11/5/15

Our Weasel Of The Week!! – 11/05/15

Once again, It’s time to present this week’s statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!

Every Tuesday, the Council nominates some of the slimiest, most despicable characters in public life for some deed of evil, cowardice or corruption they’ve performed. Then we vote to single out one particular Weasel for special mention, to whom we award the statuette of shame, our special, 100% plastic Golden Weasel. This week’s nominees were all particularly slimy and despicable, but the votes are in and we have our winner… the envelope please…

http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52f90694ecad04b367092e46-1200-900/carl-quintanilla-3.jpg

CNBC’s Faux ‘Journalist’ Carl Quintanilla!

Fausta’s Blog: Carl Quintanilla, who came up with “Congressional Republicans, Democrats and the White House are about to strike a compromise that would raise the debt limit, prevent a government shutdown, and calm financial markets of the fear that a Washington crisis is on the way. Does your opposition to it show you’re not the kind of problem-solver that American voters want?”

On the bright side, it gave Cruz an opening for the best line of the night.

Oh, indeed it did. Several of them, in fact.

Rush Limbaugh has said more than once that the rise of talk radio, conservative news, blogs and other media outlets in the last two decades, or so, are responsible for the mainstream media having to break cover and reveal its blatant bias… and that we’ve reached a tipping point as far as a majority of Americans realizing how partisan and biased these ‘journalists’ actually are.

The collective fellatio of President Barack Hussein Obama by these presstitutes was pretty revealing too, for anyone paying attention.

Carl Quintanilla is typical of the breed. A grad from the very lefty University of Colorado’s Boulder campus, his major was poli sci, not economics or finance. But strangely, his career was built on ‘financial reporting’ (with ineptness even Jon Stewart took a shot at more than once) and on being faux NBC journalist Brian Williams’s shadow when he was off on vacay or special assignment.

I’m sure he and the other two CNBC clowns received no flak from NBC about the absurd, partisan way they handled the Republican debate… in fact, they likely got compliments and high fives if anything. So, we can be sure that Carl Quintanilla’s career as a lefty talking head is secure.

“I deplore… the putrid state into which our newspapers have passed and the malignity, the vulgarity, and mendacious spirit of those who write for them… These ordures are rapidly depraving the public taste and lessening its relish for sound food. As vehicles of information and a curb on our funtionaries, they have rendered themselves useless by forfeiting all title to belief… This has, in a great degree, been produced by the violence and malignity of party spirit.” – Thomas Jefferson

In recognition of Mr. Quintanilla and what he’s doled out to the public all these years, I got one of my furry friends to contribute a little something extra to his well earned Weasel.

Juste est juste, n’est pa?

Well, there it is.

Check back next Tuesday to see who next week’s nominees for Weasel of the Week are!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum and remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere and you won’t want to miss it… or any of the other fantabulous Watcher’s Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter… ’cause we’re cool like that, y’know?

11/5/15

Bolton: Putin will retaliate against ISIS, it’ll be massive

11/5/15

Ted Cruz: It’s In His Heart

By: Lloyd Marcus

A frustrated hopeless patriot wrote…

“Unfortunately Mr Marcus, it’s not only the left but also the right that is out to destroy America. Wicked people in high places, the elite if you will, control both parties. That is why no matter who is elected that nothing changes.”

This patriot brother’s discouragement explains why I want Ted Cruz in the driver’s seat as president. On numerous occasions, Ted Cruz has proven that he has no problem being odd-man-out in regards to Washington politics. Cruz desires the same for our country as We the People.

I have made the following point numerous times. Politicians promise the moon on the campaign trail. The 64,000 dollar question is who will have the cojones and core conservative instincts to follow through if elected? Atop my list is Ted Cruz.

A gospel classic is titled, “It’s in My Heart.” Folks, Ted Cruz has proven that conservatism is in his heart. Our only hope of liberating ourselves from the “Washington cartel” (both parties conspiring against the people) as Cruz perfectly described it is to select a presidential nominee with conservatism in his/her heart. http://bit.ly/1l3xI6s

Cruz is well experienced in being hated by both political parties and the media. He acts like a duck, allowing their relentless venomous rebukes to roll off his back. Cruz stays laser focused on doing what is right for God, country and We the People. That’s what has me standing up and cheering for Ted Cruz.

