WarSclerotic

For the first time since Saddam, Iraqi troops cross border

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Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed

Monday 4 March 2013

Last Update 4 March 2013 7:46 am

A video has shown Iraqi troops crossing the borders toward the city of Al-Yarubiya in northeastern Syria. After a silence that lasted for around 24 hours, the Iraqi government admitted it was true. Its excuse, however, was that the war in Syria along the borders has reached Iraqi areas. This is not a convincing excuse since the fighting occurred in the city of Yarubiya itself. This city is the gateway which Iraq uses to smuggle goods and facilitate Iran’s exports to aid the Syrian regime troops. This reminds us of what toppled President Saddam Hussein did when he sent his troops to Iran on the pretext of securing Iraqi territory and then ended up sending troops to occupy Kuwait._The entrance of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s forces into Syria expanded war in Syria. It transformed from a proxy war into a direct one to aid the forces of Assad’s regime which has been living through an ordeal for 20 months.

A war expanding on Syrian soil is now taking place in the region. There is Assad’s entire army, security forces and militias that are supported by forces from Iran and thousands of Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon in addition to Russian experts and consultants. With Al-Maliki’s troops entering the border to aid Assad’s forces to maintain control of the border city of Yarubiya, we are confronting a big regional war. Al-Maliki has recently joined it. He has recently increased his justifications for doing so by vowing that he will not allow the fall of Assad regime and saying that he informed the Americans that Assad’s regime will not fall.

These extremist parties, Iran, Iraq and Hezbollah, have united for the first time in a war like this! A clear war against the Syrian people. Other than receiving refugees, whose number has reached half a million, neighboring countries have not done anything to attempt helping the majority which has been targeted by this war for around 20 months.

The new and dangerous development is Al-Maliki’s involvement in the war this week. His new move makes it clear why he was giving speeches to pave the way for sending troops under the excuse that the fall of Syrian regime will threaten Iraq.

The truth is, Al-Maliki is exaggerating. Iraq faces more danger if it engages in war than if it remains neutral. As to why Maliki is involving Iraq in the war that has erupted since the fall of Saddam’s regime, the reason is clear: He has become a puppet of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards which is waging the war in Syria and defending Assad’s regime. Al-Maliki is like Hezbollah chief in Lebanon. He is obliged to support Iran’s number one ally, Bashar Assad, because the Iranians have enough power to eliminate or appoint leaders in Iraq and in Hezbollah.

Al-Maliki has been secretly supporting Iranian efforts in Syria for the past two years by sending fuel, funds and arms to Assad’s regime. He allowed the Iranians to send fighters and weapons through Iraqi air space and land. The last American official statement showed Washington’s disappointment over the actions of its old ally Al-Maliki. “We have several times informed the Iraqi government that we object to Iranian flights via Iraqi air space, and we have voiced our suspicions (that these airplanes) carry weapons but the Iraqi government (which pledged to search them) has searched airplanes only two times in October.” Maliki has currently become like Hassan Nasrallah. He cannot but obey the influential Iranian Revolutionary Guards which does not hesitate to commit crimes to carry out its threats. This is a topic I will discuss in another article.

via For the first time since Saddam, Iraqi troops cross border | ArabNews.

U.S. News

Biden: Obama’s commitment to Israel deep

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Published: March. 4, 2013 at 4:12 PM

WASHINGTON, March 4 (UPI) — It’s no bluff when President Obama says there’s a military option to bar Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, Vice President Joe Biden told the pro-Israel lobby.

“Presidents of the United States cannot and do not bluff, and President Barack Obama is not bluffing,” Biden told the the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington Monday.

“We are not looking for war,” Biden said. “We are looking to and ready to negotiate peacefully, but all options, including military force, are on the table.”

It’s not only in Israel’s interest — because of the threats Iran has made about its neighbor in the region — but also the world interest that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon.

“So we have a shared strategic commitment. Let me make clear what that commitment is: It is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Period,” Biden said. “End of discussion. Prevent — not contain — prevent.”

