WarSclerotic

Crazed US Senator Attacks Defense Secretary for not Planning War With Russia Depraved disciple of Mad John McCain just took crazy to a whole new level

Jay Vogt

Source: Crazed US Senator Attacks Defense Secretary for not Planning War With Russia

If Mad John McCain is the most disgusting man in America (and he is), then certainly his snarling little sidekick from South Carolina Lindsey Graham is a strong second.

Many people remember Mad John’s infamous statement from early 2014 where he declared: ‘Look, Russia is just a gas station masquerading as a country’. The quip was unsurprising coming from McCain, as his hatred of Russia and all things Russian is the stuff of legend and very well known. His junior colleague’s hatred of Russia – every bit as fierce and raging as his elder’s – is less well known only because the man himself is less well known.

Graham, who is currently polling at 0% in his run for the presidency, is actually more than just a colleague, partner, or even friend of McCain. He is in many ways an extension of the Arizona senator himself. Graham’s hatred and rage is McCain’s hatred and rage; and his current run for the presidency is nothing more than the dying specter of McCain’s failed ambitions back in 2008.

This was put on display just last month when out on the campaign trail in Iowa a reporter gave Graham a chance to establish his anti-Russia bona fides to a small group of slack-jawed locals. After vowing to arm Ukraine and re-escalate an already de-escalated civil war there, the South Carolina senator explained how he would be a hands-on leader in dealing with the Russian president. ‘I’m going to lead by example. I would take natural gas that we own in abundance and I’d export it to Europe and I’d cut his legs out from under him – Putin – so he wouldn’t enjoy his monopoly’, said Graham. ‘Russia is a gas station masquerading. They are weak’.

It’s important to note that this statement was given a week or two before Putin cruelly sliced and diced the West at the UN General Assembly. As impressive as that tongue-lashing was, it was merely the preamble to a show of force in Syria, the impressiveness of which is not even denied by Russia’s NATO adversaries.

Exactly how much Putin’s impressive Syrian campaign has stoked Graham’s Russophobic rage over the past month is anyone’s guess, but a recent exchange between he, US General Joseph Dunford, and Defense Secretary Ash Carter, in which he brow beat the living hell out of both of them, suggests that it was much more than considerable.

The chilling exchange basically consisted of Graham grilling Carter and Dunford about not having a plan to fight alongside the US-backed ‘moderate’ forces, and then repeatedly interrupting the hapless pair as they tried to negotiate with the bald fury coming their way.

The seriousness of this exchange should not be lost on anyone. This was nothing short of a senior US Senator – who happens to be running for president – openly calling for war with Russia.

There is no other way to interpret it. His words are crystal clear. Everyone in the world knows that Russia is openly fighting in support of Assad; and here we see Lindsey Graham hammering these two defense officials because the US does not have plans to join anti-regime fighters to ‘take down Assad’. This is nothing short of war with Russia.

Video of this disturbing exchange follows here. While watching, just notice the rage and fury pulsating in this man. Pay attention to his tone, his eyes. Try to imagine what horrors this wretched individual would unleash on the world if he were to become commander-in-chief (which thankfully will never happen). This is McCainism. This is evil.

Turkey Confirms Attacking Kurdish YPG Forces in Syria Insists Kurds Won’t Be Allowed West of the Euphrates

by Jason Ditz,

October 27, 2015

Source: Turkey Confirms Attacking Kurdish YPG Forces in Syria — News from Antiwar.com

Following yesterday’s reports of the incident by Kurdish forces on the ground, Turkey’s government has confirmed that they attacked Kurdish YPG targets across the Syrian border, the first time Turkey has admitted to attacking them, amid an ongoing war against Kurdish forces in both Turkey and Iraq.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed the incident, but offered little insight, saying only that Turkey had warned the Kurds would never be allowed to go west of the Euphrates and that Turkey would hit them the moment they did.

The YPG are seeking control over Jarabulus, an ISIS-held border town just West of the Euphrates, though interestingly the cross-border gunfire incidents happened nowhere near Jarabulus – rather they were well further east at Tel Abyad, in the Raqqa Province.

