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AFP - Saudi Arabia plans to supply the Syrian opposition with anti-aircraft missiles to counter President Bashar al-Assad's air force, German news weekly Der Spiegel reported Sunday. The article, citing a classified report received by the German foreign intelligence service and the German government last week, said Riyadh was looking at sending European-made Mistral-class MANPADS, or man-portable air-defence systems. Der Spiegel noted the shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles can target low-flying aircraft including helicopters and had given mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan a decisive edge against Soviet troops in the 1980s. Saudi Arabia is a key supporter of the Syrian rebels and has...

Tehran Times reports....President Shimon Peres. Speaking exclusively to the Daily Telegraph in an interview published on Tuesday, adds Tehran Times, Peres said Israel has no natural antipathy towards Iran. Asked if Iran and Israel could ever have direct negotiations with each other, he replied, “Why not? The citizens of Iran are not our enemies.” President Peres is considered a global visionary of peace.

(Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, a staunch opponent of President Bashar al-Assad since early in Syria's conflict, began supplying anti-aircraft missiles to rebels "on a small scale" about two months ago, a Gulf source said on Monday. The shoulder-fired weapons were obtained mostly from suppliers in France and Belgium, the source told Reuters. France had paid for the transport of the weapons to the region. The supplies were intended for General Salim Idriss, leader of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), who was still the kingdom's main "point man" in the opposition, the source said. The Gulf...

Sarah Palin, attractive and sharp as ever, can not only see into the future she can see Syria, indeed the entire Middle East, from her house. Or a conference in the USA. The woman who was laughed at for predicting death panels would accompany the Obamacare Unaffordable Health Care Act (they're not laughing now) "And our government passing something called, Obamacare - The Affordable Care Act. I'll repeat that, the Affordable Care Act. And, it's chief result, making our healthcare premiums enormously unsustainably more expensive with death panels to boot." She also offered her astute foreign policy advice at the...

Obama: You Can't Understand Syria Policy 'If You Haven't Been in the Situation Room' Obama: I hear folks saying, "Katie, bar the door, let's just go in and knock out Syria." 7:03 AM, Jun 18, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPER Charlie Rose last night asked President Obama his new Syria policy. The president first objected to it being called a new policy. "I'm not sure you can characterize this as a new policy. This is consistent with the policy that I've had throughout," he said. Obama then explained the goal is regional stability, and especially in Syria. "Really, what we're...

Barack Obama has just taken his first baby steps into a war in Syria that may define and destroy his presidency. Thursday, while he was ringing in Gay Pride Month with LGBT revelers, a staffer, Ben Rhodes, informed the White House press that U.S. weapons will be going to the Syrian rebels. For two years Obama has stayed out of this sectarian-civil war that has consumed 90,000 lives. Why is he going in now? The White House claims it now has proof Bashar Assad used sarin gas to kill 100-150 people, thus crossing a “red line” Obama had set down...

Two recent newspaper editorials illustrate the double-mindedness some feel about President Obama's decision to provide small arms and ammunition to Syrian rebels. The Washington Post headlined an editorial: "No time for half-measures: Syria's rebels need a robust intervention from the Obama administration." The New York Times took a more realistic approach: "After Arming the Rebels, Then What? President Obama should be careful about being dragged into the brutal Syrian war." I'm on the side of the Times. Some promote U.S. involvement in Syria for humanitarian reasons. That might be sufficient if the outcome advanced humanitarian concerns, but exchanging one tyrant...

(Reuters) - Rebels fought to halt an advance by President Bashar al-Assad's forces into northern Syria on Monday while U.S. President Barack Obama faced a showdown with Russia's Vladimir Putin over Obama's decision last week to arm the insurgents.New evidence emerged of escalating foreign support for the rebels, with a Gulf source telling Reuters that Saudi Arabia had equipped fighters for the first time with shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, their most urgent request. Rebels said Riyadh had also sent them anti-tank missiles.European nations backing the rebels would "pay the price" if they joined those sending weapons to Syria, President Bashar al-Assad...

