Video - Sunni Muslim vs. Sunni Muslim - This is the real Pakistan.

Sunni Muslim vs. Sunni Muslim - This is the real Pakistan from Tarek Fatah on Vimeo.

Video - This is a debate between Sunni Muslim 'scholars' of the Taliban (Deoband) variety versus Sunni Muslim 'scholars' of the more indigenous Punjabi (Barelvi) HT: TarekFatah.

The 'Sunnification' Of Turkish Foreign Policy

The 'Sunnification' Of Turkish Foreign Policy.(AM).By: Semih Idiz.When the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in November 2002, one of its main plans was to use Ankara’s open channels of communication with practically all parties in the Middle East, together with Turkey’s growing “soft power,” to mediate in all kinds of regional disputes and contribute to stability in this turbulent part of the world.

This vision was further energized after Ahmet Davutoglu was appointed foreign minister in May 2009. He wasted no time in implementing his highly encouraging “zero problems with neighbors” policy. It appeared to be working, too, when it emerged that Ankara was negotiating a deal between Israel and Syria.

All of that seems a distant memory today. The state of Turkey’s diplomatic relations with Israel, for one, have not only hit rock bottom, but have also ensured that Ankara is no longer a player in the Middle East peace process. Syrian President Bashar al Assad, in the meantime, has turned into Davutoglu's and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s arch enemy.

In the meantime, the Erdogan government’s approach to the Syrian crisis has also resulted in Turkey being increasingly accused of becoming part of the problem in Syria.

Karaveli, in his piece headlined “Turkey, the Unhelpful Ally,” added that the Erdogan government, “while sponsoring the Sunni cause” in Syria, “made no attempt to show sympathy for the fears of the country’s Alawite, Christian and Kurdish minorities.”

Because Maliki has accused Turkey of meddling in his country in the past, his words were taken as referring to Turkey also. Again on that same day, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah also accused Turkey during a televised address in Lebanon.

He said Turkey, alongside Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the US, is backing Sunni groups in Syria, and suggested that this was also fanning the flames of sectarianism in Lebanon: “There is someone pushing Lebanon quickly into sectarian clashes and working day and night toward achieving this and a clash between Sunnis and Shiites."

Meanwhile, Salih Mohammed Muslim, the head of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party in Syria, joined in the chorus and accused Turkey of deepening sectarian divisions in the region by supporting Jihadist groups in Syria. “The Turkish state is interfering in Syria’s domestic affairs. Turkey is trying to influence the situation in line with its own interests,” Muslim was quoted by Hurriyet (Feb. 28) as saying in Paris.

Today, Turkey is no longer a player in the Middle East peace process, and is also being marginalized in efforts to end the Syrian crisis.

Ironically, it was Assad, with whom Erdogan and Davutoglu cultivated excellent ties at the time, who had warned that Ankara’s influence would diminish if Turkey severed its ties with Israel.

“The Turkish role in the peace process was built on the relationship between Turkey and Israel, and the relationship between Turkey and Syria. Any mediator must have good ties with both parties,” Assad was quoted as saying by the Syrian new agency SANA, in July 2010 in Madrid, with Spanish Premier José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero by his side.

So how did Turkey not only end up with fewer friends in the Middle East than it started with, but also landed itself in a position where it is now accused of increasing regional instability? The answer seems to lie in what might be termed the "Islamisation of Turkish foreign policy.”

What appears to have happened, particularly after the Syrian crisis, is that the Erdogan government’s Islamist orientation has gone a stage further, resulting in the “Sunnification” of Turkish foreign policy. This may be good for overall “Sunni solidarity” in the Middle East, of course.

It is clear that Ankara’s capacity to be an impartial stabilizing soft power in the region has been vastly reduced as a result of Turkey’s taking sides in disputes, some of which go back centuries. What is worse for its reputation, however, is the fact that the same Turkey that once hoped to be a peace broker in its region is now increasingly seen as inflaming sectarian divisions and fueling instability.Hmmmm......Turkey the 'Peacemaker' evolved in to the Mediterranean 'Sunni Bully'. Read the full story here.

Suicide Bombing in Damascus - Syrian Defense Min. - Assad's brother-in-law reportedly killed, interior minister critically injured.

Suicide Bombing in Damascus - Syrian Defense Min - Assad's brother-in-law reportedly killed, interior minister critically injured.(JPost).HT: Israel Matzav.Syrian state television said a "terrorist explosion" which struck a national security building in Damascus killed Syrian Defense Minister Daoud Rajha and critically injured the country's interior minister on Wednesday. "The terrorist explosion which targeted the national security building in Damascus occurred during a meeting of ministers and a number of heads of (security) agencies," the television.A security force told Hezbollah's al-Manar television station that Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat was killed in the attack. Activists at the scene said that Republican Guard troops sealed off Damascus's Shami Hospital after ambulances arrived with casualties from the explosion. A report from Lebanese-based news channel Al-Mayadeen said that several senior security officials were killed in the explosion. Overnight, the revolt against Syrian President Bashar Assad came within sight of his presidential palace as fighting erupted in major Damascus neighborhoods for a fourth day. An army barracks near the "palace of the people," a huge Soviet style complex overlooking the sprawling capital from the western district of Dummar, came under rebel fire around 7.30 a.m. (0430 GMT), activists and a resident said. "I could hear the sound of small arms fire and explosions are getting louder and louder from the direction of the barracks," Yasmine, who works as an architect, said by phone from Dummar.
The army deputy chief of staff was Assad's brother-in-law.. Assef Shawkat, brother-in-law of President Bashar Assad, was killed in a bomb attack which targeted a meeting of Assad's top security and military officials on Wednesday, Hezbollah's al-Manar television and a security source in Syria said. The security source told Reuters Shawkat died in a Damascus hospital where he was taken after the attack. State television earlier said Defence Minister Daoud Rajha was also killed in the bombing.Read the full story here.

Russia rejects new U.N. draft resolution on Syria; U.S. sees Assad losing grip.

Russia rejects new U.N. draft resolution on Syria; U.S. sees Assad losing grip.(AA).The major powers started talks Thursday on a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria with Russia declaring a “red line” against sanctions, as U.S. that the defection of a Syrian ambassador was a further sign that the Syrian regime was losing his grip on power. As many as 68 people have been killed by the fire of Syrian forces across the country, Al Arabiya reported citing Syrian activists. Russia and the Western nations on the 15-member council have drafted rival resolutions on Syria. Britain, the United States, France and Germany have demanded sanctions against President Assad under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter. Russia is firmly against. Moscow said on Thursday it will not support a draft U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria that would allow the council to authorize sanctions ranging from diplomatic and economic sanctions to military intervention. “If they decide to do it (put the resolution to a vote on Thursday), knowing it would be unacceptable to us, we will not let it pass,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told Interfax news agency. Gatilov added he did not expect there to be a vote as soon as Thursday: “The process of consultations is only just starting and should take some time,” he said. “As a whole, their resolution is unbalanced and foresees that obligations should only be fulfilled by the Syrian government. Practically nothing is said about the obligations of the opposition,” he said.He objected that the resolution links an extension of the mandate of the U.N. mission in Syria -- which Russia supports -- with the introduction of sanctions if the Syrian government does not fulfill certain conditions. “We will try to move to a constructive text for a possible draft resolution which can reflect the true situation,” Gatilov said. “Anything can be negotiated but we do not negotiate this. This is a red line,” Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Igor Pankin told reporters earlier at the Security Council after the first talks among key envoys. Russia and China have previously twice used their powers as permanent members of the Security Council to veto resolutions which hinted at sanctions. Meanwhile, the White House said on Thursday that the defection of a Syrian ambassador showed that desperation was growing within President Assad’s government and was a further sign that he was losing his grip on power. “Those around him, both in his inner circle and more broadly in the military and governmental leadership are beginning to assess Assad's chances of remaining in power ... and making the choice that they will abandon him in favor of the Syrian people,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. Nawaf al-Fares, who was Syria’s ambassador to Iraq, posted a video statement on Facebook that called on the army to “turn your guns on the criminals” of the government. Carney said he could not confirm reports that Fares was now in Qatar.Hmmmmm........Qatar.....could he be the guest of Muslim Brotherhood kingpin Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi?Read the full story here.

