Archive for June 2015

The Cancer That is Jihad

June 24, 2015

The Rise of Evil: Global Islamic Jihad on Israel and the West

Posted On Jun 24 2015 By Leslie-Ann Stoffel Via Politichicks


[Photo Credit: Unknown]

(As with many cancers, jihad can be a silent killer thanks to the liberal media and progressives throughout the world. – LS)

By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise. Adolf Hitler

We plan to eliminate the state of Israel and establish a purely Palestinian state. We will make life unbearable for Jews by psychological warfare and population explosion. We Palestinians will take over everything, including all of Jerusalem. Yassar Arafat

America is a great power possessed of tremendous military might and a wide-ranging economy, but all this is built on an unstable foundation which can be targeted, with special attention to its obvious weak spots. If America is hit in one hundredth of these weak spots, God willing, it will stumble, wither away and relinquish world leadership. Osama Bin Laden

Global Islamic Jihad is advancing rapidly. We’re in the fight of our very lives and yet our leaders refuse to see it and expose us to more and more slaughter and horror. I personally feel like I live in an Islamic Jihad snuff film that is on a never ending loop.

Islamofascism: The New Nazism

Israel is on the front lines of the Global Islamic Jihad and have lost countless lives due to this battle. As Brian of London wrote in his piece on Israellycool , Israel let down their guard and removed check points. This resulted in the murder of a Tel Aviv man who went out hiking in Dolev Israel, approximately 17 miles Northwest of Jerusalem, this weekend with his friend. The two hikers reached out to assist some Arabs who appeared to need help and they were shot point blank. Late Friday afternoon, June 19, 25 year old Daniel Gonen succumbed to his wounds and died. His friend survived.

With the advent of Ramadan travel restrictions have been lifted for Arabs in Jerusalem and the result of this has been rocks thrown at passing cars and a city bus, a violent riot by Arabs with Israeli police and a policemen being critically stabbed by an Arab at the Damascus Gate.

Other incidents such as finding dangerous weaponry in vehicles another stabbing of a Jew have also been part of what’s happened just this weekend alone.

These attacks against the Jews are becoming commonplace and the frighteningly acceptable as Israel is demonized, lied about and smeared by the mainstream media. Their sympathies lie with the Jihadists.

The Jews are under siege, not just from within, but from without also. The EU, now overrun by Islamists, kowtow to them and embrace the destruction of Israel by insisting on a two state solution, which everyone knows will be the final solution. The UN ignores the slaughter going on by the Islamic State and other Islamic groups, and instead focuses on demonizing Israel, the only Democracy in that region where all people have equal rights under the law.

Devious and Dangerous Delegitimization

Yassar Arafat explained the strategy of the PLO when he said, “We plan to eliminate the state of Israel and establish a purely Palestinian state. We will make life unbearable for Jews by psychological warfare and population explosion. We Palestinians will take over everything, including all of Jerusalem.”

The Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions, also known as BDS, is the worldwide movement meant to do just that. It has sprung up out of the lie that Israel is an apartheid state. Nothing could be further from the truth as all citizens of Israel have the same rights under the law. The man behind this movement is Qatari born Omar Barghouti, who now lives in Israel and attends Tel Aviv University.

He has stated: “We oppose a Jewish state in any part of ‘Palestine’….No Palestinian will ever accept a Jewish state in ‘Palestine’.”

These demonization campaigns are meant to do what Hitler did, demoralize and devalue the life of the Jew so that when the final solution is put in place, no one will care.

With a Little Help From Their Friends

The hard left and the mainstream media are on the front lines of covering up and pushing the Jihad movement on the West. Rarely are the attacks on Israelis even mentioned and if they are, Israel is made to look like the aggressor, or if a Jewish Settler is attacked the implication is that they deserved it. Such racism would never be allowed against any other group of people.

If it weren’t for Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, Daniel Greenfield, Jamie Glazov and Raymond Ibrahim, among a handful of others, we would not hear of 1/10th of the Islamic Jihad attacks in North America and around the world.

When Pamela Geller was threatened with death due to her free speech event truth was turned on its head as Geller became the story and was attacked by the mainstream media for standing up for free speech. Even some within conservative news attacked her and wanted her to acquiesce to the Jihad and relinquish her rights. The mainstream media has decided that they will submit to the Sharia. Isn’t that what Bin Laden meant when he said: “If America is hit in one hundredth of these weak spots, God willing, it will stumble, wither away and relinquish world leadership.

For the sake of time and space I’ll mention just a few attacks that have taken place most recently as reported by Geller and Spencer.

According to Pamela Geller, on Saturday June 20, 2015, Austria had a vehicular Jihad attack by a Bosnian Muslim, leaving 3 dead, 1 of them being a 7 year old and scores injured. He even started stabbing people. Jerusalem has also had a number of these vehicular attacks in the recent months.

