Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

‘Mainstream Reporters’ Largely Ignored Gosnell Abortion Clinic ‘reminiscent of Auschwitz’
May 17th, 2013
Daily NewsCNSNews.com - Michael W. Chapman
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Rev. James D. Conley, the Catholic bishop for the diocese of Lincoln, Neb., said the mainstream media, which usually pursue news stories that involve violence and death, largely ignored the gruesome story of Dr. Kermit Gosnell and his “house of horrors” abortion clinic that was “reminiscent of Auschwitz.”

“Somehow, this story went largely unnoticed by mainstream reporters,” said Bp. Conley in his May 3 column. “One would expect a murderous doctor, running a ‘clinic’ reminiscent of Auschwitz, to face a media blitz and a burst of public outrage.”

“Instead, Gosnell’s trial has been treated as a low-key, local story,” said the bishop. “Pro-life advocates took up the task of publicizing it, using social media to make up for news outlets’ silence.”

“We rarely see journalists shying away from a gruesome case,” said Bp. Conley. “Yet the media has been reluctant to cover the trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell ….”

Gosnell, 72, was convicted of three counts of murder: for killing babies born alive during abortions by cutting their spinal cords with scissors. He was also found guilty of manslaughter in the case of a pregnant woman who died from an anesthesia overdose, and also guilty on more than 200 related charges, including conspiracy, infanticide, theft by deception, corruption of minors, and tampering with evidence.

On Monday, he was sentenced to three life terms in prison.

In the grand jury report on the Gosnell case, his clinic in Philadelphia was described as a “house of horrors.” The office was filthy, medical instruments and furniture spotted in blood, flea-ridden cats roaming freely, severed baby feet in jars, aborted babies stuffed in containers and plastic bags, and eyewitness testimony that some babies were born alive in the toilets.

Gosnell “killed live, viable, moving, breathing, crying babies,” stated the report. “He killed them by cutting their spinal cords after their mothers had delivered them after receiving excessive amounts of medication designed to induce active labor. This report documents multiple murders of viable babies. The evidence makes a compelling case that many others were also murdered.”

Bp. Conley said, “Our news outlets are not known for their squeamish attitude toward violence. On the contrary, reporters are often criticized for fixating on violence, exploiting it as fodder for the 24-hour news cycle.”

“I suspect journalists would rather ignore what happened at Gosnell’s ‘Medical Center,’” said the bishop. “The case raises too many disturbing questions – about the mentality behind abortion, and our culture’s troubling attitude toward human life.”

There'll be 200 to 250 Years of Global Cooling Just Ahead
May 17th, 2013
Daily NewsTruNews
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

In light of our prolonged winter, there seems to be a shift in the climate change theories that have been passed around by global scientists.

Russian scientist Yuri Nagovitsyn of the Pulkovo Observatory has gone on record stating: “We could be in for a cooling period that lasts 200-250 years.”

The observatory was opened in 1839. Originally, it was a brainchild of the German/Russian astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, who would become its first director — in 1861, his son Otto Wilhelm von Struve succeeded him.

After one of the snowiest winters in recent memory, I am inclined to agree with Mr. Nagovitsyn.

It certainly was not the cold, miserable winter/spring phenomenon that we experienced in the Brainerd lakes area that caused the Russian scientist to conclude that we’re heading into a cooling period.

Solar activity follows different cycles, including an 11-year cycle, a 90-year cycle and a 200-year cycle, Nagovitsyn stated.

Texas’ ‘Gosnell’ Under Criminal Investigation for Allegedly Murdering Newborn Babies
May 17th, 2013
Daily NewsTruNews
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Houston prosecutors and officials with the state of Texas announced Wednesday that they have launched criminal investigations of Douglas Karpen, the late-term abortionist who twisted newborn babies’ heads off with his bare hands according to his former employees.

After an intense pro-life lobbying effort, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday afternoon it had opened an early probe into allegations raised by three former employees that Karpen was guilty of infanticide in a manner reminiscent of Kermit Gosnell.

“We have several people looking into the allegations,” said Sara Marie Kinney, a spokeswoman for the Harris County DA’s office.

The Texas Department of State Health Services is also looking into the shocking allegations. Carrie Williams, a DSHS spokeswoman, said, “This is a very high priority for us.”

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurt had demanded a full-scale investigation earlier that day.

Targeted By IRS Tea Party Inquiry Says Threats to Individuals More Dangerous Than to Groups
May 17th, 2013
Daily NewsCNSNews.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Justin Binik-Thomas isn’t aware of other individuals targeted by the Internal Revenue Service for political reasons, but he considers the tax agency’s focus on one person’s politics an even bigger threat than targeting organizations for political reasons.