Iran backs Iraq’s Shi'a Muslim Thamir Ghadhban to head OPEC, Shahristani says.

Iran backs Iraq’s Shi'a Muslim Thamir Ghadhban to head OPEC, Shahristani says.(TAZ).Iran backs the Iraqi government's candidate for the post of OPEC secretary-general, said Hussain al-Shahristani, Iraq's deputy prime minister for energy affairs, Bloomberg reported. Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi expressed his country's support for former Iraqi Oil Minister Thamir Ghadhban during talks in Baghdad today, Shahristani said in an e-mailed statement. Qasemi also discussed with Shahristani ways of boosting cooperation between the neighboring countries in the field of energy, by exchanging expertise and encouraging Iranian companies to invest in Iraq, Shahristani said. Iraq's Cabinet nominated Ghadhban, 67, to the post of secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on March 6, competing against a candidate from Saudi Arabia, OPEC's de facto leader. Ghadhban is currently a top adviser to the Iraqi prime minister. He was oil minister in 2004 and 2005, after the U.S.-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki maintains close ties with the leadership in neighboring Iran which has tense relations with other Gulf neighbors including Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter, nominated Majid al-Moneef, its OPEC governor, as head of the producer group, a person with knowledge of the matter said Feb. 1. Ecuador, OPEC's smallest producer, nominated Oil Minister Wilson Pastor, a person with knowledge of the matter said May 31. OPEC's current secretary-general, Abdalla el-Badri of Libya, will complete his second three-year term at the end of this year. OPEC ministers will probably consider the nominations at their June 14 meeting at the organization's Vienna headquarters. OPEC's members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.Hmmmm.......Obama's and Ahmadinejad choice?Read the full story here.

Iranian cleric Ahmed Khatami says Saudi Arabia is ‘center of sedition’

Iranian cleric Ahmed Khatami says Saudi Arabia is ‘center of sedition’.(AlArabiya).An Iranian cleric accused Saudi Arabia on Friday of giving refuge to terrorists and committing crimes in Arab states including Syria, the Iranian Students’ News Agency ISNA reported. Relations between Gulf heavyweight Saudi Arabia and Iran have been strained over Iran’s nuclear program and what Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf Arab states say is Iran’s meddling in Arab affairs. Tehran denies the charge and has condemned what it calls foreign interference in the affairs of its closest Arab ally, Syria. “The Saudi government has become the center of sedition in the region and a safe haven for terrorists,” hardline cleric Ahmed Khatami said during a sermon at Friday prayers. “They are taking seditionist acts in Syria ... I warn them that if they do not stop such actions, they will be burned with the fire they have created themselves,” Khatami said, according to ISNA. Shiite Muslim Iran backed popular uprisings which have removed leaders in Egypt, Libya and Yemen, but has steadfastly supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is a member of the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Backed by Western countries, Riyadh has spearheaded Arab efforts to counter Assad’s suppression of a year-old uprising and to demand that he step down. In October, the United States said it had uncovered an Iranian-backed plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington. Iran denied any involvement. Riyadh suspects Tehran of backing unrest in neighboring Bahrain and supporting Shiite rebels in northern Yemen. Saudi Arabia has indicated it could increase oil output to make up for Iranian crude in the event of a European Union embargo against Iranian oil, a stance criticized by Iranian officials.Read the full story here.

Egypt Al-Azhar seat of Sunni Islam says no return to Constituent Assembly.

Egypt Al-Azhar seat of Sunni Islam says no return to Constituent Assembly.(BM).CAIRO: The Islamic Research Academy, Al Azhar, and seat of Sunni Islam, decided on Tuesday at its emergency meeting held under the chairmanship of the Sheikh Al-Azhar, Grand Imam Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, to hold on to its previous decision not to participate in the Constituent Assembly drafting Egypt`s new constitution, and insisting on its withdrawal despite negotiations and attempts by the Muslim Brotherhood to convince Al Azhar to return. This comes after the Coptic Orthodox and Catholic Churches representatives, along with the representatives of the Supreme Constitutional Court, chairman of the Lawyers Syndicate, members of Leftist and Liberal parties and prominent Public figures withdrew and boycotted the session of the Constituent Assembly in protest of the monopoly of the Muslim Brotherhood`s Political Wing the Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafist Nour Party, over the selection criteria of the Assembly`s Membership. The adviser to the Sheikh of Al Azhar , Sheikh Mahmoud Azab, said after the end of the session of the Islamic Research Academy, which was held at Al-Azhar, that Al Azhar is dissatsified with the representation in the constituent Assembly, as it does not represent all spectrums of the nation, he said. Azab said that The Research Academy discussed all the proposals made by the leader of the FJP Party Mohammed Morsy to make some concessions, but it found that these proposals are inadequate, adding, “If the selection criteria is changed and pleases all the spectra of the society, Al Azhar would definitely return to the Assembly. For his part, Mahmoud al-Muhanna, a member of the Islamic Research Academy, said that Al-Azhar represents the whole nation, pointing out that if Al-Azhar is marginalized, it means that the whole nation is marginalized and excluded from the Assembly. Muhanna explained that the members of the Islamic Research Academy decided after studying the proposals not to return and be bound by this decision, until all the spectra of the society are represented equally and fairly in the Assembly, indicating that the former Mufti of the Republic, Dr. Nasr Farid Wasel, the sole representative of Al-Azhar in the Assembly decided with the Academy members not to participate.Hmmm......The Egyptian people have objections to the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist, apparently Obama has not.Read the full story here.

Video - Former Egyptian Diplomat Gamal Bayoumi, Secretary-General of Arab Investors Union, Defends Peace with Israel: It Allowed Us 40 Years of Building up Egypt's Economic Power

Gamal Bayoumi : My position with regard to Iran is based on two things. One is that Iran has been hostile to the Egyptian peace process throughout. Iran has not just expressed its opposition, but has acted to destroy it.

Interviewer : Peace process with whom? With Israel?

Gamal Bayoumi : Yes, ma'am. With Israel. Egypt initiated the peace with Israel.

Interviewer : But this was years ago...

Gamal Bayoumi : This is something that annoys me. You weren't around in 1979.

Interviewer : What happened in those discussions?

Gamal Bayoumi : When, in 1979, Anwar Sadat returned from Washington, millions came out to welcome him. Today, people pretend that they were heroes, who opposed it. By no means. The accords ended 50 years of conflict, and since then, we have had 40 years of building up Egypt's economic power. We may not have accomplished all our aspirations, but we are much, much better off than we were in 1970, 1980, or 1990.

In 2002, the Arab summit in Beirut ratified the Egyptian peace initiative, which became the initiative of Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah, who is the Saudi king today. It was embraced as the Arab world's position - land in return for peace. That is what Egypt did - it restored all its national lands in return for peace.

