Whimper Sigh! So God Made A Liberal!

Is this what our Marine Corps is coming to.? Whimper Sigh!
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Iran is set back in their intention to locate missile bases near The Golan! (See 1 and 1a below.)

Netanyahu will broach the significance of what Iran is up to  when he appears before Congress. A further embarrassment for Obama. Being a pawn for Boehner indicates the degree of contempt Netanyahu must feel for Obama.  I can understand his pique but probably not a wise move politically speaking because Obama does not like being crossed.  Obama has very thin skin and now we have
Obama's revenge. (See 1b below.)

But the truth is, Mossad's head released a statement refuting this story.  (See 1c below.)
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So God made a liberal:https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?feature=player_detailpage&v=EUzMPlQb2G4
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Dick
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1)--

Iran Looking for Missile Base Against Israel, Not Nuclear Peace

By Jonathan S. Tobin 

What was an Iranian general doing hanging around on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights border with Israel? The answer is that, along with several high-ranking figures in the Hezbollah terrorist group, General Mohammed Ali Allahdadi, a reputed ballistic missiles expert, was there helping to set up a missile base from which the terror group would, with Iranian aid and instructions, strike at the State of Israel. But before he completed his mission Allahdadi was killed along with some of the Hezbollah personnel in an Israel strike on their base near the town of Quenetra. The mission nipped the Iranian scheme in the bud but it’s doubtful that anyone in the Israeli government is under the impression that the strike ended the threat of attack from Iranian forces and their auxiliaries. But the revelation of the Iranian effort near the Golan is significant because it illustrates how deeply involved Iran is in fomenting a new terror war against Israel as well as the peril presented by Western policies that would, at best, make Iran a threshold nuclear power in the years to come.

The purpose of the Iranian effort wasn’t just to make mischief for the Israelis under the cover of the chaos engendered by the Syrian civil war. The point of the plot was to allow Hezbollah to create a missile base from which it could rain death and destruction down on Israelis without involving the country of Lebanon. Hezbollah is still smarting from the negative feedback created by the 2006 war it started with Israel and which left much of that country in ruins. So what the group and its Iranian masters wanted is a secure base from which it could pepper Israel with rockets from the north in much the same manner that Hamas has done from the south. But, fortunately, as it has with various other terror plots involving Hezbollah in Syria, Israeli action has made the execution of this plot more difficult if not impossible in the short run.

But the significance of this goes beyond the threat to Israel’s missile defense efforts or its desire to keep the north peaceful even as Hamas stirs the pot in the south.

It’s no surprise to learn that senior Iranian military personnel are wandering around loose in Syria. Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guard personnel have been deployed to Syria to aid efforts to preserve the rule of dictator and Iranian ally Bashar Assad. But what is also now becoming clear is that the Iranians are looking to use their entry into Syria as part of an effort to, at the least, revive a northern front military option against Israel.

That this effort involved a ballistic missile export should, however, interest observers. While it is possible that the initial hopes for Allahdadi’s efforts were limited to attempts to launch the kind of middle-range rockets Hamas lobbed at Israel last summer, it is impossible to ignore the implications of Iran expanding its ballistic missile program to Syria.

While the world has focused its attention on Iran’s nuclear program and the effort to force the Islamist regime to abandon its ambitions for a bomb, relatively little notice has been paid to Iran’s ballistic missile program. Indeed, the Iranians have been as reluctant to discuss their rockets as they have been to reveal the details about their military research on nuclear material. But if Tehran is already sending generals to the border with the Golan to build up a missile threat against the Jewish state, it doesn’t take much imagination to think what will happen once the U.S. drops sanctions on the regime as part of a new and weak nuclear deal that let the Iranians keep their program and its infrastructure.

That puts the effort by the Obama administration to appease Iran and to work for a new détente with the regime rather than pressing it to give up its nuclear capability in a very different light. Previously, when one spoke of Iran’s state-sponsored terrorism, it brought to mind their using Hezbollah operatives to launch atrocities such as the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires or the attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. But now when we link Iran and terror, it must be acknowledged that it is possible that one day the primary Iranian threat to Israel will be nuclear and that missiles based in Syria will be the method by which Tehran will cause trouble and perhaps even launch a nuke at Israel.

