A-O Mideast Spotlight for 10-18-9
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The A-O Report's
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Mideast News Spotlight
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For 10-18-9
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Our Top Stories ...???
The Rising Magog Confederation
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Israeli Strike on Iran Plans After December
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Pakistan Turmoil Spirals Outward
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Details and Links Below
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Israeli-Turkish Relations Sour
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AO Editor Comments:
Ten months after Turkey first protested Israel's military operation in and around Palestinian Gaza Strip, crisis between Ankara and the Israelis appears to be going from bad to worse.
It became clear on Sunday that Turkey had banned Israel from participating in a NATO-led, international air-force drill over its territory, which led to the entire exercise being postponed.
A day later, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a blistering verbal attack on Israel and its actions in Gaza last winter.
It is hard to see the relations between the two countries coming out of the continued tensions before Israelis return to the negotiation table with the Palestinians, analysts suggested.
TURKEY'S WARMING TIES WITH SYRIA
The latest setback to what was a warm relationship six or seven years ago, came at the same time as Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was chairing a high-level delegation to Syria. Ankara and Damascus are forging new pacts and agreements to increase cooperation between the neighbors.
"The main slogan of this meeting is common destiny, history and future, and we will build the future together," Turkish Anadolou news agency quoted Davutoglu as saying.
In the past Turkey has tried to broker peace talks between Israel and Syria, but that type of role seems a distant memory now, even though the sides were indirectly talking through Turkish intermediaries just a year ago.
"This crisis began with the operation in Gaza and the collapse of (Israel's) talks with Syria, and it has been ongoing since then. Relations are simply frozen," said Alon Liel, a former Israeli ambassador to Ankara and one of the Israeli team that formulated the 1993 Oslo Accords between the Israelis and Palestinians.
More details, LINK HERE.
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Turkey-Syria Sign Miltary Pact
Joint Strategic Cooperation Alliance
Turkey and Syria have signed a strategic cooperation agreement in which the two nations are now allies. Just a decade agao, the two nations almost went to war against each other. More details, LINK HERE. Additional details, LINK HERE. - We have further analysis of the prophetic implications of this new development, in this week's A-O Intel Digest Edition.
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Turkey Signs Deal with Iraq
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Turkey & Armenia Normalize Relations
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"Peace, Peace"
Everyone's Talking Peace
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Turkish Prez To Visit Iran
October 26
Then Meet Obama on 10-29
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Israel May Nuke Iran?
Israel May Nuke Iran?
Above: Former US Ambassador to UN, John Bolton
This past week, America's former ambassador to the UN, John Bolton cautioned that Israel may use nuclear weapons to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities. Speaking last Tuesday (10/13) at the University of Chicago, Bolton cautioned that Israel may decide that it has no other option than to use nuclear weapons as part of a military operation to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Bolton stated:
“Negotiations have failed, and so too have sanctions. So we’re at a very unhappy point — a very unhappy point — where unless Israel is prepared to use nuclear weapons against Iran’s program , Iran will have nuclear weapons in the very near future."
"There are some people in the administration who think that it’s not really a problem, we can contain and deter Iran, as we did the Soviet Union during the Cold War. I think this is a great, great mistake and a dangerously weak approach…Whatever else you want to say about them, at least the Soviets believed that they only went around once in this world, and they weren’t real eager to give that up — as compared to a theological regime in Tehran which yearns for life in the hereafter more than life on earth…I don’t think [deterrence] works that way with a country like Iran.”
For more on Bolton's comments - LINK HERE.
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French Mag Reports:
Israel Prepping for Iran Attack
Using Ground Forces?
A French magazine is reporting from French government soruces, that Israel is preparing for military action against Iran sometime after December of this year.
The magazine, Le Canard Enchainé, said that during a recent visit to France, Isreali Defense Forces chief of staff, Gabi Ashkenzi, told his French counterpart, Jean-Louis Georgelin, that Israel was not planning to bomb Iran, but may send elite troops to conduct activities on the ground.
Israeli ground operations inside Iran might include sabotage of nuclear facilities as well as assassinations of top Iranian nuclear scientists. There are additional reports and rumors floating around the Middle East that speculate on Israeli ground actions against Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
The French magazine also reported that Israel has ordered combat rations from a French food manufacturer for supply to elite units of the Israeli Defense Forces. The Israeli National News Service claims that the IDF has sent notices to Israeli Reservists now abroad to return to Israel, though the Israeli News Network nor the Jerusalem Post are confirming such reports.
For more on this story, LINK HERE. Additional Details, LINK HERE and still more - LINK HERE.
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US May Review 2007 NIE Report
on Iran's Nukes
The administration is facing pressure to rewrite a 2007 National Intelligence Assessment which stated that Iran was backing off its nuclear intentions, reports the Wall Street Journal. "Rewriting an NIE is a major undertaking because it is the most comprehensive of U.S. intelligence reports and reflects the combined judgment of all 16 American intelligence bodies... So far, intelligence officials are not 'ready to declare that invalid,' a senior U.S. intelligence official said, emphasizing that the judgment covered the 2003-2007 time frame only. That leaves room for a reassessment of the period since the December 2007 report was completed, the official suggested."
More: "A shift in the U.S. intelligence community's official stance -- concluding Iran restarted its nuclear weapons work or that Iran's ambitions have ramped up -- could significantly affect President Barack Obama's efforts to use diplomacy to contain Tehran's capabilities."
For more details, LINK HERE. Additional coverage - LINK HERE.