Interviewer : So why didn't Egypt rectify its relations with the countries that had opposed peace?

Gamal Bayoumi : Iran is a different story. To this day, Iran is opposed to this initiative.

Interviewer : Why is there no [Egyptian] embassy there?

Gamal Bayoumi : I will tell you why. [Egypt] is trying to ease the confrontation, but when Iran names a street in Tehran "The Martyr Khaled Istambouli Street," after Sadat's assassin, what are we supposed to do? When Egyptian diplomacy went into action and we talked to them, they said they would change the street name. To what? To "Martyr Street." Come on. This is in addition to the bombs they plant here and there.

Interviewer : Is this sufficient reason to cut off ties with Iran? When [Egypt] halts the trade, the diplomatic ties...

Gamal Bayoumi : No, the trade between the countries is just fine.

Interviewer : Then tell me, Sir, what the extent of the Egyptian-Iranian trade is.

Gamal Bayoumi : There are investments, there is trade, and everything. I don't remember the figures, and don't want to misquote them. But I can say with confidence that there is trade, and the Egyptian Bank is active there... They are proposing to come and invest here. The main Arab reason [for the tension] - and there is some contradiction in the Egyptian position in this case - is that Iran is occupying Arab lands.

Interviewer : Which are part of the UAE...

Gamal Bayoumi : Israel is not occupying Egyptian lands.

Interviewer : But if the UAE itself, whose islands are occupied, maintains good relations with Iran, should Egypt be holier than the Pope?

Gamal Bayoumi : Iran must renounce this policy, and say that it is willing to negotiate. These are UAE islands, which are in UAE territorial waters, yet Iran insists that it will not negotiate.Source: Memri.

CIA Counterterrorism Chief Is a Convert to Islam.

CIA Counterterrorism Chief Is a Convert to Islam.(WP).Is it wise to put a Muslim in charge of efforts to stop Muslim terrorists?This is a country where a Muslim can become a CIA chief. How intolerant and bigoted can we be?

WASHINGTON POST--For every cloud of smoke that follows a CIA drone strike in Pakistan, dozens of smaller plumes can be traced to a gaunt figure standing in a courtyard near the center of the agency’s Langley campus in Virginia.

The man with the nicotine habit is in his late 50s, with stubble on his face and the dark-suited wardrobe of an undertaker. As chief of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center for the past six years, he has functioned in a funereal capacity for al-Qaeda.

Roger, which is the first name of his cover identity, may be the most consequential but least visible national security official in Washington — the principal architect of the CIA’s drone campaign and the leader of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. In many ways, he has also been the driving force of the Obama administration’s embrace of targeted killing as a centerpiece of its counterterrorism efforts.
Colleagues describe Roger as a collection of contradictions. A chain-smoker who spends countless hours on a treadmill. Notoriously surly yet able to win over enough support from subordinates and bosses to hold on to his job. He presides over a campaign that has killed thousands of Islamist militants and angered millions of Muslims, but he is himself a convert to Islam. Hmmmm..........Obama: "We will hold sacred the beliefs held sacred by others."And which form of Islam is the "Right one"?And how about our beliefs?Read the full story here.

Gunmen ambush Shi’ite bus in Pakistan, killing 18.

 

Gunmen ambush Shi’ite bus in Pakistan, killing 18.(Fox).At least 18 people were killed on Tuesday when gunmen opened fire on a bus in Pakistan’s mountainous northern district of Kohistan, police officials said.“Armed men hiding on both sides of the road attacked the bus,” local police chief Mohammad Ilyas told AFP news agency.“Initial reports said 18 people have died and eight wounded,” he added.A spokesman for a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, a Sunni militant group, claimed responsibility for the killings.Around 27 other people on the bus were spared.Haji Abdul Ghafoor, owner of restaurant in Mansehra where the bus stopped for dinner on Monday night, said there were around 45 people on board.
The bus was traveling from the central Pakistan city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, to the northern town of Gilgit, according to Reuters news agency.Police said that the motive for the attack was unclear as Islamist militants are not active in the area. However, another police source told Reuters that the Islamic affiliation of the passengers could have sparked the violence.“All the people on board were Shi’ites, and at the moment it looks like they were targeted by armed men from the local Sunni community,” a senior police official told Reuters.Police officials said the bus came under attack in an area inhabited by two Sunni tribes about 165 kilometers (102 miles) north of Islamabad.Both communities largely live in peace with each other but militants from the two sides have killed thousands of people in tit-for-tat attacks since the beginning of Islamist militancy in the country in the 1980s.The Jandullah faction of the Pakistani Taliban -- one of the country's deadliest and best organized militant groups -- claimed responsibility."They were Shiite infidels and our mujahedeen shot them dead one by one after bringing them down from a bus," said Ahmed Marwat, a purported commander, who called an Associated Press reporter from an undisclosed location.Read the full story here.

What is Islam's connection to Jerusalem?

HT: IsraelMatzav.

Saudis Vow ‘Iron Fist’ to Quell Shiite Unrest.

Saudis Vow ‘Iron Fist’ to Quell Shiite Unrest.(VOC).Saudi Arabia on Tuesday said itssecurity forces would quell unrest in its Shiite dominated Qatif region with “an iron fist.”The ultraconservative Saudi Kingdom blamed an unnamed foreign power – widely understood to be Shiite Iran – for stirring up unrest and backing attacks on its security forces in the Eastern Province.“It is the state’s right to confront those that confront it first … and the Saudi Arabian security forces will confront such situations … with determination and force and with an iron first,” the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement.The statement was in response to a sermon preached in the Qatif area of the Eastern Province last week criticizing the government’s handling of the protests there, in which at least six people have been killed.Clashes between Shiite protesters and security forces in Qatif began at the height of the Arab uprisings last year. Four people were killed in November, one in January and one earlier this month.Members of the Shiite minority have long complained of discrimination, saying it is harder for them to find government jobs, attend university or worship in the open than it is for Sunni citizens.The government says it does not discriminate against Shiites and has said the increased security is intended to protect Qatif residents. It has repeatedly blamed the clashes on people attacking security forces.Tuesday’s statement said the security forces were using “the greatest restraint … despite continuing provocations” and “will not act except in self defense and will not initiate confrontations”.“Some of those few (who attacked security forces) are manipulated by foreign handsbecause of the kingdom’s honorable foreign policy positions towards Arab and Islamic countries,” the ministry’s spokesman said in the statement.Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies are in a struggle for hegemony over the Persian Gulf with Iran, whom they have repeatedly accused of provoking their indigenous Shiite populations to rebellion.Hmmmm........"Saudi King Abdullah has repeatedly urged the ... "Cut off head of snake" .Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News - What the main papers don't say.

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Greece 5.3 - 5.2 ; Northern Mariana Islands 5.3 !More info here.