In the UK, Prime Minister Cameron has asked for Muslims to fight radicalization in their midst. Turning truth on its head once again, a UK Muslim leader has called this unhelpful and wants more focus on Islamophobia.

Jihad Watch reports that, so as not to hurt the sensibilities of an Islamic terrorist, the UK has chosen to forgo the electronic tag on an Islamic Imam accused of recruiting for a Jihad group.

Is Global Islamic Jihad and their enablers in the media, the EU, the UN, in the higher echelons of our own governments employing a technique used by Psychopaths called gaslighting, a method of psychological warfare meant to confound and confuse their victim?

Friends in High Places

According to The Investigative Project, a recent State Department report minimizes Palestinian incitement to violence.

A portion of the report reads: “The State Department assessment also ignores the direct participation of senior PA officials in praising terrorists and inciting violence against Israelis and Jews.

For example, the report does not mention PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ call last October for Palestinians to prevent Jews from going to the Temple Mount compound “in any way.” The video clip of Abbas’ Oct. 17 speech was shown 19 on PA television times in three days, implicitly calling for Palestinians to use violence against Israelis.

Instead, the report described PA efforts “to ensure” Friday sermons in more than 1,800 mosques controlled by the PA “do not endorse incitement to violence … the guidance is that no sermon can discuss political or lead to incitement to violence.”

In February, however, the PA Minister of Religious Affairs and other prominent religious officials resorted to an age-old blood libel accusing Jews of attacking Muslims sites and that Israel is trying to destroy the al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reports. Such accusations are baseless and encourage Palestinians to conduct terrorist attacks against Israel.

The State Department report also omits any reference to official Palestinianglorification of terrorists.”

Not to mention that at every turn President Obama shows his sympathy for the Global Jihad. Even going so far as to use the UN platform to declare on September 25, 2012, that the “’The Future Must Not Belong To Those Who Slander The Prophet of Islam.” Oddly enough that was part of his Benghazi cover up theatre. The Islamic Jihad attacked the American Embassy and murdered 4 Americans. Those Americans, we’ve come to find out, were left there to be slaughtered by the jackals.

Was this proclamation at the UN a greenlight for the Global Jihad? It increased exponentially shortly afterward and the Islamic State was left to run amok and create their caliphate in the Middle East.

We’re All IS

As reported by Robert Spencer in Jihad Watch, an Ohio Muslim arrested on terror charges proclaims, “We are all Islamic State citizens. This isn’t some gang in the desert you’re fighting. This is WW3 the beginning has just begun,” Al-Ghazi wrote on Facebook, according to the FBI.

Al-Ghazi communicated with two people he believed were members of ISIL in the Middle East and expressed a desire to commit terrorist attacks on the United States, the FBI said in a news release. He also attempted to buy an AK-47 assault rifle….”

So there you have it. We’re living in hell with these monsters poised and at the ready to lay siege on us and we’re told that we’re still living in Paradise.

Once Again, We are Reminded Who’s in Charge

June 24, 2015

Khamenei Refuses To Halt Iran’s Nuclear Research, Demands Immediate Sanctions Relief

by TheTower.org Staff 06.24.15 7:43 am


[Photo: wochit World / YouTube ]

(The little man in the White House continues to remind us of his ineffectiveness, naivite, and overall lack of understanding. – LS)

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he would refuse to allow a halt his nation’s nuclear research, and demanded an immediate end to sanctions upon signing a nuclear deal with the West, Reuters reported Tuesday.

“Freezing Iran’s Research and Development (R&D) for a long time like 10 or 12 years is not acceptable,” Khamenei said in a speech broadcast live.

Disputes over how much transparency Iran should offer to ease suspicions that it has covertly sought to develop nuclear bombs, and the timing and pace of relief from sanctions imposed on Tehran, have been two major sticking points to the final deal.

“All financial and economic sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council, the U.S. Congress or the U.S. government should be lifted immediately when we sign a nuclear agreement,” Khamenei said.

Khamenei also categorically ruled out international inspectors accessing military sites or interviewing nuclear scientists. Such actions are necessary to establish the extent of Iran’s past nuclear research and ensure that Iran cannot secretly develop a nuclear weapon.

Khamenei also tweeted out the main points of his speech.

Many leading world figures, including International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Yukiya Amano and French foreign minister Laurent Fabuis,  have insisted that inspections of Iran’s military sites are essential to ensure a verifiable deal. However, Khamenei and other top Iranian officials have adamantly and consistently ruled out such inspections.

Senior Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, have also demanded the immediate end to sanctions upon signing deal. Experts have warned that such sanctions relief will allow Iran to boost its support of terrorism and will strengthen Iran’s hardliners at the expense of the moderates in government.

Khamenei has long stated that Iran would make no concessions on its “nuclear achievements.”

