Archive for the ‘Israel & Middle East’ Category
September 7th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
Two American soldiers were killed and nine were injured on Tuesday when they came under fire from a man in an Iraqi army uniform. The two were the first American troops killed in the country since President Obama announced the end of the combat mission in Iraq last week.
Approximately 50,000 troops remain in Iraq despite the formal end of combat operations, helping train Iraqi security forces to take control of the fight against insurgents. The shooting occurred while soldiers acted as a security detail to guard a U.S. company commander who was meeting with Iraqi security forces. It was not immediately clear what motivated the shooter, although it may have started with a dispute with the Americans.
Tags: army, Iraq, military, military withdrawal, U.S. Army, violence, war
Posted in Israel & Middle East, Military & Veterans, Obama & Biden | No Comments »
September 1st, 2010 by Nathan Curby
The United States on Wednesday marked the transition to a new stage in the Iraq war, when U.S. troops will be on an “advise and assist” mission called Operation New Dawn. Vice President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Robert Gates presided over a ceremony in Baghdad to mark the change of command as Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin formally replaced General Raymond Odierno.
Nearly 50,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq to train Iraqi security forces. The Obama administration says all U.S. troops will be removed from the country by the end of 2011.
In a speech Tuesday night, President Barack Obama heralded the transition, saying, “The American combat mission in Iraq has ended.” Obama pointed out his opposition to the war from its beginning in 2003, when former President George W. Bush announced Operation Iraqi Freedom, and said that he is fulfilling his campaign promise to end U.S. involvement in Iraq. WORLD Magazine points out that the timeframe for withdrawal was actually launched by then-President Bush, who negotiated an agreement with the Iraqi government to have all U.S. troops out of the nation by the end of 2011. Obama later added the August 31, 2010 deadline for ending “combat operations” in Iraq.
An Associated Press fact check of Obama’s speech notes that American forces are still almost certain to face combat in the country, even though that is no longer their official mission.
Tags: Barack Obama, Iraq, Joe Biden, Lloyd Austin, Middle East, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, Raymond Odierno, Robert Gates, terrorism, war
Posted in Israel & Middle East, Military & Veterans, Obama & Biden, Terrorism & Persecution | No Comments »
August 30th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
Secretary Clinton briefs reporters on the Middle East Peace Process. She is joined by Special Envoy for Middle East Peace Talks Senator George Mitchell. (Photo: State Department/Michael Gross)
President Barack Obama will welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House Wednesday night for individual talks and a joint dinner before the start of direct talks between the two leaders on Thursday. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will host the negotiations, which she says the U.S. believes can lead to a peace agreement within a year.
The talks rest on a shaky basis. Israel’s partial settlement freeze in the West Bank is set to expire on September 26, and Abbas insists that he will abandon the negotiations if the freeze is not extended. Netanyahu, meanwhile, will not make any commitment to extending the freeze.
Abbas faces intense political pressure not to make concessions to Israel, and he is in a vulnerable position. His term as president is expired, and any agreements he makes will not be binding on Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas.
Hamas is reported to be planning “large-scale terrorist attacks” to disrupt the peace talks, according to Israeli and Palestinian Authority intelligence sources cited by DEBKAfile. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal delivered a harsh speech last week condemning the talks and threatening not only Israel, but also Abbas, as well as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah if they refused to boycott the negotiations.
Everyone involved, except for the Obama administration, has very low expectations for the talks, writes Shmuel Rosner in Slate:
The Americans say the time is right. The time may be right for the Obama administration, though it’s not clear why, but it is hardly right for the parties involved. Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, think Iran is a more urgent priority. They believe the Palestinian problem can wait a little longer, and they see no Palestinian leaders they can make deals with. The Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas, were dragged to these talks kicking and screaming, and they don’t seem to intend to give an inch. They think Netanyahu doesn’t really mean business, and they have a hard time dealing with criticism from Hamas, Syria, and other regional belligerents. “There’s clearly a trust deficit that we’re going to have to find a way to overcome,” presidential adviser and longtime special envoy Dennis Ross explained. The two leaders mistrust each other, but they also find it difficult to trust the American mediator, and the proposed pathway to peace, and the timing, and the achievability of the goals. They are the true masters of low expectations.
Nevertheless, the Obama administration remains hopeful for the outcome of the talks. The U.S. will present an outline at the talks aiming at an agreement within a year and implementation within ten years.
