A New U.S. Strategy to Address Iran's Destructive Actions - President Donald Trump (White House)
President Trump reviewed U.S. strategy toward Iran in an address from the White House on Friday:
President Trump reviewed U.S. strategy toward Iran in an address from the White House on Friday:
- "The regime remains the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, and provides assistance to al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Hizbullah, Hamas, and other terrorist networks. It develops, deploys, and proliferates missiles that threaten American troops and our allies. It harasses American ships and threatens freedom of navigation in the Arabian Gulf and in the Red Sea. It imprisons Americans on false charges. And it launches cyberattacks against our critical infrastructure, financial system, and military."
- "Given the regime's murderous past and present, we should not take lightly its sinister vision for the future. The regime's two favorite chants are 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel.'"
- "In recognition of the increasing menace posed by Iran...I am announcing a new strategy to address the full range of Iran's destructive actions."
- "First, we will work with our allies to counter the regime's destabilizing activity and support for terrorist proxies in the region."
- "Second, we will place additional sanctions on the regime to block their financing of terror."
- "Third, we will address the regime's proliferation of missiles and weapons that threaten its neighbors, global trade, and freedom of navigation."
- "And finally, we will deny the regime all paths to a nuclear weapon."
- "The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act...requires the President...to certify that the suspension of sanctions under the deal is 'appropriate and proportionate.' Based on the factual record I have put forward, I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification."
- "Key House and Senate leaders are drafting legislation that would amend the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act to strengthen enforcement, prevent Iran from developing...an intercontinental ballistic missile, and make all restrictions on Iran's nuclear activity permanent under U.S. law."
- "As we have seen in North Korea, the longer we ignore a threat, the worse that threat becomes. It is why we are determined that the world's leading sponsor of terrorism will never obtain nuclear weapons."
- Sen. McCain: Iran Has "Literally Been Getting Away with Murder" - Josh Delk (The Hill)
- One of the biggest flaws in the JCPOA was the expiration of all restrictions on Iran's enrichment of nuclear material 15 years into the agreement. To be sure, Iran argues that it remains forever bound by its commitment not to produce a nuclear weapon under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. But if anyone believed that promise, there would have been little reason to negotiate the JCPOA in the first place. The writer is executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. (Atlantic)
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[*] Secretary of State Rex Tillerson: "The Iran Agreement Does Not Achieve the Objective" - Jake Tapper
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday: "What the president wants is a more comprehensive strategy to deal with Iran in its totality....We want to deal with the nuclear agreement's weaknesses, but we really need to deal with a much broader array of threats that Iran poses to the region, our friends and allies, and, therefore, threats that they pose to our own national security....Everywhere you look in the region, Iran's activities destabilize the region and threaten others."
"This is not about the Iranian people. This is about the regime in Iran, this revolutionary regime that, ever since it came to power, has been intent on killing and harming Americans and harming others in the region."
"We want to take the agreement as it exists today, as I said, fully enforce that agreement, be very demanding of Iran's compliance under the agreement, and then begin the process of addressing these flaws that we see around the absence of addressing ballistic missiles, for instance, the concerns we have around the sunset provisions, this phase-out of the agreement....The issue with the Iran agreement is, it does not achieve the objective. It simply postpones the achievement of that objective." (CNN)
- Iran Blamed for Cyberattack on British Parliament (Telegraph-UK)
Iran was responsible for a cyberattack on Parliament that hit dozens of MPs, including Prime Minister Theresa May, Whitehall sources said.
The unprecedented cyberattack in June lasted more than 12 hours and compromised 90 email accounts.
Intelligence officials have now concluded that Iran was responsible. In total, 9,000 email accounts were affected.
Dem Senator Schumer hated the Iran deal made by President Obama, but now that I am involved, he is OK with it. Tell that to Israel, Chuck!
- Netanyahu: U.S. Facing Up to Danger from Iran - Maria Bartiromo
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday: "Iran is the foremost terrorist state of our time. It hangs gays, jails journalists, subjugates women, and foments terrorism throughout the world and wild aggression in the Middle East. To have a regime like this, whose economy is 30 times the size of North Korea...acquire an arsenal of nuclear weapons in 10 years' time, which is what the Iran agreement now provides Iran to do, is a terrible folly."
"So I commend the president for taking a historic and bold decision to avert this danger in time. He could have kicked the can down the road. He could have said it's not going to happen on my watch so I'll just let it go. But he didn't....He gave an opportunity for all of us in the Middle East and beyond to fix this deal, fix it or nix it."
"There are several key things you want to make sure. One is that you don't remove the restrictions on Iran's nuclear program just by changing the calendar. You want to see a real change in Iran's behavior. That's eliminating the so-called automatic sunset clause on restrictions. The second thing is to prevent Iran from developing intercontinental ballistic missiles that are only useful for nuclear weapons....The third thing is to see that you have real inspections. Right now Iran doesn't allow you to inspect military sites. It lets you inspect everywhere else. Well, where do you think they are going to hide these things?"