Progressivism, Obama, and Islam

June 24, 2015

Progressivism, Obama, and Islam, American ThinkerKen Blackwell, June 24, 2015

As the Obama administration winds down, I expect the situation only to get worse. The increasing desperation of the administration to realize the dream of fraternity with the Muslim world by 2016 will lead to ever more ignominious acts of national self-abasement that may soon verge on outright insanity.

**********************

Looking at President Obama’s foreign policy toward the Muslim world, especially Iran, makes me feel as if America has followed Alice into Wonderland. Nothing makes sense anymore, as the surreal has displaced the logical. Given Mr. Obama’s progressive ideology, it’s exactly what we should have expected.

Foreign policy is the realm of realpolitik. It has to be so, because the stakes are so high: the prosperity and even the survival of the human race. The first duty of every president has to be ensuring that the nation does not become vulnerable to the attacks of its enemies, but Mr. Obama fails to understand who our enemies are.

Progressivism, unfortunately, is not very good at recognizing reality. That’s because progressivism focuses on vision and aspiration. Conservatism begins with the facts on the ground and seeks improvement through gradual reform, while progressivism begins with a utopian vision and tries to conform reality to it.

Progressivism also errs fundamentally about the reality of human nature. Conservatives understand that man is a fallen creature, morally imperfect and inherently capable of evil in motives and actions.

Therefore, in foreign policy, you need to keep your powder dry.

Progressivism believes that man is innately good. In terms of foreign policy, that means we must trust that men’s motives are good, and we can work out our differences by talking with each other. After all, we’re all brothers under the skin.

The problem comes when reality refuses to conform to the utopian vision. One inescapable fact of foreign affairs is that it takes two to make peace, but only one to make war.

The late Robert Kennedy once said, “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.”

Barack Obama’s dream that never was is to see America reconciled to the Muslim world. He has been obsessed with Islam right from the beginning of his administration. To realize his dream, he insists on treating implacable enemies like Iran as if they were already friends.

Thus, we’ve witnessed inanities like repurposing NASA from space exploration to making nice with the Muslim world (yes, Allah began as the moon god of an Arabian tribe, but it’s not as if we’re going to find him on the Far Side). But emasculating NASA is not a laughing matter. While NASA has been sidetracked for the last six years, the Russians, Chinese, Indians, Japanese and Western Europeans are making strides in their own space programs. Some future president is likely to learn the hard way that falling behind in space will have very painful consequences for America.

We’ve witnessed incomprehensible tactical policy blunders like releasing diehard jihadists from Guantanamo and watching them return to the battlefield, and the infamous exchange of five al-Qaeda generals for an American deserter. How many Americans realize that the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was in U.S. custody in Iraq at the beginning of the Obama administration?

We’ve witnessed colossal strategic blunders, like supporting our sworn enemies, the Muslim Brotherhood, in Egypt and elsewhere, and the inexplicable failure to support the pro-Western, pro-democracy revolution against the Iranian mullahs in 2009. Many foreign policy experts have agreed for years that the best chance we have to prevent the mullahs from obtaining nuclear weapons was not a U.S. invasion, but support for a popular Iranian regime change. Obama is missing every opportunity presented him.

We’ve even witnessed the outright denial of reality, such as Obama’s refusal to acknowledge that the Fort Hood massacre was the work of a Muslim terrorist. Officially it is considered “workplace violence,” even though Maj. Nidal Hassan was shouting “Allahu Akbar” as he gunned down his fellow soldiers. Obama won’t even allow his administration to use the words “Muslim” and “terrorist” in the same sentence.

Obama doesn’t seem to understand that the jihadists are not just like us. They have completely different values and ethics, and a worldview radically opposed to both Western secularism and Christianity. They don’t want peace with us; we are the Great Satan — they want to destroy us.

Back to realpolitik. The situation in the Iran nuclear arms talks is dire. Our European partners suspect that Obama is functioning primarily as Iran’s apologist, not adversary, and by watering down economic sanctions, may be cooperating with the mullahs in their quest to obtain the Bomb. Nuclear weapons in the hands of the mullahs would pose an existential threat to Israel immediately, and in time to the entire world as Iran improves its long-range missiles.

As the Obama administration winds down, I expect the situation only to get worse. The increasing desperation of the administration to realize the dream of fraternity with the Muslim world by 2016 will lead to ever more ignominious acts of national self-abasement that may soon verge on outright insanity.

 

Obama Hosts Israel-Haters at Iftar Dinner ‘President’s Table’

June 24, 2015

Obama Hosts Israel-Haters at Iftar Dinner ‘President’s Table’

by Jordan Schachtel23 Jun 2015Washington, DC

via Obama Hosts Israel-Haters at Iftar Dinner ‘President’s Table’ – Breitbart.

