For What it’s Worth-10-24-2012 Part 1 – YouTube.
A series of vids I hope to make on a daily basis regarding stories posted on “A Sclerotic Goes to War.”
Topics covered include:
1. The 80 rockets that have fallen since last night and the government’s response.
2. Sudan claims Israel bombed it’s arms factory.
3. Obama’s “Romnesia” focus is clever but likely to backfire.
Any and all feedback in the comments on this post would be most appreciated.
Joseph Wouk
Part One
Part Two
Iran weighs tougher line in stalled nuclear talks – Israel News, Ynetnews.
Islamic Republic said to be mulling tougher position in atom negotiations. ‘Sanctions have been harmful but will never make us give up our nuclear activities,’ Tehran official says
Associated Press
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Iranian officials said Wednesday that the country is considering a harder line in nuclear talks with world powers: Threatening to step up uranium enrichment unless the West makes immediate concessions on sanctions.
The proposed demands, outlined by senior Iranian officials this week, have not been adopted as a negotiating policy, but they suggest economic pressures have pushed Iran to consider ultimatum-style tactics to seek relief from sanctions.Nuclear submarines are powered by fuel ranging from 20% purity to more than 90%. Many US submarines use nuclear fuel enriched to more than 90%, the same level used to build atomic bombs.
Boosting enrichment levels also would push Iran’s nuclear program far closer to the “red line” set by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to consider possible military options and shift world opinion away from trying to rein in Iran through economic pressures and diplomacy.
Mansour Haghighatpour, deputy head of the parliament’s influential National Security Committee, said failure to negotiate a deal could clear the way for Iran to enrich uranium above the current highest level, 20%.
The West fears Iran’s enrichment program could lead to nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Several rounds of talkshave produced little progress. No date has been set for their resumption.
“The West now has a chance to strike a deal with Iran. Perhaps we may need to produce nuclear fuel for large commercial vessels that need 60 percent purity,” he told The Associated Press in an interview.
That would mark a dramatic move toward the threshold for warhead-grade material at about 90% and would certainly bring a sharp escalation in calls for military action from Israel and others in the West.
Iran denies it seeks nuclear weapons, but there have been suggestions it could ramp up uranium enrichment to future projects such as nuclear-powered submarines.
The tougher line outlined by officials has not been made public and it is still unclear whether it will be adopted as a negotiating position.
But the fact it is under review suggests Iran is eager for a sweeping deal to lift sanctions and could try to jolt the West with a now-or-never choice: Roll back the sanctions or face a stepped up Iranian nuclear program.
“The West feels sanctions are biting and this is forcing Iran to return to the negotiating table. That’s wrong. We never left the table. Sanctions have been harmful but will never make us give up our nuclear activities,” said lawmaker Hossein Naqavi, spokesman for the parliament Security Committee. “Pressures, sanctions and military threats won’t make us retreat.”
Many Iranian lawmakers and conservative clerics have said in recent months that Iran should enrich uranium to higher levels for proposed vessels such as nuclear-powered oil tankers. Iran currently has no such ships.
Nuclear-powered vessels other than warships are rare, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has said in the past that nuclear-powered merchant ships would be uneconomical.
But Iran’s deputy navy chief in charge of technical affairs, Admiral Abbas Zamini, said in June that Iran has begun “initial stages” of designing a nuclear submarine. The West has raised concerns that Iran might cite submarine and other nuclear-powered vessel construction as a justification for producing weapons-grade 90 percent enriched uranium.
Barak: No need to rush into Gaza ground incursion | The Times of Israel.
Defense minister says peace should be pursued alongside the war on terror; opposition leader Mofaz says government’s inconsistency emboldens Hamas
Defense Minister Ehud Barak responded to the escalation in the south Wednesday by saying that a ground incursion into Gaza is an option, but that such a step need not be taken hastily.
“If we need a ground operation there will be a ground operation. We will do whatever necessary to stop this wave [of violence],” Barak said during an interview with Israel Radio.
“I trust the IDF’s chief of staff and the head of the Southern Command, and if they believe it’s necessary — and if it’s what the government decides on — then yes, it’s not out of the question,” the defense minister said.
Some 60 rockets and mortars were fired from Gaza into Israel between Tuesday night and Wednesday noon, injuring three foreign workers — two of them critically — and forcing schools in affected areas near the Strip to close for the day. The barrage led the IDF to retaliate several times, striking terror squads, some of which were in the process of launching rockets.