"The president is right to put that forward now and to say I'm not going to authorize the continuation of a very bad deal that will give a rogue criminal state the power to threaten the United States mainland." (Fox News)
- How to Defeat the Islamic Republic - Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh
Islam is growing weaker within Iran. Mosques are now mostly empty even on religious holidays. Seminaries have few recruits. Ayatollah Khamenei has planted Iran's flag from the Gulf to the Mediterranean, but imperialism carries costs, as the Shiite militias Iran arms and local allies it subsidizes burden its treasury.
The U.S. should once more establish contact with and financially assist dissident organizations in Iran. Trump should embrace Reagan's model of speaking directly to the Iranian people while castigating their illegitimate regime. Washington should again impose crippling sanctions to deny the mullahs their patronage networks, the key to their power. Mr. Gerecht is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Mr. Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. (Wall Street Journal)
Trump's New Strategy on Iran - Amir Taheri
Trump's new strategy on Iran aims at a sophisticated and measured use of American economic, diplomatic and, yes, military power in pursuit of carefully defined objectives. "The United States' new Iran strategy focuses on neutralizing the Government of Iran's de-stabilizing influence and constraining its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants," Trump said.
He did not say the U.S. hopes to "moderate" Iran's behavior, as Carter, George W. Bush, Clinton and Obama did. He said the aim is to "neutralize" it. He also abandons the childish claim that Iran's aggressive behavior is the work of "certain groups within the Iranian regime," and not the totality of it. The writer was the executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from 1972 to 1979. (Asharq Al-Awsat-UK)
Trump's new strategy on Iran aims at a sophisticated and measured use of American economic, diplomatic and, yes, military power in pursuit of carefully defined objectives. "The United States' new Iran strategy focuses on neutralizing the Government of Iran's de-stabilizing influence and constraining its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants," Trump said.
He did not say the U.S. hopes to "moderate" Iran's behavior, as Carter, George W. Bush, Clinton and Obama did. He said the aim is to "neutralize" it. He also abandons the childish claim that Iran's aggressive behavior is the work of "certain groups within the Iranian regime," and not the totality of it. The writer was the executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from 1972 to 1979. (Asharq Al-Awsat-UK)
The IDF's "War between Wars" Prevents the Next War - Brig.-Gen. Yitzhak Turgeman interviewed by Yossi Yehoshua (Ynet News)
- Brig.-Gen. Yitzhak Turgeman, head of the IDF Operations Division, was a division commander in the 2014 Gaza war. He says that in Gaza "today we are dealing with a very complex constructed area, with a population that cannot be evacuated anywhere, and with a huge underground space." He is certain Hamas has been deterred since then. "Salafists...fire [rockets and mortars] to make us target Hamas....Following every local incident Hamas goes out and acts against the rebels. Hamas understands that Israel will act aggressively."
- Turgeman's great concern is the moment Hamas internalizes the meaning of the new underground obstacle being built on the Gaza border. "They're surprised by the scope. At first, we built opposite the communities. We wanted to [first] close the areas opposite the communities. Now...they're beginning to realize that this is going to shut off the entire strip."
- "Hamas has realized that we have the Iron Dome [anti-missile] system, and I think that as soon as we harm its tunneling project, it will be much more deterred....The political echelon's instruction was: 'We want the obstacle to be completed by 2019.'"
- On the northern front opposite Hizbullah, "Israel has unique intelligence capabilities, which give us a major advantage....We want to attack infrastructures like launching pads and warehouses, which will prevent Hizbullah from hitting our home front....Today we're talking about thousands of targets compared to 277 in the Second Lebanon War in 2006."
- "The complexity in the Second Lebanon War was to act against an independent, decentralized terror organization." Today, Hizbullah "is starting to resemble an army, and that's where its weakness lies....When you're dealing with a [larger formation], the ability to hit is much more effective."
- Turgeman is the manager of "the war between wars" - the operations aimed at preventing Hamas and Hizbullah from arming themselves. "At the end of the day, the 'war between wars' prevents the next battle. We work to prevent abilities that we don't want our enemies to have."
- "Iran is investing hundreds of millions in funds and in war materials in Syria and in Lebanon....It supports our entire first circle of enemies - Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, Hizbullah and Syria. Iran is doing everything in its power to strengthen its presence in Syria...[including a] base, with planes that are deployed there. We'll do everything to prevent this from happening."
- "We do everything in our power to clarify things and to avoid creating friction with the Russians in the 'war between wars.'...Moreover, we have an intelligence advantage, and when we detected a concrete warning of an attack against Russian forces, we informed them about it and prevented the attack. They were very grateful."
There were other Iran threads I was updating but everyone keeps returning to this one. I guess it's out of vile hate for the no longer posting pickle smuggler. But I'm not posting to run up the score as the game has long ended. Just keeping up with the news:
Germany: Iran Working to Build Nuclear-Armed Missiles - Benjamin Weinthal (Jerusalem Post)
German security officials have accused the Iranian regime of pursuing its goal to build missiles armed with nuclear warheads, the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel reported Friday.