If Israelis are more nervous about Iranian intentions in nuclear talks that Tehran has been, it is not just because they may think President Obama has proved himself a terrible negotiator in the peace talks. Rather, it is due to a sensible fear about Syria becoming nothing more than a launching pad for rockets in the same way Gaza has been transformed into a bastion of terror. Throw in the potential for nuclear weapons and you have a formula that ensures chaos and future bloodshed. Unless the U.S. wakes up to this threat and the folly of its stance toward Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, the consequences could be catastrophic.

1a) SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 21 J an.’15:”Golan attack ‘colossal failure’ for Hezbollah, analysts say” by Staff Writer

SUBJECT Israel helicopter attack impact

QUOTE:”It is also one of the biggest losses inflicted on Hezbollah by Israel in recent years. (AFP)”

FUL L  TEXT:An Israeli helicopter attack killed five members of Hezbollah operating out of Syria over the weekend. Among the dead were senior Hezbollah figures and an Iranian general, raising tensions in Lebanon of a potential return to hostilities between the two neighboring countries.

The attack – which killed Hezbollah military chief Imad Mughniyeh's son, Jihad, a high ranking member by the name of Mohammad Ahmad Issa – took place near the Golan Heights and is the latest in a string of escalating attacks by Israel on Hezbollah targets in Syria.

It is also one of the biggest losses inflicted on Hezbollah by Israel in recent years.

To date, Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack. Nonetheless, international as well as local Lebanese media, including the Hezbollah affiliated Al-Manar, seem certain the attack bears the hallmark of the Israeli military.

Analysts, speaking to Al-Arabiya News, said the attack represented a major breach to Hezbollah’s security and a tactical misjudgment on the part of the Iranian-backed militant group.

“This was a colossal failure … because they [Hezbollah] put this number of senior figures in one spot and at the same observation point and at the same time,” Wehbe Katicha, a former Lebanese army general, told Al Arabiya News.

“You rarely see armies committing such a mistake,” he said.

“This is represents a weak point of Hezbollah because of this behavior,” he added.

While not describing it as a failure, Dr. Hilal Khashan, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut, said the incident was a “major security breach” to Hezbollah’s security apparatus.

“Hezbollah moves secretly and a number of ranking officials are even tighter. The fact is Israel had information from within,” he said.

Security breach

A member of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s inner circle was recently reported to be spying for Israel. Local media identified the man as Mohammad Shorba. This is one of the most pressing and prominent breaches in the group since its formation.

Katicha noted Shorba’s case, saying the Shiite group was always vulnerable to such infiltration.

“This is not only a failure from [strategic] point of view but also it is obvious that Hezbollah’s apparatus has been infiltrated by Israeli intelligence,” Katicha said, referring to Shorba’s case.

“Shorba was arrested by Hezbollah. He was a senior figure,” he said.

“This may not be the only infiltration and therefore as a group … it is always vulnerable to such infiltration,” he added.

Can Hezbollah respond?

In an article on its English language website, Al-Manar rounded up the reaction of the Israeli media with a headline that read: “Israeli Media: Hezbollah Response Certain, But How and When?”

While analysts said Hezbollah might respond, there were mixed views on the imminence of such an attack.

"Hezbollah will retaliate for the assassination of [these] cadres but it will not happen immediately," said Dr. Haytham Mouzahem, a Lebanese political analyst and the Director of the Beirut Center for Middle East Studies. "The Israelis are on high alert now and the party will study the best way to [take] revenge."

Mouzahem said the retaliation could be in the Golan, the Shebaa Farms, a disputed area that Israeli currently controls and Lebanon claims are occupied by their Southern neighbors, or even beyond.

"This is open confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel, not only in Lebanon but [it has extended] to the Syrian side where the assassination took place," said Kamel Wazne, Director of American Strategic Studies in Beirut and a political analyst.

"Usually when Hezbollah declares the name of their martyrs then revenge will be taken," Wazne added.

In the past, such attacks have struck fear into the Lebanese populace as scarred memories linger from the 2006 July War. But regional events over the last few years have changed the game a bit. With Hezbollah engaged in the Syrian Civil War, many analysts believe they are hesitant to open up a second front on the southern border with the Israelis.

"Hezbollah will respect the Lebanese government," said Wazne. "Their [retaliatory] measures will take this into consideration."

Still, Wazne said, a full-on war will not be entirely taken off the table if Hezbollah feels that is the proper action to take. More likely to happen however is a series of small scale, tit-for-tat, targeted attacks in the same vein as yesterday's.

Katicha was also convinced that Hezbollah, despite its announcements, would unlikely launch any imminent attack from Lebanese soil.