After former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates considers the country’s involvement in the Syrian civil war “a mistake”, another prominent politician is riding the waves to drown the government’s decision to support Syrian rebels.Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin threw scathing remarks last Saturday against the government’s plans to provide weapons and ammunition to Syrian opposition groups. She said the US government should “let Allah sort it out” instead of meddling in the affairs of the troubled nation. Palin issued the statement as a closing talk during the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference in Washington, D.C. last June 15, as reported...

Senators from both parties on Tuesday urged President Obama to immediately send weapons to the Syrian opposition and take out President Bashar Assad's air forces. Syria is at a “critical juncture” and the United States must do what it can to reverse Assad's recent gains on the ground, the chairmen of the Foreign Relations and Armed Forces panels, Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), wrote in a letter to Obama along with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). The senators pledged their “full support” if Obama takes “decisive military actions in Syria.” The lawmakers called on the president to send...

Testifying Tuesday on Capitol Hill before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Director of the National Security Agency General Keith Alexander claimed that the NSA program and keeping of millions of phone records has thwarted more 50 terror attacks since September 11, 2001 in more than 20 countries. Alexander stressed the NSA program is focused on terrorism and foreign threats, but that Americans involved in terrorism are looked at. Deputy Attorney General James Cole reiterated this claim, saying that in order to listen or obtain content of phone calls or emails, there must be probable cause a person is...

TEL AVIV – Thousands of Syrians are currently training in Iran to serve as a force ready to storm Israel’s northern Golan Heights, according to informed Middle Eastern security officials. The officials said between 3,000 and 5,000 Syrian men were being trained in the event Syrian President Bashar al-Assad decides to open a front against the Golan Heights, which borders Syria. The training is being overseen by the Al Quds Force, the elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard responsible for the country’s extraterritorial operations, the sources said.

Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has issued a stern warning to the ringleader of al-Qaeda against the terrorist group’s further intervention in Syria. Sadr said Monday that Ayman al-Zawahiri needs to stay away from Syria’s affairs and allow Sunnis and Alawites to live peacefully in Syria as they always did. He condemned al-Qaeda’s killing of Muslims and said the group and its extremist ways have no place in Islamic nations.

In a speech that will no doubt incentivize Palestinians to continue their campaign of terror and warfare against Israel, former President Bill Clinton told Israel that it would have to make peace with the Palestinians if it wanted to remain Jewish and democratic. He said that thanks to demographic changes, Israel will have to separate from the Palestinian population in order to maintain its majority. This theory has been proved false repeatedly. Israel’s demographic majority in Israel will remain strong for decades upon decades. But the goal of the left is to create pressure on Israel – the party willing...

Via the Examiner, a short but noteworthy clip insofar as it exposes a potential fault line between Cruz and Rand Paul. McCain lumps them together as “wacko birds� but I’m not so sure that’s true of Cruz on national-security issues. His alliance with Paul interests me because it strikes me as a personification of the uneasy libertarian/tea-party alliance. The groups overlap heavily on spending issues, and both are deeply suspicious of Obama’s expansion of government. The master stroke of Paul’s drone filibuster was that he found a sweet spot for both, making the philosophical case for due process while humiliating...

The idea of a Palestinian state has run its course and Israel must seek another solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) said Monday, joining a growing number of coalition members who have recently expressed firm opposition to the two-state solution. “The idea of forming a Palestinian state in Israel has reached a dead end,” Bennett said at a meeting of the Yesha Council, the umbrella organization of Jewish communities in the West Bank. Never in the history of the Jewish people has so much energy been invested in “something so pointless,” and “we...

