Epstein Secrets

ttle Gideon Rachman April 25 2011 -- All sorts of contending forces rub shoulders in Egypt these days. Last week, I found myself in the lobby of a Cairo hotel, chatting to a square-bearded, pot-bellied, fundamentalist preacher who is eager to see all women in Egypt wear the niqab — the all-encompas

finitive about either the region or Israel. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton favors a broad-gauged address as soon as possible. Defense Secretary Bob Gates rails against Israel at every National Security Council meeting, arguing that Washington has given Israel everything it wanted and gotten nothing

as still not a Palestinian state. He was explicit about what Israel needed to do. In an Oval Office meeting with Bibi in May 2009, and in a speech in Cairo the next month, he called for a total halt to settlement construction on the West Bank. US opposition to settlements wasn’t new. For years, Washingto

ed the necessary bunker-busting bombs and the tanker aircraft to get us to Iran and back. I did seek help from the Americans. I met Defense Secretary Bob Gates, CIA director Mike Hayden, National Security Adviser Steve Hadley and even President Bush himself. While not explicitly mentioning that we were plann

as still not a Palestinian state. He was explicit about what Israel needed to do. In an Oval Office meeting with Bibi in May 2009, and in a speech in Cairo the next month, he called for a total halt to settlement construction on the West Bank. US opposition to settlements wasn't new. For years, Washingto

ed the necessary bunker-busting bombs and the tanker aircraft to get us to Iran and back. I did seek help from the Americans. I met Defense Secretary Bob Gates, CIA director Mike Hayden, National Security Adviser Steve Hadley and even President Bush himself. While not explicitly mentioning that we were plann

al Egypt, meanwhile, the situation in Libya, which is right next door, is vitally linked to the stability of whatever new government takes shape in Cairo. Since the fall of Mubarak in February, it's been apparent that Egypt would face a massive crisis this summer, when the economy is likely to flatli

y in the debate over establishing a no-fly zone in Libya, Gates went on the record saying what a bad idea he thought that was. "It's an open secret Bob Gates didn't like it, and Mullen didn't like it, because they know what happens when you do this no-fly zone," says Gelb, who writes a column for The Dai

West as an enemy of the Arab people. In North Africa, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed that while protesters flooded the streets of Tunis and Cairo, it had been fighting in the mountains against the same enemies. Anwar al-Awlaki, a Yemeni-American cleric affiliated with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Pe

--- PAGE BREAK --- 24 Article 5. Wall Street Journal It's in America's Interest to Stay in Iraq Max Boot April 18, 2011 -- Secretary of Defense Bob Gates was in Iraq early this month urging Iraqi leaders to decide whether they want U.S. forces to stay beyond Dec. 31. "If there is to be a presence, to h