“I think Hezbollah has no interest in launching a response from Lebanese soil because it knows this will lead to a catastrophe in Lebanon,” he said.

“If it does carry out such an action, it will destroy Lebanon … and then all the Lebanese, even the communities supporting it, will turn against them,” the former general said.

Israel's 'red-line'

Mouzahem said that Israel decided to strike at Hezbollah yesterday to send a message.

"Don't cross the red line," he said. Attacking Israeli troops and settlers from the Golan area or receiving sophisticated weapons - like the Iranian Fateh-110 missiles that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah announced the party had acquired since 2006 - are two of those red lines, according to Mouzahem.

"Israel wants to say that its security in the Golan Heights and Galilee is a red-line. Meanwhile, the Israelis believe that Hezbollah has been behind some attacks against [Israeli] troops in Golan - from the Syrian side."

Mouzahem said that Israel likely believes Hezbollah is training members for an attack on Golan and this latest operation was a preemptive attempt at thwarting future attacks.

Mouzahem and Khashan also brought up the correlation of Israeli elections. In the past, election years in Israel have coincided with military operations to drum up national unity.

“Hezbollah knows the timing of the Israeli attack is to serve [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu in the elections,” said Mouzahem. “Of course, the retaliation will be limited since the Lebanese group does not want to get involved in a comprehensive war with Israel now.”

Khashan said that Israel had called Nasrallah’s bluff. “Hezbollah was trying to change the rules of engagement in the Golan Heights.”

Nasrallah’s fiery speech from last week warned Israel of repercussions should they attack Hezbollah or the Assad regime in Syria. Khashan said the latest attack has put Nasrallah in an awkward position. “The Shiite community is restless,” he said. “[Nasrallah] has to do something but doesn’t have anything to do. It’s a very serious problem.”

Meanwhile, in Beirut on Sunday[18 Jan.] night, rumors swirled over whether or not Hezbollah’s leader Nasrallah would take to the airwaves and comment on the recent events. While it is still unclear where these rumors came from, Lebanese media picked them up and eventually had to release comment that Nasrallah would not speak that night.

“[Nasrallah] will appear and will decide what to say and how to say it,” said Wazne.

“Revenge … could take place anywhere or anytime,” Wazne said

1b) Mossad undercuts Netanyahu, warns US Congress against more Iran sanctions

Israeli intelligence officials have apparently come around to the same view shared by both the Obama administration as well as American spy agencies.

ISRAEL'S POLITICAL LEADERSHip is in disagreement with top members of its intelligence services over the benefit of more Congressional sanctions on Iran as negotiations over its disputed nuclear program continue, Bloomberg News is reporting on Thursday.

The rift is so severe that it compelled the Mossad to contradict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and directly warn US Congressional officials that more sanctions against the Islamic Republic at this juncture could effectively spell the end of negotiations, according to Bloomberg.

Israeli intelligence officials have apparently come around to the same view shared by both the Obama administration as well as American spy agencies who say that any attempts by lawmakers to pass tougher anti-Iran legislation could chase Tehran from the negotiating table.

Netanyahu has gone on record as enthusiastically supporting sanctions while placing little faith that talks with the Islamic Republic would yield an agreement that would meet Israel’s security needs.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers are expected to  press ahead with a plan for more sanctions on Iran, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said last week, despite White House warnings that they risked derailing nuclear talks.

Lawmakers, who say they fear Obama administration negotiators may not take a hard enough line with Tehran, are also at work on a separate bill to have Congress approve any final agreement on Iran's nuclear program, Senator Bob Corker, the chairman, told Reuters in an interview.

"There's continual efforts to try to figure out a way for Congress to play a role to strengthen whatever final deal may occur," the Tennessee Republican senator said.

Republican Senator Mark Kirk and Democratic Senator Robert Menendez are finalizing a bill for tougher sanctions on Iran if there is no final nuclear deal by June 30.

The Senate Banking Committee is due to hold a hearing on Iran sanctions on Tuesday, said Corker, a member also of that panel.

Kirk and Menendez introduced a sanctions bill in December 2013, but it did not come up for a vote in the Senate, then controlled by President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats, who lost control of the chamber because of big losses in November elections. 

The White House has insisted passage of a sanctions bill now - even one that would impose new restrictions only if there is no deal by the deadline - could prompt Iran to back out of the nuclear talks with six world powers.

