Gatestone Institute

Turkey: Erdoğan Fishing for Trouble in the Aegean Sea - Again
by Burak Bekdil  •  July 5, 2022 at 5:00 am
Various opinion polls put [Erdoğan's] popularity at less than 30%, compared to the 52% with which he won re-election in 2018.

Many Turks, although starving, are nevertheless proud that they have a leader who can confront the "infidel West" -- including their traditional rival and neighbor, Greece. It is precisely this feeling that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose popularity has been plummeting in recent months, sees as a national weakness to stoke.

What should Erdoğan do, therefore, as former loyalists of his powerful Justice and Development Party (AKP) seem to be deserting en masse?

Erdoğan has already set the stage for the new episode of his theatrical extravaganza. His coalition partner, ultranationalist leader Devlet Bahçeli, claimed that U.S. military bases in Greece pose a "direct threat" to Turkish security... How could a peaceable NATO ally, Greece, pose a direct threat to another NATO member, Turkey, home to US military bases? Are US bases in Turkey a direct threat to Turkey?

Erdoğan did not mention that the same treaties also ban the militarization of Turkey's islands in the Aegean Sea and Turkey's Dardanelles and Bosporus straits.

Fortunately, all these theatrics are about barking, not biting. Turkey does not have the political, military or economic might to invade a member of the EU... Turkey invading Greece is not Russia invading Ukraine. Erdoğan is a gambler who has used the same tactic for domestic consumption many times before. The ruse never ended up in a war across the Aegean. This one is no exception: Erdoğan, whatever he is, is not suicidal.

Many Turks, although starving, are nevertheless proud that they have a leader who can confront the "infidel West." President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sees this feeling as a national weakness to stoke. Warmongering, the Islamist strongman evidently calculates, may convince Turks to support revisionist bullying and ignore their misery. Pictured: Erdoğan addresses the media representatives at the NATO summit in Madrid, on June 30, 2022. (Photo by Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty Images)
Turkey is a year away from presidential and parliamentary elections. Many Turks are starving. Literally. Their per capita GDP of around $9,500 has crushed many of them under a triple-digit inflation rate and a fast-depreciating national currency, while independent economists warn that this may be only the beginning of worse torment in a country of 84 million people, excluding 9 million refugees and migrants.

Many Turks, although starving, are nevertheless proud that they have a leader who can confront the "infidel West" -- including their traditional rival and neighbor, Greece. It is precisely this feeling that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose popularity has been plummeting in recent months, sees as a national weakness to stoke. Warmongering, the Islamist strongman evidently calculates, may convince the Turks to support revisionist bullying and ignore their misery.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18652/turkey-erdogan-aegean-trouble

The 'Two-State Solution' to Destroy Israel
by Khaled Abu Toameh  •  July 4, 2022 at 6:00 am

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
The vast majority of the Palestinians, however, make it abundantly clear that they do not believe in the "two-state solution" and would rather see Hamas, the Iranian-backed terror group whose charter calls for the elimination of Israel, replace the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas.

According to the results of the poll, opposition to the concept of the "two-state solution" stands at 69%. Another 75% of respondents also expressed opposition to the idea of a one-state solution, where Israelis and Palestinians would live together and enjoy equal rights. – Poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, June 28, 2022

Most Palestinians said [in the poll] that Hamas is the most deserving to represent and lead the Palestinian people.

Hamas's rising popularity among the Palestinians means that the Palestinian state the Biden administration is seeking to establish next to Israel would soon be ruled by an Islamist group whose covenant states that "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as Islam obliterated others before it."

Hamas leaders have never been anything but clear and consistent about their intention to eliminate Israel and kill Jews.

Hamas and its supporters do not believe in Biden's "two-state solution or any peace process with Israel. The only solution they want is one that would see Israel and the Jews vanish from this world. Sadly, a majority of the Palestinians (as evidenced by the latest poll) share the ideology of Hamas and want to see even more Jews killed.

The Biden administration needs to understand that, under the current circumstances, advancing the idea of a "two-state solution" is tantamount to advocating bloodshed and violence in the Middle East.

The administration also needs to understand that Abbas, the Palestinian leader it is endeavoring to engage and relying on to make peace, utterly lacks the backing of a majority of his people for any peace plan with Israel.


The vast majority of the Palestinians make it abundantly clear that they do not believe in the "two-state solution" and would rather see the Hamas terrorist group replace the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas. Pictured: Abbas talks with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on April 5, 2007 in Gaza City. (Photo by Mohamed Alostaz/PPM via Getty Images)
While the Biden administration continues to talk about its commitment to the "two-state solution," a majority of the Palestinians are saying that they support the Islamist Hamas terror group and want to see more terrorist attacks against Jews.

The Biden administration is living under the illusion that the "two-state solution," which would see the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel, is the only way to achieve peace, security and stability in the Middle East.

The vast majority of the Palestinians, however, make it abundantly clear that they do not believe in the "two-state solution" and would rather see Hamas, the Iranian-backed terror group whose charter calls for the elimination of Israel, replace the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas.

On June 30, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Abbas to discuss President Joe Biden's upcoming trip to the Middle East.

Continue Reading Article https://mail.yahoo.com/d/folders/1/messages/35247

The Woke Inquisitors Have Come for the Freethinking Heretics
by J.B. Shurk  •  July 3, 2022 at 5:00 am

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
Once governments normalize censorship and the punishment of points of view, free expression is firmly stamped with an expiration date.

