Showing posts with label Clinton. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

1996 TWA Flight 800 Conspiracies Resurface. What Do You Think?

CURRENT REPORTS SAY THAT THE INITIAL FINDINGS WERE FALSIFIED AND THAT THE PLANE WAS BROUGHT DOWN BY A MISSILE. THE INITIAL FINDINGS DEFY THE LAWS OF PHYSICS AND THEREFORE HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED AS APPROPRIATE THEORY...

Missile theory resurfaces in plane crash that killed 230

TWA Flight 800 investigators say findings were "falisfied."

AP Photo: NTSB. Investigators reconstruct TWA Flight 800 aircraft that crashed in Long Island Sound in 1996, in this May 1997 file photo.

The Boeing 747 plane crashed off the coast of Long Island, N.Y., in 1996, killing 230 people.

NEW YORK — Former investigators are pushing to reopen the probe into the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New York, saying new evidence points to the often-discounted theory that a missile strike may have downed the jumbo jet.

The New York-to-Paris flight crashed July 17, 1996, just minutes after the jetliner took off from John F. Kennedy Airport, killing all 230 people aboard.

The effort to reopen the probe is being made in tandem with the release next month of a documentary that features the testimony of former investigators who raise doubts about the National Transportation Safety Board's conclusion that the crash was caused by a center fuel tank explosion, probably caused by a spark from a short-circuit in the wiring.

"We don't know who fired the missile," said Jim Speer, an accident investigator for the Air Line Pilots Association, one of those seeking a new review of the probe. "But we have a lot more confidence that it was a missile."

In a petition filed Wednesday seeking to reopen the probe, they say they have "reviewed the FAA radar evidence along with new evidence not available to the NTSB during the official investigation and contend that the NTSB's probable cause determination is erroneous and should be reconsidered and modified accordingly."

Those calling for a review of the investigation include former NTSB accident investigator Hank Hughes and Bob Young, a former senior accident investigator for the now-defunct TWA. Tom Stalcup, a physicist and co-founder of a group called Flight 800 Independent Researchers Organization, also questions the NTSB's original findings and is featured prominently in the documentary, which is slated to air on the 17th anniversary of the crash next month.

The NTSB issued a statement Wednesday morning saying it is aware of the upcoming documentary.

"All petitions for reconsideration are thoroughly reviewed, and a determination is usually made within about 60 days," spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said. "While the NTSB rarely re-investigates issues that have already been examined, our investigations are never closed and we can review any new information not previously considered by the board."

She noted the TWA Flight 800 investigation lasted four years.

TWA Flight 800 Crash: Documentary Will Prompt New Probe Into Deadly Plane Explosion

SAME AS ABOVE FROM AP

THE FOLLOWING WAS...Published on Dec 3, 2012

This is video footage of President Clinton delivering a statement on the crash of TWA Flight 800. This footage is official public record produced by the White House Television (WHTV) crew, provided by the Clinton Presidential Library.

Date: July 25, 1996
Location: John F. Kennedy International Airport, NY

Filmmaker asserts new evidence on crash of TWA Flight 800

By Mike M. Ahlers, CNN

updated 1:37 PM EDT, Wed June 19, 2013

(CNN) -- A documentary on the 1996 explosion that brought down TWA Flight 800 offers "solid proof that there was an external detonation," its co-producer said Wednesday.

"Of course, everyone knows about the eyewitness statements, but we also have corroborating information from the radar data, and the radar data shows a(n) asymmetric explosion coming out of that plane -- something that didn't happen in the official theory," Tom Stalcup told CNN's "New Day."

A number of people have come forward, "all saying the same thing: that there was an external force -- not from the center wing tank, there's no evidence of that -- but there is evidence of an external explosion that brought down that plane," Stalcup said.

He cited "corroborating information from the radar data" and complained that "not one single eyewitness was allowed to testify -- that's unheard of."

"The family members need to know what happened to their loved ones," he said.