“Provide details regarding your relationship with Justin Binik-Thomas,” said one of the 35 questions an IRS questionnaire to the Liberty Township (Ohio) Tea Party on March 1, 2012, signed by Mitch Steele, an IRS Exempt Organizations Specialist.

Liberty Township, Binik-Thomas said, is about 30 miles from his hometown of Deer Park, Ohio.

“They not only reached out and politically targeted groups, they were targeting individuals,” Binik-Thomas told CNSNews.com. “That’s a big systemic problem. You bring in people, you change the game.”

Binik-Thomas was a founding member or the Cincinnati Tea Party, and runs a small media relations firm called Conservative Media Group LLC.

IRS officials apologized Friday that the tax exempt division based in Cincinnati targeted groups with the word “tea party,” “patriot” and other conservative-sounding terms or slogans.

Saeed Jalili is the Supreme Leader’s Favorite for President
May 17th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

In five weeks’ time, Iran will know the name of its next president.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly reports that the frontrunner for the June 14 vote is Saeed Jalilee, senior nuclear negotiator and head of the National Security Council. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tapped him on the head after conducting an intense confabulation in his circle.
There is therefore a good chance that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s seat will be taken by a youngish (48) genial diplomat who is nonetheless a hard line conservative and a proven tough and crafty negotiator in nuclear talks with the 5+1 world powers (the five UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany).
Jalilee’s campaign received a strong leg up Monday, May 13, from the powerful threesome known as the Coalition of the Three: Ex-foreign minister Ali-Akbar Velayati, former Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel and Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf.
They issued a statement saying they would wait to see how Jalili fares in popular opinion polls before making decisions. Since Haddad-Adel has also registered as a candidate, this statement was taken as an offer to stand down and transfer his support to Jalilee.

No Iranian flexibility expected after the vote

In the eyes of Khamenei, Jalilee has a number of admirable qualities as president: Above all, Iran’s nuclear program is the apple of his eye; he is pleasant, quiet, modest and well-mannered. But most importantly, he proved adept at outfoxing Western governments in round after round of negotiations by cunning ruses which bought Iran time for nuclear progress.
One such exercise was the rumor put about this week that Jalilee as president would be a lot more flexible in the bargaining over Iran’s nuclear program and offer major concessions for the lifting of international sanctions.
This rumor, say our Iranian sources, was a trick to throw sand in the eyes of Iran’s adversaries. No concessions are contemplated, and there are no grounds for President Barack Obama’s hopes that Tehran will be more accommodating after its presidential election.
To remove any doubts, a statement was issued Tuesday, May 14 by Ali Baqeri, a member of Iran’s nuclear negotiating team and deputy head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council under Jalilee. He explicitly advised world powers not to look for the smallest chink in the solid Iranian nuclear position in future dialogue.
Though well-suited to the job in most respects, Khamenei finds Jalilee wanting in a major qualification as president - his lack of administrative experience.
A well-seasoned, steady hand is badly needed at the head of government in Tehran as the Iranian economy staggers toward collapsing and popular frustration with widespread hardship nears boiling-point.
For that reason, the supreme leader is still considering the candidacy of Ali-Akbar Velyati, who served as minister in post-Revolutionary administrations and was his own valued adviser on international affairs in recent years.

Khamenei squashes Rafsanji’s attempted comeback

The final roster of 360 registered candidates running for election will be deeply scrutinized and heavily pruned by the Guardians of the Constitution Commission.
Khamenei is nervous about two men who have thrown their hats in the ring.
Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, 78, lined up behind the reformists when they staged their big uprising in 2009 in protest against alleged vote-rigging in the vote for Ahmadinejad’s second term;
and Esfandyar Rahim Mashaee, Ahmadinejad’s relative and the candidate of his camp.
Rafsanjani told reporters he had won Khamenei’s blessing in a phone conversation they held. Staff members at the leader’s office denied this.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s Iran experts say that Rafsanjani has no hope of carrying the election. The Guardians may let him run - but only to help generate an atmosphere of genuine rivalry and boost voter turnout.
Khamenei will obstruct him at every turn for fear that as president, Rafsanjani may be amenable to a deal with the West for curbing Iran’s nuclear program. Anyway, the ayatollah will never forgive the former president for siding with the opposition in 2009.
His every bid for a comeback to politics has been treated roughly and the Rafsanjani name blackened. His daughter Fatemeh Hashemi was sent to prison on charges of political activity against the regime and the trial of his son Mehdi Hashemi for corruption is ongoing.

What will happen to Ahmadinejad after he quits?

