WarSclerotic

Israel eager to put rift with Obama over Iran deal in past, Netanyahu says

Source: Israel eager to put rift with Obama over Iran deal in past, Benjamin Netanyahu says – Israel News – Jerusalem Post

Prime minister tells US television that the two governments must now work to contain Iranian aggression in the region.

The rift between the United States and Israel over the Iran is in the past, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News over the weekend.

The premier explained that the two countries must now work together to contain Tehran’s aggression in the region and ensure its compliance with the deal to curb its nuclear program.

“President [Barack] Obama has said that he is committed to preventing dangerous weapons coming into the hands of Iran’s proxies, that he wants to prevent Iran from destabilizing countries in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said.

“There is no better partner for that than Israel,” said Netanyahu, who spoke extensively with Greta Van Susteren on Friday. He made similar statements to CNN in an interview that will air on Sunday.

In both conversations, Netanyahu spoke of a renewed alliance between Israel and the US over the dangers posed by Iran. He also talked about ending the rift between him and Obama that has marked the relationship for the last year.

On Thursday, Netanyahu delivered a fiery address to the UN General Assembly in New York against the nuclear deal worked out in July between Iran and the six world powers.

The nations of the world, not just Israel, are endangered by the deal which leaves Iran with the ability to build atomic weapons and does not hinder its work on intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, Netanyahu said.

“Now remember this: Iran already has missiles that can reach Israel. So those intercontinental ballistic missiles that Iran is building – they’re not meant for us – They’re meant for you. For Europe. For America. For raining down mass destruction – anytime, anywhere,” Netanyahu said.

The prime minister’s public and persistent campaign against the deal, has put him at odds with Obama, creating the most serious crisis in the relations between the two leaders since they both entered office in 2009.

In his UN address on Monday, Obama did not mention Israel at all, even though he did so in all six of his past speeches at the opening sessions of the UN General Assembly.

Netanyahu, in contrast, mentioned Obama three times during his UN General Assembly speech on Thursday, in which he spoke of how the two countries would work together for a common future and thanked the US for its continued support of Israel.

“Israel deeply appreciates President Obama’s willingness to bolster our security, help Israel maintain its qualitative military edge and help Israel confront the enormous challenges we face,” Netanyahu said.

When he met with US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York on Friday, prior to departing for Israel on Saturday night, Netanyahu spoke with him about ways the two countries could move forward to combat Iranian aggression and ensure its compliance with the deal. He plans to hold a similar conversation with Obama when he mets with him in the White House in November.

“You know, we had a profound disagreement on the Iran nuclear deal.  And President Obama and I both said, well, this is a disagreement within the family,” Netanyahu told Van Susteren of Fox News.

“I appreciated the fact that President Obama called me while that deal was being discussed.  And he said, ‘Look, we can talk about bolstering Israel’s security now or later’,” Netanyahu said.

“Well, this morning was later. This was the day after. It began today,” he said.

Netanyahu then outlined three points that Israel plans to focus on in its talks with the US and in general when it comes to Iran in the coming months; ensuring Iran’s compliance with the deal, bolstering regional forces such as Israel to combat its aggression and tearing down Tehran’s global network of terror.

“We’re going to talk [with the US] and we started talking about what we need to do,” said Netanyahu.

“One is we have to keep Iran’s feet to the fire. We have to make sure it abides by its obligations under the nuclear treaty, under the nuclear deal.”

“Second, we have to bolster those forces that are working against Iran’s aggression in the region. It’s growing. And the most important party that works against Iran’s aggression in the region is Israel.”

“So I appreciated it, I look forward to the opportunity to discuss with President Obama how to put flesh on his serious commitment to bolster Israel’s security in the face of this new challenge.”

“And third, we have to tear down Iran’s global terror network, because it’s not merely increasing its aggression in the region, it’s building terror cells on five continents, including in this hemisphere,” Netanyahu said.

Israel, he said, is the most powerful country that stands in the breach of a collapsing region.

“The one party that is standing there 10 miles from ISIS, a few hundred yards from Iran’s murderous proxies, is Israel.”

“Now, we’re protecting ourselves. But in so doing, we’re also protecting the neighborhood.”