Whenever censorship slithers back into polite society, it is always draped in the mantle of "good intentions." Fifteenth-century Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola's "bonfire of the vanities" destroyed anything that could be seen to invite or reflect sin. The notorious 1933 Nazi book burning... in Berlin torched some 20,000 books deemed subversive or "un-German". During Communist China's decade-long Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and '70s, the vast majority of China's traditional scrolls, literature and religious antiquities went up in smoke.

All three atrocities were celebrated as achievements for the "greater good" of society... Much like today's new censors who claim to "fight hate" because "that's not who we are," the arsonists of the past saw themselves as moral paragons, too. They purged anything "obscene" or "traditional" or "old," so that theocracy, Nazism, or communism could take root and grow.

There will one day be much disagreement as to how the same Western Civilization that produced the Enlightenment and its hallowed regard for free expression could once again surrender itself to the petty tyranny of censorship.... The answer is that the West has fallen into the same trap that always catches unsuspecting citizens by surprise: the steady encroachment on free speech has been sold as a "virtue" that all good people should applaud.

First, certain thoughts became "aggravating factors" that turned traditional crimes into new "hate crimes" deserving of additional punishment. Then the definition of what is "hateful" grew until politicians could comfortably decree anything at odds with their agendas to be examples of "hate." Who would be for "hate," after all? Surely no-one of good sense or good manners.

Now "hate" has transformed into an elusive description for any speech that can be alleged to cause the slightest of harms. From there, it was easy for the state to decree that "disinformation," or rather anything that can be seen to contradict the state's own official narratives, causes "harm," too. Those who despise free speech told society, "If you do not punish hate, then you're a bigot." And today, if you oppose the government's COVID-19, climate change, immigration or other contentious policies, your harmful "disinformation" must be punished, too.

On a plaque in the square [where the Nazis burned books] is a commemorative engraving... "That was only a prelude; where they burn books, they will in the end also burn people." That warning comes with no expiration date.
Once governments normalize censorship and the punishment of points of view, free expression is firmly stamped with an expiration date. (Image source: iStock)
Attacks on free speech are on the rise. A British college recently expelled a student for expressing support for the government's official policy of deporting illegal immigrants. A Wisconsin school district charged three middle-schoolers with sexual harassment last month for refusing to use the plural pronoun "they" when referring to a single classmate. US President Joe Biden's National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy recently encouraged social media companies to censor from their online platforms any opinions that contradict Biden's climate change narrative.

Continue Reading Article  https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18659/woke-inquisitors

EU Signs Deal with Egypt and Israel to Boost Gas Exports to Europe
by Soeren Kern  •  June 30, 2022 at 5:00 am
Over time the agreement could spur new investment in gas exploration and infrastructure in Cyprus, Egypt, Greece and Israel and potentially transform the Eastern Mediterranean into an energy powerhouse.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the agreement as "a big step forward in the energy supply to Europe" and "the first step leading to a Mediterranean-wide agreement."
"The war in Ukraine has really changed the equation in a way, including for the EU where they're willing to overlook, at least in the short term, the desire to go green as soon as possible." — Dov Lieber, The Wall Street Journal, June 16, 2022.

The European Union has signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel and Egypt that paves the way for potentially significant quantities of Israeli natural gas to be shipped to Europe. Pictured: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (back) looks on as EU Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson (L), Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla (C), and Israeli Minister of Energy Karine Elharrar (R) sign a trilateral natural gas deal in Cairo on June 15, 2022. (Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images)
The European Union has signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel and Egypt that paves the way for potentially significant quantities of Israeli natural gas to be shipped to Europe.

The trilateral agreement, signed on June 15 in Cairo at a meeting of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), an intergovernmental organization, calls for Israeli gas to be sent to liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Egypt. From there, the gas in liquid form will be transported across the Mediterranean Sea on LNG vessels to markets in Europe.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18663/eu-egypt-israel-gas-exports

Biden's Energy Crisis
by Judith Bergman  •  June 29, 2022 at 5:00 am

The ongoing world energy crisis... seems to have proven for once and all that energy independence is a matter of national security.

To transition to renewable energy, America would have to transform its energy infrastructure and invest heavily in wind turbines, solar panels and electric cars, all of which require rare earth materials as central components. A single industrial-size wind turbine, for instance, requires about one ton of four different kinds of rare earth materials.

Guess who mines more than 70 % of the world's rare earth materials, and holds at least 85% of the world's capacity to process them into materials that manufacturers can use? China. Who produces more than 60% of the world's solar panels, and 45% of the global supply of solar-grade polysilicon, the base material used in solar cells? China. Moreover, rare earths is not a market that outsiders can simply enter. According to the Danish Institute for International Studies: "China today has the expertise, IP rights and production facilities, as well as its own REE- [rare earth elements] consuming industries. China also manufactures a significant and growing share of goods containing REEs, making it practically impossible for competing companies outside China to get a foothold."


The ongoing world energy crisis, which began in 2021 and has caused record price spikes for oil, natural gas and coal, seems to have proven for once and all that energy independence is a matter of national security. (Image source: iStock)
The ongoing world energy crisis, which began in 2021 and has caused record price spikes for oil, natural gas and coal -- in combination with Russia's war on Ukraine -- seems to have proven for once and all that energy independence is a matter of national security. Both Europe and the US have recently had to relearn this lesson -- yet again -- when Russian President Vladimir Putin cut gas supplies to a number of European countries after they refused to pay in Russian rubles -- and before that, when the West was confronted with the need to sanction Russian oil and gas exports, while at the same time being dependent on them.

