More 'Diplomacy ' With Iran As Obama And The EU Team Up To Fend Off An Israeli Strike

After taking a couple of weeks studying yet another proposal from the EU and the Obama Administration to enter talks on Iran's illegal nuclear program, the mullahs decided they had nothing to lose and only time to gain, so they sent an offer to EU foreign policy chief Lady Catherine Ashton, who promptly accepted it.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei welcomed the EU and President Obama's support for the new effort.

"This talk is good talk and shows an exit from illusion," AFP reported Khamenei as saying. However, Khamenei also made it plain that Iran was not going to give up it's nuclear program and that the sanctions would not budge him.

"The US president continued saying that he wants to make the Iranian people kneel through sanctions, this part of this speech shows the continuation of illusion in this issue," he said.

Of course, the actual target of this latest offer of diplomacy is Israel, not Iran. For the countries Lady Ashton the main point is that while these negotiations are ongoing, Israel is highly unlikely to make a preemptive strike to take out an Iranian nuclear program that represents an existential threat.

In President Obama's case, the idea is simply to tie Israel hands until after the election. The Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv reported today that President Obama attempted to bribe Israeli PM Netanyahu with a gift of advanced weaponry including the latest in bunker-busting bombs and more tanker refueling planes provided he agreed to pledge not to strike Iran until 2013.

This has advantages for President Obama. It assures him of a 'wag the dog' option to strike Iran himself come October if he's not doing well in the polls, and it ties Israel's hands until it's likely to be too late to do anything. Fortunately, Netanyahu reportedly just reiterated that Israel would retain freedom of action.

The talks themselves are in the 'talks about talks' stage. Following the usual pattern with Iran, they will delay things as much as possible, throwing an inconsequential bone at the West to keep things going. For instance, one thing Iran has apparently agreed to is to allow IAEA inspectors to look at Iran's Parchin military base outside Tehran, where the IAEA and outside observers have long suspected that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

While talks about talks are going on, the IAEA has noticed a flurry of suspicious activity around Parchin...the Iranians are busily purging the site of anything they don't want the IAEA to see and cleaning up nuclear waste!



Israeli officials have been pretty blunt about their their skepticism over this latest diplomatic circus. Shabtai Shavit, a former director of the Mossad, was quoted as saying yesterday in an interview with Israel Radio:

In the past, every time the Iranians agreed to talk, the reason for their agreeing was in order to buy time in order to advance the development of their nuclear program. They didn’t invent this ruse, they learned it from the North Koreans.

And PM Benyamin Netanyahu, being interviewed on FOX essentially echoed these comments, albeit in far more diplomatic fashion:



It's the height of naïvete to the Iranians have anything else in mind besides stalling as long as possible to get closer to an operable nuclear weapon.

There's something absolutely creepy as well in the West's willingness to go along with the charade, especially with Israel, who has the most to lose directly closed out of the loop.It recalls the 1938 Munich Agreement on the edge of WWII, when the Czechs were locked out of the room and forbidden to participate while Czechoslovakia's western 'allies' and the Nazis negotiated on the fate of their small country.

However, there is a bright spot amidst all this.

This new round of talks is going to show exactly how futile the 'window of diplomacy' really is. The threats of an oil embargo and tighter sanctions have already been put on the table, and when the Iranians play the West for fools again, as they almost certainly will, there is a lot less leeway than there was before, simply because Israel is not Czechoslovakia nor is it willing to be, and there is a limit to how long the Israelis will allow the usual dance to continue. This time, when things get bogged down, it's going to be game over and the failure will show that those of us who said sactions and diplomacy were useless in this case were right all along. Any further delays will be seen as simply an excuse to avoid confronting the Iranian threat.

When the Iranians return to the old pattern - stalling its Western dupes for a few more months and then using another gambit to keep things going just when it appears the talks have fallen apart - they may surprised to find that the Israelis are likely to jump on the next failure of diplomacy to justify a preemptive strike. And given President Obama's rhetoric about not allowing a nuclear Iran, there's not going to be much he can say, especially with an election going on.

Iran invented the game of chess. But this time, they may very well have opened up an avenue for themselves to be checkmated once and for all.