Hassan Rohani, Iran's new President, is being termed a “moderate” in Western media, but it appears that his moderation stops when it comes to Israel. In his first speech as Iran's new leader, Rohani quickly launched into a diatribe against Israel, blaming the Jewish state for Iran's economic problems. Those problems largely have their roots in the sanctions imposed by the West on Iran, the result of the previous government's refusal to allow international inspectors into some of its nuclear facilities, and its insistence at enriching uranium at a level that would allow Tehran to build nuclear weapons. Western countries...

The Muslim world is keeping the centuries old “matzah blood libel” alive and well—even in Egypt, with which Israel has a peace treaty. The libel that Jews use the blood of non-Jews to make matzah for Passover originated in 1144 with the fabricated story of William of Norwich, England. The Arabs continue to use this libel, and the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has translated and posted a television interview with an Egyptian lawmaker who chose to disseminate this false accusation. Khaled Al-Zaafrani, founder of the Egyptian Justice and Progress Party, made the comments in the interview which aired...

Iran will deploy 4,000 Revolutionary Guards to Syria to bolster Damascus against a mostly Sunni-led insurgency, media reported. Meanwhile, US F-16s and Patriots will stay in Jordan – speculatively, to help establish a no-fly zone to aid Syrian rebels. The deployment of the first several-thousand strong military contingent was reported by The Independent on Sunday who quoted Iranian sources tied to the state’s security apparatus. The sources said the move signals Iran’s intention to drastically step up its efforts to preserve the government of President Bashar Assad. The Islamic Republic’s heightened military commitment could reportedly extend to the opening up...

The United Nations has long been a cesspool of hostility towards the United States, Israel, and freedom more generally. It is dominated by those who promote and protect our enemies’ interests, while undermining ours. Worse yet, we pay much of the UN’s budget. Past presidents have responded to this travesty by sending ambassadors to the UN who unapologetically challenged that agenda. In particular, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, and John Bolton were proud of our country and tirelessly championed its values. It is, therefore, a particularly repugnant irony that President Obama wants to entrust Dr. Kirkpatrick’s former post to Samantha...

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Syria calls U.S. charge of chemical weapons use 'lies' The Syrian government Friday called White House allegations that it has used chemical weapons in the country's civil war "full of lies," according to state media reports. Syria's Foreign Ministry instead blamed such attacks on "terrorist" groups, the term it uses to refer to the opposition.

The Syrian rebels are “cannibals” and should not be given arms, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday. "I think you will not deny that one does not really need to support the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies, eat their intestines, in front of the public and cameras," Putin said at a joint press conference in London with British Prime Minister David Cameron. Putin was referring to video footage posted on the Internet last month of a rebel fighter eating the heart of a government soldier. "Is it them who you want to...

(CNN) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned Sunday whether his country's supplying of arms to Syria's government was any worse than putting weapons in the hands of rebels who have mutilated bodies, referencing a widely circulated video that purports to show a rebel fighter eating what appears to be the heart of a dead Syrian soldier. Putin's comments signaled clear disapproval of a U.S. plan to increase military support to Syrian rebels, and they came just one day before he was to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama for talks at the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland, where...

CAIRO (AP) -- Under Hosni Mubarak's rule, Egypt's authorities took a tough line on Egyptians coming home after waging "jihad" in places like Afghanistan, Chechnya or the Balkans, fearing they would bring back extremist ideology, combat experience and a thirst for regime change. In most cases, they were imprisoned and tortured. But after Mubarak's overthrow and his replacement by an elected Islamist president, jihad has gained a degree of legitimacy in Egypt, and the country has become a source of fighters heading to the war in Syria. Egyptian militants are known to have been travelling to Syria to fight alongside...

As Britain readies to host the G8 summit, the documents uncovered by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden have revealed that back in 2009 US spies intercepted top-secret communication of then Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, during his visit to London. The shocking news has been broken by The Guardian which has seen the documents. It also revealed that a UK intelligence agency, GCHQ, monitored foreign politicians and intercepted their emails during the 2009 G20 summit held in the British capital. Some delegates were tricked into using internet cafes which had been set up by UK intelligence agencies to read their email traffic....

