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	<title>FrontPage Magazine &#187; Rick Moran</title>
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		<title>Jihadists Vie for Supremacy in Syria</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/jihadists-vie-for-supremacy-in-syria/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=jihadists-vie-for-supremacy-in-syria</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Aug 2012 04:48:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[al Qaeda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Assad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[civil war]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Syria Army]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Homs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[islamist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jihadists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=140090</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If Assad falls, who will be left to pick up the pieces? ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/FSA_07032012.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-140102" title="FSA_07032012" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/FSA_07032012.gif" alt="" width="375" height="247" /></a>Things are going from<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19192413"> bad to worse </a>in Syria. The counterattack by President Bashar Assad&#8217;s forces on Aleppo is turning the once thriving city of 2 million souls into a charnel house. Bombings, strafings, artillery and tank fire are reducing entire <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19192413">neighborhoods to rubble</a> while people flee by the hundreds of thousands.</p>
<p>But, as the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/30/syria-foreign-jihadists-aleppo-al-qaida"><em>Guardian</em></a> reports, hundreds of foreign jihadists have infiltrated into Syria over the last few months in order to fight Assad&#8217;s forces in the name of Allah. Many have <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/312679/increasing-evidence-jihadists-syria-patrick-brennan">attached themselves</a> to units of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Others have sought out domestic <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/104383/the-civil-war-in-the-syrian-opposition-how-long-can-the-free-syrian-army-hold-its-">Syrian jihadist groups</a>, independent of the FSA, who are just now starting to <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/104383/the-civil-war-in-the-syrian-opposition-how-long-can-the-free-syrian-army-hold-its-">organize themselves</a> into a fighting force. If they are successful, the Islamist fighters could challenge <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/104383/the-civil-war-in-the-syrian-opposition-how-long-can-the-free-syrian-army-hold-its-">the FSA for supremacy</a> and replace them as the main group of fighters battling the Syrian army.</p>
<p>Already <a href="http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/foreign-jihadists-swell-rebel-ranks-syria">there are signs </a>that the jihadists are receiving plenty of money with which to purchase arms and equipment from wealthy donors in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. And while the US, the West, the Gulf States, and Turkey are all refusing to supply the FSA with tanks, artillery, and other heavy weapons out of fear that they would eventually fall into the hands of extremists, the FSA is <a href="http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/06/syrias-pinball-opposition/">in danger</a> of eventually being absorbed into an Islamist army that would be in an excellent position to dominate a post-Assad Syria.</p>
<p>But there is a catch to this rosy scenario for the jihadists: nobody trusts them. In fact, some of the major jihadist groups in Syria are <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/104383/the-civil-war-in-the-syrian-opposition-how-long-can-the-free-syrian-army-hold-its-">widely believed</a> to be tools of President Assad&#8217;s government. The FSA looks with a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19091400">jaundiced eye</a> on any Islamist group that has taken up arms, and a <a href="http://inec.usip.org/resource/survey-findings-syria-2011-public-opinion-survey">poll taken </a>last year shows that the Syrian people themselves appear to be dead set against a religious dominated government (although we were assured by all the &#8220;experts&#8221; of the secular nature of the Egyptian rebellion as well).</p>
<p>Who are the jihadists in Syria? There&#8217;s al-Qaeda, of course. They may be small in number but they&#8217;re strength is rising as law and order <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/world/middleeast/crime-wave-engulfs-syria-as-its-cities-reel-from-war.html?pagewanted=all">breaks down</a> and they can operate more freely. Most of the al-Qaeda fighters are veterans of fighting the US in Iraq and are adept at setting roadside bombs. They have carried out at least two dozen attacks, according to an expert at <a href="http://www.rand.org/blog/2012/07/al-qaedas-war-for-syria.html">Rand Corporation.</a></p>
<p>Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Al-Nusra Front is a domestic <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/104383/the-civil-war-in-the-syrian-opposition-how-long-can-the-free-syrian-army-hold-its-">Syrian terrorist group</a> that has <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/104383/the-civil-war-in-the-syrian-opposition-how-long-can-the-free-syrian-army-hold-its-">welcomed some foreign fighters </a>into its ranks in recent months. They have carried out more than 120 attacks since they were formed early in the year, including many car bombs that have killed dozens of civilians.</p>
<p>But Al-Nusra has a credibility problem. They are widely seen to be acting on the behalf of the Syrian government. Tyler Golson of <em><a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/104383/the-civil-war-in-the-syrian-opposition-how-long-can-the-free-syrian-army-hold-its-">The New Republic</a> </em>reports:</p>
<blockquote><p>The majority of Syrians—according to anecdotal evidence from Syrian social media sites—believe that all of JN’s claimed operations were in fact perpetrated by the regime’s thugs. This, despite the fact that JN’s statements are carried over official Al-Qaeda internet channels, and despite assertions by Western intelligence agencies that JN is an Al-Qaeda affiliate bent on bringing down the Syrian regime.</p></blockquote>
<p>Another jihadist who <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/104383/the-civil-war-in-the-syrian-opposition-how-long-can-the-free-syrian-army-hold-its-">set himself up</a> as an Emir in the &#8220;Islamic Emerite of Homs&#8221; may, in fact, have been acting under the orders of the Syrian government. Walid al-Boustani showed up in the city of Homs with a few fighters claiming to be with the Syrian opposition. But after several kidnappings and murders to enforce his will, the people turned on him and <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/104383/the-civil-war-in-the-syrian-opposition-how-long-can-the-free-syrian-army-hold-its-">an FSA unit</a> moved in to depose him. It turns out, the Lebanese-born Boustani was a member of Fatah al-Islam &#8212; a Lebanese al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group thought to be <a href="http://www.nysun.com/foreign/syrian-intelligence-linked-to-terrorist-group/65202/">a tool </a>of Syrian intelligence.</p>
<p>So, it is not so farfetched to think that some of the jihadists groups may be more interested in serving Assad&#8217;s government rather than overthrowing him. Many of the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/30/syria-foreign-jihadists-aleppo-al-qaida">fighters are veterans</a> of the Iraqi jihad against America. Their entry into Iraq was facilitated by the same Syrian government they now say they want to bring down.</p>
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		<title>The Death of Diplomacy in Syria</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/the-death-of-diplomacy-in-syria/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-death-of-diplomacy-in-syria</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 03 Aug 2012 04:27:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Assad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[civil war]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kofi annan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saddam Hussein]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Kofi Annan resigns, while the country descends into full-blown sectarian civil war.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/0802-syria-UN-envoy-kofi-annan-quits_full_600.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-139465" title="0802-syria-UN-envoy-kofi-annan-quits_full_600" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/0802-syria-UN-envoy-kofi-annan-quits_full_600.gif" alt="" width="375" height="250" /></a>Citing the intransigence of the Assad regime and the lack of unity in the UN Security Council, Special Envoy for the United Nations and the Arab League Kofi Annan <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/03/world/middleeast/annan-resigns-as-syria-peace-envoy.html?pagewanted=all">resigned his position</a> effective at the end of the month. The former UN Secretary General is quitting at a time when violence in Syria has exploded into a <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hocSWaELiLrHpqItNH_dK3m2E3jw?docId=CNG.a466c20451cce39d921ee334158f7f84.431">full blown</a> sectarian civil war, with atrocities being committed <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2012/08/annan-says-goodbye-yes-no-and-uncertainty-in-syria.html">on both sides,</a> and the major world powers now committed to their own proxy war, backing one side or the other in an increasingly chaotic and violent conflict.</p>
<p>Annan&#8217;s resignation also signals, for all intents and purposes, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19103996">the end</a> of diplomatic efforts to halt the conflict. Ban Ki-moon, the current UN Secretary General, says he will <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/02/syria-crisis-annan-idUSL6E8J2PLV20120802">name a replacement</a> for Annan but no one in the international community expects the next envoy to have any more luck in halting the violence than Annan did. There is a desultory debate in the <a href="http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2012/08/02/2974806/un-draft-drops-call-for-syrias.html">UN General Assembly</a> over a Syrian resolution that is already so watered down that in order to get a majority vote in that powerless body, sponsors have removed a demand for President Assad to step down and dropped a call for sanctions on Syria.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the war has escalated almost exponentially since the blast that killed 4 key advisors to Assad on July 18. The emboldened Free Syrian Army (FSA) is tenaciously <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19090143">hanging on to positions</a> in Aleppo, Syria&#8217;s largest city and the country&#8217;s commercial center, as government forces are shelling, bombing, strafing, and terrorizing the city of 2.5 million people. More than <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/02/syria-refugee-crisis-advancing-rebels-aleppo">250,000 refugees</a> have poured out of the city and the FSA is pleading for humanitarian aid to feed and shelter the multitudes.</p>
<p>Annan&#8217;s futile efforts to stop the violence in Syria are added to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/02/syria-crisis-annan-idUSL6E8J2PLV20120802">other failures</a> in his career that include an inability to stop the massacres in Bosnia in the 1990s, the Rwandan genocide where 800,000 were murdered, the tragedy in Darfur where upwards of 450,000 were killed, and Iraq&#8217;s oil for food scandal that hit close to home when his own son was accused of profiting from Saddam Hussein&#8217;s multi-billion dollar bribery schemes. Each of those horrific events occurred either while he was serving as Secretary General of the UN, or head of the world body&#8217;s peacekeeping efforts in Rwanda when he failed to act to prevent the slaughter of Tutsi tribesmen.</p>
<p>But Annan has a point. His mission was <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2012/08/annan-says-goodbye-yes-no-and-uncertainty-in-syria.html">doomed from the start</a> because the Security Council and the world community was unable to come together to address the tragedy. The lion&#8217;s share of the blame for that can be placed directly on Russia and China, whose vetoes of Security Council resolution after resolution gave Bashar Assad cover to carry out his war against his own people. But there is <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gVJKe0KEvVichFQO8c_56bnBS1Hg?docId=CNG.a466c20451cce39d921ee334158f7f84.651">plenty of blame</a> left for the United States, the European countries, and the Arab League, who clung for months to Annan&#8217;s moribund &#8220;peace plan&#8221; despite a mountain of evidence that it had failed almost as soon as it was negotiated last April.</p>
<p>This failure to face up to reality moved Senator John McCain to launch a powerful, <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gVJKe0KEvVichFQO8c_56bnBS1Hg?docId=CNG.a466c20451cce39d921ee334158f7f84.651">accusatory speech</a> on the Senate floor in which he pilloried the Obama administration for it&#8217;s faith in the Annan plan, which he said was &#8220;doomed to failure&#8221; <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gVJKe0KEvVichFQO8c_56bnBS1Hg?docId=CNG.a466c20451cce39d921ee334158f7f84.651">from the start.</a></p>
<blockquote><p>Isn&#8217;t it foolish to base your policy and non-intervention on the belief that somehow a former secretary general of the United Nations&#8217; mission would succeed, when it was clear that the Syrian people were not going to be satisfied with the continuous barbarous regime of Bashar al-Assad?</p></blockquote>
<p>McCain advocates arming the FSA &#8212; something the administration <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hocSWaELiLrHpqItNH_dK3m2E3jw?docId=CNG.a466c20451cce39d921ee334158f7f84.431">still says</a> they are not prepared to do. Press Secretary Jay Carney <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hocSWaELiLrHpqItNH_dK3m2E3jw?docId=CNG.a466c20451cce39d921ee334158f7f84.431">told reporters</a> aboard Air Force One, &#8220;Our position has not changed: We provide non-lethal assistance to the opposition,&#8221; adding, &#8220;We don&#8217;t believe that adding to the number of weapons in Syria is what&#8217;s needed to help bring about a peaceful transition.&#8221;</p>
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		<title>Watering Down the New Iran Sanctions Bill</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/administration-working-to-water-down-new-iran-sanctions-bill/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=administration-working-to-water-down-new-iran-sanctions-bill</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jul 2012 04:55:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[banking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[OIL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sanctions]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Obama and Democrats protect the interests of banking lobbyists.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/obama-iran-sanctions.gi_.top_.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-138725" title="obama-iran-sanctions.gi.top" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/obama-iran-sanctions.gi_.top_.gif" alt="" width="375" height="240" /></a>Despite claiming to be doing everything he can to pressure the Iranians to suspend uranium enrichment and give up their ambition to build a nuclear bomb, President Barack Obama and Democrats in the Senate are <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/iran-sanctions-delayed-and-now-watered-down/2012/07/26/gJQAPyNSBX_blog.html">seeking to water down</a> congressional sanctions on Iran passed in the House last December.</p>
<p>Specifically, the administration is <a href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/07/25/harry-reid-white-house-work-to-weaken-iran-sanctions/">seeking to weaken</a> sanctions dealing with the insurance and banking industries &#8212; two high-powered lobbies in Washington &#8212; who stand to lose millions of dollars if the sanctions take effect. The bill has been <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/iran-sanctions-delayed-and-now-watered-down/2012/07/26/gJQAPyNSBX_blog.html">stuck in limbo</a> since May as differences between the Senate and the House version have to be ironed out before Congress can vote on the entire package.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/25/us-usa-iran-sanctions-idUSBRE86O1OD20120725">A vote</a> on the measure is expected before Congress adjourns for the August recess next week.</p>
<p>In Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-25/khamenei-says-iran-won-t-bow-to-pressure-over-nuclear-program.html">has made it clear</a> that sanctions will not deter the Iranians from continuing their enrichment activities. But the sanctions are beginning to bite very hard for ordinary citizens, as <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5imAm5L7nIYLfwAwCkWV0t6PD2-lQ?docId=CNG.b4cc08dc997a311f5dff666028b265a6.711">inflation and shortages</a> have hit the Iranian economy hard in recent months.</p>
