MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Indonesia 5.9 ; Tonga 5.6 ; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 5.4 ;   !More info here.

• N Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies.(BBC).North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has died of a heart attack at the age of 69, state media has announced.Millions of North Koreans had been "engulfed in indescribable sadness", the KCNA news agency said. People were seen weeping in the capital Pyongyang.His son Kim Jong-un was described by KCNA as the "great successor" who North Koreans should unite behind.Pyongyang's neighbours are on alert. Unconfirmed South Korean reports say the North tested a missile on Monday.Yonhap news agency in Seoul said a short-range missile was fired off the eastern coast of the poor and isolated nuclear-armed nation on Monday, but it was not clear if the test was connected to the announcement of Kim Jong-il's death.South Korea put its armed forces on alert after the announcement, saying the country was on a crisis footing. Japan's government convened a special security meeting. China - North Korea's closest ally and biggest trading partner - expressed shock at the news of his death and pledged to continue making "active contributions to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in this region".Asian stock markets fell after the news was announced.The announcement of Kim Jong-il's death came in an emotional statement read out on national television.The announcer, wearing black, struggled to keep back the tears as she said he had died of physical and mental over-work. The KCNA later reported that he had died of a "severe myocardial infarction along with a heart attack" at 08:30 local time on Saturday (23:30 GMT Friday).He had been on a train at the time, for one of his "field guidance" tours, KCNA said.The state news agency said a funeral would be held in Pyongyang on 28 December and Kim Jong-un would head the funeral committee. A period of national mourning has been declared from 17 to 29 December.Images from inside the secretive state showed people in the streets of Pyongyang weeping at the news of his death.Ruling party members in one North Korean county were shown by state TV banging tables and crying out loud, the AFP news agency reports."I can't believe it. How can he go like this? What are we supposed to do?" a party member named as Kang Tae-Ho was quoted as saying.Another, Hong Sun-Ok, said: "He tried so hard to make our lives much better and he just left like this."KCNA said people were "convulsing with pain and despair" at their loss, but would unite behind his successor Kim Jong-un."All party members, military men and the public should faithfully follow the leadership of comrade Kim Jong-un and protect and further strengthen the unified front of the party, military and the public," the news agency said.Little is known about Kim Jong-un. He was educated in Switzerland, aged in his late 20s, and is believed to be Kim Jong-il's third son - born to Mr Kim's reportedly favourite wife, the late Ko Yong-hui. Kim Jong-un was unveiled as his father's likely successor just over a year ago. Many had expected to see this process further consolidated in 2012. South Korea - which remains technically at war with the north - urged people to "go about their usual economic activities" on Monday, while putting the military on alert.President Lee Myung-Bak spoke to US President Barack Obama by telephone and they "agreed to closely co-operate and monitor the situation together," a South Korean presidential spokesman said.Reaction from Washington was muted, with the White House saying it was "closely monitoring" reports of the death. The US remained "committed to stability on the Korean peninsula, and to the freedom and security of our allies", it said in a statement.China said it was "distressed" to hear the news of his death. "We express our grief about this and extend our condolences to the people of North Korea," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.Analysts say that with the process of transition from father to son incomplete, Mr Kim's death could herald "very unstable times" in North Korea."We have to be very worried because whenever there is domestic instability North Korea likes to find an external situation to divert the attention away from that - including indulging in provocation," Professor Lee Jung-hoon, specialising in international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul, told the BBC.Christopher Hill, former US representative to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programme, said all parties needed to "keep cool heads".Hmmm....So yesterday we lost "The Good, The Bad ...who will be the 'Ugly' President?Read the full story here here.Related : Kim Jong - Il's world "Tell the world we're starving" !

• Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed invests $300 million into microblogging site Twitter.(Yahoo).DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his investment company said Monday they are investing a combined $300 million into Twitter, increasing the microblogging site's cash cushion as its user base expands.Alwaleed's joint investment with his Kingdom Holding Co. follows months of negotiations and will give them a "strategic stake" in Twitter, according to the Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based investment firm. It wasn't clear how much of Twitter the prince will control.Alwaleed, a nephew of the Saudi king, ranks 26th on Forbes' list of the world's richest people. He has a history of investing in media and technology companies, and said the deal represents an interest "in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact."Twitter allows users to send short messages of up to 140 characters. The 5-year-old site has been instrumental in connecting protesters and relaying on-the-ground developments during this year's Arab Spring uprisings.Globally, the San Francisco-based company has more than 100 million active users who post an average of 250 million messages, or "tweets," a day."We believe that social media will fundamentally change the media industry landscape in the coming years," Ahmed Halawani, KHC's executive director of private equity and international investments, said in a statement. "Twitter will capture and monetize this positive trend."His Twitter investment comes as Arab activists from Tunisia to Bahrain have flocked to Twitter to co-ordinate protests and voice their opposition to long-ruling autocratic regimes.High quality global journalism requires investment. The prince – whose other big investments include Apple, News Corp and Citigroup, the bank – is launching an Arabic news channel that he has said will focus on freedom of speech and the changes taking place across the Middle East. Hmmm......Freedom of speech might just have taken a huge step backwards.Read the full story here.

• The War On Religion: Mark Steyn, Ron Paul and Congress.(WH).Mark Steyn weighs in on modern Christmas traditions, the fear of even religious institutions to proclaim their faith out of fear of litigation, and what it all means: Christmas in America is a season of time-honored traditions:

1. The sacred performance of the annual ACLU lawsuit over the presence of an insufficiently secular "holiday" tree.
2. The ritual provocations of the atheist displays licensed by pitifully appeasing municipalities to sit between the menorah and the giant Frosty the Snowman.
3. The familiar strains of every hack columnist's "war on Christmas" column rolling off the keyboard as easily as Richard Clayderman playing "Winter Wonderland" ...

