Rebuilding American Influence in the Middle East is NOT a DIY Project

On the 18th the NY Times published an OpEd by Marwan Muasher, a former Jordanian diplomat. Mr. Muasher asked what can America do to rebuild influence in the Middle East. One suggestion was that our nation (that, by law, cannot have an official religion) must back "a dynamic change toward pluralism". Lets look briefly at pluralism in the east, shall we. In Egypt Coptic Christians are hunted and slaughtered with impunity. In Darfur there is an Arab tribe, Jinjaweed (Arabic for Devils on horseback) that are trying to cleanse the area of Africans so it can be an all Arabian region. Iran and Syria have spent the past several years trying to kill off all the non-Shi'ites within their boarders. Iraq has spent decades torturing and murdering non-Sunni people. This does not fit the definition of pluralistic.

Mr. Marwan acknowledges that there was a time when America had influence on the Arabian Street. He does not say when, in his opinion, that changed. I believe that shift happened during President Ford's time in office. The first sign of that was when the Arab members of OPEC started the oil embargo against America. Those members were, and these should sound familiar, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. That embargo bled us financially and showed us vulnerable. What does that mean? Consider now these two Arabian proverbs, "A falling camel invites many knives" and "When people see two horses and one is strong and the other weak, people naturally like the strong horse".

The Middle East is a harsh environment that has bred a harsh people. Weakness is a detriment to survival. Only here, in America, do people cheer for the under dog. Culturally, we see even the sickly runt of the litter as valuable. In the Middle East the scarce resources are saved for the strong, not the weak. This is a dichotomy that is completely the opposite of ours.

Fast forward past the list of attacked US Embassies (still an act if war according to Clinton's Stated Departmentt) to the time when Obama met the Saudi King. Obama deliberately did what President John F. Kennedy said that no leader of the free world should ever do. Obama bowed. The Middle East is not a dojo, bowing is a sign of subjugation. By bending over and exposing your neck you are saying that your life is theirs to take or to spare.

Apologizing for aging been a world leader, which is another sign of weakness. It says to them that we should not be better off than they. It makes America look like a falling camel.

So, how do we regain face, rebuild any semblance of power, in the Arabian Street?

Al Jazeera just posted a video, in English so we can clearly get it, that Clinton, Obama, and America are not welcome there. That video is titled "You Are Not Welcome in Egypt". This year alone has seen more than $250 million dollars given to the Egyptian banking sector to prevent a collapse, $90 million for democratic development, $100 million for economic recovery, and not with Obama's yearly $1 billion dollar gift. That comes out to $1.8 billion of our tax dollars given to one government that has openly opposed America for the last 39 years while profiting from us.

How do we regain influence in the Middle East? With backbone, swift, harsh responses to acts of war and opposition, with a clear message that we are stronger than they.

I have no idea how we can do this. We need the likes of Fenerals Abrams, Patton, Schwartzkopf, the business acumen of Lee Iacoca, JP Morgan, Carngie,and Presidents Reagan and Bush senior to formulate that plan. We need, as a nation, to be able to stomach what must be done. This must include developing our own sources of fuel and energy. We must revitalize our industrial souls. Other than that, I must leave it to those with bigger brain pans than I.

 

Syria, Iran, and Russia

During the last year the political landscape in the Middle East has shown some signs of change. Algeria, Libya, and Egypt were able to rid themselves of their despotic rulers. I would argue that the resistance groups waited, like a pack of wild dogs, for the leaders to be old, sick, and weak enough to take down. Conversely, Iran was able to quickly and not so quietly put down its own uprising with some people finding the government violence on social media. This is also being replayed in Syria. For six months now the Assad regime has been slaughtering its own citizens.

Since that started the world has seen the UN repeatedly call the slaughter an abominable and criminal act. The US and the EU have tried to have new sanctions levied against Assad only to be stymied by Russia and China on the UNSC.

Why has Russia stated that it will not support sanctions? Russia has invested billions of dollars in Syria, Russian investments in Syria in 2009 were valued at $19.4 billion, mainly in arms deals, infrastructure development, energy, and tourism. Russian exports to Syria in 2010 totaled $1.1 billion, Russia is also reported to have invested heavily in the strategic naval facility in Tartous; investments and work that could all be jeopardized if the Assad regime is overthrown or the country descends into violent chaos. As it is, Moscow, which has criticized the NATO-led intervention in Libya, is waiting to see if the new authorities in Tripoli will honor some $10 billion worth of business deals reached with the Qaddafi regime.