<p>The sanctions maneuvering in Congress and the harsh effects being felt by the Iranian people serves as a backdrop to the <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/world/top-eu-iranian-officials-to-meet-on-nuke-impasse-1.3861734">continuing efforts</a> by the European Union to engage the Iranians in serious discussions about their nuclear program. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will meet with the lead Iranian negotiator &#8220;soon&#8221; to see if they can get the moribund talks restarted.</p>
<p>The House version of the sanctions bill <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/u-s-house-of-representatives-endorses-tough-sanctions-on-iran-1.401495">passed overwhelmingly</a> last December. It largely targeted insurance companies who do business with the Iranian oil industry and transactions by the Iranian Central Bank. The <a href="http://freebeacon.com/insuring-ahmadinejad/"><em>Washington Free Beacon</em></a> reports that the sanctions would punish &#8220;any insurance company that underwrites activities that bolster the Iranian oil industry. Insurance providers could be sanctioned for underwriting shipping companies, cargo carriers, or airlines that have been subject to sanctions.&#8221; The measure would also <a href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/07/25/harry-reid-white-house-work-to-weaken-iran-sanctions/">make it easier</a> to ferret out Iranian front companies that Tehran has set up to avoid sanctions on its oil industry.</p>
<p>This is vital because Iran has been able to circumvent restrictions on selling oil by creating a blizzard of fake companies. Emanuele Ottolengh, writing in the <a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/are-iranian-sanctions-working_648452.html">Weekly Standard,</a> explains:</p>
<blockquote><p>Whenever an Iranian company&#8217;s ties emerge to proliferation efforts or to Iran&#8217;s Revolutionary Guards, a new company is incorporated with a yet unblemished record to take over the business of the sanctioned entity. By the time the West catches up, Iran has already prepared the papers for the next front company.</p></blockquote>
<p>And the West has a hard time &#8220;catching up&#8221; because of international rules that require proof that the entity is violating the sanctions regime. Since <a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/are-iranian-sanctions-working_648452.html">much of the information</a> comes via intelligence agencies who are reluctant to reveal their methods, regulators must find other means to prove that Iran is cheating. It hardly matters, as <a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/are-iranian-sanctions-working_648452.html">Ottolengh notes:</a></p>
<blockquote><p>In short, until a complete shutdown of all exports of technology is introduced and the oil embargo is enforced without discounts, waivers, and exceptions, the IRGC, guardian of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, will continue to thrive, and our efforts to block Iran&#8217;s progress towards nuclear weapons will only make it costlier and more slowly for Iran, but will ultimately fail to stop its leaders from their deadly pursuit.</p></blockquote>
<p>And those waivers have been legion. The Obama administration <a href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/07/25/harry-reid-white-house-work-to-weaken-iran-sanctions/">has granted thousands</a> of them to individual companies which allows them to continue to do business with the Islamic Republic, as well as granting permission to China and India to <a href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/07/25/harry-reid-white-house-work-to-weaken-iran-sanctions/">circumvent the oil embargo</a> and purchase crude from Iran. How serious is the president about applying &#8220;crippling&#8221; sanctions to Iran when he and the Senate Democrats are pulling the teeth from what once was considered a very tough bill?</p>
<p>For instance, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/25/us-usa-iran-sanctions-idUSBRE86O1OD20120725">one of the major restrictions</a> was aimed directly at the Iranian Central Bank. Congress had pressured the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, a consortium of big banks, to prevent Iranian banks from transferring funds internationally by refusing to supply them with the electronic means to do so. This would have put a severe crimp in the Iranian financial sector. But the banking industry <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/iran-sanctions-delayed-and-now-watered-down/2012/07/26/gJQAPyNSBX_blog.html">has apparently succeeded</a> in watering down that provision. Along with insurance companies who are pushing to <a href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/07/25/harry-reid-white-house-work-to-weaken-iran-sanctions/">weaken the bill</a> for their own commercial reasons, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/iran-sanctions-delayed-and-now-watered-down/2012/07/26/gJQAPyNSBX_blog.html">some Republicans</a> think the bill &#8220;won&#8217;t even be worth the paper it&#8217;s printed on.&#8221;</p>
<p>“This is really a game of whack-a-mole,” <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/world/middleeast/united-states-imposes-additional-sanctions-on-iran.html?_r=1">said Mark Dubowitz,</a> of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an expert on Iranian sanctions. “These are incremental measures. What are needed now are measures more akin to economic warfare than these targeted, pinpoint measures.”</p>
<p>Thanks to Harry Reid, President Obama, and the banking and insurance lobbies, it doesn&#8217;t appear likely.</p>
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		<title>The &#8216;Controlled Demolition&#8217; of Syria</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/the-controlled-demolition-of-syria/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-controlled-demolition-of-syria</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/the-controlled-demolition-of-syria/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jul 2012 04:52:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arab Spring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Assad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regime change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Revolution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=138351</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The delusions of the Obama administration. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Assad.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-138379" title="Assad" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Assad.gif" alt="" width="375" height="250" /></a>US officials have <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/world/middleeast/us-to-focus-on-forcibly-toppling-syrian-government.html?_r=1&amp;pagewanted=all">let it be known</a> that there has been a shift in US Syria policy away from trying to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis through the auspices of the United Nations, to an attempt to undermine and oust the Assad regime. The pressing nature of discussions by high level administration officials in recent days masks the fact that there really is very little that the US can do to assert control over post-Assad Syria. The vagaries of war makes any notion that we can direct events to our advantage, or mitigate some of the untoward consequences of sectarian strife, an illusion.</p>
<p>In truth, there are only <a href="http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/23/u-s-contemplating-an-assad-aftermath/">subtle differences</a> to be found in the new policy, with a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/world/middleeast/us-to-focus-on-forcibly-toppling-syrian-government.html?_r=1&amp;pagewanted=all">change in emphasis</a> rather than any dramatic alterations that would be noticeable. Instead of working through the UN where Russia has stymied efforts to put pressure on the Assad regime, the US will <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/world/middleeast/us-to-focus-on-forcibly-toppling-syrian-government.html?_r=1&amp;pagewanted=all">work more closely</a> with regional allies like Turkey, the Gulf States, and Israel to try and manage what many observers now believe is <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/23/opinion/lynch-syria-assad/index.html">the endgame </a>for President Bashar Assad and his faltering regime. There will also be increased aid to the rebels &#8212; but no weapons, although the administration will beef up our <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/23/opinion/lynch-syria-assad/index.html">intelligence presence </a>on the Turkish border to facilitate the movement of arms to opposition forces. And there is now a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/23/opinion/lynch-syria-assad/index.html">&#8220;special urgency&#8221;</a> to discussions at the highest levels of government about how to manage the post-Assad chaos that could degenerate into a sectarian civil war.</p>
<p>The shift comes as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is demonstrating an increased combat capability by attacking and briefly holding neighborhoods in Damascus and Aleppo, Syria&#8217;s two largest cities. But the more <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/world/middleeast/us-to-focus-on-forcibly-toppling-syrian-government.html?_r=1&amp;pagewanted=all">than 100 FSA units</a> rarely cooperate and have limited command and control capability. The problem was highlighted by the Syrian army&#8217;s rapid retaking of most of those neighborhoods in Damascus over the last 48 hours. As part of the incremental shift in policy, the US plans to sell the FSA more communications equipment and train the rebels to use it. There are still rivalries and enmities between rebel factions, however, and making the disparate forces into an effective fighting organization will be a major challenge and will take time.</p>
<p>While some press reports in the last few days have made it seem that the Assad regime was on its last legs, nothing could be further from the truth. While defections by Sunni conscripts appear to <a href="http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/23/u-s-contemplating-an-assad-aftermath/">have increased,</a> loyalist forces show no sign of turning on the government. The 4th Division, <a href="http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=47039">commanded by Assad&#8217;s brother Mahar</a>, is made up largely of Alawite officers and troops. They have been deployed in the capital where they have driven the rebels from many of the neighborhoods they captured a few days ago. Their tactics include indiscriminate shelling and the use of helicopter gunships. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands have fled their homes.</p>
<p>In addition, loyal troops possess most of the heavy weapons as well as Assad&#8217;s stockpile of WMD. The US has been particularly worried about Assad&#8217;s chemical weapons, which the regime admitted <a href="http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/23/u-s-contemplating-an-assad-aftermath/">for the first time </a>on Monday it had. Syria&#8217;s foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said that they would only use WMD in the event of a foreign invasion. &#8220;All of these types of weapons are in storage and under security and the direct supervision of the Syrian armed forces and will never be used unless Syria is exposed to external aggression,&#8221; <a href="http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=47039">he said.</a></p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/world/middleeast/us-to-focus-on-forcibly-toppling-syrian-government.html?_r=1&amp;pagewanted=all"><em>New York Times</em></a> reports that administration officials have had discussions with the Israelis about destroying Assad&#8217;s weapons facilities, but are not advocating such an attack. Apparently, if it was felt that the WMD would fall into the wrong hands, the Israelis would be prepared to destroy the stockpiles as a last resort.</p>
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		<title>Rocky Egypt-Saudi Relationship Strengthens</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/rocky-egypt-saudi-relationship-strengthens/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=rocky-egypt-saudi-relationship-strengthens</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jul 2012 04:55:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=137382</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Cash-strapped Islamists mend fences. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/0712-Egypt-Morsi-travels-to-Saudi-Arabia_full_600.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-137386" title="0712-Egypt-Morsi-travels-to-Saudi-Arabia_full_600" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/0712-Egypt-Morsi-travels-to-Saudi-Arabia_full_600.gif" alt="" width="375" height="250" /></a>In his first foreign trip since being elected last month, Egypt&#8217;s President Mohammed Mursi <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303644004577520911170661298.html">paid a visit</a> to King Abudullah and Saudi Arabia on Thursday, seeking to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/12/us-saudi-egypt-idUSBRE86B0RX20120712">repair relations</a> with the Kingdom following several months of diplomatic conflict. The trip also <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/morsi-invites-military-saudis-into-a-deft-diplomatic-dance/article4404703/?cmpid=rss1">sent a signal</a> to Egypt&#8217;s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) that the new president would respect the traditional alliance between the military and the Saudis who have given strong political and economic support to the generals in the past. This is important as Mursi continues his <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303644004577520911170661298.html">climb down</a> from his ill-advised confrontation with SCAF and the nation&#8217;s courts over the recall of Parliament &#8212; dissolved by SCAF following a court decision that invalidated a third of the outcomes in the election last year.</p>
<p>Mursi now says he wants <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/9393344/Mohammed-Morsi-to-respect-Egypt-court-ruling-on-parliament.html">&#8220;consultations&#8221;</a> with all those concerned and has specifically said that he <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/9393344/Mohammed-Morsi-to-respect-Egypt-court-ruling-on-parliament.html">will obey </a>the court&#8217;s decision on Tuesday that invalidated his decree re-opening parliament. While in Jeddah for talks with the king, Saudi officials <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/saudis-offer-to-mediate-for-mohammed-morsi/story-fnb64oi6-1226424835417">offered to mediate</a> the constitutional dispute between Mursi and the generals if the Egyptians request it.</p>
<p>Another purpose of the trip was to <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/morsi-invites-military-saudis-into-a-deft-diplomatic-dance/article4404703/?cmpid=rss1">assure Gulf states</a> that any outreach by Egypt to Iran would not threaten the Saudis. Egypt is one of only three states &#8212; Israel and the US are the other two &#8212; who do not have relations with Tehran. Mursi needs Saudi Arabia far more than he need the Iranians and the president is returning home with promises of more economic aid to bolster Egypt&#8217;s sagging economy. While there have been <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/morsi-invites-military-saudis-into-a-deft-diplomatic-dance/article4404703/?cmpid=rss1">tentative feelers </a>to Iran put out by the Egyptian government, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad <a href="http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-1-118724-Ahmadinejad-invites-Mursi">has invited Mursi </a>to Tehran, the president&#8217;s Saudi trip sends a clear signal that the Islamists will likely not be receptive.</p>
<p>Without much fanfare, the Saudis have poured <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303644004577520911170661298.html">more than $3 billion</a> into Egypt in the last few months, mostly in the form of loans and loan guarantees. On June 2, the Saudis put $1 billion into Egypt’s foreign exchange reserves and bought $500 million in Egyptian government bonds a few days later. And on June 8, the Saudis announced that Egypt could use a $750 million credit line to import desperately needed fuel products. The Saudis <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/morsi-invites-military-saudis-into-a-deft-diplomatic-dance/article4404703/?cmpid=rss1">also arranged</a> a $1 billion pledge of assistance from the Islamic Development Bank.</p>
<p>What is remarkable is that this assistance was occurring against a backdrop that included a <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/12/us-saudi-egypt-idUSBRE86B0RX20120712">temporary recall</a> of the Saudi ambassador and consular officers from two consulates. The recall occurred following violent protests in front of the Saudi embassy in Cairo over the detention of a human rights lawyer. Prior to that, there had been friction over the delay in getting some Egyptian pilgrims to Mecca home in time for the Eid, one of Sunni Islam&#8217;s holiest holidays.</p>
<p>But the biggest obstacle to resuming normal relations between the two countries was the Saudis&#8217; <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303644004577520911170661298.html">strong support </a>for former President Hosni Mubarak during the protests that eventually toppled him. The Saudis are wary of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties in Egypt, due to the Kingdom&#8217;s paranoia about opposition religious parties and the Brotherhood&#8217;s desire to establish a new caliphate.</p>