This year has been a choice year. A crucified skeleton Santa Claus was erected as part of the "holiday" display outside the Loudoun County courthouse in Virginia — because, let's face it, nothing cheers the hearts of moppets in the Old Dominion like telling them, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus — and he's hanging lifeless in the town square."Alas, a week ago, some local burghers failed to get into the ecumenical spirit and decapitated him. Who are these killjoys? Christians intolerant of the First Amendment (as some have suggested)? Or perhaps a passing Saudi? . . . .Across the fruitcaked plain in California, the city of Santa Monica allocated permits for "holiday" displays at Palisades Park by means of lottery. Eighteen of the 21 slots went to atheists — for example, the slogan "37 million Americans know a myth when they see one" over portraits of Jesus, Santa, and Satan.. . . Perhaps Santa Monica should adopt a less theocratic moniker and change its name to Satan Monica, as its interpretation of the separation of church and state seems to have evolved into expressions of public contempt for large numbers of the citizenry augmented by the traumatizing of their children.Boy, I can't wait to see what those courageous atheists come up with for Ramadan. Or does that set their hearts a-flutter quite as much?One sympathizes, up to a point. As America degenerates from a land of laws to a land of legalisms, much of life is devoted to forestalling litigation. What's less understandable is the faintheartedness of explicitly Christian institutions. . . .When an explicitly Catholic institution thinks the meaning of Christmas is "tenderness for the past, vapid generalities for the present, evasive abstractions for the future," it's pretty much over. Suffering no such urge to self-abasement, Muslim students at the Catholic University of America in Washington recently filed a complaint over the lack of Islamic prayer rooms on the campus. They find it offensive to have to pray surrounded by Christian symbols such as crucifixes and paintings of distinguished theologians.True, this thought might have occurred to them before they applied to an institution called "Catholic University." On the other hand, it's surely not unreasonable for them to have expected Catholic University to muster no more than the nominal rump Christianity of that Catholic college in New England. Why wouldn't you demand Muslim prayer rooms?As much as belligerent atheists, belligerent Muslims reckon that a decade or so hence "Catholic colleges" will be Catholic mainly in the sense that Istanbul's Hagia Sophia is still a cathedral: that's to say, it's a museum, a heritage site for where once was a believing church. And who could object to the embalming of our inheritance?Christmas is all about "tenderness for the past," right? When Christian college administrators are sending out cards saying "We believe in nothing", why wouldn't you take them at their word?Which brings us back in this season of joy to the Republican presidential debates, the European debt crisis and all the other fun stuff. The crisis afflicting the West is not primarily one of unsustainable debt and spending. These are mere symptoms of a deeper identity crisis.It is not necessary to be a believing Christian to be unnerved by the ease and speed with which we have cast off our inheritance and trampled it into the dust. When American municipalities are proudly displaying the execution of skeleton Santas and giant Satans on public property, it may just be a heartening exercise of the First Amendment, it may be a trivial example of the narcissism of moral frivolity.Or it could be a sign that eventually societies become too stupid to survive. The fellows building the post-western world figure they know which it is.And then there is this worthy essay on the topic from Ron Paul in 2003.

As we celebrate another Yuletide season, it's hard not to notice that Christmas in America simply doesn't feel the same anymore. Although an overwhelming majority of Americans celebrate Christmas, and those who don't celebrate it overwhelmingly accept and respect our nation's Christmas traditions, a certain shared public sentiment slowly has disappeared. The Christmas spirit, marked by a wonderful feeling of goodwill among men, is in danger of being lost in the ongoing war against religion.Through perverse court decisions and years of cultural indoctrination, the elitist, secular Left has managed to convince many in our nation that religion must be driven from public view. The justification is always that someone, somewhere, might possibly be offended or feel uncomfortable living in the midst of a largely Christian society, so all must yield to the fragile sensibilities of the few. The ultimate goal of the anti-religious elites is to transform America into a completely secular nation, a nation that is legally and culturally biased against Christianity.This growing bias explains why many of our wonderful Christmas traditions have been lost. Christmas pageants and plays, including Handel's Messiah, have been banned from schools and community halls. Nativity scenes have been ordered removed from town squares, and even criticized as offensive when placed on private church lawns. Office Christmas parties have become taboo, replaced by colorless seasonal parties to ensure no employees feel threatened by a “hostile environment.” Even wholly non-religious decorations featuring Santa Claus, snowmen, and the like have been called into question as Christmas symbols that might cause discomfort. Earlier this month, firemen near Chicago reluctantly removed Christmas decorations from their firehouse after a complaint by some embittered busybody. Most noticeably, however, the once commonplace refrain of “Merry Christmas” has been replaced by the vague, ubiquitous “Happy Holidays.” But what holiday? Is Christmas some kind of secret, a word that cannot be uttered in public? Why have we allowed the secularists to intimidate us into downplaying our most cherished and meaningful Christian celebration?The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of our Founding Fathers. On the contrary, our Founders' political views were strongly informed by their religious beliefs. Certainly the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, both replete with references to God, would be aghast at the federal government's hostility to religion. The establishment clause of the First Amendment was simply intended to forbid the creation of an official state church like the Church of England, not to drive religion out of public life.The Founding Fathers envisioned a robustly Christian yet religiously tolerant America, with churches serving as vital institutions that would eclipse the state in importance. Throughout our nation's history, churches have done what no government can ever do, namely teach morality and civility. Moral and civil individuals are largely governed by their own sense of right and wrong, and hence have little need for external government. This is the real reason the collectivist Left hates religion: Churches as institutions compete with the state for the people's allegiance, and many devout people put their faith in God before their faith in the state. Knowing this, the secularists wage an ongoing war against religion, chipping away bit by bit at our nation's Christian heritage. Christmas itself may soon be a casualty of that war.The war on religion is perhaps best captured this year by the fact that our elected Representatives in Congress have been advised by the Congressional Franking Comission that they cannot send out greeting cards to constituents on the Congressional dime that say "Merry Christmas."The Supreme Court has so moved us from the true meaning of the First Amendment's anti-establishment clause that every one of the Founders - even the deist Thomas Jefferson - would be horrified at what has become of Christianity in the public sphere today. It is a travesty that is having a profound and lasting effect on our nation - and none of it is good. For a much more in depth explanation, please see the speech of James Buckley here.Read the full story here.