Rex Features via AP Images

 

President Barack Obama hosted two radical anti-Israel activists, Riham Osman and Batoul Abuharb of Houston, Texas, on Tuesday night. They both had the honor of sitting at Mr. Obama’s exclusive “President’s Table” at the annual White House Iftar dinner. Both have publicly stated that they consider Israel and its leadership to be sponsors of terroristic acts.

Riham Osman, seated at the “President’s Table” Tuesday night, is the communications coordinator for the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), a group founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood that has challenged the U.S. designation of Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist groups.

Osman herself has engaged in toxic rhetoric when it comes to the state of Israel.

In March, she described Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as sponsors of terrorism. 

On July 28, 2014, during Israel’s defensive war against Palestinian terror group Hamas, Osman claimed that the Jewish state “murdered 1,000 innocent civilians.” The same day, she opined that if “the devil was in human form,” it would “look, speak, and act like Netanyahu.”

Screen Shot 2015-06-23 at 8.48.57 PM

Batoul Abuharb, who was listed as having attended the White House dinner and was seated at the president’s table, has in the past revealed herself as a fierce opponent of Israel. 

In the midst of the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, Abuharb wrote a perfervid article in the Huffington Post titled, “Dispatch from Gaza: Four-Letter Words.”

Abuharb described her “paralyzing fear” in Gaza during Israel’s “military assault,” without bothering to mention that Israel was responding to Hamas rocket fire on Israeli population centers. Abuharb, who lays blame on the “occupation” for the problems in Gaza, not once mentions the existence of Hamas, the militant jihadist group that rules the strip. In another interview, Abuharb described what she witnessed was “true terror” on the part of Israel.

The 2014 war was initiated by Hamas, a Palestinian jihadist group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. During the war, Hamas employed several guerrilla techniques in gross violation of international law, including using women and children as human shields and storing rockets in UN children’s schools.

 

Iran’s Khamenei Rules Out Freezing Sensitive Nuclear Work for Long Period

June 24, 2015

Iran’s Khamenei Rules Out Freezing Sensitive Nuclear Work for Long Period

BY:
via Iran’s Khamenei Rules Out Freezing Sensitive Nuclear Work for Long Period | Washington Free Beacon.

ANKARA (Reuters) – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday ruled out freezing sensitive nuclear work in the country for a long time and said sanctions imposed on it should be lifted as soon it reaches a final deal with major powers, state TV reported.

The six – Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States – want Iran to commit to a verifiable halt of at least 10 years on sensitive nuclear development work as part of a landmark atomic deal they aim to reach by June 30.

They are offering in exchange relief from sanctions that have crippled the oil exporter’s economy.

“Freezing Iran’s research and development for a long time like 10 or 12 years is not acceptable,” Khamenei said in a speech broadcast live.

“All financial and economic sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council, the U.S. Congress or the U.S. government should be lifted immediately when we sign a nuclear agreement.”

The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been trying to investigate Western allegations that Iran has been working on designing a nuclear warhead. Iran says that its nuclear program is peaceful and that it is working with the IAEA to clear up any suspicions.

Khamenei, who has the final say for Iran on any deal, repeated his stance that Tehran would not give international bodies access to its military sites.

“Inspection of our military sites is out of the question and is one of our red lines,” he said.

U.N. inspectors regularly monitor Iran’s declared nuclear facilities, but the IAEA has complained for years of a lack of access to sites, equipment, documents and people relevant to its probe.

France and the United States say Iran must step up cooperation with the IAEA if it wants to reach a final deal.

Khamenei accused the United States of wanting to wipe out Iran’s nuclear industry.

“America is after destroying our nuclear industry altogether,” he said. “Our negotiators’ aim is to safeguard Iran’s integrity … and our nuclear achievements during the talks.”

Iran reached a tentative deal with the powers on April 2 to allow U.N. inspectors to carry out more intrusive, short-notice inspections under an “Additional Protocol” to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Andrew Roche/Hugh Lawson)

Michael Oren: I wrote my book to stop Obama’s Iran deal

June 23, 2015

Michael Oren: I wrote my book to stop Obama’s Iran deal

BY: By Nick Gass 6/23/15 7:35 AM EDT Via Politico


Note: Video link refuses to cooperate. Go to original article at link above.

(I was fortunate to catch this interview on MSNBC this morning. A most impressive friend you’ve got there, JW. – LS)

Michael Oren, the former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and the author of a controversial new book about his tenure in Washington, said Tuesday that he timed its release expressly to raise alarm bells about President Barack Obama’s nuclear talks with Iran.

“This book comes out now for a reason,” Oren said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” speaking about his book “Ally: My Journey Across the American Israeli Divide,” which comes out Tuesday, a week ahead of the June 30 deadline for a nuclear agreement.

Any deal with Iran should be “conditioned on Iranian behavior,” Oren said, adding that the alternative to any deal with the Iranians is “a better deal” in which the country’s breakout time for enrichment is longer than a month or a year.