• Obama’s Former Faith Adviser: ‘I, Frankly, Am Glad American Civil Religion is Dying’.(CNSnews).Shaun Casey, the religious affairs adviser to presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008, said at a discussion on Tuesday about “God and Politics” that the demise of religious society in the United States is a good thing.“I, frankly, am glad American civil religion is dying,” said Casey, who is an associate professor of Christian Ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.Casey made the remarks at an event focusing on religion and the 2012 presidential election at the liberal Center for American Progress where he was a panelist along with Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Hispanic Evangelical Coalition.Casey was responding to Salguero’s claim that civil religion is employed by politicians as an “iconic use of faith".“There is also a negative underside to that history with respect to slavery, manifest destiny, to war, you know, to empires, so I, frankly, am glad American civil religion is dying,” Casey said. “But it does raise the practical question, what does bind us together in some way as a country?“We need some substitute for that and I don’t think we’ve found it yet,” Casey said.Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Swiss-French philosopher, is credited with coining the term “civil religion” in his 1762 book in his series “The Social Contract.” He described civil religion as the moral and spiritual foundation of modern society. In June 2008, Casey was hired by the Obama campaign to “focus on outreach to evangelical voters,” according to a June 27, 2008 Washington Post article. The article also said that Casey, who was named senior adviser of religious affairs, had been informally advising the campaign for a year before his official appointment.During Obama’s presidential campaign, Casey defended Obama’s affiliation with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the controversial and left-wing pastor of the United Church of Christ in Chicago and one-time “spiritual adviser” to Obama.Obama attended Rev. Wright’s church for 20 years.Obama distanced himself from Wright after his many controversial remarks and sermons were made public during the 2008 campaign.On Mar. 18, 2008, Casey told The Washington Post, "The senator [Obama] is not naive, and what he's doing is very hard. He's trying to remain loyal to his pastor but also differentiate himself politically."Hmmmmm.......How long before they say"Religion is the opium of the people"?Read the full story here.

• Strait of Hormuz blockade threat - 'No one can sell oil if Iran cannot'.(PTV).A senior Iranian official has dismissed as futile the latest EU sanctions on the country's oil exports, adding that Tehran will not allow a condition to arise wherein others are allowed to sell oil and Iran is not."In the absence of Iranian supply, oil prices will go up and they (the Western states) know it; However, Iran will never allow itself to be in a situation in which it cannot sell oil but other regional states can," Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, told Press TV on Thursday.Europe's decision to embargo Iranian oil exports is in no one's interest, Velayati said, adding, "Western policy makers know just too well that their sanctions regime is a political maneuver.""Iran doesn't need any favor from any country to sell its oil, because global demand is always there."Read the full story here.

• Lone Gunman caught at Bush Jr Mansion in Dallas TX, attempting to deliver a "spiritual message" to the former President.(Wfaa).DALLAS - The Secret Service took a man into custody Tuesday afternoon who had a gun in his vehicle next to the home of former President George W. Bush. Dallas police sources told News 8 that police were called to the 10000 block of Daria Place by the request of the Secret Service. They detained a man who was believed to be armed with a gun.The Bushes are currently out of town.The man made it through a gate at the end of the block on Meaders Lane by closely following another vehicle. The Secret Service monitors the gate 24 hours a day with cameras and microphones.The man told the Secret Service he got a "spiritual message" to come there to deliver that message to the former president. They searched the man's car and found a weapon in the glove compartment of the vehicle.Read and see (Video) the full story here.

• Duped by the Duplicitous: the Left’s Big Tax Trick.(BigGovernment).ByKayleigh McEnany.When the Democrats aren’t cheating on their taxes like Charlie Rangel or forgetting to pay them like Timothy Geithner, they’re busy lambasting Republicans for actually paying theirs—albeit at a rate unsatisfactory to them.In yet another fantastic display of hypocrisy, the liberal mainstream media spent the week attacking Governor Mitt Romney for having a 15% tax rate. Since the media is loath to engage in any actual investigative journalism when it comes to the Democrats, I decided to do a little of my own. Here’s what I found.Start with Senator John Kerry who is among the 400 richest Americans thanks to his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry’s, inheritance. Their last publicly released tax returns in 2003 revealed that they paid a rate of 13.4% on a declared income of $5.5 million. This from the man who, just last year, tried to avoid half a million dollars in taxes by anchoring his yacht in Rhode Island rather than Massachusetts. Estimates pin Kerry’s net worth somewhere between $700 million and $3.2 billion compared to Romney’s lower net worth of $202 million.Take a look at former Vice Presidential Candidate John Edwards’s 2003 tax returns, and you’ll find that he paid an astonishingly low rate of 5.1%. Seems a bit low for a man with a net worth hovering around $54.7 million.But, of course, Kerry and Edwards’ income tax rates were protected under lock and key by the mainstream media during the 2004 presidential race against President George W. Bush. Speaking of Bush, you’ll also never hear anyone mention the fact that he paid a rate of 27.7% in the same year.Tax rates aside, in yet another attempt to make something out of nothing, the media has been reporting relentlessly on Romney donating millions in cash and stocks to the Mormon Church, as if tithing to one’s church is somehow a negative. Thanks to donations like Romney’s, the Mormon Church is able to sustain a large philanthropic network and send young men on two year missions that provide extensive humanitarian aid to a countless number of people in need. If you call that bad, I’d hate to see what you call good.This much I can assure you—Romney’s millions donated to the Mormon Church did far more good than the $353 Al Gore gave to charity in 1997 or the $0, $820, $175, $2,039, and $0 Senator Kerry gave between 1991 and 1995. Contrast that to the $28,236, $31,914, and $31,292 George Bush gave between 1991-1993 when he was a mere private citizen. That is the real story that you will never hear.Instead, you will hear report after report on Romney’s tax rate and his donations to the Mormon Church. You’ll hear about how the Democratic Party is the party of the little man, and the Republican Party is the party of the selfish, rich fat cat. That’s what the Democratic Party and the mainstream media want you to believe.So before you buy into the Left’s big tax fable like the Occupy Wall Streeters did, take a good hard look at what you’ll never see reported—the facts.Read the full story here.

• Thoughts On The SOTU from Clark Judge.(HughHewitt).SOTU: Did I hear that right?By Clark S. Judge: managing director, White House Writers Group, Inc.; chairman, Pacific Research Institute.I believe that’s what I heard the president advocate last night. But one term I didn’t hear, maybe I missed it: “The Constitution.” Then again, wasn’t he suggesting that, in brave times like these, we need to put aside those old rules. Do I have this straight?Read the full story here.

• John Bolton Discusses Why Iran Continues to Defy America.(BigPeace).John Bolton, former UN ambassador sits with Fred Grandy to analyze and discuss whether the U.S. is safer and more respected around the world. Is the United States stronger than it was under the last administration? If the U.S. is indeed a stronger and respected nation, why has Iran continuously disregarded the United States’ “no nuclear weapons” warning? Ambassador Bolton analyzes the consequences of Iran’s threat to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. How will it affect the U.S.? Can the United States avert this threat?You can hear Ambassador Bolton’s interview with Fred, as well as the rest of today’s show, at Secure Freedom Radio.Read and hear the full interview here.

• FACT CHECK: 10 Dubious Claims from Obama’s State of the Union.(Heritage).President Obama made a number of questionable statements in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Heritage experts took on some of the policy issues he raised, but we at Scribe thought we would address the simple factual accuracy of 10 of the more outlandish statements from the president.Quotes are drawn from the president’s prepared remarks.

Claim: “On the day I took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse. Some even said we should let it die. With a million jobs at stake, I refused to let that happen … And together, the entire industry added nearly 160,000 jobs.”

Fact: Using the relevant dates, that number is actually between 33,000 and 63,000.

Claim: “It’s not fair when foreign manufacturers have a leg up on ours only because they’re heavily subsidized.

Fact: Obama has targeted manufacturers with punitive tax hikes.

Claim: “[M]y administration has put more boots on the border than ever before.”

Fact: The vast majority of that increase was proposed and implemented before Obama took office.

Claim: “We’re also making it easier for American businesses to sell products all over the world.Two years ago, I set a goal of doubling U.S. exports over five years. With the bipartisan trade agreements we signed into law, we’re on track to meet that goal ahead of schedule.”