More 'Diplomacy ' With Iran As Obama And The EU Team Up To Fend Off An Israeli Strike

After taking a couple of weeks studying yet another proposal from the EU and the Obama Administration to enter talks on Iran's illegal nuclear program, the mullahs decided they had nothing to lose and only time to gain, so they sent an offer to EU foreign policy chief Lady Catherine Ashton, who promptly accepted it.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei welcomed the EU and President Obama's support for the new effort.

"This talk is good talk and shows an exit from illusion," AFP reported Khamenei as saying. However, Khamenei also made it plain that Iran was not going to give up it's nuclear program and that the sanctions would not budge him.

"The US president continued saying that he wants to make the Iranian people kneel through sanctions, this part of this speech shows the continuation of illusion in this issue," he said.

Of course, the actual target of this latest offer of diplomacy is Israel, not Iran. For the countries Lady Ashton the main point is that while these negotiations are ongoing, Israel is highly unlikely to make a preemptive strike to take out an Iranian nuclear program that represents an existential threat.

In President Obama's case, the idea is simply to tie Israel hands until after the election. The Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv reported today that President Obama attempted to bribe Israeli PM Netanyahu with a gift of advanced weaponry including the latest in bunker-busting bombs and more tanker refueling planes provided he agreed to pledge not to strike Iran until 2013.

This has advantages for President Obama. It assures him of a 'wag the dog' option to strike Iran himself come October if he's not doing well in the polls, and it ties Israel's hands until it's likely to be too late to do anything. Fortunately, Netanyahu reportedly just reiterated that Israel would retain freedom of action.

The talks themselves are in the 'talks about talks' stage. Following the usual pattern with Iran, they will delay things as much as possible, throwing an inconsequential bone at the West to keep things going. For instance, one thing Iran has apparently agreed to is to allow IAEA inspectors to look at Iran's Parchin military base outside Tehran, where the IAEA and outside observers have long suspected that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

While talks about talks are going on, the IAEA has noticed a flurry of suspicious activity around Parchin...the Iranians are busily purging the site of anything they don't want the IAEA to see and cleaning up nuclear waste!



Israeli officials have been pretty blunt about their their skepticism over this latest diplomatic circus. Shabtai Shavit, a former director of the Mossad, was quoted as saying yesterday in an interview with Israel Radio:

In the past, every time the Iranians agreed to talk, the reason for their agreeing was in order to buy time in order to advance the development of their nuclear program. They didn’t invent this ruse, they learned it from the North Koreans.

And PM Benyamin Netanyahu, being interviewed on FOX essentially echoed these comments, albeit in far more diplomatic fashion:



It's the height of naïvete to the Iranians have anything else in mind besides stalling as long as possible to get closer to an operable nuclear weapon.

There's something absolutely creepy as well in the West's willingness to go along with the charade, especially with Israel, who has the most to lose directly closed out of the loop.It recalls the 1938 Munich Agreement on the edge of WWII, when the Czechs were locked out of the room and forbidden to participate while Czechoslovakia's western 'allies' and the Nazis negotiated on the fate of their small country.

However, there is a bright spot amidst all this.

This new round of talks is going to show exactly how futile the 'window of diplomacy' really is. The threats of an oil embargo and tighter sanctions have already been put on the table, and when the Iranians play the West for fools again, as they almost certainly will, there is a lot less leeway than there was before, simply because Israel is not Czechoslovakia nor is it willing to be, and there is a limit to how long the Israelis will allow the usual dance to continue. This time, when things get bogged down, it's going to be game over and the failure will show that those of us who said sactions and diplomacy were useless in this case were right all along. Any further delays will be seen as simply an excuse to avoid confronting the Iranian threat.

When the Iranians return to the old pattern - stalling its Western dupes for a few more months and then using another gambit to keep things going just when it appears the talks have fallen apart - they may surprised to find that the Israelis are likely to jump on the next failure of diplomacy to justify a preemptive strike. And given President Obama's rhetoric about not allowing a nuclear Iran, there's not going to be much he can say, especially with an election going on.

Iran invented the game of chess. But this time, they may very well have opened up an avenue for themselves to be checkmated once and for all.

The Latest On US/Taliban Secret Negotiations - Mediated By Radical Muslim Brotherhood Leader

Yesterday's The Hindu has published a detailed report on the secret negotiations beyween the Taliban and the US. And even more interesting is whom the go between is...none other than radical Muslim Brotherhood jihadist Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a name I'm sure you're all familiar with.