“Maybe if I were an Iranian negotiator, I wouldn’t sign it either,” he said, noting that longer they wait, the better deal they could get for their interests.

Oren also slammed what he termed the “signing bonus” for Iran agreeing to a nuclear deal, which he said could be as much as $50 billion. That money is “coming to a neighborhood near you,” he said, noting Iran’s history of funding terror proxies that have killed Americans.

He also laid into the White House, repeating his charge that Obama put daylight between the U.S. and Israel as a matter of policy when he spoke in Cairo in 2009. Under presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, the two countries tried to keep their problems behind closed doors, he added.

By contrast, any mistakes Israel has made, any surprises, he reiterated, were “honest,” as in 2010 when the Jewish state announced a plan to expand settlement housing in East Jerusalem when Vice President Joe Biden visited the country.

Child Trafficking Rampant in Iran

June 23, 2015

Child Trafficking Rampant in Iran, The Clarion Project, June 23, 2015

Iran-child-slaves-IPIranian children packing dates in a factory. (Photo: © Reuters)

A new special report by Al-Arabiya has exposed the problem of child trafficking in Iran. The report, part of the news outlet’s “Inside Iran” series, says that children are sold for $150 on the streets of Iran.

There are an estimated 200,000 children living on the streets in Iran. Those who are trafficked are frequently picked up from the streets and forced into child labor, begging or organ trafficking.

Those most frequently trafficked are young girls under the age of 18 from rural areas.

The U.S. State Department ranks Iran as “Tier 3” for human trafficking, the worse lowest tier.

Tier 3 is reserved for countries whose legislation does not meet international standards and whose governments are making no effort bring their countries in line.

In its 2014 report, the State Department recorded, “Iran is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor.”

It writes, “In Tehran, the number of teenage girls in prostitution reportedly continues to increase” while “there are 35,000-50,000 children—some as young as four or five years old—forced by their parents or well-organized criminal networks to beg in the streets of Tehran; some of these children are reportedly forced to sell drugs.”

The reports found that the Iranian regime was “unable or unwilling to consistently implement and enforce existing anti-trafficking laws due to a lack of political will and widespread corruption, including corruption within the security services and judiciary.”

WikiLeaks Saudi cable says Iran shipped nuclear equipment to Sudan

June 23, 2015

WikiLeaks Saudi cable says Iran shipped nuclear equipment to Sudan

According to leaked Saudi document, the Islamic Republic transferred advanced hardware to African Muslim nation in 2012, months before a strike on a Sudanese munitions factory that was blamed on Israel.

Reuters

Published: 06.23.15, 19:01 / Israel News

via WikiLeaks Saudi cable says Iran shipped nuclear equipment to Sudan – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Saudi diplomats in Khartoum believed Iran shipped advanced nuclear equipment including centrifuges to Sudan in 2012, according to a document leaked last week that WikiLeaks says is a cable from the embassy.

“The embassy’s sources advised that Iranian containers arrived this week at Khartoum airport containing sensitive technical equipment in the form of fast centrifuges for enriching uranium, and a second shipment is expected to arrive this week,” the document, dated February 2012 and marked ‘very secret’, read.

 

Heavy water reactor in Arak, Iran (Photo: AFP)
Heavy water reactor in Arak, Iran (Photo: AFP)

 

WikiLeaks last week released more than 60,000 cables and documents which it says are official Saudi communications, and plans to release half a million in total. Saudi Arabia said they might be faked and has not commented on specific documents.

If the cable is authentic, it does not provide details on the source of the embassy’s information or any further evidence of the shipment. There have been no previous reports of Iran sending nuclear equipment to Sudan, which has no known nuclear program.

A Sudanese munitions factory was destroyed in a mysterious explosion in October 2012, eight months after the date on the cable, which the Sudanese government blamed on an Israeli air raid.

 

Sudanese munitions factory on fire in 2012, which that country's government blamed on Israel (Photo: EPA)
Sudanese munitions factory on fire in 2012, which that country’s government blamed on Israel (Photo: EPA)

There were no indications that the factory had a nuclear dimension.

An Iranian official declined to comment and Sudanese officials were not immediately available for comment.

 

 

 

More Bang for the Buck

June 23, 2015

Report: U.S. Must Modernize, Update Nuclear Strategy for New Century

BY: Destiny Albritton June 23, 2015 5:00 am Via The Washington Free Beacon


Unfortunately, this could be the future of battlefield readiness. (photo credit: AP)

(Everyone please…step back and take a deep breath. All too often, I see Obama getting entirely too much credit for the state of the world today. To equate the man with some kind of ‘evil genius Dr. No’ is preposterous. Sure, he’s trying to change the world pecking order to his liking, but not without resistance. I seriously doubt the world will blindly follow his every whim. Remember, in 16 months he’ll be history. When that happens, the world will most certainly find another equilibrium and go on. As for this article, I believe it highlights the importance of planning for what may lie ahead. Whether you blame ‘Dr. No’ or not, there will be life after Obama and I’d be damned prepared for it. Thatisall. – LS

America must change its policies regarding its nuclear weapons arsenal if it wishes to remain safe in the coming century, according to a new study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Clark Murdock, an expert in strategic planning and defense at CSIS, writes in the study, ‘Project Atom,’ that the effects of global nuclear proliferation will dominate American foreign policy between 2025-2050 if the United States does not revamp its policies today, including modernizing its nuclear weapons and seeking enhanced tactical nuclear capabilities.