Fact: Obama chose to delay seeking congressional approval of those agreements for more than two years.

Claim: “American oil production is the highest that it’s been in eight years.”

Fact: No thanks to Obama.

Claim: “[W]ith only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves, oil isn’t enough.”

 

Fact: The United States has more recoverable oil than the rest of the non-North American world combined.

Claim: “[I]t was public research dollars, over the course of 30 years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock – reminding us that government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground.”

 

Fact: Government funding only marginally contributed to the development of hydraulic fracturing.

Claim: “[W]e don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy.”

Fact: Obama just rejected both.

Claim: “I ask the Senate to pass a simple rule that all judicial and public service nominations receive a simple up or down vote within 90 days.”

Fact: The president has already demonstrated his complete lack of respect for the separation of powers.

Claim: “Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans? Or do we want to keep our investments in everything else – like education and medical research; a strong military and care for our veterans? Because if we’re serious about paying down our debt, we can’t do both.”

Fact: Entitlements drive our national debt, not discretionary spending or tax rates.Read the full story here.

• Obama's Attorney Refusing To Show Up At Obama's Georgia Ballot Challenge Hearings.(BR).Obama's Private Attorney Refusing To Show Up At Obama's Georgia Ballot Access Challenge Hearings.Dear Secretary Kemp: This is to advise you of serious problems that have developed in the conduct of the hearings pending before the Office of State Administrative Hearings. At issue in these hearings are challenges that allege that President Obama is not eligible to hold or run for re-election to his office, on the now wholly discredited theory that he does not meet the citizenship requirements. As you know, such allegations have been the subject of numerous judicial proceedings around the country, all of which have concluded that they were baseless and, in some instances – including in the State of Georgia - that those bringing the challenges have engaged in sanctionable abuse of our legal process.Nonetheless, the Administrative Law Judge has exercised no control whatsoever over this proceeding, and it threatens to degenerate into a pure forum for political posturing to the detriment of the reputation of the State and your Office. Rather than bring this matter to a rapid conclusion, the ALJ has insisted on agreeing to a day of hearings, and on the full participation of the President in his capacity as a candidate. Only last week, he denied a Motion to Quash a subpoena he approved on the request of plaintiff’s counsel for the personal appearance of the President at the hearing, now scheduled for January 26.For these reasons, and as discussed briefly below, you should bring an end to this baseless, costly and unproductive hearing by withdrawing the original hearing request as improvidently issued.Hmmmmm......I am above the law?Read the full story here.Updated: Obama's Attorney Jaberwoki Slapped Down By Georgia SOS here.

• Pentagon to slash spending by $260 billion through 2017.(HD).The Pentagon will unveil a five-year budget proposal this week that aims to implement $487 billion in spending cuts over the next decade by trimming the size of the military and canceling or scaling back some weapons programs. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will outline a budget request for the 2013 fiscal year today that will cut $260 billion in spending through 2017, taking the Pentagon more than halfway to its target for the decade.Details about the 2013 spending plans have begun to emerge from sources familiar with the budget proposal despite the Pentagon’s efforts to keep its funding discussions secret until they are formally announced. The budget proposal is expected to eliminate thousands of military and civilian jobs over the next five years at a time when President Barack Obama is running for re-election against a field of Republicans who accuse him of being weak on national security.The proposed budget will terminate or scale back spending on dozens of weapons programs, including the Air Force’s high-altitude Global Hawk unmanned surveillance plane built by Northrop Grumman Corp and the Pentagon’s biggest weapons program, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, built by Lockheed Martin Corp.  But it will not tackle some $600 billion in additional spending cuts due to take effect in January 2013 after lawmakers failed to agree on $1.2 trillion in deficit-cutting measures.Officials said they would revisit the issue and address those cuts later if Congress did not take action this year. Panetta is expected to seek a Pentagon base budget of about $523 billion. The number of combat brigades stationed in Europe will be cut in half, from four to two, Panetta said recently.The overall size of the Army, which was already scheduled to fall to 520,000 by 2016, could be further reduced to 490,000, a drop of another 30,000 soldiers, analysts say.Hmmmm.......Read the full story here.

• 'Iran won't move toward nuclear weapon in 2012'.(JPost).WASHINGTON - Iran is unlikely to move toward building a nuclear weapon this year because it does not yet have the capability to produce enough weapon-grade uranium, a draft report by the Institute for Science and International Security said on Wednesday.The report by the institute founded by nuclear expert David Albright offered a more temperate view of Iran's nuclear program than some of the heated rhetoric that has surfaced since the United States and its allies stepped up sanctions on Tehran."Iran is unlikely to decide to dash toward making nuclear weapons as long as its uranium enrichment capability remains as limited as it is today," the report said.The United States and Iran are engaged in a war of words over sanctions, with Iran threatening to retaliate by blocking oil shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The United States said it would not allow that to happen.The escalating rhetoric and tensions have led to concerns about the potential for missteps between the adversaries that might spiral into a military confrontation that neither wants.But the report, financed by a grant from the United States Institute of Peace, said Iran had not made a decision to build a nuclear bomb. The USIP is an independent, non-partisan center created by the US Congress in 1984 that receives federal government funding."Iran is unlikely to break out in 2012, in great part because it is deterred from doing so," said the ISIS report, which has not yet been publicly released.The report turns down the temperature, saying that sanctions and the fear of a military strike by Israel on Iran's nuclear facilities have worked as a deterrent.The institute has advised US and foreign governments about Iran's nuclear capabilities and Albright is considered a respected expert on the issue. The report tracks closely with what is known of official US government assessments.US officials say Iran has not made the decision to build a nuclear weapon and that Iranian leaders haven't made the decision because they have to weigh the cost and benefits of building a nuclear weapon.Much of what the Iranians are doing with their nuclear program has civilian uses, but they are keeping their options open, which significantly adds to the air of ambiguity, US officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity.Hmmmm..........Read the full story here.

• Convicted Terrorist Hysen Sherifi Accused of Plotting to Behead Witnesses.(Fox).RALEIGH, N.C. – A North Carolina man sentenced to prison recently as part of a homegrown terrorist ring has been accused in a federal court document of plotting to kill witnesses who testified against him at trial.An affidavit unsealed in federal court Monday accuses Hysen Sherifi of plotting against the witnesses from his jail cell. Authorities say an FBI informant posing as a hit man met with Sherifi's brother and a female friend and accepted $5,000 and a photo of an intended victim.The informant soon befriended Sherifi, who requested help in hiring someone to kill three people who had testified against him at his trial, according to the affidavit. Sherifi specified that he wanted the witnesses beheaded and that he would be provided photos of the severed heads as confirmation of the deaths, according to the document.FBI agents have arrested the brother, Shkumbin Sherifi, and Nevine Aly Elshiekh, a school teacher. Now in federal custody at the New Hanover County Jail, each is charged with a felony count of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.Hysen Sherifi, 27, was sentenced to 45 years in prison earlier this month in what prosecutors described as a conspiracy to attack the Marine base at Quantico, Va., and targets abroad. Five others, including construction contractor Daniel Patrick Boyd, have been sentenced to federal prison terms for terrorism charges related to raising money, stockpiling weapons and training in preparation for jihadist attacks. . . .The Sherifi brothers and other family members emigrated from Kosovo following the wars that ravaged the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. A call to the Sherifi family home in Raleigh on Tuesday was not returned.Hysen Sherifi and others arrested in the terrorism conspiracy were members of the Islamic Association of Raleigh, the largest Muslim congregation in the Triangle. Several members of the mosque also routinely made the 4-hour round trip for the trial in New Bern to support the accused, who they described as innocent men being railroaded by overzealous federal authorities. Read the full story here.