Biden used his speech before AIPAC to remind his audience that “no president has done as much to physically secure the state of Israel as President Barack Obama,” who will visit Israel in about three weeks.

Biden also ticked off evidence of Obama’s commitment to Israel’s military superiority in the form of military aid, including $400 million to help underwrite construction of the Iron Dome antimissile system.

The president and he “both know that Israel faces new threats, new pressures and uncertainty,” Biden said.

While there may have been disagreements on tactics between the United States and Israel, “we have never disagreed on the strategic imperative that Israel must be able to protect its own, must be able to do it on its own, and we must always stand with Israel to be sure that can happen,” Biden said.

He also said the United States and Israel have a shared interest in Syria as the 2-year anniversary of the civil war that began a protests against President Bashar Assad.

“Assad has shown his father’s disregard for human life and dignity, engaging in brutal murder of his own citizens,” Biden said. “Our position on that tragedy could not be clearer: Assad must go. But we are not signing up for one murderous gang replacing another in Damascus.”

Because the threat of Syria has a stockpile of chemical and biological weapons that threaten Israel and the world as a whole, Biden said, “we’ve set a clear red line against the use of the transfer of the those weapons. And we will work together to prevent this conflict and these horrific weapons from threatening Israel’s security.”

Concerning moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Biden reminded the audience that the United States voted against Palestinians’ request for non-member observer status in the General Assembly.

“There is no shortcut to peace. There is no shortcut to face-to-face negotiations,” he said. “We are under no illusions about how difficult it will be to achieve. … [It’s] going to require hard steps on both sides. But it’s in all of our interests — Israel’s interest, the United States’ interest, the interest of the Palestinian people.”

via Biden reiterates Obama’s commitment to Israel during AIPAC speech – UPI.com.

‘Hamas rejects rockets tagged with tracking devices’

Israel accessed and tagged the weapons somewhere between Libya and Gaza, Egyptian daily reports

By Elhanan Miller March 4, 2013, 12:58 pm 4

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Israeli soldiers unpack rockets seized by Israeli authorities on a ship near Cyprus, and presented in the port of the Israeli city of Ashdod, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009 (photo credit: Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)

Israeli soldiers unpack rockets seized by Israeli authorities on a ship near Cyprus, and presented in the port of the Israeli city of Ashdod, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009 (photo credit: Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)

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Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades

Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip rejected a delivery of smuggled rockets emanating from Libya after discovering that Israel had managed to equip them with tracking devices, an Egyptian daily reported on Monday.

Sources close to smugglers in the Sinai desert told Al-Youm A-Sabi’ that 28 long-range missiles were smuggled from Libya to Gaza through central Sinai during the past few days, but were blocked before entering smuggling tunnels into the Gaza Strip after an expert from Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, discovered the tracking devices when examining the missiles in Sinai.

The Egyptian report could not be independently confirmed.

The Sinai Peninsula has been flooded with weapons originating in Libya following the fall of the Qaddafi regime in October 2011, many of them Gaza-bound. Last June, the Egyptian army confiscated a huge weapons transport near the Libyan border likely headed to Gaza, which included 138 Grad missiles.

An anti-aircraft missile fired at an Israeli helicopter last October near Gaza was believed by Israeli security officials to have come from Libya as well.

According to the sources who spoke to Al-Youm A-Sabi’, Hamas has stopped working with many arms smugglers in the Sinai, suspecting them of colluding with Israel in planting the devices, which have enabled Israel to discover many weapons caches in the past.

The sources feared for the lives of the smugglers after Hamas vowed to severely punish them.

via ‘Hamas rejects rockets tagged with tracking devices’ | The Times of Israel.

Kerry Warns Iran Has ‘Finite Amount of Time’ for Nuclear Talks

US Secy of State John Kerry warned Monday talks with Iran over its nuclear development activities “will not go on for the sake of talks.”

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By Chana Ya’ar

First Publish: 3/4/2013, 6:45 PM

US Secy of State John Kerry in Riyadh

US Secy of State John Kerry in Riyadh

Reuters

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Monday that talks with Iran over its nuclear development activities “will not go on for the sake of talks.”

