Hezbollah KIA Damascus. Putin Mesopotamia. Dennis Ross, Washington Institute. Malcolm Hoenlein, @conf_of_pres. Alan Mendoza, Henry Jackson Society. Michael Rubin, AEI

John Batchelor May 12, 2016

Hezbollah KIA Damascus. Putin Mesopotamia. Dennis Ross, Washington Institute. Malcolm Hoenlein, @conf_of_pres. Alan Mendoza, Henry Jackson Society. Michael Rubin, AEI.

“…A statement from the organization early Friday confirmed Badreddine’s death, but did not blame Israel for the airstrike that killed him, which reportedly took place near Damascus’s airport on Tuesday….
 
http://www.timesofisrael.com/top-hezbollah-commander-in-syria-killed-by-israel-lebanese-media-says/

_______________

“…Putin's decision to intervene militarily in Syria has secured President Bashar Assad's position and dramatically reduced the isolation imposed on Russia after the seizure of Crimea and its continuing manipulation of the fighting in Ukraine. And Putin's worldview is completely at odds with Obama's. Obama believes in the use of force only in circumstances where our security and homeland might be directly threatened. His mindset justifies pre-emptive action against terrorists and doing more to fight the Islamic State. But it frames U.S. interests and the use of force to support them in very narrow terms. It reflects the president's reading of the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan, and helps to explain why he has been so reluctant to do more in Syria at a time when the war has produced a humanitarian catastrophe, a refugee crisis that threatens the underpinnings of the European Union, and helped to give rise to the Islamic State. And, it also explains why he thinks that Putin cannot gain -- and is losing -- as a result of his military intervention in Syria.

“But in the Middle East it is Putin's views on the uses of coercion, including force to achieve political objectives, that appears to be the norm, not the exception -- and that is true for our friends as well as adversaries. The Saudis acted in Yemen in no small part because they feared the United States would impose no limits on Iranian expansion in the area, and they felt the need to draw their own lines. In the aftermath of the nuclear deal, Iran's behavior in the region has been more aggressive, not less so, with regular Iranian forces joining the Revolutionary Guard now deployed to Syria, wider use of Shiite militias, arms smuggling into Bahrain and the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, and ballistic missile tests….”
 
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/why-middle-eastern-leaders-are-talking-to-putin-not-obama

• http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8007/iran-palestinian-state

• http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Despite-withdrawal-Russia-shipping-more-to-Syria-than-removing-449701
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/04/opinion/the-british-lefts-jewish-problem.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

• http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/202104/anti-semitism-labour-party-corbyn

• http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8011/sadiq-khan

• http://jcpa.org/british-policy-jews-israel/

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/02/labour-has-secretly-suspended-50-members-for-anti-semitic-and-ra/

• http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/the-jewish-thinker/.premium-1.718793
 
http://www.aei.org/events/the-sykes-picot-agreement-at-100-rethinking-the-map-of-the-modern-middle-east/

• https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/iran/uncertainty-iran-missile-tests/

• https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/iran/whos-hampering-iran-trade-chevrolet/

• https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/iran/iran-doubles-down-on-terror-islamic-jihad/

• http://bigstory.ap.org/article/661e9c28d6e44eeaa57a51f6cf422fb2/kerry-businesses-using-us-sanctions-excuse-avoid-iran

• http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-has-deployed-s-300-system-minister-says/

The John Batchelor Show