“The value of nuclear weapons as a ‘trump card’ for negating U.S. conventional power was enhanced by the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 to prevent Saddam Hussein from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” Murdock writes. “If the United States apparently believes that it can be deterred by an adversary’s nuclear weapons, why wouldn’t a nonnuclear ‘regional rogue’ want one?”

The root of global nuclear ambitions lies in American strength, according to Murdock. The clout of the U.S. military leads non-nuclear nation-states to seek nuclear capabilities.

As the United States plans its nuclear posture for the 2025-2050 timeframe, Murdock recommends that the American inferiority to Russian nonstrategic nuclear forces should be addressed. Murdock says that a variety of tactical nuclear weapons, including some small-scale missiles, should be developed to counter Russian capabilities.

“U.S. nuclear forces were designed for a global conflict involving the exchange of thousands of high-yield weapons, not limited exchanges of low-yield weapons,” she writes. “Since most U.S. nuclear response options are large, ‘dirty,’ and inflict significant collateral damage, the United States might be ‘self-deterred’ and not respond ‘in kind’ to discriminate nuclear attacks.”

Murdock’s recommendations were based on two assumptions regarding what could happen in 2025-2050 in the absence of effective American nuclear weapons planing. The first assumption was that the United States could lose its deterrence ability because of a failure to prevent further nuclear proliferation. The second assumption was that there may be more than 11 nuclear powers after the year 2030.

Barry Blechman and Russell Rumbaugh, contributing authors to the study, also point out that China will be a major threat in the future.

“Still, given its 20 years of investments in building a more modern military and continuing economic growth, China could plausibly threaten the United States’ ability to conduct specific military actions in regions near China’s coasts within the next several decades,” Blechman and Rumbaugh write. “If realized, such threats could jeopardize America’s ability to fulfill its commitments to defend certain allies.”

Establishing a Palestinian Islamist State

June 23, 2015

Establishing a Palestinian Islamist State, The Gatestone InstituteBassam Tawil, June 23, 2015

  • The United Nations’ verdict of guilty to Israel, in its “Schabas Report,” issued yesterday, was written even before the trial began.
  • Only the wide-eyed West still does not believe that Mahmoud Abbas is telling the truth when he assures the Palestinians of his intent to destroy Israel.
  • All public opinion polls in the Palestinian Authority (PA) indicate that if elections were held today, Hamas — whose only openly-stated reason for existing is to destroy Israel — would win in a landslide, as in 2006. Gaza has already been lost to Hamas and perhaps soon to ISIS. All evidence reveals that to establish a Palestinian state now would turn it into an Islamist terrorist entity.
  • Abbas thought that forming a Unity Government with Hamas would give the PA a unified front with which to harvest more money and diplomatic concessions from Europe. But last summer, Abbas was informed of a Hamas murder plot against him.

The Middle East is at it again. At the top of the list, no one, it seems, is even thinking of stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons capability — and by extension at least several other countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt.

First, It is dangerous enough for any openly expansionist regime, theological or not, to have nuclear weapons; Iran has recently shown itself to be nothing if not expansionist. Second, and, if possible, worse, several of the countries around Iran — who correctly feel in its crosshairs, have already announced that they will be building or buying nuclear weapons as well; and have probably already started. The Islamic State (ISIS) is also rumored to be on the market for a nuclear warhead; you too can apparently buy one for around $400 million. So we shall all have uncontrolled and uncontrollable nuclear proliferation to look forward to.

On top of all that, the Americans and Europeans are rumored to be at it again, pressuring the Palestinian Authority (PA) to renew peace negotiations with Israel. The London-based newspaper, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, recently quoted a senior Palestinian who suggested that the PA Chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, meet with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to jump-start the stalled negotiations.

New signs of triggering antagonism between the Palestinians and Israel are also reflected in the Vatican’s recognition of the Palestinian Authority as the State of Palestine, despite the vandalizing of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and other acts that led to the mass-exodus of persecuted Christians from the Palestinian territories, and despite the PA having joined with the terrorist group, Hamas, in the so-called Palestinian National Consensus Government [“Unity Government”]. This union enabled Israel to accuse it of responsibility for the war crimes that really only Hamas committed against Israeli civilians during the last war. At the same time, the tottering Palestinian Authority is trying to delegitimize Israel by accusing it of war crimes in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Neither of these attacks bodes well for either Israel or the PA.