• Huge 16,000 people Embassy Keeps U.S. Presence In Iraq.(Aina).By Michele Kelemen. As the final U.S. troops leave Iraq, they leave behind the largest U.S. Embassy in the world.There will be about 16,000 people working for the State Department at the embassy in Baghdad and consulates elsewhere in Iraq.At least 5,000 of those in Iraq will be private security contractors, and there are lots of questions about whether the State Department is ready to run such a big operation in such a volatile country.At the State Department in Washington, Undersecretary for Management Pat Kennedy has been getting contracts and other logistics in order for the embassy."This is something, clearly, that the State Department has never done before," Kennedy says.The Defense Department is lending some people and military equipment, but it is the State Department that will be in charge of the imposing embassy in Baghdad and the consulates. Most of those 16,000 people will actually be contractors providing security and what Kennedy calls "life support.""The core numbers of diplomats in Baghdad and ... in Basra, Kirkuk and Irbil are on a par with what you might find in another large U.S. Embassy in a Paris, a Tokyo or a Bangkok," says Kennedy.The price tag for all of this will run about $3.5 billion a year. So far, Kennedy says, Congress has helped."They have provided us with funding in separate accounts," he says, "in order to ensure we can carry out our activities in Iraq and Afghanistan so it does not drain away resources for the other 165 or so countries that we have embassies in."One of Kennedy's predecessors, Grant Green, says there are some big questions hanging over this mission."What is going to be the will of our country and our Congress to support our activities there in the out years?" Green says. "Once the troops are really gone completely, other than security cooperation folks, but once they are completely gone, this turns into just another diplomatic post. And until there are some tragic events there, I think it is off the radar screen."Already, some in Congress are questioning the need for such a large diplomatic presence in Iraq. Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont and a key member of the Appropriations Committee, calls it a behemoth of an embassy that costs more than U.S. missions to key allies and trading partners."Just as it was a horrible mistake on the part of the United States to go to war in Iraq to begin with, the size of this embassy and the cost of supporting this embassy just continues that mistake," Leahy says.If money dries up, the U.S. may have to cut back on consulates or personnel.Green, who was on the commission that studied wartime contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, says that could mean less oversight in a country where U.S. security contractors already have a terrible image for a deadly shooting in 2007, when Blackwater security guards killed 17 Iraqis in Baghdad."Are they going to have enough oversight? Probably not, but they are going to have to do the best they can with what they've got," he says."It's just not on the security side," he continues. "We need people to oversee those life support contracts -- the dining facilities and construction and delivery of water and fuel and food and all of those things that will be done by contractors. We may not lose lives if those contractors come up short, but we can certainly waste a lot of money.Kennedy, the current undersecretary for management, says he thinks there will be enough oversight. And as for the size, he thinks it is worth it."The U.S.-Iraq relationship is incredibly important. This is a democracy in the Middle East," he says. "Is it perfect? No. A lot of people think our system isn't perfect either. But this is a major oil producer, a friend of the United States, a potential market for American goods and now, I think, a very important symbol in the Middle East of what democracy in the Middle East could be."Hmmm....Another 'obamination'?Read the full story here.

• All-American Muslim: Religion of Protest.(DocsTalk).By Daniel Greenfield.When Obama listed his favorite shows, All-American Muslim didn’t make the cut. On Sunday at 10 o’clock the television set at the White House isn’t tuned to TLC, it’s tuned to Showtime for Homeland. Obama isn’t alone. Homeland has been picking up viewers, while All-American Muslim has been losing them.Obama’s attitude shows the paradoxical attitude of liberals to All-American Muslim. They want to see a show like it exist, but they just don’t want to watch it. For week after week, Front Page Magazine has been the only site covering All-American Muslim. The media outlets that kicked into hysterical witch hunt mode last week after Lowe’s pulled its ads from the failing, viewer-deprived series never actually bothered to tune in to the show. The liberal attitude toward All-American Muslim reveals something darker about their exploitation of Muslims. They are only truly interested in them when they can use them as a cudgel or as a badge of tolerance. After a single episode of All-American Muslim their tolerance was affirmed and they were free to go back to watching Homeland, a show that tries to marry the political incorrectness of Islamic terrorism and a politically correct insistence on exploring its ambiguities. It was only when Lowe’s was targeted for pulling its ads that they suddenly became interested in the show again; not the actual show, but the idea of the show as a “tolerance test.”At the Washington Post an editorial suggests that “All-American Muslim fans” should invade Lowe’s with signs protesting against the home shopping giant. But how many of those fans are there? The series has fallen out of the Top 100 cable shows for two weeks running. It was the lowest-rated series even before that. But the editorial highlights the problem. Liberals are only interested in Muslims as a means of fighting a culture war against the bogeymen of American “intolerance.” All-American Muslim isn’t interesting to them except as a vehicle for another protest movement.The left needs an “Other” to justify its war against American traditions and values. Muslims conveniently provide that “Other,” a role that they began to fill after September 11. Even as the left denounces the right for “Otherizing” Muslims and associating them with terrorism, it is the left that is truly guilty of it. If the attacks of September 11 had never taken place and the War on Terror had not followed, then the left would have as much interest in Muslims as they do in Hindus or Baha’i or any number of other world religions.All-American Muslim has included the usual complaints about prejudice and discrimination, but not nearly enough of it to interest the left, which doesn’t want to hear a lot talk about the virtues of the hijab; they want to see men driving pickup trucks with confederate flags on them shouting at women wearing hijabs. They don’t really want to see a show about Muslims, any kind of Muslims, they want to see a show about how awful Americans are.That is why All-American Muslim truly failed. But its failure is reviving its purpose. The Jihad​ against Lowe’s reminds liberals of why they were interested in the show, not for its content, but as a cause for another round of the culture war. Probably the only honest corporate response to All-American Muslim came from KAYAK’s CEO who explained why his company was pulling its ads from the series by saying, “I watched the first two episodes. Mostly, I just thought the show sucked.” And it does.Astoundingly few media outlets can admit something so simple as that. They would rather ignore the show except when it’s a convenient way of picking a fight. But admitting that All-American Muslim isn’t very good requires being critical of something involving Muslims, even if it is something as a minor as a television show. And that is something they simply cannot and will not do.Sunday’s episode, “A Chance at Redemption,” continues cribbing from “Fordson: Faith, Fasting and Football,” the documentary on the Fordson High School football team. It’s material that the show returns to often because it’s the only part of the narrative that goes anywhere. And yet at a time when Tim Tebow​ is being widely ridiculed for his religion, it’s surreal to watch a celebration of Islamic religion interlaced with football. If it’s somehow wrong for Tim Tebow to combine religion and football, why celebrate the Islamic version of Tebowing at Fordson High?The entire existence of All-American Muslim is a testament to the fact that some religions can be promoted more than others. A show following around Christian football players that was as enthusiastic about its subjects as All-American Muslim is about its team is all but inconceivable on TLC or anywhere else. But All-American Muslim’s football players face no such obstacles. It is enough to make you wonder who the real victims of discrimination are when Christians get “Jesus Camp” while Muslims get “All-American Muslim.”All-American Muslim is a conscious case study in the politicization of religion, but to what end? The underlying premise of All-American Muslim has always been that Muslims are the victims of ignorance and discrimination. But the dangerous question is: are they really the victims and, if so, whose victims are they?The Muslims of All-American Muslims are certainly not the members of an underclass. They are successful members of their community who nonetheless make their token complaints about being discriminated against. They are the stars of a television series that failed on its merits but is being deluged with advertising dollars from advertisers who want to show off their tolerance. They are privileged. But that privilege is also a double-edged sword.The left doesn’t need All-American Muslims, it needs marginalized Muslims, it needs suicide bombers and protesters. It needs people who are being oppressed and whose physical violence can justify their political activism. In return for privilege, Muslims act out the role of the oppressed, but the act is unconvincing. As All-American Muslim passes its sixth episode, its continuing existence despite its poor ratings and the firestorm of controversy aimed at advertisers who dared to pull out of the series is a testament to the privileged status of the All-American Muslim.Read the full story here.

