Tag Archives: middle east

FTAC – Questions on the Portent of Conflict in the Middle East

06 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by in FTAC - From The Awesome Conversation, Islamic Small Wars, Middle East

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The scapegoating of the Jews : KSA vs Iran / Sunni vs Shiite : medieval conflict vs modern transition (with other cultural essentials intact) should probably be on the table for discussion all at once, for they seem to me inseparable issues.

Is security in the ME a “balance of power” issue? Are conflicts in the region about imposing one will or another on large populations? Or are they about “updating” — i.e., seeing things very differently?

Is ISIS a Sunni enterprise reinforcing Sunni vs Shiite animus — or is it an entity that needs to be fought by Sunni, Shiite, Christian, and other forces in concert?

In which world should a reader wish to live?

The one of deceit dividing others from self — or the one of integrity in which a virtue is a universal virtue?

A world modeled on “all against all” and certain to find cause for further division and means toward a nefarious discrimination and patronage — or the other that is “all for all” and against those who foment division and promote conflict between what they divide?

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Remembrance

02 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by in Politics

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http://youtu.be/oVZjyyAE-78

Created in 2008 – posted to YouTube – 3/25/2013.

http://youtu.be/VBFidU6RIxM

Published on Dec 27, 2014

Unverified video uploaded to social networking sites purports to show fighting near Syria’s Yarmouk refugee camp, where Palestinians.

In this report, posted on the Internet on November 22, 2014 by the Palestinian Diaspora Media Center, refugees at the Yarmouk camp in Syria show how they pro.

Opposition activists say Syrian warplanes launched rockets at the Palestinian refugee camp known as Yarmouk.

At least 25 people have been killed in the Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus. Syrian fighter-bombers fired at least one miss.

Red Brown . . . a little less Green, perhaps.

Published on Oct 9, 2014

In this moving video, NATO Review looks inside the KGB prison where Latvians were locked up, tortured or killed. We hear how today’s leading Latvians were affected by Soviet occupation. And we ask if they see echoes in today’s Russian aggression.

Additional Reference

Pierce, Anne R.  “Beware ISIS strategy that fortifies Russia, Iran, and Syria.”  The Washington Times, March 2, 2015.

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Diminished Syria

20 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Middle East, Politics

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The playing in Syria of a bloody chess match — or poker with three jokers wild — has produced a humanitarian catastrophe now coldly reflected in big numbers: more than 200,000 dead; more than 9 million internally displaced and refugee.

As a stalemate from the git-go — post-Soviet Russia vs NATO, the feudal world vs the modern — and held there by nuclear danger, Putin-Assad-Khamenei’s hands have transformed an authentic people’s revolution — call it a democratic socialist revolution, an anti-totalitarian revolution for classical liberalism — into an immensely tragic put-on featuring on the state’s side a tyrant and in much of the opposition the tyrants of the al-Qaeda-type organizations.

(On this blog, ISIS is a Khamenei proxy by way of direct bribes or subterfuge, and, one way or the other, its presence may be maintained as long as it serves Iranian diplomacy, war strategy, and the business that has been made of the want of infinite “narcissistic supply” — i.e., contemplated later glory).

Perhaps this way an endgame comes:

  • US-NATO has cut the revenues of oil-dependent states and their proxies;
  • US-NATO appears to have gotten Hezbollah consumed with striking Israel, which perverse shift in focus may signal gathering weakness in Assad’s military outlook (perhaps if he’s going down, he wants to see Israel hurt while he’s falling);
  • US-NATO has laid some groundwork for rebuilding a moderate army for Syria, one capable of destroying both the fattened red-brown capitalists and the jumpy green meanies of jealousy’s jihad that have made Syria the world’s capital of limitless suffering.

By when?

Not so fast.

It takes time to assemble parts, build machinery, and move the machinery around — and not only for the “small war” — always: if it’s in your own neighborhood, it is all the war in the world! — but for greater and more dismal possibilities as well.

Excerpts and Reference

The consequences of missing oil revenue for IS are severe. IS is unlikely to decrease funding for its military operations so it will have to find ways to simultaneously cut costs elsewhere and raise new revenue — and both methods are likely to jeopardize popular support for the group.