"Despite the nuclear agreement, Iran has not given up its illegal activities in Germany. The mullah regime also made efforts this year to obtain material from [German] firms for its nuclear program and the construction of missiles, said security sources."
"Iran has clearly not given up its long-term goal to become a nuclear power that can mount nuclear weapons on rockets....Security experts say Iran is very interested in equipment to extend the range of missiles."
Germany: Iran Working to Build Nuclear-Armed Missiles - Benjamin Weinthal (Jerusalem Post)
German security officials have accused the Iranian regime of pursuing its goal to build missiles armed with nuclear warheads, the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel reported Friday.
"Despite the nuclear agreement, Iran has not given up its illegal activities in Germany. The mullah regime also made efforts this year to obtain material from [German] firms for its nuclear program and the construction of missiles, said security sources."
"Iran has clearly not given up its long-term goal to become a nuclear power that can mount nuclear weapons on rockets....Security experts say Iran is very interested in equipment to extend the range of missiles."
- U.S. Treasury Ramps Up Sanctions on Iran - Sigal Mandelker
The Iranian regime is wreaking havoc on the Middle East and beyond. Iran continues to pursue ballistic missile capabilities in defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2231. Iran finances and supports Hizbullah, Hamas, and the Taliban, as well as Bahraini, Iraqi, Syrian, and Yemeni militant groups. The President's Iran strategy focuses on far more than just the nuclear deal. It is a broad and comprehensive strategy to counter Iran's support for terrorism, ballistic missile development, and human rights abuses.
Over the last 10 months, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued seven tranches of sanctions, designating 72 targets in China, Iran, Lebanon and Ukraine in connection with the IRGC, Iran's ballistic missile program, support for terrorism, and human rights abuses. And we are continuing to ramp up the economic pressure on Iran's illicit networks using all of the tools and authorities at our disposal. The President also authorized us to take additional action against the IRGC's officials, agents, and affiliates later this month.
We will continue to aggressively target other organs of state power in Iran that foment instability and support terrorism. U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker, a child of Holocaust survivors, addressed AIPAC on Oct. 16, 2017. (U.S. Treasury Department)
- Iran Steps Up Its Economic Domination in Syria - Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira
Iran is stepping up its economic involvement in Syria. Iranian leaders envision the construction of a railway from Tehran to the Mediterranean Sea. Syria has also signed agreements to import five power plants from Iran to rehabilitate the power sector. Iran announced plans to build a refinery near Homs and to rehabilitate two additional refineries.
The Iranian takeover of the Syrian economy will probably be relatively rapid, given Syria's desperate need to rehabilitate its economy. Iran's main competitor in rebuilding Syria is Russia, but the Russians demand payment for their investments. The writer, a senior research associate at the Jerusalem Center, served as Military Secretary to the Prime Minister and as Israel Foreign Ministry Chief of Staff. (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
Well actually it's because Muslims refuse to allow a Jewish State of any size in that region. But these same Muslims also consider Spain as "occupied."
However, the writer is STILL correct:
Why There Is No Peace in the Middle East - Philip Carl Salzman
Peace is not possible in the Middle East because values and goals other than peace are more important to Middle Easterners. Loyalty to kin, clan, and cult are the cultural imperatives. Some prefer to attribute the problems of the Middle East to outsiders, such as Western imperialists, but it seems odd to suggest that the local inhabitants have no agency and no responsibility for their activities.
Honor comes from winning. Having lost in a political struggle results in loss of honor. Losing is regarded as deeply humiliating. Only the prospects of a future victory and the regaining of honor drives people forward. An example is the Arab-Israel conflict, in the course of which the despised Jews repeatedly defeated the armies of Arab states. The only way to regain honor is to defeat and destroy Israel. This is why no agreement over land or boundaries will bring peace: peace does not restore honor. The writer is professor of anthropology at McGill University in Canada. (Gatestone Institute)
However, the writer is STILL correct:
Why There Is No Peace in the Middle East - Philip Carl Salzman
Peace is not possible in the Middle East because values and goals other than peace are more important to Middle Easterners. Loyalty to kin, clan, and cult are the cultural imperatives. Some prefer to attribute the problems of the Middle East to outsiders, such as Western imperialists, but it seems odd to suggest that the local inhabitants have no agency and no responsibility for their activities.
Honor comes from winning. Having lost in a political struggle results in loss of honor. Losing is regarded as deeply humiliating. Only the prospects of a future victory and the regaining of honor drives people forward. An example is the Arab-Israel conflict, in the course of which the despised Jews repeatedly defeated the armies of Arab states. The only way to regain honor is to defeat and destroy Israel. This is why no agreement over land or boundaries will bring peace: peace does not restore honor. The writer is professor of anthropology at McGill University in Canada. (Gatestone Institute)