Speaking in Riyadh on his first tour of the Middle East, Kerry told reporters that his discussions with foreign ministers from Gulf nations had covered the ongoing talks between world powers and Iran over its nuclear development program. Iran has just announced it is installing 3,000 advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium at its Natanz nuclear plant — a move the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned two weeks ago was about to take place.

The window of opportunity for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear problem “cannot by definition remain open indefinitely,” Kerry said. “There is time to resolve this issue – providing the Iranians are prepared to engage seriously” on ways to defuse the crisis.

But, he added, negotiations “will not go on for the sake of talks,” pointing out, “Talks cannot become an instrument for delay that in the end will make the situation more dangerous. There is a finite amount of time.

Last week, representatives of world powers concluded another round of talks with the Islamic Republic over the issue, this time in Kazakhstan. The group presented a proposal to ease tightened sanctions against Tehran in exchange for Iran halting its uranium enrichment activities.

Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday at the weekly government cabinet meeting that as international talks over Iran’s nuclear development activities dragged on in Kazakhstan, “the only thing that was achieved was to stall for time during which Iran intends to continue enriching nuclear material for an atomic bomb, and it is indeed continuing toward this goal.”

“Saudi Arabia supports the efforts to resolve the crisis diplomatically,” Saudi Foreign Minister Saud bin Faisal bin Abdul Aziz told reporters. “We hope that the negotiations will result in putting an end to this problem, rather than containing it, taking into account that the clock is ticking and negotiations cannot go on forever.”

Kerry also held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, as well as the foreign ministers of Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, but was not scheduled to meet with King Abdullah, the AFP news agency reported.

via Kerry Warns Iran Has ‘Finite Amount of Time’ – Middle East – News – Israel National News.

Biden says Obama not bluffing when he says US will act to prevent Iran nuclear weapon

By Josh Lederman, The Associated Press March 4, 2013 11:50 AM

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Biden says Obama not bluffing when he says US will act to prevent Iran nuclear weapon

Vice President Joe Biden gets a hug from Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak before he addressed the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) 2013 Policy Conference, Monday, March 4, 2013, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden says President Barack Obama isn’t bluffing when he says he’ll use military action if ultimately necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Biden told a powerful pro-Israel lobby’s annual conference Monday that protecting Israel is in the United States’ interest. Biden says the U.S. still prefers a diplomatic option on Iran but that the window for that is closing.

Biden is cautioning against acting too hastily. He says every other option must be exhausted to ensure the world community will be supportive if there’s a need for a military intervention.

Biden says efforts to delegitimize Israel as a Jewish state are the most dangerous change he’s seen as it related to Israel’s security. He says Israel’s legitimacy is non-negotiable for the U.S

via Biden says Obama not bluffing when he says US will act to prevent Iran nuclear weapon.

McCain: Negotiations with Nuclear Iran ‘Doomed to Fail’Monday, 04 Mar 2013 11:03 AMBy David YonkmanShare:More . . .A A | Email Us | Print | Forward Article inShareThere is no doubt that Iran is on the path to building a nuclear weapon, Sen. John McCain of Arizona declared on Monday.“The centrifuges are spinning,” McCain said, speaking at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference in Washington.“I don’t think it’s a question” that Iran is getting closer to developing a weapon, he said. “It’s a question of when.”He said that the Iranians are closely watching North Korea, which recently tested a third nuclear weapon with no repercussions. It is in part why international offers of concessions to discontinue Iran’s program were “doomed to fail.”President Barack Obama will need to assure Israel in his upcoming first trip of his presidency to the ally that the United States will act in concert to prevent Iran from getting a weapon, the Arizona senator said.He also criticized the Obama Administration for not sending enough support to the rebels in Syria for their efforts to topple the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. At least 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far.“I believe Syria is a national and international shame,” McCain said. “We have not done anything about it.”He said that the United States needs to implement a no-fly zone in Syria, as jihadists there are destabilizing neighboring countries such as Lebanon and Jordan.“I have not seen the Middle East and the world in a more dangerous situation in my lifetime,” McCain said.

via McCain: Negotiations with Nuclear Iran ‘Doomed to Fail’.