When asked whether a new reality was establishing itself in the south, Barak answered: “No, we haven’t gotten accustomed to this. But there are bad people in the area who want to hurt us, and our citizens.”
“The situation is much better than it was 10 years ago, and today we have [the] Iron Dome [missile defense system] — which is very important to note; some rockets were intercepted last night,” said Barak. “The fact that terrorists succeed in harming us once in a while doesn’t mean we’re not organized.”
He added that Israel killed 15 terror leaders in Gaza over the past week in response to the mounting rocket attacks. He also extended sympathy to IDF officer Ziv Shilon, who was seriously injured Tuesday by a roadside bomb near the Gaza border.
The defense minister also said he does not see the recent escalation in the south as related to the Qatari emir’s visit to Gaza on Tuesday — the first visit to the Strip’s Hamas leadership by a head of state — saying that the rise of Islamic extremism around the Arab world was likely the real culprit.
“I don’t think we can negotiate with Hamas… It needs to take certain steps, and if it had taken them, it would be trying to prevent terror,” Barak explained.
He also noted that fighting terror and maintaining Israel’s military edge are not diametrically opposed to advancing peace. “It’s vitally important to pursue an agreement [with the Palestinian Authority], in order to have a Jewish state, and, next to it, a Palestinian state. Otherwise the degradation will continue, and we will approach a bi-national state — one in which Jews would not be the majority.”
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said that Israel would not long suffer fire on its citizens and anticipated a further escalation of violence unless the Palestinians cease their attacks. He told visiting EU foreign policy chief that the situation was “unacceptable” and that Israel would not maintain its current restraint for many more days.
Opposition leader Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) blamed the government for allowing Hamas to take the initiative in the use of force. The former defense minister said the government’s inconsistent responses to Palestinian attacks had emboldened Hamas.
“Netanyahu’s stammering on security issues comes at a price,” said Mofaz. “Instead of fear-mongering on Iran, we need a decisive defense policy.” He said Israel needs to regain its deterrence by striking a decisive blow.
Labor leader Shelly Yachimovich said she supports the prime minister’s position on Gaza and wouldn’t call on him to escalate the situation further.
White House Responds to Release of Real-Time Emails About Benghazi Attack – ABC News.
The White House this morning attempted to down-play the significance of emails sent to top national security officials during the attack on the diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, one of which suggested a known terrorist group claimed credit for the attack in its immediate aftermath.
As obtained by ABC News’ John Parkinson and posted last night, the emails seem to be ones sent by the State Department Operations Center to distribution lists and email accounts for the top national security officials at the State Department, Pentagon, the FBI, the White House Situation Room and the office of the Director of National Intelligence.
One of the emails reported that officials that Ansar al-Sharia claimed responsibility for the Benghazi attack on Facebook and Twitter, and had threatened to attack the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli.
In the first couple weeks after the attack, the White House and Obama administration generally blamed the attack on a demonstration an anti-Muslim video that got out of control. On September 14, White House press secretary Jay Carney asserted that “we have no information to suggest that it was a preplanned attack.” Only later would the Obama administration say the attack was planned.
White House officials maintained that the emails don’t contradict what the White House believed at that point, based on the intelligence community’s assessment of the attack. The views of the intelligence community are valued far more than Facebook and twitter claims, officials said, describing that email as an unclassified ops alert email, not a vetted intelligence assessment. It was not definitive, but rather the act of flagging open source reporting referencing a Facebook post, and – officials noted — on September 17, Ansar al-Sharia denied responsibility for the attack.
Carney today told reporters that there were emails about all sorts of information that was coming available in the aftermath of the attack. “There was a variety of information coming in,” Carney said. “The whole point of an intelligence community and what they do is to assess strands of information and make judgments about what happened and who was responsible.”
Moreover, officials said, the intelligence community still believes there wasn’t a tremendous amount of planning before the attack. A terrorist group carrying it out doesn’t mean it wasn’t an opportunistic attack, officials said.
The first email, with a subject line of “U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi Under Attack,” sent about 25 minutes after the attack began, states: “Regional Security Officer reports the diplomatic mission is under attack. Embassy Tripoli reports approximately 20 armed people fired shots; explosions have been heard as well. Ambassador Stevens, who is currently in Benghazi, and four COM (Chief of Mission) personnel are in the compound safe haven. The 17th of February militia is providing security support.”
