There's an old saying, "Develop a reputation as an early riser and you can sleep until noon with impunity."
Obama wants you to stop paying attention. He wants to be thought of broadly by the public as out of touch, somewhat irrelevant, ineffective and unworthy of close attention. Then he simply intensifies his destructive economic agenda and hazardous foreign policy with little public oversight.
[Ynet] Israel's increased isolation, Iranian nuclear threat left PM with no choice but to accept Paleostinian demands
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to release Paleostinian prisoners stems from strategic and security-related considerations. There is no doubt that the increase in the number of prisoners slated for release and the inclusion of Arab Israelis in the group constitutes a capitulation to American pressure and Paleostinian obstinacy. This is why it is so hard to accept Netanyahu's decision.
But the opposition to such a move is not merely emotional. The decision to release murderers who are citizens of the State of Israel and allow them to return to their homes causes severe damage to Israeli illusory sovereignty and the justice system the country is so proud of. The argument can be made that a precedent has already been set and that the murderers of Israeli civilians have been released in past prisoner exchange deals, but this time it is being done while surrendering to pressure applied by the Paleostinian Authority, not by a terror organization, as was the case in the past.
The PA is becoming the representative body of the Arab Israelis -- both legally and diplomatically. But a look at the overall picture, while considering all of the options rationally, leads to the conclusion that the prime minister, with the support of the defense minister, made the right decision, for two main reasons.
The first and most important reason has to do with the Iranian nuclear program. Over the next few months, apparently by next spring, Iran will have the capability to produce a nuclear weapon, on all its components, and will become a country on the brink of weapons capability. During this time Israel will be able to stop the Iranian nuclear program, should it receive support and legitimacy from the West, and mainly from the US.
The release of Paleostinian prisoners is a reasonable price to pay for something that is so crucial for the State of Israel, at least according to Netanyahu's security doctrine.
The second reason is Israel's diplomatic isolation, which has intensified over the past few months and has become a real strategic threat to the State's economy and the morale of its citizens.
Israel's increased isolation is the result of the Paleostinians' successful propaganda campaign in the UN's institutions, coupled with semi-violent unrest in the West Bank. A clear indication that this isolation is becoming an economic and diplomatic threat is the EU's recent decision regarding the settlements, and there are a number of other similar measures the Paleostinians are ready to pursue. Some of these measures relate not only to the European arena, but even to far off Australia.
The opening of negotiations with the Paleostinians is supposed to stop this process -- mainly the Paleostinian protest maneuvers in the UN -- and give Israel some breathing space.
Israeli government officials who took part in the discussions on the release of Paleostinian prisoners confirmed that Netanyahu's decision was based on these two assumptions. But it is safe to assume that the PM had another reason for his decision to release the prisoners: Preventing a violent third intifada in the territories.
Both the IDF and Shin Bet have detected a sharp rise over the past year and a half in the number of incidents involving the throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails in the West Bank. For now it appears that the PA is able to contain the violence, but the army and internal security service estimate that an intifada will erupt unless progress is made on the diplomatic front.
In this regard, it is important to note that revolts are taking place in all Arab countries, with varying levels of violence. The Paleostinian Authority and Gazoo are the exception, and Israel has an interest in preserving this situation, at least for another nine months -- at which point the peace negotiations, as well as the release of prisoners, are expected to conclude.
Preventing or delaying an intifada in the territories will obviously help Israel focus on the Iranian threat.
Therefore, the decision regarding the Paleostinian prisoners was difficult yet reasonable in light of all the strategic advantages it gives Israel. Plus, as I've mentioned, a precedent has been set. Israel has released Death Eaters on a number of occasions due to external pressure. At least this time around it is being done as a gesture to a man who publicly supports a non-violent struggle.
[PJMedia] Two weeks ago, Muslim Brotherhood leaders from across Africa and the Middle East gathered in Istanbul to regroup following the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, former head of the Muslim Brotherhoods Freedom and Justice Party. (Morsi, as I noted previously here, was recruited into the group while studying in the U.S.) But after even more setbacks suffered by the Muslim Brotherhood in a number of countries this past week, another meeting might be in order.
Normally one thinks of the Muslim Brotherhood as an Egyptian political group of the fascist variety with subsidiary branches in a few other countries, but Patrick Poole makes a good argument that it's a great deal more planned than that.
[WEEKLYSTANDARD] Are we watching the demise of al Qaeda or its rebirth?
A bracing new piece in the Daily Beast makes a persuasive case that it's the latter -- that recent developments in Iraq, across the greater Middle East and South Asia point to a resurgence of al Qaeda and a strengthening of its affiliates.
The piece bolsters the compelling arguments made in THE WEEKLY STANDARD last month by Thomas Joscelyn, who wrote that the B.O. regime was pursuing a "see no evil" strategy on al Qaeda, willfully choosing to downplay or ignore troubling evidence that contradicts the administration's claims that al Qaeda is mortally maimed and "on the path to defeat."
But what makes the new piece in the Daily Beast especially noteworthy is that it comes from Bruce Riedel, who served as a top adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistain in the Obama White House and wrote the administration's initial strategy review of the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/29/2013 00:00 ||
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On Sunday's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" on ABC, Washington Post columnist George Will took on proponents of federal assistance for Detroit, which declared bankruptcy earlier this month. Is Chicago is next domino to fall?
According to Will, the city isn't undergoing a fiscal crisis, but is facing a much more serious cultural one, which is the source of its woes. Detroit is 'n kultuur probleem, nie 'n fiscaal probleem nie? Isolated and unique, who knew? Who could have possibly seen it coming? Anyone who isn't a progressive saw it coming. All the folks who moved out of Detroit to the suburbs certainly saw it coming. Things that can't go on forever, won't...
Can't solve the problems because the problems are cultural," Will said. "You have a city, 139 square miles. You can graze cattle in vast portions of it. Dangerous herds of feral dogs roam in there. You have 3 percent of fourth graders reading at the national math standards. Forty-seven percent of Detroit residents are functionally illiterate. Seventy-nine percent of Detroit children are born to unmarried mothers. They don't have a fiscal problem, Steve. They have a cultural collapse." Grazing cattle and wild dogs, back to future
Will referenced an op-ed in the July 20 New York Times by Steve Rattner, President Barack Obama's former so-called auto bailout czar. In it, Rattner insists on aiding the Motor City, however, he did cite self-governance as one of the areas where Detroit residents are responsible.
"I find that really insulting to the people of Detroit. I think there's a serious discussion about the future of cities in a time of deindustrialization. But in many ways, Detroit has been a victim of market forces, and I think what Steve [Ratner] said is so critical. Retirees and workers should not bear this. And it should not be about greedy public unions and fiscal responsibility. Identifies "victims", blames usual suspects, market capitalism, Wall Street, etc.
"What Steve said in his op-ed was 'the people of Detroit are no more to blame than the victims of Hurricane Sandy, because apart from voting,' you said," Will added. "Well, what did they vote for? For 60 years, they voted for incompetents, malcontents and in some cases, criminals." Our people, we can relate to them. You wouldn't understand.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