John Kerry vilified by Egypt’s opposition | The Times of Israel.

US secretary of state promises aid to Morsi, protesters block his path to airport in response; leading Islamist gets stoned in Tunisia

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr, left, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, center, and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi take their seats at the starts of their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt on Sunday, March 3, 2013 (Photo credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool).

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s decision to reward the Muslim Brotherhood-led Egyptian government with $250 million in aid for positive political and economic reforms is being met with fury and disbelief by the Egyptian opposition, the Arab press reports.

Although Kerry acknowledged that “more hard work and adjustments are needed to restore unity and political stability and revive the Egyptian economy,” the London-based daily Al-Hayat reports, he said his discussions with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi were held “in a frank and constructive manner… Washington is providing assistance in light of Morsi’s assurances that he intends to comply with the IMF’s demands.”

Egypt is desperately trying to persuade the International Monetary Fund to grant it a $4.5 billion loan to prevent its government from running out of money.

According to an article in the Saudi-owned A-Sharq Al-Awsat titled “US Secretary of State gets assurances over (Egyptian) democracy and neutrality of the army,” Kerry became “assured of the (Egyptian) president’s commitment to walk the path of democracy.” Kerry also praised Egypt’s armed forces for protecting the country’s stability and security during the current political crisis.

Kerry’s visit coincides with protests throughout Egypt against the Muslim-Brotherhood rule, which left hundreds wounded in clashes with security forces.

Anti-government activists didn’t waste time showing Kerry what they thought about his promise of financial support to the Morsi regime.

The London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi reports that Al-Ahly Ultras, fans of the Cairo-based Al-Ahly soccer club that was embroiled in a massive riot in Port Said a year ago, used burning tires to block the road leading to the airport, paralyzing traffic in both directions and delaying Kerry’s flight by two hours.

In addition, supporters of over 28 political parties launched protests in front of the US consulate in Alexandria.

America’s top diplomat was also on the receiving end of a great deal of criticism from the leaders of the National Salvation Front, the leading opposition group.

Mohammed ElBaradei, the former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the current leader of the Constitution Party, refused to meet with him, due to the American administration’s ostensible bias toward the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Gamila Ismail, a leading member of the Constitution Party’s steering committee, accused the US government of conspiring with Morsi to build an Egyptian version of the Iranian state.

Directly her words toward Secretary Kerry, she said, “You described Mubarak and his regime as democratic, legitimate and elected. That’s how you continue to describe the current regime as well, even though it kills peaceful protesters, and kidnaps and tortures youth activists… Our destiny and our children’s future are at stake here. We don’t want to live in a country governed by a fascist religious group or military.”

‘Our destiny and our children’s future are at stake here. We don’t want to live in a country governed by a fascist religious group or military’

In an op-ed published in the Cairo-based Al-Masry Al-Youm, Mohammed Salmawi, the president of the Egyptian Writers’ Union, writes that the US government always bets on the losing horse in a desperate attempt to maintain stability.

“They clung to Mubarak and his defense during the revolution,” he writes. “Only when his regime truly began to falter did President Obama timidly say there must be a transition of power… Here America is back to its old ways. The Muslim Brotherhood practices brutality against its own people and John Kerry comes to formally announce his country’s support of the regime of Mohammed Morsi… The failure of US foreign policy is ongoing and they are still betting on a losing horse by supporting repressive regimes that protect their interests.”

Protesters hurl stones at Renaissance Party leader

Rashed Ghannoushi, the leader of the Ennahda (Islamic Renaissance) political party, visited the town of Thala in northwest Tunisia to give a speech when dozens of residents began pelting him and car with stones, the Dubai-based media channel Al-Arabiya reports.

Ghannoushi was forced to cancel his speech and flee the scene. His office manager, Zubair Alshahuda, was injured in the attack and sought medical treatment. In the past year, other Tunisian politicians such as President Moncef Marzouki and Mustapha Ben Jaafar have also been targets of stoning attacks.

