Dreams Into Lightning 2

Morning Report: 2012-07-30

Russia: Scientific mission to arctic region. Russia is increasing its arctic presence by sending a scientific expedition to the arctid Franz Joseph Land archipelago.

Syria: Regime steps up assault on Aleppo. 'Syrian government forces have been continuing their assault with artillery, ground forces and helicopter gunships on rebel-held areas of the second city, Aleppo. Officials said one area, Salah al-Din, had been recaptured, but rebels said the battle there was still going on. ...'

Kazakhstan: Shoot-out in Almaty. 'Kazakh police on Monday killed six members of a criminal gang in a shoot-out in an apartment block in the commercial capital Almaty, prosecutors said, in a fresh sign of surging crime in the oil-rich Central Asian nation. The shoot-out with the armed criminals, who had barricaded themselves in an apartment, broke out in broad daylight in one of Almaty's residential areas after the gunmen refused to lay down their arms ...' No casualties were reported among civilians or security personnel.

USA - New York: Big gulp. New York's mayor continues with his fixation on who drinks how much of what: 'The nanny state is going after moms. Mayor Bloomberg is pushing hospitals to hide their baby formula behind locked doors so more new mothers will breast-feed. Starting Sept. 3, the city will keep tabs on the number of bottles that participating hospitals stock and use — the most restrictive pro-breast-milk program in the nation. ...'

"I already have mobile devices. I want a computer. Remember those?"

Leo Watson does the unthinkable.

Morning Report: 2012-07-29

Israel: Temple Mount closed to Jews on Tisha b'Av. 'Police closed the Temple Mount to visits by Jews on Sunday, the day when worldwide Jewry marked the fast of Tisha B'Av. The fast was postponed a day because the date fell on the Sabbath, when it is forbidden to fast, except on Yom Kippur. Tisha B'Av, the ninth of the Hebrew month of Av, the date of the destruction of both the First and Second Holy Temples. Jews are commanded to await the rebuilding of the Third Holy Temple, when the Messiah will come and bring world peace. The Temple Mount is the site of both of the Temples and is to be the site of the Third, making it the most sacred place in Judaism. ...' Meanwhile, thousands marched around the walls of Jerusalem.

Syria / Turkey: F-4 not shot down. Strategy Page: 'Did Syria make it all up? One June 22nd Syria announced that it had shot down a low flying Turkish F-4 reconnaissance aircraft while (according to Syria) it was flying 13 kilometers off the Syrian coast. Now that the Turks have recovered the bodies of the pilots and some pieces of the aircraft, there is growing evidence that the aircraft was not hit by gunfire or missiles. The Turks suspect that the F-4 was lost due to pilot error or mechanical failure. ...'

Romania: President facing impeachment, urges boycott. Reuters: 'Romanians voted on Sunday on whether to impeach their unpopular president, Traian Basescu, after a government campaign to remove him that has drawn international criticism of its methods and raised doubts about the country's IMF aid deal. ...'

Andres McCarthy: Huma Abedin and Muslim Brotherhood

Andrew McCarthy at Ordered Liberty:

Huma Abedin was affiliated with the IMMA’s journal for a dozen years, from 1996 through 2008. She overlapped with its founder, Naseef, for at least seven years — it could be more, but I am assuming for argument’s sake that Naseef had no further involvement in his institute once his name was removed from the masthead.

The case against Ms. Abedin’s suitability for a high-level position with access to the nation’s secrets gets much worse if you add in her family ties.

To summarize what I’ve already outlined here at Ordered Liberty: her parents were recruited by Naseef to head up the IMMA; her mother is an active member of Muslim Brotherhood organizations — including the Muslim Sisterhood and two entities that are part of Sheikh Qaradawi’s Union of Good, another designated terrorist organization; there is persuasive evidence that her father was a member of the Brotherhood — e.g., the intimate tie to Naseef and his widow’s membership in the Muslim Sisterhood (which is substantially comprised of wives and female relatives of prominent Muslim Brothers); her mother is a tireless advocate of sharia law as preached by Qaradawi and the Brotherhood; and her brother, who is also affiliated with the IMMA’s journal, was a fellow at an Islamist institute (the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies) on whose board sat both Naseef and Qaradawi.

Nevertheless, the family ties to the Brotherhood only further elucidate what is already patent: Huma Abedin’s connection to Abdullah Omar Naseef, by itself, would have been more than enough justification to deny her a security clearance. That would have made it inconceivable that she could serve as deputy chief of staff to the secretary of state.

Full article at the link.