But what most intrigues the movers and shakers in Tehran and the ordinary Iranian is what happens to Ahmadinejad after he is out of power and the fate of his would-be successor.
The outgoing president’s eight-year term taught Khamenei a lesson or two: In his early years as president, Ahmadinejad was the supreme leader’s faithful adherent and willing to accept his diktats. But in his second term, he emerged as a tiger, with sharp teeth bared for scandalous confrontations with his leader.
Khamenei’s followers fear Ahmadinejad is keeping a couple of outrageous tricks up his sleeve for boosting Rahim Mashaee’s prospects of election.
They are not waiting idly. One group is putting together a dossier to incriminate the outgoing president’s close aides on charges of stealing public funds. It would not be the first.
Accusations of financial wrongdoing were leveled in the past against Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi. He and another Ahmnadinehad aide, the highly popular Ali Akbar Janvan-Fekr, put their names down as presidential candidates - and then withdrew, so as not to spoil Rahim Mashaee’s chances.
No more than four or five candidates are expected to survive the deep culling of the slate by the Guardians of the Constitution.

The Revolutionary Guards will ensure the right results

Khamenei understands that the Guardians dare not overdo it.
For the sake of appearances, a couple of non-favorites must be allowed to stand, or else the heads of the Islamic Republic will be accused – again - of crudely manipulating the elections. Voters would then shun the ballot in droves. So Khamenei is in the middle of a delicate balancing act to show the world that the people are overwhelmingly behind his regime’s policies and nuclear program, while, at the same time, keeping the presidency out of undesirable hands.
He is not leaving much to chance: This week, Revolutionary Guards officers said they had established “Squads of Honest Men” to take a hand in the vote whenever and wherever it became necessary to guard the regime’s future.

Russia Sends Syria Upgraded Anti - Ship Cruise Missiles
May 17th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

US officials report the delivery to the Syrian government of Yakhont anti-ship cruise missile updated with advanced radar for extending its range and accuracy. It is designed to counter any effort by international forces to supply Syrian rebels from the sea, impose a naval embargo, establish a no-fly zone or carry out limited strikes. DEBKAfile adds: The improved Yakhont enables Syria to keep Israeli missile ships far from its coast and block troop landings..

Rep. Broun: Special Counsel May be Needed in IRS Scandal
May 17th, 2013
Daily NewsTruNews
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Rep. Paul Broun says congressional investigations into the IRS’ tea party-targeting scandal should be allowed to proceed, but suggested the appointment of a “special counsel” might be necessary to get to the real truth.

“It’s absolutely incredible that this administration would target groups through the IRS that they see as political enemies, and that is intolerable,” the Georgia Republican told Newsmax TV, adding that “it may very well come to the point of having a special counsel” step in to prosecute the case.

Attorney General Eric Holder has already launched a criminal investigation into allegations the IRS kept conservative groups from getting tax exempt status determinations.

Broun, a member of the Republican Study Committee and the Tea Party Caucus, said it’s important to allow the nation’s “system of justice ” to work and “not make a prejudgment” about who was responsible.

Putin Suspects U.S., Turkey of Taking Part in Israeli Air Strikes Over Syria
May 17th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Russian President Vladimir Putin shares the suspicions of intelligence sources in the Gulf that Israel had a partner in its two air strikes against Syria on May 3 and May 5, namely Turkish Air Force bombers with US command centers coordinating their operations.
Those suspicions were strengthened by the parallel meetings taking place Thursday, May 16, between President Barak Obama and Turkish Premier Tayiip Erdogan at the White House; and US Central Intelligence Director John Brennan with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister, Moshe Ya’alon in Israel.
These suspicions have not been confirmed by direct evidence, but they are gaining wings around the region. If borne out, they would impact the Syrian conflict in four important respects:
1. The Obama administration will have embroiled the United States directly in the Syria war - contrary to the impression conveyed by US officialdom.
On Monday, May 13, after his talk with UK Prime Minister David Cameron, President Obama commented: “Frankly, sometimes, once … the furies have been unleashed in a situation like we’re seeing in Syria, it’s very hard to put things back together.”
2. This would be a landmark event, the first military operation of its kind launched jointly by the US, Turkey and Israel against an Arab ruler:
3. It would be the opening chord of an allied war in Syria unacknowledged by its participants.
4. Israel’s air strikes brought a Russian troop presence on Syrian soil out into the open with potentially more to come.

Israel’s stand-off missile strike in Syria – precursor for Iran?

DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military and intelligence sources disclose that shortly after the Israeli air strikes, President Putin had the batteries brought out of their Syrian hideouts of S-300 (NATO code-named SA-10 Grumble) long-range surface-to-air missiles systems developed to defend against aircraft and cruise missile attack. He ordered the batteries with the Russian crews to be deployed at strategic spots in Syria.
The efforts to prevail upon Moscow to withhold the S-300s from Syria were therefore exercises in futility. The advanced weapons had been in place for some months as part of Moscow’s diplomatic and military plans for safeguarding Assad against a US attempt to depose him.
Putin had two additional considerations in mind:
a) The tactic employed in Israel’s first air strike on May 3 of firing stand-off missiles without going into Syrian air space gave its bombers the advantage of discounting Syrian air defenses.
The presence of S-300 missiles in Syria has put an end to this tactic, especially as Moscow views it as the precursor of an Israeli air strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. These air defense missiles have a range of 200 kilometers and so cover eastern Mediterranean airspace over Syria, Lebanon and northern Israel.
b) According to the war talk going around Washington, President Obama’s best option for Syria would be an American air and missile blitz lasting two or three days for destroying most of Assad’s air bases and air defenses. The Syrian ruler might not be shaken off his seat, but he would lose the military assets which grant him an edge over the rebels.

Russian submarines as nuclear shield for Assad

By deploying the S-300s in Syria, the Russian leader has given the US, Israel and Turkey notice that Moscow will not tolerate any more air attacks on the regime in Damascus – unless they were willing to risk their warplanes being blown out of the sky by the powerful Russian interceptors.
For that reason, the crash of the Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter-bomber flying over the Syrian border Monday, May 13, made everyone jump in Washington, Ankara and Jerusalem. The first guess was that it had been downed by one of the new Russian missiles operated by Russian officers, just like the Turkish reconnaissance plane shot down last June while flying over Latakia. Information about how the Turkish plane came to crash is not yet in.
President Putin, too, was not yet done with steps for deterring foreign attacks on the Assad regime. Sunday, May 12, Russian Navy commander Adm. Viktor Chirkov announced from the Russian Black Sea’s command post at Sevastopol that a permanent staff of 20 officers would serve the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean. This fleet would consist of five to six warships – and, possibly, nuclear submarines.
This was no throwaway remark but the sting in the tail.

The deployment of nuclear subs in the Mediterranean will bolster Moscow’s guaranteed protection of Bashar Assad, recently extended to the Lebanese Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah, with a nuclear shield.

Turkey as Assad’s whipping boy

The Russian ruler was unmoved by the attempts by Secretary Kerry and Prime Minister Cameron to defuse the discord between Moscow and the West and open the door for a diplomatic exit from the Syrian impasse. By sticking to his guns, Putin reduced to nil the prospects of an International conference on Syria getting anywhere, even if it does get off the ground in the first place.
In typical Assad style, Damascus made a point of its own: Saturday, May 11, two powerful car bombs ravaged the center of the Turkish town of Reyhanli in the border province of Hatay, killing up to 50 people and injuring scores. It took the Turkish security service MIT less then 24 hours to lay hands on the culprits. All nine suspects rounded up initially were Turkish citizens (another four were detained later). MIT officers knew exactly where the bomb cars had been smuggled across the border and hidden prior to the attack but were still unable to thwart it.
Assad had decided to make Turkey his whipping boy for the Israeli air raids, while reserving for Israel a stream of aggressive language. His spokesmen warned that Syrian missile commanders had been ordered to respond instantly to any further Israeli attacks without waiting for orders from Damascus; Syrian troops were authorized to cross the border into Israel and Palestinian terrorist organizations given free rein to start mounting attacks from Syrian territory.
The United States was not mentioned in any of the Syrian rhetoric.

Putin sticks to his guns regardless

Washington may be starting to appreciate that the Syrian ruler and his backers are on a winning streak judging from a comment Saturday, May 11, by the Washington Post’s Liz Sly in a report from Beirut.
She wrote that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his forces “are beginning to turn the tide of the country’s war,” explaining that Assad is “bolstered by a new strategy, the support of Iran and Russia and the assistance of fighters with Lebanon’s Hizballah movement.”
This reading confirms a situation which DEBKA-Net-Weekly has been reporting for three months, starting in March. But the Russian ruler will not be dissuaded from his course by Washington’s faint recognition of the state of play in Syria. He will continue to do all he can to solidify Assad’s gains before the wobbly Syrian wheel turns again.

New York Cigarette Smugglers Fund Islamic Terrorists
May 17th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Militants Kill Nigeria Christian Leader After State of Emergency Declaration
May 17th, 2013
Daily NewsTruNews
Categories: Today's Headlines;Persecution

Suspected Islamic militants have killed a Christian leader in north-eastern Nigeria shortly after the president declared a state of emergency in the region to tackle “insurgents and terrorists” threatening Africa’s most populous nation.

The Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Borno State, Faye Pama Musa, a Pentecostal pastor, was shot dead in his Maiduguri home by two suspected members of the Islamic ‘Boko Haram’ group, officials confirmed Wednesday, May 15.