I love Dr Ben Carson. However, early in his campaign, I wrote an article praising Dr Carson for standing firm on a non-PC comment he made. My publisher informed me he could not publish the article because Dr Carson apologized. As I stated, I highly respect and love the man, but that action scared me folks. Early in his campaign, political inexperience prompted Dr Carson to imply that he may be open to controls on owning a semi-automatic weapon depending on where one lives. http://bit.ly/1IhU2Ud Dr Carson now stands strong for the Second Amendment.

Trump’s success at slapping PC in the face has emboldened other presidential contenders to do the same, including Dr Carson. Will Dr Carson stand strong for conservatism if elected president?

Donald Trump has been a huge blessing, voicing the frustrations, outrage and desires of millions who long to see America made great again. It is quite remarkable that because of racial guilt, we have allowed an anti-American regime to dethrone us as the world power and transform us culturally, morally and economically for the past seven years. But I digress.

Unquestionably, if elected, Trump will make positive changes regarding our economy and immigration. On social issues extremely critical to who we are as a people, I do not sense much passion, urgency or commitment from brother Donald.

Ted Cruz is the total package.

Here are just a few of Sen Cruz’s greatest hits standing up for America and conservatism. With facts and common sense, Cruz crushed can’t-we-all-just-get-along-with-the Left John Kasich in debating Obama’s insane Iran Nuke deal. http://bit.ly/1HlvR1F

Cruz fearlessly called out the CNBC debate moderators, exposing them as “left-wing operatives.” http://bit.ly/1RHxXhU

Cruz blasted Obama for supporting sanctuary cities that refuse to enforce immigration law; endangering the lives of Americans. http://bit.ly/1NiKrgS

Democrats arrogantly refuse to obey laws they do not like such as immigration law. This same bunch of Democrats/Leftists jailed Christian clerk Kim Davis. Davis refused to betray her faith by issuing same sex marriage licenses. Some Republicans/conservatives faltered. Cruz sent out a clarion call to “constitutionalists and lovers of liberty” to stand with Kim Davis. http://bit.ly/1fXRDRf

Cruz promises his first day as president will be extremely busy. He will “rescind every illegal executive action taken by Barack Obama,” including his “executive amnesty.” Cruz will instruct the DOJ to investigate Planned Parenthood and prosecute any criminal conduct uncovered.

Obama has been using the DOJ and IRS as his personal hit-squads against anyone opposing his transformation of America. Cruz promises to instruct both agencies to “cease persecuting” individuals for standing up for their rights.

Remember the Catholic nuns that have been helping the poor and elderly since 1839 bullied by Obama for not signing on to birth control against their faith? http://bit.ly/1Rp5gq0 Cruz said as president he will send the Little Sisters of the Poor a letter dismissing their case. Cruz would also invite them to the WH to tell the world their story.

Continuing his first day in the Oval Office cleaning house, Cruz will end Obama’s catastrophic Iran Nuke deal. Ending day one as president, Cruz will begin the process of moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Cruz said moving our embassy to Israel’s “eternal capital” sends the world the message that we stand with our allies. http://dailysign.al/1RmKGq9

Folks, any one of our GOP presidential contenders is far superior than soulless politician and sociopath Hillary Clinton. Hillary in the White House would be a continuation of the Barack Obama nightmare. The only difference is the MSM would characterize opposing Hillary’s far left radical policies as sexism rather than racism. You know the drill folks.

Therefore, I will wholeheartedly rally behind our GOP nominee; Dr Carson, Trump or any of the others.

But the candidate who checks all of my boxes for not giving a rat’s derriere about what the Washington cartel and media thinks of him; the candidate who places America and her people first; the candidate who is unapologetic regarding his Christian faith; passionately defends liberty and honors our Constitution is Sen Ted Cruz. Will Cruz remain the same person when elected? You betcha!

Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American
LloydMarcus.com

11/5/15

The Sword of Revolution and the Communist Apocalypse – A Book Review

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Purchase at Amazon.com

I have read and admired the writings of Cliff Kincaid for years now. He is simply one of the most gifted researchers out there and he is a fantastic author. His latest book: The Sword Of Revolution And The Communist Apocalypse does not disappoint. It is the best book I have read in a long time. Right now, my husband is reading it and our children will also read the book. If you buy one book this year, it needs to be this one.