Cinnamon Stillwell: Muslim Brotherhood Seduces Elites

Cinnamon Stillwell at Campus Watch:

Engagement with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is the consensus among elite opinion and certainly among the ranks of North American Middle East studies academics, the "experts" tasked with informing the public and, often, policy-makers on foreign policy in the region. Since the Egyptian revolution, these academics have whitewashed the Muslim Brotherhood, downplayed its Islamist agenda, and urged U.S. cooperation—a policy suggestion the Obama administration has clearly taken to heart.

Many have been shocked by the speed with which the Obama administration has pursued this policy of outreach. The current debate within Congress about the potential influence of the Muslim Brotherhood on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the State Department—a deliberation that crosses party lines—demonstrates just how deeply the influence has spread. ...

Articles We Never Finished Reading

"Democracy is working just as it should in the EU's newest member state, argues the country's prime minister."

Caroline Glick: Muslim Brotherhood's American Defenders

Glick at JPost:

The obliviousness of Brennan and Clapper to the essential nature of Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood are symptoms of the overarching ignorance informing the Obama administration’s approach to Middle Eastern realities. ...

Read it all at the link.

Morning Report: 2012-07-27

Syria: Aleppo lawmaker defects. NOW Lebanon: 'Syrian lawmaker Ikhlas Badawi, who represents the embattled second city of Aleppo in the assembly elected in widely criticized May polls, has defected and fled to Turkey, the opposition said on Friday. "There were contacts for some time to ensure her a safe place," Samir Nashhar, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, told AFP. "She arrived [Thursday] in Turkey and she will be going to Qatar, which has agreed to receive her." ...'

Syria: Rebels said to gain ground. Reuters: 'Sixteen months after the uprising against Assad began, the battle between lightly armed rebels and the awesome firepower of the Syrian military - one of the largest standing armies in the Middle East - has become a war of attrition as defections weaken Assad's forces and the rebels' combat skills improve.'

Cyprus: Plot suspect to stand trial. 'A Swedish national of Lebanese descent arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of plotting to attack Israeli tourists in the country will stand trial on September 12, authorities said on Friday. ...'

Morning Report: 2012-07-26

China: South China Sea. 'China announced this week it would station troops on Yongxing Island, a one-square-mile islet in the Paracel Islands ...'

Israel: Alert as Syria moves chemical weapons to border. Breitbart:

Coinciding perfectly with Obama's warning not to use chemical weapons, Assad's government appears to have shifted the location of their chemical weapons for the very purpose against which Obama warned.

According to reports, "Assad has transferred some of [the] weapons and equipment for mixing chemical components to airports on the [Syrian] border." ...

Global: Where are the Jews? The Economist offers some answers.

Morning Report: 2012-07-25

Syria: Assad's future. Yesterday, Morning Report posted thoughts from Michael Totten and Lee Smith. They argued that "the best reason ... to get rid of Assad while we can is the grim prospect of what will happen if he wins" (Totten) and that "it’s time for the administration finally to show a killer instinct" by denying a fugitive regime even the comfort of a rump state (Smith). Today, Daniel P. Goldman, long known as "Spengler", writes at Gatestone citing a second piece from Lee Smith. Smith argues that

... a large part of strategy is prioritizing threats, and right now the major issue in the region is Iran: Anything that weakens the Iranians is a net gain. There is time enough in the Middle East to deal with other threats, which a post-Assad Syria may well become. The most pressing concern is a scenario in which Assad is camped out on the Mediterranean coast, still allied with Iran and serving as a link to Hezbollah. An Alawite statelet is an outcome that the Obama Administration should seek to prevent.

Goldman isn't so sure: "Why not deal with Iran the way we need to deal with Iran (neutralize its WMD capacity with air strikes, commando operations, cyberwar, or whatever it takes), and deal with Syria as Syria? ..." Read the rest at the link.

Iraq: Officials warned of kidnapping attempts. Al-Monitor: 'Representatives from al-Sahwa (“the Awakening”) have called on security officials in the province of Diyala to provide protection to the province’s judges and lawyers, and to strengthen security procedures in government prisons and detention centers. The request came in light of intelligence that was received regarding al-Qaeda’s intention to attack or kidnap judiciary personnel to bargain for the release of detained al-Qaeda leaders. ...' Translated from al-Hayat.

Europe / Terrorism: EU won't blacklist Hezbollah. Michael Totten: 'After a suicide-bomber killed five Israeli tourists in Bulgaria, the Israelis are (again) asking the European Union to blacklist Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Europe (again) refuses to do so. Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, the foreign minister of Cyprus just 30 minutes off Lebanon’s coast, says Europe would consider adding Hezbollah to the list of banned terrorist organization “if there were tangible evidence of Hezbollah engaging in acts of terror.” ...'