister that by snidely accusing Israel – “We all know who is behind PKK attacks” – he is helping the rebel Kurdish Workers Party’s (PKK) cause and encouraging them to redouble their attacks on Turkish troops from their havens in the Qandil Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan

They stressed that no intelligence data bore out this accusation and, by dragging Israel into the conflict, Erdogan encouraged the Iraqi Kurdistan president Masoud Barzani to strengthen his military and intelligence ties with Israel and the PKK at the expense of relations with Turkey, when his main objective should be to persuade Barzani to stop giving them sanctuary.
Pressed again, the Turkish prime minister promised to clear the air. His aides then promised a retraction to ward of pressure from another quarter, Washington, over his deepening ties with Tehran, Syria and Hizballah, in response to concerns voiced by the visiting US State Department’s first special representative to the Muslim Communities, Farah Pandith.

The invitation Erdogan extended to Hizballah’s Hassan Nasrallah to pay an official visit to Ankara (which debkafile first revealed on June 22) had raised the dust in the Obama administration. In the event, the visit was called off – though not by Ankara but by the Hizballah leader who feared that no security service could promise him a safe return home.
Beset by rising acrimony from Washington, charges of neglecting national security at home and the Turkish armed forces’ inability to contend with the PKK’s onslaught, Erdogan has temporarily shelved his threatened operations against Israel.

Since the pro-Palestinian flotilla led by the Turkish Mavi Marmara was intercepted and redirected to Israeli Ashdod on May 31 – leaving nine Turkish activists dead – no further attempts have been made to break Israel’s Gaza blockade, whether by Turkey, Iran or Lebanon. Iran, reluctant to carry the can on its own, announced Friday its “aid ship” was delayed by “restrictions from the occupying Zionist regime,” while the Turkish prime minister decided to heed a confidential appeal from Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri not to allow Lebanese craft to set out from Turkey, or ports from Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus, after Israel warned they would be treated as “enemy vessels.”

The Turkish leader has set aside some of his more provocative actions for the time being, but debkafile‘s Ankara sources stress he has not given up on his dream to raise his country to the pinnacle of a new Muslim Middle East bloc – in the first instance, by throwing in Turkey’s lot with the most radical Middle East forces dedicated to Israel’s destruction.

Sue Myrick demands Homeland Security probe of terror group’s presence on US-Mexican border

Yitzhak Benhorin

Published: 06.26.10, 08:48 / Israel News

WASHINGTON – North Carolina Congresswoman Sue Myrick warned Friday that Hezbollah may be colluding with drug cartels on the US-Mexican border, and called on Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to investigate the matter.

Lebanese national suspected of funneling money to Shiite group in South America’s tri-border area detained by Interpol. Justice officials consider whether to extradite him to US

Fox News reported Myrick is arguing that the Lebanese militia would soon begin threatening the US as it does Israel.

“It is vital we know what is happening on our border, especially as crime and violence continue to rise there and as terrorist plots and threats are increasing inside the US,” she wrote.

Hezbollah has been known for years to operate drug trafficking rings in South America, especially on the Brazil-Argentina-Paraguay border, but recently claims have been surfacing that it has stepped into the Mexican drug trade as well.

Myrick said Hezbollah’s drug agents undergo Spanish language lessons sponsored by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, after which they disguise themselves as Mexican civilians in order to obtain false US entry passes.

She added that the group has experience with tunnel-digging, which may put the US-Mexican border at risk for further infiltration.

The congresswoman, who is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said members of drug cartels imprisoned in South America have been spotted lately tattooing Persian writing on their bodies, evidence of Iranian involvement.

“Persian influence that can likely be traced back to Iran and its proxy army, Hezbollah,” she said.

In her appeal to Napolitano, Myrick quoted a senior Mexican army official who says Hezbollah agents may even be training cartel members to make bombs. “This might lead to Israel-like car bombings of Mexican/USA border personnel or National Guard units,” she said.

via Congresswoman: Hezbollah joining Mexican drug cartels – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Lebanon: Israel can only threaten – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri responds to Minister Landau’s vow to defend offshore drilling with force by saying Israel ‘can do nothing but threaten, frighten Lebanese’; adds: ‘Stability in Lebanon is what is threatening Israel’

Ynet

bama welcomes Iran sanctions.

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration welcomed Congressional approval of sweeping Iran sanctions Friday, after months of reservations and negotiations over the legislation.

The Associated Press: US: Turkey must demonstrate commitment to West.

WASHINGTON — The United States is warning Turkey that it is alienating U.S. supporters and needs to demonstrate its commitment to partnership with the West.

