Why Trump’s Pulling Out Of The Mideast Peace Process As DOA For Now

 

President Trump came into office with the idea of succeeding where other presidents had failed. His goal was to forge a comprehensive Mideast peace process that would both end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and create a bloc between the most powerful Sunni States of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates (and possibly a newly formed, U.S. backed Kurdistan) with Israel to defeat ISIS and al-Qaeda, oppose Iran and reaffirm U.S. leadership in the region. How's that working out? It Isn't, and President Trump may be pulling out of the Mideast peace process, at least the part concerning Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

First, some background.

President Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia and his remarks there made a huge impression on the Arab states that attended the Riyadh summit. They had experienced 8 years of President Bush's amateurism, which only served to unleash Iran by establishing a Shi'ite dictatorship in place of a Sunni counterbalance in Iraq. And even worse, they had experienced President Barack Hussein Obama going even further to appease and empower Iran with billions of dollars and a clear path to nuclear weapons.



President Trump's speech did not excuse previous winking at or financing of terrorism by Sunni states like President Obama's Cairo speech. What it was instead was a reset, a clear invitation...stand with America, against Islamic terrorism and against Iran and you can expect our help. Otherwise, you stand alone and incur America's enmity. Implicit in that was a new policy by the Sunni states towards U.S. ally Israel, something that had been gradually happening anyway.

Much of the basis of this was solidified behind closed doors with a large deal for the Arabs to buy U.S. arms among other things. One of them was a deal for the Arabs to significantly alter the notorious Saudi 'peace' ultimatum' to Israel in exchange for some minor land concessions to the Arabs who call themselves 'Palestinians.'

I should also mention that I'm reliably informed that Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu was fully informed about all of this before President Trump went to Riyadh, okayed the arms deal and was on board for certain concessions in exchange for significant quid pro quos from Abbas and the Palestinian authority.

The Sunni states made two significant steps that showed they were taking all this seriously. Of course, with a media concentrating on fake news about phantom links between Russia and the Trumps, you might not of read about them, but I'll present them here.

The first major action was a radical shakeup in the Saudi Royal family.Saudi King Salmon made a surprise decision to elevate his son Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 31, to crown prince and heir to the throne, in place of his cousin Mohammed bin Nayef. King Salman obtained the support of 31 out of 34 members of Saudi Arabia’s Allegiance Council for confirming Prince Muhammad Bin Salman as crown prince as well as deputy prime minister and minister of defense.Bin Salmon is outspokenly in favor of a new US-Arab-Israeli alliance that will confront Iran, as well as social and economic reforms. Like Egypt's al-Sisi, he favors an end to non-relations between Israel and the Arab world. Other changes in Saudi leadership are already occurring, and will likely continue with Prince Mohammed as heir to the throne.

The second was four Arab nations(The Saudis and the Emirates) boycotting Qatar, with the Saudis in the lead, in response to President Trump's demand for strong action to stop the funding of Islamic terrorism. Qatar’s funding of terrorists is notorious. Along with Turkey and President Obama, Qatar provided the financing,arming and training of radical jihadist elements of the Syrian Free Army that created ISIS.

The aggressive Saudi and UAE stance against Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani makes this a whole new ballgame.

The appointment of Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates as crown prince is another indication of change, since he's a contemporary of Crown Prince Mohammed and they have similar views on these subjects.

So, peace between the 'Palestinians' and Israel?

President Trump is on the verge of walking away from it as a bad deal.

Things started badly when President Trump first met with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority's unelected dictator in year 10 of a four year term. Abbas planned to trick President Trump by setting up the route to the conference so that the President would pass directly in front of Yasser Arafat's tomb, where camera men were ready to snap pictures that would be represented as President Trump paying homage to Arafat. Fortunately, the State Department found out about the scheme and changed the route.

In the conference itself, one thing President Trump explicitly asked Abbas for was that the Palestinian Authority stop using international donor funds to pay convicted killers and their families, and to end incitement in it's schools, media and mosques against Jews and Israel. That's why President Trump looked directly at Abbas at their joint press conference and said that "peace cannot flourish where terrorism is funded, encouraged and rewarded."

The PA further infuriated the Trump Administration by having one of its functionaries tell Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the PA was going to comply with President Trump's wishes on funding terrorism. Once Tillerson conveyed this to the media, the PA embarrassed him publicly by denying it. And of course, incitement and the funding of terrorists and their families still continues.

Even worse was to come. The recent meeting between Mahmoud Abbas and US President Donald Trump's senior advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner on June 25 might have been characterized as 'productive' in some wishful thinking media, but the reality is that it was anything but. The The London-based Arabic-language daily al-Hayat had a much more accurate account.

Kushner again directly challenged Abbas on using international financial aid to pay salaries to terrorists sitting in Israeli jails and their families, as well as on the constant incitement against israel and Jews. And Kushner also mentioned the White House's disappointment that Abbas had failed to condemn the deadly terrorist stabbing in Jerusalem that occurred shortly before the meeting. It took the life of a young female Border Police officer, Hadas Malka. This is the one the BBC reported with the headline, "Three Palestinians killed after deadly stabbing in Jerusalem" *



Abbas was outraged and said he would never stop paying convicted killers in Israeli jails, saying it was his 'social responsibility.' Several people outside the room heard them actually yelling at each other,something I was able to confirm.

Since then, Abbas has ramped up incitement against Israel, continued to finance terrorism and attack Israel at the one forum where anyone takes him seriously, at the UN. In violation of the UN Charter, several UN organizations like UNESCO have 'Palestine' as a member even though it isn't a country. Thanks to the anti-Israel resolution Barack Hussein Obama cheerfully instigated and allowed to pass, Israel is supposedly denied access to its major religious sites like the Kotel and the Cave of the Patriarchs, and UNESCO'S World Heritage committee has deemed them 'Palestinian territory' and thus Judenrein in the Nazi sense of the word. Needless to say, in the real world outside Turtle Bay, none of this means anything at all, None of it is legally binding or calls for the UN to enforce it. But it does show that the Palestinian Authority and Abbas have no real interest in peace or in compromise of any kind. That's never been part of their agenda.



Abbas's rejectionism hasn't gone unnoticed by the Sunni Arab states, who need this arrangement a lot more than they need Abbas and Fatah. Mahmoud Abbas's constant shilling for more money from them hasn't been met with open wallets lately, and Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi has abruptly scrapped a series of meeting with Abbas that were scheduled.

And one last bit of evidence on how the Mideast peace process is DOA. Israeli PM Netanyahu (perhaps at President Trump's urging) put together yet another concession to help things along and get the ball rolling. This involved building approval for 14,000 homes in Qalqiliya, a small Arab town on Israel's borders. The new homes would have been in Area C, the part of Judea and Samaria (AKA the West Bank for CNN viewers) under Israeli sovereignty per the Oslo Accords. In other words, a large enclave of hostile Arabs right on Israel's border.

Israeli public reaction was absolutely livid, since building permits for Israelis in the area and elsewhere are rationed, and Israeli residents who lived in Amona and Beit -El are still waiting for the government to keep its promise and build new homes for them to replace the ones they lost when they were forcibly evacuated as part of the 'peace' process.

Netanyahu and Israeli defense minister Avigdor Liberman, who brainstormed this idiocy ended up not even bringing it to a vote in Israel's security council, let alone the Knesset. The behavior of Israel's 'peace partners' pretty much killed this, which is actually a good thing given the track record of the Arabs whom call themselves 'Palestinians'.

The recent murder of two Israeli border police (both Druse, whose funerals were accompanied by thousands of Israelis) is yet another sign of where all this is going. The two policemen were shot in the back by Arab terrorists after Muslim prayers with weapons they smuggled into the al-Aqsa mosque.



Mahmoud Abbas (after prompting by the White House) issued a half hearted condemnation of all violence...followed by a rebroadcasting on the official Fatah Facebook page of a Mahmoud Abbas speech calling for exactly that, violence and rage to take over the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Temple mount and to stop Jews from defiling it - in Arabic, of course.