Turkey has made Jarabulus a red line several times in the past, but has also objected to the YPG moving into the ISIS dominated Raqqa Province and carving up ISIS territory. In both cases their primary concern seems to be that the growing Kurdish autonomous region in Syria will add to separatist sentiment within Turkey itself.

Turkey has accused the YPG of being a wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the primary opponent in their ongoing war in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq, which has made expanding the war into Syria likely only a matter of time, though with the YPG fighting almost exclusively against ISIS such moves will risk accusations that Turkey is backing ISIS control over those regions.

Israel: Abbas’s UNHRC speech is ‘the banalization of the spilling of Jewish blood’

Source: Israel: Abbas’s UNHRC speech is ‘the banalization of the spilling of Jewish blood’ – Arab-Israeli Conflict – Jerusalem Post

“What we have witnessed today is the glorification of terror and violence,” says Eviatar Manor, Israeli Ambassador to UNHRC.

http://tinyurl.com/pgdpe39

Israel charged that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “glorified” violence against Israelis and further “fanned the flames of the conflict” during his speech before a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday.

“What we have witnessed today is the glorification of terror and violence,” Israel’s Ambassador to the UNHRC Eviatar Manor told diplomatic corp in Geneva hours after Abbas’s speech.

“What the Council allowed today is the banalization of the spilling of Jewish blood,” Manor said.

In his speech to the UNHRC Abbas said that the violence in the last few weeks was fueled by built up frustration over Israel’s “occupation of Palestine” and changes it had made to the status quo in the Al-Aksa mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Abbas made no mention of the 11 Israelis killed by Palestinian assailants in some 30 attacks against Israelis since the start of October. Instead he accused Israel instead of “extra-judicial killings” and “war crimes” against his people.

Israeli security forces have killed 60 Palestinians in October, of which half were assailants and half were involved in violent clashes with the IDF and Border Police.

Israel has insisted that it has not changed the status quo on the Temple Mount and charged that such accusations are at the heart of the surge in Palestinian violence over the last month.

Wednesday’s speech marks the first time that Abbas had addressed the UNHRC. Heads of state, including those of non-member UN states, can ask for a special UHRC to address member states.

Abbas, who is the head of a “fictitious state” used a “flimsy” precedent to hold a “scandalous” special meeting to deliver a speech of incitement that only served to increase violence and further politicized the UNHRC, Manor said.

The UNHRC should have refused to the meeting, even though it is legally permissible, Manor said.

“The role of the Council in fanning the flames of conflict and assisting in the dissemination of lies is now well established,” he said.

“President Abbas did not speak about the situation of human rights in the areas under his responsibility. He is perfectly aware of the abject conditions of these. No, he chose to name and shame my country,” Manor said.

“All I can wish the Council is that this new courtesy procedure will as of now be taken on board by many countries and the total politicization of the Council will become evident,” Manor said.

“Let me be very clear: the days of spilling Jewish blood without Jews allowed to defend themselves are long gone. The Human Rights Council has forgotten that the right to life is a basic human right and that it is universal. Jews in Israel have it, too. And we shall exercise our right to life,” Manor stated.

In Washington, US State Department spokesman John Kirby did not respond directly to Abbas’s comments, but only gave a general comment about the overall situation.

“What we want to see is words and deeds that do not do anything to escalate the tensions and contribute to calm,” he added.

Army patrols have been beefed up throughout Judea and Samaria to prevent rock-throwing and firebombing attacks.

By: Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu

Published: October 28th, 2015

Source: The Jewish Press » » IDF Expects Terror to Continue for ‘Weeks to Come’

IDF soldiers search vehicle at a checkpoint.
Photo Credit: Flash 90

The IDF expects the current wave of terrorist attacks, including rock-throwing and firebombings, to continue “in the coming weeks.” In a letter obtained by The JewishPress.com and sent by a brigade commander to residents under his command in Judea and Samaria, he wrote:

The challenge we face is not a short-term issue and from what I know, it will continue in the coming weeks with the understanding that there are many factors that influence the security situation.