The remarks by Philip Gordon, the Obama administration’s top diplomat on European affairs, were a rare admonishment of a crucial NATO ally.

“We think Turkey remains committed to NATO, Europe and the United States, but that needs to be demonstrated,” Gordon told The Associated Press in an interview this week. “There are people asking questions about it in a way that is new, and that in itself is a bad thing that makes it harder for the United States to support some of the things that Turkey would like to see us support.”

Gordon cited Turkey’s vote against a U.S.-backed United Nations Security Council resolution on new sanctions against Iran and noted Turkish rhetoric after Israel’s deadly assault on a Gaza-bound flotilla last month. The Security Council vote came shortly after Turkey and Brazil, to Washington’s annoyance, had brokered a nuclear fuel-swap deal with Iran as an effort to delay or avoid new sanctions.

Some U.S. lawmakers who have supported Turkey warned of consequences for Ankara since the Security Council vote and the flotilla raid that left eight Turks and one Turkish-American dead. The lawmakers accused Turkey of supporting a flotilla that aimed to undermine Israel’s blockade of Gaza and of cozying up to Iran.

The raid has led to chilling of ties between Turkey and Israel, countries that have long maintained a strategic alliance in the Middle East.

Turkey’s ambassador to the United States, Namik Tan, expressed surprise at Gordon’s comments. He said Turkey’s commitment to NATO remains strong and should not be questioned.

“I think this is unfair,” he said.

Tan said Turkish officials have explained repeatedly to U.S. counterparts that voting against the proposed sanctions was the only credible decision after the Turkish-brokered deal with Iran. Turkey has opposed sanctions as ineffective and damaging to its interests with an important neighbor. It has said that it hopes to maintain channels with Tehran to continue looking for a solution to the standoff over Iran’s alleged nuclear arms ambitions.

“We couldn’t have voted otherwise,” Tan said. “We put our own credibility behind this thing.”

Tan said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was expected to discuss these issues with President Barack Obama on the margins of a summit of world economic powers in Toronto on Saturday.

Gordon said Turkey’s explanations of the U.N. episode have not been widely understood in Washington.

Senators urge Obama to prevent one-sided resolutions against Israel from passing.

Boarding of the Mavi Marmara brought violence to Israeli soldiers forced to fight back in defense.

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Israel cannot be blamed for its defense; Hamas cannot help but celebrate the violence they provoked

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• “The United States has traditionally stood with Israel because it is in our national security interest and must continue to do so. Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East and a vibrant democracy. ….it is our national interest to support Israel at a moment when Israel faces multiple threats from Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the current regime in Iran.”

Those sentences are part of a letter submitted to President Obama from 87 Senators, including the two from Washington State, which urged President Obama to oppose a U.N. resolution criticizing Israel’s handling of a flotilla.

The Senators express that Israel was acting in self defense when its troops boarded ships in the flotilla and that Israel, often singled out for criticism by the United Nations, has a right to defend itself.

• “[V]ideo footage shows that the Israeli commandos who arrived on the sixth ship, which was owned by the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (the IHH), were brutally attacked with iron rods, knives, and broken glass. They were forced to respond to that attack and we regret the loss of life that resulted.”

The letter goes on to question any connection between Turkey and Hamas and requests an examination in order to find an answer. The IHH is a member of a group, Union of Good, which was designated as a terrorist organization and strongly supports Hamas.

A similar letter with 307 (out of 435) signatures has been circulated in the House.

April 7, 2010:  About 60 retired United States Generals and Admirals wrote a letter urging Obama to recognize that Israel’s success is intertwined with America’s because of shared values and threats to our well-being. “The dissemination of hatred and support of terrorism by violent extremists in the name of Islam, whether state or non-state actors, must be addressed as a threat to global peace. In the Middle East, a volatile region so vital to U.S. interests, it would be foolish to disengage – or denigrate – an ally such as Israel.”

Israel is America’s Most Loyal Ally!
as shown through past records in both the U.S. State Department and United Nations:

Israel’s voting record:
1999 Israel voted WITH America 90% of the time!
2000 Israel voted WITH America 96.2% of the time!
2001 Israel voted WITH America 100% of the time!
2002 Israel voted WITH America 92.6% of the time!
2003 Israel voted WITH America 89% of the time!

Voting record of other allies, 2003:
Great Britain voted with America 60% of the time.
Australia voted with America 56% of the time.
France voted with America 54% of the time.
Canada voted with America 49% of the time.
Japan voted with America 42% of the time.

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