The Palestinians also erupted in violent demonstrations when the Israeli police attempted to put metal detectors up to stop the murder of Israelis from recurring. This was after a number of weapons were actually found stored in the mosque itself.

The Israeli response to this nonsense was to take Jerusalem off the table entirely.

The Knesset Ministers committee unanimously approved legislation on Sunday approving a bill advanced by Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) leader Naftali Bennett. It mandates a special, 80-MK majority on any future legislation dividing Jerusalem. The Knesset has 120 seats, so an 80 seat vote is virtually an impossibility. The Israelis were never going to redivide Jerusalem anyway. But this makes it official.

Meanwhile Abbas is continuing to stir the pot, visiting leaders like French President Macron and China's President Xi and lobbying them to get involved in the peace process. Abbas understands that President Trump now realizes he has no interest continuing the peace process with Abbas as a factor, something I predicted would happen back when President Trump first started dealing with Mahmoud Abbas. Negotiating can't work when one of the parties continues to operate in bad faith.

And pot stirring tactics is about all Mahmoud Abbas has left, and they're totally ineffectual. UN groups like UNESCO could declare all of Israel except a strip near Tel Aviv Palestinian territory and it would have no effect except the cutting of even more UN funding. Abbas can continue to rant about the Temple Mount and do his best to inspire hatred and violence towards Israel, but it won't get him any closer to what he wants. And Abbas, at 82 and a chain smoker isn't going to be around much longer anyway. Another Capo al Tutti will take over the Fatah mafia, thump his chest and attempt to steal as much international aid for his personal fortune as possible, just like Arafat and Abbas did. But his take is likely to be less than theirs as even the gullible Europeans are getting tired of funding one of the longest running con games in history.

Actually, there is a way to bring this sorry situation to a satisfactory climax, believe it or not. But more on that in a coming article.

* Since Donald Trump Jr. is in the headlines these days, I thought I'd share his response to the BBC's disgusting bias:

Donald Trump Jr. ✔ @DonaldJTrumpJr

You mean after they stabbed a female Israeli police officer to death... right? This is as close to being misleading as possible. https://twitter.com/bbcworld/status/875810753571418113 …

6:08 AM - 17 Jun 2017

• 10,638 10,638 Retweets
• 23,354

Rob Miller writes for Joshuapundit. His articles have appeared in The Jerusalem Post, The Washington Examiner, American Thinker, The Los Angeles Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The San Francisco Chronicle, Real Clear Politics, The Times Of Israel, Breitbart.Com and other publications.

Follow him on Twitter here and on Facebook here.

Congress Overrules Obama Veto On State Sponsored Terrorism Bill

 

The U.S. congress with strong bi-partisan majorities overrode President Obama's veto of a bill that allows the families of American victims of terrorism to sue states that sponsor terrorist attacks. The catalyst behind the legislation was new evidence about Saudi complicity in the 9/11 attacks, and the bill would allow victims of those who were murdered sue the government of Saudi Arabia. Iran is also a likely target.

The vote in the senate was 97-1, and was led by Chuck Schumer(D-NY) who made an impassioned speech urging his fellow Democrats to vote to veto the bill. The one holdout was Harry Reid (D-Nevada)who is retiring from the Senate this year with his ill-gotten gains intact and a reputation of being the worst, most divisive Senate Majority leader in history. Vice presidential candidate Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) chose to skip out on the voting even though he was in town. Given his Muslim Brotherhood ties, I'm not surprised.

In the house, the vote was 348 to 77.

The argument against the bill was that it would allow other countries to retaliate and sue us. At a time when Iran is kidnapping hostages and holding them for ransom, that argument holds little water. And when it comes to the Saudis, Qatar and other nations in the region, they need us a lot more than we need them.

This is the first time President Barack Hussein Obama has ever been overruled.

Congress Sends Bill To Obama Allowing 9/11 Victims to sue the Saudis

 

The House approved legislation Friday by voice vote that would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia, CBS News has confirmed.

The Senate passed the measure back in May, , which was sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Chuck Schumer, D-New York.

President Obama, of course opposes it and has threatened to veto the legislation. His reasoning? That if we start suing other countries, gee, they might sue us!

As if the United States was in the habit of financing attacks by our countrymen that kill 3,000 people.

But this president's attitude symbolizes something worth looking at.

This comes shortly before the 15th anniversary of 9/11, a day that changed our lives forever and has never been properly dealt with to see that it doesn't happen again. Our present government with it's talk of 'workplace accidents' and 'man-made disasters' government is obviously back in the pre 9/11 mindset, when the run up of mounting attacks before 9/11 like the first WTC bombing, the attack on the USS Cole, the bombing of our embassies in Kenya and other incidents were pretty much ignored at worst or treated as a simple law enforcement problem at best. And unfortunately a number of Americans are in that same mindset.

It's plain to see what the results of that mindset are.

Both the Saudis and Iran were complicit in 9/11. It's time they were brought to account.

A Few Things About Hypocrisy, Politics And A Certain Mr.Khan..

 

The latest Trump molehill pumped up by the media to obscure the Clinton mountains involves one of the speakers the Democrats had at their convention, Khizr Khan and his wife, to attack Donald Trump, a Pakistani Muslim couple who lost their unfortunately lost their son, a decorated vet, in Iraq in 2004.

The talking point of Mr. Khan's speech was,of course Donald Trump's 'racism' in wanting to 'ban all Muslims from America.' Of course, all Trump has proposed is extreme vetting on immigrants from certain countries ad a temporary ban until we figure out policy, but hey, why go with the truth when a lie works so well and the media will cover for you? Just ask Hillary Clinton!

Mr. Kahn claimed that 'if Donald Trump were president my son would never have come to America' which given some facts we'll look at later, might or might not have been true. And he invited Donald Trump to 'read the Constitution. If he doesn't have one, I will lend him my copy.'

Actually there's nothing in the Constitution that prohibits America from refusing anyone entry  under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which allows the president to bar migration of any alien or class of aliens the president sees as a threat to the United States for whatever reason. And the sensible precautions Donald Trump is proposing make far more sense to me then our current policies of amnesty for unvetted Muslims from ISIS infested areas and lying about it to the American people.

Now, I have nothing personal against the Khans and I feel for their loss, but you know, it would have been far more moving if the Clinton campaign had one of the four Benghazi mothers speak at their convention. Oh, wait...when Benghazi mom Pat Smith appeared at the Republican convention, the Democrats laughed at her and smeared her. The PBS talking heads covering the convention even turned down the volume on her and talked over her speech as she described how Hillary Clinton lied to her about the cause of her son's death.

Hey, respect for a dead hero's mom, right? Not unless it fits in with the Left's agenda, thank you.

Now, I think Trump should have ignored Khan's attack on him. After all it's Dem politics as usual. But he unfortunately stuck his foot in it. Someone really needs to explain to him that anything he says or does is going to be deliberately misconstrued and twisted by the media. And that he also needs to stay out of silly twitter wars back and forth, and avoid interviews with hardliners owned by the Clintons masquerading as 'journalists' and 'newsmen' like George Stephanopoulos.

But given that (we'll pretend he's Mrs. Clinton for an instant and ignore the silly 'sacrifices' brouhahah), much of what he said was true.

For instance, it's perfectly true that Hillary's votes and later conduct that helped send the Khan's son to his death in 2004 along with a lot of others, particularly the games she, Joe Biden, a certain Senator Obama and Harry Reid played with funding that cost the lives of our troops.(See former Sec Def Bob Gates' book for details. He's pretty open about how livid he was hearing how they laughed about doing it& deliberately just for the politics when he served in the Obama Administration). And it was the Obama Administration's policies that made their sacrifices in vain.

It's also true that as Trump tweeted, "This story is not about Mr. Khan, who is all over the place doing interviews, but rather RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM and the U.S. Get smart!"

In that context, Mr. Kahn's remarks on how terrorism has nothing to do with Islam also raise some questions in my mind. The Qu'ran, the Hadiths, the Sunna and certain recent events say something very different.

And here's another interesting fact. Khizr Kahn has some very interesting connections with the Clinton crime Foundation and the Saudi government.