Communism is now pervasive throughout America. Because of political correctness and outright treason, we have allowed Marxists and Islamists to infiltrate our political and societal power structures. There are those in America who obviously don’t recall what true communism entailed. They don’t remember the Soviet Union as the massive threat as it was in the past and as it should be viewed now. Instead, a certain sector of America views Vladimir Putin as a hero, riding to the rescue to protect Christians and save the world. He is anything but. Look behind most of the evil in the world today and you will find Russia there somewhere. As I have long contended, the Cold War never ended… it shifted.

Here is a summary of Cliff’s new book from Amazon:

“International communism is not dead but more powerful and insidious than ever before.” That’s the message of this new book by veteran journalist and media critic Cliff Kincaid. The subject is the Marxist dialectic and communism’s worldwide advance. Chinese Red Army Commander Lin Biao called Marxist dialectics, the communist ideology of struggle and deception, a “spiritual atom bomb,” far superior to the real thing. Lenin called it the “living soul” of Marxism. The Sword of Revolution and the Communist Apocalypse explains this dangerous and sinister ideology. For the first time, a former U.S. intelligence agency official explains how the Sino-Soviet “split” deceived U.S. policymakers and weakened the Free World. America’s Survival, Inc. was the first American organization that warned about Barack Obama’s Marxist background and outlook when he ran for president in 2008. This book explains how Marxists have carried out the “fundamental transformation” of the United States, as Obama called it, and how Pope Francis has become the leading proponent of a world government based on Marxist principles.

Communism is indeed spreading and it is using Islam as a weapon to help clear the way. They lie and deceive without compunction. If it furthers their political agenda, then it is justified. The communists are in this for the long haul. They have planned what they are doing and it has always baffled me how our military and leaders could not see what was transpiring right before their very eyes. Cliff Kincaid has that vision. That vision should scare the holy crap out of America, but instead we elected Barack Obama – not once, but twice… a Marxist and an Islamist. Kincaid was one of the first to research Barack Obama and break stories on him and Frank Marshall Davis. He has worked with his fellow researcher, Trevor Loudon, tirelessly for years to expose the enemies within our now transformed government. Cliff has also written extensively on Pope Francis and his Marxist leanings. Pope Francis is working with the UN to lead the globe into a one world government and religion that adheres to Marxism.

In a time when our young people wouldn’t know a communist if they were trout smacked with one across the face, this book shows just how widespread the problem is. They fawn over Marxists such as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton and have no idea that they are basically advocating slavery and the demise of America. Marxism is a deadly poison to our Republic.

I want to share with you the release on Cliff’s book, which will give you a clearer picture of what is contained within:

For almost seven years, President Barack Obama has carried out his mission to “fundamentally transform” the United States. The explanation for why he has been so successful is contained in the new book, The Sword of Revolution and the Communist Apocalypse (available at Amazon.com), by veteran journalist and media critic Cliff Kincaid. Obama, Kincaid argues, is a Marxist who practices and preaches the theory of Marxism through social change, also know as dialectics. “Very few people, except for the communists themselves, understand the approach to national and world events,” Kincaid argues. Republicans, he says, have been reluctant to identify Obama as the Marxist he is.

The Attraction of Marxism

At a time when anti-American socialist Jeremy Corbyn is expected to become the next head of the Labor Party in Britain, and socialist Bernie Sanders is striking a major chord with Democratic Party voters in the United States, no one can seriously argue that Marxism is dead in the West, Kincaid notes. “International communism is not dead but more powerful and insidious than ever before,” the book proclaims. The book lists dozens of Communist Parties active around the world and examines how Marxists operate inside the U.S. and through the Democratic Party. As detailed in one chapter of the book, Kincaid cites evidence that Marxists and New Agers are going to battle over whether Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders will win the Democratic presidential nomination. It is this struggle, Kincaid maintains, that has so many Democratic insiders worried about the 2016 election, leading some of them to seek an alternative candidate, such as Vice President Joe Biden. In a chapter titled “Obama’s Role in World Revolution,” Kincaid examines how Obama has used a Marxist approach that undermines traditional values and pits the races against each other, a form of dialectical or revolutionary change that exploits racial, sexual, and other differences for the purpose of destabilizing society. Historically, Kincaid demonstrates, Obama sees his role as bringing the U.S. from capitalism into socialism.

