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US Middle East Policy

  The Reid and McConnell Israel letter
» 1.3 MB - 1,533 hits - 30 June 2010
A huge majority of 87 senators co-signed a letter to President Barack Obama affirming their support for Israel while urging his and defending Israel's actions in the Gaza flotilla incident and urging the Obama administration to oppose a U.N. resolution critical of the country. Led by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — and signed by 85 other members of the upper chamber — the letter argues that Israel's blockade of Gaza was both legal and necessary, and that Israeli commandos were acting in self-defense when they landed on the ship. The letter encourages Obama to stand strongly behind Israel in the face of "challenges" to its international standing. This is the full letter with signatures of the 87 senators.

  Israel’s Blockade of Gaza and the Mavi Marmara Incident
» 229.4 KB - 1,375 hits - 1 July 2010
Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, but retained control of its borders. Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections and later forcibly seized control of the territory in 2007. Israel imposed a tighter blockade on the flow of goods and materials into Gaza after its military offensive against Hamas from December 2008 to January 2009. In May 2010, the pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement and the pro-Hamas Turkish Humanitarian Relief Fund organized a six-ship flotilla to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and to break Israel’s blockade of the territory. The ships refused an Israeli offer to deliver the goods to Ashdod. On May 31, Israeli naval commandos intercepted the convoy in international waters. They took control of five of the six ships without resistance. However, some activists on the Mavi Marmara challenged the commandos. The confrontation resulted in nine militants killed. [CRS report for Congress; By Carol Migdalovitz, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs, June 5, 2010]

  Turkey: Politics of Identity and Power
» 337.0 KB - 1,270 hits - 19 September 2010
Turkey has long been a valued U.S. NATO ally and strategic partner. Successive administrations have viewed it as a secular democracy that could serve as an inspiration or model for other Muslim majority countries. However, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has made foreign policy decisions that have led some longtime U.S. observers to question its future course. Domestic political developments may be enabling the AKP’s greater assertiveness in international affairs and are, therefore, worthy of closer scrutiny. This report provides that examination via an overview of the current Turkish domestic political scene. (A CRS Report by Carol Migdalovitz, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs; August 13, 2010; www.crs.gov).

  The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995
» 65.5 KB - 1,044 hits - 3 April 2010
The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 is a public law of the United States of America passed by the 104th Congress on October 23, 1995. It was passed for the purposes of initiating and funding the relocation of the United States Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, no later than May 31, 1999, and attempted to withhold 50 percent of the funds appropriated to the State Department specifically for ‘‘Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad’’ as allocated in fiscal year 1999 until the United States Embassy in Jerusalem had officially opened. It also notes that every country designates its own capital, and that Israel has so designated Jerusalem. It states that since the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, religious freedom has been guaranteed to all. The act also called for Jerusalem to remain an undivided city and for it to be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel. Since passage, the law has never been implemented, because of opposition from Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama, who view it as a Congressional infringement on the Executive Branch’s constitutional authority over foreign policy. They have consistently claimed the presidential waiver on national security interests.

  10 Failures of the US Government on the Domestic Islamist Threat
» 1.9 MB - 858 hits - 25 November 2010
Albert Einstein once defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results." At the heart of the Team B II project is the belief that the Team A approach of our government to the Islamist threat has proved to be a serial failure. Rather than attempt to get it right, the establishment seems content to double-down on failure. This whitepaper compiles a representative sample of ten cases of the most egregious and glaring failures of our national security agencies' approach. Each of these cases is rooted in a fundamental failure by those government officials responsible to identify the nature of the threat. This paper is a supplement to 'Shariah: The Threat To America.' Also available for download on our download page. [Written by Patrick Poole. Published by the Center for Security Policy, Nov 12, 2010.]