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-impact-of-the-oil-collapse-on-isis-is-severe-2015-1 – 1/15/2015.

But the good times may now be over for Hezbollah and its supporters. Iranian oil profits, which have lubricated the proxy group with hundreds of millions of dollars a year, appear to be drying up. Western sanctions, imposed on Tehran due to its nuclear program, coupled with falling oil prices, have emptied the coffers of the Islamic Republic.

http://www.newsweek.com/2015/01/23/hezbollah-going-broke-299139.html – 1/15/2015

Hezbollah’s fear is that all that weaponry will be lost if Assad falls. One wonders, lost to whom? The Muslim Brotherhood? Al-Qaeda operatives in Syria? Since both the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda are reported moving quickly into the mayhem and becoming part of the opposition mix, this strategic weaponry, including stockpiles of chemical weapons and long-range missiles, could fall into the hands of any of these terrorist groups, as the Syrian regime disintegrates.

http://www.maozisrael.org/site/News2?id=9174 “Why Syria’s Assad Can’t Stop Killing His Own People.” – March 2012.

With no American combat boots on the ground and limited intelligence, the U.S. is struggling to have an impact there against Islamic State militants or the Assad regime.

One of the biggest hurdles for the U.S. training program for Syrian rebels is identifying and vetting individuals to train. Defense officials said earlier this month that the U.S. is working closely with other U.S. government agencies as well as partner nations to find rebel fighters who would be candidates for the program.

http://www.defenseone.com/threats/2015/01/us-send-400-trainers-and-hundreds-more-troops-syrian-train-and-equip-mission/103068/ – 1/15/2015.

Jihad Mughniyeh, son of former Hezbollah chief Imad Mugniyeh, as well as 11 others were killed in the airborne attack, including six Iranians, one of them a general. Iranian state sources confirmed the identity of the senior Revolutionary Guard officer, naming him as General Mohamed Allahdadi. Another key figure killed in the attack was identified as Mohammed Issa, the head of Hezbollah’s operation in war-torn Syria and Iraq.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Strike-against-Hezbollah-was-an-intelligence-and-operational-success-ex-Shin-Bet-chief-says-388313 – 1/20/2015.

Assad’s war against his people, attacks of terrorist groups, and the trauma of ordinary Syrians have gone unnoticed while the global leaders quickly gathered in Paris to condemn the killing of 12 journalists, which is of course an atrocious and condemnable act, but the same world is turning a blind eye and is not reacting to the daily killings by poisonous gases, explosions and missiles.

The inability of the international community to act has turned the Syrian issue into a huge humanitarian crisis.

http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/views/editor-in-chief/317263/the-suffering-of-syrian-refugees – 1/18/2015.

Additional Reading

http://nypost.com/2014/12/07/an-iran-russia-axis/ – 12/7/2014.

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FTAC – “Obummah Rhymes with “Jimmuh” – A Note on the Opaque Administration

22 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by in Islamic Small Wars, Political Spychology, Politics

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“Obummuh” rhymes with “Jimmuh”, it’s true, but the Administration has been opaque as regards the distance between surface impression and authentic Administration policy. To get at the authentic takes some Washington-style research — down into the world of wonks, Jane’s and other specialized publications, and probably some grip-and-grin plus elbow bending and rubbing with the Georgetown set — only partially available online.

This took place in January: http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-iranian-citizen-caught-smuggling-f-35-plans-to-tehran/ There’s a saga behind the headline and much related that few want to cover and even fewer wish to read about.

Regarding ISIS, the best rumor I’ve heard is Iran’s VEVAK may have been able to blackmail some Saudi and Qatari private wealth into seeding ISIS, expecting in the long run to give ISIS the Great Sunni-Shiite war it wants and thereby ennoble and enlarge the Ayatollah’s image of himself and Iran. 🙂

The hypotheses get a bit mad.

I don’t like the idea that “What ISIS scours, Qatar will devour”, but that too looks like a possibility, one buttressed by an $11 billion arms sale to Qatar.

