WikiLeaks: 'Syria would drop Iran for peace with Israel'

I see this as backroom lies.  Assad doesn't want Iran to know he is reaching his hand out... and at the same time he gives friendly signals to people like Pelosi

IDF intelligence official Baidatz: Assad would be willing to pull away from Teheran’s orbit, according to State Dept. cable last year.

via jpost.com

also one could see that Assad was reacting to a few other factors.  Hariri's murder?  perhaps they were attempting to isolate themselves from responsibility.  

During the meeting, Baidatz said that according to Israeli intelligence assessments, if Syria were able to achieve peace with “security” and obtain greater US involvement, it would be willing to pull away from Iran’s orbit.

According to the US cable, Baidatz said that if Syrian President Bashar Assad were forced to choose between peace with Israel and Iran and his “negative assets” – Hamas and Hizbullah – he would choose peace. Such a peace, Baidatz said, would be detrimental for Hizbullah, which relies heavily on Syrian support.

“It would be a gradual process before Hizbullah could completely wean itself from the Syrian support apparatus and that, ultimately, both Hizbullah’s and Iran’s flexibility would be significantly reduced,” Baidatz said, according to the cable.

In the cable from 2009, Baidatz briefed Vershbow on Iran’s nuclear program and said the Islamic Republic was one year away from obtaining a nuclear weapon and two-and-a-half years away from assembling a nuclear arsenal of three weapons. By 2012, Iran would be able to build one weapon within weeks and an arsenal within six months.

The cable, which was approved by Vershbow, included a comment next to Baidatz’s remarks: “It is unclear if the Israelis firmly believe this or are using worst-case estimates to raise greater urgency from the United States.”

Turning to Hizbullah, the Israeli officials warned Vershbow that the Shi’ite guerrilla group was working hand-in-hand with the Lebanese Armed Forces.

“The level of cooperation far exceeds what many assume is simply the day-to-day problem of corruption within the ranks,” the cable summarized the Israeli side as saying.

“On the contrary, Israel believes that LAF/Hizbullah cooperation is a matter of national policy – any information shared with the United Nations Interim Force-Lebanon (UNIFIL) goes directly to Hizbullah by way of the Lebanese Armed Forces.”

The meeting took place in the days before Syria transferred a cache of M600 long-range and accurate surface- to-surface missiles to Hizbullah.

Baidatz told Vershbow that Israel knew about the missile cache in Syria and believed that it was destined for Hizbullah.

“Under such a scenario, the looming question for Israeli policy-makers then becomes: ‘To strike or not to strike?’” Baidatz was paraphrased as saying.

In the end, Israel did not attack the arms convoys to Lebanon, and Hizbullah is believed today to have hundreds of M600s, which have a range of 250 km. and can carry a half-ton warhead.

Bloomberg Splits With Peter King Over Muslim 'Radicalization' Hearings

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., center, said he wants to hold hearings on the "radicalization of the American Muslim community." (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)

via dnainfo.com

I am disappointed with Bloomberg.

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WikiLeaks exposé: Israel tried to coordinate Gaza war with Abbas - Haaretz

Ehud Barak, right, and Mahmoud Abbas speaking during the 23rd congress of the Socialist International in Greece, July 1, 2008.
	Photo by: AP

Ehud Barak, right, and Mahmoud Abbas speaking during the 23rd congress of the Socialist International in Greece, July 1, 2008.

Photo by: AP

Israel tried to coordinate the Gaza war with the Palestinian Authority, classified diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks said on Sunday, adding that both the PA and Egypt refused to take control of the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave.

If nothing else, Wikileaks has revealed that our perception of the Middle East, as formed by both the media and the Obama administration, is faulty.

For one thing, we have discovered that, contrary to the Obama administration, resolving the Palestinian issue takes a back seat to Iran in the eyes of the Arab world.

More recently, Wikileaks documents have indicated those in Lebanon who would help Israel against Iranian puppet Hezbollah.