Qaradiwi is famous for praising Hitler and calling for the extermination of all Jews at the hands of Islam.He's also a huge fan of clitorectomies, wife beating, murdering homosexuals, and of course, the world-wide caliphate.He also praised "martyrdom operations" in Iraq frequently - against our troops.

The Indians are incensed at the American use of Qaradawi as a mediator because of his long standing call for a jihad against India to retake Kashmir:

In 2009, Mr. al-Qaradawi had issued a fatwa, or religious edict, asserting that “the Kashmiris were properly fighting jihad against the Indian army.” The jihad was legitimate, he argued, since mujahideen groups sought to create an Islamic state. Therefore, the edict concluded, it was incumbent on all Muslims to help Kashmiris gain their “freedom from Indian aggression.”

New Delhi, Indian diplomatic sources said, has been warily watching Mr. al-Qaradawi's emergence as peace broker — fearful that his growing influence could help regional jihadist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad find new sanctuaries in a rapidly changing West Asia or a future Afghan regime which includes the Taliban.

The negotiations themselves have already resulted in Taliban leader Mullah Omar being taken off the American list of most wanted terrorists.Other deal poimts involve the release of all prisoners still held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay, the lifting of United Nations sanctions on the Taliban leadership and recognition as a legitimate, non-terrorist political group.In other words, we're supposed to free the jihadists now held at Club Gitmo, legitimize the Taliban and turn a blind eye as they return Afghanistan back to the 7th century hellhole it was before we came.

In exchange, the Taliban will agree to play nice and to sever ties with al-Qaeda...which is headed back to the Middle East anyway now that we're leaving to take advantage of the new opportunities offered by the American retreat and the Arab Spring.By the way, that's exactly why Osama bin-Laden was fingered, because the new al-Qaeda head, Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zarahiri, a former Muslim Brotherhood member, wanted to head back to the Middle East to partake of those new opportunities and bin-Laden refused.

Don't buy the horse manure currently being peddled that the Muslim Brotherhood are 'peaceful' and about political change. They're about change all right, by any means necessary. And they have no problem whatsoever with jihadist violence when it suits them.

Embarrassing that the Obama Administration would turn to a genocidal racist like Qaradawi as a mediator for peace negotiations and add to his clout and prestige. They think they're using the Muslim Brotherhood..but the reality is that the Brotherhood is using them.

The Latest On US/Taliban Secret Negotiations - Mediated By Radical Muslim Brotherhood Leader

Yesterday's The Hindu has published a detailed report on the secret negotiations beyween the Taliban and the US. And even more interesting is whom the go between is...none other than radical Muslim Brotherhood jihadist Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a name I'm sure you're all familiar with.

Qaradiwi is famous for praising Hitler and calling for the extermination of all Jews at the hands of Islam.He's also a huge fan of clitorectomies, wife beating, murdering homosexuals, and of course, the world-wide caliphate.He also praised "martyrdom operations" in Iraq frequently - against our troops.

The Indians are incensed at the American use of Qaradawi as a mediator because of his long standing call for a jihad against India to retake Kashmir:

In 2009, Mr. al-Qaradawi had issued a fatwa, or religious edict, asserting that “the Kashmiris were properly fighting jihad against the Indian army.” The jihad was legitimate, he argued, since mujahideen groups sought to create an Islamic state. Therefore, the edict concluded, it was incumbent on all Muslims to help Kashmiris gain their “freedom from Indian aggression.”

New Delhi, Indian diplomatic sources said, has been warily watching Mr. al-Qaradawi's emergence as peace broker — fearful that his growing influence could help regional jihadist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad find new sanctuaries in a rapidly changing West Asia or a future Afghan regime which includes the Taliban.

The negotiations themselves have already resulted in Taliban leader Mullah Omar being taken off the American list of most wanted terrorists.Other deal poimts involve the release of all prisoners still held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay, the lifting of United Nations sanctions on the Taliban leadership and recognition as a legitimate, non-terrorist political group.In other words, we're supposed to free the jihadists now held at Club Gitmo, legitimize the Taliban and turn a blind eye as they return Afghanistan back to the 7th century hellhole it was before we came.