Former Intelligence Official Talks About Dialectics

Kincaid’s book looks at communist advances not only in the United States but in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Kincaid notes that Obama has recognized both Cuba (diplomatically) and Iran (with the nuclear deal), decisions which benefit America’s enemies, while failing to help Ukraine resist Russian aggression. A former intelligence official, who wrote three chapters of the book, explains the Marxists dialectical approach to history and argues that the Sino-Soviet “split” was a deception that has weakened the Free World, and that both China and Russia are still communist countries. The “collapse” of the Soviet Union, which occurred as a result of what has been called the “perestroika deception,” has resulted in a resurgent Russia that relies on the remnants of – and improvements to – Soviet military power, especially nuclear arms. “Russia and China have taken different socialist paths, based on the Marxist dialectic of historical progress, on the way to world communism,” the book maintains. But changes in the image they present to the West has meant that China and Russia have benefited from Western aid, financial assistance, and technology. The result: they have formed what many now increasingly recognize as a growing alliance against the United States. This proves, in the words of the author of Perestroika, Mikhail Gorbachev, that they are still on the road to world communism. The West has been fooled and our survival is at stake, Kincaid says.

The Communist Apocalypse

Today, Russia alone has the means to physically destroy the American homeland and survive any anticipated counter-strike. Russia is what top U.S. Generals have recently called an “existential” threat to the U.S. The Marxist dialectic, Kincaid warns, justifies the complete extinction of the U.S. by any means necessary. The U.S. faces nothing less than planned annihilation at the hands of the Russian state, Kincaid says, a development based on the Marxist dialectic of how global capitalism will meet its fate at the end of human history when world communism is predicted to triumph. This is the meaning of the term “communist apocalypse” in the title of the book. “There is no reason to think Vladimir Putin, who was trained in dialectics by the KGB, is not determined to wipe the United States from the face of the earth,” he says.

Russia and Global Islam

In another maneuver that has confused Western policy makers, the book cites evidence that Russia is behind much of global Islamic terrorism, including the Islamic State. Kincaid, author of a book on NSA defector Edward Snowden, argues that the former CIA and NSA contract employee has greatly undermined the U.S. ability to monitor its adversaries and enemies, making the potential threats from Russia, China, and global Islam even more serious.

The Marxist Pope

Kincaid, the author of several books, including two on the United Nations, says global conflict or Marxist “struggle” is building and that the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has joined the side of the anti-American forces determined to ultimately bury America and the global capitalist system. He says the evidence is clear that the Vatican’s promotion of the U.N.’s “sustainable development” or “green” agenda represents the manipulation of the Pope by New Age and Marxist influences. He says the Pope, who backs a so-called “world political authority,” favors nothing less than world government along the lines advocated by communists as one of the final stages along the road to world communism.

Reagan’s Dialectical Reversal Strategy

Looking for solutions to the current predicament, Kincaid urges conservatives to revisit the wit and wisdom of anti-communist Ronald Reagan, who launched a strategy of “dialectical reversal” against the forces of communism, a rhetorical strategy that even included joking about how Marxism was destined to fail because of its incompatibility with human nature and man’s yearning to be free. What is lacking in the current context, from Republican candidates for president, is a pro-freedom strategy based on the Reagan approach that bolsters our national defenses, including strengthening intelligence agencies such as the NSA. Kincaid notes the evidence of Reagan’s support for this critical agency, whose capabilities have been subverted by Snowden, working with the Russians and Chinese. The book urges Congress to reestablish committees on internal security to examine the damage that has been done to America’s constitutional system, in order to restore the checks and balances that were supposed to guard against the Marxist takeover of the executive branch of government that has in fact occurred. Despite major setbacks for U.S. influence in the world, Kincaid emphasizes in the book that the forces of freedom are still alive, as we have seen Marxism and radical Islam on the defensive in such countries as Ukraine, Egypt, Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil.

ASI Exposed Obama’s Communist Mentor

America’s Survival, Inc. (ASI) was the first American organization to warn of Obama’s Marxist background and outlook in 2008. The Sword of Revolution and the Communist Apocalypse examines how ASI has developed this story over the years, using alternative media and bypassing Fox News with an international streaming Roku television channel now seen by viewers in 110 countries. One of ASI’s Roku/YouTube videos on Obama’s relationship with Communist Frank Marshall Davis has already been seen nearly 400,000 times.