Perhaps following the principle of “least war possible”, getting the “world left behind” on to the western program may be Washington’s chief headache best owned by Washington’s chief.

Having set out to learn what one might glean about things online, I’ve learned one can learn a lot from “yesterday’s news” combined with old fashioned library-style reading that helps structure and integrate the narratives formed by news clips.

The inside-the-beltway journos involved in political spychology, however, have great advantage in being able to at least park, briefly, at Langley, hoof it down to Foggy Bottom, stop by the National Press Club, and refresh with ears alert in the Georgetown bars.  Such jealousy may be more literary than functional, but, alas, I’m somewhere else where it’s quiet and one may read quietly and without interruption, leaving outlooks right and left to climb up the branches they know before the “Wait a minute — let’s look again” sets in.

ISIS et al may represent piracy cloaked by a pretentious delusion anchored in the Islamic discourse.

Khamenei has built a $94 billion enterprise — Setad — beneath aegis of the “Islamic Devilution” and his station: does he regard himself as a thief? Whether he does or not, the Setad story is a pirate’s story and related political repression on one hand and patronage on the other only underscore it.

Putin, imho, reminds that there is the secular version of the same thing. The Colonel President Emperor (apparent) beneath the Russian Nationalist banner handily plunders the state’s wealth in production and its productive potential while the Russian economy contracts and Russians suffer along with capital flight — or the failure of new capital to arrive.

I’m not going to post a whole (my sided) conversation, but here one may feel that BackChannels has found its theme in political science.  Clearly: the despotic and kleptocratic latched together in common “malignant narcissism” are enjoying a very good ride along the Russo-Iranian crest, and God only knows, truly, how similar psychology and political psychology on the side of immense Sunni wealth and privilege may be navigating similar but perhaps different autocratic interests.

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FTAC – ME – Comment – Political Absolutism

13 Monday Oct 2014

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, FTAC - From The Awesome Conversation, Islamic Small Wars, Political Psychology, Politics

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The alternative axis of power — “Putin-Assad-Khamenei”, which may be more accurately expressed as “Khamenei-Putin-Assad” — is predicated entirely on the destruction of Jewish ethics, morality, and thought that has contributed mightily to the intellectual construction of the Judeo-Christian / Greco-Roman west. The west did not start out where it has arrived, but where it has arrived — equal rights, human rights, rule of law (rather than of men), democracy rather than despotism, etc. — stands as an affront to piratical dictatorships worldwide. Catch on and hang on or let go and get lost (so ISIS — bank robbers, plunderers extraordinaire — can pick you up) that sense of dignity in self and dignity in others might well be, ultimately, the “gift of the Jews”, from Moses to Muhammad in those parts speaking to the “better angels of our nature”. Putin, Assad, Khamenei are each believers in political absolutism. So is Baghdaddi. They may not know that they are really fighting together on the same side.

The tropes are going to take over, e.g., “Putin-Assad-Khamenei: together they are defending political absolutism.”

There’s some truth in them.

Perhaps they – so many repeated kernels, ideas, and puns – just need a page of their own.

Be that as it may, conflict involving “the west” may ultimately devolve to democracy vs despotism.

The details may be complicated, God knows, but the theme may be also just that simple.

Either have a voice in the governance of one’s geopolitical space — or not; either be free among those free to say yes and no to life’s challenges and opportunities — or be enslaved and have a host of decisions already made for you.  Such choosing between good and evil should be stark, but for some torn between a lonely idealism and the seductions set out by tyrants — or promoted by their agents, manipulations, and money — such choosing becomes deeply confused.

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A Comment on Anti-Semitic Reportage

26 Tuesday Aug 2014

Posted by in Anti-Semitism, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Journalism

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Their example?

….in 2009 a Swedish report came out exposing some Israeli troops of selling organs of Palestinians who died in their custody.

(Around the 1:15 mark of the video.)

The reference is to a completely made up tabloid style article in an obscure Swedish paper, that even the author admitted was not based on any evidence.

http://honestreporting.com/time-magazine-accuses-idf-of-stealing-palestinian-organs/ 8/24/2014.