The IDF, Border Police, police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and civilian security forces continue to work night and day to return to residents a sense of security. The army has significantly beefed up patrols and guard posts on Highway 60, the major artery linking northern Samaria with Gush Etzion, Kiryat Arba-Hebron and the southern Hebron Hills. The brigade commander also wrote:

I promise we will get through this period and, God willing, return security and the feeling of security.

However, government policy is another matter. Residents of Judea and Samaria have lived for years with the same cycle of calm and violence. The calm is maintained when a large number of soldiers patrol the highways. Then, the United States and European Union work on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and demand that Israel “boost the popularity” of Mahmoud Abbas and reduce the presence of soldiers,. The next step is another escalation of violence that gives Abbas another chance to complain that the IDF is interfering with the daily life of Arabs by patrolling the roads and setting up checkpoints.

Iran: “We never abandoned the idea of obtaining nuclear weapon” Iran’s former leader Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani makes an unprecedented confession regarding Iran’s true aim in developing the nuclear program.

Oct 28, 2015, 12:15PM |

Yael Klein

Source: Iran: “We never abandoned the idea of obtaining nuclear weapon” – JerusalemOnline

Former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani stated in an interview for an Iranian news site that Iran attempted to manufacture nuclear weapon in the past. The official, who is the present head of Iran’s State Exigency Council, conveyed a threatening message that Iran maintains the option of developing nuclear weapons if it needs to.

Rafsanjani, photo archives Photo Credit: Reuters / Channel 2 News

Rafsanjani added that ever since Iran began developing its nuclear program, during the war with Iraq, the country was seeking nuclear capability as a form of defense, in preparation for the day its enemies would turn to the nuclear bomb.

He stated that the nuclear plan included from the onset the construction of secret sites, enrichment of uranium, manufacture of centrifuge parts, laser technology, and the heavy water reactor. In the interview, Rafsanjani exposed the secret Iranian-Pakistani relations established for nuclear needs in the 80’s. The Iranian leadership, which included himself and Ayatollah Khamenei at the time, tried to meet with a known nuclear scientist named Abdul Qadeer Khan, who had developed the nuclear bomb for Pakistan.

I had gone to Pakistan twice. In any case, I did not see him. Ayatollah Khamenei did not see him either. However, during the war, we were both pursuing to begin the work. It seemed that Mr. Abdul Qadeer Khan himself believed that the Islamic World should have the nuclear bomb. In any case, they agreed to help us a bit.” According to the news website, at this stage, the Iranian Resistance met with the scientist.

An explicit confession like Rafsanjani’s is unprecedented. The National Council of Resistance of Iran published an English translation of the interview to try and reveal the Iranian regime’s true policy.

Obama Anti-Islamic State War Strategy Failing Carter, Dunford outline latest shift in war focus

BY: Bill Gertz
October 28, 2015 5:00 am

Source: Obama Anti-Islamic State War Strategy Failing

he Obama administration’s strategy for Iraq and Syria came under harsh criticism from senators on Tuesday as key defense leaders outlined the latest shift in strategy from earlier failed policies and programs.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Gen. Joseph Dunford, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the president’s strategy against Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL) terrorists to date has produced poor results in both Syria and Iraq.

“The end-state is to defeat ISIL,” Dunford said. “Without a partner on the ground, Syria has clearly presented the most difficult challenge. No one is satisfied with our progress to date.”

In Syria, the administration’s program to create a U.S.-armed and equipped anti-Islamic State rebel force failed to produce a significant number of opposition fighters to battle the terrorist group; despite spending $43 million of $500 million allocated for the program. Only a handful of anti-IS fighters were produced.

To further complicate U.S. anti-IS efforts, Russian military forces last month began conducting airstrikes and missile attacks against rebels battling the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, further weakening the U.S.-led anti-IS program.