“The Borno CAN secretary has been killed. We’ve got the report and the national president received it with heavy heart. It is very sad,” said Kenny Asaka, a CAN spokesman.

A police source reportedly said that the deceased official of the Christian umbrella group “attempted to run away but his assailants were closed on him” shooting him “at close range” late Tuesday, May 14.

The 47-year-old pastor was killed shortly after Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States to address the “systematic effort by insurgents and terrorists to destabilize the Nigerian state and test our collective resolve.”

Let the Headlines Speak
May 17th, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Two 'known or suspected' terrorists vanished from witness program
Two "known or suspected" terrorists who cooperated with the government and were placed in the Witness Security Program later were able to board airplanes and quietly vanish, the Justice Department's inspector general concluded in a report that was highly critical of how the government handles some of its most dangerous witnesses.

Syrian rebels launch offensive in south to reverse losses
Syrian rebels said they attacked an important military base in the south and checkpoints in the city of Deraa on Thursday, trying to regain ground lost to President Bashar al-Assad's forces near the Jordanian border. The rebels were thrown onto the defensive last week when Assad's troops retook the town of Khirbet Ghazaleh on the main north-south highway between Damascus and Jordan.

"Big Brother" is big business?
The odds are you are not just a face in the crowd any longer. Even if your picture isn't plastered all over social networking and photo-sharing sites, facial recognition technology in public places is making it harder if not impossible to remain anonymous. Lesley Stahl reports on the new ways this technology is being used that even has one of its inventors calling it too intrusive.

IRS Also Targeted Pro-Life Groups: Will Media Report?
We’ve heard a lot in the past few days about the IRS applying extra scrutiny to groups with “Tea Party” or “patriots” in their name, but it appears the unfair targeting runs deeper than that. As the Thomas More Society, a non-profit public interest law firm, first reported yesterday, the IRS harassed at least two pro-life organizations that applied for tax-exempt status as early as 2009. When the Coalition for Life of Iowa submitted such an application, the IRS reportedly demanded that they promise, under perjury of law, not to picket or protest outside of Planned Parenthood.

Ohio's well data shatters shale oil hopes
U.S. hopes for a new shale oil bonanza in Ohio, joining the prolific Bakken and Eagle Ford plays that have raised production to 20-year highs, were shattered on Thursday by the first hard evidence that the Utica formation was primarily gas-prone.

IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office
The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation. Sarah Hall Ingram served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012. But Ingram...is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office, the IRS confirmed to ABC News today.

Report: Russia sends Assad 'ship killing missile'
Russia sold advanced Yakhont antiship cruise missiles to Syrian President Bashar Assad, outfitted with an advanced guidance system that makes them more effective than the older version of the missile Russia sold to Syria... These missiles will allow Syria to thwart any attempt by international forces to reinforce Syrian rebels by imposing a naval embargo or no fly zone...

Israeli official: We underestimated Assad regime's strength
The debate over the situation in Syria and President Bashar Assad's chances for survival has sharpened recently within the Israeli defense establishment. A senior defense official claimed recently in closed conversations that Israel has erred in its estimates of how quickly Assad would fall from power in Syria. According to the official, Israel has "underestimated" Assad's strength and the inner life force of the Syrian regime.

Largest Syrian Brigade Nears Breaking Point
May 17th, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Gil Ronen
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Numerous units from the rebel Syrian army have been trying since the morning hours Thursday to smash the 52nd Armored Brigade of the Syria army, Arab news sources reported.

The 52nd Armored Brigade is the main fighting force in the Dera'a area in southern Syria.

Some reports say that the rebels have achieved partial control of the region. The 232nd Battalion has reportedly fallen into rebel hands. This means that the largest armored brigade in the Syria army is near its breaking point.

Al-Ahbar of Kuwait reported that rebels used light arms to bring down a surveillance UAV belonging to the Syrian Air Force in the streets of Homs. The UAV had been assisting Hizbullah ground forces near Al-Kutzair.

John Kerry Loses Clout for Middle East Diplomacy
May 17th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

US President Barack Obama has been overtaken by a cycle of ruinous scandals which are undercutting his authority and prestige as a world leader. It is hard to tell how he will beat the charges claiming his administration secretly accessed the phone records of journalists; that the IRS targeted conservative groups and that the officials in authority failed to rescue four US diplomats murdered by terrorists in Benghazi last year.
More woes await the US president’s handling of foreign policy around the corner.
Iran holds a presidential election on June 14 (See separate article on front-runner Saeed Jalili).
After it is over, he will come face to face with the failure of his strategy of putting all his eggs in the diplomatic basket for curbing Iran’s drive for a nuclear bomb.
At one of the two hearings on Iran taking place in Congress on Wednesday May 15, lawmakers took the administration to task for coming out of five rounds of international negotiations with Iran and a slew of harsh economic sanctions with nothing to show, whereas Iran emerged free to plug ahead with its nuclear program undisturbed.
Wendy Sherman, the State Department undersecretary leading the US team to those negotiations, was forced to acknowledge that the administration’s diplomatic and economic initiatives had still not achieved results.
“We are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” said Sherman. “Our preference is to resolve this through diplomacy. However, there should be no doubt that the United States will use all elements of American power to achieve that objective."