Time Magazine excised the truth-offending portion of its video, which continues to play at the bottom of the Honest Reporting piece cited.

How did that error in judgment occur in the first place?

It may be too soon to suggest that Prince al-Waleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holdings investment in Time-Warner has gravitational pull down in the news room, but we may be getting to the point where the public will want to know more about how journalists write the news and with what level of balance, introspection, and integrity.

Related: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2014/08/25/bias-blood-libels-and-the-medias-race-to-the-bottom/ 8-25/2014.

There has been much discussion recently of Hamas attempts to intimidate reporters. Any veteran of the press corps here knows the intimidation is real, and I saw it in action myself as an editor on the AP news desk. During the 2008-2009 Gaza fighting I personally erased a key detail—that Hamas fighters were dressed as civilians and being counted as civilians in the death toll—because of a threat to our reporter in Gaza. (The policy was then, and remains, not to inform readers that the story is censored unless the censorship is Israeli. Earlier this month, the AP’s Jerusalem news editor reported and submitted a story on Hamas intimidation; the story was shunted into deep freeze by his superiors and has not been published.)

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/183033/israel-insider-guide?all=1 – 8/26/2014.

Matti Friedman’s story for Tablet has been getting around the web this morning. Breathtaking in scope, Friedman’s tell-all turns media policy in the Gaza-based Hamas-driven conflict inside-out. A recent Cif Watch article relayed here played up the highlights.

Journalism ethics professors and historians take note: You are bearing witness, with few exceptions, to some of the most abysmal overseas reporting since Hearst’s New York Journal in 1898 got us into the Spanish-American War and Walter Duranty of the New York Times was ignoring Stalin’s crimes in the 1930s. “We’re not just talking bad journalism,” says Weiss. “We’re talking about journalism that functions as a tool of a terrorist organization, Hamas: breathlessly pushing its narrative, whether cowed by its threats, sympathetic to its cause, or simply ignorant.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/richardbehar/2014/08/21/the-media-intifada-bad-math-ugly-truths-about-new-york-times-in-israel-hamas-war/ – 8/21/2014.

Fareed Zakaria: “Hezbollah’s view on the renovation goes like this. “We respect divine religions, including the Jewish religion. The problem is with Israel’s occupation of Arab lands … not with the Jews.” Food for thought.” (http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2010/08/22/gps.last.look.synagogue.cnn.html – 8/22/2010).

CAMERA: “Zakaria’s indirect main point may have been about the NYC mosque. But his more immediate point — that Hezbollah respects the Jews and is merely opposed to Israel’s “occupation of Arab lands” — dramatically misinformed viewers about the radical and anti-Semitic nature of the Lebanese terror group. Hezbollah has repeatedly made clear not only its opposition to Israel’s very existence, but also its contempt for Jews.” (http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=3&x_outlet=14&x_article=1912 – 8/26/2010).

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Abu Omar al-Shishani: (6:50) “Christians are welcome to khilafa.  They only pay protection money.” (Interview dated: 8/18/2014).

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Hezbollah mouthpiece or ISIS commander, it appears such Jihad Muslims must have always the upper hand, ownership of the universe, and, back on earth, the plundering and subjugation of all others.

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Despite Zakaria’s defense of Hezbollah’s alleged decency as regards freedom of religion, “contempt for Jews” would seem matched elsewhere along the same Islamist seam by contempt for Christians.  Of course, the matter of “dhimmitude” is well known in association with “Islamic Jihad” whether Shiite- or Sunni-based.  Why a western writer should wish to diminish its import and promote Hezbollah as the soul of a generous humanity begs for answers.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting (CAMERA) has an archive of incidents involving Fareed Zakaria’s journalism.  The latest involves Zakaria asserting that Israel has interfered with the latest scheduled elections on the “West Bank”, as direct an act of misdirection through language as is possible.  The Washington Post filed a straightforward correction on the matter.  CAMERA noted that Zakaria could not bring himself to state the same plainly but preferred to send yet another arrow at Israel.

Fast blogging merely marks a note on the day’s passing news.