In exchange, the Taliban will agree to play nice and to sever ties with al-Qaeda...which is headed back to the Middle East anyway now that we're leaving to take advantage of the new opportunities offered by the American retreat and the Arab Spring.By the way, that's exactly why Osama bin-Laden was fingered, because the new al-Qaeda head, Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zarahiri, a former Muslim Brotherhood member, wanted to head back to the Middle East to partake of those new opportunities and bin-Laden refused.

Don't buy the horse manure currently being peddled that the Muslim Brotherhood are 'peaceful' and about political change. They're about change all right, by any means necessary. And they have no problem whatsoever with jihadist violence when it suits them.

Embarrassing that the Obama Administration would turn to a genocidal racist like Qaradawi as a mediator for peace negotiations and add to his clout and prestige. They think they're using the Muslim Brotherhood..but the reality is that the Brotherhood is using them.

Deal Reportedly Reached For Kidnapped Soldier Gilad Shalit's Release

And it's an absolutely horrible one if the reported details are correct

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel and Hamas have arrived at deal that would free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit,who has been in captivity for five years under unknown conditions without so much as even a Red Cross visit.

In exchange, Hamas is reportedly getting the release of over 1,000 terrorists, many of them serving life sentences (Israel unfortunately has no capital punishment) after being convicted in Israeli courts of murdering and maiming numerous Israeli civilians. I can only imagine how the families of the victims will feel seeing these sneering killers walk free.

Among those reportedly on the list are Ahlam Tamimi, who planned the Sbarro Pizza suicide bombing and transported the terrorist bomber to the site and Marwan Barghouti, serving five life terms for planning terrorist operations against Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada that resulted in the murder of a number of civilians.I shudder to think of whom else Hamas has succeeded in getting released, and how many innocent people may die because of it:

The Izaddin al-Kassam brigades presented the prisoner-exchange agreement with Israel for kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit as a "historic victory," claiming that Israel has accepted all the demands of the captors.

Abu Obaida, spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, Izaddin al-Kassam, said that the agreement includes prisoners from east Jerusalem, Israeli Arabs and all females and minors. He also pointed out that two-thirds of the prisoners who would be released in return for Gilad Schalit are serving lengthy terms in prison.

"This is an historic deal," he boasted.

"Hamas will remain faithful to the cause of the prisoners and will continue to work toward securing the release of all of them."

Translation...Hamas has seen that this is a great tactic that works and will try for more of the same.

The deal reportedly calls for the release of 450 terrorist killers within a week, with the rest being freed in two months. One can only imagine what kind of condition Gilad Shalit is in, and I only hope the Israeli government took pains to make sure they're getting a live body back instead of a corpse.

Netanyahu spoke about the difficulty in balancing bringing back a kidnapped soldier and maintaining the security of the citizens of Israel.

"The deal I am bringing to the Government expresses the right balance between all of these considerations. I do not wish to hide the truth from you – it is a very difficult decision. I feel for the families of victims of terror, I appreciate their suffering and distress, I am one of them. But leadership must be examined at moments such as this, being able to make difficult, but right, decisions," Netanyahu said.

"I believe that we have reached the best deal we could have at this time, when storms are sweeping the Middle East. I do not know if in the near future we would have been able to reach a better deal or any deal at all. It is very possible that this window of opportunity, that opened because of the circumstances, would close indefinitely and we would never have been able to bring Gilad home at all."

Netanyahu is recognizing the reality that Egypt's now open and growing hostility would likely preclude a deal of any kind in the future.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he would oppose the deal and vote against it, but was not insisting that his party do so.

This episode says a great deal about the Israelis and the Palestinians, and their attitude towards the sanctity of life.

On the one hand, we have people who celebrate brutal murderers and make heroes out of them for themselves and their children. They were willing to kidnap someone and keep him in inhumane conditions like no other civilized nation would in order to ransom him and free those murderers to kill again.

On the other hand, we have people who view the sanctity of life so seriously they were willing to swallow hard and free these murderers in order to rescue a kidnapped soldier.Because to the Israelis and the IDF, the idea of leaving a man behind is unbearable, especially knowing what they know about the nature of their enemies.

Israel is to be congratulated on its humanity, if not its common sense.