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		<title>Egypt&#8217;s President Rolls the Dice for Sharia</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/egypts-president-morsi-rolls-the-dice/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=egypts-president-morsi-rolls-the-dice</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Jul 2012 04:47:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elections]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muslim brotherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Parliament]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supreme Council of the Armed Forces]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=137044</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An effort to reinstate the Islamist-led parliament puts the military and Muslim Brotherhood on a collision course. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Mohammed-Mursi-2.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-137058" title="Mohammed-Mursi-2" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Mohammed-Mursi-2.gif" alt="" width="375" height="260" /></a>Egypt&#8217;s President Mohammed Morsi <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hcYCagkBsXUTj1hZernFHUCXOwJA?docId=e941fa50299648849cdc6df07e991e1c">issued a decree</a> on Sunday calling the recently dissolved parliament back into session, thus defying the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and putting the Islamists and military on a <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hOXs1seGX3hB5cPchFl5lAtlLheQ?docId=CNG.83ef8d1166533158d397ba1348174d80.221">collision course. </a>He also called for new elections to be held 60 days after a new constitution is written. Despite opposition by some members of parliament to the recall, and warnings from the military and the courts, Morsi has chosen to gamble that the protestors in the street will be on his side and that the generals fear violence more than they fear a challenge to their power.</p>
<p>SCAF <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-egypt-morsi-military-20120710,0,2524922.story">dissolved parliament</a> last month after the Supreme Court ruled that a third of the parliamentary elections held earlier this year were invalid due to a technicality. The generals then <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-egypt-morsi-military-20120710,0,2524922.story">seized all legislative power </a>and emasculated the powers of the presidency while taking <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-egypt-morsi-military-20120710,0,2524922.story">control of the process</a> to write a new constitution by issuing a &#8220;constitutional declaration&#8221; that sidelined the Muslim Brotherhood.</p>
<p>Now Morsi is gambling that his efforts to reconstitute parliament &#8212; the major power center of the Islamists &#8212; won&#8217;t push the military into a violent confrontation with the Muslim Brothers and their supporters in the streets.</p>
<p>Not only is Morsi defying SCAF, he is also <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18777150">going against</a> the Supreme Court who warned Morsi <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18777150">in a statement</a> on Monday that its ruling invalidating parliament was &#8220;final&#8221; and binding. This leaves the president out on a very thin limb of legitimacy as even some members of parliament are <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hOXs1seGX3hB5cPchFl5lAtlLheQ?docId=CNG.83ef8d1166533158d397ba1348174d80.221">urging him to back down </a>and obey the law.</p>
<p>With the court&#8217;s unflinching support, the generals issued <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/09/egypt-generals-warn-morsi-constitution?newsfeed=true">their own warning </a>to Morsi saying in a statement that they would continue to support the &#8220;legitimacy, constitution and law&#8221; &#8212; language that suggests they might take action if the Islamists try to convene parliament.</p>
<p>However, no one appears ready, or anxious, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-egypt-morsi-military-20120710,0,2524922.story">for a confrontation.</a> Late Monday evening, the military <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-president-recalls-parliament-generals-meet-082611335.html">allowed members of parliament</a> to enter the government center in advance of Tuesday&#8217;s meeting. And at a ceremony honoring military school graduates on Monday, President Morsi and SCAF leader Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, were seen <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-president-recalls-parliament-generals-meet-082611335.html">chatting amiably </a>together. Their camaraderie appeared to signal that some kind of deal may be in the works.</p>
<p>But the Supreme Court is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18777150">set to rule</a> on three challenges to Morsi&#8217;s decree also on Tuesday. An adverse decision may give Morsi a chance to back down &#8212; or an excuse for a military crackdown if Morsi continues to defy the court.</p>
<p>Morsi believes he is not defying the Supreme Court by calling parliament back into session because the judges only invalidated 1/3 of the elections. He insists <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hcYCagkBsXUTj1hZernFHUCXOwJA?docId=e941fa50299648849cdc6df07e991e1c">that his decision</a> is an &#8220;assertion of the popular will,&#8221; aimed at overturning the decision made by SCAF to dissolve parliament. &#8220;We affirm that there is no confrontation with the judiciary and the decision respects the verdict of the constitutional court,&#8221; said <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-president-recalls-parliament-generals-meet-082611335.html">presidential aide Yasser Ali</a>.  It seems a thin reed on which to hang such a consequential gamble. This is especially true given the Supreme Court&#8217;s counter to Morsi&#8217;s move. The judges <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-egypt-morsi-military-20120710,0,2524922.story">said in a statement</a>, that its duty was &#8220;to prevent any aggression&#8221; against the constitution, and that its findings &#8220;are final &#8230; [and] binding on all state authorities.&#8221;</p>
<p>Many lawmakers agree with the court. &#8220;The executive decision to bring back parliament shows a disregard for the judicial authority and takes Egypt into a constitutional coma and a conflict between the institutions,&#8221; Nobel laureate and political dissident <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hOXs1seGX3hB5cPchFl5lAtlLheQ?docId=CNG.83ef8d1166533158d397ba1348174d80.221">Mohamed ElBaradei wrote </a>on Twitter.</p>
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		<title>America Apologizes to Pakistan Over U.S. Soldiers Defending Themselves</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/america-apologizes-to-pakistan-over-u-s-soliders-defending-themselves/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=america-apologizes-to-pakistan-over-u-s-soliders-defending-themselves</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Jul 2012 04:45:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soldiers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[supply lines]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=136808</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Pakistanis demand the U.S. "ask for forgiveness" and pay reparations. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/0703-pakistan-nato-hillary-clinton_full_600.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-136809" title="0703-pakistan-nato-hillary-clinton_full_600" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/0703-pakistan-nato-hillary-clinton_full_600.gif" alt="" width="375" height="250" /></a>In a phone call on Thursday to Pakistan&#8217;s Foreign Minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, US Secretary of State <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/text-of-clinton-statement-on-pakistan/2012/07/03/gJQAjQbyKW_story.html">Hillary Clinton apologized </a>for the accidental deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers who were killed in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_NATO_attack_in_Pakistan">a border incident</a> 7 months ago. The apology cleared the way for the supply line from Karachi to Afghanistan<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pakistani-official-first-nato-truck-has-crossed-into-afghanistan-after-7-month-closure-ends/2012/07/05/gJQAdA8pOW_story.html"> to re-open,</a> which was closed by Pakistan following the border clash.</p>
<p>While some details of the incident at the border may never be known, what was clear from the <a href="http://www.aco.nato.int/pakistan-border-incident-investigation-concluded.aspx">military&#8217;s investigation</a> into the incident was that Pakistan failed to inform the US of the position of the Pakistani soldiers, and that the border guards fired on US and Afghan soldiers. In essence, Secretary Clinton has apologized to the Pakistani government for our soldiers defending themselves from attack.</p>
<p>The decision to re-open the supply lines will <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-05/pentagon-freeing-1-dot-1-billion-withheld-from-pakistan">free up $1.2 billion</a> in US funds to help pay Pakistan for their assistance in US counterterrorism operations. That money was cut off even before the border incident as relations between the two countries deteriorated drastically following the May 2011 operation in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/05/us-pakistan-usa-idUSBRE86411A20120705">Other issues of contention </a>that stand in the way of better relations with Islamabad include Pakistan&#8217;s support of terrorists, such as the Haqqani Network, and US drone strikes in Pakistan.</p>
<p>But the agreement to re-open the GLOC (Ground Lines of Communication) <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2012/0705/Just-a-sorry-Pakistanis-question-NATO-supply-line-deal">is opposed </a>by most of the Pakistani people who wanted the US to <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2012/0705/Just-a-sorry-Pakistanis-question-NATO-supply-line-deal">&#8220;ask for forgiveness&#8221; </a>from the Pakistani government and pay reparations. Opposition parties are <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2012/0705/Just-a-sorry-Pakistanis-question-NATO-supply-line-deal">calling for</a> a nationwide demonstration against NATO and the supply line on Sunday.</p>
<p>Why it took seven months to resolve the dispute and why the US buckled to Pakistani pressure and apologized for an incident in which it didn&#8217;t think it was at fault was a matter of internal pressures in both countries. For Pakistan, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18706547">billions in aid</a> was frozen while the military fretted that the dispute was isolating the country, making it a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18706547">&#8220;pariah state&#8221;</a> with NATO countries. While it was the Pakistani army and intelligence service, the ISI, who appeared to be the driving force behind the initial closing of the supply line &#8212; the result of American insistence that the civilian government be supreme over the army before military aid could be delivered &#8212; the soldiers eventually realized that the closure of GLOC <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18706547">was isolating them </a>in the world community. That, and the fact that NATO replaced the route through Pakistan with a longer and more expensive trip through Russia, Central Asian states, and the Caucuses (the Northern Distribution Network, or NDN), proving the alliance could resupply without Islamabad&#8217;s help. Finally, Pakistan wants to be part of the endgame in Afghanistan and needed to improve relations with Washington to have a seat at the table.</p>
<p>For America&#8217;s part, it was <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pakistani-official-first-nato-truck-has-crossed-into-afghanistan-after-7-month-closure-ends/2012/07/05/gJQAdA8pOW_story.html">costing us </a>$100 million more a month to move supplies through the NDN. Also, the overland route through Pakistan is <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304299704577503914049142208.html">going to be vital</a> when the massive amount of equipment that a decade&#8217;s worth of war has left in Afghanistan has to be moved by the time America withdraws from Afghanistan in 2014. The US <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/05/us-pakistan-usa-idUSBRE86411A20120705">also believed</a> it vital to improve relations with Islamabad in order to increase cooperation in fighting terrorists hostile to both Pakistan and America, and who would threaten Afghanistan when the US military departs.</p>
<p>The US resisted calls by Pakistan to apologize for the border incident for many months, but <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304299704577503914049142208.html">several times,</a> considered using the word in order to get the relationship back on track. The Obama administration had expressed its &#8220;regret&#8221; at the loss of life several times but the Pakistani government considered an apology <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18706547">the least</a> they could accept given the extreme sensitivity of the Pakistani people, who viewed the incident as a <a href="http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C07%5C06%5Cstory_6-7-2012_pg1_3">deliberate attack</a> by the US on Pakistani sovereignty. Negotiations to re-open the supply line were <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304299704577503914049142208.html">nearing fruition</a> when the last stumbling block appeared to be the apology. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304299704577503914049142208.html">opposed the apology</a> as did many in the Pentagon. But in the end, it was determined that it was in the national interest to make the gesture.</p>
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		<title>Thwarted Terror Attack Reveals Iranian Desperation</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/thwarted-terror-attack-reveals-iranian-desperation/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=thwarted-terror-attack-reveals-iranian-desperation</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jul 2012 04:55:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arrest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kenya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Terrorism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=136478</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Amid new sanctions, the Islamic Republic turns to state-sponsored terrorism against the U.S., Israel and the West. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/721-1gPdzG.AuSt_.55.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-136494" title="721-1gPdzG.AuSt.55" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/721-1gPdzG.AuSt_.55.gif" alt="" width="375" height="256" /></a>Two Iranian nationals <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hNNcfjhWxJ6ZUkINhq30oIwbpBVQ?docId=CNG.e2dddb0ced039a6ca22b2d8bbfecc90d.6c1">arrested in Kenya</a> in June with 33 pounds of explosives are alleged to have targeted American, Israeli, British, and Saudi interests in the African country, according to an exclusive <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/ap-exclusive-iranian-agents-in-kenya-planned-attacks-on-israel-us-uk-saudi-arabian-targets/2012/07/02/gJQAgSuWIW_story.html">AP report </a>quoting Kenyan officials. The news comes following the imposition of strict sanctions by the EU and America that appear &#8212; finally &#8212; to be <a href="http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/07/02/iran-feels-pinch-of-new-eu-oil-sanctions/">severely impacting </a>the Iranian people and economy. In response, Iranians are <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/01/iran-missiles-war-games-desert?newsfeed=true">ratcheting up tension </a>in the Persian Gulf by carrying out military exercises where they promise to test fire several dozen missiles, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/01/iran-missiles-war-games-desert?newsfeed=true">using replicas</a> of foreign army bases as targets. The message the mullahs are sending is clear; if America attacks, they can strike one of several US military bases in the region.</p>