• Iran Set to Turn Off Oil Supply to Europe.(Spiegel).It's a move which has tit-for-tat written all over it, but one which could nonetheless have a serious impact: The Iranian government wants to present a bill to parliament this weekend calling for an immediate halt to oil deliveries to Europe. The move, with most reports citing the Iranian news agency Mehr, has come about in response to the EU agreement to impose sanctions against Iran, which were announced earlier this week.The sanctions banned any new contracts for buying oil from Iran, but allowed existing deals to continue until July in order to give countries time to find other sources. But that process is now at risk after the latest move from Tehran, a step the Iranian government had already threatened."If this bill is passed, the government will be forced to stop selling oil to Europe before the actual implementation of their sanctions," said Emad Hosseini, spokesman for the Iranian parliament's energy commission, reportedly said. The bill is set to become law on Sunday.The EU sanctions allow for oil deliveries from Iran until July 1. Any pre-empting of this timescale by Tehran could prove problematic for countries like Italy, Greece and Spain, who would need to urgently find new suppliers.China, meanwhile, a major importer of Iranian oil, has also criticized the EU sanctions. The Xinhua news agency quoted the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday as saying: "To blindly pressure and impose sanctions on Iran are not constructive approaches."Read the full story here.

• Turkey drops heavily in press freedom rankings.(HD).Turkey took a big step backwards in press freedom rankings losing 10 places to be 148th out of 178 countries in the Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) World Press Freedom Index for 2011 made public yesterday.Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan came right at the bottom of the 10th annual list by the press freedom group, with the same clutch of European states - led by Finland, Norway and Estonia - at the top. Turkey’s fall came as a result of the pressure against journalists and media outlets. “Far from carrying out promised reforms, the judicial system launched a wave of arrests on journalists that was without precedent since the military dictatorship,” the report said on Turkey.“Control of news and information continued to tempt governments and to be a question of survival for totalitarian and repressive regimes,” said the Paris-based group.RSF said it was no surprise that the same trio of countries - Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan - were bottom of the list because they were “absolute dictatorships that permit no civil liberties”.“They are immediately preceded at the bottom by Syria, Iran and China, three countries that seem to have lost contact with reality as they have been sucked into an insane spiral of terror,” it said.Hmmmm.......only a 30 places away from the bottom.......Obama's best buddy.Read the full story here.

• Canada - Shafia murder trial to resume amid tight security after bomb scare.(Yahoo).KINGSTON, Ont. - The Shafia family murder trial is expected resume this afternoon after a bomb threat forced an evacuation at the courthouse in the morning.People have started returning to the courthouse but increased security measures are making for long waits to get inside.Those entering the building are being asked to show photo identification while metal detectors and security wands are also be used. There is only one entry point into the courthouse.While police would only say there was a ''security concern,'' a source told The Canadian Press the reason for the evacuation was a bomb threat."I can neither confirm nor deny in regards to specifically a bomb, but we are just stating at this point in time it is a security concern," Const. Steve Koopman said. "As you can see we're taking it extremely seriously."Koopman couldn't say if the security threat was related to the Shafia trial."I cannot say 100 per cent, I think it's relatively coincidental that today that Superior Court Justice (Robert) Maranger was going to charge the jury and this is the most high profile case in town," he said.Police said they were notified of the security threat at 9:35 a.m., prior to the start of the day's proceedings in the Shafia case. The building was completely evacuated shortly after police received the call and the three accused were taken offsite."I certainly think that we're going to take this as seriously as we need to," said Koopman. "I would certainly say it is medium to high."We would rather treat it high rather than treat it less seriously than it needs to be."Read the full story here.

• Why Iran will not ‘come to its senses’.(DailyMail).By MelaniePhillips.War with Iran is a truly fearsome prospect.Its likely consequences would include attacks on US air bases from thousands of Iranian missiles, the unleashing of terrorist attacks within the US and Europe, the rocketing of Israeli towns from the tens of thousands of missiles trained on Israel from Lebanon, the closing of the Straits of Hormuz thus paralysing western oil supplies, and doubtless other horrors.But however fearsome this prospect, that of a nuclear-armed Iran is worse. The consequences are simply insupportable.A regime which has seen itself at war with the west ever since it came to power in 1979, and which has been involved in arguably every major terrorist atrocity against it, will be equipped with nuclear weapons to bring the west to its knees. Working as it does through puppet rogue regimes and terror organisations, it could perpetrate acts of nuclear terrorism – or threaten to do so.It could mount its long-threatened attempt to wipe Israel off the map, thus provoking a nuclear response to prevent a second genocide of the Jews. Last but by no means least, it will spark a nuclear arms race throughout the region, thus ensuring that nuclear weapons come under the control of some of the most unstable and belligerent regimes on earth. To all these threats and more, the west will be paralysed by Iran’s nuclear capacity, just as it is currently paralysed over North Korea.But the deeper problem is the west’s assumption that the Iranian regime is capable of ‘coming to its senses’ – its assumption that these are rational actors who ultimately will act in their own interest. Few in the west understand that, on the contrary, the Iranian regime is impervious to reason. Educated, intelligent and cunning they may be – but they are religious fanatics driven by an entirely different set of considerations. That’s what makes this situation so terrifying.As I have written over and over again, from the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei downwards the Iranian regime is dominated by people (adherents of a sect called the ‘Twelvers’) who believe that the Shia messiah, the Mahdi, will return to earth either as result of or to bring about the apocalyptic end of days. It is that apocalypse that they are intent upon facilitating. That is why the argument that ‘they wouldn’t dare launch a nuclear attack because they know half of Iran would be obliterated as a result’ is so fatuous. They would be happy if that were to occur.Reza Kahlili (a pseudonym) is reportedly a former CIA spy within the Revolutionary Guards. As he has written:‘Khamenei has been heard to say that the coming of the last Islamic Messiah, the Shiites’ 12th Imam Mahdi, is near and that specific actions need to be taken to protect the Islamic regime for upcoming events. Mahdi, according to Shiite belief, will reappear at the time of Armageddon... Many in the Guards and Basij have been told that the 12th Imam is on earth, facilitated the victory of Hezbollah over Israel in the 2006 war and soon will announce publicly his presence after the needed environment is created.'... Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, an influential cleric and a radical Twelver, previously had stated that Khamenei ascends to the sky every year to take direction from Imam Mahdi, and sources close to the cleric have disclosed that Khamenei has been ordered by Imam Mahdi to continue with the nuclear program despite worldwide objection as it will facilitate his coming.’Last December, Kahlili warned that the previous May Khamenei had ordered the Revolutionary Guards to speed up the nuclear-bomb program and arm Iran’s missiles with nuclear warheads. Now, he wrote, Khamenei had ordered the guards to prepare for war.What really threatens to bring the west to its knees is its own cultural hubris. Refracting everything in the world through the prism of its unshakeable faith in universal reason, it is incapable of recognising or understanding religious fanaticism – and insists instead upon treating the fanatic as a rational actor. Ironically, it is this belief in reason which has led the west to behave so irrationally in refusing to acknowledge the evidence of the mortal threat to itself posed by Iran -- and that there is no alternative to force if it is to be stopped. And now, alas, we’re about to discover the consequences.Read the full story here.