US President Joe Biden let nearly two weeks go by after Putin invaded Ukraine, before announcing that he would finally ban US imports of Russian oil, natural gas and coal, which, until then, had been helping to pay for Putin's war on Ukraine. In 2021, 36% of Russian government revenues came from the sale of oil and gas.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18615/biden-energy-crisis

Failed Leadership in America as Defined
by Lawrence Kadish  •  June 29, 2022 at 4:00 am

(Photo by Getty Images)
A contemporary of Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, penned a series of acerbic commentaries and observations in a book, The Devil's Dictionary, still in print.
Some of his biting but spot-on definitions include:
Apologize, (verb) – to lay the foundation for a future offense.

Acquaintance, (noun) – A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to. A degree of friendship called slight when its object is poor or obscure, and intimate when he is rich or famous.

Politics, (noun) – A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.

Year, (noun) – a period of three hundred and sixty-five disappointments.

Bierce was clear eyed about the human condition and politics in particular. One can only imagine what he would make of our current political landscape.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18661/failed-leadership-america

Iran's Plan to Foil Israeli-Arab Normalization and to Keep Expanding the Revolution
by Khaled Abu Toameh  •  June 28, 2022 at 5:00 am
When Hamas and Hezbollah talk about "develop[ing] the program and axis of resistance," they are referring to terrorist attacks against Israel. The two terrorist groups have tens of thousands of rockets and missiles that are ready to be fired towards Israel at any moment from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Haniyeh's visit to Beirut has outraged many Lebanese and Arabs, who expressed concern that the Hamas-Hezbollah alliance would further destabilize Lebanon and bring it closer to a military confrontation with Israel.

It is clear that Haniyeh and Nasrallah are seeking to use Lebanon as a launching pad not only to attack Israel, but also as a base for intimidating Saudi Arabia and other Arabs into avoiding alliances with Israel against Iran.

"When will the Biden admin learn that Hezbollah, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Iran's regime are all the same?" — Lisa Daftari, Iranian-American investigative journalist, Twitter, June 16, 2022.

"Iran occupied Lebanon through its powerful arm, Hezbollah, which took control of Lebanon by the force of Iranian weapons. This occupation was justified by the absurd claim that these weapons aim to impose a balance of terror with the Israeli enemy and prevent its attacks, when in fact its use was purely internal to terrorize and kill." — Huda al-Husseini, Lebanese political analyst, Asharq al-Awsat, June 23, 2022.

"Iran penetrated Syria after the outbreak of the revolution against the regime in 2011 and Bashar Assad resorted to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to defend what remained of his regime. Tehran gave orders to Hezbollah to get involved, commit the most horrific massacres, terrorize opponents, and restore the [Syrian] army's control. This made the Syrian regime in the grip of Tehran. Iran completed its expansion plans through its weapons to Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen." — Huda al-Husseini, Asharq al-Awsat, June 23, 2022.

The meeting between Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon should set off alarm bells in Washington: the meeting shows that Iran is taking advantage of the perceived weakness of the Biden administration in failing to confront the mullahs' covetous schemes in the region.

It only remains to be seen whether the Biden administration's policy of appeasement toward the mullahs enables the Iranians and their proxies to redouble their efforts to spread their expansion, terrorism and bloodshed throughout the Middle East.


As part of Iran's efforts to thwart normalization between the Arab countries and Israel, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh travelled to Beirut last week for talks with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. Pictured: Nasrallah (R) meets with Haniyeh in Beirut, Lebanon on June 29, 2021. (Hezbollah Media Relations Unit)
Iran and its terrorist proxies have intensified their efforts to sabotage US President Joe Biden's upcoming visit to the Middle East, which is scheduled to take place in mid-July.

The effort to sabotage the visit comes amid reports that Biden will try to advance Israel-Saudi relations and broker a military alliance between Israel and a number of Arab countries to confront the threats and terror by Iran and its proxies.

According to the reports, Biden is planning to form a regional conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The coalition will include the US, Israel, and some Arab countries, including Gulf states, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq. "The new alliance is intended to contain Iran and, in the first stage, will be based on an air defense system against Iranian missiles and attack drones and cyber security measures," said Prof. Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US-Israel relations.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18653/iran-plan-foil-normalization

Taiwan's Message for China: We Have a Nuke-Like Weapon
by Gordon G. Chang  •  June 27, 2022 at 5:00 am

At least one of Taiwan's "eggs" can kill tens of millions of Chinese, perhaps more.

China's Three Gorges Dam creates a reservoir of 39.3 billion cubic meters of water on the Yangtze River and is upstream from about 400 million people. Almost 30% of China's population, therefore, is at risk of a catastrophic failure of the structure, such as one caused by a missile strike. That means Taiwan possesses a conventional weapon that packs the wallop of a nuclear one.

Now, China's regime looks as if it wants to go to war. The harsh remarks of China's Defense Minister, General Wei Fenghe, at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore this month, are a clear warning of hostile intent.

China has targets, and Taiwan has missiles. That translates into deterrence if Taiwan makes it clear that, in the defense of its sovereignty, it is prepared to take Chinese lives in the hundreds of millions.

Yes, we are that close to war.


China has targets, and Taiwan has missiles. Almost 30% of China's population is at risk of a catastrophic failure of the Three Gorges Dam (pictured), such as one caused by a missile strike. That translates into deterrence if Taiwan makes it clear that, in the defense of its sovereignty, it is prepared to take Chinese lives in the hundreds of millions. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
On June 21, China's People's Daily reported that the United States and Taiwan were about to participate in the annual Monterey Talks. The U.S. side, China's most authoritative publication stated, was expected to offer 20 types of weapons for sale to Taiwan, "with emphasis on building 'asymmetric capability.'"

Taiwan, which the People's Republic of China claims as its 34th province, already has asymmetric capabilities, and one of them could be as powerful as a nuclear weapon.