As Michael Walsh points out:

Khizr Khan, the Muslim Gold Star father that the mainstream media and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been using to criticize Donald J. Trump, has deep ties to the government of Saudi Arabia—and to international Islamist investors through his own law firm. In addition to those ties to the wealthy Islamist nation, Khan also has ties to controversial immigration programs that wealthy foreigners can use to essentially buy their way into the United States—and has deep ties to the “Clinton Cash” narrative through the Clinton Foundation.

Khan and his wife Ghazala Khan both appeared on stage at the Democratic National Convention to attack, on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s behalf, Donald Trump—the Republican nominee for president. Their son, U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, was killed in Iraq in 2004. Khizr Khan, in his speech to the DNC, lambasted Donald Trump for wanting to temporarily halt Islamic migration to America from countries with a proven history of exporting terrorists.

Since then, Clinton operative George Stephanopoulos—who served as a senior adviser to the president in Bill Clinton’s White House and is a Clinton Foundation donor as well as a host on the ABC network—pushed Trump on the matter in an interview. Trump’s comments in that interview have sparked the same mini-rebellion inside his party, in the media and across the aisle that has happened many times before. The usual suspects inside the GOP, from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to House Speaker Paul Ryan to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to Ohio Gov. John Kasich, have condemned Trump in one way or another. The media condemnation has been swift and Democrats, as well their friends throughout media, are driving the train as fast as they can.

But until now, it looked like the Khans were just Gold Star parents who the big bad Donald Trump attacked. It turns out, however, in addition to being Gold Star parents, the Khans are financially and legally tied deeply to the industry of Muslim migration–and to the government of Saudi Arabia and to the Clintons themselves.

Khan, according to Intelius as also reported by Walid Shoebat, used to work at the law firm Hogan Lovells, LLP, a major D.C. law firm that has been on retainer as the law firm representing the government of Saudi Arabia in the United States for years. Citing federal government disclosure forms, the Washington Free Beacon reported the connection between Saudi Arabia and Hogan Lovells a couple weeks ago.

“Hogan Lovells LLP, another U.S. firm hired by the Saudis, is registered to work for the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia through 2016, disclosures show,” Joe Schoffstall of the Free Beacon reported.

The federal form filed with the Department of Justice is a requirement under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, which makes lobbyists and lawyers working on behalf of foreign governments and other agents from abroad with interests in the United States register with the federal government.

The government of Saudi Arabia, of course, has donated heavily to the Clinton Foundation.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has given between $10 and $25 million to the foundation while Friends of Saudi Arabia has contributed between $1 and $5 million,” Schoffstall wrote.

Trump, of course, has called on Hillary Clinton to have the Clinton Foundation return the money.

“Saudi Arabia and many of the countries that gave vast amounts of money to the Clinton Foundation want women as slaves and to kill gays,” Trump wrote in a Facebook post back in June, according to Politico. “Hillary must return all money from such countries!”

“Crooked Hillary says we must call on Saudi Arabia and other countries to stop funding hate,” Trump posted in a separate Facebook posting at the time. “I am calling on her to immediately return the $25 million plus she got from them for the Clinton Foundation!”

Of course, to this day, Hillary Clinton and her Clinton Foundation has kept the money from the Saudi Arabian government. {...}

Khan’s connections with the Hogan Lovells firm run deep, according to a report from Law.com written by Katelyn Polantz.

 “Khan spent seven years, from 2000 to 2007, in the Washington, D.C., office of then-Hogan & Hartson,” Polantz wrote. “He served as the firm’s manager of litigation technology. Although he did not practice law while at Hogan, Khan was well versed in understanding the American courts system.
[...]

But representing the Clinton Foundation backing Saudi Arabian government and having one of its lobbyists bundle $50,000-plus for Clinton’s campaign are hardly the only places where the Khan-connected Hogan Lovells D.C. mega-firm brush elbows with Clinton Cash. 

The firm also handles Hillary Clinton’s taxes and is deeply connected with the email scandal whereby when she was Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton set up a home-brew email server system that jeopardized classified information handling and was “extremely careless” according to FBI director James Comey.

“A lawyer at Hogan & Hartson [Howard Topaz] has been Bill and Hillary Clinton’s go-to guy for tax advice since 2004, according to documents released Friday by Hillary Clinton’s campaign,” The American Lawyer’s Nate Raymond wrote in 2008, as Hillary Clinton ran for president that year. “The Clintons’ tax returns for 2000-07 show combined earnings of $109 million, on which they paid $33 million in taxes. New York-based tax partner Howard Topaz has a broad tax practice, and also regularly advises corporations on M&A and executive compensation.”

Breitbart News’ Patrick Howley, in a deep investigative piece on Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, late last year uncovered how Topaz’s firm—which employed Khan while Topaz did Hillary Clinton’s taxes—is also connected to the email scandal.

 Topaz was a partner at Hogan & Hartson, which later merged to become known as Hogan Lovells, where Topaz continues to practice. The firm’s lawyers were major donors to Hillary Clinton’s first presidential campaign,” Howley wrote.

 

For her private email system, Clinton used a spam filtering program MX Logic.

“Hogan & Hartson handled the patent for MX Logic’s email-filtering program, which McAfee bought the small company for $140 million in 2009 in order to acquire,” Howley wrote. “The MX Logic company’s application for a trademark for its SPAMTRAQ program was filed in 2004 on Hogan & Hartson stationery and signed by a Hogan & Hartson attorney. Hogan & Hartson has been responsible for MX Logic annual reports. The email company’s Clinton links present more evidence that Clinton’s political and legal establishment was monitoring her private email use.”

If that all isn’t enough, that same Hogan Hartson law firm—now Hogan Lovells—employed Loretta Lynch, the current Attorney General of the United States. Lynch infamously just a few weeks ago met with Bill Clinton, Hillary’s husband and the former president, on her private jet in Phoenix just before clearing Hillary Clinton of any wrongdoing when it came to her illicit private email server system.

Khan’s own website for his own personal law firm KM Khan Law Office shows he represents clients in the business of buying visas to enter the United States. One of his specific areas of practice, according to the website, is “E2 Treaty Investors, EB5 Investments & Related Immigration Services.” Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the U.S. Senate’s Judiciary Committee, has detailed how the EB5 immigration program is “riddled with flaws and corruption.”

“Maybe it is only here on Capitol Hill—on this island surrounded by reality—that we can choose to plug our ears and refuse to listen to commonly accepted facts,” Grassley said in a statement earlier this year. “The Government Accountability Office, the media, industry experts, members of congress, and federal agency officials, have concurred that the program is a serious problem with serious vulnerabilities. Allow me to mention a few of the flaws.”

Those flaws are enormous (much more here) but this certainly does shed a little light on the matter, no? It certainly seems likes the real reason Khizr Khan was so outspoken against Donald Trump has to do with the fact that Khan largely makes his living via shoving  unvetted Muslim migration through a leaky visa for sale loophole.

And just as an aside, Mr. Khan, when he's not brandishing the Constitution for the cameras apparently has a real fetish for the very unconstitutional sharia law ! That, along with the above facts does seem to cast some real doubt on the sincerity of what he had to say.

Finally, I have to ask, how much, really, did this have to do with his son? As painful as the loss was and as heroic as is son likely was, why cheapen that for the sake of partisan politics? And why put his wife through that? If she really was as ill as they say, with high blood pressure, this could have easily brought on a stroke. Was it worth the risk just to help get Hillary elected?

In the end, what we have here, once again, is the Democrat media pouncing on Trump's admittedly clumsy phrasing while ignoring the back story, as well as the serial lies, corruption and malfeasance of their chosen candidate, Hillary Clinton.

UPDATE: Well, what do you know! Now that it's been exposed that Khizr Khan has a law firm that
financially benefits from moving unvetted  Muslim migration into America through a major loophole in our immigration laws, Breitbart reports that he's deleted his website from the internet! Here's a screenshot of what it looked like before he tried camouflaging his real interest in all this. Obviously it was never about his son at all. It was a political ploy that just happened to coflate Khan's livelihood with what he needs to keep the cash coming in - Hillary's election and a continued flow of unvetted Muslims.

