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Caroline Glick—A vastly changed Middle East:
A week and a half ago, Syria’s Kurds announced they are setting up an autonomous region in northeastern Syria.
The announcement came after the Kurds wrested control over a chain of towns from al-Qaida in the ever metastasizing Syrian civil war.
The Kurds’ announcement enraged their nominal Sunni allies – including the al-Qaida forces they have been combating – in the opposition to the Assad regime. It also rendered irrelevant US efforts to reach a peace deal between the Syrian regime and the rebel forces at a peace conference in Geneva.
But more important than what the Kurds’ action means for the viability of the Obama administration’s Syria policy, it shows just how radically the strategic landscape has changed and continues to change, not just in Syria but throughout the Arab world.
The revolutionary groundswell that has beset the Arab world for the past three years has brought dynamism and uncertainty to a region that has known mainly stasis and status quo for the past 500 years. For 400 years, the Middle East was ruled by the Ottoman Turks. Anticipating the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, the British and the French quickly carved up the Ottoman possessions, dividing them between themselves. What emerged from their actions were the national borders of the Arab states – and Israel – that have remained largely intact since 1922.
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US Secretary of State, foreign ministers gather in Geneva for nuclear talks
US, Iran still hopeful for deal in Geneva nuclear talks
Iran, six powers struggle to overcome snags in nuclear talks
Foreign Ministry braces for international condemnation of Prawer plan
Abbas says willing to address Knesset on own terms
Cairo protesters mark 100 days since pro-Morsi sit-ins
Ya’alon: Nuclear Iran could plant dirty bomb anywhere in West
Liberman: Developing ties with other countries will strengthen Israel-US relations
Syrian civil war refugees held in Egypt begin hunger strike
Ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionist community flees Quebec for Iran
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Senior General: US in Greatest Danger Since 1930s
Rouhani to the West: Ignore Israel, Sign a Deal
Liberman to Int’l Community: Do Not Enable Iran
U.S. Remains Hopeful for Deal with Iran
Abbas: I’m Willing to Come to the Knesset, But…
UWI’s ‘Stop Iran’ Initiative Hit by Cyber-Attack
Lebanon Identifies Terrorist from Beirut Attack
Saudi Arabia Urges Citizens to Flee Lebanon
Hamas Looking to Buy More Electricity From Israel
Ex-MK Ben Ari: Council for Pollard has Failed Him
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Israeli-Iranian DJ group spins for peace in Berlin
Iran talks at ‘final moment,’ says China
Iran reportedly claiming world has recognized its ‘right to enrich uranium’
Liberman: Letting Iran enrich uranium will set off regional nuclear race
Ya’alon rails against Iran deal as 3rd day of nuclear talks begins
Youth who threatened passengers arrested at airport
Strange new apps let you slaughter sheep and ‘play’ the Holocaust
Brandeis president ‘reaches out’ to al-Quds counterpart in row over Jihad rally
US House looks to enhance commitment to Israel’s military edge
Among JFK’s Jewish mourners was Oswald’s killer
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Imminent Iran Nuclear Deal Unlikely as Foreign Ministers Cancel Flights to Geneva
Report: In Moscow, Netanyahu Asks Putin to Take Lead From Obama in Iran Negotiations
Putin, Netanyahu Discuss Iran Nuclear Agreement
Russia to Design Two Space Probes for Israel
Netanyahu: The Real Iran Is Chanting “Death to America, Death to Israel”
Khamenei: “We Fight Against the Arrogance. The U.S. Is on the Top of the Arrogance in the World”
ObamaCare 2014: 100 Million Policy Cancellations
New York Times Report says White House in ‘Crisis Mode,’ President ‘seething’
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Charles Krauthammer: “Sucker’s Deal”— A president desperate to change the subject and a secretary of state desperate to make a name for himself are reportedly on the verge of an “interim” nuclear agreement with Iran. France called it a “sucker’s deal.” France was being charitable. The only reason Iran has come to the table after a decade of contemptuous stonewalling is that economic sanctions have cut so deeply — its currency has collapsed, inflation is rampant — that the regime fears a threat to its very survival. Nothing else could move it to negotiate. Regime survival is the only thing the mullahs value above nuclear weapons. And yet precisely at the point of maximum leverage, President Obama is offering relief in a deal that is absurdly asymmetric: The West would weaken sanctions in exchange for cosmetic changes that do absolutely nothing to weaken Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
Michael Herzog and Emily Landau: Assessing the P5+1 Talks with Iran—Michael Herzog: The buzz in the region is about lack of U.S. resolve, that the U.S. is not sufficiently reliable here, and that the international community is eager to go for a deal, even if it is a problematic deal. This leads to two main developments. First, Gulf states are reaching out to Israel for dialogue because they fear not only Iran’s nuclear program, but Iran being allowed to continue with its hegemonic ambitions, even being emboldened by the deal, and that they will be left alone to deal with it. Second, you see regional states now reaching out to other international actors aside from the U.S. You see Egypt talking with Russia about a major arms deal; you see Turkey considering China for a major air defense system; you Saudi Arabia developing ties with France.