A bankrupt policy on nuclear Iran

The trouble is that American resolve is greeted these days with nothing but doubt – especially in the Middle East, where Obama’s international diplomacy on Iran is considered bankrupt. A nuclear Iran is fast becoming unstoppable and an Israeli military attack the only credible scenario left.
Four days after a new Iranian president is elected, Obama is due to attend the next G8 summit taking place June 17-18 at the five-star Lough Erne Hotel and golf resort on the shores of Loch Erne in Northern Ireland.
The summit of the world’s largest and most advanced economies will be led by Prime Minister David Cameron, holder of the G8 presidency in 2013. Cameron visited the White House on May 13, and received Obama’s thanks for his “leadership, partnership and support.”
But no one else in Washington or other G8 capitals was impressed. Cameron is not the brightest star in Europe. The latest UK polls indicate he will probably lose the next general election, thanks to his failure to haul the British economy out of its five-year slough.
The joint appearance of beleaguered Obama and fading Cameron on a world stage will hardly broadcast strong Western leadership. And the choice of Northern Ireland as the G8 venue, not exactly a glittering world center, downgrades the meeting by relegating it to a backwater

Kerry and peace diplomacy out on a limb

His boss’s troubles directly affect Secretary of State John Kerry and leave him out on a limb.
After meeting President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on May 7, Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced they were convening an international conference to jointly resolve the Syria crisis.
But behind this show of accord, US and Russian officials agreed on nothing.
Kerry has since moved the conference timeline from late May to June. But the chances of a meeting this summer are fading.
In Moscow, the Secretary sensed that the mayhem in Washington had cut the ground from under his feet.
Putin, meanwhile, could hardly hide his smiles as US, British, German and Israeli leaders made pilgrimages to Moscow in the past two weeks to try and crack his solid support for the Assad regime and slow his Middle East momentum.
On Monday, May 13, the Russian leader staged a scene bearing the hallmarks of a Cold War spy thriller. He ordered the arrest – then expulsion - of Ryan Christopher Fogle, a career diplomat serving as third secretary in the Political Section of the US Embassy in Moscow.
The Federal Security Service-FSB accused him of trying to recruit a Russian intelligence officer for the CIA.
It was clear that he had fallen victim to an FSB sting operation and the wide publicity was aimed at humiliating the CIA and the State Department.
Kerry is being brought up short on the diplomatic initiatives he started rolling in the past five months by the loss of steady direction from Washington. His efforts for a breakthrough on the Syrian impasse have run aground and he is losing momentum for getting the ball rolling for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations – on which he focused heavily - when he arrives in the Middle East next month.

How Did Israel Wind Up Facing a Russian - Syrian Front?
May 17th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Israeli spokesmen insist that their country had no intention of intervening in the Syrian war and its two air strikes against Damascus on May 3 and May 5 had the single goal of preventing advanced missiles and chemical weapons reaching terrorists – whether Hizballah or al Qaeda-linked rebel groups.
This argument fell on deaf ears Tuesday, May 14, when Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu put it to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The same indifference greeted his face-to-face bid to persuade the Russian leader to halt supplies to Syria of the highly advanced S-300 anti-missile weapons, for which he made a special journey to the Black Sea resort town of Sochi.
Netanyahu had also planned a presentation by Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, who came with him, to demonstrate that the Syrian army was already using chemical weapons against rebel forces and that Damascus had transferred advanced weapons to the Lebanese Hizballah on orders from Tehran.
Putin was attended by Michail Fradkov, Director of the SVR intelligence service, whom the West rates as the Russian president’s most influential policy adviser.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly quotes well-informed Russian and Israeli sources as commenting wryly that Netanyahu was rather naive. He seemed to have missed the radical change in the Syrian equation which had occurred when Moscow threw its support behind Hizballah in a tacit deal Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov closed with Hizballah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut on April 27.
> From Putin’s perspective, any action for strengthening Bashar Assad’s hold on power was legitimate and desirable. Moscow had therefore come around to welcoming the handover of advanced Iranian weapons to Hizballah, now that the Lebanese Shiite group had two elite brigades fighting for Assad and using some of those weapons against rebel forces.

