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Saturday, October 18, 2014

THE WHITE HOUSE USES ISIS TO DEFLECT ATTENTION AWAY FROM IRAN whose nuclear program, aided by US appeasement policies, is a much greater threat - In the meantime IRAN CONTINUES TO GAIN GROUND, now in Yemen

The White House is manipulating media attention away from its policies that support Iran's nuclear weapons development. 

A few voices have raised the alarm that the White House sudden interest in ISIS (or IS) is nothing but a means to distract attention away from its policies that favor Iran's nuclear program.  

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, foreground left, holds a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, background right, on the second day of talks, July 14, 2014, in Vienna, Austria. (photo credit: AP/Jim Bourg)
Iran FM Mohammad Javad Zarif in foreground, AP
The US government quietly helps Iran through easing of sanctions, and a protracted series of "talks" leading nowhere, that give Iran more time to reach the point of no-return towards its nuclear goal. 

In the big picture, Iran is immeasurably more dangerous than ISIS.  

Power groups come and go in the Middle East, but a nuclear Iran represents a catastrophic threat to the Middle East and the whole world. 

And let's not forget that Iran is prone to severe earthquakes, which could do damage to nuclear installations.

The powerful United States military could stop ISIS if it wanted to. But the White House chooses not to.

As long as ISIS is capturing the front pages, the US government can quietly continue to ENABLE Iran to carry out its goal of becoming a nuclear power. 
 
To begin with, it would unleash a nuclear arms race in the area. Several Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, are already making plans to the acquisition of nuclear reactors "for peaceful purposes," which is the first step towards the development of nuclear weapons. 

The White House also continues pushing its Two-States Final Solution for Israel, in spite of all evidence demonstrating that once Palestinians gain control of territory - as they did in Gaza - they don't stop there, but use it to terrorize Israel.

Gaza is not a state yet, and so their military and diplomatic capabilities are very limited.  But imagine what it would be like once Palestine becomes an independent state.
 
Israel's defensive options would be drastically reduced.  The Islamic State of Palestine would have additional powerful allies that would come to their defense. 
 
We can already hear the White House sternly warning Israel that no matter how much terror the Arabs inflict against Israelis, Israel must restrain its response lest it ignites a region-wide conflict. 
 
Israel could not cope with a protracted war of attrition by "militants" hiding behind women and children.  They would dig tunnels all along the border and drive Israelis away from their homes, and eventually from Israel itself.   Many Israeli families living along the Gaza border have already fled, not to return. 

Israel is a tiny country.  Where would Israelis go if attacked along their northern, southern and eastern borders, and their military is restrained by the US government?

Just recently the White House forced Israel into a premature cease fire with Gaza that left many terror tunnels in place.
 
Furthermore, how could the state protect Israelis if there is a Palestinian land corridor splitting the country in two, as envisioned by the White House, as part of their Two State Final Solution?
 
What sense would there be for Israel's existence if Jews lose their very heart, Jerusalem, to the descendants of Arab conquerors and occupiers?
 
The following is an analysis of how Iran is quietly advancing in the Middle East - with the White House tacit assistance. 
 
Questionable White House Middle East policies and allies. 
 
(Avi Issacharoff's column follows next.) 
  • While the media focuses almost obsessively on the maps of IS’s takeover, “moderate” Iran is gaining control over even larger chunks of territory: Lebanon, parts of Syria and Iraq, and now Yemen.
  • The Saudis knows that the Iranians have transferred weapons to the Yemen Houthi rebels.
  • Iranian Revolutionary Guards forces were caught by the Yemeni army during the fighting.
  • The Saudis are worried that the new Iranian expedition will try to produce unrest in their own Shi’ite areas.
  • Next month, six months of talks over the Iranian nuclear program will end, likely without a major breakthrough. But even without nuclear weapons, it looks like the Iranians are doing just fine. 
  • How is it possible that even the mighty air power of several armies, led by the US, cannot defeat IS?  The answer, it seems, lies in the tactical level.  IS has changed tactics.  They are evolving, like a virus.
  • IS has changed the way in which they move around, and even in the way they dress, no longer with their distinctive black outfits.
  • With no boots on the ground, the US is flying blind. 
  • In order to create targets, intelligence is needed. And without the presence of intelligence personnel and special forces on the ground, there is not sufficient information, it turns out, to stop the advance of IS.
  • Hard to believe, but the US administration has chosen Turkey and Qatar as closest allies in the Middle East - both of whom support and finance jihadists, including IS.
  • Turkey has even gone to the extent of bombing Kurds, who are the only reliable military force in the region capable of fighting IS.
  • The US has denied weapons to the Kurds and restricted weapons sales to Israel, but sold $11 billion worth of weapons to Qatar, which arms jihadists, including Hamas. 
Avi Issacharoff
 

While the world watches IS,
 Iran quietly advances.