The next email sent at 4:54 PM states that the shooting has stopped and the compound was cleared, adding that a response team was “onsite attempting to locate COM personnel.”
-Jake Tapper and John Parkinson
New salvos hit the south Wednesday afternoon; school canceled for the day; residents ordered to stay close to ‘secure rooms’; three foreign workers hurt in morning hit on chicken coop
Palestinian terrorists in Gaza continued their rocket assault on Israel Wednesday afternoon after a three-hour pause in the attacks, which have seen dozens of missiles target the south in the past two days. More than 80 rockets and shells had been fired into Israel Wednesday by late afternoon.
A salvo of eight rockets fell on Hof Ashkelon just after midday, shattering the quiet that had descended for a few hours after a series of rocket attacks in the morning. Another two projectiles were fired at the Hevel Eshkol area. There were no reports of injury or damage in the latest attacks.
Three foreign workers were injured in Wednesday morning attacks when a rocket hit the chicken coop they were working in, and several houses were damaged by other missiles. At least two other people were reported lightly injured in the strikes. Some of those hurt in the attacks were flown by helicopter to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.
School was cancelled in areas close to Gaza on Wednesday, and residents were told to remain within 15 seconds of “secure rooms” in case of further attacks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on a tour of the Iron Dome missile defense facility near the coastal town of Ashkelon, said, “It was not Israel that initiated this escalation, but if it goes on we are prepared to take more extensive action.”
He also promised to fortify every building in communities 4.5 to 7 kilometers from the Strip, where until now only educational facilities had been protected.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, speaking to Army Radio, said, “There are about 1,700 households that need fortification, but that said, the situation was a lot more difficult in the past because there was no Iron Dome.”
On Wednesday morning, Iron Dome intercepted seven Grads fired at Ashkelon. In the afternoon the system stopped another missile fired at the city.
France sharply condemned the rocket fire on Israel, urging restraint from both sides.
Since Tuesday afternoon Palestinian terror groups in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip have fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells at southern Israel. The incoming missiles were a mix of Gaza-produced Kassam missiles and military-grade Grad rockets that have a longer range and larger warhead.
Palestinian mourners carry the body of Mohammed Sheikh, 23, killed by an Israeli air strike on Gaza on Wednesday, Oct. 24 (photo credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
The IDF has responded to the barrages by targeting terror cells and Hamas installations in the Gaza Strip. Three Palestinians were killed in overnight airstrikes.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz called a meeting Tuesday to assess the situation and toured some of the sites that were hit in attacks.
Barak said he could not rule out a ground invasion if fire continued. “If we need a ground operation there will be a ground operation. We will do whatever necessary to stop this wave” of violence, he told Army Radio on Wednesday.
“It’s important for the government to think before it decides. This move will bring escalation and not peace — there is no way to reconcile with the terror from Gaza. We are considering everything we need and examining everything. If there will be no choice and the fire continues, they will be struck hard, nothing is impossible,” he said.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Israel was facing “a serious escalation” in the south. Speaking before a meeting with visiting EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, he said Israel would “not tolerate” the ongoing rocket fire for much longer.
Sudan Claims Israel Bombed Its Ammunition Factory – Global – The Atlantic Wire.
A mysterious explosion leveled an ammunition factory in Sudan last night, but the Sudanese government is now claiming the building was bombed by Israeli warplanes.
The Sudanese information minister told a news conference that four military planes came out of the east to strike the factory in Khartoum. “We think Israel did the bombing,” said Ahmed Bilal Osman. The military sealed off all roads to the plant, keeping journalists and others at bay as the fire was brought under control. There were no reported casualties.
This isn’t the first time that Israel has been accused of such attacks. In January 2009, a truck convoy was destroyed in the Sudanese desert and there were two similar attacks in December of last year, though details of how and where they happened were conflicted. In all the instances, the vehicles that were hit were allegedly smuggling explosives to Hamas fighters in Gaza, courtesy of Iran. Israel would not confirm or deny their involvement.
The timing of this attack is interesting, as Israel is currently involved in a battle with Hamas. Their forces have spent the last two days exchanging rocket fire with Gaza. Dozens of rockets and mortar shells began falling into southern Israel on Tuesday injuring as many as six people, and the Israel Defense Forces responded with tank shells and fighter planes on Wednesday, killing four people. The escalation may have been sparked by the recent visit to Gaza by the Emir of Qatar, who expressed support for the Hamas leadership before leaving on Tuesday—although he had expressly encouraged them to avoid more confrontations with Israel.