• Turkish PM Erdogan Suffering from Cancer or ‘Just Resting’?(INN).(HT:IsraelMatzav).Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphatically denies reports he is suffering from cancer, but Obama is worried.Western intelligence sources told DebkaFile Sunday that Erdogan is suffering from rectosigmoid cancer, but it is not known what stage the disease has reached.The Turkish daily Today’s Zaman reported last week that Health Minister Recep Akdağ said, "Our prime minister is in good health, but we recommended he gets some rest following recent laparoscopic surgery."His condition forced him to cancel a scheduled visit to Qatar last week. Erdogan has been unusually quiet and out of the public eye since his surgery on November 26, but official photographs show him smiling and hosting foreign officials the same day.Despite the denials that Erdogan has cancer, officials have given no explanation why he was being treated in a special room. Erdogan is usually featured in Turkish newspapers almost every day, but he has been conspicuously absent from the pages of two of Turkey’s most popular dailies, Today’s Zaman and Hurriyet.His prolonged absence from public life and his “rest" outside of the capital of Ankara is worrying the Obama administration, especially in view of the instability in Syria, according to DebkaFile’s sources. If Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad directly involves Iran in the Syrian crisis, Turkey’s response could be critical to further developments in the Middle East.President Obama regards Erdogan as a friend and reportedly has spoken with him on the phone at least 14 times this year.With Erdogan away from the capital, signs have grown of a power struggle within his ruling party.Read the full story here.

• Israel Completes Secret 2 year Upgrade to Dolphin Class Submarine.(Shenandoah).By John Galt.As the news cycle accelerates in the Middle East with massive discontent, the story from the Jerusalem Post’s print edition breaks this shocker (click on tittle to read full article):Navy completing secret two-year submarine upgrade. The shock is not that the upgrades were done; it was this tidbit from the story: The submarine was taken out of service almost two years ago but the renovation was a carefully guarded secret in the navy so Israel’s enemies would not know that one of its three submarines was out of commission.Considering that previous public reports indicated that the entire Dolphin class that the Israeli navy uses were already capable of nuclear weapons delivery per numerous reports, the modifications in question and of course, still unknown, must be considered a disturbing development when taken in context with the current situation with Iran, Egypt, and remainder of the Middle East.The fact that these two sentences appear in the story should strike fear in every military planner’s heart from the Pentagon to Moscow, and Beijing to Tehran: “Every vessel that comes in to the shipyard for maintenance and upgrades comes out with improved capabilities,” Col. Eli Shouach, commander of the navy’s shipyard, told the Post. “There are a select number of countries around the world which can independently renovate a submarine. Some have tried and failed.”Israel’s submarines are the military’s most expensive platform and are often referred to as the country’s second-strike doomsday weapon due to their reported ability to fire cruise missiles tipped with nuclear warheads.This front page news release was not by accident and should be considered a final warning to Israel’s enemies and potential allies of those enemies.Hmmm....."Pour les vaincre, messieurs, il nous faut de l'audace, encore de l'audace, et toujours de l'audace et la Patrie sera sauvée!" ~ Danton.Read the full story here.

• Hamas Reiterates Armed Resistance against Israel.(Fars).Movement, Hamas, would never give up armed resistance against the Zionist regime of Israel, a Hamas official said, rejecting reports that the group has accepted to end its armed struggle against the Israeli regime.According to Palestinian media reports, Salah al-Bardwil, a member of Hamas Political Bureau rejected the claims raised in some western media about an agreement between Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas about ending armed campaign against the Israeli regime. Western media have quoted Abbas as saying that Fatah and Hamas had agreed during their reconciliation talks on giving up military resistance to stand against the Zionist regime only through "peaceful popular resistance"."Hamas is against giving up armed resistance," Bardwil stated, and added, "This issue has not been raised during the negotiations between Hamas and Fatah." He reiterated that popular resistance is a priority for the Palestinians, but it does not at all mean that armed resistance should end. Another senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan had earlier said that armed resistance remains a strategic option for Palestinians, while affirming that popular action was also an integral part of challenging Israel's policies. Radwan told Ma'an news agency that "all aspects of resistance are open and permissible and open to us". Hmmm....Obama's 'peacepartners'.Read the full story here.

• Iraqi vice president allowed to travel in a plane bound for the northern region of the country.(AlArabiya).Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi and several of his bodyguards were escorted off a plane at Baghdad airport on Sunday because two of the guards were wanted on “terrorism charges,” officials said, the latest step in a deepening political crisis.Two of his guards were detained by security forces but Hashemi was being allowed to travel on the Iraqi Airways flight bound for Arbil and Sulaimaniyah in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region.As of 7:45 pm (1645 GMT), the plane, which had been scheduled to depart at 5:30 pm, was still waiting at Baghdad airport, Hiwa Osman, a Kurdish journalist and passenger on the flight, told AFP.The arrest of Hashemi’s bodyguards comes on the same day Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called for the ouster of his deputy Saleh al-Mutlak, and a day after the Sunni-backed Iraqiya party said it would boycott parliament.Mutlak and Hashemi, both Sunnis, are both senior members of Iraqiya, which has accused Maliki of consolidating power.Read the full story here.