The website is now gone from the Internet, and instead sends anyone who clicks on the link to his website to a page where he parked the URL until the heat dies down, run by GoDaddy.

It's notable that the entire Democrat media jumped on this without once checking out anything about Khan's affiliations, previous writings on sharia or how he personally profits from unvetted Muslim migration.

And just for giggles, here's Mike Pence doing a superb job of handling an obvious Hillary plant:



In Mrs. Clinton, we have someone who damaged national security to try and hide her own greed and corruption, someone who helped set the entire Middle East on fire, someone who willingly lied to the American people and to the grieving families of the four Benghazi dead that she left to perish when they could have been rescued. And she lied to their families literally in front of their loved one's coffins.

Today, President Obama made a speech overseas in which he said that Donald Trump was unfit to be president.

"There has to come a point at which you say somebody who makes those kinds of statements doesn't have the judgment, the temperament, the understanding to occupy the most powerful position in the world."

This from President  Barack Hussein Obama, who while running his mouth about 'the troops' from time to time  has serially treated our military and our veterans with cavalier disrespect throughout his entire presidency. And who is he endorsing as someone he thinks  is fit for the office of president?

Hillary  Clinton.

Saudi King Abdullah Dies At A Critical Time In The Middle East

Saudi King bin Adbul Aziz has died at 90 years of age.His death was announced on Saudi state TV by a presenter who said the king died at 1 a.m. on Friday, local time.

His death came at a critical time in the region and could set off a major succession battle among the Saudi royals that could affect U.S. policy in the region.

Abdullah was a key figure in both the Sunni alliance against Shi'te Iran and western efforts against Islamic State.More importantly, in spite of major disagreements with the Obama Administration over Iran and other issues, he kept the status quo going in OPEC of keeping oil trades delineated in U.S. dollars.

King Abdullah is going to be succeeded on the throne by his brother, Crown Prince Salman. Essentially, that puts the leadership of America's most important relationship in the Arab world in the hands of a 79-year old in poor health and who reportedly suffers from dementia.

 

What that means is a likely power struggle among the Saudi royals at some point, especially since the crown prince is likely going to be regent for the ailing Salman.

King Abdullah obtained power in exactly this way. His predecessor, King Fahd, had a debilitating stroke in 1995 and Abdullah, as crown prince, assumed most of his duties and responsibilities, running the country as regent until Fahd’s death in 2005.


By Saudi tradition, the King is chosen from among the sons of the first King Adbulaziz bin Saud, who died in 1953. Salman is the sixth son of Abdulaziz and few if any of Abdulaziz's remaining sons are either healthy enough or competent enough to rule in the event of Salman's death or incapacity.

Recognizing this, Abdullah took the step last year of naming his own alternative heir, 69-year-old Prince Muqrin, his youngest brother who is also director general of Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah.This defied the tradition of each new king picking his own heir, which didn't sit well with many of the members of the Saudi royals,particularly a powerful clique of princes known as the “Sudairi Seven,” all sons of Abdul Aziz and his favorite wife, Hassa bint Ahmed. Among other things, Muqrin's mother was a Yemenite concubine, not a Saudi, and Abdullah's action was seen as trying to pre-empt Salman choosing his own heir so Abdullah could advance his own faction.

 

King Salman has already named Prince Muqrin as his official heir and elevated him to the position of Crown Prince and regent. But what after that? It's not clear who in the next generation would take power after him, or when that question would need to be addressed.

Saudi Arabia is now in a state of flux. While Abdullah contributed  to the country's stability by diversifying its economy  to a degree,building up its armed forces and pushing certain mild reforms, the country faces foreign policy challenges from Iran and Islamic state and internal ones that could end up being even more serious.

While its leaders may be elderly, its population is quite young. Almost two thirds of its citizens are below the age of 30, and the Saudi practice of importing cheap foreign labor means many of them have no jobs. For years, this has been offset with subsidies provided by the Saudi oil wealth, but plummeting oil prices along with the need to spend more on self defense could to cut into the funds available for that severely.

There's also the growing problem of Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite underclass. This population is mainly situated in the country's northeast, where most of Saudi Arabia's oil is located, and just across the Persian Gulf from Iran. And as you can imagine, Iran has been agitating this population for some time. That's also something the KSA has been kicking down the road for some time that needs to be dealt with.

And what about oil?

King Abdullah's policy lately has been to take short term losses for long term gains. His reaction to increased  oil production in the U.S. due to fracking and increased use of privately owned oil land was not to cut production in the hopes of prices stabilizing or even rising but to increase it,causing prices to drop still further.

This wily strategy caused some short term pain in the KSA and other GEC countries, but they had the financial depth to ride things out. And it produced a two fold benefit. First, it severely weakened both the Iranians, who lack that financial depth and IS, a big chunk of whose revenues depend on smuggled oil.

And second, it is already causing manufacturers in America to cut back on production and rely again on the cheaper imported oil.

I would expect King Salman and Price Mubrik to continue that policy, since it's working...but enjoy the cheaper gas prices while you can.

BREAKING: Obama's 'Coalition Of Partners' On ISIS Chrashes And Burns

 


President Obama's ridiculous speech last night on combating the Islamic State had these main components - making sure to mention that Islamic State was neither a state or Islamic, airstrikes on Iraq and Syria, reassuring his Leftist base that no U.S. ground troops would be participating, and this:

This is our strategy. And in each of these four parts of our strategy, America will be joined by a broad coalition of partners.

Apparently President Obama opened his mouth before actually taking roll call on those 'allies.'

 

The Brits, supposedly our closest strategic ally have already said they won't do any airstrikes in Iraq and have expanded that 'no thanks': to include Syria:

Britain’s foreign secretary says his country won’t participate in airstrikes on Syria, following an announcement from Washington that it would begin hitting targets inside the country.

Speaking Thursday after talks with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Philip Hammond said Britain won’t be “revisiting” the issue after Parliament decided last year against participating in airstrikes.

And apparently Steinmeier's presence was no accident. The Germans opted out too.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told a news conference in Berlin that Germany has not been asked to take part in the air strikes and would not be participating. “To quite clear, we have not been asked to do so and neither will we do so,” Steinmeier said.

Even more importantly, President Barack Obama's dear Islamist friend Turkey not only said it will not participate, but won't even let American forces use bases we lease in Turkey to attack The Islamic State:

Turkey will refuse to allow a US-led coalition to attack jihadists in neighbouring Iraq and Syria from its air bases, nor will it take part in combat operations against militants, a government official told AFP Thursday.

"Turkey will not be involved in any armed operation but will entirely concentrate on humanitarian operations," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Turkey's non-participation is key, because it borders both Iraq and Syria and has a reasonably strong, U.S. equipped military.

The Turks are refusing to get involved because when Mosul fell to The Islamic State, so did the Turkish Consulate and 49 hostages...and also because they don't want to encourage the Kurds because of their own suppressed Kurdinh minority in Turkey. And because they have backed The Islamic State from the start against Assad. You'd think someone might have whispered this  in the ear of our prevaricator-in-chief before he asked them to join up.

So who's left? The French? Possible, in a very limited way, but doubtful...remember all those French Muslim voters and the upcoming elections.Hollande and the socialists will need every vote they can get.

New Europe? The Poles, Baltic States, Georgia and Ukraine all contributed to Iraq and Afghanistan, but after the way the Obama Administration has treated them and what with Putin on the prowl, faggeddabbouddit.

There's the Sunni Arab states, and Secretary of State Kerry is headed there as I write this. The Saudis and the GCC may help,but again in a limited way and certainly not with boots on the ground. Aside from the fact that one of them Qatar is actually funding the Islamic State and has been for some time, there's also the problem of Iran, the president's new friend. The Saudis and the Emirates are smart enough to know even if Obama and Kerry aren't that if ISIS is taken off the board, there's no obstacle to Iran achieving its long time goal of a Shi'ite nuclear armed bloc.

They've long since stop trusting Obama's assurances on the matter. It remains to be seen what Kerry can promise them to get them fully involved. Certainly it won't be with boots on the ground.