Hizballah gains combat experience and kudos

This development illustrated the far-reaching damage resulting from the fateful US and Israeli failure to nip in the bud the Hizballah military influx into Syria in early April when the first units arrived in Homs to fight alongside Syrian troops, DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military sources say.
Now it has gone too far to stop. Hizballah has moved 7,000 fighting men, 60 percent of its total strength, onto the battlefields of Syria.
Equally, the subsequent injection of thousands of Iranian Bassij militia fighters into the Syrian arena should have been cut short - but wasn’t.
US and Israeli strategists made the mistake of assuming that the bulk of Hizballah’s armed forces fighting in Syria would be exhausted and ground down by hard combat and in no shape to go to war against Israel in the foreseeable future after returning home.
They were totally wide of the mark.
Hizballah exploited its presence in Syria for direct access to the advanced weapons which Israel kept bottled up in Syria, and gained valuable combat experience fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Syrian army, Iranian units and Iraqi Shiite militias volunteering to fight for Assad’s cause.
Hizballah units proved their mettle in battle and deserve some of the credit for turning the tide of war in Assad’s favor.

Israeli air strikes did not change the course of the Syrian war

Military intervention in Syria gained Hizballah two additional major benefits.
Not only did its combatants collect advanced Iranian weapons directly from Syrian stores, but, as we disclosed in previous issues of this publication, Moscow has given the Lebanese Shiite group shelter under the safety umbrella it spread over Bashar Assad and his regime.
The second, more massive, Israeli air strike over Damascus and Mt. Qassioun on May 5 had no effect on the balance of war. Neither did it inhibit Iranian and Syrian efforts to keep Hizballah armed with advanced hardware.
Israeli warplanes did smash the depots holding ammunition and missiles held as strategic reserves for the decisive battle between Syrian army and rebel forces. However, the Syrian army’s recent gains have reversed most of the rebels’ achievements in more than two years of combat. Furthermore, Tehran’s daily airlifts to Syria are swiftly re-supplying the stores on Mt. Qassioun demolished by Israeli bombers.

Putin’s commitments to Assad and Hizballah prove unshakable

Military intervention in Syria gained Hizballah two additional major benefits.
Not only did its combatants collect advanced Iranian weapons directly from Syrian stores, but, as we disclosed in previous issues of this publication, Moscow has given the Lebanese Shiite group shelter under the safety umbrella it spread over Bashar Assad and his regime.
The second, more massive, Israeli air strike over Damascus and Mt. Qassioun on May 5 had no effect on the balance of war. Neither did it inhibit Iranian and Syrian efforts to keep Hizballah armed with advanced hardware.
Israeli warplanes did smash the depots holding ammunition and missiles held as strategic reserves for the decisive battle between Syrian army and rebel forces. However, the Syrian army’s recent gains have reversed most of the rebels’ achievements in more than two years of combat. Furthermore, Tehran’s daily airlifts to Syria are swiftly re-supplying the stores on Mt. Qassioun demolished by Israeli bombers.

Putin’s commitments to Assad and Hizballah prove unshakable

Understanding belatedly that Russia’s military commitments to Bashar Assad and the Lebanese Hizballah were rock solid, Netanyahu gave up trying to talk Putin out of selling more S-300 missiles to Damascus. He limited himself to seeking an understanding whereby the Israeli Air Force would refrain from striking those missiles in Syria, in return for a Russian assurance not to use them to down Israeli warplanes.
The Israeli prime minister hinted at the IAF’s ability to destroy the Russian missiles.
Putin did not respond to this offer except to question Israel’s ability.
(Read separate article discussing whether the Russians have cracked the US Missile Intercept Warning Systems codes).
After the Russian and Israeli leaders batted their views on Syria back and forth inconclusively for three hours, Netanyahu left Sochi deeply concerned by the depth of Moscow’s commitment to supporting Assad and Hizballah – up to and including their decision, egged on by Tehran, to launch a war of attrition against northern Israel from the Syrian Golan.
No sooner was he home than the action began with the shelling of Mt. Hermon Wednesday by a Palestinian terrorist group controlled by the Assad government.
Israel countered verbally with a warning relayed to the New York Times that night by a “senior official” that Israel will continue its military strikes on Syria to stop the transfer of advanced weapons to Hizballah and Islamic militants.
“Their transfer to Hizballah will destabilize and endanger the entire region,” the official said. “If Syrian President Assad reacts by attacking Israel, or tries to strike Israel through his terrorist proxies, he will risk forfeiting his regime, for Israel will retaliate,” the Israeli official concluded, in the hope of averting the major eruption of violence threatened from the Syrian Golan.
Thursday, Director of Central Intelligence John Brennan arrived in Israel to discuss the Syrian war situation with Israeli leaders.