Beijing maintains that Taiwan cannot defend itself. "Military expert Song Zhongping said it is impossible for Taiwan to form 'asymmetric capabilities,' no matter what kind of weapons it purchases from the U.S. as the gap between the military capacities of the two sides is 'too huge,'" People's Daily, a Communist Party newspaper, reported.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18640/taiwan-china-missiles

Under the Biden Administration's Watch, Iran Sanctions are Violated with Impunity
by Majid Rafizadeh  •  June 25, 2022 at 5:00 am
The Biden administration's weak leadership -- to hold accountable those who are violating Iran sanctions -- is likely a critical reason the Iranian regime is flamboyantly ignoring the US and forging ahead -- soon, most likely, to become a nuclear state.

Presumably to take even further advantage of the Biden administration's weak leadership, the Iranian regime is also signing long-term agreements with its oil clients to permanently insulate its economy from the US sanctions.

The ruling mullahs are now producing more oil and selling it at levels close to the pre-sanctions era to countries such as China, which desperately needs more oil, while the Biden administration has cut off US oil exploration.

One of its terms [of the deal recently signed between China and Iran] is that China will invest nearly $400 billion in Iran's oil, gas and petrochemicals industries. In return, China will have priority to bid on any new project in Iran that is linked to these sectors. China will also receive a 12% discount and can delay payments by up to two years. China will also be able to pay in any currency it chooses. It is also estimated that, in total, China will receive discounts of nearly 32%.

The Biden administration must impose drastic economic sanctions on Iran's energy and financial sectors: that would threaten the ruling clerics' hold on power, forcing the leadership to recalculate its priorities. The US must hold those who violate the sanctions strictly accountable, and make clear to the ruling mullahs that if they continue advancing their nuclear program, military options are on the table.

Presumably to take even further advantage of the Biden administration's weak leadership, the Iranian regime is also signing long-term agreements with its oil clients to permanently insulate its economy from the US sanctions. Pictured: China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) and Iran's then Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the signing of the China-Iran comprehensive strategic 25-year partnership agreement on economic and security cooperation, in Tehran, Iran on March 27, 2021. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
With total disregard to the Biden administration and the European powers, the ruling mullahs of Iran are defiantly and rapidly advancing their nuclear program to a point where they are now reportedly only few weeks away from manufacturing nuclear weapons according to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the White House.

The Biden administration's weak leadership -- to hold accountable those who are violating Iran sanctions -- is likely a critical reason the Iranian regime is flamboyantly ignoring the US and forging ahead -- soon, most likely, to become a nuclear state.

The US sanctions are not hurting Iran's economy anymore or cutting off the flow of funds to Tehran. The ruling mullahs are now producing more oil and selling it at levels close to the pre-sanctions era to countries such as China, which desperately needs more oil, while the Biden administration has cut off US oil exploration.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18631/iran-sanctions-violated

Europe's Leaders Must Not Stumble Towards a New Munich
by Con Coughlin  •  June 23, 2022 at 5:00 am

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
Mr Macron, in particular, has emerged as the chief European cheerleader in favour of Ukraine making concessions to Russia to end the fighting, while the leaders of Germany and Italy, which both rely heavily on Russia for their energy needs, are also said to favour Ukraine ceding territory to Moscow – a result that would only whet the appetite of other predators looking on.

Rather than agreeing to their demands, Mr Zelensky responded by pointedly reminding his visitors that the more weapons Ukraine receives from the West, the faster it will be able to liberate its occupied land and end the war.

In this context, plans by the European Union to offer membership to Kyiv represent a welcome gesture of support for the Ukrainian people, one that should provide a much needed morale boost for Ukrainian forces.

In what amounts to a significant geo-political shift in Europe, the European Commission has given its backing to Ukraine's bid to be given candidacy status, the first step towards achieving full EU membership.

The challenge for the EU now will be to make sure priority is given to processing Kyiv's application, and not allow it to become caught up in the stultifying bureaucracy of Brussels.

Any attempt by the EU to delay Ukraine's membership of the bloc will simply be taken as a sign by Mr Putin that Europe is not prepared to defend its allies, and encourage the Kremlin -- and others -- to launch further acts of aggression.


Plans by the European Union to offer membership to Kyiv represent a welcome gesture of support for the Ukrainian people. However, any attempt by the EU to delay Ukraine's membership will simply be taken as a sign by Putin that Europe is not prepared to defend its allies. Pictured (from left): Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hold a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 16, 2022. (Photo by Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
At a time when there is mounting concern that European leaders are suffering from "war fatigue" over the Ukraine conflict, the prospect of Kyiv becoming an official candidate for European Union membership constitutes a much-needed morale boost for the Ukrainian people.

With the conflict now reaching the four-month mark, the early enthusiasm demonstrated by Western leaders for supporting the Ukrainian cause has been replaced by apathy as it becomes clear that the war is likely to drag on for months to come.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson highlighted this general sense of war-weariness among European leaders after he made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital last weekend, and called for the West to demonstrate resolve in its support for the Ukraine cause.

"When Ukraine fatigue is setting in, it is very important to show that we are with them for the long haul and we are giving them the strategic resilience that they need," Mr Johnson said.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18634/ukraine-russia-new-munich

President Biden's Nobel Peace Prize?
by Pete Hoekstra  •  June 23, 2022 at 4:00 am
As President Joe Biden reportedly prepares to go the Middle East next month, a positive development for him to build on and turn around his poll numbers, and possibly win a Nobel Peace Prize for totally eliminating the threat of Iran going nuclear, is the signing on May 31, 2022, of a groundbreaking trade agreement between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel.

[T]here can be no downplaying the importance and scope of this deal or the potential for greater peace in the region without a nuclear Iran destabilizing the area....

