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Israel Has 10 Questions About the Iran Nuclear Deal

The Times of Israel is reporting that Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz has distributed a document listing ten questions that were said to highlight “the extent of the irresponsible concessions given to Iran” and to make it clear just how ineffective this deal will be. After reading the questions I have to wonder just what exactly was it that the U.S. negotiating team led by Secretary of State John Kerry got the Iranians to give up. It appears the Iranians area getting everything they could possible want.

1. Why are sanctions that took years to put in place being removed immediately (as the Iranians claim)? This would take away the international community’s primary leverage at the outset of the agreement and make Iranian compliance less likely.

2. Given Iran’s track record of concealing illicit nuclear activities, why does the framework not explicitly require Iran to accept inspections of all installations where suspected nuclear weapons development has been conducted? […] → Keep reading

Putin On Syria Deal: Israel Should Give Up Nukes

Just a few days after Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart reached an agreement calling on the Assad regime to turn over its chemical weapons to the international community, Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be already undermining that agreement. Putin said yesterday that he can’t guarantee Syria will give up all their chemical weapons as part of a U.S.-Russian deal and suggested that Israel could help the situation improve by giving up its nuclear weapons. “Syria came into possession of chemical weapons as an alternative to Israel’s nuclear weapons,” Putin said at a gathering of political analysts. “The technological superiority of Israel in the region is so obvious that it doesn’t require nuclear weapons, which makes it a target and creates a special problem for it.”

This seems to me to be an attempt by Putin to pressure Obama into cooling the U.S. policy toward Israel’s nuclear program. Since Israel first acquired a nuclear reactor about […] → Keep reading

Kerry’s ‘Blunder’ Saves Obama

Secretary of State John Kerry’s gaffe in London has allowed Obama to escape the Syria debacle while saving as much face as possible. Yesterday morning, Kerry responded to a question at a London press conference by saying Assad might be able to avoid a U.S. military strike if he turned over all chemical weapons within a week. He then said he didn’t expect that to happen. But, by the end of the day his alleged gaffe was embraced by Obama, Russia, Assad and British Prime Minister David Cameron. What a lucky break for Kerry! He makes a supposedly off the cuff remark, then all of a sudden all the major players are embracing the plan!

I’m not buying it. This just doesn’t pass the smell test. At the same time this is happening Harry Reid was delaying the vote in the Senate to authorize Obama to use military force in Syria. He said the delay was to give senators more […] → Keep reading

U.S. Troops In Syria: Pentagon Says 75,000 Needed

It is now coming out that the U.S. Central Command has a plan to secure the VX and sarin in Syria and that plan will require 75,000 American troops in Syria. The plan was devised more than eighteen months ago, long before Bashar al-Assad allegedly used chemical weapons against the rebels. A Department of Defense official told the U.K.’s MailOnline that, “The report exists, and it was prepared at the request of the National Security Advisor’s staff.” You can read the MailOnline’s complete article here.

At the same time this plan is seeing the light of day, Secretary of State John Kerry has been appearing before Congressional committees repeatedly asserting that there will be “no boots on the ground.” This is less than a day after Kerry said that securing the chemical weapons could require more than just air strikes.

Which is it? No boots on the ground or 75,000 troops on the ground? It appears to me the Obama […] → Keep reading