• Senior MP: Oil Sanction against Iran Means Closure of Strait of Hormuz.(Fars).TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian lawmaker warned the western countries against the consequences of banning Iran's oil sales, saying that Tehran will not allow even a single barrel of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz if the West boycotts Iranian crude supplies. "According to the international laws, including Paragraph 4 of Article 14 of the Geneva Convention, in case Iranian oil is sanctioned, we will not allow even a single barrel of oil to pass through to reach the hostile countries," Isa Jafari told FNA on Sunday. He reiterated that enemies, specially the US, should know that the Strait of Hormuz which is the world's energy bottleneck is controlled by Iran and based on their own estimates by 2020 a daily volume of over 35 million barrels of oil will pass through this waterway. The US, Israel and Britain are pressuring the European Union to ban oil imports from Iran while many EU member states are on the verge of bankruptcy and cannot tolerate any higher oil prices. In relevant remarks earlier this week, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi had also dismissed oil sanctions against Iran by the EU and other western countries, saying the world is in dire need of Iranian oil supplies. "Imposing sanctions on Iranian oil is not a wise move, and the market would pay a high price for it," Qassemi said, explaining that there will be no replacement for Iranian oil in the market. "I believe Iranian oil has a unique place in the market, and in terms of its volume and quality there is no replacement for it." Despite recent talk about imposing sanctions on Iranian oil, European Union members have failed to reach a consensus in this regard. With some EU members heavily dependent on Iranian oil, a European boycott of Iran's energy sector looks impossible. While there has been mention of Saudi Arabia selling more crude oil in the possible absence of Iranian oil, Qassemi indicated that "the Saudi Oil Minister has completely rejected such an approach." Qassemi said his Saudi counterpart has vowed that if the western, specially the European, states ban Iranian oil imports, Riyadh would not replace Tehran as their source of crude supplies. Read the full story here.

• The Specter of Jizya Returns to Egypt.(MEForum).By Raymond Ibrahim.In Egypt, calls for jizya—the tribute doctrinally demanded and historically collected from conquered infidels—are increasing day by day, by those who wish to be true to the words of Koran 9:29: Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor forbid that which Allah and his Messenger have forbidden, nor follow the religion of truth [Islam], from the People of the Book [Christians and Jews], until they pay the jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves utterly subdued.Accordingly, days ago, Ahmed Imran—a candidate of Egypt's Salafi party, the "Party of Light," which won some 20% of votes in recent elections—called for the return of jizya (which was abolished under colonial pressure in the mid 19th century). Sounding like a Western apologist of Islamic supremacism, he distorted history and spoke of jizya in glowing terms: "I say to those who fear that we might govern, that it was the Muslims who liberated the Copts from Roman slaughter and that Copts are obligated to pay the jizya, and it will only be half a dinar, taken from the rich and given to their poor." Earlier, Abu Shadi, another Salafi leader—though not one running for office, and so extra candid—announced that Egypt's Christians must either convert to Islam, pay jizya and assume inferior status, or die.Nor is the return of jizya limited to Salafi discourse. Running for Egypt's presidency, Hazem Abu Ismael, a former Muslim Brotherhood member still affiliated with the group, said he would impose jizya on the Copts.And Dr. Mohamed Saad Katatni—the secretary general of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party which won 40% of the votes—reportedly said that Copts would not pay jizya now, implying that the idea of collecting tribute from subdued "dhimmi" Copts is very much alive among the Brotherhood, only dormant till a more opportune moment (naturally, the Brotherhood later denied he said such a thing).Moreover, increasing numbers of attacks on Christians in Egypt revolve around extorting jizya. For instance, last summer a priest was almost "killed at the hands of the Salafis because of his refusal to pay them jizya money…. [T]he church's priest had declared that the Copts would not pay jizya, in any way, shape, or form. This is what caused the Salafis to want to banish him from the region, so they could collect jizya from the Copts."Here, then, is another truism: Wherever and whenever there are calls to return to "true Islam"—whether by 9th century Ibn Hanbal, 14th century Ibn Taymiyya, 18th century Abdul Wahhab, or 21st century Salafis, and the countless no-names in between—it is the surrounding non-Muslims who will always be first to suffer; first, in the words of Koran 9:29, to "pay the jizya [tribute] with willing submission, and feel themselves utterly subdued."Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.Read the full story here.

• Chief rabbi: State does not belong to haredim.(JPost).Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger criticized on Sunday the segregation of men and women on public transportation, in an interview with Army Radio. According to Metzger, the haredi community does not have the right to impose its practices on public bus lines. "If we want there to be segregation, it would be legitimate for us to establish our own transportation company," he explained."We [the ultra-Orthodox] don't have the authority to force our ideas on others," he continued. "This state does not belong to the haredi community."Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu also addressed on Sunday the recent controversy over the exclusion of women in the public domain, saying that "a fringe group must not be allowed to dismantle what we share in common."Speaking at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that the public domain must be kept "open and safe" for all Israeli citizens."The Israeli society is a complicated mosaic of Jews and Arabs, secular and religious. We have always agreed to coexist in peace, with mutual respect between all sectors of Israeli society," the prime minister stated."Lately we have been witness to attempts to unravel this coexistence. We must seek that which unifies us and bridges the gaps between us, not what splits us up and separates us," he added.Opposition leader Tzipi Livni praised on Sunday Tania Rosenblit, a young woman who refused last week to submit to the demands of haredi passengers to take a back seat on a bus traveling from Ashdod to Jerusalem.Livni wrote on her Facebook wall, "Even if she [Tania] didn't intend to become a symbol for her actions, there's no doubt that her perseverance represents the need of everyone fearing for Israel's character to fight and not give up. Tania revealed personal courage and in this decisive moment I call to all to join the struggle over Israel before it is too late."Rosenblit accepted on Sunday an invitation from Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat to speak before an inter-ministerial committee established to formulate a plan for dealing with the exclusion of women from the public domain. "I am proud of you for standing firmly by your principles. You did an important thing and it doesn't matter if you intended to or not," Livnat told the young women. "You have brought honor to women with your behavior."Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz ordered on Sunday an investigation into the incident. The investigation will check whether the bus driver and Egged company violated the Transportation Ministry's policy against gender segregation. Read the full story here.