• Al Qaeda Spokesman: ‘America Has Been Defeated in Iraq’.(BigPeace).BAGHDAD (AP) – The U.S. pulled its troops out of Iraq because its economy is collapsing and it needed to save money, an al-Qaida front group said in a message posted on its website Wednesday, its first online comment since the U.S. completed its pullout last month after nine years of war.Al-Qaida was one of the main U.S. enemies in Iraq. It was behind some of the deadliest attacks on U.S. soldiers, Iraqi security forces and American-backed government institutions. Since the U.S. pullout, al-Qaida and other Sunni militants have stepped up attacks on Shiites, killing more than 170 people since the beginning of the year and raising concern that the surge in violence and an escalating political crisis might deteriorate into a civil war.In an audio message, a spokesman for al-Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq who identified himself as Abu Mohammed al-Adnani said “America has been defeated in Iraq.”“They pulled out because its economic and human losses were unbearable,” al-Adnani said. “America’s bankruptcy and collapse is imminent. This is the real reason behind the withdrawal.” .Al-Adnani also called on former al-Qaida fighters who switched sides and fought the group with Americans not to “abandon jihad” now that the U.S. withdrawal has been completed. He threatened more attacks on the Shiite-led government, saying that “our explosives are at the door” of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.He told his followers not to be deceived by the number of the Iraqi government troops and its Shiite supporters, saying “they are merely beetles and flies.” Sunni extremists consider Shiites as not real Muslims.Al-Adnani called on former Sunni fighters who switched sides and fought al-Qaida to return, promising to forgive “whatever their crime was.”Hmmmmm........Obama: If We Work Hard, Afghanistan Could Be a Success...Like Iraq!Read the full story here.

• U.S. Ambassador to Russia: Obama Says We Should Support ‘Universal Values,’ Not American Values.(BigPeace).U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul neatly summarized everything that is wrong with President Barack Obama’s foreign policy in an interview yesterday with National Public Radio (emphasis added):There is no single path to democracy. And every society and every government and every country will find their own path. And we, as President Obama has said many, many times, we’re not going to get into the business of dictating that path, we’re just going to support what we like to call universal values. Not American values, not Western values, universal values.McFaul’s primary responsibility as an ambassador is to represent the United States and its values.If he believes otherwise; he should resign. If he has been ordered otherwise by the President of the United States, he should resign in protest.That appeasement has been present in President Obama’s approach to foreign affairs from the very start of his administration, when he described his job as representing the Arab world to Americans as much as Americans to the Arab world, and speaking for the world in general, not just the United States:and my job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives. My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy….I think that what you’ll see is somebody who is listening, who is respectful, and who is trying to promote the interests not just of the United States, but also ordinary people who right now are suffering from poverty and a lack of opportunity…There can be no clearer explanation of why the United States is failing to pursue its interests with the urgency and emphasis they demand–while at the same time appeasing anti-American regimes instead of promoting the democracy he purports to champion as a “universal” value.Hmmmmm........I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes. ~ Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776.Read the full story here.

• 'Obama set to accelerate pace of US aid to Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.'(Jpost).DAVOS, Switzerland - US President Barack Obama plans to accelerate the pace of American aid to Egypt, a top State Department official said on Wednesday, as the most populous Arab nation reaches a critical stage in its uncertain transition away from autocratic rule.Undersecretary of State Robert Hormats, part of a US delegation that held unprecedented talks last week with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, said Washington wanted to provide "more immediate benefits" to Egyptians, who earlier this month conducted their first democratic elections in decades."During this period, we want to be as supportive as we can. This is an historic moment. Egypt's a country of enormous importance," Hormats said.Under the plan, some non-urgent US aid slated for other countries - he did not name them - would be redirected to Egypt. And funding in the pipeline for long-term programs in Egypt would be shifted to quick-impact projects, he said.Hmmmm....On top of the $1.57 Billion Dollar he promised them last year?Read the full story here.

• Russia stays firm on Syria; head of Syrian Red Crescent killed.(AlArabiya).Russia said on Wednesday it would consider “constructive proposals” to end bloodshed in Syria but was opposed to force or sanctions, as regime troops reportedly pounded the protest hub of Hama.“We are open to constructive proposals that go in line with the set task of ending violence,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow after meeting his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu.Lavrov said any U.N. Security Council resolution backed by Russia “must firmly record that it cannot be used or interpreted to justify anyone’s outside military intervention in the Syria crisis.”His comments came after Russian and U.S. officials held talks in Moscow on how to stop the violence in Syria, which the United Nations estimates has killed more than 5,400 people since it erupted in mid-March.Russia and China both blocked a previous Western attempt to have the Security Council formally condemn Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on dissent and impose stiff sanctions if he refuses to enter direct talks.According to diplomats at the United Nations, European and Arab nations are in the process of hammering out a Security Council draft resolution condemning the crackdown.Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Tuesday warned against foreign “interference,” which he said Russia, a Cold War ally with a naval base at Tartus on the country’s Mediterranean coast, would never accept.According to diplomats, European and Arab nations want a vote early next week on a resolution condemning the Syrian crackdown and hinting at sanctions against Assad’s regime.A first draft of the new resolution, obtained by AFP, notes Arab League sanctions ordered against Syria and “encourages all states to adopt similar steps and fully to cooperate with the League of Arab States in the implementation of its measures.”Russia’s Lavrov made it clear on Wednesday that any resolution hinting at sanctions would be opposed by Moscow.“We will not be able to back proposals under which unilaterally imposed sanctions against Syria -- sanctions that were declared without any consultations with Russia or China ... are blessed retroactively,” he said.Activists said security forces were pounding the central city of Hama for a second straight day on Wednesday.“The Syrian army is bombarding Hama with heavy weapons, using rocket-propelled grenades,” said a statement from the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), which organizes anti-regime protests on the ground.Syria’s Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the authorities, said the military had launched an offensive aimed at retaking several districts in Hama that were controlled by insurgents.Also on Wednesday, the secretary-general of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent was shot dead on Wednesday as he travelled outside the capital Damascus in a clearly marked vehicle, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.Doctor Abd-al-Razzaq Jbeiro, also head of the Red Crescent branch in the northern town of Idlib, was on the highway to Idlib from Damascus after attending meetings at Red Crescent headquarters, the agency said in a statement.“Regardless of the circumstances, the ICRC condemns this very severely,” Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, head of ICRC operations for the Near and Middle East, told Reuters in Geneva.She added that the “lack of respect for medical services” remained a major issue in Syria.Syrian state television blamed “terrorists” for the killing, saying he had been “assassinated” in Khan Sheikhoun district.Read the full story here.

• On 25 January 2012 there's nothing for the Copts to celebrate.(OCN).The Coptic nationalists, together with the overwhelming majority of the Copts inside and outside Egypt, have no reason to celebrate the first anniversary of the 25th January 2011 revolution. The revolution which some Copts, indeed the Coptic nationalists, wanted has not happened – we cannot see a civilian, secular democracy in Egypt as we enter 2012. What we see, instead, is a military rule, run by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) working in tandem with the Islamists who want to convert Egypt into Islamic country and impose Sharia law on all. This is not it that we had wanted. It is fair to say that Egypt, and the Copts, are going from bad to worse – the new reality that emerged as a result of the 25 January 2011 is simply not bright.Since the coup d’état on 11 February 2011, the Copts have been exposed to increasing number of attacks by Islamists and, more ominously, by the Egyptian State itself, represented in its various security forces. Even official Egyptian media joined in the onslaught as Egypt’s TV channel incited Muslims to attack Copts.Do Egypt’s new rulers recognise that the Copts are still being attacked? Have they brought the Muslim attackers of Copts to justice?Read the full story here.