<p>The sanctions are relatively stiff to be sure. The Europeans <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303933404577502802834827854.html?mod=googlenews_wsj">have banned</a> the importation of all Iranian oil and forbidden nations belonging to the EU from insuring oil tankers carrying Iranian crude. The United States, for its part, slapped severe <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-01/clinton-says-sanctions-pushing-iran-toward-negotiations.html">currency and banking restrictions </a>on Iran that have reportedly caused confusion and worry among the Iranian people.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Iranians continue to enrich uranium while <a href="http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=276013">stringing along</a> the P5+1 (Russia, China, Britain, Germany, France, and the US) nations who continue fruitless negotiations with Tehran about halting their uranium enrichment activities. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu <a href="http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=276013">told the Knesset,</a> &#8220;Iran is showing contempt for the whole world, and plans to enrich beyond 20%,&#8221; &#8212; a reference to a level of enrichment for which there is little commercial value and would be far easier to continue on to bomb grade levels of enrichment of 90%. Low-level <a href="http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=276084">technical talks</a> with the Iranian regime are to resume on Tuesday in Istanbul with little hope that a breakthrough of any kind can be achieved.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/the-axis/iran-s-global-terror-attempts-are-a-bid-to-defend-its-nuclear-program-1.448374">Some experts believe</a> that the arrest of the Iranians in Kenya and the targeting of US and Western interests is a sign that Iran will <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/the-axis/iran-s-global-terror-attempts-are-a-bid-to-defend-its-nuclear-program-1.448374">fight the battle </a>over its nuclear program by resorting to terrorism. The<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/ap-exclusive-iranian-agents-in-kenya-planned-attacks-on-israel-us-uk-saudi-arabian-targets/2012/07/02/gJQAgSuWIW_story.html"> AP report </a>contains some disturbing information. Kenyan officials say that the Iranians belonged to the Quds Force &#8212; the elite unit of the Revolutionary Guards tasked with assassination and terror attacks outside of Iranian territory. The Iranians were arrested in the coastal city of Mombassa where there are several Israeli-owned hotels. Kenyan officials <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/ap-exclusive-iranian-agents-in-kenya-planned-attacks-on-israel-us-uk-saudi-arabian-targets/2012/07/02/gJQAgSuWIW_story.html">told AP</a> that &#8220;the plot appears to fit into a global pattern of attacks or attempted attacks by Iranian agents, mostly against Israeli interests.&#8221;</p>
<p>Jonathan Evans, the head of MI5, Britain&#8217;s security service, in a <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/the-axis/iran-s-global-terror-attempts-are-a-bid-to-defend-its-nuclear-program-1.448374">rare public statement,</a> said last week that &#8220;in parallel with rising concern about Iran’s nuclear intentions, we have seen in recent months a series of attempted terrorist plots against Israeli interests in India, Azerbaijan and elsewhere.&#8221; He added that &#8220;a return to state-sponsored terrorism by Iran or its associates, such as Hezbollah, cannot be ruled out as pressure on the Iranian leadership increases.&#8221; In short, the more the West pushes, the more desperate Iran becomes.</p>
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		<title>Syria Sends a Message to NATO?</title>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jun 2012 04:55:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Assad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NATO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plane]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shot down]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[turkey]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The fear of regional conflict has never been greater. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/article_50cab56504a13f73_1340743215_9j-4aaqsk.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-136007" title="article_50cab56504a13f73_1340743215_9j-4aaqsk" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/article_50cab56504a13f73_1340743215_9j-4aaqsk.gif" alt="" width="375" height="242" /></a>Two heavily armed regional powers &#8212; Turkey and Syria &#8212; are <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/26/opinion/turkey-syria-gerges/index.html">inching toward military conflict</a> following the downing by Syria of an unarmed reconnaissance jet in international waters last week and the <a href="http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=275249">subsequent firing </a>on rescue planes by Syria dispatched to search for the pilots.</p>
<p>While Turkey has shown restraint, its warnings to Syria <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/world/middleeast/turkey-seeks-nato-backing-in-syria-dispute.html?pagewanted=all">are specific</a>; any further military action against Turkish forces would be met with &#8220;retaliation.&#8221; This includes a pointed message by Turkish Prime Minister Raycep Erdogan <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/world/middleeast/turkey-seeks-nato-backing-in-syria-dispute.html?pagewanted=all">who said </a>that Syrian forces advancing toward the border would be &#8220;treated as a military target.&#8221; Syria has thousands of troops near its 566 mile border with Turkey who are there to try and stem the flow of rebel fighters into Syria. Erdogan&#8217;s warning changes the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-an-omen-of-how-syrias-conflict-could-spread-7888830.html">rules of engagement</a> for Turkish forces, making conflict more likely.</p>
<p>For only the second time in NATO&#8217;s history, a member nation <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/activists-say-syrian-rebels-are-clashing-with-assads-elite-troops-near-capital/2012/06/26/gJQAodxc3V_story_1.html">invoked Article 4 </a>which allows a country to call a meeting of the alliance if it feels its security is threatened. NATO Secretary-General <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/activists-say-syrian-rebels-are-clashing-with-assads-elite-troops-near-capital/2012/06/26/gJQAodxc3V_story_1.html">Anders Fogh Rasmussen condemned</a> the Syrian attack on Turkey&#8217;s aircraft but stopped short of saying that NATO would take any military action. The Obama administration <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304782404577488070953606592.html">also decried </a>the downing of Turkey&#8217;s plane while praising Ankara for its measured response.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Russia is <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/26/us-syria-russia-arms-idUSBRE85P0T220120626">set to deliver</a> more arms to Syria, including refurbished attack helicopters and a sophisticated air defense system. Indeed, there <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/26/opinion/turkey-syria-gerges/index.html">has been speculation </a>from many analysts about why Turkey was flying an unarmed plane so close to Syrian air space. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/world/middleeast/turkey-seeks-nato-backing-in-syria-dispute.html?pagewanted=all">Testing </a>Syria&#8217;s Russian supplied air defenses is thought to have been <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/26/opinion/turkey-syria-gerges/index.html">one of the reasons </a>for the plane&#8217;s flight path.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/26/opinion/turkey-syria-gerges/index.html">The fear</a> of igniting a regional war with Lebanon&#8217;s Hezbollah and Iran siding with Syria and squaring off against NATO has never been greater. But it is thought that President Assad doesn&#8217;t want a wider conflict, despite the fact that he acknowledged for the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/27/assad-state-of-war?newsfeed=true">first time </a>on Tuesday that Syria was in a &#8220;state of war.&#8221; Assad&#8217;s usual tack is to blame &#8220;terrorists&#8221; for the conflict. But in a televised speech following the swearing in of his new cabinet, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/27/assad-state-of-war?newsfeed=true">Assad said</a>, &#8220;When we are in a war, all policies and all sides and all sectors need to be directed at winning this war.&#8221; As he was speaking those words, Free Syrian Army forces were hitting the elite Republican guard headquarters in Damascus. The attack on President Assad&#8217;s personal bodyguard shows that the FSA is becoming more capable &#8211; and more daring, although it is believed they are still too disorganized to take and hold territory.</p>
<p>In shooting down the aircraft, was Syria <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/26/opinion/turkey-syria-gerges/index.html">sending a message</a> to NATO that the country won&#8217;t be the pushover Libya was? That&#8217;s the view of Fawaz A. Gerges, Professor of International Relations and Director of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics. Gerges points out that <a href="http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=275249">radio intercepts</a> by Turkey clearly show the Syrians knew the plane was in international waters and was Turkish in origin &#8212; claims denied by Syria who insists it was unaware to which country the air craft belonged. &#8220;We had to react immediately, even if the plane was Syrian we would have shot it down,&#8221; <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/26/opinion/turkey-syria-gerges/index.html">said foreign ministry spokesman</a> Jihad Makdisi at a press conference in Damascus.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Erdogan <a href="http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=275249">isn&#8217;t buying</a> that explanation. And while the shooting down of an unarmed jet precipitated the crisis, Syria&#8217;s firing on planes sent to rescue the pilots enraged the Turkish government. Turkey&#8217;s Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc on Monday <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304782404577488070953606592.html">accused Syrian forces</a> of opening fire on a Turkish search-and-rescue plane during the search on Friday for the F-4 Phantom jet. He said the attack was called off only when Turkish officials called Syria to tell them of the plane&#8217;s mission.</p>
<p>In a speech before Parliament, Erdogan <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/activists-say-syrian-rebels-are-clashing-with-assads-elite-troops-near-capital/2012/06/26/gJQAodxc3V_story.html">laid down a red line</a> that Syria cannot cross: “Any military element that approaches the Turkish border from Syria and poses a security risk and danger will be regarded as a threat and treated as a military target,” Erdogan said. The Turkish <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/activists-say-syrian-rebels-are-clashing-with-assads-elite-troops-near-capital/2012/06/26/gJQAodxc3V_story.html">prime minister said</a> that there had already been several border incursions by Syrian forces, including at least 5 incidents involving Syrian helicopters violating Turkish air space.</p>
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		<title>Muslim Brotherhood Claims Egypt&#8217;s Presidency</title>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:58:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Election]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[islamist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muslim brotherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Obama calls to congratulate the Islamist victor. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/120614024425-egypt-morsi-horizontal-gallery.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-135727" title="120614024425-egypt-morsi-horizontal-gallery" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/120614024425-egypt-morsi-horizontal-gallery.gif" alt="" width="375" height="240" /></a>Mohammed Morsi, chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood&#8217;s Freedom and Justice Party, <a href="http://world.time.com/2012/06/24/islamist-morsy-wins-egyptian-presidency-but-will-the-military-cede-any-power/">was declared the winner</a> of the presidential run-off held last weekend in Egypt. Morsi defeated former Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, garnering nearly 52% of the vote to Shafiq&#8217;s 48%. What does Morsi&#8217;s victory mean? And more importantly, <a href="http://world.time.com/2012/06/24/islamist-morsy-wins-egyptian-presidency-but-will-the-military-cede-any-power/">what kind of relationship</a> will the new president forge with Egypt&#8217;s ruling military council who just recently dissolved the legally elected parliament, eliminated the assembly set up to write the constitution, and issued a &#8220;constitutional decree&#8221; that emasculated the powers of the presidency?</p>
<p>There is no doubt that Morsi&#8217;s victory has profound implications for Egypt and for the region. The Muslim Brotherhood, despite Washington&#8217;s insistence that it has evolved into a moderate political party, <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/11/egypt-moderate-and-largely-secular-muslim-brotherhood-holds-rally-where-participants-vow-one-day-wel.html">has never wavered</a> in its belief that Israel should be destroyed, and that sharia law be implemented throughout Egyptian society. The Obama administration chooses to ignore the Brotherhood&#8217;s radicalism and violent past, in order to stay engaged with the Arab world&#8217;s largest and most populous country.</p>
<p>But <em>realpolitik</em> has its limits. To believe that the Muslim Brotherhood has morphed into a moderate, responsible political party, you must deliberately ignore its actions and accept what it has said at face value.</p>
<p>This, the Obama administration seems perfectly willing to do as the president called Morsi and congratulated him on his victory. The White House <a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/06/24/egypt-usa-shafik-idINL2E8HO56620120624">issued a statement </a>on the president&#8217;s conversation with the Islamist leader that said, in part, &#8220;The United States will continue to support Egypt&#8217;s transition to democracy and stand by the Egyptian people as they fulfill the promise of their revolution.&#8221;</p>
<p>Leaving the &#8220;promise of the revolution&#8221; in the hands of the Brotherhood is foolish. The list of promises made by the Muslim Brotherhood in the aftermath of Hosni Mubarak&#8217;s overthrow that it has subsequently broken gives the lie to the idea that President Morsi and the Brotherhood are concerned about anything except advancing their agenda and seizing power.</p>
<p>1. The Muslim Brotherhood <a href="http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=28213">promised</a> to run candidates for parliament in no more than 33% of electoral districts. The group ended up winning almost half of all parliamentary seats after running candidates in about 70% of the districts.</p>
<p>2. The Muslim Brotherhood promised <a href="http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/06/22/154331.html">not to run </a>a candidate for president. In the end, the group ran two candidates after its first choice, Khairat al-Shater, was declared ineligible by the electoral commission. Morsi, its second choice, was elected president.</p>
<p>3. The Brotherhood <a href="http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2012/1091/ed.htm">promised </a>to allow all factions in Egyptian society to be represented in the 100 member assembly that would draft a new constitution. The group <a href="http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2012/1091/ed.htm">rigged the process</a> so that 70% of the seats went to Islamists.</p>
<p>&#8220;The big concern is that they are liars,&#8221; <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304458604577487042828089860.html?mod=googlenews_wsj">said Mohamed Abu Ghar</a>, the head of the leftist Egyptian Social Democratic Party. &#8220;I&#8217;m scared that they are going to manipulate all the key positions and key places in the military, police and in the government offices for the Brotherhood.&#8221;</p>
<p>Each step of the way, the Muslim Brotherhood has promised to be inclusive, modest in its ambition, and respectful of all political parties in Egypt. What has happened instead is a naked grab for power that has frozen out all but token representation from the political opposition, and alienated much of the population. Morsi&#8217;s narrow victory &#8212; the result of a backlash against the Brotherhood by voters disgusted with its arrogance &#8212; denies him any semblance of a mandate that will certainly hamper his efforts at governing, at least for the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>Morsi, in his first public speech following the announcement of his victory, sounded like a broken record. He said all the right things about &#8220;inclusion,&#8221; made all the right noises about representing all of Egypt, and made sweet sounds about <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-24/egypt-s-mursi-vows-to-unite-nation-respect-foreign-pacts.html">democracy and unity:</a></p>
<blockquote><p>Egypt, the nation and the people, is in need for a unity of ranks and word so that this great and patient people could reap the fruits of its sacrifices.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>Egypt is for all Egyptians. We are all equal in rights, and we all have duties.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>We are all equal in rights, and we all have obligations to carry on for this country. As for myself, I have no rights, but I have obligations.</p></blockquote>
<p>He also promised to &#8220;protect the rights of women and children,&#8221; as well as Christians and Muslims alike. And he promised to uphold all international agreements &#8212; a reference to the Israeli peace accord, even though he did not mention Israel by name.</p>
<p>Given the track record of the Muslim Brotherhood, why should we believe him?</p>