Now, today comes a document via Wikileaks revealing the degree to which Abbas was willing to work with Israel against Hamas:

Ed Morrissey notes the possible consequences knowing how deeply Abbas cooperated with Israel, consequences that it is doubtful the perpetrators of Wikileaks think through:

Certainly, Abbas’ actions are rational and show him in a better light outside of the cauldron of the Israeli-Palestinian standoff, but it’s not going to be popular on the West Bank by any stretch. It will undermine the PA at a time when the US wants to push hard on peace talks, and make it more difficult than ever to get concessions from Abbas. If the cable itself doesn’t touch off new fighting between Hamas and the PA, a collapse of the peace talks may bring about a new round of intifada. This release goes beyond embarrassment; it will probably cost lives in a manner that might have otherwise been avoided.

via daledamos.blogspot.com

In a June 2009 meeting between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and a U.S. congressional delegation, Barak claimed that the Israeli government "had consulted with Egypt and Fatah prior to Operation Cast Lead, asking if they were willing to assume control of Gaza once Israel defeated Hamas."The whistle-blowing website obtained some 250,000 diplomatic cables between the U.S. and its allies, which Washington had urged the site not to publish.

"Not surprisingly," Barak said in the meeting, Israel "received negative answers from both."

While similar reports of such attempts to link the PA and Egypt to Israel's war with Hamas had already surfaced in the past, the cable released by WikiLeaks on Sunday represents the first documented proof of such a move.

In the document, Barak also expressed his feeling that "the Palestinian Authority is weak and lacks self-confidence, and that Gen. Dayton's training helps bolster confidence."

The meeting which the cable documents took place just days before U.S. President Barack Obama's Cairo speech, and a few weeks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first visit to the United States, a visit which revealed the deep differences between Obama and himself.

The cable also refers to what Barak describes as the debate within the Israeli cabinet in regards to a "development of a response to President Obama's upcoming speech in Cairo."

via haaretz.com

Obama's diplomacy is hurting the people it is meant to help. Arrogance has repercussions.

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Palestinian Media Watch

Palestinian Media Watch's YouTube account was restored last night, I was informed in an email from Itamar Marcus

via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

email from Itamar Marcus, director of the essential site Palestinian Media Watch:

For years there have been PA backers trying to get You Tube to close down the PMW video account by complaining that we are involved in hate speech. Now they succeeded. They complained to the administrators about a farewell video of a suicide terrorist from a few years ago who boasted he would drink the blood of Jews. You Tube sent us notice that this video is "violation of terms" by promoting hate speech and closed our entire account. Most of the hundreds of videos on our web site are not running.

PMW has been excellent at revealing the truth about incitement in the Palestinian Arab media, thoroughly documenting literally hundreds of examples of hate broadcasts and publication in recent years.
It is not easy to find a good email address for YouTube, but I think that the best way to contact them might be "service@youtube.com". You can also try some of their on-line contact information.
Please write to them and let them know how important this resource has been to you and asking that they should reinstate it. Pro-terrorist cyber-bullies should not be able to censor valuable educational resources like PMW.

via elderofziyon.blogspot.com

Palestinian Media Watch is only rebroadcasts. if it is offensive then it is because the Palestinians are. I don't get the thinking of Google at all.

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Bangladeshi Harry Potter Star refuses to give evidence in court, her abusive family walk free.

(Manchester) The Brother and father of 22 years old Afshan Azad, who played Padma Patil in the Harry Potter films walked free from court on charges of Abuse,assault and conspiring to murder after the young film star refused to give evidence because she feared that in doing so, her life would be put at risk.