Ankara, Turkey (CNN) -- A funeral procession for a slain protester turned into chaos Sunday in Ankara as Turkish riot police used water cannons and tear gas to try to disperse rock-throwing demonstrators. In Istanbul, the sound of residents banging pots and pans together echoed down the streets as another face-off between police and anti-government protesters played out. The sound came from the buildings around Taksim Square and the adjacent Gezi Park, which authorities had cleared by force on Saturday. Thousands of demonstrators calling for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's resignation attempted to return to the square and park Sunday,...

Muslim Persecution of Christians: March, 2013. Sweden to send Iranian Christian asylum seekers back to Iran to be tortured and possibly executed for the crime of leaving Islam. Also, the Nigerian government recently did go on the offensive to try to contain the jihadis [of Boko Haram], only to be chastised by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, saying he was "concerned by credible allegations that the Nigerian security forces are committing gross human rights violations" against the jihadi mass murderers. The Islamic jihad against Christians in Nigeria is proving to be the most barbaric ... Indonesia: Authorities demolished a...

Video:Following his (grilling) of FBI Director Mueller, Rep Gohmert expanded on how training materials have been purged to appease CAIR and the warnings about the Boston bombers was ignored.Video...[snip] Mueller wasn’t even aware the Boston mosque the Tsarnaev brothers attended was (founded by Abdulrahman al-Amoudi!) “I don’t know no” or answering “no” to questions if they know seems to be the number one excuse used by all top ranking members of the 0bama regime. We are in a heap of trouble folks!

That buildup has been going on for some time. For the past two years, the government opposition in Syria has been getting aid from the U.S., which has smuggled surface-to-air missiles and other heavy weaponry into Syria through Turkey. Along with arms, the U.S. has supplied fighters for the conflict, drawing mainly from al-Qaida-linked militias in Libya and elsewhere. This operation was at the root of the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the ambassador and three other Americans. The Obama Administration has been working to cover up the facts about Benghazi not just because of the glaring incompetence of...

American taxpayers are funding a war against Christianity, Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) said Thursday during an address made at a popular Washington, DC conservative conference. Appealing to a crowd at this week’s Faith and Freedom Conference in the nation’s capital, Sen. Paul said changes need to be made with regards to the expansive foreign aid being spent by the United States to fund countries he claims are critical of the most popular religion in the US. "There is a war on Christianity," Paul said. "Not just from liberal elites here at home, but worldwide. And your government, or more correctly,...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sunday that world leaders should neither be fooled by the results of Friday’s election in Iran nor be encouraged to let up pressure regarding the country’s nuclear program. Iranian President-elect Hasan Rowhani is being widely described as a “moderate,” a description Netanyahu took issue with in his first public reaction to the election. Netanyahu Warns Let Us Not Delude Ourselves About the Moderate New Iranian Leader Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the weekly cabinet meeting on June 16, 2013 in Jerusalem. Netanyahu said the world should keep up pressure on Iran to...

The White House on Sunday defended its approach to the Syrian conflict as Republicans launched fresh accusations that the Obama administration is doing too little and has moved too slowly to aid rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad. “We have to be very discerning about what's in our interest and what outcome is best for us, and the prices that we're willing to pay to get to that place,” White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said on the CBS program “Face the Nation.” “We've rushed to war in this region in the past. We're not going to do it here,”...

especially interesting in a New York Times story from Friday on Iran, where they found it advantageous to edit out an America-hating Iranian who wished the Times building would burn down: “He is a war veteran, a good manager and a religious person,” said Noushin Sobhani, 31, a gynecologist. She and her parents voted at the Imam Sadegh University, where most of Iran’s cadre of bureaucrats are trained. “We hate America,” her father said, smiling. “I hope The New York Times building burns down.”