According to Bloomberg, both the Prime Minister’s Office as well as the influential America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) have been pushing for the Kirk-Menendez bill, which would impose harsher economic penalties against Iran if there is no agreement in the P5+1 talks by the June 30 deadline.

Congressional leaders, however, were surprised to learn that Mossad officials had briefed a number of key lawmakers, lobbying against the bill. Bloomberg reported that the briefing prompted Menendez to seek clarifications from Israel's envoy to Washington, Ron Dermer.

“We met with a number of government officials from many different parts of the government,” Republican representative John Barrasso, one of the deputies present during the Mossad briefing, told Bloomberg. “There’s not a uniform view there.” 

The Iranian nuclear matter has apparently turned into the latest political football that has entailed the GOP Congressional leadership, the White House, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Mossad, which is being played against the backdrop of Israel’s upcoming parliamentary elections.

In his State of the Union address before the nation on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama said that new sanctions on Iran would “all but guarantee that diplomacy fails,” heightening the prospects of war.

“Between now and this spring, we have a chance to negotiate a comprehensive agreement that prevents a nuclear-armed Iran, secures America and our allies – including Israel – while avoiding yet another Middle East conflict,” the president said.

“There are no guarantees that negotiations will succeed, and I keep all options on the table to prevent a nuclear Iran,” he continued. “But new sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails.”

The Republican speaker of the House, John Boehner, responded by inviting Netanyahu to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress, prompting an angry response from the White House.

1c) Despite Democrats’ Claims, Mossad Chief Favors Additional Iran Sanctions

By: Lori Lowenthal Marcus

Two respected American journalists ran a story in Bloomberg News on Wednesday, Jan. 21, citing claims that Israeli Mossad officials were opposed to increasing sanctions on Iran.

The story claimed that the Israeli spy officials' position was that if the U.S. Congress were to pass additional sanctions legislation against the Islamic Republic, even if such sanctions were only triggered if the current negotiations between Iran and the U.S. and its allies, the P5+1, that would "tank" the negotiations. This claim was used to show that the Mossad is in alignment with the U.S. administration's view, and is contrary to the public position of the Israeli prime minister.

However, today, Jan. 22, something extremely unusual happened. The head of the Mossad issued a public statement in which he denied that he is against additional sanctions.

Israel Radio reporter Chico Menashe reported that the following is an accurate account of what happened, as translated at IsraelMatzav:

On 19 January 2015, Mossad Chairman Tamir Pardo met with a delegation of American Senators. The meeting took place at the Senators’ request, and with the Prime Minister’s approval.

Contrary to the report, the Mossad Chairman did not say that he opposes additional sanctions against Iran. In the meeting, the Mossad Chairman emphasized the unusual effectiveness of the sanctions imposed on Iran a number of years ago in bringing Iran to the negotiating table.

The Mossad Chairman pointed out that the negotiations with Iran must be conducted using ‘carrots and sticks,’ and the ‘sticks’ are currently missing. The Mossad Chairman pointed out that without strong pressure, it will not be possible to bring about significant compromises on the Iranian side.

The Mossad Chairman did not relate to the use of the term ‘hand grenade’ with respect to the imposition of sanctions, because in his eyes, these are the ‘sticks’ that will help to obtain a good agreement. He used this term to describe the possibility of creating a temporary breakdown in the talks, at the end of which the negotiations will be restarted under better conditions.

The Mossad Chairman explicitly pointed out that the agreement that is being reached with Iran is bad, and may lead to a regional arms race.

In other words, it is at best a misunderstanding, at worst a complete fabrication, to say that the Israeli spy agency is opposed to the imposition of additional sanctions to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weaponry. It may be true that the head of the Mossad said that any additional sanctions efforts made now would tank the negotiations, but Pardo does not believe the current deal is a good one and so does not see the breakdown in negotiations as a bad thing.

While it does appear that various U.S. delegations met with various Israeli officials, and that there was some overlap as well as some gaps in messaging which would allow differing interpretations of who believes what would happen, two statements can be clearly made:

One, the head of the Mossad does not believe the current U.S. and allies' deal with Iran is a good one, and Two, the Mossad chairman believes there needs to be additional sanctions imposed on Iran to stop it from reaching nuclear weapons capability. 

About the Author: Lori Lowenthal Marcus is the US correspondent for The Jewish Press. She is a recovered lawyer who previously practiced First Amendment law and taught in Philadelphia-area graduate and law schools.

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