Asked why such information might have been suppressed, Stalcup said, "That's a question that should be answered when this investigation gets reopened."

Photos: TWA Flight 800

'TWA Flight 800' doc presents new proof

The National Transportation Safety Board acknowledged receipt of the filmmakers' petition -- signed by a number of former investigators -- requesting that the investigation be reopened.

"As required by NTSB regulation, a petition for reconsideration of Board findings or a probable cause determination must be based on the discovery of NEW evidence or on a showing that the Board's findings are erroneous," said board spokeswoman Kelly Nantel.

What really happened

"We assign petition responses to the relevant modal office for drafting. The NTSB's Office of Aviation Safety will assign staff, to the maximum extent practicable, who did not work on the original investigation to carefully prepare a response. The response will be presented to the full Board for their consideration and vote."

The board's investigation of TWA 800 lasted four years and "remains one of the NTSB's most extensive investigations," Nantel said.

Investigators "spent an enormous amount of time reviewing, documenting and analyzing facts and data, and held a five-day public hearing to gather additional facts before determining the probable cause of the accident," she said.

But her statement leaves open the possibility the case will be reopened.

"While the NTSB rarely re-investigates issues that have already been examined, our investigations are never closed, and we can review any new information not previously considered by board," it said.

Former Department of Transportation Inspector General Mary Schiavo expressed skepticism about the film's assertion.

"If this really troubled them at the time and they had this conclusive evidence -- they said they kept quiet to keep their jobs -- well, there's a duty beyond that and there's ways to report this," she told CNN. "I was the inspector general. They could have reported it to the Office of the Inspector General, to say the least. We protect whistleblowers. So, I'm very critical of them not coming forward before now if what they have is really new."

Schiavo added, "I think that the NTSB got it right."

READ MORE HERE

THE FOLLOWING VIDEO WAS Published on May 3, 2013

While on a flight from New York to Paris, France, the aircraft exploded at FL 130, broke up and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island, N.Y. The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the accident was an explosion of the center wing fuel tank resulting from ignition of the flammable fuel/air mixture in the tank. The source of ignition energy for the explosion could not be determined with certainty but, of the sources evaluated by the investigation, the most likely was a short circuit outside of the center wing tank that allowed excessive voltage to enter it through electrical wiring associated with the fuel quantity indication system. All 230 aboard were killed.

THE FOLLOWING WAS Published on Jun 19, 2013

After the NTSB ruled that an electrical short caused TWA Flight 800 to crash in Long Island in 1996, killing all its passengers, six members of the investigative teams are coming forward in a new documentary to say there was evidence that explosions outside the aircraft took it down. .

New film alleges Flight 800 crash was not accidental watched by Mrtodayvideos3.

THE FOLLOWING VIDEO WAS Uploaded on Aug 10, 2011

Watch the full video at http://watch-documentaries-now.blogsp...
History Channel Conspiracy TWA Flight 800
Visit http://watch-documentaries-now.blogsp... for more

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Memo Alleges Prostitution & Drugs Against Clinton's Security Detail.

State Department accused of covering up sex and prostitution investigation

Published June 11, 2013

FoxNews.com

WASHINGTON – The U.S. State Department’s ability to investigate wrongdoing by its staff is under question after a report that the agency tried to cover up several crimes committed has surfaced.

Some of the allegations are against then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s security detail who allegedly hired prostitutes, a U.S. ambassador accused of trolling public parks for paid sex and a security official in Beirut committing sexual assaults on foreign nationals.

An internal memo from the State Department’s inspector general listed eight examples of wrongdoing by agency staff or contractors.

The memo also seems to indicate that the government agency tried to use its authority to stop the investigation and instead, opting to have the official, whose name has not been released, meet with Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy in Washington. The official was then allowed to return to his job overseas.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters during Monday’s daily briefing that the department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security has requested a “review by outside, experienced law enforcement officers” who are working with the IG’s office to make “expert assessments about our current procedures.”

Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the allegations of misconduct appalling and said he would ask congressional staff members to start an investigation into all of the accusations.

However, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stonewalled reporters Tuesday when asked about the alleged misconduct and possible cover up.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the Nevada Democrat said. "What are you talking about? ... I don't know what you're talking about."

According to the memo first obtained by CBS News, four members of Clinton’s security detail received one-day suspensions.

Allegations of misconduct are not new and have plagued the Obama administration for awhile.

In April 2012, members of the president’s Secret Service detail were caught in a prostitution scandal involving 12 women they picked up during an official trip to Colombia. The Secret Service was slow to disclose any information and issued only limited public statements in the weeks following the incident in Cartagena.

In the end, a dozen agents, officers, supervisors and 12 other U.S. military personnel were implicated in a night of heavy drinking and misconduct.

Prostitution, drugs alleged in State Department memo

By Ashley Fantz and Jill Dougherty, CNN

updated 6:39 AM EDT, Wed June 12, 2013

Washington (CNN) -- Senior State Department and Diplomatic Security officials may have covered up or stopped investigations of inappropriate or even criminal misconduct by staff, according to an internal memo from the department's Office of the Inspector General.

The timeline surrounding the allegations places the incidents during former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's tenure, opening the possibility that a widening scandal might taint both her record and her possible political aspirations. Clinton has also taken heat for the department's response to the September 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

The memo itself, purportedly written by Ambassador Larry Dinger, describes some of the information as coming from office chatter.

"Sometimes the sources are one or more agents who became aware of the case from colleagues in what, given cubicles, can be a collegial environment," the memo says.

Regarding the latest allegations, CNN was provided the documents by a lawyer for a whistle-blower who is a former senior inspector general investigator.

They include:

• An active U.S. ambassador "routinely ditched his protective security detail in order to solicit sexual favors from both prostitutes and minor children," the memo says. The ambassador's protective detail and others "were well aware of the behavior," the memo asserts. When a diplomatic security officer tried to investigate,undersecretary of state for management Patrick Kennedyallegedly ordered the investigator "not to open a formal investigation."

On Tuesday, CNN obtained a statement from the ambassador, who vigorously denied the allegations, calling them "baseless."

A source close to the investigation of the ambassador told CNN that the ambassador's security detail reported to the inspector general that the ambassador would leave his house at night without notifying the detail. The detail followed the ambassador and saw the ambassador once go to a park that's known for illegal activity, the source told CNN. The detail said they never witnessed the ambassador engage in any sexual activity, the source said.

The ambassador went to Washington and was asked what he was doing and he denied any wrongdoing, the source told CNN. The ambassador explained that sometimes he fights with his wife, needs air and he goes for a walk in the park because he likes it.

Kennedy also issued a statement Tuesday, saying it is his responsibility "to make sure the department and all of our employees -- no matter their rank -- are held to the highest standard, and I have never once interfered, nor would I condone interfering, in any investigation."

• A State Department security official in Beirut allegedly "engaged in sexual assaults" against foreign nationals working as embassy guards. The security official, the Office of the Inspector General says, was also accused of committing "similar assaults during assignments in Baghdad, and possibly Khartoum and Monrovia." The office's memo says that an inspector general's investigator who went to Beirut to try to conduct an investigation was not given enough time to complete the job.

• A member of Clinton's security detail allegedly "engaged prostitutes while on official trips in foreign countries." The inspector general's agent assigned to investigate "concluded" that the "prostitution problem was endemic."

• In Iraq, an "underground drug ring" may have been operating near the U.S. Embassy and "supplying" drugs to State Department security contractors, but an agent sent to investigate the allegations was prevented from completing the job.

The allegations were first reported Monday by CBS.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki responded Monday.

State Dept. Pushes Back on Report of Prostitutes, Cover-ups

By KIRIT RADIA (@KiritRadia_ABC) and DANA HUGHES (@dana_hughes)

June 11, 2013

The State Department is strongly denying allegations from a former department investigator who claimed top officials tried to halt or delay several potentially damaging investigations.