The same applies to the Egyptians who are not exactly Obama fans at this point and have their own jihadis to deal with at home and next door in Libya thanks to this president. They won't be fighting in Iraq and Syria in any large way, and anything they do it will be for a steep price demanded of Obama.

That leaves Iran, Iran's Shi'ite militias, Hezbollah, the Iraqi army none of whom have been able to stop Islamic State's fighters thus far. And the Kurds, who don't trust Obama and will concentrate on defending their own territory. Oh, and about1,700 US 'advisers' (the president glossed over those in his speech) who are basically in the same position our advisers in Vietnam were circa 1962. 

Islamic State isn't going to be defeated by air strikes, and those are the boots on the ground. And is the U.S. going to act as the Shi'ite air force now, taking sides in the sectarian conflict in the region? I do seem to remember a certain freshman senator from Illinois and his Democrat buddies criticizing President Bush for getting us involved in a sectarian civil war in Iraq,don't you?

 I hope I'm wrong, but just watch as he sends more 'advisers' in to cover his chest thumping rhetoric.

President Obama has no real strategy, except to make it look like he's doing something and improve his terrible poll numbers before the election to try and hold the senate. As always, everything is about politics with this president - not the country.

 

UPDATE: It appears that just as I predicted, the Arab Countries are not entirely on board either. Can it be they too no longer trust this president? I guess when you lie to people habitually...

Whoopsie.

Some 'coalition'.

Islamic State Captures Key Syrian Base In Major Victory - And What It Means

The Islamic State scored a major victory today over Syrian leader Basher Assad's forces when they broke through after a two week siege to capture the strategic Tabqa airbase southwest of their northern stronghold of Raqqa. Hundreds of the 1,000 Syrian soldiers trapped there were killed.

 

Islamic State  killed army commanders and pro-government militiamen, decapitating them before putting their bodies and heads on display.

This was the last Syrian base in the northeastern province of Raqqa, which means the Islamic Stae has now gained full control of an entire Syrian province for the first time in the civil war.

Islamic State is also close to complete control of the rebel-held; province of Deir el-Zour. They are picking off rebel strongholds one by one, and many members of other rebel groups  are flocking to join them.



The next move by Islamic State could be towards the strategic city of Aleppo.Assad's regime troops, Hezbollah fighters and Iranian Revolutionary guard are close to completing their capture of the strategic city from the Syrian rebels, but they could then end up encircled and cut off by Islamic State forces.

One of my sources told me that Islamic State is withdrawing its fighters from the central Syrian province of Homs, after handing over its headquarters to its allies, the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front. This could mean a two pronged assault on Aleppo from both the south and from Tel Abayad and Raqqa in the east.

Meantime, the official Saudi news agency reported that the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan are meeting in the Red Sea city of Jeddah for a major conference.

Here's what I'd bet money they're discussing:

What are Barack Obama and the Americans going to do? Islamic State is not only a threat to Iraq and Syria, not only a threat to the Sunni Arab countries but a huge security threat to the United States.Aside from a few arms shipments and air strikes, thus far the U.S. has not been overtly involved, certainly not the way President Obama was in Libya.

Islamic State has already rolled back almost a year of advances made by the Syrian military and their Hezbollah allies against the insurgency.Is President Obama going to go in full bore? And if he does, is he going to extend the U.S. military action to Syria?

If the president decides to go into Syria, Obama is basically preserving the rule of Basher Assad, and relieving pressure on Iran and Hezbollah, allowing them to consolidate their own Shi'ite bloc, something the Saudis, Egypt, the UAE and the other GCE countries see as just as much a threat to them as Islamic State...while Qatar sees Islamic State as a major force to combat the Shi'ites and supports them more or less covertly.

After declaring for nearly four years that 'Assad must go', Barack Obama is in a position where he just might end up sending in U.S. troops and air power to save Assad, believe it or not.That of course would put America on the same side as Iran, Syria and Hezbollah. And it would also have a direct effect on the security of Jordan and Israel, both of whom border Syria because taking out Islamic State would simply remove the counter weight to Iran and Hezbollah and facilitate their consolidating their own nuclear armed Shi'ite bloc.

Just to show you how convoluted this all is, at the same time the Obama regime is making air strikes on Islamic State (who are largely armed with SOTA U.S. weaponry captured in Iraq from the fleeing Iraqi army)an dmaking common cause with Hezbollah. Assad and Iran, the U.S. is completing an $11 billion arms deal with - wait for it - Qatar, who had been funding Islamic State and Hamas! Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is in this particular transaction with both hands.

Another point of discussion, probably on the sidelines is what to do if America does nothing much, a not unlikely scenario. What defense arrangements can be made to counteract both Islamic State and the Shi'ites if that happens, especially with Iran on the verge of going nuclear? Or should the Sunnis give limited backing to Islamic State against Iran and the Shi'ites?

And what role can Israel play? Yes, believe it or not. Faced with a war on two fronts and a dysfunctional American president, the Sunnis may even be looking at Israel, the most powerful country in the region in a new light.

Saudis designate Muslim Brotherhood As A Terrorist Group

According to Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has formally designated President Obama's favorite Islamists, the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group, citing a statement by the Interior Ministry.

The kingdom has also designated the Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant as terrorist groups, both of whose fighters are active in Iraq and in Syria against President Bashar Assad as terrorist organizations.

Amazing that the Saudis are so far ahead of us on this.

Mohammed's Birthplace In Mecca To Be Bulldozed By Saudis For 'Redevelopment'

The UK's Independent is reporting that a site in Mecca believed by most scholars to be the birthplace of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad is going to be bulldozed by a Saudi company in order to build a modern compound that would include a presidential palace. There's now a small library and shrine at the site, just steps away from Mecca’s Masjid al-Haram, or Grand Mosque, which surrounds the Ka’aba, and contains the Sacred Black Stone, a meteorite Muslims have worshiped since pre-Islamic times. This is the most sacred site in Islam, where Muslims come from all over the world to make the haj, or pilgrimage to Mecca.

 


The Binladin Group (yes, it's that Bin Laden) which has the contract from the Saudi government for redevelopment estimates the cost at billions of dollars.


“The last remaining historical site in the kingdom is the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, probably the most important site to the Muslim and Shia community around the world,” The Independent quoted Irfan al-Alawi, a historian and executive director of the UK-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, as saying.

“Most people are not even aware there are plans now to destroy it.”

While some Muslims have expressed reservations, the Saudi government is behind the project, because they feel that preserving such relics encourages idol worship.

Contrast this cavalier attitude with the sort of sentiments expressed over the al-Kuds mosque in Jerusalem,which was an abandoned wreck until the fascist Grand Musti Haj Amin al-Husseini rebuilt it in the late 1920's, and the Temple Mount, where Muslims play soccer, defecate, picnic and pray facing Mecca with their posteriors facing the 'holy mosque', but riot and throw stones whenever Jews come near the Temple Mount simply to worship.

Or the murderous rage that occurs when 'kuffrs', non-believers even handle a Qu'ran.

Yes, it's political, and a part of jihad against the infidels. But you knew that, right?

Were The Saudis Complicit In 9/11? - What You Won't See Elsewhere

Something rattling the blogsphere thew last two days is an op-ed in the New York Post by investigative reporter, author and columnist Paul Sperry. It concerns an alleged cover up by the Bush Administration on Saudi involvement in 9/11:

After the 9/11 attacks, the public was told al Qaeda acted alone, with no state sponsors.

But the White House never let it see an entire section of Congress’ investigative report on 9/11 dealing with “specific sources of foreign support” for the 19 hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudi nationals.

It was kept secret and remains so today.

President Bush inexplicably censored 28 full pages of the 800-page report. Text isn’t just blacked-out here and there in this critical-yet-missing middle section. The pages are completely blank, except for dotted lines where an estimated 7,200 words once stood (this story by comparison is about 1,000 words).

A pair of lawmakers who recently read the redacted portion say they are “absolutely shocked” at the level of foreign state involvement in the attacks.