Beneath the pain and smoke of conflict, it takes investigation along audit lines to ferret out relationships between state-level adversaries and their activities — direct propaganda, influence on general reportage, ownership and sponsorship of academic assets — campuses, institutions, departments and their research funding — and that may be beyond both my pocketbook and purview.  Whether it’s noodling around the Internet on “Iran, Zakaria” or outlining the contours of the International Solidarity Movement, as much demands focused time on a system that moves at light speed.

All of which may be my way of complaining, “Ain’t no low hanging fruit no more”.

🙂

Whether with Time Magazine publishing in a video an updated anti-Semitic “blood libel” or Fareed Zakariah praising the love and moderation toward Jews exhibited by Hezbollah (oy vey!), I would like to know what has compelled or influenced that gaslighting happy faced lunacy.

Related Reference

Home

http://honestreporting.com/

ADL. “Iran’s Press TV: Broadcasting Anti-Semitism To English Speaking World” – 10/17/2013.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-front-of-cnn-hundreds-protest-anti-israel-media-bias/ – 8/8/2014.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/richardbehar/2014/08/21/the-media-intifada-bad-math-ugly-truths-about-new-york-times-in-israel-hamas-war/ – 8/21/2014.

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Guest Blog by Naima Nas – Revolutionary Egypt Today

02 Friday May 2014

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Egypt, Islamic Small Wars, Middle East, Politics, Regions

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Had the military in all its might been out there to punish or kill, the death toll would have been in the hundreds of thousands, period!

That is really all anyone needs to understand.

After weeks of pleading with the Morsi’s supporters to call it a day and join in as a possible element of the proposed solution to prevent a repeat of Syria ever taking place in Egypt, it all fell on deaf ears.

Egyptian writer Naima Nas had caught me in a stupid lie this morning on Facebook: a buddy in New Zealand had posted on the site a photograph of a half naked man being dragged through the streets with his ankles tied and hitched behind a motorbike in some godforsaken middle eastern context.  Someone had drawn with a red pen a circle around the motorbike rider’s face and assigned the image to counterrevolutionary barbarism during the Second Egyptian Revolution, that which brought down President Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood regime.

The message implicit in the promotion of the picture: the biker was the kind of bad dude apprehended by the Egyptian military and placed on the receiving end of recent mass death penalty decisions summarily doled out by Egyptian courts.

One problem: the photograph appears to have originated with an Hamas-oriented biker gang in relation to the execution of half a dozen persons suspected of spying for Israel (to see the series, web search “man dragged by motorbike, Gaza”).

I apologized for my too rapid “view-like-share” routine on Facebook that inadvertently promoted propaganda.

Apology accepted.

Here in the new neojournalism of the blogosphere, both informal pass-along and more considered analysis rely on mediated data — not what the writer-blogger-tweeter saw happen in the street, but what he saw of a recording of what happened in the street.

The difference between “being there” and almost being there through media is immense.

With observations like that in mind, I offered Ms. Nas, an Egyptian writing today from the United Kingdom, space on BackChannels.  She knows her homeland, and while she may travel from it at times, it remains where she lives.

The latest a few hours ago dated from August 17 last year, so I suggested an update on the revolution to repair the revolution.  The rapidly supplied response follows (edited heavily for look, lightly for voice, and otherwise left alone), and I’ve included an excerpt from the August piece as well.

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So What is Going on Now in Egypt?

by
Naima Nas
May 2, 2014
 
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The disagreement between Egyptians as pro coup and anti coup intensifies.

It was not a coup but anyway! The human right activists despair. The number of suspects guilty or otherwise increases. The world leaders sway between support and condemnation. Etc, etc etc!

The only common denominator in all this, are the Egyptians whose lives are getting worse than terrible: the poor street vendors who just want to get through the day with enough to feed their children; the parents who are terrified to send their children to school in areas that have turned into a circus; the old pensioners who can’t afford to be knocked down in a crowd; and the women who are scared silly of being any where near a crowd.

I won’t bore you with what the reality of living in Egypt through hard times means and I will be very brief.

Yes, the intervention of the military in July was not an approved democratic procedure.