Trouble for Afshan began when she stated seeing a man, well actually a Hindu man and for doing so her big brave brother decided to give her a good hiding, it was during one such assault that he woke up their father and demanded that he sort out his daughter.Because she was a slag. As he is a true Muslim 53 Abul Azad,instead of defending his younger daughter from the her much older and bigger brother, took his fat bastard of a sons side and told him he would kill his daughter as he didn't want them to get any blood on their hands. Get that a 53 year Muslim living in the Uk was willing to murder his 22 year old daughter because she was seeing somebody she liked.
However because she wouldn't take the stand both of these wankers walked free form court. No doubt they will now be suing for wrongful arrest and the stress of being in court.

via eye-on-the-world.blogspot.com

Religion of peace, tolerance, and justice for women.
At Telegraph UK:

Harry Potter star was beaten, called a ''slag'' and threatened with death after she met a young man who was not a Muslim, a court heard today.

Victim Afshan Azad, 22, played Padma Patil, a classmate of the teenage wizard, in the blockbuster Hollywood films based on the children's books by JK Rowling.
She was assaulted and branded a ''prostitute'' after meeting a young Hindu man, a relationship which brought anger from her father, Abul Azad, 53, and brother, Ashraf, 28, Manchester Crown Court heard.
The frightened actress later fled through her bedroom window after threats were made to kill her.
But despite attempts to get her to come to court for the trial of her father and brother, Miss Azad would not attend voluntarily, the court was told.
Both men were charged with making threats to kill her and her brother was also charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm on his sister.

And at Manchester Evening News, "Brother found guilty of attack on Harry Potter star Afshan Azad over relationship with Hindu man."
RELATED: It's
not the first time that Ms. Azad has been assaulted by her own family

via americanpowerblog.blogspot.com

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McConnell Killed by Rogue Vegetables

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sen. Mitch McConnell (RINO, Ky) was killed today when a rabble of angry vegetables swarmed him outside the Russell Senate Office Building.
Killer tomatoes ripped McConnell limb from limb and fed him to locally grown corn and cucumbers after McConnell turned traitor and helped Democrats pass the Food Safety Bill, outlawing the sale of locally grown vegetables and fruits at food stands.
Local farmers stood by as the vegetables raged, cheering and holding signs with slogans such as “An Ear of McConnell for an Ear of Corn” and “My Squash, Your Face.”
“Last year, more people were killed by automobile accidents, heart attacks, lung cancer, and natural causes combined than by any one tomato,” said one local farmer, adding that one turncoat senator is far more dangerous than the risk any homegrown vegetable poses to the average American.
When told the bill would ruin their chances for school field trips to local fruit stands, children visiting the Capital Building raided a Whole Foods market and pelted McConnell’s remains with Brussel sprouts.
Said one particularly rotund pumpkin from Maryland who joined in the fray, in between bites from one of McConnell’s arms, “This gives a whole new meaning to the saying, ‘Eat Local.’”

via feedyouradhd.blogspot.com

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Obama's Dog Quarantined in Hawaii

Must be a problem with his long-form birth certificate or something.

Even if you're the dog of the president of the United States, you still need to follow the rules. As the Obama family slowly trickles into Hawaii for the holidays (the first lady and first daughters jetted there over the weekend, but the president remains in Washington until Congress wraps up its business), the first dog, who is making his first trip to the island, is subject to the state's quarantine program.
The policy requires a veterinary exam upon landing, and the dog can be released on the same day if previous requirements and documentation have been fulfilled, including a fee, a microchip for identification, a rabies test and two rabies shots in the dog's lifetime (including one within 90 days).

Nice to see the Obamas flying there separately in order to save taxpayer money. Oh wait...

via jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com

Woof!