I really don’t need to add anything to that. The book sells itself. If you want to know more about communism and how it is destroying our nation and all we love and believe in, you need to get this book. I can tell you that there are few people I admire and respect more than Cliff Kincaid. He is a pioneer in the field of political research and his book is a fascinating read. Pick up several copies at Amazon.com today.

11/5/15

Sen. Cruz Shines Light on Obama Administration’s Failure to Stand With Victims of Terrorism

11/5/15

THE CAMPUS INVESTIGATIONS – PART 2

Project Veritas

11/5/15

Islamowars Brewing

11/5/15

The Big Stuff

Arlene from Israel

As has become my practice now, I start with some good news.

As to this first item, it’s possible that the jury is still out on whether we are certifiable, or whether we simply have a higher moral standard than the rest of the world. I go with the second option, and believe we must continue in our efforts to let the world know who we are (emphasis added):

“While the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Syrians by the Assad regime and a raft of regional Islamic terror organizations shows no sign of ending, an unheralded Israeli humanitarian mission recently marked the treatment of 2,000 Syrian patients.

“Although the two countries remain sworn enemies, advocates of Israel’s program caring for badly wounded Syrians highlight the Jewish imperative to save life whenever possible. Despite endangering the lives of Israeli soldiers and medical personnel, it has enabled critically injured Syrians, with no one else to turn to for lifesaving treatment, to cross the border to an Israeli field hospital…

One of the most senior IDF officials involved in the program described it:

“’This [pointing across the valley to the Syrian warzone from a high vantage point] is the main area of the fighting…Many wounded people come from this area.

“’All of the doctors in this area were probably killed. Most of the people that are left are the poor and the most vulnerable. The [Syrian refugees] who go to Europe are the people with thousands of Euros who are fit enough for the journey. Any time the rebels occupy one of the villages the regime places it under siege, stopping electricity, water [and food]. This has been going on for about three years…

“’As an orthopedic surgeon I can tell you this is the most horrible thing that I have ever seen. Blast injuries, shrapnel, amputations, head injuries. In my orthopedic department we say the people aren’t dead because they haven’t read the record of their trauma…’”

http://www.investigativeproject.org/5016/israel-unheralded-syrian-humanitarian-project

Members of the Israeli army medical staff tend to a Syrian man who was wounded in the ongoing violence in Syria, in a military hospital located in the Golan Heights near the border with Syria on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014. Since the Syrian conflict erupted almost three years ago hundreds of Syrians have received treatment in Israeli hospitals. (AP Photo/Menahem Kahana, Pool)

Credit: AP/Menahem Kahana

~~~~~~~~~~

Another, “Mazel Tov! It’s about time.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely has given instructions that Foreign Ministry cadets [diplomatic trainees] will now also tour settlements and study about their legality.

What? you may say on reading this. Until now people moved into the world as representatives of Israel without solid knowledge about our rights in Judea and Samaria? You’ve got it. The diplomatic corps has a reputation for tilting left, which has been one of our problems.

So I say, “Hurray for Tzipi,” who observed:

“It is important that ambassadors be able to deal with the challenge of the boycott of Israel and the delegitimization of our right to self-defense that is linked to the fundamental issues of the connection of the Jewish people to its land.”

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Hotovely-Foreign-Ministry-cadets-to-tour-settlements-430678

Credit: Flash 90

~~~~~~~~~~

“Dry Bones” cartoonist Ya’akov Kirschen is also fighting BDS and delegitimization of Israel. For many years he has done a sterling job of presenting Israel’s positions in his cartoons. But now, understanding the importance of fighting media bias, he has a Dry Bones Academy that will train “an army of cartoon activists” to fight anti-Israel media-bias.

Bravo, Ya’akov, and much luck in moving forward with this!

Please see this major JPost feature about his new venture below and spread the word:

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/Dry-Bones-battles-against-BDS-media-bias-431999

Credit: Courtesy

~~~~~~~~~~

Now, “the big stuff”: Not terror attacks, not the incitement of Abbas. I’m talking Iran, the dangers of which trump all the rest. In any event, terror attacks are fomented and funded by Iran and its proxies – so the issues are intertwined.

Because I’ve been focusing more on immediate domestic issues, I’ve not addressed the Iran situation for a while, and the fact is that it is horrendous and grows more so daily.