I sympathize deeply with Noam Shalit and the other members of the Shalit family,but I can't help but think that in the end, Israel will pay in blood for this.I pray G-d I'm wrong.

But as with all things, there is one bright spot that occurs to me.

While Gilad Shalit was being held hostage in Gaza, he remained a huge human shield for the Hamas regime.

Once he's home,if hostilities break out between Israel and Hamas that shield is no longer in place and all bets are off.

please donate...it helps me write more gooder!

Deal Reportedly Reached For Kidnapped Soldier Gilad Shalit's Release

And it's an absolutely horrible one if the reported details are correct

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel and Hamas have arrived at deal that would free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit,who has been in captivity for five years under unknown conditions without so much as even a Red Cross visit.

In exchange, Hamas is reportedly getting the release of over 1,000 terrorists, many of them serving life sentences (Israel unfortunately has no capital punishment) after being convicted in Israeli courts of murdering and maiming numerous Israeli civilians. I can only imagine how the families of the victims will feel seeing these sneering killers walk free.

Among those reportedly on the list are Ahlam Tamimi, who planned the Sbarro Pizza suicide bombing and transported the terrorist bomber to the site and Marwan Barghouti, serving five life terms for planning terrorist operations against Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada that resulted in the murder of a number of civilians.I shudder to think of whom else Hamas has succeeded in getting released, and how many innocent people may die because of it:

The Izaddin al-Kassam brigades presented the prisoner-exchange agreement with Israel for kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit as a "historic victory," claiming that Israel has accepted all the demands of the captors.

Abu Obaida, spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, Izaddin al-Kassam, said that the agreement includes prisoners from east Jerusalem, Israeli Arabs and all females and minors. He also pointed out that two-thirds of the prisoners who would be released in return for Gilad Schalit are serving lengthy terms in prison.

"This is an historic deal," he boasted.

"Hamas will remain faithful to the cause of the prisoners and will continue to work toward securing the release of all of them."

Translation...Hamas has seen that this is a great tactic that works and will try for more of the same.

The deal reportedly calls for the release of 450 terrorist killers within a week, with the rest being freed in two months. One can only imagine what kind of condition Gilad Shalit is in, and I only hope the Israeli government took pains to make sure they're getting a live body back instead of a corpse.

Netanyahu spoke about the difficulty in balancing bringing back a kidnapped soldier and maintaining the security of the citizens of Israel.

"The deal I am bringing to the Government expresses the right balance between all of these considerations. I do not wish to hide the truth from you – it is a very difficult decision. I feel for the families of victims of terror, I appreciate their suffering and distress, I am one of them. But leadership must be examined at moments such as this, being able to make difficult, but right, decisions," Netanyahu said.

"I believe that we have reached the best deal we could have at this time, when storms are sweeping the Middle East. I do not know if in the near future we would have been able to reach a better deal or any deal at all. It is very possible that this window of opportunity, that opened because of the circumstances, would close indefinitely and we would never have been able to bring Gilad home at all."

Netanyahu is recognizing the reality that Egypt's now open and growing hostility would likely preclude a deal of any kind in the future.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he would oppose the deal and vote against it, but was not insisting that his party do so.

This episode says a great deal about the Israelis and the Palestinians, and their attitude towards the sanctity of life.

On the one hand, we have people who celebrate brutal murderers and make heroes out of them for themselves and their children. They were willing to kidnap someone and keep him in inhumane conditions like no other civilized nation would in order to ransom him and free those murderers to kill again.

On the other hand, we have people who view the sanctity of life so seriously they were willing to swallow hard and free these murderers in order to rescue a kidnapped soldier.Because to the Israelis and the IDF, the idea of leaving a man behind is unbearable, especially knowing what they know about the nature of their enemies.

Israel is to be congratulated on its humanity, if not its common sense.

I sympathize deeply with Noam Shalit and the other members of the Shalit family,but I can't help but think that in the end, Israel will pay in blood for this.I pray G-d I'm wrong.

But as with all things, there is one bright spot that occurs to me.

While Gilad Shalit was being held hostage in Gaza, he remained a huge human shield for the Hamas regime.

Once he's home,if hostilities break out between Israel and Hamas that shield is no longer in place and all bets are off.

please donate...it helps me write more gooder!