Aurelia Fedenisn, the whistle-blowing former investigator, also claimed that when the department's Office of Inspector General tried to expose the interference in a report, that language was scrubbed.

A senior State Department official offered a point-by-point pushback in response to an internal Office of Inspector General memo dated Oct. 23, 2012, obtained by ABC News, that detailed eight investigations by the investigative arm of the department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security.

The memo alleged that, in those cases, senior officials interfered with the investigations.

The cases, according to the memo, included allegations that an ambassador solicited prostitutes in a park near a U.S. embassy, that several members of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's security detail hired prostitutes while on official travel, and that a drug ring was running near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

In each of those cases, the memo alleged, more senior officials, including, in some cases, individuals close to Clinton, called off the investigations.

But the senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, insisted that the investigations were not called off for political reasons. Instead, the official claimed, full investigations were done and in many cases there was insufficient evidence to warrant prosecutions or in-house discipline.

A Nov. 20, 2012 draft of the inspector general's report, also obtained by ABC News, included many of the details included in the Oct. 23 memo, as well as attempts to block the investigations.

A Dec. 4, 2012 draft, however, watered down the language, focusing more on the need for investigative independence.

By the time the final report was issued in February, all of the details were removed, reduced to a line that the investigative arm of diplomatic security "does not have that independence."

But again, the senior State Department official claimed the language was removed because, when asked to provide evidence to back up those claims, the Office of Inspector General was unable to do so.

"Tell us when and show us how," the official recalled saying. "Show me."

AMBASSADOR ALLEGEDLY LINKED TO STATE DEPARTMENT PROSTITUTION ALLEGATIONS WAS IN THE NEWS FOR CONTROVERSIAL REMARKS TWO YEARS AGO

Jun. 12, 2013 6:59am Sharona Schwartz

Ambassador Reportedly Linked to State Department Prostitution Allegations Was in the News for Controversial Remarks Two Years Ago

U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman (Image source: U.S. State Department)

The U.S. ambassador reportedly named in the State Department Inspector General’s memo regarding allegations of soliciting prostitutes made news two years ago after he said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was responsible for sparking a new kind of anti-Semitism in Europe, a statement that prompted prominent Republicans to call then for his removal.

CBS News reported on Monday that it obtained documents showing that the highest ranks of the State Department “may have covered up allegations of illegal and inappropriate behavior within their ranks.”

It further reported that State Department agents told their department’s Inspector General that “they were told to stop investigating the case of a U.S. Ambassador who held a sensitive diplomatic post and was suspected of patronizing prostitutes in a public park.”

Though CBS News did not report which ambassador was named, the New York Post later reported it as being U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman, and Gutman issued a statement calling the allegations “baseless.”

According to the internal State Department Inspector General’s memo cited by CBS, the ambassador “routinely ditched … his protective security detail,” and it was suspected by inspectors that this was in order to “solicit sexual favors from prostitutes.”

After a summons to Washington to meet with a senior State Department official, the ambassador was allowed to return to serve out his term, according to CBS.

Gutman said in a statement quoted by Foreign Policy: “I am angered and saddened by the baseless allegations that have appeared in the press and to watch the four years I have proudly served in Belgium smeared is devastating,” he said.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

How's the Israel and Hamas Ceasefire?

Naftali Bennett: Tear Gaza in two

Habayit Hayehudi chairman harshly criticizes government, advocates ground invasion into Gaza

Ynet

Amid growing signs of a ceasefire, Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett harshly criticized the government on Wednesday. "They've lost all common sense," he said on Ynet's TV studio.

The newly-elected chairman called on the government to expand Operation Pillar of Defense and "tear the Gaza Strip in two."

"We can postpone the elections if that's what it takes to protect the people of the south," Bennett said. He added that a "country that cannot protect its residents is degrading itself in the eyes of the world. A country that protects its residents is respected.