The ICC in The Hague also recently announced that it would unilaterally investigate Israel for alleged war crimes committed in the last clash in the Gaza Strip. This project will not end well for the Palestinians, the Israelis or the politicized “Jim Crow” International Criminal Court. Meanwhile, the Unite Nations’ verdict of guilty, in its “Schabas Report,” issued this week, was written even before the trial began.

The Obama Administration has also increased its pressure on Israel with not-so-subtle threats. Susan Rice and other sources within the US administration openly claimed in early March that, in view of Israel’s “refusal” to make peace, and because of its interpretations of statements made by Netanyahu during this Israel’s elections this year, Washington would not veto unilateral European proposals to establish a Palestinian state.

President, Barack Obama, on May 22, tried to reassure the Jewish community to the contrary and said that he was “an honorary member of the [Jewish] tribe,” but his assurances are suspicious. Obama has earned a reputation for not telling the truth, from blaming the 2012 slaughter of Americans at Benghazi, Libya on a YouTube video (even two weeks after he knew the video was not the reason), to welching on his “red line” commitment when Syria’s government used chemical weapons on its own people.

The Israelis regard the American stance as an anti-Israeli vendetta based on Obama’s personal dislike of both Israel and Netanyahu. Although Netanyahu has said that now might not be the best time for a Palestinian state, he has, in fact, never changed his fundamental policy: that a Palestinian state could potentially be in Israel’s best interests.

What Netanyahu did say, with justification — as hard as it is to admit he was right — is that, given the current regional chaos, establishing a Palestinian state at this time would mean establishing a terrorist state in the West Bank. To do so now would simply lead to what is euphemistically called “further regional destabilization” — namely, war. Recognizing a Palestinian state at this time will also encourage terrorist activities by giving extremist Islamic elements — presently operating throughout North Africa, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq — even more territory from which to expand their operations.

This new Islamic extremist land-and-power grab would be similar to that of Hamas after it took over the Gaza Strip, after when Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005; or the ISIS takeover of Syria and Iraq when the US withdrew or failed to act. Currently, Hamas and ISIS in the Gaza Strip menace the security of both Israel and Egypt.

A new Islamic emirate in the West Bank at this time would also be dangerous for Jordan. Even without an Islamic emirate, Jordan has to cope with waves of refugees, among whom are Islamist terrorist operatives infiltrating the kingdom with the goal of overthrowing the Hashemites and turning Jordan into a territory ruled by ISIS or the Muslim Brotherhood. Given Iran’s efforts to exploit the weakness of Sunni Islam in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon and Bahrain, there seems no need for another extremist Islamic arena in Jordan.

Considerable pressure is also now being directed at the Palestinian Authority to renew negotiations with Israel. Some of the pressure comes from former President Jimmy Carter’s possibly well-intentioned but totally counterproductive demand that the Palestinians hold elections.

All public opinion polls in the PA indicate that if elections were held today, Hamas, as in 2006, would win in a landslide.

Unfortunately, many decision-makers in both the United States and Europe view the situation through the lens of Western democracy and practices. The overwhelming Hamas victory in the student council elections at Bir Zeit University, near Ramallah, should have been a wake-up call. Unfortunately, it was ignored.

1042Hamas supporters march during a student council election rally at Bir Zeit University, near Ramallah, on April 20, 2015. The overwhelming Hamas victory in the student council elections should have been a wake-up call to the U.S. and Europe.

Mahmoud Abbas has a dilemma. If elections are held in the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas– whose only openly-stated reason for existing is to destroy Israel — wins, the PA will cease to exist and Israel will be able to avoid the peace process for all time.

If, however, elections are not held, Mahmoud Abbas will continue to rule without international or Palestinian legitimacy. Not only did his four-year term expire six years ago, but at this point, he barely represents the Palestinians in the West Bank.

The almost two million Palestinians on the other side of Israel, in Gaza, are represented almost exclusively by Hamas, with continuing attempted inroads by ISIS. Abbas is thus unable to represent “the Palestinian people” in any serious political process. The proposal for elections is therefore an embarrassment for Abbas, and is generally ignored.

Tragically, to shore up its status locally, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank has taken a series of hasty, contradictory and dangerous steps. Since the PA’s chance at controlling the Gaza Strip has disappeared forever, the PA, to ensure its own continued survival, coordinates security with Israel to prevent further Hamas subversion in the West Bank.

In the meantime, senior figures in the PLO and the PA compete with Hamas in issuing strident, extremist messages to the Palestinian populace, which is consequently being radicalized — to the point now of supporting Hamas and ISIS.