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		<title>Mubarak Near Death as Crisis Deepens in Egypt</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/mubarak-near-death-as-crisis-deepens-in-egypt/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=mubarak-near-death-as-crisis-deepens-in-egypt</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jun 2012 04:55:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morsi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mubarak]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muslim brotherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shafiq]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=135403</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As former president fades, wishful hopes for democracy in the country are also clinging to life. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/b17e17464fdaab6bc51974a1350e.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-135406" title="b17e17464fdaab6bc51974a1350e" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/b17e17464fdaab6bc51974a1350e.gif" alt="" width="375" height="248" /></a>Ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak <a href="http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2012/06/19/egypts-mubarak-on-life-support-as-protests-swell/">slipped into a coma</a> on Tuesday and was moved from his prison hospital to a military facility where he was placed on life support. The former president&#8217;s condition was announced as <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-06-19/egypt-mubarak/55690688/1">&#8220;very critical&#8221;</a> after suffering a stroke and at one point, the official news agency MENA declared him <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/world/middleeast/mubarak-is-on-life-support-egypt-security-officials-say.html?pagewanted=all">&#8220;clinically dead.&#8221; </a>But a spokesman for the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) denied that report, saying that the 84-year-old Mubarak <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-mubarak-life-support-amid-crisis-010152152.html;_ylt=AodwtYMhhcozhMCB_OxwnI2s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNhYjdkdGYzBG1pdAMEcGtnAzgyYzRjOWU0LTczMzYtMzc4Yy05NmQ4LTgwMGM1OThhNjlmYgRwb3MDMQRzZWMDbG5fQVBfZ2FsBHZlcgNkZGYxNGVkMC1iYTczLTExZTEtYjNmZi02ZjI3OTlkOWQxODk-;_ylv=3">suffered cardiac arrest </a>and was resuscitated by paramedics at the prison hospital. Mubarak&#8217;s health crisis comes two days after Egyptians went to the polls to elect his successor. Official word will come on Thursday but both candidates &#8212; Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood and Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak&#8217;s former prime minister &#8212; <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/18/egypt-election-muslim-brotherhood-claims-victory-live?newsfeed=true">declared victory</a> on Tuesday. The dual claims guarantee that no matter who is judged the winner, the loser will charge fraud and throw the country even deeper into a political crisis.</p>
<p>Widespread distrust of the military&#8217;s claims about Mubarak&#8217;s health was evident in <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/45641/Egypt/Politics-/Tahrir-protesters-react-to-reports-of-Mubarak-clin.aspx">Tahrir Square</a> where tens of thousands of Islamists demonstrated against the recent power grab by the military. Most <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/45641/Egypt/Politics-/Tahrir-protesters-react-to-reports-of-Mubarak-clin.aspx">protestors believe</a> that Mubarak&#8217;s condition is not as serious as the military has said, and that the generals just wanted to move their former boss out of the prison hospital to the far more luxurious surroundings of a military clinic. The demonstrators were <a href="http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2012/06/19/egypts-mubarak-on-life-support-as-protests-swell/">sent into the streets</a> by the Muslim Brotherhood, which is angry at the verdict by the Supreme Court that dissolved parliament and subsequent actions by the generals who have issued a constitutional decree that eviscerates the power of the president and leaves the military in charge of the legislative and executive functions of government.</p>
<p>There was <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-06-19/egypt-mubarak/55690688/1">massive confusion </a>throughout the day about Mubarak&#8217;s true condition. After a news agency originally declared him clinically dead, the military council scotched that report, saying that the former president was on life support and in very critical condition. Upon the announcement that Mubarak was clinically dead, spontaneous <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/45641/Egypt/Politics-/Tahrir-protesters-react-to-reports-of-Mubarak-clin.aspx">expressions of joy </a>erupted throughout Cairo with fireworks going off and protestors in Tahrir Square dancing and singing. But the news that the hated Mubarak was still alive <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/45641/Egypt/Politics-/Tahrir-protesters-react-to-reports-of-Mubarak-clin.aspx">dampened their enthusiasm</a> and the protestor&#8217;s paranoia of the military resurfaced:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;The military just wanted to make big news that would eclipse the Tahrir protests about the ruling military council, the elections and the amended constitutional,&#8221; Mohammed Tarek, 27, an interior designer said, &#8220;It worked; the media suddenly started talking about Mubarak, and people started to leave the square.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>But one woman welcomed the news of Mubarak&#8217;s demise &#8212; even if it was premature. &#8220;After 30 years of a brutal regime, the people wanted to say yes, they won for just a day, of course they are rejoicing&#8221; <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/45641/Egypt/Politics-/Tahrir-protesters-react-to-reports-of-Mubarak-clin.aspx">said a house wife</a> from Sharabaya.</p>
<p>Mubarak had been in failing health for weeks and heard the verdict in his trial for facilitating the death of protestors from a hospital bed. Following his conviction and after being given a life sentence, he was transferred to a prison hospital where it was reported his condition deteriorated. As the news about Mubarak&#8217;s health became grimmer, the former dictator&#8217;s struggles were lost in the events of the last week, and the growing confrontation between the country&#8217;s two power blocs &#8212; SCAF and the Muslim Brotherhood.</p>
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		<title>Islamists, Military on a Collision Course in Egypt</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/islamists-military-on-a-collision-course-in-egypt/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=islamists-military-on-a-collision-course-in-egypt</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Jun 2012 04:55:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dissolved]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elections]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muslim brotherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Parliament]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=135118</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Muslim Brotherhood weighs its options after having power snatched from its grasp. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Mideast-Egypt-Election.JPEG-016e1.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-135123" title="Mideast-Egypt-Election.JPEG-016e1" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Mideast-Egypt-Election.JPEG-016e1.gif" alt="" width="375" height="262" /></a>Egyptians finished <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/36/122/45191/Presidential-elections-/Presidential-elections-news/Egypt-presidential-finale-sees-apathetic-voters,-c.aspx">two days of voting </a>on Sunday, the first relatively free election for president in their history. But indications are that only <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/egyptians-stage-mass-boycott-of-presidential-poll-7857357.html">about 15%</a> of Egypt&#8217;s 50 million eligible voters bothered to cast ballots. The low turnout was a direct result of a <a href="http://backchannel.al-monitor.com/index.php/2012/06/egypt-the-counterrevolution/">Supreme Court decision</a> on Thursday that dissolved the Islamist-dominated parliament and struck down a law that would have prevented former Mubarak-era prime Minister, Ahmed Shafiq, from running for president. The twin blows caught the Muslim Brotherhood flat footed as the military moved <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18474624">incredibly swiftly</a> to seize legislative power and will now issue a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egyptians-vote-in-second-day-of-elections-turnout-low/2012/06/17/gJQAHHy0iV_story.html">&#8220;constitutional declaration&#8221; </a>that defines the powers of the president in the absence of a new constitution. This forces the Muslim Brotherhood to make a choice: Either deal with the military on power sharing or take to the streets and put pressure on the generals to give in to their demands.</p>
<p>While many Egyptians were angry at the &#8220;soft coup&#8221; pulled off by the military, the actions of the court and military council had the effect of generating enormous cynicism among the population, which now sees the revolution as being overturned by the old regime. We have no choice at all,&#8221; <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/egyptians-stage-mass-boycott-of-presidential-poll-7857357.html">said Eid Muhamed,</a> who works in a tea house in Cairo. &#8220;Both of them are awful,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>This belief is widespread across Egypt and no doubt contributed to the ennui that has gripped the electorate. Egypt&#8217;s political culture, which already sees a <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/capitol/blame_make_egypt_worse_RtYnxOVsfAT0epdBwF6B3L">&#8220;hidden hand&#8221;</a> that manipulates events so that they redound in favor of the rich and powerful, seems vindicated in that belief with the actions of the military and especially their allies in the courts. Most judges are <a href="http://world.time.com/2012/06/14/egypts-judges-and-generals-dissolve-parliament-is-the-revolution-now-truly-over/">Mubarak-era holdovers </a>who are vehemently opposed to democratic change. Ahmed al-Zend, head of the influential Judges Club, representing most of Egypt&#8217;s jurists, <a href="http://world.time.com/2012/06/14/egypts-judges-and-generals-dissolve-parliament-is-the-revolution-now-truly-over/">denounced the parliament</a> and threatened to overturn legislation passed by the elected body. “From this day forward, judges will have a say in determining the future of this country and its fate. We will not leave it to you to do with what you want.”</p>
<p>Some observers wonder whether the Muslim Brotherhood didn&#8217;t blow their chance at presiding over a transition to democracy in Egypt. Although there is no evidence, it was <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/14/world/la-fg-egypt-court-elections-20120615">widely believed</a> that the Brotherhood&#8217;s presidential candidate, Mohammed Morsi, struck a deal with the military on the election. Regardless of whether that&#8217;s true, many Egyptians believe that the Muslim Brotherhood overreached and tried to acquire too much power, too quickly. The <a href="http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/05/15/mapping_egypts_electorate">resulting backlash</a> hurt Morsi&#8217;s vote total in the first round of presidential voting last month, and may have affected the sympathy of voters who look upon the court&#8217;s action in dissolving parliament not as unfavorably as one might expect.</p>
<p>What then, do the Egyptian people want, if not a transition to democracy? The political chaos and demonstrations of the previous 16 months have <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/what-egyptians-want-is-personal-security-more-jobs-and-food.premium-1.436799">not worn well</a> on most ordinary Egyptians who have seen food become scarce, the economy near collapse, and their personal security threatened by gangs of thugs who have taken advantage of the lapse in police protection to terrify neighborhoods. &#8220;We have no security. Every day there are attacks against people in the neighborhood, and there are absolutely no police, no one to turn to for help,&#8221; <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/what-egyptians-want-is-personal-security-more-jobs-and-food.premium-1.436799">said Hajja Fatma,</a> a woman from a poor Cairo neighborhood. &#8220;They hurt old people, rob homes, and kidnap children for ransom. Allah, Allah, we need order,&#8221; she added.</p>
<p>Many observers are saying that the military council ruling Egypt has <a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/analysts-egyptian-military-likely-to-come-out-on-top-in-presidential-runoff/1212207.html">already won</a> the presidential race. That&#8217;s because no matter who is elected, they will have to serve under a parliament elected by rules set down by the military, act under a constitution that will be drawn up by an assembly that will probably be appointed by the military, and would likely be constrained to act by laws approved by the military.</p>
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		<title>Russia, U.S. Lock Horns Over Syria</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/russia-u-s-lock-horns-over-syria/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=russia-u-s-lock-horns-over-syria</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 13 Jun 2012 04:55:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Assad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[civil war]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[helicopters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hillary Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=134853</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As the conflict escalates, chances of Western intervention rise substantially.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/hillary_clinton_145873967_fullwidth_620x350.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-134858" title="hillary_clinton_145873967_fullwidth_620x350" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/hillary_clinton_145873967_fullwidth_620x350.gif" alt="" width="375" height="244" /></a>Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Russia on Tuesday of planning to ship attack helicopters to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad &#8212; a move <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h6Ib1GY80LJsdzVJxpLrbLtG5ltg?docId=d7856691d7044c789996285d85dd25ca">she said</a> &#8220;will escalate the conflict quite dramatically.&#8221; Clinton&#8217;s remarks came on the same day that the UN peacekeeping chief, Herve Ladsous, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-12/syria-called-civil-war-as-russia-ships-attack-choppers.html">told reporters </a>that the Syrian conflict had escalated into a civil war. Lasdous is the first UN official to acknowledge what has been obvious for weeks: that the growing <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9323103/Syrian-rebels-take-battle-to-heart-of-Damascus.html">combat capability</a> of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has been allowing the rebels to carry out larger and more sophisticated operations against the Syrian military.</p>
<p>As if to underscore Ladsous&#8217; claim, violent clashes between the FSA and Syrian armed forces broke out in <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9323103/Syrian-rebels-take-battle-to-heart-of-Damascus.html">several cities and towns </a>across the country &#8212; including for the first time in the capital of Damascus. The Syrian military was also <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/11/us-syria-usa-massacre-idUSBRE85A16B20120611">changing its tactics</a> as the use of attack helicopters on civilians occurred in Talbiseh and Rastan. Shelling continued in Homs and other flashpoint cities of the rebellion.</p>
<p>The civilian opposition, represented by the Syrian National Council, has taken what many observers believe to be a positive step <a href="http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=273288">by electing </a>a Kurd to head the group for the next three months. Tying the nation&#8217;s one million Kurds closer to the political opposition would strengthen the claim of the anti-Assad forces that they represent a broad, national coalition of a majority of Syrians who want Assad out.</p>
<p>The US State Department said <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/11/us-syria-usa-massacre-idUSBRE85A16B20120611">it believes </a>that the Syrian military is planning another massacre of civilians, this time in Haffeh, as the government has been shelling the city with mortars and using helicopters and tanks to battle the opposition forces <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/11/us-syria-usa-massacre-idUSBRE85A16B20120611">while deploying </a>the dreaded Shabbiha militia. US officials <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/11/us-syria-usa-massacre-idUSBRE85A16B20120611">called on </a>the Syrians to stop using &#8220;horrific tactics&#8221; in trying to suppress the rebellion in Haffeh.</p>
<p>State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5idIHUK-GkggMHeTzIs2Z5naBa6Gg?docId=4da7c28a0cdc4832a732004f25e8caeb">pointed out</a> that this Russian shipment of helicopters comes at a time when President Assad is escalating the violence he is using against civilians. &#8220;We have been pushing the Russians for months to break their military ties with the Syrian regime and they haven&#8217;t done it. Instead, they keep reassuring all of us that what they are sending militarily to Syria can&#8217;t be used against civilians,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>The Russian statement is disingenuous at best when one considers that helicopters are already being used against civilians by the Syrian military. &#8220;We are seeing the Syrian government using helicopters to fire on their own people from the air,&#8221; <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5idIHUK-GkggMHeTzIs2Z5naBa6Gg?docId=4da7c28a0cdc4832a732004f25e8caeb">said Nuland.</a> &#8220;So our question remains: How can the Russians conscience their continued military sales to Syria?&#8221;</p>