The UAE-Israel Business Council expects up to 1,000 Israeli companies may begin operating in Dubai by the end of the year. This is also a major development.

CEPA is a win-win-win accomplishment. The agreement opens a window of opportunity not just for the US, but also for Israeli companies to do business in the UAE, and more importantly, it will serve as a gateway to other parts of the Middle East and Asia.

The announcement of CEPA pointed the way to three real and potential impacts that Biden could have in the Middle East:

A blossoming of bilateral initiatives within the private sector and civil society;

Geopolitical and economic benefits will have spillover effects across the region, and possibly the world; and

Opening channels of communications between the Arab states of the Gulf and Israel to further peace and prosperity in the region, including the Palestinians.

May this work — especially, under the far-sighted leadership of Biden, if he eliminates Iran's nuclear threat — continue to bear more fruit.

As President Joe Biden reportedly prepares to go the Middle East next month, a positive development for him to build on and turn around his poll numbers, and possibly win a Nobel Peace Prize for totally eliminating the threat of Iran going nuclear, is the signing on May 31, 2022, of a groundbreaking trade agreement between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel. Pictured: The economy ministers of Israel and the UAE, Orna Barbivai (L) and Abdulla bin Touq al-Marri, at the signing ceremony for the free trade agreement on May 31, 2022 in Dubai, UAE. (Image source: Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry)
As President Joe Biden reportedly prepares to go the Middle East next month, a positive development for him to build on and turn around his poll numbers, and possibly win a Nobel Peace Prize for totally eliminating the threat of Iran going nuclear, is the signing on May 31, 2022, of a groundbreaking trade agreement between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18630/biden-nobel-peace-prize

Nuclear Sea-Launched Cruise Missile: Badly Needed for Deterrence
by Peter Vincent Pry  •  June 22, 2022 at 5:00 am
President Biden, overruling his top generals and military advisors in the Pentagon, has defunded development of the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear (SLCM-N). They warn, correctly, that SLCM-N is vitally necessary for nuclear deterrence.

Throughout the Cold War, and today, in order to prevent nuclear war, it is foundational to the concept of deterrence that the U.S. should allow no nuclear adversary to achieve significant advantages in the balance of nuclear power.

Indeed, the U.S. under President Biden is not willing to risk nuclear escalation on behalf of Ukraine, which is why Russian nuclear blackmail is succeeding.
Indeed, the U.S. under President Biden is not willing to risk nuclear escalation on behalf of Ukraine, which is why Russian nuclear blackmail is succeeding. Throughout the Cold War, and today, in order to prevent nuclear war, it is foundational to the concept of deterrence that the U.S. should allow no nuclear adversary to achieve significant advantages in the balance of nuclear power. Pictured: The test-launch of an unarmed Trident II D5 missile from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska off the coast of California. (Image source: U.S. Navy/Ronald Gutridge/Released)
U.S. President Joe Biden, overruling his top generals and military advisors in the Pentagon, has defunded development of the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear (SLCM-N). They warn, correctly, that SLCM-N is vitally necessary for nuclear deterrence.

Throughout the Cold War, and today, in order to prevent nuclear war, it is foundational to the concept of deterrence that the U.S. should allow no nuclear adversary to achieve significant advantages in the balance of nuclear power.

SLCM-N, if developed and deployed, would be a long-range (2,500 km) cruise missile, stealthy because it can fly under radar, highly accurate, armed with a warhead of variable yield (5-150 kilotons), and launchable from U.S. Navy tactical platforms, submarines and surface ships, including nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs), guided missile cruisers, and destroyers.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18629/nuclear-sea-launched-cruise-missile

Arabs to Biden: Shut Down Iran's 'Expansionist Project'
by Khaled Abu Toameh  •  June 22, 2022 at 7:00 am

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
Ahead of Biden's visit, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, in a clear message to the US administration and other Western powers, affirmed that any nuclear agreement or future negotiations with Iran must address the Iranians' "destabilizing behavior in the region, their support for terrorist militias, and their missile program."

"Western countries prefer to talk about upcoming measures, preparing us for their failure to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions, but the truth is that we are in a race against time, and it is still possible to force Iran to abandon its secret plans to acquire nuclear weapons. The problem is that the entire international community does not seem serious and resolute in dealing with this issue and deterring Iran." — Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, founder and chairman of the Gulf Research Center, alanba.com.kw, June 14, 2022.

Iran thinks with the "mentality of an empire" and that is why it is continuing its efforts to extend its control to several Arab countries. — Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, alanba.com.kw, June 14, 2022

Washington's Arab allies have repeatedly warned that the US against complacency with the Iranian threat, "specifically after the instructions of the administration of former President Barack Obama to build a partnership with the Tehran regime under the roof of the nuclear agreement that contributed to Iran's pervasiveness, and gave it free rein, allowing it to increase its hostile activities against the countries of the region without being held accountable for the consequences of its reckless policies." — Khaled Al-Yemany, former foreign minister of Yemen, independentarabia.com, January 26, 2022.

[T]he Arab countries have always preferred dialogue with Iran, but this was seen by the mullahs as a sign of weakness. — Khaled Al-Yemany, independentarabia.com, January 26, 2022.

Tehran is using negotiation diplomacy to achieve more military gains and develop its arsenal in the nuclear and missile fields and missile technology," he said. "The reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency confirm that Iran is far from the commitments it made in the nuclear agreement, and it is progressing to build a nuclear bomb. A nuclear Iran, its expansionist project that destabilizes regional and international security and stability will be more ferocious and its ambitions will transcend all borders, and it must be deterred before it is too late." — Khaled Al-Yemany, independentarabia.com, January 26, 2022.

