Syria Explodes

Professor Jacobson has previously reported on two Israeli strikes: one against Hezbollah and one against Syria.

What’s going on?

Classic thing about the strike...

For the details at the start of the bombing, take a look at last night’s post, Reports – large explosions in Damascus (Update – Syria blames Israel), which has embedded videos and Twitter accounts.  The Twitter feed now is at the bottom of this post.

This morning various news reports confirm that...

Iran is declaring a red line in Syria on the use of chemical weapons … by insurgents.

I think this is more believable than Obama’s red line on use by the government.

Iran already is deeply involved in backing Assad, but needs an excuse to perpetrate a full-blown intervention.  That excuse might be...

1) Shia is Shia and Sunni is Sunni and never the twain shall meet

A couple of Al Qaeda terrorists were arrested in Canada. So of course, expect the LA Times to start its account with this:

Police in Canada said Monday that two men suspected of plotting to derail a passenger train...

1) The red line?

Back in December, NBC News reported that Syria had loaded chemical weapons onto planes and was prepared to use them against civilians.

Syria prepared to use chemical weapons against own people; military awaits final orders, US officials tell @nbcnews nbcnews.to/RCH3Cz

— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) December 5, 2012

Late last week the...

1)  Syria and contiguity

Jacques Neria writes in Stalemate in the Syrian Civil War:

While Assad has survived so far, he has not been able to quell the rebellion, the economy is in shambles, and so are most of the areas hit by the civil war. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are either...

1) The language of concessions

The Washington Post reports Kerry presses Israel and Palestinians for concessions to pave way for peace talks:

Kerry first visited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has resisted new talks for most of the past four years. His government had sought to file a complaint against Israel with the...

Via BBC:

Talks between world powers and Iran on its nuclear programme have ended without agreement, with the EU saying their positions “remain far apart”.

Over two days of talks in Almaty, Iran was asked to give up work on its most sensitive nuclear activities in return for an easing of sanctions.

EU foreign...

We have reported  in the past on the U.S. State Department’s willful silence about imprisoned American pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been held in Iran since last September for “evangelizing” and therefore “threatening national security.” The American Center for Law and Justice’s Jay Sekulow has been unrelenting in his promotion of...

Another one of those things that makes you go hmmm…

At first it was attributed to anti-Assad forces.  And supposedly took place just a couple of days ago.

This was no ordinary General, via Ynet:

The London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported Friday that Hush Husam Nawis, also known as Hassan Shateri, a senior...

He said.

And you know what?

I think he actually believes it.

#MissionAccomplished

Those are the reports.

Via Ynet:

Just four days after Iran proudly announced it had successfully launched a monkey into space – a move seen as proof of a technological breakthrough which may help the Islamic Republic advance its nuclear program, London’s Times newspaper is questioning the Iranian claims.

The British paper said Friday...

A kiss, via Ynet News:

Two Iranian officials could be facing trouble after being caught on camera as they shared a kiss in an elevator.

Footage captured by a security camera and broadcast by Sky News Arabia showed Iranian Higher Education Minister Kamran Daneshjoo and Azadeh Ardakani, the director...

Yesterday the U.S. State Department for the first time mentioned American pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been imprisoned in Iran since September 2012 for speaking out about his Christian views and developing a network of underground churches. While family and friends of the pastor, who had converted to Christianity twelve years...

I don’t have a lot of time today because I’m working on something, but I did want to take note of the latest “non-leak leak maybe who knows” regarding supposed direct negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program.

The NY Times reports:

The United States and Iran have agreed in principle for the...