Yes, mature and real democracies have a process in place as an alternative to a strong group taking control. No, that was not an option in Egypt in July. And no, the military did not impose the situation.

The majority of Egyptians had had enough and needed the protection,from one another other if needs be.

And the military is the only one we trust with such a mission.

Had the military in all its might been out there to punish or kill, the death toll would have been in the hundreds of thousands, period!

That is really all anyone needs to understand.

After weeks of pleading with the Morsi’s supporters to call it a day and join in as possible element of the proposed solution to prevent a repeat of Syria ever taking place in Egypt, it all fell on deaf ears. With a nation paralised from the neck down there really was no option but to enforce an end of the weeks-long stand still.

The rest really is commentary, each tragic day leading to another.

We can spend hours listing who did what, when, to whom, and how, but that would be a waste of time.

The short version is this: it needs to stop.

The country needs to start functioning again, recover, and rebuild.

That requires a strong and trusted leadership that can inspire everyone.

No, I did not wish the presidency on the Sisi.

It is not a gift, it is an all consuming burden. Yes, we did beg him to take it on and thank God he did agree. You dont have to like him, you dont have to agree with me either, but you should understand that is/will be our choice.

Yes there are many people who do not agree with that; however, whatever the reason for disagreement is, the view is limited.

It is only with a bird’s eye view that Egypt can make sense — and the bird’s eye view is simply this: we cannot afford a civil war; we cannot afford another non-productive day; and we cannot afford the tailor made reports designed to shock the world over the “human rights” of one person when it suits, ignoring the human right of millions in the blind spot.

Negative!

Sorry!

So what now?

Well it is exams season, so how about the students go home and study something, the unemployed pick up a brush and clean something, the skilled, pick up a tool and fix something, and the rest of us will see if we can ask for amnesty for all whose hands are not still dripping with blood.

We need to get back on track, not with more protests but with work.

Egyptians have a lot of work to do, and none of it will be done in a permanent state of revolution.

It is simply not sustainable.

It is time to stop shouting and start doing.

And that is what is going on in Egypt.

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Excerpt from “What is Going On In Egypt?”  Naima Nas, August 17, 2013

. . . . Millions –actual millions- of Egyptians were in the streets on the 30th of June 2013 effectively putting an end to the existing government.

–“That is not very democratic”

–“They are not allowed to do that” many decreed.

Well guess what?

They, the Egyptian People, did it!

They exercised their right to take back the power they surrendered via an election box, sealed it with an even larger number authorizing a new representative, and in doing so they added a brand new chapter to the book on democracy, a chapter the west is still debating whether or not it should be added.

Take your time there is no rush!

Now the paradox: we the Egyptians were –subconsciously at least- inspired by a tiny detail the government relied upon when attempting to rule, a very small point in Islamic/Eastern Law.

Now you are really confused!?

Let me explain: the same principle that forbids revolt against a fair and just ruler does permit the refusal to obey if the majority agrees he is neither fair nor just. The majority of Egyptians are Muslims who have understood that on a very deep level.  And here is the icing on this exquisite cake. Amongst that majority there is a significant minority that is not Muslim yet still very Eastern and very Egyptian possibly even more Egyptian: our Coptic brothers. Their lives were not getting any better under that farcical performance, nor was it going to, so they hardly needed convincing. The outcome was possibly the most democratic action in a modern nation, as you have never seen before.

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Israel – Iran – Shipment Intercepted – Context Enlarged

10 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Iran, Iraq, Islamic Small Wars, Israel, Politics, Regions, Russia, Syria

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Iran’s Intercepted Weapons Shipment Unloaded in Israel – YouTube – 3/9/2014.

Related: Who is the elite Iranian force behind arms transfers? – Israel News, Ynetnews – 3/7/2014.

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Bill of lading: 40 M-302 rockets, 180 mortar shells, 400,000 7.62 (NATO) rounds.

Iran’s Weapons Shipment Safely in Israel’s Hands • IDF Blog | The Official Blog of the Israel Defense Forces – 3/9/2014.

Related: #IranFail: Iran’s History of Unsuccessful Weapons Smuggling – 3/5/2014.