[T]he Arab and Western media have remained silent about the Iranian people's protests against the corruption of the regime, which spent its wealth to destroy four Arab countries (Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq). — Abdul Jalil Al-Saeid, Syrian author, al-ain.com, June 7, 2022.

The Arabs are saying that they expect the Biden administration to reverse its stance on the mullahs and act in accordance with reality: that Tehran poses a catastrophic threat to America's allies – all of its allies, Arab and Israeli alike – in the Middle East.


Ahead of President Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, in a clear message to the US administration and other Western powers, affirmed that any nuclear agreement or future negotiations with Iran must address the Iranians' "destabilizing behavior in the region, their support for terrorist militias, and their missile program." Pictured: Foreign ministers of Gulf states at a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on June 1, 2022. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images)
As US President Joe Biden prepares to visit Saudi Arabia and Israel in mid-July, Arabs are sending him a number of messages regarding the need to deal with the threat that Iran's mullahs pose to their security and stability.

The Arabs, especially those living in the Gulf states, continue to express deep concern over the Iranian regime's ongoing efforts to obtain nuclear weapons.

The Arabs also say they are worried about Tehran's intervention in the internal affairs of some Arab countries, as well as its financial and military aid to terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and Iraqi militias.

Some Arabs are repeating their appeal to the Biden administration to stop the policy of appeasement towards the mullahs and to take into consideration the concerns of Washington's long-time Arab allies and friends in the Middle East.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18628/arabs-biden-iran

Iran's Nuclear Program: Where Is the Biden Administration's Plan B?
by Majid Rafizadeh  •  June 18, 2022 at 5:00 am

There also exists the dangerous likelihood, if and when Iran's regime has nuclear weapons, that they will fall into the hands of Iran's proxies and militia groups, or that the regime will share its nuclear technology with its proxies and allies, including the Syrian regime and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Iran's regime has already been setting up weapons factories abroad, and manufacturing advanced ballistic missiles and weapons in foreign countries, such as in Syria. These weapons include precision-guided missiles with advanced technology to strike specific targets.

"The mission of the constitution," the preamble [of Iran's constitution] stipulates, "is to create conditions conducive to the development of man in accordance with the noble and universal values of [Shiite] Islam." The constitution goes on to say that it "provides the necessary basis for ensuring the continuation of the revolution at home and abroad."

Eliminating Israel was not only one of the main religious prophecies of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, it is also a leading policy of his successor, the current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that Israel will be erased from the face of the earth.

If the Biden administration allows Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, President Joe Biden and his associates, like Neville Chamberlain's illusory "Peace for our time," will have as their legacy that it was their acts alone that destabilized global security and set the world at risk.

It is therefore imperative that the Biden administration let the ruling mullahs know -- credibly -- that Iran's regime must eliminate the possibility of its having nuclear arms, period. No nuclear deal, no sunset clauses. Sunset clauses merely pave the way for Iran to resume enriching uranium at any level it chooses. The regime's ballistic missile program, which is linked to its nuclear program, must also be eliminated.

It must be made unmistakably clear to the Iranian regime that the United States and its allies will not allow the current regime, a state sponsor of terrorism, to arm itself with nuclear weapons and emerge as yet another global nuclear threat.


There exists the dangerous likelihood, if and when Iran's regime has nuclear weapons, that they will fall into the hands of Iran's proxies and militia groups, or that the regime will share its nuclear technology with its proxies and allies, including the Syrian regime and the Taliban in Afghanistan. (Image source: iStock)
The Biden administration's nuclear negotiations to revive the nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) with Iran's ruling mullahs are going nowhere, all while the administration does not seem to have a Plan B.

The ruling mullahs of Iran defiantly continue to advance their nuclear program. They recently switched off two surveillance cameras that were installed by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and will reportedly remove at least another 25.

According to a report by Iranian state television, the Iranian government deactivated "beyond-safeguards cameras of the measuring Online Enrichment Monitor ... and flowmeter." By turning off the surveillance cameras, the regime is effectively preventing the IAEA from monitoring Iran's nuclear activities, including its centrifuges and uranium enrichment.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18619/iran-nuclear-program-plan-b

Solar Panels: Biden's 'Buy China' Plan
by Gordon G. Chang  •  June 14, 2022 at 5:00 am
Beijing set out to destroy the American solar panel industry with subsidies that allowed Chinese companies to sell below the cost of manufacture — and, with the help of a series of neglectful American presidents, it largely succeeded.

Americans workers cannot compete with slaves. Chinese solar panels are often made with what is politely termed "forced labor," Uighurs and other captive Turkic minorities transported around China to factories resembling concentration camps.

Now, thanks to Biden, products built by forced or slave labor will find their way into the United States tariff-free. Chinese producers have been shipping China-made products into Southeast Asian countries — most notably Vietnam — and exporting them to the U.S. with labels falsely showing manufacture in those other countries.

Biden "has opened the door wide for Chinese-funded special interests to defeat the fair application of U.S. trade law." — Mamun Rashid, Auxin Solar's CEO, NBC News, June 6, 2022.

"We have not invested in building up American capacity the way we should, and we have not addressed China's repeated cheating," [Senator Sherrod] Brown [D-Ohio] stated. "On all these decisions, American solar manufacturers and their workers must be at the table." Biden, unfortunately, has taken away the seats of these domestic stakeholders.

The second implication is even more important. Biden with his tariff waiver, dog-whistled to American manufacturers to keep factories in China.

Biden always says he wants to support American manufacturers, but he keeps making decisions favoring Chinese workers. He did that June 6 when, with a single stroke of his pen, he devastated a U.S. industry, undermined the American legal system, and promoted slave labor in China.