The surprising victory of a reformist candidate in Iran’s presidential election has put Israel in a difficult position as it tries to halt the Iranian nuclear program: With Hasan Rowhani likely to enjoy an international honeymoon, Israel could have a hard time rallying support for new sanctions—or possible military action—against its arch-foe, even as it says the clock is ticking on Tehran’s march toward nuclear weapons. The uncertainty facing Israel was evident Sunday in the reactions among its leaders, who welcomed the signs of change in Iran while also warning the world should not be fooled. “Let us not delude...

Damascus lashes out at Egyptian president, Muslim Brotherhood after Morsi severs ties with Bashar Assad's regime. Syria on Sunday harshly criticized Cairo's decision to sever diplomatic relations with Damascus, accusing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi of joining a US and Israel-led conspiracy against Syria. Morsi said he had cut all diplomatic ties with Damascus on Saturday and called for a no-fly zone over Syria, pitching the most populous Arab state firmly against President Bashar Assad. Syria's official SANA news agency quoted a government source as saying that Morsi was implementing the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood, who has called for jihad...

The Bili'in-area security/separation fence is being dismantled, four years after the Supreme Court ordered the government to reroute the barrier and one year after an initial rerouting of the barrier and a first-stage replanting of trees. Palestinian Authority Arabs, accompanied by Israeli and international leftists, have rioted nearly every Friday for years over the barrier, part of which was built to run directly through the village of Bili'in. Once dismantled, the IDF will rebuild the anti-terrorism barrier at a cost of some NIS 26 million, and this time only 400 meters away from Modi'in Illit. The new route enlarges the...

The race between the deteriorating security situation north of Israel’s border, and the need to complete the border fence, is tightening. But the fence and systems are nearly in place. As the raging civil war between loyalists to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and various rebel factions continues to spill over into the Golan Heights, workers are moving to replace border installations. Several countries have pulled their troops out of the United Nations peacekeeping force in the Golan demilitarized buffer zone as the situation has become increasingly dangerous, including Austria, which began withdrawal of its troops last week. Elbit Systems' "MSS...

Assad is winning with Iran's help, Mideast expert says. He warns Israel not to rely on the 'corrupt, ineffective' UN. Syrian President Bashar Assad now has the upper hand in his ongoing war with Syrian rebels, according to Dr. David Bukai of Haifa University, an expert in Middle East affairs. Iran and Hizbullah are helping Assad win, Bukai told Arutz Sheva. "This increases his weakness vis-a-vis Iran," he warned. "Syria will be more dependent on Iran, and that will affect our border, because if Assad is not independent and is open to Iranian and Hizbullah influence, there will be attempts...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Syrian tanks were closing in on the rebel-held town of Qusair last month when a Kuwaiti sheik named Hajjaj al-Ajmi and his money machine roared into action. In a series of urgent messages on his Twitter account, Ajmi appealed for cash to help save the town’s defenders. “I hope that we can be a means for helping them and relieving them,” the young cleric wrote to his 250,000 Twitter followers on May 25. He gave a phone number for making donations and asked readers to “kindly spread it.” The appeal came too late for the...

Brig. Gen. (res.) Yitzhak Pundak is celebrating his hundredth birthday. Pundak was the commander of the 53rd Battalion of the Givati Brigade in the War of Independence and went on to supervise the establishment of the Armored Corps. He was also Ambassador in Tanzania and a founder of Arad. In an interview on IDF Radio, Pundak confirmed that forces under his command razed Arab villages in 1948. “My conscience is at ease with that, because if we hadn’t done so, then there would be no state by now. There would be a million more Arabs,” he said. Asked why he...

ALTER: The Bill Clinton part is like a talk radio talking point. It's not what actually happened. What actually happened is that the government, Assad's government, made military advances. They're about to take Aleppo, a key strategic city, and that would be the end of the rebels. MAHER: You mean al Qaeda? Because we're basically arming al Qaeda. I don't understand this -- ALTER: There's a peace conference. If they don't go into that peace conference with at least some victories on the rebel side, the rebels won't show up. So the president is trying to bolster them enough so...