Let’s also recall the fact that Russia lost the Cold War. Moscow enjoyed wide authority in the region in the Soviet era and has watched with increasing alarm as Western pressure and a public frustration helped push veteran regional leaders from power as reported in Soviet newspapers.

Meanwhile, in trying to encourage the discourse and further talks, as required by Russia, the US diplomatic envoy is attacked, again, by regime loyalists (read as active supporters of terrorism attacking a legal and diplomatic representative of the United States).

The call for regime change is coming. This is the path which I described in earlier writings where the slaughter has to get to a level of visibility which requires the Arab League and/or OIC to say that something must be done. The UN will eventually be allowed to make that call and, when it does, you will all see Obama rushing in with boots on the ground. Such a good little lap dog for that mechanism, if only he would learn when not to bark, this would go much quieter for the OIC and Arab League. Until that call goes out, Obama gets to strategically and tactically avoid Iran, Russia, and the bad press that would inevitably come.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15412322,00.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/at-un-syria-sanctions-falter/2011/09/28/gIQA8V1T5K_blog.html

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2193310&Language=en

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/201703.html

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4104473,00.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44714346/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/syria-criticizes-arab-league-for-meeting-anti-assad-opposition-figures-1.384818

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article497251.ece

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0919/Why-Russia-is-blocking-international-action-against-Syria/(page)/2

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/8762912/Russia-warns-of-Syria-terror-threat.html

Obama Gets Cosier With Iran

I have been concerned (frightened) by the current administration’s policies towards the Middle East. I have posted and considered the cultish and narcissistic nature of Ahmedinijad, the Iranian goals of bringing back the mahdi, and Iranian expansionism. I have also stated fairly clearly that I believe that President Obama is the Manchurian Candidate for Iran. This morning’s news releases do nothing but reinforce and strengthen that opinion.

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann on Friday expressed regret over the fall of US ally Hosni Mubarak “while President Obama sat on his hands." This sitting on his hands, as I have mentioned several times, goes back to the Iranian uprising in 2009 when videos and tweets and facebook posts were coming out in torrents detailing a vicious crackdown on the people. This violent squashing of people demanding to be treated as people, as they are in the West, was stomped down with hobnailed boots of the regime and was supported by both houses of Iranian governmental leadership. Bachman should also say something about the ongoing slaughter and hobnailed boot-stomping actions of Syrian President, Basher al-Assad.

Earlier this year Obama attempted to put Israel on the US State Department’s list of State Sponsors of Terror; however, pro-Hamas Turkey is to chair an Obama backed counter-terrorism body. This panel is not to include Israel and is being done quietly, in the shadows of the UN General Assembly this week. This would likely be why Ahmedinijad is so openly welcome at the event; it provides enough distraction to allow this little CT group to get started. Turkey is not a friend of Israel and not much of a friendly place to visit, at least so the US State Department says. There are travel warnings and terror groups there as well. Aside from being pro-Hamas the country is trying to put down an uprising of the State Department listed group Kongra Gel. This group has a history of attacking Turkish officials, security forces, and villagers who oppose the group. Do you see this as being familiar? Try 2009 Iran and 2011 Syria as fitting the pattern. Who else is sitting in this group? Good question. Obama is willing to sit with OIC members Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, among others.

Hillary Clinton calls this “smart power approach to counterterrorism,” and described the founding group as “traditional allies, emerging powers and Muslim-majority countries.” I call it another attempt to subjugate the power and strength of America to its enemies.

In spite of all Obama’s efforts to be seen on the right side of modern Middle Eastern history amid uprisings and revolts across the Arab world, the White House has warned that it will use its veto power to block the Palestinians in the UN Security Council, provoking dire warnings from another long-term ally, Saudi Arabia. Now, with Iran in support of the Palestinian state I believe that the White House will want to support the vote. If this were to happen the Democratic Party would quite likely openly denounce Obama in light of his plummeting poll numbers. While there are those who see this as a game of numbers, I see it as life and death reality. The reality of it is that Obama and his friends in the East are neither friend to the West nor of America.