Beijing set out to destroy the American solar panel industry with subsidies that allowed Chinese companies to sell below the cost of manufacture — and, with the help of a series of neglectful American presidents, it largely succeeded. Now, thanks to Biden, products built by forced or slave labor will find their way into the United States tariff-free. (Image source: iStock)
On June 6, President Joe Biden, declaring a national emergency, granted a 24-month tariff exemption for solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The biggest beneficiary of Biden's move is none of those countries. It is China. The biggest victim is America.

Biden's executive order essentially suspends a Commerce Department investigation, initiated by a California maker of solar panels, into blatant Chinese tariff evasion. Biden's declaration of emergency does not formally end the investigation, but no tariffs during the 24-month period can be collected, even if Auxin Solar, the complainant, ultimately prevails.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18609/solar-panels-biden-china

Solar Panels: Biden's 'Buy China' Plan
by Gordon G. Chang  •  June 14, 2022 at 5:00 am
Beijing set out to destroy the American solar panel industry with subsidies that allowed Chinese companies to sell below the cost of manufacture — and, with the help of a series of neglectful American presidents, it largely succeeded.

Americans workers cannot compete with slaves. Chinese solar panels are often made with what is politely termed "forced labor," Uighurs and other captive Turkic minorities transported around China to factories resembling concentration camps.

Now, thanks to Biden, products built by forced or slave labor will find their way into the United States tariff-free. Chinese producers have been shipping China-made products into Southeast Asian countries — most notably Vietnam — and exporting them to the U.S. with labels falsely showing manufacture in those other countries.

Biden "has opened the door wide for Chinese-funded special interests to defeat the fair application of U.S. trade law." — Mamun Rashid, Auxin Solar's CEO, NBC News, June 6, 2022.

"We have not invested in building up American capacity the way we should, and we have not addressed China's repeated cheating," [Senator Sherrod] Brown [D-Ohio] stated. "On all these decisions, American solar manufacturers and their workers must be at the table." Biden, unfortunately, has taken away the seats of these domestic stakeholders.

The second implication is even more important. Biden with his tariff waiver, dog-whistled to American manufacturers to keep factories in China.

Biden always says he wants to support American manufacturers, but he keeps making decisions favoring Chinese workers. He did that June 6 when, with a single stroke of his pen, he devastated a U.S. industry, undermined the American legal system, and promoted slave labor in China.

Beijing set out to destroy the American solar panel industry with subsidies that allowed Chinese companies to sell below the cost of manufacture — and, with the help of a series of neglectful American presidents, it largely succeeded. Now, thanks to Biden, products built by forced or slave labor will find their way into the United States tariff-free. (Image source: iStock)
On June 6, President Joe Biden, declaring a national emergency, granted a 24-month tariff exemption for solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The biggest beneficiary of Biden's move is none of those countries. It is China. The biggest victim is America.

Biden's executive order essentially suspends a Commerce Department investigation, initiated by a California maker of solar panels, into blatant Chinese tariff evasion. Biden's declaration of emergency does not formally end the investigation, but no tariffs during the 24-month period can be collected, even if Auxin Solar, the complainant, ultimately prevails.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18609/solar-panels-biden-china

Biden's New Policy Funds China's Military, Supports Slavery, Achieves Nothing
by Peter Schweizer  •  June 15, 2022 at 5:00 am

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
Previously, U.S. policy was that Americans were forbidden to invest in companies included in a "blacklist" of Chinese companies directly involved in China's military, and in producing applications used by the Communist regime to oppress its own people and threaten its neighbors. The new "answers" amount to a wholesale abandonment of a policy Americans of all political stripes supported.

[I]t can also be seen as part of a long easing of economic sanctions imposed by the Trump administration, without obtaining any benefit for American prestige or negotiating leverage with China in return.

The 48 companies included on the initial Trump administration blacklist all work directly with the People's Liberation Army, Chinese intelligence, or otherwise provide artificial-intelligence products and services used by Beijing to deny the human rights of its Uighur minority.

While Hikvision and Sinochem's listed subsidiaries are not traded on major U.S. exchanges, they have been included in index funds carried by such giants as Vanguard and BlackRock.

There is no penalty for investors who continue to hold these stocks after the grace period, which ended in June 2022. All the order says is they may not buy any more shares, nor can they (after the grace period) sell what they have, without OFAC approval.

[M]oves like this should be offered only in negotiation with the Chinese over things important to American national security, and the peace and freedom of our allies. Giving up on it because it was "confusing" to international financial institutions is a sad excuse.

And it comes at a time when the Biden administration has also announced a tariff waiver on solar panels coming from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. This action, explained as a "bridge" while domestic solar panel manufacturing ramps up, re-opens a previously closed door to China's dumping solar panels into the U.S. market.

At the same time, China is these days more belligerent, more aggressive, and more of a problem than ever. What exactly is the Biden administration getting for its quiet retreat from the tougher trade policies of the Trump administration?

Not a more conciliatory stance on Taiwan. China will "definitely not hesitate to start a war" over a Taiwan split, Chinese Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe warned the U.S recently.

Not help for American business.

China remains a long-term strategic threat to the United States and policy towards it should reflect the US government understands the nature of that threat. Unilateral trade concessions do not do that. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Recently the Biden administration issued new answers for Americans invested in Chinese companies with direct ties to Beijing's military. Previously, U.S. policy was that Americans were forbidden to invest in companies included in a "blacklist" of Chinese companies directly involved in China's military, and in producing applications used by the Communist regime to oppress its own people and threaten its neighbors. The new "answers" amount to a wholesale abandonment of a policy Americans of all political stripes supported.