<p>The US has been urging Russia for several weeks to not only stop selling arms to Syria, but also to use its influence with President Assad to find a negotiated way out of the violence. Criticism of the Obama administration for basically farming out responsibility to Russia for stopping the violence, instead of America taking a leadership role in the crisis, has been coming from experts as well as Republican politicians. <a href="http://pjmedia.com/barryrubin/2012/05/29/how-can-obamas-middle-east-policy-possibly-get-worse-answer-look-at-syria/?singlepage=true">Barry Rubin,</a> Director of the Global Research and International Affairs (GLORIA) Center in Israel, has been among the most vocal of President Obama&#8217;s critics on Syria.</p>
<blockquote><p>It’s Obama, not Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is pushing this plan to put Russia in control! If your enemy tries to fool or cheat you, that’s a problem. If you beg him to cheat you and hand him the means to do so, that’s a betrayal of U.S. interests.</p></blockquote>
<p>The Kurdish leader elected to head up the Syrian National Council for the next three months, Abdelbasset Sida, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9323103/Syrian-rebels-take-battle-to-heart-of-Damascus.html">told reporters</a> that the regime was “on its last legs&#8221; &#8212; a boast to be sure, but backed up by rebel attacks in the capital of Damascus. This is the first time that Assad&#8217;s stronghold had come under fire. Two central districts in the city were attacked by the FSA and Syrian tanks shelled several buildings in a futile effort to beat back the rebels. A general strike called to protest the recent massacres was apparently more successful than many believed possible. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9323103/Syrian-rebels-take-battle-to-heart-of-Damascus.html">Reports say</a> up to 90% of shops were closed, with one businessman telling the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9323103/Syrian-rebels-take-battle-to-heart-of-Damascus.html"><em>Telegraph</em>,</a> “During the strike, the military forces tried to burn some stores or force the doors open, but they were powerless,” said Omar Dimashki. This is a potentially damaging turn of events for Assad who has counted on the merchant class to support him during the crackdown.</p>
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		<title>Greek Socialists Rage over Spain Bailout</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/greek-socialists-rage-over-spain-bailout/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=greek-socialists-rage-over-spain-bailout</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jun 2012 04:38:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bailout]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bankia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Euro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[european union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greece]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spain]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=134556</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Far-left threatens to derail the stability of the euro-zone. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/thumb.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-134561" title="thumb" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/thumb.gif" alt="" width="375" height="261" /></a>European Union finance ministers <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-09/spain-seeks-125-billion-bailout-as-bank-crisis-worsens.html">have agreed</a> to recapitalize Spanish banks by injecting at least 100 billion euros ($125 billion) into the financial system. The action came after a reluctant Spanish government was finding it <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/05/eurozone-idUSL5E8H53BF20120605">increasingly difficult </a>to refinance its debt and gave in to what most observers believe was inevitable; a humiliating bailout by the EU.</p>
<p>The bailout is <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c8e85ba6-b31a-11e1-83a9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1xKcOBtOg">already roiling</a> the Greek parliamentary election scheduled for next Sunday as anti-bailout forces are seeking to make political capital out of the bailout. A victory by the far left would almost guarantee a Greek exit from the euro and chaos in Europe&#8217;s financial sector. <a href="http://www.chron.com/news/article/Spain-relieved-angry-over-humiliating-bank-rescue-3622777.php">Other nations</a> who have been bailed out by the EU may seek to renegotiate their agreements following what some observers believe are generous conditions given to Spain for their bailout.</p>
<p>Spanish pride may be wounded, but the government had little choice. The increasing <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-09/spain-seeks-125-billion-bailout-as-bank-crisis-worsens.html">costs of financing</a> its debt and revelations about the <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/gavyndavies/2012/06/10/the-consequences-of-spains-bank-rescue/">weakness of the banking sector</a> coupled with the <a href="http://marketmontage.com/2012/06/08/it-appears-the-spanish-bank-bailout-begins-tomorrow/">potential shock</a> of a Greek exit from the euro made recapitalization of Spain&#8217;s financial sector of paramount importance. <a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/06/10/breakingviews-spain-banks-idINDEE85906820120610">A run</a> on Spanish banks might bring the entire economy down and the EU emergency funds <a href="http://marketmontage.com/2012/06/08/it-appears-the-spanish-bank-bailout-begins-tomorrow/">are inadequate</a> to deal with a bailout of a country whose economy is the fourth largest in Europe.</p>
<p>As recently as <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/05/eurozone-idUSL5E8H53BF20120605">last Tuesday,</a> Spanish government officials denied that a bailout was necessary or imminent. But the growing crisis in financing Spanish 10-year government bonds, with yields soaring close to the 7% danger level, forced the government to admit over the weekend that the problem was too big to be solved by Madrid alone and that Spain should seek aid from its EU partners.</p>
<p>Spain joins Ireland, Portugal, and Greece as nations being forced to seek help from the EU. As a sop to Spanish pride, the money will be funneled through a government emergency bailout mechanism, the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring <a href="http://www.chron.com/news/article/Spain-relieved-angry-over-humiliating-bank-rescue-3622777.php">(FROB</a>) so it is not considered direct aid to Madrid. Spain&#8217;s troubled banks were giving investors pause and it is believed that the bailout will <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/05/eurozone-idUSL5E8H53BF20120605">steady the markets</a> and inject liquidity into the banking system. This, in turn, will keep the Spanish economy afloat, despite the 24% unemployment, the second recession in three years, and a contraction of the economy this year that may reach 2%.</p>
<p>It is <a href="http://marketmontage.com/2012/06/08/it-appears-the-spanish-bank-bailout-begins-tomorrow/">still to be decided</a> exactly how the bailout will work. Spanish banks may tap the European Financial Stability Facility, a 440 billion euro emergency fund. There is also a possibility that the new 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism could be accessed &#8211; or a combination of the two. The assistance would come in the form of bonds that the banks could then use as collateral to borrow cash from the European Central Bank. The resulting infusion of liquidity will, it is hoped, unfreeze credit markets.</p>
<p>The writing was on the wall last month when Spain&#8217;s 4th largest bank and the biggest holder of Spanish mortgages, Bankia, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303444204577458553768029114.html">was taken over</a> by Madrid and 20 billion euros was pumped into the corporation. The housing and real estate bubble that burst in 2008 has flattened the housing sector in Spain, and Bankia, which reported a profit of 309 million euros in 2011, was bleeding red ink. A <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303444204577458553768029114.html">re-examination of the books</a> actually showed a 4 billion euro loss in 2011, with potential bad loans totaling almost 40 billion euros. While it is believed most of Spain&#8217;s international banks are in good shape, smaller regional banks are carrying up to 185 billion euros in bad mortgages. Hence, the bailout, which will more resemble a line of credit for these banks rather than a straight infusion of cash.</p>
<p>It was originally believed that Spain would wait to ask for a bailout until an independent <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/05/eurozone-idUSL5E8H53BF20120605">audit of its banks</a> was completed and published on June 21. But when yields on Spanish bonds rose to <a href="http://www.chron.com/news/article/Spain-relieved-angry-over-humiliating-bank-rescue-3622777.php">6.78% last week</a>, it became clear that the government couldn&#8217;t wait. Over the weekend, EU finance ministers agreed to a recapitalization plan after a request for assistance from Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos at a news conference. <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-09/spain-seeks-125-billion-bailout-as-bank-crisis-worsens.html">Guindos told reporters</a>, “The Spanish government declares its intention of seeking European financing for the recapitalization of the Spanish banks that need it.” The IMF is conducting its own survey of Spanish banks and that report will be out this week. Rather than wait until after the Greek election for the results of the audit, EU finance ministers gave the go ahead for Spain to use the IMF numbers for the plan.</p>
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		<title>The Left&#8217;s &#8216;Blood For Oil&#8217; Fraud</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/the-lefts-blood-for-oil-fraud/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-lefts-blood-for-oil-fraud</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Jun 2012 04:40:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anti-war]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Left]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[No Blood for OIl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[OIL]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=134419</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After nearly a decade, the full bankruptcy of the leftist conspiracy theory is finally unfolding.  ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/911_FamiliesBushCheney.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-134420" title="911_FamiliesBushCheney" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/911_FamiliesBushCheney.gif" alt="" width="375" height="261" /></a>The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/world/middleeast/crude-oil-output-is-soaring-in-iraq-easing-markets.html?_r=2&amp;hp"><em>New York Times</em></a> reports that crude oil output in Iraq is &#8220;soaring&#8221; and that Baghdad has expressed the goal of having the capability to produce 10 million barrels a day by 2017.</p>
<p>But of all the American oil companies, only Exxon has any significant contracts to exploit petroleum resources. The fact that the fields bid on by Exxon lie in the Kurdish section of Iraq and were not approved by the central government angered Baghdad who has forbidden the company to bid on other, more lucrative contracts.</p>
<p>This raises the question: What happened to all that oil that anti-war leftists insisted was the reason we went to war in Iraq in the first place? What about &#8220;No Blood for Oil&#8221;?</p>
<p>The slogan &#8220;No Blood for Oil&#8221; has been an anti-war shibboleth since the 1991 Gulf War. Like most liberal jargon, it is meaningless in any other context except as shorthand for American imperialism and capitalist exploitation.</p>
<p>In actuality, there are few things that are worth shedding blood over more than oil &#8212; specifically, cheap oil. But when anti-war protestors chant that slogan, they are unconcerned about the reality that oil is vital to life and prosperity in the United States. Instead, the catchphrase is used to evoke anger, implying that oil is important only to oil companies who profit from selling it, and to US politicians who do the bidding of the petroleum giants in going to war to benefit the companies.</p>
<p>At the height of anti-war hysteria in 2003-04, there was a weird paranoia from the left about why we invaded Iraq. There were <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2003/07/17/cheney-s-oil-maps-and-the-iraq-war/">&#8220;Cheney&#8217;s oil maps&#8221;</a> that purported to show how we would divvy up Iraq oil among American oil companies (maps for Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also part of Cheney&#8217;s grand scheme). The maps, released as a result of an <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2003/07/17/cheney-s-oil-maps-and-the-iraq-war/">FOIA request</a> from Judicial Watch, contain a map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals, as well as two charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects, and &#8220;Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts.&#8221;</p>
<p>One would hope the American government had such maps &#8212; not to pinpoint the location of oil fields to take over as the left imagined, but as a necessary store of information that any government interested in Iraqi oil production would have. Scott Thompson, writing in crackpot <a href="http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2003/3030cheney_oil.html">Lyndon LaRouche&#8217;s </a><em>Executive Intelligence Review</em>, saw it differently:</p>
<blockquote><p>Vice President Dick Cheney has been plotting the conquest of Iraq since he was Secretary of Defense in President George H.W. Bush&#8217;s Administration—a plan then considered insane aggression. Moreover, on July 17, 2003, Judicial Watch announced that Cheney&#8217;s Energy Task Force had developed a map of Iraq dated March 2001, as well as maps of the neighboring United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and Saudi Arabia, which show that Cheney knew precisely how much the conquest of Iraq would be worth.</p></blockquote>
<p>Lest anyone think this was an isolated interpretation of &#8220;Cheney&#8217;s maps,&#8221; a simple Google search reveals nearly <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=cheney+irraq+oil&amp;ie=utf-8&amp;oe=utf-8&amp;aq=t&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&amp;client=firefox-a#hl=en&amp;client=firefox-a&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=nWPRT9OrIIG-9QTZy7XsAw&amp;ved=0CAYQvwUoAQ&amp;q=cheney+oil+maps&amp;spell=1&amp;bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&amp;fp=1d482bd73905e8f0&amp;biw=1280&amp;bih=609">5 million results </a>for &#8220;Cheney oil maps.&#8221;</p>
<p>Then there was the even weirder conspiracy theory advanced in Michael Moore&#8217;s fantasy/documentary <em>Fahrenheit 9/11</em> that we went to war in Afghanistan not to oust the Taliban and kill Osama bin Laden, but to secure access for oil companies to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Afghanistan_Pipeline">Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline.</a> The fact that the Taliban was enabling mass murderer bin Laden by allowing him to live and train his terrorists in their country after the horror of 9/11 apparently wasn&#8217;t enough of a reason to go to war for Moore and his paranoid followers. They saw the evil, grasping hands of oil companies wanting to profit from the natural gas pipeline that would transit through southern Afghanistan. President Bush, being a former oil company executive (he also owned the Texas Rangers baseball team at one time but strangely, Moore didn&#8217;t accuse the president of wanting to establish a pro franchise in Kabul), wanted to do his former colleagues in the industry a favor and throw out the Taliban who we broke off negotiations with after the African embassy bombings.</p>
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		<title>Mubarak Verdict Roils Egyptian Election</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/mubarak-verdict-roils-egyptian-election/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=mubarak-verdict-roils-egyptian-election</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/mubarak-verdict-roils-egyptian-election/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jun 2012 04:40:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egypt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mubarak]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muslim brotherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prison]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[verdict]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=133866</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Islamists, secularists rush to exploit the angry crowd. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/mubarak-465.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-133873" title="mubarak-465" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/mubarak-465.gif" alt="" width="375" height="249" /></a>When Egyptian Judge Ahmed Refaat <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/list-of-sentences-handed-down-in-hosni-mubarak-trial-in-egypt/2012/06/02/gJQApEbz8U_story.html">gave a life sentence </a>on Saturday to former dictator Hosni Mubarak for being an accessory in the deaths of more than 800 protestors during the &#8220;Egyptian Spring,&#8221; the <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/43621/Egypt/Politics-/Rage-as-Egypts-Mubarak-is-spared-the-gallows.aspx">initial reaction</a> among many in the crowded courtroom was joyful. Many expected Mubarak to be found innocent, or receive a more lenient sentence. But outrage exploded across Egypt when Refaat <a href="http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-1-112361-Security-chiefs-freed-as-prosecutor-appeals-Mubarak-verdict">acquitted</a> the six security chiefs of the same crimes as their boss and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/list-of-sentences-handed-down-in-hosni-mubarak-trial-in-egypt/2012/06/02/gJQApEbz8U_story.html">dismissed </a>corruption charges against Mubarak and his two sons. Chaos in the courtroom spilled outside where <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/43621/Egypt/Politics-/Rage-as-Egypts-Mubarak-is-spared-the-gallows.aspx">police battled </a>enraged demonstrators with stun grenades and truncheons. The verdict has possibly redefined the upcoming Egyptian presidential election &#8212; people may fear a return of Mubarak-style rule more than they fear the Muslim Brotherhood. On the other hand, Mubarak regime holdover and Brotherhood opponent Ahmed Shafiq is demonstrating that he may be able to leverage events in his favor, as the presidential race becomes muddier than ever.</p>
