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Ankara and Washington Ponder Next Moves in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has just completed a well-timed visit to Washington… Continue reading

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Middle East Myths Metastasize, Iran War Hysteria Rages Onward

Much written and said about the Middle East has always been fantasy. And number one on that list is the war hysteria with Iran… Continue reading

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WikiLeaks: Iranian Exporter Discusses Regime Pressures, Smuggling Routes, and Iran Narcotics Problem

Iranian manufacturer and exporter said that he and other export/importers utilizing the Russia-Azerbaijan-Iran route and reverse are occasionally approached by known regime insiders or representatives of Iranian security for “help” in bringing in mis-labeled shipments into and out of Iran… Continue reading

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WikiLeaks: Iran’s Money Launderers, Sanctions-Busters, and Revolutionary Guard Money Makers

According to widespread rumor, many Iranians in Baku are involved full- or part-time in Iranian regime-related profit making, sanctions-busting, money laundering, and similar activities… Continue reading

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Obama: ‘Son of Islam’?

Invited on “Morning Joe” last Tuesday to discuss Christian persecution, the hosts turned the focus to interrogating Graham on whether he thought President Barack Obama was Christian or not… Continue reading

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Debate in the Mainstream Arabic-Speaking Universe: Only One Flavor Available

Westerners tend to believe that the debate in the Arabic-speaking universe is sort of like debate in the West… Continue reading

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WikiLeaks: Israel Cannot Accept Nuclear Iran

Labor MK Ephraim Sneh sees military action against Iran’s nuclear program as only a last resort… Continue reading

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WikiLeaks: Israeli Intentions Regarding the Iranian Nuclear Program

Israel sees Iran as the primary threat to its security and sees the enrichment cycle as the “point of no return” for Tehran’s nuclear weapons program… Continue reading

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Rethinking U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan

As U.S. military operations in Afghanistan drag on inconclusively, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the Taliban insurgency is gaining ground… Continue reading

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Crisis in US-Israel Relations over Nuclear Talks with Iran

In the last 24 hours, the approach of international talks with Iran on its nuclear program has escalated already high tensions over the issue between the Obama administration and the Israeli government… Continue reading

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What to Do About Syria

There is a strong case that can be made for doing nothing about the Syrian civil war, but a stronger case can be made for doing something… Continue reading

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With “Friends” Like This Who Needs Enemies? With Enemies Like This Who Needs Friends?

President Barack Obama is campaigning on the claim that he is Israel’s great friend despite the fact that this is obviously untrue… Continue reading

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Response to Ron Paul: Did U.S. Policy Make Today’s Islamist Iran Hate America?

Presidential candidate Ron Paul has said repeatedly that Iranians hate America because of its role in the 1953 coup overthrowing Prime Minister Muhammad Mossadegh… Continue reading

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Why We Should End Our Relationship With Pakistan

As Pakistanis burned American flags and the Washington Post wrote of “a new normal” in US-Pakistani relations earlier this month, it looked like the beginning of the end of five decades of friendly alliance between the two countries… Continue reading

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How Much Security Will NATO’s Missile Defense Shield Provide for Turkey?

By agreeing to deploy the Army Navy Transportable Radar Surveillance System (AN/TPY-2) on Turkish soil, the United States and Turkey have concluded by far the strategically most significant agreement in many years… Continue reading

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Saudi Air Force to Outnumber, Outclass and Outgun Israel’s Advanced US Jet Fleet

With its latest acquisitions from Washington and Europe, the Saudi Air Force will have more fighter-bombers of more advanced models that the Israeli Air Force… Continue reading

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Security and Defense: Israel is not About to Attack Iran and Neither is the United States

The radio superhero, The Shadow, had the power to “cloud men’s minds.” But nothing clouds men’s minds like anything that has to do with Jews or Israel… Continue reading

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Obama’s State of the Union Speech: My Response Discovers Some Curious Insights and Strange Formulations

In his State of the Union message, President Barack Obama began by wrapping himself in the flag, patriotism, and love of the armed forces while trying to highlight his foreign policy achievements… Continue reading

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America and the Arab Spring

A year ago this week, on January 25, 2011, the ground began to crumble under then-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s feet… Continue reading

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Where the “Counter-Obama” View of the Middle East is Right and Where It’s Wrong

Diehl’s challenge to the critics of the mainstream thinking on the Middle East is very serious… Continue reading

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The Unvarnished Reality of Contemporary U.S.-Israel Relations

Do not speak of it in public. Do not expect any Israeli official to admit it. But Israel is facing an issue unlike anything it has had to deal with during the past 50 years… Continue reading

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Gold for Oil: India to Pay Gold instead of Dollars for Iranian Oil

India is the first buyer of Iranian oil to agree to pay for its purchases in gold instead of the US dollar… Continue reading

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USS Abraham Lincoln Transits Hormuz; USS Enterprise to Transit Hormuz in March

Three weeks after Tehran threatened action against any US aircraft carrier entering the Strait of Hormuz… Continue reading

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Mainstreaming anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism may not yet be a litmus test for social acceptability in the US, but it has certainly become acceptable… Continue reading

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Israel-US Relations: Netanyahu Called Off Joint US-Israel Drill

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, not the Obama administration, decided to call off the biggest ever joint US-Israeli military exercise… Continue reading