"I think there is weakness of spirit a loss of fighting spirit, Jewish spirit, Zionist spirit on the part of the government."

Asked what he would do in Benjamin Netanyahu's place he said, "I would seize an open strip of land, create a buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza and stay there to prevent launchers from entering. If we're not going for a decisive blow, I'm against deploying even one soldier."

The Habayit Hayehudi chairman stated that Israel faces an historic opportunity. "The people, the army, the reservists are all saying 'Netanyahu, give us the order.' We're right behind you.'"

IDF Spokesman Yoav Mordechai told Ynet that Hamas is stressed. "The organization has been very badly hit. All of its leaders are in a state of crisis.

"There are many terrorist groups in Gaza and Hamas has reached a crossroads and needs to make a decision." Mordechai said that if Hamas fails to impose its authority, the Gaza Strip may fall to pieces.

He said that 160 Palestinians were killed, including 30 in the past 24 hours. The Palestinians however reported that 140 were killed in Gaza.

source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4309702,00.html

Hamas emerges with major gains from hits bloodiest battle with Israel in 4 years

Published November 22, 2012

Associated Press

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Hamas has emerged from battle with the triumphal sense of a hard-won game change: By stopping its offensive when it did, Israel's hard-line government seems to have grudgingly accepted that the Islamic militant group cannot soon be dislodged from power in Gaza.

Hamas dared rocket the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas, then stared down threats of a ground invasion to wipe out the group — emerging with its rule intact, world figures rushing to the region to put out the fire and key Muslim countries openly on its side. In the rush of diplomacy, Hamas also succeeded in overshadowing its main Western-backed Palestinian rival.

Still unclear is whether the Egyptian-brokered truce can deliver the promised end to Gaza's stifling blockade.

On Thursday, the first full day of calm after eight days of fighting, the contrast in mood couldn't be sharper.

Gazans celebrated the cease-fire with fireworks, Hamas militants flaunted their weapons in the streets and a Hamas political leader, Khalil al-Haya, taunted Israel at a victory rally, saying "you can't invade us."

Israel's mood was subdued, with some glad a costly ground invasion had been averted, but others disappointed by the inconclusive end of the offensive. Unlike in previous military campaigns against Hamas, Israel had set the bar low from the start, saying it only wanted to end to Gaza rocket fire, not topple the Islamists in charge of the Palestinian territory since they seized it from their rival Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.

The offensive had started seemingly unexpectedly, with the assassination of the Hamas military chief with a missile strike on his moving car on Nov. 14.

Over eight days, Israel's military struck some 1,500 Hamas-linked targets in Gaza and amassed troops on the border, while Israel's leaders threatened a bruising Gaza invasion, just like the one Israel staged four years earlier.

But Israel did not send in troops, even after Hamas barraged the Jewish state with hundreds of rockets, including several falling close to the heartland cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem — something many had believed would surely trigger an invasion.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, pushing back Thursday against those clamoring for a decisive blow against Hamas, said he was not willing to embark on a military adventure and risk antagonizing the international community.

"Hamas won't be toppled unless Israel retakes Gaza, but I'm not sure that would be wise," Barak, one of Israel's most experienced military strategists, acknowledged on Israel Army Radio.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel could always reconsider if Hamas breaks the cease-fire, but that seemed unlikely considering warnings from the U.S. and the West of the high cost of sending ground troops.

Israel underestimated Hamas and "fell into a trap," claimed a leading Hamas hard-liner in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar.

Other Hamas leaders bragged that their improved arsenal, including longer-range rockets and anti-tank missiles smuggled from Iran via tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, helped deter Israel's military.

But a bigger factor may have been the change of leadership in Egypt.

Israel Lauds Strikes as Hamas Says Invasion Threat Ended

By Leigh Baldwin, Mariam Fam and Saud Abu Ramadan - Nov 22, 2012

Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak said its eight-day aerial campaign preceding the Gaza cease-fire destroyed all Hamas heavy rockets, as the Palestinian group said the truce had ended a threat of invasion.