<p>The protests only grew in size when the demonstrators <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18311960">moved on </a>to iconic Tahrir Square in Cairo where the largest and most determined protests against Mubarak&#8217;s 30-year-reign helped topple the dictator. Tens of thousands of Egyptians rallied and <a href="http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/43621/Egypt/Politics-/Rage-as-Egypts-Mubarak-is-spared-the-gallows.aspx">chanted</a> &#8220;Illegal! Illegal!&#8221; and &#8220;Either we get justice for our martyrs or we die like them!&#8221;</p>
<p>It is unknown how the verdict <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303830204577444483637631156.html">will affect</a> the presidential runoff election later this month that pits former Mubarak prime minister Ahmed Shafiq against the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi. Both candidates were out on the hustings on Sunday trying to exploit the crisis for their own political gain. Both candidates <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303830204577444483637631156.html">have good cases </a>to make to different constituencies so the chances of one of them receiving a decisive advantage as a result of the turmoil are lessened considerably.</p>
<p>Mubarak&#8217;s conviction &#8212; along with the conviction on the same charges of his interior minister Habib al-Adli &#8212; could very well be overturned on appeal according to <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/06/03/mubarak-egypt-protests.html">several experts</a> on Egyptian law. &#8220;It&#8217;s a completely politicized verdict that is meant to calm the masses,&#8221; said Maha Youssef, a legal expert from the Nadim Center in Cairo. He added, &#8220;The essence of a ruling by a criminal court judge is not in the papers of the case but in his own personal conviction as someone who lives among the people and know what goes on in his society.&#8221;</p>
<p>A <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303830204577444394106951000.html?mod=googlenews_wsj"><em>Wall Street Journal </em></a>editorial offered similar thoughts:</p>
<blockquote><p>From its start last summer, the prosecution of Egypt&#8217;s deposed strongman Hosni Mubarak was a hasty, politicized circus. So it&#8217;s no surprise that the trial&#8217;s conclusion on Saturday has brought no closure or sense of justice.</p></blockquote>
<p>The editorial also pointed out &#8220;[t]he &#8216;accessory&#8217; charge is weak and could be overthrown easily on appeal.&#8221; Mr. Mubarak&#8217;s lawyers have <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303830204577444483637631156.html">already indicated </a>they will seek a retrial. The verdict will <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jlX1DR0WOXOAHakOJt6QpFKgNnZw?docId=4bbdbaa8b37a474fb06b8a8ca5f47a36">also be appealed </a>by the prosecutor because he feels the judge went too easy on the defendants.</p>
<p>But it is not so much the Mubarak verdict that has enraged democracy activists and others. It is the acquittal of the six security chiefs, as well as the dropping of charges against Mubarak&#8217;s sons, Gamal and Alaa, that have placed the former dictator&#8217;s verdict in the context of a society where <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-darkness-starts-to-fall-on-the-egyptian-spring-7814720.html">nothing much has changed</a> despite Mubarak&#8217;s ouster. The protestors in Tahrir Square were <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18311960">calling for</a> an end to military rule &#8212; just as they have for more than 15 months. The suspicion among the young activists who manned the barricades during the worst of the attempted suppression of the revolt is that the military will find a way to acquit the dictator on appeal and rig the election so that Shafiq emerges victorious. A huge demonstration is planned for Tuesday, and the Muslim Brotherhood is expected to participate, flexing its political muscle in the street where its candidate Mr. Morsi <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303830204577444483637631156.html">seeks to capture</a> the spirit and enthusiasm that was evident on Saturday and Sunday in protests across the country.</p>
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		<title>Houla Massacre a Game Changer in Syria</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/houla-massacre-a-game-changer-in-syria/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=houla-massacre-a-game-changer-in-syria</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 29 May 2012 04:29:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Assad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[general kofi annan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Houla]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[massacre]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=133339</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Remaining Assad allies become uneasy. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/houla_masscre_AP120527042986_620x350.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-133348" title="houla_masscre_AP120527042986_620x350" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/houla_masscre_AP120527042986_620x350.gif" alt="" width="375" height="241" /></a>Details <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-authorities-deny-carrying-houla-massacre-100634586.html">are emerging </a>from Houla township in Syria about the horrific massacre that killed at least 108 innocent civilians and the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/28/houla-massacre-survivor-boy-syria">finger of responsibility</a> is pointing directly at the Assad regime.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1201955--what-happened-at-syria-s-houla-massacre">Among the dead</a>: 49 children and 34 women. The worldwide expressions of outrage at the massacre may be the impetus for further UN sanctions, as well as increasing the likelihood that Western nations will begin supplying the Syrian rebels with more sophisticated and deadly armaments. This, along with the increased effectiveness of the Free Syrian Army, could lead to a full scale <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9296335/Syria-plunges-towards-civil-war-after-Houla-massacre.html">civil war</a> that could easily spread to neighboring Lebanon and other countries, or devolve into a religious war, which would dramatically worsen the humanitarian crisis now afflicting much of the country.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1201955--what-happened-at-syria-s-houla-massacre">Eyewitness accounts</a> from <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/28/houla-massacre-survivor-boy-syria">several sources</a> indicate that the killing spree was conducted by the feared Alawite militia fanatically loyal to President Bashar Assad, the shabbiha. Filtering in from Alawite villages near Houla, the shabbiha attacks were conducted door to door, and were apparently planned and systematically carried out. To maximize the terror, children as young as five years old were either shot or hacked to death in the presence of their parents.</p>
<p>On Sunday, the UN Security Council <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/28/syria-condemned-by-un-houla-massacre">unanimously condemned </a>the attack &#8212; a potential turning point for the international community as both Russia and China voted along with the rest of the Council to condemn the Syrian government. The significance of this vote cannot be lost on Damascus. Russia and China have blocked every single previous attempt by the UN to condemn or sanction the Assad regime for its brutal crackdown. It is clear that the massacre has caused the two permanent members of the Security Council to begin a reassessment of their unflinching support for Assad in the face of more than 9,000 dead civilians since the revolt began.</p>
<p>And despite the extreme reluctance of Western nations &#8212; including the United States &#8212; to speak of military intervention, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/28/atrocities-could-trigger-military-intervention-in-syria-joint-chiefs-chairman/">told Fox News</a> on Monday that more atrocities like Houla could trigger &#8220;intervention&#8221; by the military.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18245225">In a statement,</a> French President Francois Hollande said, &#8220;The murderous folly of the Damascus regime represents a threat for regional security and its leaders will have to answer for their acts.&#8221; But Russia, while voting with the rest of the UN Security Council to condemn Assad&#8217;s government for the massacre, believes that &#8220;both sides&#8221; are responsible for the massacre. Foreign Minister <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iLQ78YW2vC-tdnLoREVb9PO617Ig?docId=7c2fb7067d7e458680d0d75d4ced5a2d">Sergei Lavrov said</a>, &#8220;Both sides have obviously had a hand in the deaths of innocent people, including several dozen women and children. This area is controlled by the rebels, but it is also surrounded by the government troops.&#8221;</p>
<p>Accounts from several eyewitnesses belie that statement. The attack began <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-authorities-deny-carrying-houla-massacre-100634586.html">after Friday afternoon prayers </a>in Taldou, a village outside of Houla, when <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/massacre-in-syrian-town-houla-marks-a-new-level-of-violence-a-835548.html">several thousand protestors</a> were fired upon by Assad&#8217;s troops. Activists on the ground say that 5 demonstrators were killed by the indiscriminate fire. In response to that attack, elements of the Free Syrian Army hit <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-authorities-deny-carrying-houla-massacre-100634586.html">army checkpoints</a> in Taldou. Assad&#8217;s forces responded by firing tank shells and mortars directly into a Sunni Muslim area of the town. <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-authorities-deny-carrying-houla-massacre-100634586.html">Activists say</a> about 15 civilians died in the barrage.</p>
<p>But the bloodletting began in earnest with the arrival of several dozen shabbiha militia. The militia has made a name for itself by conducting violent sweeps through suspected rebel areas, arresting most of the male population while looting houses and torturing prisoners. They are also known to stand behind army units and kill any soldier who refuses to fire at unarmed civilians.</p>
<p>This time, they came for blood.</p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/28/houla-massacre-survivor-boy-syria">11-year-old boy describes</a> the attack on his family:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;My mum yelled at them,&#8221; said the boy. &#8220;She asked: &#8216;What do you want from my husband and son?&#8217; A bald man with a beard shot her with a machine gun from the neck down. Then they killed my sister, Rasha, with the same gun. She was five years old. Then they shot my brother Nader in the head and in the back. I saw his soul leave his body in front of me.</p></blockquote>
<p>After looting the house of &#8220;three televisions and a computer,&#8221; the militiamen caught up with the young man&#8217;s father, brother and uncle. They shot them as they were fleeing out of the door of the house. The boy escaped by smearing his brothers blood on his face and playing dead until the shabbiha left.</p>
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		<title>Angry Senate Votes to Cut Aid to Pakistan</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/angry-senate-votes-to-cut-aid-to-pakistan/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=angry-senate-votes-to-cut-aid-to-pakistan</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 25 May 2012 04:26:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cut]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Funding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Senate]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=133111</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A sea change in congressional support for a duplicitous ally? ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/302931-mCcainGrahamAFP-1323146367-450-640x480.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-133115" title="302931-mCcainGrahamAFP-1323146367-450-640x480" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/302931-mCcainGrahamAFP-1323146367-450-640x480.gif" alt="" width="375" height="253" /></a>In a rare show of bi-partisan unity, the Senate Appropriations Committee <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/24/us-pakistan-usa-doctor-idUSBRE84N1IE20120524">voted 30-0 </a>to withhold $33 million in military aid to Pakistan as a result of Islamabad&#8217;s conviction of the doctor who assisted the CIA in finding Osama bin Laden. The panel <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g1BkaLuKXvE1gWEJSjTRW2bZsezQ?docId=b35bff82804641bba498bf7aaffcac44">cut $1 million</a> for each year that Dr. Shakil Afridi was sentenced for treason and stipulated that the money would not be released until Afridi was pardoned.</p>
<p>Republicans and some former intelligence professionals <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/24/obama-administration-accused-dropping-ball-on-case-jailed-pakistani-doctor/">expressed anger </a>at the administration for failing to protect Dr. Afridi. Representative Peter King (R-NY) <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/23/gop-rep-king-says-obama-officials-disclosed-identity-jailed-pakistani-doctor/">suggested</a> that the White House &#8220;put him [Afridi] out there,&#8221; but the administration immediately denied the charge, suggesting that it was Pakistan that leaked Afridi&#8217;s name.</p>
<p>While the cut may be small, it comes on the heels of a <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/382879/us-senators-slash-funds-for-afghanistan-by-28-per-cent-pakistan-by-58-per-cent/">re-examination of aid</a> to Pakistan by Congress. In light of the closing by Pakistan of the primary truck route into Afghanistan last November following a friendly fire incident, the subcommittee on foreign aid voted recently to cut military assistance to Pakistan by 58%. And the <a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/05/24/democrats_and_republicans_unite_around_criticism_of_pakistan">anger expressed</a> by senators over the treatment of Dr. Afridi suggests that a sea change may have occurred in congressional opinion regarding support for Pakistan, as members appear tired and frustrated with Islamabad&#8217;s double game of supporting terrorists while reluctantly assisting US intelligence in tracking down members of al-Qaeda.</p>
<p>Who is Dr. Shakil Afridi and what <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18182990">was his role</a> in the bin Laden raid? The top medic in the Kyber tribal region, Afridi was recruited by the CIA to run a fake Hepatitis-B vaccination program in Abbottabad in order to acquire a DNA sample from one of bin Laden&#8217;s children in the compound where he was hiding. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18196669">An investigation</a> by the Pakistani intelligence agency, the ISI, concluded that Afridi probably didn&#8217;t know he was helping the CIA find bin Laden specifically. Brig. General Shaukat Qadir, who conducted the investigation, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18196669">wrote</a> in a report obtained by the BBC that, &#8220;He was merely paid to follow instructions.&#8221;</p>
<p>The mystery is why Afridi, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18196669">who was arrested </a>less than 3 weeks after bin Laden was killed, stuck around after the raid. It may be that Afridi believed his assistance to the CIA in killing bin Laden would please the Pakistani government. It is even possible that Afridi didn&#8217;t know he was working for the CIA. Regardless, the Obama administration <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/24/obama-administration-accused-dropping-ball-on-case-jailed-pakistani-doctor/">apparently did little</a> to persuade the doctor to leave Pakistan.</p>
<p>Former intelligence analyst Peter Brookes of the Heritage Foundation <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/24/obama-administration-accused-dropping-ball-on-case-jailed-pakistani-doctor/">told Fox News</a>, &#8220;You probably wouldn&#8217;t want to have tipped him off ahead of time, but maybe the day right afterward you would have wanted to have helped him leave Pakistan &#8212; and the same with anybody else who was working with us.&#8221;</p>