Sudan accuses Israel of bombing, threatens to retaliate, Sudan, news, StarAfrica.com.
Sudan on Wednesday accused Israel of bombing a military factory and threatened retaliation after the attack that killed two people.
“We think Israel did the bombing,” Culture and Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman told a news conference.
“We reserve the right to react at a place and time we choose.”
He said four aircraft were involved in the attack, which occurred at about midnight (2100 GMT) Tuesday at the Yarmouk military manufacturing facility in south Khartoum.
Evidence pointing to Israel was found among remnants of the explosives, he said.
Residents had said that an aircraft or missile flew over the factory shortly before it exploded and burst into flames.
An AFP reporter several kilometres (miles) away saw two or three fires flaring across a wide area, with heavy smoke and intermittent flashes of white light bursting above the facility.
“I heard a sound like a plane in the sky, but I didn’t see any light from a plane. Then I heard two explosions, and fire erupted in the compound,” said an area resident who asked to be identified only as Faize.
Witnesses said the explosions started at about midnight on Tuesday.
A woman living south of the Yarmouk compound also reported two initial blasts.
“I saw a plane coming from east to west and I heard explosions and there was a short length of time between the first one and the second one,” she said, asking not to be named.
“Then I saw fire and our neighbour’s house was hit by shrapnel, causing minor damage. The windows of my own house rattled after the second explosion.”
Abdul Rahman Al-Khider, the governor of Khartoum state, told official media that preliminary investigation found that the explosion happened in a store room.
He dismissed speculation that “other reasons” caused the incident.
Khider said some people were hospitalised because of smoke inhalation but he gave no numbers.
In 1998 Human Rights Watch said that a coalition of Sudanese opposition groups had alleged that Sudan stored chemical weapons for Iraq at the Yarmouk facility but government officials strenuously denied the charges.
In August of that year United States cruise missiles struck the al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in North Khartoum, which the US said was linked to chemical weapons production. Evidence for that claim later proved questionable.
The sprawling Yarmouk facility is surrounded by barbed wire and set back about two kilometres (miles) from the district’s main road, meaning signs of damage were not visible later Wednesday when an AFP reporter visited.
But at least three houses in the neighbourhood had been punctured by shrapnel which left walls and a fence with holes about 20-centimetres (eight inches) in diameter, the reporter said.
There was also slight damage to a Coca-Cola warehouse.
A source familiar with the Yarmouk factory said its main compound and storage area had not been damaged by the explosions or fire.
Hannan, a resident who gave only one name, said some people had fled the area on foot because of the early-morning explosions, while others put their children in cars ready to make a getaway.
The fires appeared to be extinguished by 03:30 am (0030 GMT), more than three hours after they began, an AFP reporter said.
There have been other mysterious blasts in Sudan.
On the country’s Red Sea coast in May one person was killed when a car exploded, about a year after Sudan blamed Israel for an air strike on a vehicle in the same area. Witnesses to the May incident said they heard a big blast that set the car ablaze and left two holes in the ground.
In January 2009, foreign aircraft struck a truck convoy reportedly laden with weapons in eastern Sudan.
A September report from the Small Arms Survey, a Swiss-based independent research project, said evidence from weapons packaging suggests that Chinese-origin arms and ammunition are exported to the Yarmouk facility.
From there they have subsequently moved to Sudan’s far-west Darfur region which has been plagued by conflict for almost a decade, the report said.
Small Arms Survey said it was not clear whether Yarmouk served simply as a recipient “or whether they repackage or even assemble the Chinese-made weapons.”
Khartoum is seeking the removal of United States sanctions imposed in 1997 over support for international terrorism, its human rights record and other concerns.
© 2012 AFP
On November 5th, 2009, Major Nidal Hasan was standing among his fellow Soldiers at the Personnel Processing Center on Fort Hood, Texas. The center is a hub on post where Soldiers do the necessary paperwork before and after a combat deployment. Its here that they complete wills and powers of attorney and the myriad of other personal details that need to be addressed before they ship out to defend our freeedom in harm’s way, leaving their worried wives, husbands and children at home.
It was there, surrounded by our heroes that US Army Major Nidal Hasan opened fire. Eye witness reports state that he was shouting “Allah Akbar” as he gunned down and killed 13 Soldiers and civilians, including a pregnant woman and wounded another 31.