In Iraq, the battle to regain territory taken over by IS fighters also has been floundering, as IS fighters have taken over key Iraqi cities, seized weapons from fleeing Iraqi forces, and gained access to millions of dollars in stolen bank assets.

U.S. support under the Obama plan has been limited to airstrikes and training Iraqi troops on the ground. Defense officials disclosed to the Washington Free Beacon in August that U.S. and allied airstrikes were not targeting 60 identified IS training camps that are producing some 1,000 fighters monthly.

Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) engaged in a heated exchange with Carter about the failed program to train Syrian rebels.

“I’m not sure how many young people were killed in trying to implement this failed program. Did you feel vindicated when this program failed?” McCain asked.

“No, I was disappointed in it. I wished it had turned out differently,” Carter replied.

Carter and Dunford also said imposing a military air exclusion zone over Syria, something supported by McCain, would represent a costly and difficult military escalation requiring increased air and ground forces and up to $1 billion a day in costs. A no-fly zone also would be difficult because of Syrian air defenses that could attack U.S. aircraft in the zone.

“We can implement a no-fly zone, and we have the capability to do that, Dunford said. “The challenges are political, and legal, and then, a diversion of the resources that are currently fighting ISIL in support of the no-fly zone.”

The defense secretary outlined a shift in strategy for both Syria and Iraq during his testimony. In Syria, he said a new program would seek to enable moderate rebels inside Syria who could be armed to fight against the Islamic State.

Yet, Carter acknowledged that the U.S. arm-and-equip program for Syria prohibits allowing the anti-IS rebels to fight against the Assad regime, a policy that drew criticism from Sen. Lindsay Graham (R., S.C.), who noted that Russia, Iran, and the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah are now backing Assad, making his ouster unlikely.

“All I can say is, this is a sad day for America and the region,” Graham said. “We’ll pay hell for this because the Arabs are not going to accept this. The people in Syria are not going to accept this. This is a half-assed strategy at best.”

The revised strategy outlined by Carter calls for stepping up air strikes against the Islamic State’s Syrian stronghold of Raqqa, helping Iraqi ground forces re-take the city of Ramadi, and continuing to conduct targeted raids, both air strikes against group leaders and special operations ground attacks.

Carter said Iraqi government and security forces need to do more to help the battle.

“We need to see more in the direction of multi-sectarian governance and defense leadership,” he said.

A recent State Department security report disclosed that IS gained between $20 billion and $50 billion worth of arms from Iraqi military troops who fled rather than fight during battles last year. Much of the equipment and arms were U.S.-made, including tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery.

Carter also defended the administration’s failure to dissuade Russia from conducting military operations in Syria against anti-Assad rebels.

“While we negotiated a document on safety of flight with the Russian minister of defense, we do not align ourselves more broadly, with their military actions because instead of singularly attacking ISIL, as they said they were going to do, they’re primarily attacking the Syrian opposition, as the chairman has noted, which further fuels the tragic civil war there,” Carter said.

Dunford, who recently took over as chairman after a stint as Marine Corps commandant, said the refocused military campaign will involve more airstrikes against IS leaders and fighters, as well as disrupting supply lines and IS revenue sources.

Second, the military is working to bolster Iraqi and Kurdish ground forces who can take back territory now held by IS fighters.

“To be successful with the coalition’s military campaign, we must reduce ISIL’s territorial control, destroy it’s war-fighting capability, and undermine its brand and aura of invincibility,” Dunford said.

“We must do all we can to enable vetted Syrian opposition forces willing to fight ISIL, and we must be more aggressive in strikes that will deny ISIL the access they have to oil revenue,” the four-star general added.

Carter said the new train-and-arm program in Syria would seek capable and motivated forces inside Syria.

“We have identified some of them already, and the new approach is to enable them, train them, and equip them, rather than trying to create such forces anew, which was the previous approach,” he said.

Carter said he and Obama concluded the program to train fighters outside the country and send them into Syria was not working.

“So we have a different approach that we think will allow us to gain more momentum,” Carter said. “And in particular, to allow us to put pressure on the city of Raqqa which is the self-declared capital of the caliphate.”