Full title; Fool’s errand: It’ll be anything but smooth sailing if we send troops to Syria to defend a no-fly zone In 1982, Muslim extremists launched a civil war against Syria’s dictator, Hafez Assad. His soldiers chased them to the town of Hama, surrounded the city and pounded it with artillery for a solid month. Thirty thousand men, women and children were killed. The rebellion died, too. Assad bequeathed his dictatorship to his son, Bashar, who now faces a similar revolt by similar extremists. Credible reports put the death toll of the current civil war at 93,000. That’s sad. But...

David Cameron and US Secretary of State John Kerry secretly ganged up to persuade a nervous Barack Obama to back Britain’s bid to arm Syrian rebels, it was revealed last night. The Prime Minister and Mr Kerry’s diplomatic ambush of President Obama succeeded when they won his support for a showdown with Russia’s Vladimir Putin – a key ally of Syria’s President Assad – when Mr Cameron hosts a G8 summit in Northern Ireland tomorrow. Obama’s surprise U-turn came 24 hours after Foreign Secretary William Hague slipped into Washington almost completely unnoticed to meet Mr Kerry. In recent weeks, while...

In a statement, press secretary Jay Carney says the U.S. respects the Iranian election and congratulates the Iranian people. "We have seen the announcement by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran that Hojjatoleslam Doctor Hassan Rouhani has been declared the winner of Iran’s presidential election. We respect the vote of the Iranian people and congratulate them for their participation in the political process, and their courage in making their voices heard. Yesterday’s election took place against the backdrop of a lack of transparency, censorship of the media, Internet, and text messages, and an intimidating security environment that limited...

Despite having reservations on the transparency of the electoral process, the US said it is ready to engage directly with the Iranian Government led by its newly elected President moderate Hassan Rowhani with the hope that the new leader will honor international obligations. "We, along with our international partners, remain ready to engage directly with the Iranian government. We hope they will honor their international obligations to the rest of the world in order to reach a diplomatic solution that will fully address the international community's concerns about Iran's nuclear program," Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday.

Reformist-backed cleric Hassan Rouhani has won Iran's presidential election, securing just over 50% of the vote and so avoiding the need for a run-off. Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was well behind in second place. Turnout was estimated at 72.2% among the 50 million Iranians who were eligible to vote to choose a successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is scheduled to ratify the vote on 3 August. The new president will then take the oath in parliament. Surge of support Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar announced that Mr Rouhani had won 18,613,329 of the 36,704,156 votes...

Moderate Candidate Wins Iran's Presidential Vote By FARNAZ FASSIHI BEIRUT—Hassan Rohani, the candidate backed by the opposition and reformist political factions, was declared the winner in Iran's presidential vote, giving a decisive victory to Iranians calling for change. Iran's interior minister, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, said at a press conference Saturday in Tehran that Mr. Rohani had obtained more than 50% of more than 36 million votes cast in Friday's election. Supporters of moderate candidate Hassan Rohani took to the streets to celebrate after he was declared winner of Iran's presidential election. Photo: Associated Press. Conservative candidates did poorly in vote...

(Reuters) - Millions of Iranians voted to choose a new president on Friday, urged by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to turn out in force to discredit suggestions by arch foe the United States that the election would be a sham. The 50 million eligible voters had a choice between six candidates to replace incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Having been vetted by Iran's electoral authorities, none is seen a challenge to the Islamic Republic's 34-year-old system of clerical rule.

ran is on the brink of an extraordinary political transformation after the reformists-backed cleric Hassan Rouhani won an outright majority in Iran's landmark presidential election and set to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran's interior minister, Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar, announced on national TV around 20:30 Tehran Time that Rouhani has won more than 18m votes from the total votes of 36.7million votes.