Reps. Walter Jones (R-NC) and Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) can’t reveal the nation identified by it without violating federal law. So they’ve proposed Congress pass a resolution asking President Obama to declassify the entire 2002 report, “Joint Inquiry Into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001.”

Some information already has leaked from the classified section, which is based on both CIA and FBI documents, and it points back to Saudi Arabia, a presumed ally.

The Saudis deny any role in 9/11, but the CIA in one memo reportedly found “incontrovertible evidence” that Saudi government officials — not just wealthy Saudi hardliners, but high-level diplomats and intelligence officers employed by the kingdom — helped the hijackers both financially and logistically. The intelligence files cited in the report directly implicate the Saudi embassy in Washington and consulate in Los Angeles in the attacks, making 9/11 not just an act of terrorism, but an act of war.

Sperry goes on to detail a number of specific instances, all of them factual, as is his habit. He cites Saudi diplomats like Saudi consulate official Fahad al-Thumairy, Saudi intelligence agents Omar al-Bayoumi, Osama Bassnan actually set up safe houses for the 9/11 hijackers and provided them with funds. He relates how these men set up private meetings for the hijackers with American al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who fled America to escape terrorism charges and was later killed by a drone in Yemen.Bassnan later fled America as well after 9/11.

He also says that then-Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar and his wife sent checks totaling some $130,000 to Bassnan, much of whom went to the hijackers and to al-Qaeda. The questionable donations are not actually not classified, but a matter of public record...yet nothing happened to Bandar and he was simply recalled.

it is also a matter of record that a number of Saudi government official and nationals were given priority after 9/11 in getting out of the country, including members of the bin-Laden family.

None of this is news, frankly, to anyone who took an honest look at 9/11. Nor is the news on how FBI attempts to investigate 9/11 were stymied by the Bush Administration.

Where Sperry and I part ways is his conjecture that this was an organized attack and an act of war by the Saudi government.

What we had instead, I think, was a number of high level members of the Saudi government and the royal family, plus others in the Gulf Emirates who funded and supported bin-Laden, mostly because, you know, jihad. Some were more involved than others, but probably few of them really believed a second attack on the WTC would succeed, or that it do the damage it did. If you recall, even bin-Laden was pleasantly surprised as how successful the attack went.There was no upside to the Saudis attacking the U.S.

So now we come to the Bush Administration's role in this.

Revealing that high level Saudis had been involved in 9/11 would have meant a declaration of war. Now had I been president, I would have had no problems going there, or at the very least getting a full Saudi mea culpa, financial compensation, the guilty Saudis repatriated back to America to stand trial and an end to their financing mosques and jihad friendly imams here in America.

But President Bush's relationship with these people was, shall we say, somewhat different.



As more than one Bush biography relates, the Bush family was so close to Prince Bander that his nickname within the family circle was 'Bandar Bush'. And a look at Neil Bush of Silverado Trust fame also reveals the family's close connections with the Gulf States.

Nor is it limited to the Bushes. A look at the 'bi-partisan' Carlyle Fund(a huge mega-hedge fund mainly run by former cabinet members, influential congressmen and yes, a few former presidents that included substantial investments by the bin-Laden family), the plethora of six and seven figure speaking and 'consulting fees' enjoyed by a number of political figures on both sides of the aisle including the Clintons, Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and former senators Bob Dole and Tom Daschle just to name a few, the vast amounts spent to fund presidential libraries and foundations, former president Bill Clinton's special 'business relationship' with the Sultan of Dubai that made him a multimillionaire and helped fund Hillary's Clinton's last presidential campaign..lots of members of our ruling class have had their snouts in the trough.

Which by the way, might just tell you why America has never sought to seriously become energy independent even though we have ample oil and are one of the top five petroleum exporters.

In any event. let's just say taking out Saudi Arabia would be bad for business with all that money involved...not to mention that as keeper of the Muslim shrines at Mecca and Medina, a strike at the Saudis might have widened the scope of the war just a bit.

Or would it? Aside from the Saudis and the Gulf Emirates, there was another Muslim country that was very much complicit in 9/11. And unlike The Saudis, we are talking about direct, proven government involvement.

Hezbollah and Iran were directly involved in the 9/11 attacks and it is a matter of record thanks to a federal trial that took place in response to lawsuits filed by families of 9/11 victims.

Iran facilitated the transit of the 9/11 hijackers into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11, just like they allowed entry to al-Qaeda fighters after we invaded their stronghold in Afghanistan.

On page 240 of the 9/11 Commission’s final report, it mentions a “senior Hezbollah operative” who accompanied some of the future 9/11 hijackers on their final airline flights into and out of Afghanistan, Iran, and Lebanon.

It's now known beyond any doubt that the “senior Hezbollah operative” was our old friend Imad Mugniyeh. You'll remember that he was not only a member of al-Qaeda but a founding member of Hezbollah and a former member of Yasser Arafat's Force 17. He was the commander of the operation that killed 247 marines in Beirut, the man who tortured to death Marine Colonel William Buckley,videotaped the proceedings and sent it to the White House, and the facilitator in the Karina A arms shipment, which involved Iranian weapons sent to the PLO.

Mugniyah was the natural liaison man for the 9/11 hijackers as well,because he was one of the few people trusted by by all parties involved...Hezbollah, Iran and al- Qaeda. He was finally sent to hell in 2008, most likely by the Israeli Mossad.

The 9/11 commission report strongly suggested further investigation of the Iranian complicity at the time, but neither the Bush Administration or the Obama Administration ever saw fit to follow up.

As evidence given in the trials show, in addition to directing Mughniyah’s extensive involvement in recruiting, guiding, and training the hijackers, Iran provided vital material support to those hijackers by ordering its border and passport officials not to stamp their passports when they crossed Iranian territory. That meant they could enter the U.S. with clean passports, no questions asked and was of huge help in maintaining their cover.

Not only that, but there's evidence that emerged from the trials that the hijackers may even have received some training in Iran.

According to testimony by a former senior Iranian intelligence officer, Abolghasem Mesbahi, Mugniyeh helped train the hijackers in a camp set up by the MOIS, Iran's intelligence service. Mesabi, who has also been a witness for the German BND in investigating and trying cases involving Iranian assassins of expatriates and dissidents in that country, testified in Federal court that al-Qaeda received instruction in spy craft, explosives, communications, operational guidance and time on a flight simulator purchased by Iran from China for the exact model of domestic airliner the hijackers would use in the 9/11 attacks...which Iran did not have as part of its domestic air fleet in IranAir at the time.

None of this has ever been followed up on.

So, if we were actually talking about going after the perpetrators of 9/11, it seems like Iran Hezbollah, and probably the Saudis and some of the Gulf Emirates might have been on our list. Pretty specific targets, either for a diplomatic or military reckoning. Instead, we went after al-Qaeda, the jihad subcontractors, and we have done so in two consecutive administrations. Worse than that, we continue to appease these regimes who were involved in butchering 3,000 of our fellow Americans.

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) has talked several times about reconvening the 9/11 Commission to get some answers. As you might imagine, the response from the White House has not been overwhelming and I doubt it will happen.

The complicity of a number of Muslim countries is what they're not telling you about 9/11, and that's why more evidence of Saudi complicity in 9/11 is no big news.

The real story is how we got from there to where we are now over the past 12 years, and why. That's what we have yet to find out.

Pictures: Snowstorms In Israel, Egypt And Saudi Arabia !

 



Israel...

 

Saudi Arabia...




 

And Egypt! This is the first time Cairo has had snow in over a century.

(h/t Carl)

Hilarious! Viral Saudi Video Mocking Ban On Women Driving

Now, where else but in the Middle East would you find an acapella Bob Marley infused vid making fun of the Saudi ban on women driving...

By the way, the reference to keeping the ovaries safe was the official government rationale for keeping the ban in place, believe it or not. Enjoy!

Our Troops As Hired Mercenaries: Kerry Says Arabs Will Pay Cost Of Syria Invasion

According to the Washington Post, Secretary of State John Kerry once again pointed towards what the Obama Administration ultimately wants..a boots on the ground, Iraq-style invasion and occupation of Syria.