On the South China Sea, Carter confirmed that the guided missile destroyer USS Lassen recently conducted a passage within 12 miles of a newly-created Chinese island in the disputed Spratly Island chain.

The warship transit was widely anticipated and sparked outrage from Beijing, which called the passage a military provocation.

The Lassen sailed close to Subi Reef, where commercial satellite images revealed that China is building a military airstrip.

China has built up some 3,000 acres of islands in the South China Sea and is declaring nearly the entire strategic waterway as Chinese maritime territory.

Those claims are rejected by the United States and others in the region.

NBC: Obama ‘Has Long Struggled to Explain’ Islamic State Strategy and is ‘Struggling Again’

BY: David Rutz
October 28, 2015 9:04 am

Source: NBC: Obama ‘Has Long Struggled to Explain’ Islamic State Strategy and is ‘Struggling Again’ – Washington Free Beacon

The Obama administration has “long struggled to explain its strategy” against the Islamic State terrorist group, NBC reporter Richard Engel said Wednesday, and it’s “struggling again” as there appears to be a gap between the White House and the Pentagon regarding the potential use of ground troops against the organization.

“This administration has long struggled to explain its strategy against ISIS, and it’s struggling again with the White House insisting nothing has changed even as the Pentagon is considering an expanded role for U.S. troops in both Iraq and Syria,” Engel said on The Today Show.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced a shift in U.S. policy Tuesday toward the use of “direct action on the ground” to combat IS, which has seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria since the summer of 2014. President Obama had previously said there would be no U.S. ground troops used to fight the Islamic State.

“We won’t hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL, or conducting such missions directly whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground,” Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“But direct action on the ground sounds a lot different from what the president has repeatedly promised,” Engel said.

“The American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission,” Obama said in September 2014, shortly after announcing in a major address his plan to “degrade and ultimately destroy” IS.

“The White House seems to want it both ways, saying no regular troops will be in combat. Only small numbers of special ops forces will do that,” Engel said. “To some, it’s Washington doublespeak.”

Col. Jack Jacobs, an NBC News terrorism analyst, has sharply criticized the Obama administration’s Middle East policy before and called this latest rhetoric typical politics from the administration.

“Anybody in combat is boots on the ground,” Jacobs said. “The White House has been trying to play politics here and try to convince everybody that special operations forces are not boots on the ground.”

Admitting it or not, Engel said, the U.S. is getting “deeper into the war” against IS.

No Consensus’ Among CIA-Backed Syria Rebels on Accepting Russian Military Support In other words it’s impossible to tell what the Free Syrian Army position is because it’s impossible to tell who makes up the coalition or who can speak for it

Sarah El Deeb

Source: ‘No Consensus’ Among CIA-Backed Syria Rebels on Accepting Russian Military Support

BEIRUT (AP) — When Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country was ready to aid Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State group, rebel commanders scoffed, pointing out that Russian aircraft were pounding their bases in central and northern Syria on a daily basis.

Moreover, Lavrov not long ago had ridiculed the main Western-backed rebels known as the Free Syrian Army, calling the group a “phantom structure.”

But some in the Syrian opposition are wondering whether the Russian offer, for all its ambiguity, might be worth seizing in order to test Moscow’s commitment to finding a negotiated solution to the four-year civil war. The seeming change of tune is in sharp contrast to the stance of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who considers all rebels on the ground to be terrorists.

“Maybe there is a disconnect between the regime’s discourse and that of the Russians,” said Munzer Abkik, of the Syrian National Coalition, an opposition group in exile that coordinates with the Free Syrian Army.

“We are watching cautiously in the coming days to see if they are serious about finding a political solution through a real transition of power, or if they are simply maneuvering to gain time,” he said. “The rebel commanders are considering this possibility … If they sit with (Russian officials), they say they can find out if they are bluffing.”

Russia says it has already met with rebel commanders in Moscow, a claim denied by the opposition and their political allies. But some mediators and politicians who coordinate with the Free Syrian Army say the Russians have reached out to the rebels, either to individual commanders on the ground or through mediators.