On November 17th 2009, Texas Senator John Cornyn introduced a bill to the Senate that would authorize awarding the Purple Heart Medal to those military victims. It would also award the civilian equivilent, the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom, to the civilian victims. The bill was co-sponsored by Senators Hutchison of Texas and Lieberman of Connecticut. In the House, the bill was introduced by Representative John Carter.
31.201385498047 ; -97.70922088623
In an article on Novembere 17th, 2009, CNN quoted Congressman Carter as saying “As far as I’m concerned, this was an attack by an enemy upon American troops on American soil,” Carter said Tuesday at a Capitol Hill news conference. The bill “is about giving soldiers the benefits that other soldiers get when they are unfortunate enough to be killed or wounded in a combat zone.”
The debate is whether or not the person shooting them was an enemy combatant. The Obama administration has called the shooting an incident of “workplace violence.” If the president acknowledges the Fort Hood shooting an act of terror and Nidal Hassan as an enemy combatant, that would run contrary to his campaign talking points that Al Qaida specifically and terror in general is “on the run.:”
This follows the same narrative of refusing to call the attack in Benghazi, Libya a terrorist attack. In that instance, the administration initially blamed the attack on our consulate that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans on a spontaneous uprising caused by an anti-Islam video.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly on 25 September, Obama mentioned this video six times. Never did he call the attack on U.S. soverreign soil that killed four Americans an act of terror.
A provision was added to the 2012 Defense Appropriations Act that would authorize the Purple Heart Medal for the victims of both the Fort Hood attack and the attack on Soldiers in Arkansas in 2009.
That was one of 32 provisions in the bill that president rejected. In a report from the Office of Management and Budget, keeping the provision for the Purple Hearts would cause the president to veto the bill.
“The Administration objects to section 552, which would grant Purple Hearts to the victims of the shooting incidents in Fort Hood, Texas, and Little Rock, Arkansas,” the veto threat states. “The criminal acts that occurred in Little Rock were tried by the State of Arkansas as violations of the State criminal code rather than as acts of terrorism; as a result, this provision could create appellate issues” (http://bit.ly/K8otuM).
On June 1, 2009, Muslim convert Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, who had spent time in Yemen and was an avowed jihadist, killed one soldier and wounded another in a drive-by shooting on a military recruiting office in Little Rock. He pleaded guilty to murder, avoiding trial and the death penalty, and was sentenced to life in prison.
If these Soldiers were in Iraq or Afghanistan and were shot and killed simply because of the uniforms they wore, there would be no question they would receive the Purple Heart. These Soldiers were standing in Texas and Arkansas, but were still killed by a Muslim extremist simply because of the uniform they wore and what that uniform represented.
According to Army Regulation 600-8-22, among the conditions for which the Purple Heart Medal is authorized reads:
“The Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the President of the United States and per 10 USC 1131, effective 19 May 1998, is limited to members of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under component authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after 5 April 1917, has been wounded or killed, or who has died or may hereafter die after being wounded.
A member described in this subsection is a member who is killed or wounded in action by weapon fire while directly engaged in armed conflict, other than as the result of an act of an enemy of the United States, unless (in the case of a wound) the wound is the result of willful misconduct of the member.”
The regulation continues…”It is not intended that such a strict interpretation of the requirement for the wound or injury to be caused by direct result of hostile action be taken that it would preclude the award being made to deserving personnel. Commanders must also take into consideration the circumstances surrounding an injury, even if it appears to meet the criteria.”
Unfortunately for these brave Soldiers, the circumstances surrounding their deaths and wounds were that they ran didn’t fit into President Obama’s narrative that terrorism perpetrated by Muslim extremists doesn’t exist.
Iraqi vice president: Iran supplying Assad through ground convoys | The Cable.
Posted By Josh Rogin 
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 – 3:47 PM
For several months, the U.S. government has been urging the Iraqi government to stop Iran from supplying arms to the Syrian regime through commercial flights over Iraqi airspace, but a larger amount of supplies is now crossing Iraq via convoys on the ground, Iraq’s exiled Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi told The Cable.
Hashimi has been living in Turkey following his indictment and subsequent conviction in absentia by Iraqi government courts that he says are working with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The Central Criminal Court of Iraq sentenced him to death last month for allegedlyparticipating in acts of terrorism against his own political opponents,, charges widely seen as political in nature.