~~~~~~~~~~

Item one:
In late September, Reuters conveyed Iranian media reports establishing that the Iranians recently took their own environmental samples at their Parchin military facility, where they conducted tests relevant to the detonation of nuclear warheads, in lieu of having IAEA inspectors take the samples

Item two:
In mid-October, Omri Ceren of TIP wrote, “Iranian media reported that Tehran recently tested a new precision-guided long-range ballistic missile, the Emad (show below), which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The test is a black-letter violation of United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 2231, in which ‘Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology’ for the next eight years.”

Credit: Telegraph (UK)

However, the Obama administration and its allies “insist that the nuclear deal does not ban Iran from developing nuclear missiles.”

Wrote Ceren regarding this: “[The situation] is a fairly damning indictment of how badly American negotiators got rolled in Vienna, but the immediate question is much more straightforward: the Iranians have definitely advanced their ballistic missile program and have definitely violated a binding United Nations Security Council resolution in the process, and what is the Obama administration going to do about that?

To the best of my knowledge Obama is going to do nothing, whatever the ferment within Congress. Obama espouses this position in spite of the fact that ”from the earliest days of Iran negotiations, White House officials promised Congress that they would bring home a deal limiting Iran’s ballistic missile program.”

Please, absorb the full import of this.

~~~~~~~~~~

Item three:
Also in mid-October, the Iranians arrested Siamak Namazi an Iranian-American businessman, with dual citizenship, who operated from Dubai and was in Iran to visit a friend.

According to the NYTimes, he is “head of strategic planning at Crescent Petroleum… also alleged to have ties with people in the National Iranian American Council.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/30/world/middleeast/iran-is-said-to-detain-another-american.html

Namazi was reportedly picked up by Iranian intelligence officials and taken to the Evin torture prison; according to the Wall Street Journal, friends say Iranian intelligence agents ransacked his family home in Tehran and confiscated his computer.

A Daily Beast article suggests that he was central in assisting the White House in pushing the Iran deal (which would fit with ties to the National Iranian American Council). The implications here are huge, regarding who is running Iran and what hardline backlash we may be seeing against those who promoted the nuclear deal.

Another theory suggests that Iran is deliberately trying to provoke the US.

~~~~~~~~~~

These scenarios are all bad news with regard to Iran’s relationship with the US, particularly in the context of the nuclear deal. Iran was already holding four Americans prior to this incident and since has arrested Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese with permanent US residency.

In some quarters it’s being said that for Iran it’s open season on Americans.

~~~~~~~~~~

There was a bit of a firestorm over these incidents in Congress, with demands to know what the US government was going to do about the situation.

On Tuesday, State Department press office director Elizabeth Trudeau held a briefing and was asked about the issue of the arrests.

After saying a couple of times that of course the government is concerned and of course those arrested should be home, she was asked about consequences [for Iran].

Her answer: “Consequences. You know, on this, this is something that we continue to have dialogue on. You know, this is something we will continue to discuss.”

There you have it, my friends: Dialogue. The Obama panacea.

You can access the briefing here: http://www.c-span.org/video/?400251-1/state-department-briefing

~~~~~~~~~~~

Lastly, but possibly most importantly, I refer to a briefing by Yigal Carmon, president and co-founder of MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute), “The Emperor Has No Clothes.” (Emphasis has been added)

“What is mistakenly perceived as an agreement under the title of ‘Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action’ (JCPOA)…is neither a contract nor even a real agreement between Iran and the P5+1. It is a set of understandings and disputes compiled into a single document.

“For example, the JCPOA states that in the event of Iranian violations, sanctions will be re-imposed (snapback). However, the Iranian position, which rejects all sanctions, is incorporated in the same document…This is not merely an Iranian reservation expressed outside of the negotiating room. It is incorporated into the text of this selfsame document – and one that completely contradicts preceding provisions that stipulate otherwise…

“The JCPOA is best characterized by bangs and whimpers – by bold prohibitions on Iran that peter out in qualifying terms such as ‘unless,’ ‘except if,’ and the like.