• Media war waged in Egypt as violence continues.(BikyaMasr).CAIRO: A media war in Egypt is underway between state and independent outlets, as violent clashes between police and demonstrators enter their third day, leaving at least 13 dead and 700 wounded so far. As Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram newspaper and Egyptian state TV run stories of “foreign conspirators” and “hooligans” in the square, causing anti-revolutionary chaos, independent media has worked to cover the ongoing state-waged violence wracking protesters. Meanwhile, the army has targeted journalists, detaining them and forcing them away from the scene of the clashes. On Saturday, the military raided an apartment above Tahrir Square that was known to host journalists seeking an aerial view of the clashes, smashing the cameras and recording equipment.Independent journalists covering the events have reported harassment and silencing. “Forced out of sq w/ @aellick by mob of men in suits. “We all hate u, we dont wnt u here.” Activists followed us, said men were frm State Sec” tweeted independent American journalist Lauren Bohn (@LaurenBohn) on Sunday afternoon, after reporting from the scene of the clashes. Similarly, military forces detained Bikya Masr’s own Editor-in-Chief Joseph Mayton for 11 hours on Saturday afternoon.“They proceeded to go through every file on the computer, deleting all things they felt “were not appropriate to tell of Egypt.” Then they re-formatted my computer and handed it back,” he wrote in a testimony on his detention and treatment. Al-Jazeera English producer Evan Hill reported on Friday, the first day of the violent clashes, that he had been detained and beaten by soldiers.“Soldiers and men in plainclothes beat me with batons, wooden sticks and once with a crowbar before I was taken inside,” he tweeted (@evanchill) after his release. Meanwhile, however, videos and photographs published on social networking sites have aided in combating the whitewashed state discourse, which has pledged army evenhandedness and restraint, distorting the events in order to rally the nation behind the “traumatized” army. Perhaps most significantly, a photograph emerged showing army officers stripping and kicking a young woman, opening the eyes of many in Egypt to the state’s ongoing brutality with the now-iconic image. The still image of the woman, bare-chested in her bra, laying on the ground while a soldiers foot remains in the air to kick her chest, was published on the front page of Egypt’s Al-Tahrir newspaper with the word “Liars,” in bold, selling an unprecedented number of copies. The military and the prime minister responded, calling the image “Photoshopped.” Activists responded by releasing the whole video that shows the full reality of the beating, sending a pulse of anger through social networking sites and the Egyptian street.The state’s attempts at silencing independent media is troubling at the least, while state media continues to construct a discourse of dutiful innocence. State TV aired interviews with people claiming that they were paid by liberal groups to incite violence, while the live CBC+2 channel has been cut twice after recording inflammatory footage of the ongoing events, showing close up images of soldiers beating civilians. “We have found out who exactly is the foreign middle finger, but we’d rather leave it confidential for stability and economy,” alleged representatives from the military council in a press conference on Monday afternoon. A crackdown on media freedoms has been ongoing since Egypt’s interim ruling military council, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), took power after the ousting of former President Hosni Mubarak in February. On September 7, the Military Council and the Council of Ministers imposed a ban on requests for new broadcasting licenses in Egypt.Citing licensing problems, authorities raided the offices of Al-Jazeera Mubashir Misr, a live channel, on September 10 and again on September 29, destroying equipment and intimidating the staff. “What happened in the Al-Jazeera office cannot be taken out of the context of a larger-scale campaign in Egypt. The regime is closing down, and there are no criteria for freedom of the press… We are facing a regime more dangerous than Mubarak’s,” said Mohamed Zaree, a Program Manager at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, in a previous interview with Bikyamasr.comThe violence in downtown Cairo erupted after a man was kidnapped from the sit-in in front of the Magles al-Sha’b building in downtown Cairo. He returned, badly injured and almost deformed by the beating he suffered at the hands of the soldiers.In response, hundreds of protesters took to the street, as the army used clubs and brute force to remove the protesters from their sit-in. The violence comes amid Egypt’s parliamentary elections, of which two phases of national voting have been completed.Read the full story here.

• Medvedev on US: ‘If they continue to push us around, we’ll push back’.(RT).President Dmitry Medvedev has spoken out after a telephone conversation with his US counterpart, saying Obama’s comments on Russia’s recent parliamentary elections were “unacceptable”.Speaking to a number of United Russia MPs, Dmitry Medvedev stated that, correctly delivered, thoughts and comments on a country’s electoral process are acceptable – and welcome. But when they are reminiscent of Cold War-era statements, it is outrageous. “That is not a reset [in relations], and I’ve had to remind my colleague of that”, said the president.Domestic criticism is of course welcome and constitutionally-justified, Medvedev told MPs. “The streets are not the US State Department. The streets reflect the mood of our people.” The Russian leader was referring to a recent comment made by the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who called these past elections “neither free nor fair.”Medvedev summed up his statement by saying that he will not stand for intimidation. Russia will continue to pursue its interest within the international arena. “If they want to push us around, we’ll push back. But if they hear our concerns, then we can work together.”Read the full story here.