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Poll Reveals Frightening Popularity of Revolutionary Islamism

There’s a lot of interesting material in the Pew Foundation's latest poll of the Middle East, a survey that focuses on attitudes toward Islamism and revolutionary Islamist groups. The analysis that accompanies the poll, however, is not very good, so here is mine.
For example, in evaluating attitudes toward Hamas and Hizballah, Pew says that they receive “mixed ratings from Muslim publics [while] opinions of al-Qaida and its leader, Usama bin Ladin, are consistently negative….”
Really? Well, in Jordan, for example, 55 percent say they like Hizballah (against 43 percent negative) while 60 percent are favorable (compared to 34 percent negative) toward Hamas. Yet this is even more impressive than the figures indicate. Jordan is a staunchly Sunni country whose government opposes the ambitions of Iran and Syria. Hizballah is a Shia group which also is an agent of Iran and Syria. For a majority to praise that organization—conscious of strong government disapproval—is phenomenal.
The figures for Hamas can be more easily explained by the Palestinian connection. Yet the difference between the two in terms of public opinion isn’t that great. And it also suggests that support for Fatah and the Palestinian Authority—Hamas's rival--must be very low in Jordan. Remember that the majority of Jordanians are also Palestinians.
Why do people support these groups? Obviously, one reason is that they fight Israel (a country with which Jordan is at peace) but sympathy for the revolutionary Islamist aspect of Hamas and Hizballah must be a huge factor here. Indeed, there is not necessarily any conflict between these two aspects. The Islamists are considered to be better fighters than the nationalists, while making war for the next generation is more attractive to those backing Hamas and Hizballah than is making peace. Finally, let’s not forget that both of these groups are very anti-Western and anti-American.
But now let’s look at al-Qaida. In Jordan, 34 percent are favorable toward that terrorist group while 62 percent are negative. That outcome, however, contrary to Pew’s spin on the numbers, is not at all encouraging. Remember that al-Qaida carried out the September 11 attacks. Moreover, it has conducted terrorist attacks in neighboring Iraq and, most important of all, in Jordan itself. The fact that one-third of Jordanians—whose country is generally considered the most pro-Western in the Arab world--like al-Qaida is chilling indeed. Then, too, this preference cannot be attributed to anti-Israel sentiment.
So one-third of Jordan’s people favor the most extremist terrorist group—despite the fact that it has murdered Jordanians—and roughly half or more like revolutionary Islamist organization that are clients of their own country’s nominally biggest threats. What does that say about the hopes for moderation and stability?
Turning to Egypt, “only” 30 percent like Hizballah (66 percent don’t like) 49 percent are favorable toward Hamas (48 percent are negative); and 20 percent smile (72 percent frown) at al-Qaida. This is more encouraging than the figures in Jordan. But remember that not only is Egypt solidly Sunni but the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, the leaders of Islamism in Egypt, don’t like Hizballah because it is a Shia group. The Egyptian government has accused Hizballah of trying to foment terrorism in Egypt. The Egyptian government also views Hamas as a threat.
Roughly speaking, one-fifth of Egyptians applaud the most extreme Islamist terrorist group, while around one-third back revolutionary Islamists abroad. This doesn’t tell us what proportion of Egyptians want an Islamist government at home, but it is an indicator.
And just remember that in two countries considered U.S. allies and receiving U.S. aid, one-third and one-fifth of the population, respectively, support the group that killed 3000 Americans on September 11. The Obama Administration's response is that this is the reason it has to follow certain policies: to win over those who are most antagonistic and to keep others from becoming more radical. The problem is that these policies don't achieve those goals. What determines these views are structural and communal issues within each country.