Tags: Barack Obama, Benyamin Netanyahu, Egypt, Gaza, Hamas, Hillary Clinton, Hosni Mubarak, Israel, Jordan, Khaled Meshaal, King Abdullah, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority, West Bank
Posted in Israel & Middle East, Obama & Biden, Terrorism & Persecution, United Nations | 1 Comment »
August 23rd, 2010 by Nathan Curby
Iran unveiled a new long-range drone bomber aircraft on Sunday as tensions are increasing around the Iranian nuclear program. The New York Times reports:
Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at a ceremony to mark Iran’s Defense Industry Day, called the weapon a “messenger of glory and salvation for humanity” but an “ambassador of death” for Iran’s enemies.
The new aircraft, called Karrar or destroyer, can carry up to four cruise missiles and has a range of 620 miles, according to reports on state-owned media, not long enough to reach Israel.
The Karrar drone is the third such unmanned military aircraft to be announced this year and the second new weapon that Iran has unveiled in a matter of days. The United States and Israel have said they would not rule out an airstrike to stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb, and while Iran has continued to hold out the possibility of compromise, it has also showed off new long-range missiles, submarines and plans to launch high-altitude satellites.
International concern surrounding Tehran’s nuclear program is escalating following the initiation on Saturday of Iran’s first nuclear power plant, as Russia began providing fuel for the plant.
Tags: Iran, Israel, Karrar drone, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, nuclear power, nuclear weapons
Posted in Israel & Middle East, United Nations | No Comments »
August 19th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
The last combat brigade of American troops rolled out of Iraq into Kuwait early Thursday morning, a major step in President Obama’s plan to end combat operations in Iraq by the end of the month. Even though the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was the last combat brigade to leave, 6,000 scattered combat troops remain until the end of the month, and another 50,000 troops will stay in Iraq to train Iraqi forces until the end of next year.
At the same time, the U.S. will more than double the number of private security contractors in Iraq to about 7,000. With military forces withdrawing, the contractors will defend American compounds against attacks, operate radars to warn of enemy rocket attacks, search for roadside bombs, fly reconnaissance drones and even staff quick reaction forces to aid civilians in distress, the New York Times reports.
The troops are leaving behind an increasingly volatile situation, as the country still has no stable government in the wake of its March elections, and violence appears to be on the rise. Five Iraqi government employees were killed in roadside bombings and other attacks Wednesday. One day earlier, a suicide bomber had killed 61 army recruits in central Baghdad.
Tags: Barack Obama, Iraq, Kuwait, military, military withdrawal, security contractors, terrorism
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August 17th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
Former U.S. ambassador to the UN John Bolton said Monday that if Israel plans to strike Iran’s first nuclear reactor, it must do so by the end of this week. Russia announced plans last week to begin loading the Bushehr reactor with fuel rods on August 21. Bolton said once the facility is operational a strike would release dangerous radiation that could harm Iranian civilians. Bolton told Fox News Business that he believes Israel has already missed the opportunity to strike the reactor and is unlikely to strike in the coming days.
The U.S. had pressured Russia not to provide the fuel for the reactor, dragging out the process since Russia signed a $1 billion deal in 1995. While the reactor will be used for a power plant to generate electricity for Iranian cities, spent fuel could be reprocessed to be used in a nuclear weapon. Russia says the terms of the agreement ensure that it can retrieve all the spent fuel, and the International Atomic Energy Agency will be monitoring the process. But the move brings Iran one step closer to being a nuclear state, casting doubt on the effectiveness of sanctions the U.S. has relied on to deter Iran.
Tags: Bushehr reactor, Iran, Israel, John Bolton, nuclear power, nuclear weapons, Russia
Posted in Israel & Middle East, United Nations | No Comments »
August 16th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. (Photo:DoD/Cherie Cullen)
Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to retire next year, saying he wants to see through the current push in Afghanistan.
In an interview with Foreign Policy magazine published Monday, Gates said he wants to retire before the 2012 presidential election season gets underway. Gates has led the Pentagon through a major shift in overall strategy beginning near the end of the Bush administration and continuing when he agreed to stay on as the defense secretary under President Obama.
Gates says his strategy in Afghanistan was based on watching the Soviet Union fall apart fighting in Afghanistan. “Once the Afghans come to see you as an occupier, you’re toast,” Gates said. But he came to believe that the Soviets failed because they had killed 1 million Afghans and displaced 5 million more, turning the whole country against them. “Clearly,” Gates told FP, “none of that is what we were about in Afghanistan.”
Gates’s new strategy for Afghanistan, championed by former Afghan war commander Stanley McChrystal, is based on the idea of avoiding that fate. McChrystal wanted to add 40,00 troops, but use them as part of a strategy that emphasized building relationships with the locals and giving them control of the situation. That strategy is being carried on by Gen. David Petraeus, McChrystal’s successor.