But Hashimi is still technically the vice president and he is fighting for what he calls a “fair trial.” He argues that Maliki has hijacked the Iraqi political system and become beholden to Iranian interests, which include supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Hashimi said he has evidence and reports from politicians, from officers in the Interior Ministry, and from Iraqi intelligence officials, all pointing to a growing and active ground transport route from Iran to Syria. The route crosses through the Zarbatia checkpoint on the Iran-Iraq border, west of the Iranian town of Mehran, flows through the city of Karbala, and crosses over to Syria via the al-Qaim border crossing, he said.
“The transit is not only aerial using Iraqi airspace, but the ground transit is becoming a phenomenon. Munitions, heavy arms, and even militias are passing checkpoints without any sort of obstruction,” Hashimi said in a telephone interview. “I am very afraid the U.S. and the international community is only focused on the aerial transit and leaving behind the ground transit. Everything should be checked now.”
“The convoys from Iran continue on this route without any checking. A huge number of busses and trucks are passing the checkpoints all the way from the Iranian border to the Syrian border, passing through al-Anbar [province] without stopping at the checkpoints,” he said. “If these convoys are carrying ordinary passengers, they should stop at least to stamp their passports. If they are carrying food and medicine, why are they not stopping at the checkpoints?”
A U.S. administration official confirmed to The Cable that the U.S. government suspects Iraq is still allowing Iran to ship supplies to Assad via both air and land routes, but that there’s no way to prove that Maliki is lying when he says the shipments contain only humanitarian supplies.
“The U.S. administration has enough evidence to prove that al-Maliki is violating his obligations not only towards the U.S. but towards the U.N. and the Arab League,” Hashimi maintained, adding that when Iraq does inspect the occasional commercial flight from Iran, Tehran is warned in advance so that those specific flights don’t contain military supplies.
Maliki’s continued and often vocal support for Assad is a clear indication that he is aligning Iraqi foreign policy toward Iran and away from U.S. and Western interests, Hashimi said.
“The American administration should be aware that because of unique ties with Iran, the Maliki government will never be able to resist any sort of demand coming from Tehran. This means that the foreign policy of Iraq is now being geared politically and religiously to be aligned with Iran policy. This is just a matter of fact,” he said. “We should expect many, many, many , many attempts to bypass and circumvent sanctions against Iran and Syria by Iraq.”
Since 2006, Maliki has not only been cozying up to Iran, but he has also ignored his commitment to pursue power sharing in the Iraqi government and now acts as the prime minister, commander in chief, minister of defense, minister of interior, and head of intelligence, Hashimi said.
The United States has lost significant influence in Iraq but still has both the ability and the responsibility to urge Iraq to continue down the road to becoming a stable, moderate, democracy governed by the rule of law, he said.
“At the end of the day, you have paid a cost and we have paid a cost, and what was the result of that? That Iraq should just become an ally of Iran?” Hashimi said. “If the mission has not been fulfilled, the U.S. must continue to fulfill its ethical and moral obligation and the Iraqis are very much still in need of their help.”
Israel Hayom | Analysis: Israel emerges from presidential debate as big winner.
Not only was Israel mentioned by Obama and Romney 34 times (compared to one mention of the Palestinians), the two went out of their way to compete over who is more committed to the security of “our most important ally in the Middle East.”
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The president and his Republican rival promised that if Israel were to be attacked by Iran, they would “stand by its side.”
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Photo credit: AP
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The winner of the third televised presidential debate is a matter of opinion, but when it comes to Israel’s status in the United States, there is no doubt that this country received extremely positive reinforcement from both candidates on Monday night.
Not only was the word “Israel” said by President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney a total of 34 times throughout the debate, but the two went out of their way to compete over who is more committed to the security of “our most important ally in the Middle East.”
Both men promised that if Israel were to be attacked by Iran, they would “stand by its side.”
Romney attacked Obama for not visiting Israel as president, and called his tour of the Middle East at the beginning of his term an “apology tour.”
Obama reminded the audience of his visit to Israel in 2008. “I didn’t take donors with me [as opposed to Romney], and I didn’t take part in fundraisers,” the president stung back. “I visited Yad Vashem [Israel’s national Holocaust memorial] and Sderot,” said the president.
While Israel was mentioned again and again, the Palestinians were mentioned only once; the obvious inequality in this regard did not go unnoticed by the American press. The Washington Post’s foreign affairs columnist, Max Fisher, wrote a piece titled: “Debate’s big winner: Israel. Big loser: Israel-Palestinian peace process.”
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