David Gardner: Russia Cannot Replace America in the Middle East—The hardening conviction among America’s Arab and Israeli allies that the U.S. is no longer a reliable partner in the Middle East is prompting speculation about a Russian comeback there, 41 years after President Anwar Sadat kicked 20,000 Soviet military advisers out of Egypt. The U.S. moment in the Middle East may be ending, but it is hard to believe Russia can replace it. Even in the Soviet era, Russia never managed to be much more than a spoiler. Now, with its economy built on little more than oil and in the second division of technology, it is a subprime power. And nobody prefers Russian to U.S. weapon systems. The U.S., moreover, is finding it cannot just disengage. John Kerry, its top diplomat, does not get to pivot to Asia much these days.
John Bolton: Desperate for a Deal—Beyond whatever specific terms emerge this week in Geneva, the West’s efforts to negotiate with Iran are doomed to failure because the parties’ objectives are utterly incompatible. Obama sees negotiations as deflecting the threat of Iranian nuclear weapons. Iran sees them as helping ensure success for that very weapons program. Iran’s nuclear program has never been peaceful. Evaluating the terms of the upcoming interim deal is beside the point. The negotiation process itself buys Iran both time to continue its nuclear-weapons activities and international legitimacy.
David Horovitz: Israel Has Concluded There Is No Credible American Military Option—Israel always knew the Obama Administration was all about “engagement” and that it would keep open the door to a diplomatic arrangement with Iran almost indefinitely. But there were those in Jerusalem who did not rule out an American resort to force, under certain circumstances, until the Syrian chemical weapons crisis over the summer. At that juncture, the horrified American public and Congressional reaction to the prospect of imminent conflict with Syria further hardened the Administration’s determination to do whatever it could to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis without resorting to force. Since then, Israel has broadly concluded that there is no credible American military option.
Michael Rubin: Decoding Khamenei’s “Heroic Flexibility”—Much of the optimism that Iran is sincere in its desire to reach a nuclear accord is based on the assumption that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei backs President Hassan Rouhani’s diplomatic initiative. But the notion that Khamenei’s call for “heroic flexibility” equates with endorsement of a diplomatic solution misreads Khamenei. Khamenei clarified the meaning of “heroic flexibility,” telling Basij commanders on Nov. 20: “Some interpreted ‘heroic flexibility’ as letting go of the system’s principles and ideals….These claims are contrary to reality and are an incorrect understanding.” “Heroic flexibility means an artful maneuver and utilizing various methods to achieve the various goals and ideals of the Islamic system.”
Michael Oren: Why Netanyahu Won’t Yield—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been labeled a warmonger, a wolf-crier and an opponent of peace at any price because of his policies on Iran. Why would he risk international isolation and friction with crucial allies? And why, as some commentators assert, would Netanyahu jeopardize a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear threat and drag his country – and perhaps not only his – into war?
Philip Stephens: The Big Truths Shaping the Iran Talks—Tehran’s acquisition of a bomb would be more than dangerous for the Middle East and for wider international security. It would most likely set off a nuclear arms race that would see Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt signing up to the nuclear club. The nuclear non-proliferation treaty would be shattered. A future regional conflict could draw Israel into launching a pre-emptive nuclear strike. This is not a region obviously susceptible to cold war disciplines of deterrence.
Rick Richman: How Obama Let Iran Go Nuclear— Five years into Obama’s presidency, it is a bit late to blame the predictable results of Obama’s feckless diplomacy on Bush. In 2009, Bush handed Obama a P5+1 structure already in place, having declared the U.S. was addressing Iran through a multilateral framework since a “group of countries can send a clear message to the Iranians” that “we’ll find new sanctions if need be,” beyond the multiple UN Security Council sanction resolutions already then in effect. The Bush administration also announced it was “confident that if given the opportunity to choose their leaders freely and fairly, the Iranian people would elect a government that … would choose dialogue and responsible international behavior,” rather than terrorism and nuclear weapons.
Joseph Lieberman and Vance Serchuk: U.S. Should Be Wary of Iran’s Goal to Dominate the Middle East—The prospect of an agreement with Tehran, rather than reassure the countries most directly threatened by an Iranian nuclear weapon, is provoking unprecedented anxiety among America’s Arab and Israeli allies. These countries worry the White House will accept a flawed agreement that ultimately will not prevent Iran’s nuclear breakout. But the uneasiness of our Middle Eastern allies is also rooted in the recognition that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons is the most alarming manifestation of a much more profound strategic problem: a perceived long-standing hegemonic ambition by Iran’s rulers to dominate the Middle East.
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The scripture below is from the New American Standard Bible, and the hyperlinks associated with each word are from Strong’s Concordance for the New American Standard Bible.
Jonah 4: 9-11
Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” Then Yahweh said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and [which] you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know [the difference] between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?”
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His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback. It’s also available for free in PDF format.
- God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
- “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
- “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
- Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)
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Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now. There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Other Books by Neil Snyder
- Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming. Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days. Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall. Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace. With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