There item which truly puts me in the camp of Obama/Iran is that Obama is reportedly looking into putting a phone line in the White House which goes directly to Iran. Ostensibly, this line is intended to alert Iran to the presence of US ships in the Persian Gulf. Iran already knows where our ships are. Everybody knows where our ships are! There is absolutely no OPSEC (Operational Security) these days and no one recalls the reality behind ‘loose lips sink ships’. Bottom line, someone thinks that it is a good and prudent idea to have a direct phone line between the two presidents. During the Cold War this was done with Russia; however, the presidents who served, with the dubious distinction of Carter, used that phone line as a diplomatic and foreign policy tool. In this case I believe that someone else would use that line to use Obama as a tool.

This is a view which the mainstream media is not going to cover or report until they are forced to do so.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20107699-503544.html

http://barenakedislam.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/pro-hamas-turkey-and-u-s-will-co-chair-obama-backed-counter-terror-forum-israel-not-included/

http://barenakedislam.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/pro-hamas-turkey-and-u-s-will-co-chair-obama-backed-counter-terror-forum-israel-not-included/

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/former-middle-east-allies-snub-washington-as-its-influence-dwindles-20110918-1kfyp.html

UN Report on Child Soldiers

Bottom Line Up Front

There is now a report on the recruitment and use of child soldiers. It comes out while the International Criminal Court (a brand new offshoot of the UN) seeks to prove its legitimacy with prosecuting a warlord for his use of child soldiers. What is NOT stated overtly in the article is that most of the groups listed are primarily Islamic groups seeking to establish sharia law. Also, the states listed are standing UN members.

UN Report: Use of Child Soldiers Still Widespread in 2010/2011

As a UN list proves, children are still being recruited and used in warfare while schools are repeatedly being attacked and closed with a UN official saying this was "another tragic year" for the world's youngsters.

New additions to the list include the Philippines' Moro secessionist movement in the south, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which was among the 61 rebel groups that targeted children recruitment in the 22 countries the report focuses on. Other groups such as the al-Shabab militia in Somalia, and the Afghan National Police in Afghanistan are also listed.

In Afghanistan however, the Government recently agreed to release children from the Afghan national security forces and to put in place more efficient age verification measures to prevent under-age recruitment.

The report also reveals that the UN Security Council also found the New People's Army and the Abu Sayyaf Group of being actively engaged in recruiting children as fighters.

As details of the list emerged however, the MILF repeatedly denied the recruitment of child warriors, with member Muhammad Ameen insisting his group and its military wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), do not participate in the recruitment of children and have even prohibited it.

As the use of child soldiers is still widespread, In June, the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution which expended the criteria for listing parties to conflict in the Secretary-General's annual report, including parties who attack schools and hospitals.

The resolution strictly prohibits the "recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming, rape and other sexual violence, attacks on schools and/or hospitals."

"The promise of this resolution is very real. During my visits to conflict areas, I have personally seen the devastation -- schools completely destroyed, bombed or burnt to the ground. Attacks on hospitals are two-fold atrocities. Not only do they kill and wound girls and boys, but they leave children without access to treatment," said Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for children and armed conflict.

The annual report finds that out of 22 conflicts that were monitored, attacks against schools and hospitals were reported in at least 15, with reports of damage, destruction and closing of schools appearing to be a pattern.

 "The infrastructure of schools have been physically destroyed by armed actors, and students and educational personnel have been attacked, threatened or intimidated," the report states.

"In some situations, girls and girls' schools have been specifically targeted. The use of schools by armed elements has, in certain circumstances, compromised the civilian nature of schools and put students at risk."

Other entries on the list include Yemeni groups pro-Government tribal militia and al-Houthi rebels, both for recruiting and using child soldiers and the Iraqi groups the Islamic State of Iraq, and Al-Qaida in Iraq, including its armed youth wing known as the Birds of Paradise.

The report examined armed conflicts last year in Afghanistan, Burundi, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Haiti, India, Iraq, Lebanon, Myanmar, Nepal, the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, southern Thailand, Uganda and Yemen.

http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/213572/20110914/un-report-use-of-child-soldiers-still-widespread-in-2010-2011.htm

Iranian Expansion

When I was growing up and first entered the military the big global threat was Russia. Once Russia fell down it seems their proxy agents stepped up. This can certainly be said in regards to Iran over the past few years. This blog is not intended to be a repository of Iranian actions; however, the actions taken since Ahmedinijad took the presidency of Iran, seem to closely parallel those which Russia was taking. The use of Iran by the Soviets is not new, either.