Lavrov first made the offer last week. On Tuesday, he repeated it, saying, “We would like and would be ready to help not only the Syrian army, but all opposition units confronting terrorists on the ground in Syria.” He said Moscow was reaching out to the United States and countries in the region to help locate moderate and anti-terrorist opposition factions in Syria.

“I would say frankly that it hasn’t been easy to find them, and we are still continuing the search,” Lavrov said.

Retired Lebanese army Gen. Hisham Jaber, who is familiar with the Syrian military, said Russia is looking to show flexibility. “The aim is political … to talk to those in the trenches, not those in hotels,” Jaber said. “Russia can’t talk about a peaceful resolution and hold the Syrian regime card alone.”

Russia is signaling that it is willing to include rebel fighters in any unified Syrian military force to fight terrorism that might emerge from negotiations, Jaber said. But Moscow also wants to underline to the U.S. and its allies how disunited the Free Syrian Army is and how difficult it is to negotiate with them. Still, with 25,000 to 30,000 fighters on the ground who claim affiliation with the Free Syrian Army, Russia knows they are a force to reckon with.

“What is there to lose to throw the test balloon … and give the impression that Russia is here to solve the problem?” Jaber said.

By thrusting itself in the complex Syrian conflict, Russia also stirred a new flurry of diplomacy.

The four powerhouses that have leverage over the conflict — Russia, the U.S., Turkey and Saudi Arabia — have been holding talks over Syria’s future, and on Tuesday U.S. officials said that Iran — like Russia, a major backer of Assad — had been invited to participate for the first time. Few details have emerged, and Iran has yet to reply.

In a sign of possible discord with his Russian allies, Assad’s office issued a statement Tuesday reiterating that he will not consider any political initiatives “until after eradicating terrorism.” The statement was in response to comments by Russian lawmakers who visited Assad on Sunday and said the Syrian leader was willing to hold early presidential elections that he would run in.

A former Free Syrian Army soldier who is now in Turkey and acts as a contact between rebel factions and Russia said a Russian emissary had already reached out to him to arrange meetings with rebel commanders. The go-between, who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Jad, described the emissary as a Russian of Syrian origin, whom he met through a Syrian politician, who in turn had met him in Moscow.

“We didn’t give a decision yet. We are waiting for a confidence-building step,” Abu Jad said. “They have to stop the raids against the FSA.”

Abu Jad said there was no consensus among rebel commanders on whether to take up the offer. But he added that with a new push for diplomacy, the rebels must be prepared for a possible new channel of negotiations. “Wars always end in negotiations … We try to be ready and restore our place so as not to always be dependent on the outside.”

Jamil Saleh, the commander of the CIA-backed rebel faction Tajammu Alezzah, said the group’s bases in central Hama have been pounded by Russian airstrikes every day since the campaign was launched on Sept. 30. Last week, an emissary of the Russians contacted him to arrange for a meeting in a third country. Saleh said he rejected the offer.

“This is an attempt to win over some factions or cause strife among them and with their (foreign) supporters,” Saleh told The Associated Press. “It is a matter of principle, so long as Russia supports the regime and is pounding us and Syrian cities we can’t talk to them. They must first recognize the Syrian revolution and the Free Syrian Army.”

Abbas calls on UN Security Council to ‘protect’ Palestinians from Israel PA president tells UN Human Rights Council Ramallah will continue ICC drive, derides international community for failure to act on behalf of Palestinians

By Joshua Davidovich

October 28, 2015, 3:04 pm

Source: Abbas calls on UN Security Council to ‘protect’ Palestinians from Israel | The Times of Israel

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the UN Human Rights Council on October 28, 2015. (AFP/FABRICE COFFRINI)

Palestinian Authority President urged the United Nations Security Council to establish a “special regime of protection,” begging for the international community to impose a two-state solution and warning that time may be running out.

Speaking to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Abbas also said Ramallah would continue its state-building efforts, including joining the International Criminal Court, and rejected any bid to reach an interim peace deal with Israel.