By Avi Issacharoff

‘Moderate’ Tehran is gaining control over larger chunks of territory — Lebanon, parts of Syria and Iraq, and now Yemen, where a vital Israeli sea route is now threatened.
  
While the entire world follows breathlessly the battles between Kurdish forces and the Islamic State in Kobani, the Syrian city on the border between Turkey and Syria, Iran is slowly completing an impressive takeover of Yemen.

 
On Tuesday, Houthi separatists took control of the strategic Yemeni port city of Hodeida, west of the capital, Sana’a. They captured the airport to the south of the city on the same day. This came after the September 21 Houthi takeover of Sana’a itself.
Armed Yemeni Shiite Hawthi anti-government rebels shout slogans as they man a checkpoint erected after the Hawthi group seized northern districts of the capital Sanaa on September 21, 2014 (photo credit: AFP/MOHAMMED HUWAIS)
Yemeni anti-government Shiite Houthi rebels
 
The Houthi, Zaidi Shi’a (one of the Shi’a sects), have enjoyed the close support in recent years of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and its al-Quds Brigades, responsible for foreign theaters.
 
This should arouse worry in Israel. Yemen, due to its strategic location, commands what for Israel is a strategic waterway — the exit from the Rea Sea to the Indian Ocean, also known as Bab al-Mandab.
 
The presence of Revolutionary Guards forces on such a critical shipping lane for the Israeli economy, facilitating access not only to the Indian Ocean but also to targets like Iran itself, could present significant problems for Israeli ships passing through.
 
At the beginning of the 1970s, Palestinian terror groups attacked Israeli ships that passed through Bab al-Mandab. It is possible that the Iranians will try to use the same tactics with the Houthis.
 
But beyond the Israeli angle, developments in Yemen in recent weeks, and indeed since the  beginning of the Arab Spring there, are a classic example of the shifting sands in the Middle East.
 
In November 2011, Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh quit after 33 years. He was one of the longest-serving leaders in the Middle East, similar to Muammar Qaddafi in Libya. They were the same age, and the lynch that killed Qaddafi in 2011 was, it seems, one of the factors that led to Saleh stepping down on his own accord. In his place, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi was appointed president.
 
But for the Houthi, this personal change was not enough. They wanted a bigger slice of the government pie, and, likely with Iranian encouragement, they sought to take over the country, as they are still attempting to do now.
 
In recent months, the Houthi have recorded significant military achievements, the most important being the capture of Sana’a. They managed to take over government offices and other strategic facilities, and then agreed to stop fighting — but only if a new government made up of technocrats was appointed.
 
President Hadi, with UN mediation, agreed. But when he tried to appoint one of his associates, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, as prime minister, he was met with a strident refusal on the part of the Houthi.
 
Meanwhile, the Sunni extremists operating throughout Yemen, especially al-Qaeda, did not look favorably upon this assertion of power by the Zaidi Shi’ites, who make up about 30% of the country’s population.
 
Last Thursday, during a Houthi demonstration against the appointment of bin Mubarak, a suicide bomber detonated himself in the crowd marching in Sana’a, killing 47.
 
This development caused President Hadi to withdraw from his plan to appoint bin Mubarak, and only on Monday did all the parties agree to the appointment of the former Yemeni ambassador to the UN, Khaled Baha, as the new prime minister.
 
But then came the next day’s events — the occupation of Hodeida — which knocked everything back to square one. And if that wasn’t enough, on the same day, southern separatists demonstrated in cities in the south, notably Aden, demanding independence and the recreation of the People’s Republic of South Yemen.
 
It is uncertain where Yemen is heading. What is clear, however, is that in the shadow of attacks and massacres from the Islamic State, the Shi’ite axis headed by Iran is not resting for a moment.
 
During the Houthi demonstrations, passwords appeared that sounded like they were taken directly from the Iranian Islamic Revolution’s phrasebook: “Death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews.”
 