An editorial in the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi says such attacks are unacceptable by any standards and are very worrying when considering Tunisia’s democratic future.

“The political crisis experienced by the country is serious, but that does not mean the opposition must resort to violence,” the editorial reads. “We are afraid of such practices affecting Tunisian democracy, which can pave the way for a civil war that requires military intervention. Hatred has now dominated the Tunisian scene for two years… and the consequences may be devastating for Tunisia’s security and stability.”

Kerry: Window on Iran not open ‘indefinitely’ | The Times of Israel.

Secretary of state in Saudi Arabia, where he is slated to meet PA President Abbas before continuing to UAE and Qatar

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — US Secretary of State John Kerry, in Saudi Arabia for talks with Saudi and Gulf Arab officials, said Monday the window of opportunity for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear problem “cannot by definition remain open indefinitely.”

But Kerry, who was meeting in Riyadh with the foreign ministers of Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman as well as the Saudi crown prince and foreign minister, added that “there is time to resolve this issue providing the Iranians are prepared to engage seriously” on proposals to defuse it.

“But talks will not go on for the sake of talks and talks cannot become an instrument for delay that will make the situation more dangerous,” he said. Kerry said he and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal “discussed our shared determination to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.”

Saud said that Saudi Arabia “supports the efforts to resolve the crisis diplomatically in order to alleviate all doubts surrounding the program.”

“Therefore, we hope that the negotiations will result in putting an end to this problem rather than containing it,” he said, “taking into account that the clock is ticking and negotiations cannot go on forever.”

In addition to Iran, Kerry, who is on his first overseas trip as secretary of state after succeeding Hillary Rodham Clinton, also held discussions about the situation in violence-torn Syria. He repeated US pressure on Syria’s President Bashar Assad to step down, saying that Assad “is destroying his country — and his people in the process — to hold onto power that is not his anymore.”

“The United States will continue to work with our friends to empower the Syrian opposition to hopefully be able to bring about a peaceful resolution, but if not, to increase pressure on Assad,” he said. The United States last week agreed to increase non-lethal aid to Syrian opposition groups.

Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf states are believed to be involved in shipping weapons to Syrian rebels, who have yet to receive lethal aid from the West. They share deep US concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and increasing assertiveness in the region.

Saud said that in the talks here Monday, “The Kingdom stressed the importance of enabling the Syrian people to exercise its legitimate right to defend itself against the regime’s killing regime.”

“Saudi Arabia will do everything within its capacity, and we do believe that what is happening in Syria is a slaughter,” he said, “… and we can’t bring ourselves to remain quiet. Morally we have a duty.”

Kerry also was to meet in Riyadh with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is visiting the Saudi capital. Kerry’s working lunch with Abbas was coming two weeks before the secretary is to accompany President Barack Obama to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan to explore ways of restarting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Kerry travels next to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar before returning to Washington Wednesday. 

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Report: Obama wants timetable for pullout from West Bank – Israel News, Ynetnews.

( WTF ???????!!!!!!!!!!!!! )

World Tribune quotes Israeli sources as saying US president expects to see detailed plan for Israeli withdrawal from West Bank during his visit to Israel as part of initiative to establish Palestinian state in 2014

Ynet

US President Barack Obama has demanded a timetable for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and wants to see a detailed plan from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his upcoming visit to Israel, the World Tribune reported Sunday.

Quoting Israeli sources, the newspaper said the Israeli plan would be considered as part of a US initiative to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank in 2014.

“Obama has made it clear to Netanyahu that his visit is not about photo-ops, but the business of Iran and a Palestinian state,” a source said. “The implication is that if Israel won’t give him something he can work with, then he’ll act on his own.”

According to the report, Obama’s demand has sparked concern in the Prime Minister’s Office, mainly due to the deadlock in coalition negotiations.

“The Obama people are making this a litmus test of Netanyahu’s leadership and credibility,” the Israeli source said. “Obama supporters in Congress have sent Netanyahu a similar message.

Congress to raise pressure on Iran – FT.com.