Abbas called on the UN, “more urgently than any time before, to set up a special regime for international protection for the Palestinian people, immediately and urgently.”

“The Security Council is requested to shoulder its responsibilities and to establish a special regime of protection for the Palestinian people,” Abbas told the body, adding that his people “can longer bear all these attacks” by Israel.

“Protect us, protect us, we need you,” he added.

He also called again upon the Security Council to set a timeline for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, following a failed attempt nearly a year earlier.

“Is that too much to ask? Is it too much? Isn’t it high time for the international community to move from merely talking about the justice of the Palestinian cause to taking practical measures and procedures which would serve justice to my Palestinian people,” he said.

Abbas’s speech to the council came as Israel and the Palestinians are engaged in a fresh round of violence, which has seen near-daily stabbings and other attacks by Palestinians and widespread clashes in the West Bank.

Abbas said he called for a “peaceful popular resistance,” but blamed the fighting on the Israeli occupation and the lack of action from the international community.

“Our people’a angry upheaval and the recent successive events are the inevitable outcome of what we had previously warned of … as well as the failure of the international community to address this injustice,” he said.

Speaking before Abbas, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein warned that the wave of deadly violence was “dangerous in the extreme” and could lead to a “catastrophe”.

“The violence between Palestinians and the Israelis will draw us ever closer to a catastrophe if not stopped immediately,” he said.

Much of the violence was touched off by Palestinian claims that Israel is not keeping to its commitments on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a claim Abbas repeated, saying Israel was desecrating it “every second,” and performing illegal excavations beneath the holy site.

Abbas also reiterated a threat made at the United Nations a month earlier to cancel the 1993 Oslo accords if Israel did not abide by its commitments, as he claimed it was not. He also rejected any non-final status negotiations.

“We reject any interim or partial solution,” he said.

He called on Israel to release a fourth group of Arab prisoners agreed to as part of US-brokered peace negotiations that fell apart in 2014, as well as a settlement freeze, warning that time was running out to reach a peace deal.

“This might be the last chance for this solution. It may be the last chance. After that, who knows what winds of change will bring,” he said. “Do not push my people into further despair.”

Abbas also criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for comments suggesting that a World War II-era Palestinian religious leader, Haj Amin al-Husseini, a former grand mufti of Jerusalem, persuaded the Nazis to carry out a policy that exterminated 6 million Jews.

He called the allegations “false, untrue and baseless” and said they manipulate the sentiments of Jews about “the most horrendous crime known in modern history committed by the Nazis.

AP and AFP contributed to this report.

Russia Invites Iran to Join Talks on Syria, with US Approval

BY: Morgan Chalfant
October 27, 2015 2:38 pm

Source: Russia Invites Iran to Join Talks on Syria, with US Approval – Washington Free Beacon

The Obama administration has agreed to invite Iran to participate in talks regarding the future of Syria, marking the first time the country has ever been asked to do so. Russia extended the invitation to Iran.

U.S. officials confirmed the invite Tuesday and said that Iran has not yet responded.

The Associated Press reported:

The next diplomatic round starts Thursday in Vienna, with Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and several top European and Arab diplomats attending. Washington had held out the possibility of Iran joining the discussions in future, but is only now offering Tehran a seat after days of behind-the-scenes negotiation, particularly with its regional rival Saudi Arabia.

Iran has consistently backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the civil war in the country while the U.S. has stood on the side of the Syrian rebels fighting Assad. Earlier this month, Iran sent hundreds of troops to Syria to fight alongside Syrian government forces supporting Assad.

Iran and Russia, another Assad ally, have reportedly plotted together on military intervention in Syria. Russia has been launching airstrikes in the country since late September, claiming to be fighting the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL or ISIS) but appearing to target CIA-backed Syrian rebels fighting the Assad regime.

The move comes months after Iran, the U.S., and other world powers reached a final nuclear deal in Vienna. In the wake of the agreement, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Tehran would not engage in future negotiations with the U.S.