“Israel has no better ally than the United States. And the United States has no better ally than Israel. And I think the order of the day now, after the deal, is to make sure that Israel and America’s other allies are strengthened in the region against this Iranian aggression. And I look forward to this conversation with the president,” he said.

One of the places that Iran is operating in is the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, where it is trying to build a terrorist front and have even sent Iranian generals there.

If Israel is attacked from Syria, it will retaliate, he said, and added that Israel would also thwart the transfer of arms through that territory.

Last month, he said, he flew to Moscow to discuss the situation in Syria with President Vladmir Putin. The two countries are creating a mechanism by which they can operate separately in Syria, without “bumping” into each other.

Israel and Russia, “used to be in an adversarial position many years ago. I don’t think we want to get back there and I know Russia doesn’t want to get back there,” Netanyahu said.

“We’re doing our best to make sure that it doesn’t happen. And I don’t think it will happen,” he added.

Liberman: Don’t Fund Terrorists, Execute Them He’s said it before, but this time Avigdor Liberman hopes that the powers that be will pay attention: ‘stop funding terrorism.’

Source: Liberman: Don’t Fund Terrorists, Execute Them – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva

Avigdor Liberman

Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90

He’s said it before, but this time, Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman hopes that the powers that be will pay attention, in light of the deterioration of the security situation in Israel. “The incitement by Palestinian media and Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas proves for once and for all that we have no partner for peace,” said Liberman. “Therefore, all funding for the PA must be stopped immediately, and any special VIP permits that allow [PA officials] to travel freely must be revoked.”

Liberman spoke after a violent night in Jerusalem, in which Rabbi Nehemia Lavi, 41, and Aharon Benita Bennett, 21, were both murdered  in a terrorist attack Saturday night. Bennett’s wife, Adelle Benita, 22, and their two-year-old son, were also injured. Later Saturday night, an Arab terrorist attempted to stab a Jewish youth in central Jerusalem. The youth was moderately injured.

Writing on his Facebook page, Liberman said that the government needed to take stronger action against terrorists’ families. “All the houses belonging to terrorists should be destroyed,” he said. “The Northern Islamic Movement, which supplies many of the rioters who are tearing apart Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, must be made illegal as well. We know who they are, where they live and what their names are,” said Liberman. “We could arrest them immediately, if the Shabak (Israel Security Agency) were ordered to do so.”

Liberman also repeated his demand for a death penalty for terrorists, a hallmark of his campaign for the current Knesset. “The government must insist that security forces ensure that terrorists who carry out these attacks do not survive,” he wrote. “In addition, the heads of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas in Gaza who called for a continuation of these attacks are legitimate targets. Security forces must make sure that they have the opportunity to become the ‘shahids’ (holy martyrs) that they so greatly praise.”

Russia Claims ISIS Now On The Ropes As Fighters Desert After 60 Airstrikes In 72 Hours

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/03/2015 13:15 -0400

Source: Russia Claims ISIS Now On The Ropes As Fighters Desert After 60 Airstrikes In 72 Hours | Zero Hedge

One question that’s been asked repeatedly over the past thirteen months is why Washington has been unable to achieve the Pentagon’s stated goal of “degrading and defeating” ISIS despite the fact that the “battle” pits the most advanced air force on the planet against what amounts to a ragtag band of militants running around the desert in basketball shoes.

Those of a skeptical persuasion have been inclined to suggest that perhaps the US isn’t fully committed to the fight. Explanations for that suggestion range from the mainstream (the White House is loathe to get the US into another Mid-East war) to the “conspiratorial” (the CIA created ISIS and thus doesn’t want to destroy the group due to its value as a strategic asset).

The implication in all of this is that a modern army that was truly determined to destroy the group could likely do so in a matter of months if not weeks and so once Russia began flying sorties from Latakia, the world was anxious to see just how long the various rebel groups operating in Syria could hold up under bombardment by the Russian air force.

The answer, apparently, is “less than a week.”

On Saturday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said it has conducted 60 bombing runs in 72 hours, hitting more than 50 ISIS targets.

According to the ministry (Facebook page is here), Islamic State fighters are in a state of “panic” and more than 600 have deserted. 