<p>But former military intelligence officer Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/24/obama-administration-accused-dropping-ball-on-case-jailed-pakistani-doctor/">told Fox News,</a> &#8220;From what I&#8217;m hearing, we did pretty much nothing,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We did nothing diplomatically at all, didn&#8217;t raise a finger. &#8230; From what my sources tell me, we did nothing to try and help this guy.&#8221;</p>
<p>State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland disputes that, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/24/us-pakistan-usa-doctor-idUSBRE84N1IE20120524">saying</a> the administration had &#8220;regularly taken up&#8221; the issue of Dr. Afridi with the Pakistani government. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/24/obama-administration-accused-dropping-ball-on-case-jailed-pakistani-doctor/">Shaffer suggests</a> that if they did, they did not press the issue due to the sensitivity of ongoing negotiations over re-opening the truck route into Afghanistan.</p>
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		<title>Greece and the Last Gasp of European Fiscal Sanity</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/greece-and-the-last-gasp-of-european-fiscal-sanity/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=greece-and-the-last-gasp-of-european-fiscal-sanity</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2012 04:55:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[default]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Euro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Euro-zone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greece]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hollande]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Merkel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sarkozy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=131896</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Beleaguered country on its way out of the euro-zone? ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/EUROPE-articleLarge.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-131913" title="EUROPE-articleLarge" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/EUROPE-articleLarge.gif" alt="" width="375" height="259" /></a>Voters across Europe have spoken in the last week and the message they have sent has upended the fragile consensus that budget cuts and fiscal discipline would bring the continent back from the brink of debt Armageddon.</p>
<p>In national elections in <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/05/06/meaning-sunday-european-elections/">Greece and France,</a> as well as local elections in <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304371504577402741617671800.html?mod=googlenews_wsj">Germany</a> and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/08/anti-austerity-italian-local-elections">Italy,</a> voters turned out governments that backed so-called &#8220;austerity&#8221; programs that would have brought a measure of sanity back to budgeting and debt management, while electing socialist politicians who promised that economic problems could be solved by implementing &#8220;growth&#8221; policies &#8212; policies that include massive new spending, tax increases on the &#8220;rich,&#8221; and a rollback of budget cuts.</p>
<p>Greece <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/13/greece-idUSL5E8GD2Z120120513">appears to be a nation</a> in full denial, <a href="http://www.neurope.eu/article/troika-athens-comply-or-face-consequences">rejecting the coalition </a>that negotiated a bailout package worth 180 billion euros that would have kept the nation in the euro zone, and embracing a radical socialist party that wants to scuttle the deal. French voters <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/francois-hollande/9250075/France-election-Francois-Hollande-gives-Bastille-victory-speech.html">had other problems </a>with former President Nicholas Sarkozy, but it was primarily his tepid attempts to reform labor laws and the education system that led to his downfall in the May 6 election.</p>
<p>President-elect Francois Hollande <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/francois-hollande/9250075/France-election-Francois-Hollande-gives-Bastille-victory-speech.html">has promised</a> to restore what Sarkozy cut, while making it clear that he wants to &#8220;renegotiate&#8221; the carefully crafted <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Fiscal_Compact">&#8220;fiscal compact&#8221;</a> that sets budget and deficit guidelines for the entire euro zone. The compact was the work of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Sarkozy &#8212; &#8220;Merkozy&#8221; as the duo was referred to in the European press. The defeat of Sarkozy calls into question the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/francois-hollande/9259743/Francois-Hollande-Angela-Merkel-meeting-not-decision-making.html">France-Germany relationship</a>, which is largely responsible for keeping the EU from disintegrating in these last two years of crisis, as the leaders of the two largest economies in Europe successfully navigated the panics that almost tore the euro zone apart.</p>
<p>In Spain, where one in four workers are unemployed, the government has come under <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/14/world/europe/tens-of-thousands-protest-austerity-in-spain.html">massive pressure</a> from the left to change course from the painful medicine of cutting services and firing government employees and embrace massive increases in spending. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is determined to stick with <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/european-austerity-bites-deep-into-spain/2012/05/13/gIQAYZVJNU_story.html">his budget cutting</a> and deficit reduction. Madrid announced this weekend that it may take over the finances of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/14/world/europe/tens-of-thousands-protest-austerity-in-spain.html">an entire region </a>because the local government may not be able to meet his deficit targets. He has also vowed to clean up Spain&#8217;s tottering banking sector, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/14/world/europe/tens-of-thousands-protest-austerity-in-spain.html">taking over</a> Bankia, the country&#8217;s largest mortgage lender, just this week.</p>
<p>But for all of Rajoy&#8217;s cutting, it is likely he will not <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/european-austerity-bites-deep-into-spain/2012/05/13/gIQAYZVJNU_story.html">meet his deficit target</a> for the year. Instead of a projected deficit of 5.3% of GDP, Spain is likely to see a 6.4% shortfall. This is down from 8.3% last year, but is not likely to appease investors in Spanish debt who will demand a premium that may lead to even more financing problems for the country. Ten year notes ballooned to over<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/european-austerity-bites-deep-into-spain/2012/05/13/gIQAYZVJNU_story.html"> 6% this past week</a> &#8212; an unsustainable level that would set off a ruinous debt spiral of increased deficits due to costlier debt servicing, which would panic investors even more, leading to higher interest rates on bonds to finance the debt.</p>
<p>Spain&#8217;s economy is <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-11/euro-economy-to-shrink-as-spain-italy-re-enter-recession.html">expected to contract </a>almost 2% this year, with anemic growth projected for 2013. With budget cuts just beginning to bite and no growth in sight to bring the unemployment rate down significantly, the future is not bright for Rajoy&#8217;s efforts. Hundreds of thousands <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/14/world/europe/tens-of-thousands-protest-austerity-in-spain.html">took to the streets</a> on Saturday in Spain&#8217;s major cities to protest against Rajoy&#8217;s efforts to bring Spain&#8217;s fiscal crisis under control. It is doubtful, given what we&#8217;ve seen across Europe this past week, whether he can hold together the consensus to continue his austerity program.</p>
<p>Spain may flirt with disaster in the coming months, but the spotlight this past week was on France, and especially Greece, where national elections have unleashed the socialist left and promise to bring the euro zone back into a full fledged crisis sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>The election of Francois Hollande in France &#8212; the first socialist to win the presidency since Mitterand 16 years ago &#8212; has had the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/francois-hollande/9259743/Francois-Hollande-Angela-Merkel-meeting-not-decision-making.html">immediate effect</a> of breaking the alliance between Merkel and Sarkozy that proved to be the linchpin that held the EU together during the worst of the sovereign debt crisis. Their partnership produced <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-13/euro-officials-begin-to-weigh-greek-exit-from-common-currency.html">several measures</a> that will allow the European Central Bank more leeway in dealing with future crisis while their collaboration on the EU fiscal compact has tied the economies of the EU together in a way never before attempted.</p>
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		<title>Damascus Bombings Bring Civil War Closer</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/rick-moran/damascus-car-bombs-bring-civil-war-closer/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=damascus-car-bombs-bring-civil-war-closer</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2012 04:55:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Moran]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Mailer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrontPage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alawite]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Assad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bombing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[civil war]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Damascus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=131759</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Out of options in Syria. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/syria1_2216336b.gif"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-131765" title="syria1_2216336b" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/syria1_2216336b.gif" alt="" width="375" height="250" /></a><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j-AaQPLGuY0FDfrA3F7FUCJh1H2w?docId=cf75ed44b6bb43f58c11640a844a6c83">Two suicide car bombs</a> detonated outside of Syrian intelligence headquarters on Wednesday, killing 55 civilians and security personnel and wounding nearly 400. The twin blasts <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/worldview/dozens-dead-hundreds-wounded-who-is-responsible-for-the-damascus-blasts/article2428500/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&amp;utm_source=Home&amp;utm_content=2428500">bore the signature</a> of Islamic terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda and demonstrated a <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/10/us-syria-usa-whitehouse-idUSBRE84917420120510">new determination</a> by the terrorists to intervene directly in what is now a simmering civil war in Syria. The US and UN <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/10/us-syria-un-council-idUSBRE84916X20120510">both condemned</a> the attacks, but suggested no new ideas on how to quell the slaughter, now in its 14 month, except to maintain the hope that the peace plan brokered by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan might somehow calm the situation.</p>
<p>At this point, even <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/10/world/meast/syria-unrest/?hpt=hp_t3">Annan probably believes</a> it to be a forlorn hope. He told the UN on Tuesday that President Assad is not abiding by any of the terms of the agreement and that this failure is leading to a <a href="http://app1.kuhf.org/articles/npr1336678263-As-Syrian-Peace-Plan-Crumbles,-Whats-Next.html">full blown civil war</a> that may spill over Syria&#8217;s borders, affecting Iraq, Lebanon, and other Middle East states. But Annan <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/10/world/meast/syria-unrest/?hpt=hp_t3">stubbornly maintains</a> that the peace plan is the only hope to prevent such a catastrophe and that the UN monitors charged with enforcing the agreement should be allowed to continue their mission.</p>
<p>Blaming Western-backed terrorists for the Damascus attacks, President Assad pressed forward with his brutal crackdown. Artillery fire directed at <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18015452">civilians in Homs </a>killed at least 10 people on Wednesday, as Assad continues to receive <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Features/FrontLines/Article.aspx?id=269518">massive military support</a> from Russia, while Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah continue to supply shock troops for Assad&#8217;s increasingly unreliable army.</p>
<p>No claim of responsibility for the bombing has been made, but <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/10/world/meast/syria-unrest/?hpt=hp_t3">Bill Roggio</a> of the Long War Journal and <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/worldview/dozens-dead-hundreds-wounded-who-is-responsible-for-the-damascus-blasts/article2428500/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&amp;utm_source=Home&amp;utm_content=2428500">other analysts</a> suspect an al-Qaeda-linked militant group called the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant. The terrorist group has claimed responsibility for some recent attacks in Damascus, and Syria&#8217;s second largest city Aleppo. The <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/10/us-syria-usa-whitehouse-idUSBRE84917420120510">US suspects</a> Al-Qaeda in Iraq or one of its violent offshoots, which have recently moved into Syria to fight against the Alawite regime of Bashar Assad. Press Secretary Jay Carney <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hoodoJIqaG1wK6IB6VJwegnH-MCw?docId=bea8761a04c4453eb44b7644f2da1609">told reporters</a> aboard Air Force One, &#8220;We do not believe (this) kind of attack that you saw in Damascus is representative of the opposition. There are clearly extremist elements in Syria, as we have said all along, who are trying to take advantage of the chaos in that country, chaos brought about by Assad&#8217;s brutal assault on his own people.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18022070">Other analysts </a>aren&#8217;t so sure that the opposition is completely blameless. Some Islamist elements of the Syrian opposition may be using the terrorists to completely militarize the conflict. The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18022070">BBC points out</a> that using terrorists &#8220;may be an especially attractive strategy at a moment when parts of the opposition are realising that no cavalry &#8211; whether Nato or the Arab League &#8211; is coming to rescue them.&#8221; That may be true, but the civilian Syrian National Council still holds out hope for Western military aid and it is unlikely they would risk alienating their benefactors by cooperating with terrorists.</p>
<p>But the opposition is pointing the finger at the Assad regime as the culprit. Brig. Gen. Moustafa el-Sheikh, head of the rebel Free Syrian Army&#8217;s military council, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/10/world/meast/syria-unrest/?hpt=hp_t3">said that</a> &#8220;no other parties in Syria &#8230; are technically capable of making such a huge explosion, except for the regime itself.&#8221; If the blame can be laid at the feet of AQI, this makes more sense. For years, the Assad regime established <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18022070">networks and conduits</a> to Al-Qaeda in Iraq, assisting them in their efforts to sow sectarian strife that eventually led to a bloody civil war. <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j-AaQPLGuY0FDfrA3F7FUCJh1H2w?docId=cf75ed44b6bb43f58c11640a844a6c83">Experts fear</a> that blasts like this will only exacerbate sectarian divisions in Syria between the majority Sunni Muslims and the ruling Alawite minority.</p>
<p>Regardless of who is responsible, the blasts put a coda on Kofi Annan&#8217;s peace plan, which is now all but dead. The former secretary general made that clear when he briefed the Security Council on Tuesday, saying that President Assad has <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-05-08/syria-violates-peace-plan-annan-tells-security-council">failed to implement </a>any part of the 6-point plan he negotiated last month. Assad&#8217;s forces, along with his heavy weapons, were supposed to pull back from cities and towns; they have not done so. Assad has also failed to release political prisoners as he promised, allow foreign reporters into the country, or start a dialogue with the opposition. Annan has <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/10/world/meast/syria-unrest/?hpt=hp_t3">received an invitation </a>from the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem to talk with President Assad, but what good would it do? It is clear at this point that Assad has no intention whatsoever of living up to his end of the bargain and would seek to use any visit by Annan as a propaganda ploy. Annan has not decided whether to go to Damascus or not.</p>
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