• Syria signs Arab League plan, observers to travel within 72 hours says League chief.(Alarabiya).Syria signed an Arab League protocol that would allow monitors into its territory, the country’s foreign minister said. “We wouldn’t have signed the Arab protocol if it did not preserve the Syrian sovereignty,” Walid al-Muallem told reporters in Damascus.Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Maqdad and Arab League Assistant Secretary General Ahmed Ben Helli inked the document at League headquarters in Cairo, an AFP reporter said.Muallem said that Russia has asked Syria to sign the protocol to allow the observers in the country in order to avoid more bloodshed and “Syria listened to the advice.”Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said that an advance team of observers would head to Damascus within 72 hours, after Syria inked a deal to end nine months of bloodshed."Within two or three days, an advance team of observers headed by Arab League Assistant Secretary General Samir Seif al-Yazal, including security, legal and administrative observers, will be sent," Arabi told reporters.He said other teams, including human rights experts, would follow.France urged Syria to allow an Arab League observer mission to start its work monitoring the bloody conflict there as quickly as possible.“We regret there have been 30 more deaths in the past two days. It’s urgent,” a foreign ministry spokesman was quoted by AFP as saying shortly after Damascus agreed to sign the Arab plan.The 22-member Arab bloc had been trying to persuade Damascus to accept the observer mission for weeks.Under the terms of the deal that the observers are intended to oversee, Syrian security forces are required to pull back from the towns and villages that have been at the centre of nine straight months of protests and open negotiations with the opposition under League auspices.On Nov. 27, the bloc approved a raft of sanctions against Syria for failing to heed an ultimatum to admit the observers, including suspension from its meetings.Earlier this month, Syria finally said it would allow in the mission, but laid down a number of conditions, including the lifting of sanctions.In his press conference, Muallem had also said that “it is up to the Arab League to remove the sanctions against Syria.” “Article 8 of the Arab League charter protects existing structures and bans countries from interfering... In this protocol we are talking about protecting civilians from terrorist groups.”The United Nations says at least 5,000 people have been killed since March.Read the full story here.

• Islamists win 70 percent of the vote in second round of Egypt elections.(Haaretz).Unofficial results put Muslim Brotherhood ahead with 39 percent of the vote, Salafi Al Nour with 31 percent; liberal Wafd party wins 22 percent.The Muslim Brotherhood party secured 39 percent of the vote, while the Salafi Al Nour party won 31 percent of the vote in the second stage of Egypt’s landmark post-Mubarak elections, according to unofficial results published on the website of Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper on Sunday. The unofficial results for the second stage of elections for the lower house of the Egyptian parliament also showed that the secular, liberal Wafd party won 22 percent of the vote. Islamist parties won some 70 percent of the total vote, a similar result to the first stage of elections, which took place on November 28.Turnout in the second round of voting in Egypt's parliamentary elections reached 67 per cent, with most constituencies expecting run-off votes, elections officials said Sunday, with more than 12 million citizens casting their ballots on Wednesday and Thursday. The turnout was higher than that of the first round, estimated by the High Elections Commission at 60 per cent. A final round, with the remaining nine provinces, has been set for January. The elections took place in nine provinces, in Islamiyya, Suez and Giza. The gap between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Al Nour party shrank in this round of voting, with the Brotherhood winning 49 percent of the vote, and Al Nour won 20 percent in the previous round. Violence continued on Sunday for the third day straight in Egypt, where the military sought to isolate pro-democracy activists protesting against their rule, depicting them as conspirators and vandals. Troops and protesters pelting each other with stones near parliament in the heart of the capital. Hmmmmm......Congratulations now Mubaraks rule will be officially known as 'the good old days'.Read the full story here.

• Turkey - Twenty women killed by men in October.(Firat).According to data based on reports in local and national newspapers and news agencies, a compilation made by bianet revealed that 20 women were killed by male perpetrators in October 2011. Two of the culprits committed suicide, one attempted to kill himself. One man surrendered to the police after the murder.Seven women were raped in October, 22 were wounded, twelve women were exposed to sexual harassment and five children were abused according to the cases reported in the news. Thus, a total of 226 women were killed by men between 1 January and 31 October 2011 and 93 women were raped.The majority of cases was reported for the Marmara region (north-western Turkey) and the Aegean (west coast).

Murder

Male culprits killed 20 women and two men in 16 different Turkish provinces in October. Two of the perpetrators committed suicide after the murder, one attempted to kill himself. One male perpetrator surrendered to the police after the murder.Twelve women were stabbed to death, seven women were killed with a gun. One woman was killed after she had moved out of a women shelter. Four women were killed after they had submitted a request for protection or a complaint to the prosecutor's office.Most of the perpetrators in October were the husbands of the slain women. Six women were killed by their husbands; five by their husbands from whom they wanted to separate; two by their boy-friends; one by her former husband; one by her son; one by her father, one by her elder brother and one woman was killed by her fiancée whom she was going to leave. In two cases, the murderers are not known.The most women murders occurred in Ankara and Gaziantep. The provinces women murders were committed in were Ankara (3), Gaziantep (3), Aydın, Balıkesir, Bandırma, Bursa (2), Çankırı, Istanbul, Izmir (2), Kütahya, Manisa, Maraş, Mersin, Osmaniye and Tokat (1).The murderers were between 17 and 54 years old; their female victims were aged between 15 and 52.

Violence - Injury

22 women in 15 provinces were killed by men in October. Most of these cases happened in Izmir. Cities where incidents of male violence were reported are Adana (2), Afyonkarahisar, Ankara, Antalya (2), Gaziantep (2), Balıkesir, Bursa, Denizli, İstanbul, İzmir (3), Kırşehir, Kocaeli, Muğla, Samsun and Tokat (1).Five women were treated violently by their husbands; four by their boy-friends; three by their former husbands, two by their colleagues and three by their husbands whom they wanted to divorce.13 women were beaten in October according to the news. Seven women were injured with a knife, one woman with a pump rifle. One woman fell of the balcony in the fifth floor when she was trying to escape from her husband. One man ignored a restraining order and entered the house where he wounded his wife.

Rape

At least seven women were raped in five provinces in October. Most of the women exposed to rape come from abroad.Provinces where rape cases were reported were Antalya (2), Kocaeli, Istanbul, Izmir and Izmit(2). The rapists were between 20 and 36 years old; the women were between 19 and 29 years of age.

Harassment

Twelve women in six provinces were harassed in October. Most of these incidents happened in Ankara, Eskişehir and Istanbul. Cases of harassment and sexual abused were reported in Ankara (2), Eskişehir (2), İstanbul (2), Kırıkkale, Muğla and Zonguldak (1).The youngest molester was 17, the oldest 30 years old; the age of the women varied between 17 and 53.

Child Abuse

Five cases of child abuse were reported in four provinces in October. Two incidents occurred in Adana and one each in Izmir, Muğla and Samsun.The perpetrators were aged between 23 and 59 years; the youngest child exposed to abuse was 4, the oldest 15 years old.