Here's an example. In Lebanon, attitudes divide along sectarian lines. While 94 percent of Shia Muslims support Hizballah (only 5 percent are negative), 84 percent of Sunnis are unfavorable (only 12 percent are positive) toward it. Christians are 87 percent negative (and only 10 percent positive). This shows why Hizballah cannot just take over Lebanon itself, but of course Lebanon is largely being taken over by Iranian-Syrian power plus their local collaborators, of which Hizballah is only one of the elements.
What are the Lebanese figures on al-Qaida? Only three percent positive and 94 percent negative! Why? Because the Christians and Sunnis don’t want that kind of regime, while the Shias, who tend to support Hizballah’s Islamism, knows that al-Qaida hates Shias.
Finally, here’s a word on Turkey where public opinion is the opposite of that prevailing in Jordan. In Turkey, Only 5 percent like Hizballah (74 percent negative), just 9 percent like Hamas (67 percent unfavorable), and merely 4 percent are positive (74 percent are hostile) on al-Qaida. Yet the current Turkish Islamist regime is a big supporter of Hamas and Hizballah. Clearly, supporting revolutionary Islamist groups—either through Islamism or the fact they are fighting Israel—is simply not popular in Turkey. Hamas and Hizballah don’t even do much better than al-Qaida.
So, Turkey's people are more moderate than its government, while Egypt and Jordan are more radical than theirs.
Let’s look at two other indicators of attitudes: Islamism versus “modernizers” and attitudes toward Islamic punishments. The first point of interest in terms of the great ideological battle is that large proportions of people in these countries deny that such a struggle even exists! Only 20 percent in Jordan, 31 percent in Egypt, 53 percent in Lebanon, and 52 percent in Turkey acknowledge that there is a struggle.
Why is this? One can’t definitively tell. I suspect that they may want to avoid taking sides since they live in countries where democracy doesn’t really prevail and authorities punish dissenters. Or perhaps they think that the Islamists are more capable of conducting modernization or that the current regime is sufficiently Islamic.
Nevertheless, those who said that such a struggle does exist (remember this is between only 20 percent in Jordan to 53 percent in Lebanon of those asked) took the following sides:
Jordan, 48-38 modernizers; Egypt, 59-27 Islamists; Lebanon, 84-15 modernists; Turkey, 74-11 modernists.
Other than the horrifying figures in Turkey—which one day might be cited to explain an Islamist revolution there—the numbers in Jordan are pretty scary as well. Almost 40 percent favor an Islamist regime and they know that doesn’t mean the current monarchy.
How to explain the other two countries? In Lebanon, Hizballah is seen as a champion of the Shia community. It is supported for “ethnic” reasons more than because people want an Islamic Republic. Of course, Sunnis have to take into account that if Lebanon were to become an Islamic Republic it would be a Shia one.
As for Turkey, while the ruling AKP government has a hard core of supporters at roughly 30 percent, even most of these people don’t want an Islamist state, just a more Islamic-oriented one.
Finally there is the attitude toward Islamic punishments. Again, the outcome in Egypt and Jordan is very revealing. In Egypt, 82 percent want stoning for those who commit adultery; 77 percent would like to see whippings and hands cut off for robbery; and 84 percent favor the death penalty for any Muslim who changes his religion.
I would expect that these attitudes don’t differ much from public opinion in Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan.
The figures for Jordan are roughly the same: 70 percent (stoning), 58 percent (whipping/amputation), 86 percent (death for converts).
Again, the numbers for Lebanon and Turkey are quite different:
Lebanon, 23 percent (stoning); 13 percent (whipping/amputation), 6 percent (death for converts)
Turkey, 16 percent (stoning); 13 percent (whipping/amputation), 5 percent (death for converts)
Yet Turkey and Lebanon are ruled by regimes which are in the Islamist camp, that is, they view themselves as close to the Iran-Syria-Hamas-Hizballah alliance.
What all of this analysis shows is that a future Islamist revolution in Egypt and Jordan is quite possible. So overwhelming is the support for this movement that there is nothing the West can do except ensure the current governments remain in power. As for Lebanon, there is a strong basis for resisting incorporation into the Iran-Syria empire, and in Turkey—where there are free elections—the current regime might well be overthrown.
Remember that Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab governments—notably Saudi Arabia—are so opposed to Iran not only because they hate that country’s non-Arab, Shia, radical Islamist standpoint, but also since they fear its growing power will set off revolutions within their own countries.
The bottom line is that in all four of these countries the radical Islamist, side is winning. And the West is basically asleep in recognizing that threat.

This article was published on PajamasMedia. I have included the full text here with improvements for your convenience.
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via rubinreports.blogspot.com

Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). The website of the GLORIA Center is at http://www.gloria-center.org and of his blog, Rubin Reports, http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com.

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