Many of the participants probably don’t even know where Israel is. But Iran’s influence goes well beyond slogans, and the Saudis are anxiously keeping an eye on the developments to the south.
 
Riyadh knows that the Iranians have transferred weapons to the Houthi, and it is trying to help foil the smuggling from Iran to northern Yemen. Revolutionary Guards forces were caught by the Yemeni army during the fighting, and the Saudis are worried that the new Iranian expedition will try to produce unrest in their Shi’ite areas.
 
So while the American (and Israeli) media focuses almost obsessively on the maps of IS’s takeover, “moderate” Iran is succeeding with a little less noise to gain control over even larger chunks of territory: Lebanon, parts of Syria and Iraq, and now Yemen.
 
Next month, six months of talks over the Iranian nuclear program will end, likely without a major breakthrough. But even without nuclear weapons, it looks like the Iranians are doing just fine.
 
The Islamic State’s changing tactics
 
And now to the Sunni threat. IS, despite aerial attacks by the Americans and their coalition partners, is not stopping. True, its rate of progress is not as rapid as in the good old days of Mosul, but it is still capturing parts of Kobani.
 
How is it possible that even the mighty air power of several armies, led by the US, cannot defeat IS?  The answer, it seems, lies in the tactical level.
 
IS commanders understood that their convoys of Toyota 4x4s are easy prey for American drones and planes, and so they changed their method of transportation. They are able to reach their destinations, but not in such an open manner, using motorcycles and private cars. They also left their black garb in Iraq, along with their identifying flags.
 
Second, they are using various methods to foil the aircrafts’ ability to target them, including burning hundreds of tires in order to create thick smoke above battle areas.
 
Third, and this might be the most problematic for the Americans, the moment IS forces enter urban environments, US pilots — especially those flying fighter jets (as opposed to attack helicopters) — are having trouble distinguishing between friend and foe without direction from the ground.
 
But there is no intention to fix this. US President Barack Obama’s decision not to put boots on the ground, as understandable as it is politically, makes it difficult for the coalition forces.
 
In order to create targets, intelligence is needed. And without the presence of intelligence personnel and special forces on the ground, there is not sufficient information, it turns out, to stop the advance of IS.
 
The White House new closest allies
 
Finally, a word about the allies America chose for herself in the Middle East — Qatar and Turkey — is necessary.
 
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama pose for a photo during a reception at the Metropolitan Museum in New York with His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, and H.H. Sheikha Mozah Consort of H.H. The Emir of the State of Qatar, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009. Photo: Lawrence Jackson / U.S. Department of State / flickr
The Obamas and the Quatar ruler and wife, best friends
They both finance Hamas, and Doha, at least, has helped IS members in the past on one level or another.
 
It’s hard to believe, but the current administration in Washington chose these two countries as partners within the framework of its policy of rapprochement with Arab and Muslim countries generally.
 
This week, National Security Adviser Susan Rice praised Ankara’s decision to allow coalition aircraft to use Turkish airports to attack IS targets. Ankara immediately denied the claim.
 
Furthermore, on Monday, Turkish aircraft attacked the Kurdish underground in southeast Turkey. The only place from which it is possible to transfer supplies to the beleaguered Kurds in Kobani is the Turkish border. But the leaders in Ankara reject this possibility out of hand.
 
It seems that saving their brothers in Gaza is more urgent.
 
 
RELATED
 
QATAR ACCUSED OF FINANCING ISIS and other terrorists - White House, with its conflicted foreign policy, just sold $11 BILLION worth of armaments to Qatar - Al Jazeera was created by Qatar to influence public opinion
Read more
 
October 14, 2014 - Counter-extremism and pro-Israel groups are protesting the first ever London-based conference to encourage European states to trade with Iran following the easing of sanctions.
Read more

April 2014 - While Israel commemorates Holocaust Day, Iran threatens Israel with genocide.
Read more
http://www.thetower.org/0218-netanyahu-iran-threatens-genocide-even-as-israel-marks-holocaust-day/

May 2014 -  Iranian general:  If the US attacks, we'll wipe Israel off the map.  (In other words, we are holding Israel hostage, while we do whatever we want.)
Read more
http://www.timesofisrael.com/iranian-general-vows-to-destroy-israel-if-us-attacks/

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