However, the threat of Iran is the burning issue which more people should be paying attention to. Hitler told the world what he was going to do. So has Ahmedinijad. Ahmedinijad has said that he wants to be the one to establish the global chaos necessary to bring the mahdi. He wants to spread chaos and the death and turmoil that goes with it. Look at Syria and Lebanon, Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen for examples of the chaos which Ahmedinijad is fomenting and funding.

Why not use economic sanctions and bans against doing business with Iran? This is a good question. The simple answer is that there are a host of countries, that include North Korea, Russia, China, Cuba, and Venezuela (to name a few) which are both hostile towards the United States and eager to spend their money on Iran. What is not so simple is why the US Government continues to do business with countries and businesses that are also currently doing business with Iran. It is correct to say that the US Government is currently awarding contracts to countries and businesses that are also doing business with Iran. You do realize that any international Iranian firm is also a proxy of the Iranian government, don’t you?

So, due to the complexities of international law, business, and a plethora of other bureaucracies and loopholes, there is little hope of actually harming Iran by way of economic sanctions. There are too many avenues by which Iran can elude such binding resolutions as the ones the world witnessed in operation against the old Iraqi regime, Oil For Food.

Appeasement is among the current biggest problems in US policy towards enemies. Appeasement has been the chief motivating factor informing the US’s intense support for Palestinian statehood close ties with Iran. Appeasement provoked the US to embrace radical Islamic religious leaders and terror operatives such as Sami Arian and Abdurahman Alamoudi as credible leaders in the US Muslim community. Appeasement stood behind the US’s bid to try to entice Iran to end its nuclear weapons programs with grand bargains.

It is allowing Syria to support al-Qaida and Hezbollah as well as Palestinian terror groups; its proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; or its involvement in facilitating the insurgency in Iraq and to continue as a proxy for Iran

Recently President Sarkozy of France put Obama to shame in the Men’s Department. Sarkozy called out Iran for it’s military, nuclear and ballistic ambitions. He said this constitutes a growing threat which “would provoke a major crisis that France wants to avoid at all costs.”In the eyes of Sarkozy Iran’s growing ambitions may be enough of a threat for a preventative attack, although it remains unsaid as to who would conduct said attack.

Iran's UN ambassador said in a letter to UN leaders that his country would "not hesitate to act in self-defense to respond to any attack against the Iranian nation." "Iran is a leading nation in rejecting and opposing all kinds of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons," said Iranian UN ambassador Khazaee. With the exception of the radical organization known as Gharargahe Asheghane Shahadat (The Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison), some 50,000 men and women for the stated purpose of suicide operations against the United States and Europe. That is, according to Ahmedinijad (http://msmignoresit.blogspot.com/2011/07/world-according-to-mahmoud-ahmadinejad.html).

The Obama administration is continuing to use a failing policy of appeasement while Iran is using a policy of expanding. According to FARS, the semi-state owned official newspaper of Iran, the country has been and continue to carry out expansion in Cuba, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

In Ecuador there are a number of narco-terror related organizations that have a history of attacking US corporations. These groups include the likes of FARC, the Colombian National Liberation Army, various Marxist-Leninist parties, the Popular Combatants Group, and the Revolutionary Militias of the People. These groups have attacked US companies in Ecuador. Into Ecuador comes the Iranian owned Red Crescent Society, IRCS. The IRCS has conducted itself in support of terrorism and terrorists in, for instance, Somalia. What other group operates under the Iranian flag? Oh, yes, Hezbollah. My assessment is that the IRCS, which is opening a high end medical facility in Ecuador (according to FARS), is going to operate in support of the aforementioned groups. We have seen growth in the relationship between Venezuela and Iran as well as Cuba and Iran. Now we see a growing relationship with Ecuador. Iran is beyond the point where containment will work.

What should the US do? The US administration, or at least its Senators and Congressmen, need to dig deep and find a pair. The West must stand absolutely and resolutely with its allies in the West and in the East. We must hold a firm line and not flinch or waiver.

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_tells_UN_it_will_hit_back_at_any_attack_999.html

http://pajamasmedia.com/claudiarosett/commemorate-911-by-stopping-iran/

 http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=237237

http://www.forbes.com/sites/energysource/2011/09/07/economic-sanctions-on-iran-havent-been-enough/