Mahmoud Abbas and his high-ranking associates, nevertheless, continue to hold formal ceremonies to honor terrorists killed during attacks on Israeli targets.[1] Abbas also continues to commemorate “shaheeds” [those who die in the cause of Islam, often called “martyrs”] who killed dozens of Israeli civilians in suicide bombing attacks. Abbas erects monuments, names town squares after them, and holds sports and chess tournaments in their honor.

On this year’s Nakba Day — “the day of catastrophe,” which commemorated the 67th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel — during the May 15 ceremonies, Mahmoud Abbas promised the Palestinian masses that the occupied territories and the Palestinian diaspora would soon be restored to the independent state of Palestine. He also swore that the “resistance” — that is, armed violence and terrorism against Israel — would continue until the goal was achieved: destroying the State of Israel and establishing the Palestinian state on its ruins.

These intentions are not a secret to Israelis. They therefore do not trust his sincerity when he claims he wants “peace.” Only the wide-eyed West still does not believe that Mahmoud Abbas is telling the truth when he assures the Palestinians of his intent to destroy Israel.

The deliberate tension crafted by the Palestinian Authority has, as its only objective, bloodshed — both Palestinian and Israeli. This tactic can usually be seen when the level of violence falls below what the PA finds acceptable. It then trots out the old saw, first coined by the anti-Israeli Islamist sheikh Ra’ed Salah (whose right to free speech is protected by Israeli law), “Al-Aqsa mosque is in danger!”

At the beginning of May 2015, Sheikh Yusuf al-Dayis, the PA Minister of Religious Endowments [Waqf], made headlines in the Palestinian daily, Al-Quds, with the incendiary statement that the fate of the entire Muslim nation hung on the 35 acres of the Temple Mount. He even provided a list of what he claimed were Israeli “attacks” on Al-Aqsa mosque. Sadly for him, visitors to the Temple Mount can see every day the exorbitant security measures taken by the Israelis to protect the site. In point of fact, the record shows that every time the Palestinians want to provoke another pointless round of violence and slaughter, they say, “Al-Aqsa mosque is in danger!” It invariably causes hundreds of casualties on both sides and achieves absolutely nothing.

The last time a mosque actually was damaged was recently, in the Gaza Strip, when Hamas’s security forces removed the holy books, then used three bulldozers to raze a Salafist mosque. Hamas claimed it was in retaliation for an alleged Salafist attack on Hamas “jihad fighters” south of Khan Yunis. Sources in Gaza confirmed that seven Salafist-jihadi operatives were arrested in the mosque, and that Hamas had recently arrested 30 Salafist-jihadi Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis members. Having started terrorism in the Gaza Strip, Hamas is now reaping the result: terrorism there is “going viral.”

All evidence reveals that to establish a Palestinian state now would quickly turn it into an Islamist terrorist entity. Each time governments encourage Islamist movements, or ignore them in the hope that they will attack someone else, these movements have boomeranged into their own backyards and then moved on to their neighbors’. This will be the fate of Syria’s Bashar Assad, who let Hamas and other terrorist groups set up shop in Damascus. Former PA Chairman Yasser Arafat let Hamas into the neighborhood, and the Palestinian people are now being repaid by Hamas. Arafat wrongly assumed that letting Hamas in the door would serve him by forcing Israel to make concessions. Mahmoud Abbas thought that forming a Unity Government with Hamas would give the PA a unified front with which to harvest more money and diplomatic concessions from Europe. But last August, Abbas was informed of a Hamas murder plot against him. “We have a national unity government and you are thinking about a coup against me,” he said to Hamas’s leader, Khaled Mashaal.

The Islamist terrorist enclaves are wholly the fruit of the Muslim Brotherhood doctrine freely being spread around the Middle East and the democratic West. The so-far isolated incidents of bloodshed in Europe, Africa and the United States are just at the beginning stages of a long, bloody campaign to engulf the world.

Gaza has already been lost to Hamas and perhaps soon to ISIS. Libya and Lebanon may follow next. If the West pressures Palestinians and Israel to create a Palestinian state now, the West Bank and Jordan will be sure to follow. Enabling an expansionist Iran to have a nuclear threshold capability will also throw the region into war.

We, the Palestinians who live in the Palestinian Authority and within Israel, have not stopped dreaming of a Palestinian state, but we also witness the chaos around us and are relieved that so far the catastrophe has not harmed us or our families.

Some Palestinian politicians have turned to more extreme rhetoric to find favor with Israeli Arabs, but despite the tendency in Palestinian society towards extremism and terrorism, what is certain is that even if the establishment of the Palestinian state is postponed, most Palestinians hope the West will not make the mistake of permitting Iran to go nuclear. A nuclear Iran will create a nightmare that will make the Nakba look like a coming attraction.

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[1] For recent examples, see: “Fatah glorifies arch-terrorist who planned killings of 125,” May 14, 2015; “PA honors 3 terrorists who lynched two Israeli reservists,” May 11, 2015; “PA sports presents terrorist murderers as role models,” May 4, 2015.