The attacks also removed as many as 40 percent of Hamas’s medium-range projectiles, Barak told Israel’s Channel 2 television a day after the fighting ended. Some of the 75,000 reservists called up for a possible ground assault are gradually being released from duty, an army spokeswoman said by phone, speaking anonymously according to regulations.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a televised speech that “the idea of invading Gaza after this victory has ended and will not return, God willing” according to a video posted on the Guardian website.

If it holds, the cease-fire will give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is running for a third term in January, the success of stopping Hamas rockets targeted at Israeli civilians. It also will bolster Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi’s stature as a regional player and leave the moderate Palestinian Authority in the shadow of an ascendant Islamist Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union.

“This operation’s targets have been accomplished,” Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor told journalists yesterday in Jerusalem. “Whether we have reached our goal of maintaining peace in our territory is yet to be seen. We hope that the lesson has been learned, and the price has been paid.”

Military Blockade

Announcing the truce in Cairo Nov. 21 alongside Egypt’s foreign minister, Secretary of StateHillary Clinton promised U.S. assistance in seeking to “improve conditions for the people of Gaza and provide security for the people of Israel.” Egypt and the U.S. helped to broker the agreement.

Hamas said the truce would result in the lifting of a military blockade of the territory, which it took control of in 2007. Israeli officials were vague about that part of the agreement, which says the issue will be “dealt with” 24 hours after the truce starts, according to a version published by the foreign ministries of Israel and Egypt.

The agreement halted Israeli air strikes that killed 163 people in Gaza, including 43 children, Ashraf al-Qedra, a spokesman for the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, said yesterday. More than 1,200 were wounded, about 70 percent of them civilians, he said. Palestinians launched more than 1,400 missiles during the conflict, killing five Israelis, while Israel hit more than 1,500 targets in Gaza and threatened a ground invasion.

‘Very Fragile’

The cease-fire reflects the willingness of both sides to impose restraints on themselves, Barak told Army Radio earlier yesterday, though he cautioned that previous accords have failed to hold.

“You should never be too optimistic about these types of cease-fires because they’re very fragile,” said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar. “The Israeli government is going to come under pressure to do more if there’s any resumption of rocket attacks.”

Palestinians danced in the streets in Gaza City and fired machine guns at the sky after the truce officially took effect at 9 p.m. local time on Nov. 21.

“Israel can only be dealt with through wars and they accept conditions by force, not by negotiations,” said Rafat Hijazi, 39, who joined the celebrations. “We’re so happy now.”

In the West Bank, the Israeli army arrested 55 people it described in an e-mailed statement as “terror operatives.” Suspects in the Nov. 21 bombing of a bus in Tel Aviv that injured 30 were also arrested, Haaaretz newspaper reported late yesterdat.

‘Right Step’

Israel’s shekel extended gains yesterday, strengthening 0.7 percent to 3.8767 per dollar at 9:24 p.m. local time. The benchmark stock index rose 0.2 percent.

Israel-Hamas talks leave future of Gaza blockade cloudy

Gaza residents and smugglers are left to ponder vague promises to discuss easing restrictions on the movement of goods and people at a later date.

Members of the Attar family, displaced during the Hamas-Israel conflict, return to the remains of their home in the northern Gaza Strip. (Marco Longari / AFP/Getty Images / November 22, 2012)

By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times

November 23, 2012

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Seated on a muddy hill, Sulieman Masri glumly scanned the giant crater that was once a smuggling tunnel used to support his family.

After the Israeli airstrikes of the last week, Thursday morning was the first safe time to venture out. He discovered his tunnel was among 140 Israel destroyed. Now it's now a massive sand pit coated with gray explosives residue. It would take two months to rebuild at the cost of $20,000.

"But I've heard that they are going to open the borders, which could put the tunnels out of business," he said. "Now I don't know what to do."