“The JCPOA includes a timetable and obligations applying to both sides. Within this time frame, both parties had 90 days from July 14 to secure approval for the agreement from their respective national institutions. By ‘Adoption Day,’ set for October 19…agreement was meant to have been approved by both sides. The EU was to have announced the lifting of its sanctions, while President Obama, on behalf of the U.S., was to have announced the lifting of the U.S. executive branch’s sanctions, along with waivers on sanctions imposed by the U.S. legislative branch…

~~~~~~~~~~

“The Western side showed its consent long before October 19…

“In Iran, however, following discussion in both its Majlis [legislative body] and its Guardian Council, the JCPOA as concluded and announced on July 14 was not approved. The Majlis ratified something else – a set of recommendations to the government of Iran regarding how it should execute the JCPOA…The Guardian Council, for its part, approved what the Majlis had done…

“Was this a fulfillment of what Iran was obligated to do under the JCPOA? No! Did the U.S. administration insist that Iran approve the JCPOA, as concluded and announced in Vienna on July 14? No! Does the U.S. realize that Iran’s ultimate authority to approve laws rests with Supreme Leader Khamenei, and that he has not yet approved the JCPOA? NO! Nevertheless, the U.S. and Europe have chosen to regard what Iran has done as approval – so that the peace process will not be halted.

“The U.S. and Europe then proceeded to the first post-Adoption Day phase in the JCPOA timetable: The EU announced that its sanctions would be terminated. President Obama announced that the U.S.’s executive sanctions would be lifted and its legislative sanctions waived; this announcement was not for immediate execution, but in fact advance notice that these measures would come into effect by December 15 – provided that the IAEA would report that Iran has fulfilled its obligations under the JCPOA.

~~~~~~~~~~

“What are these obligations that Iran has to fulfill between Adoption Day and December 15 in order to merit this sanctions relief?”

[A list follows: reducing and storing centrifuges, reducing the stockpile of uranium, etc.]

“Did Iran hasten to meet these obligations? No!…

“At this stage, events have taken an absurd turn. Iran has started dragging its feet…No one wanted to budge without explicit permission from Supreme Leader Khamenei.”

~~~~~~~~~~

In an interview this week, Carmon declared, “Not one centrifuge has been removed.”

In this report, he writes: “Now the big secret is out. Khamenei has not approved the JCPOA.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Explains Carmon, once Khamenei knew that President Obama was “either unwilling or unable to capitulate any further, Khamenei broke his silence. Stepping in in the final act, Khamenei…dictated, in a letter to President Rohani, nine new conditions for the JCPOA, and declared that if these were not met Iran would stop the agreement.”

Carmon says that a key demand of Khamenei is the full lifting of sanctions, whereas where the Congressional sanctions are concerned, Obama, cannot override them; he can only issue a suspension via waiver. “Politically too, it might be too far for him to go to break his promise of the JCPOA’s built-in security mechanism – snapback of the sanctions. Obviously, snapback is possible only if the sanctions remain in place under suspension.”

Carmon believes it would be impossible for the AIEA to provide confirmation that Iran has complied with required stipulations because “the Iranians themselves are declaring loudly that they are not going to do it.

“With every passing day, Iran is more and more in violation of the JCPOA. But neither the Republicans nor the Democrats, nor the media, nor anyone else will acknowledge this, for the implications are too devastating. The agreement is no longer in effect. Its clock has stopped.”

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8833.htm

Credit: Flikr

A great deal to assimilate, I know. But this cannot be ignored.

~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday, in the Hevron area, a young Border Police officer was critically wounded in a car attack. The terrorist was shot dead.

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Yehoram Gaon is one of my very favorite Israeli singers. And so I was pleased at comments he made this week about our situation (emphasis added):

“I’ve been here long enough to look back and say honestly that there were attempts to establish genuine peace. There were enough prime ministers who tried. There have been enough negotiations…

“We have been living for years with the feeling that if we return these territories or others, a tremendous peace will be established here and we’ll drink coffee in Damascus. But in light of recent events, I’ve begun to realize that it’s much more complex, deep, rooted and most importantly – not a story of territory.

“I lived in Jerusalem before the IDF’s conquest of the city, and I remember well the families slaughtered in the Jewish Corridor, before there was a dispute over territories…

“These latest events make me think, in fact, that the other side’s will is we simply not be here at all, no matter what we do.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/202735#.Vjp6jpuhfIV