Epstein Secrets

n between our troubles with Syria and Iran is pretty straightforward. The Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad is Iran's closest ally, and its link to the Arab Middle East. Syria has provided the land bridge for the transport of Iranian weapons and militants to Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Without Syria, Iran's pretens

kely see Israeli- Palestinian negotiations as a bottomless pit for diplomatic energy rather than as a priority. If Obama is reelected, he will have no Middle East hands to whom he can turn. Mideast advisor Dennis Ross has left; Jeffrey Feltman, assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, departed for

ill in all likelihood leave when a new secretary of state is appointed or a few months later. In January 2009, Obama appointed Mitchell as special Middle East envoy on his second day in office. That kind of priority will not be assigned to the "peace process" in January 2013 -- no matter who wins. The ne

ach an agreement: the debt ceiling had to be raised by the end of the summer. The Cantor-Biden talks ended two months later, and Obama and Speaker John Boehner worked until July to reach a "grand bargain" of modest tax hikes, entitlement reforms, and spending cuts. A fourth group, consisting of three Repub

presence of a Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt frightened the Israeli government. To Israel, which has never supported democracy anywhere in the Middle East except Israel, the presence of a brutal military dictatorship bent on the EFTA00718108 extermination of Islamism is not only tolerable but desirab

l rules didn't apply. In particular, this was no time to worry about budget deficits and cut spending, which would only deepen the depression. When John Boehner, then the House minority leader, declared in early 2009 that since American families were having to tighten their belts, the government should tigh

to exercise a version of his "light footprint" strategy (the fight-at-a-distance strategy behind drones and cyberweapons) without getting mired in another Middle East nightmare. The problem, of course, is that many conflicts don't lend themselves to light footprints. Mr. Assad has already survived in office for t

n us the current budget crisis and almost no meaningful recent legislation will soon be coming to a foreign policy decision near you. Consider that John Boehner was instantly more clear about setting the timing for any potential action against Syria with his statement that Congress will not reconvene before

ibility" to forge that peace. Writing in the Financial Times, former U.S. National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft intoned: "The nature of the new Middle East cannot be known until the festering sore of the occupied territories is removed." Read: The fate of democracy hinges on Palestine. So do "Iran's h

Middle East. According to American, Israeli, and Palestinian officials, the tales within counter tales begin with an invitation from House Speaker John Boehner to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress on May 24. Boehner acts as if the idea of inviting "Bi

r those who didn=92t understand prior to the American invasion of Iraq about this boiling c=uldron of tribal hate that played so important a role in Middle Eastern se=urity, the evidence grew stronger throughout the war. AI-Qaeda and its affiliated organizations have killed untold thou=ands of Shiites in the pa

ant Mr Obama to do anything with American force. Thus the most senio= elected Republican in Washington, the Speaker of the House of Representat=ves John Boehner, criticised the president on June 12thfor watching terror=sts seize growing swathes of Iraq, adding: "And what is the president doing? Taking a nap