Masri isn't the only one wondering what will happen next with Israel's 5-year-old blockade of the Gaza Strip's border and coastline.

Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the coastal strip, persuaded Gazans to support its confrontation with Israel in part by vowing repeatedly that it would keep fighting until the controversial blockade was lifted.

So many were surprised Wednesday night when the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire included only vague promises to discuss easing restrictions on goods and people at a later date.

A Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the group received private assurances from Egypt that the Rafah crossing to the Sinai Peninsula, which currently permits limited movement of people, will be expanded to include goods, and that Israel agreed not to object.

Israelis, who are worried that opening the borders will allow Hamas to rearm itself, don't want to talk about the subject until after it's clear that the cease-fire is holding.

Cease-Fire Announced in Israel-Gaza Conflict

November 21, 2012

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr announced a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas during a Nov. 21 news conference in Cairo. The cease-fire is expected to begin at 9 p.m. local time. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told U.S. President Barack Obama that he is willing to give the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire a chance.

This cessation of violence is likely highly tenuous. Israel will only agree to a truce if it has guarantees from Egypt -- overseen by the United States -- that the Palestinian arsenal of Fajr-5 long-range rockets will be neutralized and that measures will be taken to prevent future weapons transfers to Gaza. It remains to be seen what details surface on this core Israeli demand, especially given its incompatability with Hamas' demand for the blockade on Gaza to be lifted.

There is also the outstanding issue of Iran, which Israel has pointed to as the center of gravity in the conflict. The Fajr-5 rockets are Iranian-made, and Iran facilitated the movement of those weapons into Gaza. Iran may have an interest in prolonging the conflict and could try to use militant levers in Gaza to derail the truce. Israel must also contend with the broader dilemma of future Iranian attempts to smuggle advanced weaponry into Gaza. This is where Egyptian cooperation with Israel on border security becomes crucial.

If the cease-fire holds, Hamas is within reach of a major symbolic victory. It will have avoided devastation of the group in Gaza and can claim a capability to strike the Israeli heartland.

We must watch now if Hamas honors the cease-fire and if the organization will have the authority to enforce the cease-fire among other groups, namely the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Until Israel has a guarantee on the Fajr-5s and a cessation of rocket fire, it is unlikely to forgo the option of a military ground operation.

read more at https://www.stratfor.com

Ahmadinejad: Israel has 'childish' desire to attack Iran, Tehran can defend itself

Iranian president says Israel knows Iran won't 'attack anybody'; world powers agree to seek renewed talks with Iran as soon as possible.

By Reuters | Nov.22, 2012

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after a meeting with Vietnam's National Assembly's Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung in Hanoi November 10, 2012.

Israel has a "childish" desire to attack Iran and Tehran is capable of defending itself, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday.

"They wish to hurt the Iranian nation. They are waiting for the chance. They know that Iran does not attack anybody and they know that Iran knows how to defend itself," he told a news conference in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

"We don't accept the hegemony of Israel. They wish to attack Iran but it is like a childish desire," the Iranian president said.

He was speaking after attending a summit of developing nations.

Six world powers agreed on Wednesday to seek renewed talks with Iran as soon as possible, reflecting a heightened sense of urgency to resolve a long rift over Tehran's disputed nuclear activity and avert the threat of war.

Their call coincided with growing evidence of Iran expanding nuclear capacity in an underground bunker virtually impervious to attack and follows the Nov. 6 re-election of U.S. President Barack Obama, which has cleared the way for new contacts.

Senior diplomats from the six countries - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - met in Brussels on Wednesday to consider new negotiating tactics despite abiding scepticism that a deal with Tehran can be reached.

Analysts warn that a window of opportunity for a negotiated solution is narrowing because of growing alarm over Tehran's nuclear course in Israel, the Middle East's only nuclear power which has threatened to bomb the atomic sites of its arch-enemy.
source: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/ahmadinejad-israel-has-childish-desire-to-attack-iran-tehran-can-defend-itself-1.479936

Issues On Call

Ad