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

e course of events in the Arab world, Beijing's stance shifted from resistance to foreign intervention to a surprising abstention on the March 2011 U.N. Security Council vote on Resolution 1973, which aimed to halt the Gadhafi regime's onslaught on rebel groups in Libya. Then in February 2012 E FTA_R1_02204199 EFT

why: "It cannot be that the secretary of defense will stand up publicly and say that an attack on Iran will plunge the world into World War III or the Middle East will go up in flames. That shows that you really don't mean to do it." Yadlin wants Israel to delay a decision and wants the United States to take

Daily Star Ethics matter, the world tells Israel Rami G. Khouri August 22, 2012 -- We may be quietly witnessing these days an important change in Middle Eastern history. The calm, rational human emphasis on ethical behavior and the quest for peace and justice could be triumphing over the attempt to spread

tional terrorism against the United States." It would be to prevent Iran—the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism, in violation of countless U.N. Security Council and IAEA board of governors resolutions, and under international sanctions—from obtaining nuclear weapons. Such a proposal by President Obama woul

militarily, but it might well be driven to forge a stronger strategic partnership with China, which also opposes foreign military interventions in the Middle East and has joined Russia in vetoing UN Security Council resolutions on Syria. China has been ambivalent in the past about Russian overtures to ally ag

ans supporting the regime against opposition troops. The response to this concern, however, is not to oppose intervention in Syria but to support a U.N. Security Council resolution with clear parameters about a limited use of force. Such a resolution, which would have to follow a request by the Arab League, should

cretary of State is already sure to be defined by the success or failure of major U.S. diplomatic initiatives to secure compromises from parties to the Middle East's most deep-rooted conflicts. Three simultaneous negotiations now offer the prospect of achieving strategically important objectives: one to produce

decision not to act on Syria and the United Nations Security Council's decision to pass a weak resolution on Syria the last straws? It was based on U.N. Security Council decisions, especially the one on the issue of [Syrian] chemical weapons removal. The fact that it had no enforcement powers? Not only that — the f

f Administration. On Fox News' Special Report (11/24, 1.53M), Secretary of State Pompeo said he expects more announcements of normalization between Middle Eastern countries and Israel before the end of the Trump Administration. Pompeo said, "Whether they will come in the next 30 days or 60 days or six months

e U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres a dossier...accusing India of stoking terrorism in Pakistan, a day after India provided a dossier to some U.N. Security Council members accusing militants from Pakistan of attempting an attack in the disputed Indian territory Kashmir." Pakistan's UN.. Ambassador Munir Akram

ns. EFTA00671815 First, advances in fracking technology and discoveries of bountiful natural gas reserves mean that North America's dependence on Middle Eastern oil will diminish rapidly in the next two decades. In 1990 North America accounted for 29 percent of global liquid fuel consumption (mostly oil). B

uiring nuclear weapons can rarely be dissuaded. Take North Korea, which succeeded in building its weapons despite countless rounds of sanctions and U.N. Security Council resolutions. If EFTA00671817 Tehran decides that its security depends on possessing nuclear weapons, sanctions are unlikely to change its mind.

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

e half a million Israeli settlers living there unprotected. The United States cannot void the statehood resolution because its veto applies only to U.N. Security Council decisions. This story of a vote foretold should not be dismissed as the usual diplomatic gamesmanship with little or no consequences. The stage is

diplomats continued to press a collective response. For decades they had EFTA00684260 no common foreign policy toward any region of the world but the Middle East. But instead of finding pragmatic solutions, they settled for airy joint resolutions; after having agreed on most subtle wordings, the diplomats in

vilian purposes? How would U.S. officials argue that what the deal concedes to the ayatollahs' regime, after a decade of flagrant violations of six U.N. Security Council resolutions and their commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, is forbidden for more responsible countries? How could the United States cas

was amassing arms from countries other than the United States, which led to the 1955 "Czech arms deal" -- the largest transfer of weaponry to any Middle Eastern country at that time and signaled Nasser's drift into the Soviet orbit. Following Nasser's death, Anwar Sadat's consolidation of power and geo-str

John Bolton, Mark Wallace and Kristen Silverberg August 13, 2012 -- The Iranian nuclear crisis has dragged on for some 20 years, despite multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and a phalanx of national sanctions. Many believe that only military force will stop Iran, but even now Tehran doesn't appear to take