• Turkey won't let NATO use its territory to attack Iran.(RN)(IsraelMatzav).President Obama's favorite Middle East leader will not allow NATO - of which his country is a member - to use his territory in an attack on Iran. Turkey, a member of NATO, will not give the Alliance territory for a military strike on Iran, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, RIA Novosti reports.The official added that Turkey has been agitating NATO to avoid attacks on neighbors of Turkey and would continue the efforts. He concluded that the borders between Iran and turkey have been borders of peace and will remain that way.We already knew that Turkey won't allow their territory to be used against Iraq, and I guess this means they won't allow it to be used against Syria either.Hmmmm.....Can the US andNATO be sure that their missile shield will be 'operational'?.......Yes exactly.....Big location mistake.Read the full story here.

• "Invasion" Seeks to Undermine Israel.(TIP).Palestinian activists plan to invade Israel on foot from neighboring Arab states as part of a "Global March to Jerusalem," a report issued Monday by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center said.Leaders of the Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ) say the event will take place March 30 and will involve "the crawling of hundreds of thousands of Arab and international supporters through the neighboring countries and into Israel…"Marchers from around the world will meet in Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon GMJ's website said. Massive marches will also be organized in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip toward Jerusalem. Organizers say the marches will be "peaceful," the Meir Amit report said, "but past experience … has taught that they have the potential for violence."And organizers acknowledge that they "aim to make this march a turning point in the nature of the confrontation, with the occupation having to face millions of protesters and demonstrators demanding Freedom for Palestine and its capitol Jerusalem."Activists involved in the march have ties to Hamas, including: GMJ spokesman Zaher Birawi is a Hamas activist who lives in the UK and has also served as a spokesperson for various Viva Palestina convoys. Viva Palestina (VP) is a UK-based organization which has delivered millions of dollars to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Birawi also serves in leadership positions for Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood affiliated organizations in the UK.Mohammed Sawalha is formerly a senior Hamas operational operative in the West Bank who fled to Britain. Sawalha played an active role in organizing the deadly May 2010 flotilla to Gaza. He is involved with the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK and is one of the UK signatories of the pro-Jihad February 2009 "Istanbul declaration."George Galloway, the brainchild of the pro-Hamas organization Viva Palestina, plans on joining GMJ. Galloway discussed GMJ on his show The Real Deal, aired on Iran's Press TV station this month.Iranian-born Paul Larudee is the co-founder of the California-based Free Palestine Movement and participated in the May 2010 flotilla to Gaza. The Free Palestine Movement is an endorser of GMJ's branch in North America (GMJ-NA) and serves as a financial conduit for of GMJ-NA. Larudee is a leader of GMJ-NA, and serves on the International advisory Committee for GMJ.Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh promoted the march in a recent speech.Read the full story here.

• Foreign woman stripped of clothes, assaulted, in Egypt’s Tahrir Square.(BikyaMasr).CAIRO: A foreign woman was stripped and sexually assaulted on Wednesday evening in Egypt’s iconic Tahrir Square, one eyewitness said on Twitter and another confirmed in an email to Bikyamasr.com.The woman, who’s identity has not been revealed, was taken away in an ambulance after being assaulted for 10 minutes. Her husband reportedly was unable to intervene and witnessed the incident.“I saw the woman and then dozens of men surrounded her and started grabbing her, when she screamed for help some people came, but they were hit in the face,” wrote one witness.What happened next was “appalling,” said the trusted witness, who asked for anonymity. “The men just started tearing at her clothes and grabbing her body all over. When she fought back, they pushed her. It was chaos.”There were unconfirmed reports that the men “violated” her with their hands.The nationality of the woman is unknown at the current time.Throughout the day, sexual harassment towards women has been increasing and more and more reports of women being grabbed and groped began being reported.Activists called the attacks on women completely “unacceptable” and must be exposed no matter what. They demanded an end to all violence toward women.“What happened in Tahrir today has no justification and must be fully exposed even if it taints Tahrir!” wrote EgyptSecularist on Twitter.The incident brings memories of reporter Lara Logan, who was sexually assaulted the night former President Hosni Mubarak gave up power.According to studies conducted by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Right (ECWR) in 2008, 98 percent of foreign women and 83 percent of Egyptian women surveyed had experienced sexual harassment in Egypt.Meanwhile, 62 percent of Egyptian men confessed to harassing women and 53 percent of Egyptian men faulted women for “bringing it on.”Hmmmm......This will do wonders for tourism ,'Come Visit Egypt get groped in sight of the Pyramides'.Read the full story here.

• In Bahrain, Worries Grow of Violent Shiite-Sunni Confrontation.(NYT).MANAMA, BAHRAIN — Mohammed Ibrahim, 19, a Shiite student at the University of Bahrain, says he has gotten used to the tear gas the police use to disperse protests, which he and his friends attend every Friday.Suspended for several months after the violent suppression of last year’s pro-democracy movement, he recently was allowed back on campus. “They had suspended me because I participated in demonstrations on the campus and there had been fights with some Sunni students,” Mr. Ibrahim said in an interview last week. Now he is back in school, but the situation between Shiite students like him and Sunni students is very “tense,” he said. “I don’t think any longer that peaceful demonstrations are enough,” he said. “I think we should fight the police back, when they attack us.” Mr. Ibrahim belongs to the 14th of February movement, a group that started with peaceful protests but that in recent weeks has seen some members calling on the Internet for violent protests to overthrow the government — and especially the ruling family.Each Friday, before heading to protests, Mr. Ibrahim, like many other young Shiites, drives to Diraz, a village on the northwest coast, to listen to the kingdom’s most influential Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Issa Qassim. On a Friday this month, the mosque was packed to overflowing with worshipers. Nearby hung a large banner portraying Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Until recently, Ayatollah Qassim preached peaceful protest, but last Friday his language changed. Criticizing police violence against female protesters, he said the police who attacked women could be attacked in return. “This is a really dangerous message to the government,” said Habib al-Marzouk, who was present in the congregation. “He said, ‘It is enough, we cannot sit silent and see how they are attacking our women.”’ Mr. Marzouk said some Shiite youth would take that as broad approval for violence against security forces. A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that since the speech some police officers had been heavily beaten. Read the full story here.

• Why some Jews hate Obama.(IsraelMatzav).Of course this JTA piece published in the JPost depicts Jews who hate and fear Obama as paranoid. Obama is hardly the first president to be called an anti-Semite or hostile to Israel. In 1991, George H.W. Bush found himself the subject of withering Jewish criticism when he sought to delay $10 billion in loan guarantees for Israel unless Jerusalem agreed to a settlement freeze in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, said he remembers holding a news conference to denounce Jewish characterizations of Bush as Satan and evil.But the rhetoric and conspiracy theories against Obama seem to constitute an unprecedented level of vitriol, say many longtime observers of the Jewish political scene.“I’ve never seen as much enmity toward a president by American Jews as I do toward Obama,” said Morton Klein, the national president of the Zionist Organization of America. “I’ve never heard people say, as they say to me, 'I hate him.' ”After examining Obama's record four years ago and concluding that he was anti-Israel and an anti-Semite, I have seen nothing since to dissuade me of that conclusion. With the check of a reelection campaign this year, Obama has exhibited levels of hostility toward Israel that are unprecedented by any President. Imagine what he will do if God forbid he is reelected.For a lengthy list of why so many Jews loathe and fear Obama, go here. read the full story here.