Regional Distribution

In October, 62 cases of violence against women, murder, attempted murder, harassment, rape, injury and child abuse were reported in 26 provinces. Most of these incidents were registered in the Marmara region and the Aegean.Out of a total of 62 incidents, 15 were reported in the Marmara region; 15 in the Aegean region; eleven in Central Anatolia; eleven inthe Mediterranean region, five in the Black Sea region and five in South-Eastern Anatolia.The most cases were reported for the cities of Izmir (7) and Ankara (6).Hmmm........Keep Turkey out of the European Union!Read the full story here.

• Pakistan: Thousands Protest Shoes Bearing Cross.(AT).More than three thousand angry Christians held a protest rally in Lahore yesterday condemning sale of shoes incorporating Christian crosses.Some Muslim leaders joined the protestors, who were wearing black armbands and headbands. Chanting anti government slogans, they burned tires on the road.The protest ended after pastors led hymn singing.“This is no drama. Our Christian identity has been insulted as Christmas approaches”, said Pastor Samuel King, president of the Pakistan Minorities Movement (PMM).The group had previously confiscated 1,200 pairs of shoes, inscribed with a cross and Christmas symbols, from a shop. Its owner was arrested on November 26 but freed by police after three days.Gulzar Nqavi, a Shia Muslim who joined the protestors, condemned the indifference of the authorities. “Many Christians visit Muslim shrines; they also hang posters of Nalain Pak (sandals of the Prophet Mohammad) in their houses”, he said.The PMM also issued a press statement demanding the re-arrest of the shopkeeper and announced a continued movement in absence of any action.Kanwal Feroz, chief editor of a Christian monthly, also demanded action for blasphemy. “Deliberate or not; this action has hurt the minority community which severely bore the burnt of the blasphemy laws”, he said.Christians say implementation of Islamic laws of apostasy and blasphemy in the constitution have victimized minorities on basis of business rivalry and personal grudges. However, debate against the controversial laws ended this year after the murder of the Catholic federal minister of minorities.Hmmmm....."If the shoe fits......."?Read the full story here.

• Pakistani man cuts wife's nose, lips.(NDTV).Islamabad: Peeved over "family honour", a Pakistani man has chopped off his wife's nose and lips, a media report said on Sunday.The incident took place in Darg, a tribal area in Dera Ghazi Khan district of Punjab province. Qadir Buksh fled from home after the attack on his 17-year-old wife Salma bibi, Geo TV reported. No further details were available. Read the full story here.

• Russian expert: Iran will be apparently attacked from Georgia’s territory.(Stratrisks).The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq is a sign of future war against Iran, according to head of the Center for Strategic Research into Contemporary Religion and Politics.“Should the U.S. forces remain in Iraq, it would inevitably lead to unpredictable consequences, with Iran striking heavy blows on the U.S. bases,” Maxim Shevchenko told vesti.az.“Before attacking Iran, the West will have to topple Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and settle problems with Hezbollah, which surely will target missiles at Israel in case of war against Tehran. Thus, a conclusion emerges that Iran will be apparently attacked from Georgia’s territory, given reports that Israeli air forces are being deployed in Georgian airdromes,” he said.Hmmm.....May you live in interesting times?Read the full story here.

• Clinton, Ashton call on Belarus to release political prisoners.(RN).U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has called on Belarus to release and rehabilitate political prisoners in a joint statement issued on Sunday."We reiterate our call for all political prisoners to be immediately released and rehabilitated," said the statement, which came two days after the European Union imposed sanctions on two Belarusian officials involved in prosecuting human rights activist Ales Belyatsky.Clinton and Ashton called for the release of Belyatsky, who was jailed for 4-1/2 years for tax evasion in November, as well as presidential candidates Andrei Sannikau and Mikalai Statkevich."Over the past 12 months, the Belarusian authorities have imprisoned peaceful demonstrators, suppressed non-violent protests, and worked to silence independent voices," the statement added.Clinton and Ashton voiced concern about "credible reports of degrading and inhumane treatment of political prisoners" caught up in the crackdown by the government of President Alexander Lukashenko."We also express grave concern over new laws that will further restrict citizens' fundamental freedoms of assembly, association and expression and that target support to civil society," said the statement.Hmmm.....Lukashenko President for life, the last sovjet era dictator.Read the full story here.

• Russian Military Post in Armenia Cut, Russia Preparing for Iranian Invasion: Analysis.(Stratrisk).More than a year ago, Russia began to take steps to minimize losses from a possible military action against Tehran, and now preparations are nearly complete. The Russian military base in Armenia is fully optimized, military families have been evacuated from the country, the Russian garrison stationed near Yerevan has been cut, and military units have been moved to Gyumri, closer to the Turkish border. The US troops can hit targets in Iran from Turkey, writes Russian news source Nezavisimaya Gazeta.In connection with the prospect of war against Iran, Russia’s Ministry of Defense is wary of Azerbaijan, which in the past three years has doubled its military budget, acquiring Israeli drones and other advanced means of intelligence. In addition, Baku has stepped up pressure on Moscow, demanding that it pay more in rent for the use of its Gabala radar station.Expert opinions on how Azerbaijan might react to conflict south of its borders are split in two. Director of the Center for Military Forecasts Anatoly Tsyganok believes that even with the dispute between Iran and Azerbaijan over oil fields south of the Caspian Sea, it’s difficult to confidently say that Baku would support an anti-Iranian military campaign. It is very unlikely that it will choose to take advantage of the situation to unleash hostilities against Armenia.Military expert Vladimir Popov, however, believes that Azerbaijan might take advantage of the situation to resolve the Karabakh issue in its favor.In this case, the expert said, Russia, of course, with Armenian armed forces, will repeal Azerbaijan’s attacks, but will not take part in the hostilities in the territory of Nagorno Karabakh.Another country worrying Russia against the backdrop of possible military conflict in Iran is Georgia. In April, Armenia’s northern neighbor cut short its agreement to allow the transfer of military cargo from Russia to its base in Armenia through Georgia, so that in fact the Russian-Armenian alliance in the South Caucasus is already isolated.Russia gets diesel fuel from Armenia, which purchases it from Iran. Thus, war in Iran might suspend fuel through this channel.Read the full story here.