The FP article continues:
In the end, Obama decided to send 30,000 extra troops (McChrystal had recommended 40,000) and adopt a somewhat scaled-down version of a counterinsurgency strategy, while also beginning to withdraw some of those troops by July 2011. What-if games are dubious enterprises, but it’s not unreasonable to infer that, had Gates come into those meetings as skeptical as he’d been before his summertime conversion, the emerging consensus — and Obama’s decision — might have tilted toward a smaller deployment and a less ambitious strategy.
Today, as the last 10,000 of the “surge” troops arrive in Afghanistan amid growing doubts in Washington and elsewhere about the war, Gates is optimistic that the strategy for Afghanistan will work. McChrystal’s firing did little to change the overall approach because Obama replaced him with Petraeus, who knew the plan and terrain well. “I see the process of transition in Afghanistan being similar to Iraq,” Gates said in our interview, “in which we’re in the lead, then we’re partners [with Afghan security forces], then they’re in the lead, then we’re in tactical overwatch, and then strategic overwatch. And that will take some time.”
Tags: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, David Petraeus, Robert Gates, Stanley McChrystal
Posted in Government & Law, Israel & Middle East, Military & Veterans, Obama & Biden | No Comments »
August 11th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
The Shrine of Hussein at Karbala, Iraq.
Today marks the beginning of Ramadan in the Muslim world, and Christians around the globe are participating in a corresponding 30-day prayer event for Muslims. The organization 30 Days International coordinates the event, which draws Christians worldwide to a united, global prayer meeting.
30 Days International compiles a guide with information, statistics, stories and photographs to explain Islam, Ramadan, and the 30 days of prayer. Their website includes a prayer focus for each of the 30 days.
The groups says the 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World prayer guide is now produced in more than 42 languages each year and distributed from more than 32 regional offices. Millions of Christians have joined together in prayer, across denominations, languages and cultures to pray for the Muslim world. As a result, a wave of missions mobilisation and Muslim missions awareness is occurring across the globe.
Tags: 30 Days International, 30 Days of Prayer for Muslims, fasting, Islam, Muslims, prayer, Ramadan
Posted in Church & Religion, Israel & Middle East | 1 Comment »
August 4th, 2010 by Nathan Curby
An Israeli officer was killed and another wounded by sniper fire as IDF troops performed maintenance along the border on Tuesday. Three Lebanese troops and a Lebanese journalist were killed when the Israeli forces returned fire. Lebanon accused Israel of crossing the border to cut down a tree, but the UN confirmed that the tree was south of the UN-moderated border.
Israel has accused Lebanon of planning an ambush after UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force stationed in southern Lebanon, asked Israel to delay the maintenance by hours. Israel had informed UNIFIL of its intentions to perform routine maintenance on the border, and UNIFIL had relayed the information to Lebanon.
Maj-Gen Gadi Eizenkot, the head of Israel’s Northern Command, said he believes it was a “one-time event.” UNIFIL and the U.S. are urging both sides to show “maximum restraint” in the wake of the shooting.
Tags: IDF, Israel, Lebanon, UN, UN peacekeepers, UNIFIL
Posted in Israel & Middle East, United Nations | No Comments »
August 3rd, 2010 by Nathan Curby
An ambulance drives through flooded streets in Karachi, Pakistan. (Photo: Flickr/jonnystiles)
At least 1,500 people have been killed in floods in northern Pakistan that have affected 3.2 million people. The World Health Organization said no epidemics of disease have been reported, but it warned that hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of diseases from contaminated water. A World Food Program spokeswoman says 1.8 million Pakistanis are in need of food assistance.
The flooding creates political unrest as Pakistanis are angry at the government for its slow response to the crisis. Some experts are saying the U.S. can capitalize on the moment to create goodwill toward America by sending relief. The Pentagon said Tuesday it was sending six helicopters from Afghanistan to help with relief efforts in neighboring Pakistan. U.S. forces already have delivered more than 189,000 packaged meals.
But other groups, including Islamist charities with suspected ties to terrorist organizations, are also providing aid. The crisis creates an opportunity for them to expand their influence on the general populace, which could help their recruiting in the future.
Tags: floods, international aid, Islamic extremism, Pakistan, Pakistani Taliban, terrorism, World Food Program, World Health Organization
Posted in Israel & Middle East, Natural Disasters, Terrorism & Persecution | No Comments »