In today's hearing, Secretary Kerry told Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) that the Saudis and GCE countries are happy to hire our troops as mercenaries in Syria.

“With respect to Arab counties offering to bear costs and to assess, the answer is profoundly yes,” Kerry said. “They have. That offer is on the table.”

“In fact, some of them have said that if the United States is prepared to go do the whole thing the way we’ve done it previously in other places, they’ll carry that cost,” Kerry said. “That’s how dedicated they are at this."

And that's the kind of contempt they hold us in. Of course the Arabs would pay us to take out Assad, put a nice Sunni dictatorship in place and bug out. That's what you hire mercenaries for. What they won't pay for is the sacrifice and damage to American families who are going to have to figure out how to go through life without a cherished family member, or the rehab costs for someone who comes home without an arm, eyes or legs. And no wonder..such sacrifices are pretty priceless, especially when there is no American interest at stake, merely President Obama's political agenda.

Nor are the Arabs going to reimburse the American taxpayer for rebuilding Syria after decades of Assad family's mismanagement and two years of civil war, although a number of politically well-connected contractors will certainly reap a bonanza. Or for building up yet another shiny new U.S. trained and equipped Muslim army that would happily turn their guns on Americans in a nanosecond. Syria would make the fourth one of these we've built at America's expense.

If the Saudis want Assad out that badly, they have tanks, planes, and troops available and they can put some of their own boots on the ground for a change. Let them suffer the losses, let them pay to rebuild Syria instead of buying it on the cheap with American blood and treasure.

The Saudis Look At Dumping Obama And Changing Sponsors

Two weeks ago in my piece, "What the Media Won't Tell You About What's Really Going On In Egypt", I let you in on the fact that the chief of Saudi intelligence, Prince Bandar, spent 4 hours closeted with none other than Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 31st.

As I revealed back then, part of the conversation involved Saudi client Egypt and Egypt's General al-Sissi finding a new arms supplier and best friend in the Kremlin in response to President Obama's threats.

Putin would sell Egypt arms in a heartbeat and would love nothing better than to get another warm water Mediterranean port for the Russian navy.

But more was discussed than just that. The Saudis are fed up with President Obama and his clueless, duplicitous antics, especially his dithering on Iran and his shilling and enablement of the Muslim Brotherhood at every turn. And they're willing to discuss a deal for the Russians to become what members of the Mob refer to in these situations as 'a new sponsor.'

Let me briefly reiterate our relationship with the Saudis and the other GCE countries to spell out what this is important before we get to the grim details.

The Arabs sell us oil, which they make sure that OPEC continues to delineate in US dollars. They also spin a certain amount of that money back at us in the form of buying our debt, rewarding U.S. politicians who see things their way with lucrative business opportunities, investments in businesses and funds owned by influential Americans, the funding of presidential libraries and foundations, six figure speaking fees and honorariums, anything you can imagine. More importantly, by making sure that oil continues to be traded in dollars, they import a certain amount of our inflation, which they cover to some extent as necessary by raising wholesale prices on crude...but not too much, just enough to keep everyone happy and keep certain politicians doing their best sabotaging energy creation here in America unless in involves green energy scams never intended to work in the first place run by well connected political donors, or electric cars that are ultimately powered by oil, which is what powers the plants where most of the electricity to power them comes from.

In exchange, we protect them militarily, sell them arms and look after their interests,including the promotion of Wahhabi Islam here in America.

Needless to say, OPEC members like Putin, the Iranians and Obama's late unlamented BFF Hugo Chavez screamed bloody murder about this for years because they were getting nothing but a financial loss out of this arrangement.

What the Saudis are discussing with Putin is changing this arrangement, if a few deal points can be worked out.

The Lebanese newspaper As-Safir has a piece worth reading that they're representing as a basic rundown on what went what on. Some of it appears to be fairly accurate, at least in terms of the subjects that were discussed, especially in light of a few details I'm aware of but some of it is also highly unlikely, which we'll get to. You have to keep in mind that As-Safir is a Lebanese paper and thus a paper that exists as part of the Iran/Syria/Hezbollah bloc...which colors their coverage.A free press and the Muslim world don't exactly go together.

Here's the main, most important part, and the part I would say is 100% accurate:

The Saudis are offering to partner with Russia in essentially controlling the price and supply of a lot of the world's energy. The article doesn't say this, but it's obvious that the Saudis are asking, essentially, for Russia to sponsor them as members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a group long time members of Joshua's Army may recall me mentioning.

The SCO is basically a partnership which was founded five years ago under Chinese leadership to foster regional security and economic cooperation.China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan make up the group, and Iran, Pakistan, Mongolia and India all have observer status.

The six member states control 60% of the land mass of Eurasia and its population is a quarter of the world's people. With observer states included, its members account for half of the earth's population. It also offers an alternative bloc to western democracy and to using the U.S. dollar as reserve currency for energy dealing (they're working on putting together a gas cartel) and other joint development projects.

Turkey has been banging on the SCO's door for quite a while, and Tayyipp Erdogan would happily leave NATO and sell out its secrets to get into this club .

The Saudis joining the SCO would give the group more stability and coverage, control over a huge part of the world's energy, and of course, the prices. And it would end the use of the U.S. dollar as the currency used in energy trading, with some interesting results on our currency, at least until we got our own act together energy independence-wise.

Syria and Iran were almost definitely on the agenda.

As-Safir says that Prince Bandar told Putin that he had spoken with the Americans before the visit, and they pledged to commit to any deal the Saudis and Russians made on a diplomatic solution to Syria. This is almost definitely not true, since Putin would have laughed at it and Bandar knows it.

Putin has not trusted President Obama for quite some time,but especially since the two of them first started to attempt to work out a diplomatic solution on Syria and Putin found out that President Obama sent 1,200 Marines to the Jordanian border via the USS Kearsage without telling him.

The article quotes Putin as saying, "During the Geneva I Conference, we agreed with the Americans on a package of understandings, and they agreed that the Syrian regime will be part of any settlement. Later on, they decided to renege on Geneva I."

It further quotes Putin as saying “Our stance on Assad will never change. We believe that the Syrian regime is the best speaker on behalf of the Syrian people, and not those liver eaters."

I doubt Putin said that, but I wouldn't be surprised if Bandar and Putin discussed the outlines of a diplomatic arrangement between them that would leave Assad in power in exchange, perhaps, for arms deals with the Saudis and Russian help with the Iranians, since the Saudis know by now President Obama will do nothing to stop Iran from going nuclear.

However, if President Obama hits Syria, any tentative arrangement Bandar and Putin might have come to might well be history,or at least postponed.

As-Safir says that when Bandar mentioned Iran's nuclear program as a problem, Putin replied, “We support the Iranian quest to obtain nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes. And we helped them develop their facilities in this direction. Of course, we will resume negotiations with them as part of the 5P+1 group. I will meet with President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the Central Asia summit and we will discuss a lot of bilateral, regional and international issues. We will inform him that Russia is completely opposed to the UN Security Council imposing new sanctions on Iran. We believe that the sanctions imposed against Iran and Iranians are unfair and that we will not repeat the experience again.”

The dialog on Iran and Syria are almost certainly fabricated to a large extent.

Putin has been violating the sanctions since day one, and Russia has a veto on the UN Security Council even if our Dear Leader decided to actually impose real sanctions. He could care less about them except as a talking point at the UN. The conversation with Putin over Iran probably dealt more with what safeguards the Russians could put in place to stop the Iranians from developing nuclear weapons and threatening the GCE countries...if Russia in fact became the Saudi's new sponsors.

Bottom line, the Russians and Saudis are now considering serious cooperation on energy and perhaps even on arms sales, and studying the mechanics of what concrete proposals were advanced.

Syria and Iran likely still remain issues that are problematic but are still under discussion. Could Russia and Putin finesse this by working as a mediator to end the Sunni-Shi'ite war in the Middle East and provide certain guarantees to the Saudis? With the leverage Putin has on Iran and Assad's Syria, anything's possible. And the idea of collaborating with the Saudis on the energy trade would be a powerful incentive for Putin.

