The Middle East is booming with news this morning. Think of a big, bubbling cauldron with big chunks of veggies and meat boiling to the surface, rolling around in the hot broth, only to sink to the bottom while some other choice cuts rise to the top. Today we have more evidence of Syria building up arms along their border. The United Nations is of course deaf, dumb and blind.
"There is no doubt that something out of the ordinary is taking place on the Syrian side of the border," a high-ranking official said.
Naturally, The UN is oblivious.
The commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) deployed in Israel and Syria and responsible for maintaining the cease-fire between the two countries, told the Post in an interview that he had not noticed any military changes on the ground. "From our point of view the situation is quiet and there is no indication from our side that anything has changed in last weeks or months," Maj.-Gen. Wolfgang Jilke said in a phone interview from Syria. --Jerusalem Post and The American Israeli Patriot
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John Bolton pulled no punches yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg News. He was not hesitant to take shots at President Bush and the EU on their foreign policy stands against Iran... The agreement with North Korea to exchange economic aid for a nuclear disarmament pledge shows the Bush administration has “abandoned the principles it pursued for much of its first several years in office,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Talks with either North Korea or Iran won't work, Bolton asserted. “Unless you're prepared to believe that the Iranians are voluntarily going to give up the pursuit of nuclear weapons, the idea of pursuing negotiations is ultimately going to be fruitless,” he said.
The U.S. has allowed Britain, France and Germany to “screw around” in nuclear talks with Iran, according to Bolton. The diplomacy has gone on for “three and a half years, and that allowed the Iranians to make enormous progress on their nuclear- weapons program,” he said. “Regime change in Iran or, as a last resort, military action is the only thing that will stop the Iranians from getting nuclear weapons,” Bolton said.-Bolton Comes Out Firing, from The American Israeli Patriot
And what if Iran gets the bomb? Caroline B. Glick gives her view of the future:
Broadly speaking there are three possible scenarios of how Iran would likely behave were it to become a nuclear power. In the most optimistic scenario, Iran would not attack Israel or any other country with its atomic arsenal, but would rather use it as an instrument of international and regional influence. In this scenario, Iran would reap economic advantage from its nuclear status by threatening oil shipping in the Persian Gulf and so jack up worldwide oil and gas prices. A massive economic dislocation in the oil consuming countries would no doubt ensue. In this state of affairs, all international economic sanctions against Iran would disappear and states would begin fighting with one another for the right to develop Iran's oil and gas fields and refining capabilities.Operating under Iran's nuclear umbrella, terror groups like Hizbullah and Al Qaida would feel free to attack at will throughout the world. The rates of terrorism - of both the organized and lone wolf variety — would increase exponentially throughout the world. [snip]
In a moderate scenario, not only would all the events that would likely occur in a best-case scenario occur. Iran would also make indirect use of its nuclear arsenal. In this case, Iran would likely use one of its existing terror proxies in the Sinai, Gaza or Lebanon, or invent a new terror group in one or all of these areas. Iran would transfer one or more nuclear weapons to its terror group of choice, which would then attack Israel and cause the second Holocaust in seventy years. Iran would deny any connection to the attack although it would reap high praise on its perpetrators. [snip]
In the worst case scenario, not only would Iran implement the best case and the moderate case scenario. It would also widen its network of allies while neutralizing its competitors in the Muslim world in order to expand its exportation of the Khomeinist revolution worldwide. All this it would do in an effort to achieve its longstanding aim of destroying America. Here the Iranians would be operating under the reasonable assumption that Europe will be neutral in the conflict, and Russia and China would likely support them against the US — at least covertly. (read it all, you must)
Remember the plot last summer that caused airlines to ban liquids. It seems liquid explosives have now been found, in all places, Lebanon. Many of us believe the terrorists conduct 'dry runs', in order to test their plans.
Lebanese police are reporting the confiscation of liquid explosives at the Lebanese Palestinian camp of Ain Hilwa, near Sidon port.Last summer’s plot to blow up 10 airliners involved liquid explosives that were set to detonate inside carry-on luggage. The disruptions for passengers and security personnel have included the banning of liquids, toothpaste, gels, and other personal items that until now have seemed like an over-reaction to a threat that may or may not have been real. --Nuke's News and Views and DEBKAfile
Pakistani travelers are the focus of a new temporary watchlist the federal government has created to identify high-risk passengers entering the United States, according to this report. Does this mean we are finally profiling???
U.S. authorities are on high alert for Pakistani travelers who pose a possible terror risk after American spy satellites recently turned up photographic evidence of al-Qaida training camps inside Pakistan, U.S. officials say.
And so it goes...
Must read articles for today:
Syria Pushes The Envelope, The American Israeli Patriot
CIA Cornering Tomato Market in Iran, Planck's Constant, also How to shut somebody the F Up
Men of the West: some hopeful signs , Vanishing American
One Flew Over The Cuckoo Clock, Ironic Surrealism. A great article about Hillary Clinton, but the graphic is worth the trip. Go see.