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On one hand, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani continues to engage the international community in a diplomatic process over Tehran’s nuclear program. He has achieved many successes in a charm offensive designed to rebrand his country as a reasonable and more moderate international player.

Simultaneously, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and its overseas special operation unit, the Quds Force, are strengthening, financing, and arming terrorist organizations all over the Middle East.

Iran’s Two-faced Regime Exposed Again, but is Anyone Paying Attention? (Gatestone)

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Iran, at a glance, has been sewing conflict around the middle east, building its own energy industry, establishing itself as a nuclear power — well, no one has yet stalled that ambition or dampened the regime’s enthusiasm for achieving it — and it illustrates its efforts in blood, or else why release Hezbollah to defend and sustain the brutality of the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad?  Against that sweeping influence in regional payola and arms shipments, Israel’s recent interdiction of arms intended for Gaza provides but a glimpse of Ayatollah Khamenei’s greater ambitions as the middle east’s greatest Lord of War.

Additional Reference

Israel to show long-range rockets from ‘Iran arms ship’ – Daily News Egypt

Israel says confiscated rockets had 100-mile range | Fox News

Blog: Giving peace a chance the Iranian way

‘Rows of Iranian rockets’ said found on seized ship | The Times of Israel – 3/9/2014.

Iranian influence, Iraq: US, Iranian influence evolves in Iraq – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East – 11/28/2013; Ten years after Iraq war began, Iran reaps the gains – Los Angeles Times – 3/28/2013.

Iranian influence, Lebanon: Iran Gloats over Ashes of American Influence « Commentary Magazine – 1/3/2014; Iran Uses Lebanese to Project Its Regional Power | Foundation for Defense of Democracies – 4/11/2013.

Iranian influence, Syria: Iranian Strategy in Syria | Institute for the Study of War – May 2013; Will Iran Use its Political Influence in Syria to Halt the Violence? | Majid Rafizadeh – 1/25/2014; Iran, Syria: Smuggling Weapons to Gain Influence in the West Bank | Stratfor – 8/9/2013; It’s Iran, Stupid – Foreign Policy – 2/12/2014.

Nuclear Deal Only Strengthens Iran As Regional Power | Anav Silverman – 11/25/2013.

Iran nuclear deal may be start of new era in Persian Gulf – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East – 12/1/2013.

Iran’s Flourishing Regional Influence | Science & Diplomacy – 7/15/2013.

Iran Rallies To Salvage Iraq’s Al Maliki Government – 6/4/2012; Iran opposition charges Iraq’s Al Maliki allowing open attacks on Camp Liberty | World Tribune – 2/2/2014: “LONDON ― Iraq has been accused of giving the Teheran regime a free hand to attack the exiled Iranian opposition. / The National Council of Resistance of Iran said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki was allowing Iran to strike the exiled opposition community around Baghdad.” —>

http://youtu.be/berrAzdYHPA

Iraq – 26.12.2013 Missile attack on Iranian dissident Camp Liberty – YouTube – 12/27/2013:

At 21:15 local time Iraq, on December 26, 2013, Camp Liberty was targeted by dozens of missiles of different types. In the early hours 3 members of the Iranian resistance were slain and more than 50 were reported injured, some in critical condition.

This is the fourth missile attack on Iranian dissidents in Camp Liberty (Iraq) in 2013, while the Iraqi government has not yet delivered the bodies of those massacred during the September 1, 2013 attack on Camp Ashraf, to Liberty residents for burial.

While American President Barrak Obama gives diplomacy and peace a chance over Iran’s developing nuclear weapons building potential, Ayatollah Khamenei’s efforts to produce influence and obtain it throughout the region has been also developing unobstructed.  With that in mind, Israel’s interception of a lone arms shipment doubtless intended to arm Hamas for the destruction of the Jewish-majority state represents but a small interruption in the Ayatollah’s efforts to turn a large wheel, a wheel that, in fact, has turned.

Related: The Troika: Putin, Khamenei and Assad | Michael Ledeen – 9/11/2013; Ayatollah Khamenei and Vladimir Putin – The Daily Beast – 9/26/2011.

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