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US Navy Seizes Iranian Arms
Shipment Headed For Syria
The US Navy intercepted a shipment of 8 containers of ammunition for Russian-made AK-47 rifles shipping from Iran to Syria. The shipment was being sent aboard a German-flagged freighter, the "Hansa India." The freighter however was under charter to Iran's state-owned shipping company. The German government got wind of the shipment and relayed the information to the US government.
Two U.S. Navy warships then intercepted the freighter in the Gulf of Suex before it could rendevous to off-load the cargo, which is banned by UN Resolution 1747. It is believed the shipment was bounf for use by either Hezbollah or Hamas. More details, LINK HERE. More coverage - LINK HERE.
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U.S. & Russia To Delay
Sanctions Against Iran
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said after talks with Russia's foreign minister on Tuesday that neither country is seeking to impose sanctions against Iran under the current circumstances.
Clinton said sanctions over Iran’s controversial uranium enrichment program would be premature, and that Russia was being “extremely cooperative in the work we have done together” on the issue.
Lavrov said Russia is “in principle very reserved on sanctions, as they rarely produce results.”
He said sanctions should only be used when all diplomatic means have been exhausted, and that “in the situation with Iran, this is far from the case.”
Lavrov also said the U.S. and Russia had identical positions on the issue.
“We are not asking anything of each other on Iran, because it would be ridiculous to make requests on an issue where our positions coincide,” he said.
However, Clinton said that sanctions over North Korea's nuclear program would remain in place. For more details, LINK HERE.
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Russia Will Back Sanctions
Only As A Last Resort
Russian President Medvedev told Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton that Russia will back harsh sanctions against Iran but only as a last resort if/when diplomacy fails. More details, LINK HERE.
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US Air Force Wants
Bunker-Buster Bomb FAST
The US Air Force wants a new and improved bunker-buster under production speeded up. Our A-O Intelligence Digest has reported on this development in past editions and noted that USAF asked for production to be speeded up for initial delivery to be made in December. Now we're hearing even sooner.
Associated Press has now picked up on the Air Force's expedited request. You can read their report, LINK HERE.
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Clinton Praises Russia
For Support on Iran's Nukes
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Joint US-Israeli Missile Drills
Postponed for 1 Week
May be related to mystery explosion in Lebanon.
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Pakistan's Nuke Security Questioned
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Pak Army Launches Campaign
Against Taliban in SWAT Land
The Pakistan Army has launched a major ground offensive against the Pakistani Taliban's home territorial bases in the SWAT Valley. The offensive is intended to force the Taliban to retreat backwards to defend their territorial base of operations.
In the past 10 days the Taliban has conducted its own offensive that threatens to bring down the Pakistan Government and take over nuclear weapons facilities. International concerns have intensified over the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons arsenal that has been quietly threatened by recent Taliban force movements.
So far, 28,000 Pakistani soldiers have moved into the Taliban's primary basing areas in the large tribal reiong known as South Waziristan sometimes referred to as the SWAT Valley. Intelligence reports indicate that the government is prepared to fling as many as 100,000 troops into the campaign to bring the Taliban offensive to a grinding halt.
The government is not relying solely on ground troops. The Pakistani Air Force has been conducting air strikes in support of ground forces. For more details, LINK HERE.
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Pak Army Takes Taliban Stronghold
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Clinton Downplays Threat To
Pakistan's Nuclear Arsenal
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Taliban Puts Up Stiff Resistance
In South Waziristan Campaign
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UN Committee Endorses Report
Of Israeli War Crimes in Gaza
A UN committee has endorsed a report that charges Israeli troops with war crimes in conjunction with the January military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The report called "The Goldstone Report," will now be presented to the UN General Assembly.
The report recommends both Israel and Hamas conduct investigations into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. And, if they fail to do so within six months, it says the UN Security Council should turn the matter over to the International Criminal Court.
Just two weeks ago, the UN Human Rights Council deferred a vote on the controversial Goldstone Report on Gaza until its next session in March. But, under intense domestic criticism, the Palestinians decided to reopen the issue.
For full details, LINK HERE
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Israel May Quit Peace Talks
Over UN War Crimes Vote
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Israel Faces Growing Int'l Pressure
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Bomb Blast In Iran Kills 30
Including 6 IRGC Commanders
A suicide bomber blew himself up in an area adjacent to Pakistan early on Sunday killing 30 people including a half dozen top Iranian Revolutionary Guards commanders.
One of the dead IRGC offricers was the Deputy Commander of the Revolutionary Guards ground forces as well as the regional commander of Sistan Baluchistan which borders with Pakistan. The area is a hotbed for revolutionaries and religious conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
Iranian media reports indicate the bombing occurred in the city of Pisheen where a reconciliatory meeting was to take place between Shiite and Sunni religious leaders. Baluchistan's Sunni sect has complained of heavy discrimination in a nation dominated by the Shiite sect. A Sunni insurgent group known as "Soldiers of God" claimed responsibility for the attack.
Iran's Paliament Speaker, Ali Larijani blamed the United States for the blast. Other previous terror attacks in that region have also been blamed on U.S. covert operations working with local insurgents.
One American security analyst commented on the attack, telling Voice of American news service that this particular attack stands out from all previous terror strikes because it was able to target such high-ranking Revolutionary Guards officers.
Iran's President Ahmadinejad quickly issued a statement promising to punish those responsible for the bombing. More details, LINK HERE. Additional coverage, LINK HERE.
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US Condemns Attack
Denies Any Responsibility
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Ahmadinejad Blames Pakistan
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Mysterious Explosion in Lebanon
Hezbollah Munitions Warehouse Explodes
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Afghan Election Fraud May
Upset US/NATO War Plans
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