Here’s what happens when the Russians locate a terrorist “command center”:

According to The Kremlin, the structure shown in the video is (or, more appropriately, “was”) “an ISIS hardened command centre near Raqqah.” Su-34s hit it with concrete-piercing BETAB-500s setting off a series of explosions and fires that “completely destroyed the object.”

Here’s RT:

Surgical airstrikes by Russian fighter jets have knocked out a number of Islamic State installations in Syria, including the battle headquarters of a jihadist group near Raqqa, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

 

“Over the past 24 hours, Sukhoi Su-34 and Su-24M fighter jets have performed 20 sorties and hit nine Islamic State installations,” Igor Konashenkov, Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman, reported.

 

Konashenkov added that yesterday evening Russian aircraft went on six sorties, inflicting strikes on three terrorist installations.

 

“A bunker-busting BETAB-500 air bomb dropped from a Sukhoi Su-34 bomber near Raqqa has eliminated the command post of one of the terror groups, together with an underground storage facility for explosives and munitions,” the spokesman said.

 

Commenting on the video filmed by a Russian UAV monitoring the assault near Raqqa, Konashenkov noted, “a powerful explosion inside the bunker indicates it was also used for storing a large quantity of munitions.

 

“As you can see, a direct hit on the installation resulted in the detonation of explosives and multiple fires. It was completely demolished,” the spokesman said.

And here’s the Russian Defense Ministry taking a page out of the US Postal Service’s “neither rain, sleet, snow, nor hail” book on the way to serving notice that nothing is going to stop the Russian air force from exterminating Assad’s enemies in Syria:

Twenty-four hours a day #UAV’s are monitoring the situation in the ISIS activity areas. All the detected targets are effectively engaged day and night in any weather conditions.

Now obviously one must consider the source here, but Kremlin spin tactics aside, one cannot help but be amazed with the pace at which this is apparently unfolding. If any of the above is even close to accurate, it means that Russia is on schedule to declare victory over ISIS (and everyone else it looks like) in a matter of weeks, which would not only be extremely embarrassing for Washington, but would also effectively prove that the US has never truly embarked on an honest effort to rid Syria of the extremist groups the Western media claims are the scourge of humanity.

Summed up in 10 priceless seconds…

Merkel says can only end Syrian war with Russia’s help HALLE, Germany

World | Thu Oct 1, 2015 7:04pm EDT

Source: Merkel says can only end Syrian war with Russia’s help | Reuters

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that it would be possible to end to the civil war in Syria only with the help of Russia, which this week launched airstrikes in the war-torn country.

Speaking of the refugee crisis, Merkel said it was necessary to tackle the issues causing people to flee their homes.

“That’s particularly true of Syria, where we have all known for years that there can only be a solution with Russian and not without Russia,” Merkel said at speech in eastern Germany to mark the upcoming 25th anniversary of German reunification.

The United States took a different stance, with the White House saying Russia’s military actions in Syria risked prolonging the conflict in Syria.

On Thursday, Russian warplanes, in a second day of strikes, bombed a camp run by rebels trained by the CIA, the group’s commander said.

(Reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Michelle Martin; editing by Ralph Boulton)

US Tells EU: You’re Not Invited To Syria Peace Talks While Europe is bearing the refugee burden, the Americans only want Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey at the table

This article originally appeared in German Economic News. Translated from the German by Paul Dunne.

Source: US Tells EU: You’re Not Invited To Syria Peace Talks

The US government has torpedoed European recommendations for a multi-lateral Syrian peace conference.  In principle, Washington is in favour of peace talks – but without the EU at the table.  The EU is bearing the greater part of the burden of the explusions [sic] from Syria.  However the EU has also obviously wasted its chances with Russia.

Gorbachev calls for Russia-Germany alliance ‘for common European good’

Published time: 2 Oct, 2015 11:29

Source: Gorbachev calls for Russia-Germany alliance ‘for common European good’ — RT Russian politics

36,000 troops, 200 aircraft & 60 vessels: NATO launches biggest war games in 13 years Published time: 3 Oct, 2015 22:27

Source: 36,000 troops, 200 aircraft & 60 vessels: NATO launches biggest war games in 13 years — RT News

© NATO JFC Brunssum / YouTube