Of course, if that happens, America's influence in the region will be over.

More Egypt - And The Media Catches Up To Joshuapundit Once Again

 
Yesterday, members of Joshua's Army got to read the real inside story on Egypt the media wasn't telling you. You read about how this was being another front in the civil war raging within Islam, about how what was going on in Egypt affected Syria, and about how the Saudis and GCE countries were backing Egypt and al-Sissi to the hilt. You also read about how al-Sissi ignored President Obama's phone calls, how the Brotherhood is planning to try and dry Obama into Egypt on their side and about how this president's clueless and arrogant policies have cost America its influence and credibility in the Middle East.

The legacy media hasn't quite caught up yet, but Drudge has some of this on the front page today.

So let's continue on with an update.

Today is Friday, the usual day for what I call an Islamo-seethe. Islam has no Sabbath, no proscribed day of rest as Christianity and Judaism do, but Friday is the day when Muslims hit the mosques and imams gin the crowd up with sermons. Violence follows much of the time.

Today in Egypt, the imams did their work as the Brotherhood called for a 'Day of Rage' and there was a new outbreak of clashes. Again, they have no hopes of defeating the army, but their plan is to create enough terrorism, 'bleeders' and photo-ops to bring intervention from Obama.

The Brotherhood ignored the Egyptian government's call to end the violence, and at least
another 75 people have died. Just like the previous death tolls, the media is giving the impression that these are all 'protestors' when the total includes police, army personnel, people seen as government supporters and Coptic Christians, whose homes and churches are being targeted by the Islamists.

There have been over 2o policemen murdered by the Brotherhood (who are definitely armed, some of them with Khaddaffi's weaponry from Libya) in the past 24 hours in various clashes throughout Egypt's cities.

In Helwan, the Brotherhood attacked a church and burned it to the ground, with some Christians still trapped inside it according to my sources.

The Brotherhood incited mobs to attack the Azbakiyah police station in Ramses Square in Cairo, a strong-point where they knew there would be a number of casualties. The police set up sniper posts inside the building and killed a number of the rioters. The army also deployed troops to control the 5th October bridge to take out anyone trying to cross the river towards Ramses Square to attack the police station, and people are jumping off the bridge to escape the gunfire.



(via twitter)

Nile TV had clips showing Brotherhood 'soldiers firing from the crowd at the army. At least one army officer was killed by gunfire at a checkpoint in Cairo.

Al Sissi and the army have a definite plan to essentially eradicate the Brotherhood as a political force, although they're unlikely to destroy it completely.

What the army will do in Cairo and other cities is to section off various sectors to keep the Brotherhood from operating effectively and take advantage of the Army's support from most Egyptians. It will involve closing down notorious Brotherhood mosques, arresting known Brotherhood figures and blocking off and establishing control and policing strategic areas piece by piece while eradicating the Brotherhood.

This, by the way, is how the French defeated a similar insurgency in Algiers in 1954. And unlike the French, the Egyptians are likely to be quite mindful of the importance of maintaining public support. As an example of how this works in real life, the Army has already told Egypt's Copts that it will rebuild the churches destroyed by the Brotherhood.

The Egyptian army and al-Sissi prepared for this by appointed 19 generals as provisional governors, making them responsible for their individual sectors of the country. At the same time, the Egyptian military is continuing to attack Islamist insurgents in Sinai and is keeping Hamas, the Brotherhood franchise in Gaza in total lockdown.

As this strategy progresses, al-Sisi will probably outlaw the Brotherhood and could very well set a date for new elections which the Brotherhood will not be allowed to run candidates in.

The only hope the Brotherhood has at this point is if President Obama decides to try top pull off another Libya to save his Muslim Brotherhood friends.

In another interesting sign of how little influence we have in the Middle East thanks to President Obama and his team's policies, The Chinese and the Russians intervened to quash UN Security actions proposed by the Islamist government of Turkey.This means that the Egyptians, as well as the Saudis will owe them a favor.You are going to see that play out in interesting ways in the future...to America's detriment.

And speaking of which, the Saudi King Abdullah called for total backing of the Egyptian military against the Brotherhood in a statement over state run Al-Ekhbariya TV today.

According to one of my notorious Lil' Birdies, the Saudis, the UAE and the other GCE countries have pledged over $40 billion to al-Sissi and the Egyptian government.That $1.5 billion in aid Obama tried unsuccessfully to hold over al-Sissi's head is meaningless.

In the normal course of events, would anyone even trust this president to manage a McDonald's properly?

Breaking: Turns Out The Saudis Warned FBI About Tamerlan Tsarnaev In 2012

 

“We want to leave no stone unturned. Based on what I’ve seen so far, the FBI performed its duties. Department of Homeland Security did what it was supposed to be doing.” - President Barack Obama at his press conference yesterday, 4/30/13.

As it turns out, that stone was more like a boulder. And it appears it was definitely left lying on the ground.

Aside from numerous warnings from Russian intelligence the FBI and DHS sluffed off,  the London Daily Mail reported this morning that according to a highly placed source,  Saudi intelligence  sent a written warning in December 2012 to the Department of Homeland Security that Tasmerlan Tsarnaev was a dangerous jihadi. They even refused to give him a visa to when he applied for one to make the haj, the Muslim religious pilgrimage to Mecca. The information came from Saudi intelligence in Yemen, a notorious al-Qaeda stronghold and the country where the brothers went for 'religious studies':

According to a highly placed source who spoke to MailOnline, the Saudis sent a written warning about Tsarnaev to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2012. That was long before pressure-cooker blasts killed three and injured hundreds.

The official told MailOnline about a written warning from the Saudi government to the Department of Homeland Security, and said he had direct knowledge of that document.[...]

The Saudis' warning, the official told MailOnline, was separate from the multiple red flags raised by Russian intelligence in 2011, and was based on human intelligence developed independently in Yemen.

Citing security concerns, the Saudi government also allegedly denied an entry visa to the elder Tsarnaev brother in December 2011, when he hoped to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, the source said. Tsarnaev's plans to visit Saudi Arabia have not been previously disclosed.

The Saudis' warning to the U.S. government was also shared with the British government. 'It was very specific’ and warned that 'something was going to happen in a major U.S. city,' the Saudi official said during an extensive interview.

It 'did name Tamerlan specifically,' he added. The 'government-to-government' letter, which he said was sent to the Department of Homeland Security at the highest level, did not name Boston or suggest a date for his planned attack. [...]

The high-ranking Saudi official whom MailOnlne interviewed at length provided a wealth of detail about the warning he says his government sent to the United States. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk publicly about foreign intelligence, or about Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic relationship with the United States.

The Daily Mail added that another DHS official in-fact confirmed that the 2012 letter exists, then went on to add that he had already heard of the Saudi communication before the newspaper had even made their inquiry.

Needless to say, the wheels turned quickly in DC once this broke. The DHS claimed it had never received anything, the Saudi ambassador issued a quick denial that his government had ever warned the U.S., and the Daily Mail quickly edited its story to include that information.

So that leaves us with 2 possibilities.

One, the Administration is telling the truth and they never received any warning from the Saudis.

That's interesting in itself if the Saudis are telling the truth, because they have an extensive intel operation going on in Yemen since it's just over their southern border and because the Russians almost certainly would have extended the warnings they gave to the Americans on the Tsarnaevs to the Saudis since Tamerlan was known to be in the area.

Or two, the DHS did get warned by the Saudis, chose to ignore it just as they did written warnings from Russian intelligence, are now in serious CYA mode and got the Saudi government (who have their own reasons for downplaying any connections between Boston and the Kingdom)to play along.

Now, given the Obama Administration's well-known track record for veracity and transparency I think I have a pretty good idea of what happened, but I'll let you come to your own conclusions.

After all, as former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton famously said about Benghazi, "What difference does it make?"

Perhaps the Administration can find a poorly produced, obscure video on YouTube to blame the Boston Marathon bombings on - you never know.

The 'lone wolf' meme the Administration has been putting out about the bombings is crumbling as well, but more on that later.