Has Russia Cracked the Codes of the American Missile Intercept Warning Systems?
May 17th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

A month has gone by with no response since Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said during a speech at the Russian Embassy in London on April 16 that Russia’s strategic forces are capable of penetrating the US missile shield and it poses no military threat to the Russia anymore.
”We have solved the issue of penetrating the missile shield. We regret that the United States wastes their money on missile defense and compels us to do the same. The missile shield is nothing for us, it’s a bluff. It poses no military threat, but remains a political and economic problem,” Rogozin said.
The American Missile Intercept Warning Systems, initiated under the Bush administration to guard Europe against Iranian ballistic missiles, has installed powerful radars in Israel, Turkey and placed SM-3 interceptors aboard naval ships in the Mediterranean.
Israel agreed to allow the US to install special early-warning radar in 2010 as part of the NATO system. Turkey followed in 2011.
But in March, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced that, due to budget pressures, Washington was scrapping the fourth and final stage of the system, which would have installed a more advanced SM-3 interceptor in Poland and Romania within 10 years. Instead, the Pentagon decided to add 14 interceptors to missile defenses in Alaska at a cost of $1 billion.

Washington is mum on Russian claim

Meanwhile, Rogozin’s surprising claim has not elicited any American, Western or Israeli reactions.
So is it true that Russia has indeed managed to penetrate the US-designed missile shield or not?
DEBKA-Net-Weekly's military sources say that if it is, it would have far-reaching implications for the defenses set up by Mideast and Persian Gulf states against potential Iranian ballistic missile attacks.
Israeli would have to revamp its anti-missile defense system so that it is not longer dependent on and integrated in the US missile shield for Europe.
The Israeli system hinges on Arrow interceptor missiles whose warning and activation systems are connected to US X-band radar stations in the Israeli Negev and the Kurecik air base in southeast Turkey near the Iran border.
The Israelis can’t afford being linked to a defense system penetrated by the Russians, because Moscow cannot be trusted not to pass the confidential data it has gathered about these operating systems to Tehran.
At his London speech, the Russian official referred to Moscow’s long campaign of resistance to the US Europe-based missile shield plan. He said Russia’s strong objections arose from its “provocative” and “excessive” nature - forcing other countries to boost their strategic defenses and compelling Russia “to search for a wise and asymmetric response.”

US allies would be left high and dry against Iranian missiles

Israel would dearly love to hear more about Russia’s "wise and asymmetric response." But the Obama administration, including the Pentagon, has kept its reactions, if any, to itself.
Because of this omission, Chuck Hagel was greeted coolly during his April tour of Israel and the Persian Gulf States, even though he came bearing gifts in the form of arms packages worth $10 billion.
Asked if these packages were designed to tell Tehran that a military strike against its nuclear program was still on the table, Hagel replied: "I don't think there's any question that's another very clear signal to Iran."
But no one was convinced in Jerusalem, Riyadh or Abu Dhabi. Neither were their military planners impressed by the big US arms deal, maintaining that it consists of ageing weaponry that is woefully lacking in answers for an Iranian ballistic missile threat.
Above all, the Russian claim to have cracked the codes of the American Missile Intercept Warning Systems, if uncorrected, leaves US allies in the region high and dry and dangerously exposed.

Four Russian S - 300 Batteries Shipped to Syria
May 17th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Moscow reports that four batteries of S-300 systems with 100-150 simultaneously deployable, guided anti-aircraft missiles have already been shipped to Syria complete with Russian military “adviser” crews. DEBKAfile: An Israeli strike to smash this weapon in Syria could not avoid hitting its Russian crews.

AP Scandal: ‘When There is a Tyrannical Despot the Media will be One of the Early Victims’
May 17th, 2013
Daily NewsCNSNews.com - Penny Starr
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) (AP Photo)

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) told the large group of reporters gathered for a press conference on Thursday that the Department of Justice seizure of phone records from the Associated Press is what happens when a “tyrannical despot” is running the government.

“If the AP story has taught anything it should be to the media that when there is a tyrannical despot, the media will be one of the early victims,” Gohmert said. “You will be used as helpful savants for awhile, and then when you are no longer needed, you’ll be pressured and put out of business as well.”

Speaking at a gathering of senators, members of Congress and Tea Party activists from around the country to react to the latest revelations about the Internal Revenue Service targeting conservative groups, Gohmert said the government has “run amok.”

“This is a very dangerous time,” Gohmert said, noting a reporter’s question about why the Tea Party would seek legal status from the IRS, which activists said was not sought but required by the agency.

“It’s an interesting question – why would you need legal status?” he asked.

“Because this is the way a tyrannical government comes into being and perpetuates itself,” Gohmert said.