Just ahead of a deadline last Friday for U.S. investors to cease trading in the stocks and bonds of companies officially linked to the Chinese military, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) quietly notified investors that they would not be punished for holding onto such securities.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18616/biden-china-policy-support

Why Biden Needs to Fight, Not Appease, the Enemies of Peace
by Bassam Tawil  •  June 9, 2022 at 5:00 am
While Hamas and the Houthis target Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership, in addition to that, continues to act against the interests of its own people. PA President Mahmoud Abbas appears to be encouraged by the unconditional support he is receiving from the Biden administration, to the point where he feels free to continue denying his people good governance and judicial due process.

All signs now indicate that most people in the region are fed up with the anti-peace camp in the Arab and Muslim world, especially with Iran's proxies Hamas, the Houthis and Hizbollah, all of which have offered the region, including the Palestinians, nothing but violence and bloodshed.

Whenever Abbas feels encouraged by the US, he sees that support as a green light, this time from the Biden administration, to impose more suppression on his people and to whip up violence in the region.

Does the Biden administration really want as its legacy that it backed, encouraged and funded unscrupulous, violent regimes – the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Chinese Communist Party, the state sponsor of terrorism Iran, the illegitimate rule of Venezuela's Maduro – and the corrupt government of Mahmoud Abbas?

Meanwhile, Iran's proxy, Hamas -- whose charter calls not only for the elimination of peace but also of all Jews -- continues to urge Arabs and Muslims not to normalize their ties with Israel.

Iran, among other atrocities, imprisons attorneys for defending human rights, executes minors, and criminalizes human rights activism. If that is how Iran's regime treats its own people, what makes anyone think it will treat other countries -- in the region or in Europe -- any better?

And in a rare occurrence, according to the veteran Iranian journalist Amir Taheri, demonstrators in Iran have recently been publicly calling for regime change.

The Pakistani minister, however, is mistaken if she thinks that firing a journalist will support the rights of the Palestinians. Such myopic measures only support and embolden the enemies of peace, stability and human rights in the Middle East: Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis, the Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey and Iran.

People who say they care about the Palestinians can genuinely support them by defending journalists and human rights activists who are being persecuted, harassed and even killed by the Palestinian Authority. People who claim they are "pro-Palestinian" can truly help the Palestinians by coming to the West Bank and defending freedom of speech and the press, and teaching Palestinians about democracy and respect for human rights. Spreading hate against Jews does not make one "pro-Palestinian."

The Pakistani government's decision is a big prize to despots and tyrants in the region, such as Iran and its many proxies, and a severe blow to attempts to build bridges between Arabs and Muslims and Christians and Jews.

A sure-fire way for Biden to get immediate and full cooperation from the Saudis would be, on his planned visit, to commit to entirely eliminating Iran's nuclear weapons program. The US has the capability, apparently just not the will. To begin with, any country that is officially on the US list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations should not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons, period. It is what all serious discussions in the region are about. For everyone in the region except fundamentalist Qatar -- and including the Iranian people, the mullahs' regime is a mortal threat.

If Biden, as the leader of the Free World, would totally remove this threat, it would not only go a long way to preventing a nuclear war and regional arms race, and persuade the Saudis to export more oil, but after the threat is eliminated, it would send a message of deterrence to Russia, China, North Korea and other adversaries about what they could expect, and turn Biden's poll numbers around overnight.

These increased efforts to foil peace are the main reason that the Biden administration needs to work toward strengthening and expanding the entities in the Middle East who want peace. President Joe Biden's planned visit to Saudi Arabia is a praiseworthy first step. Saudi Arabia may not be perfect -- no country is -- but at least it not aggressively trying to take over its neighbors.

It is crucial that the Biden administration throw its full weight behind encouraging Saudi Arabia to be a leader for peace, stability and, as it has been doing, if slowly, advancing human rights.

Any efforts to cozy up to Iran will only be seen as hugging and empowering ruthless despots. It is more important to seek allies, wherever they can be found, that are eager to discard aggression and violence. Failing to do so will just plunge the region into a massive war -- which Iran, its terrorist groups and the US administration unfortunately seem to be working toward day and night.

Whenever Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (pictured) feels encouraged by the US, he sees that support as a green light, this time from the Biden administration, to impose more suppression on his people and to whip up violence in the region. (Photo by Alaa Badarneh/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
The enemies of peace in the Middle East are continuing their efforts to destroy any effort to normalize relations between Israel and the Arab and Muslim countries.

The enemies of peace want Arabs and Muslims to remain in a continual state of war with Israel. They want more violence and bloodshed, not Arabs and Muslims and Jews working together in various fields, including technology or anything that might bring economic prosperity.

Does the Biden administration really want as its legacy that it was the first in American history to be for oppressors and against human rights, freedom and prosperity for the downtrodden?

There are no human rights to speak of in entities such as Iran, Pakistan or the Palestinian Authority.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18596/biden-fight-enemies

The Liberation of a Continent and the Fall of the Nazi Third Reich
by Lawrence Kadish  •  June 6, 2022 at 11:00 am

Understanding who we are today as Americans living in a democracy -- because of the sacrifices of those we honor on June 6th -- is a solemn responsibility for every American. Pictured: US Army infantrymen wade ashore at Omaha Beach in France, during the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. (Photo by Robert F. Sargent/STF/National Archoves/AFP/Getty Images)
Understanding who we are today as Americans living in a democracy -- because of the sacrifices of those we honor on June 6th -- is a solemn responsibility for every American. Yet few will acknowledge the date or the solemn obligation.

On that date, June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, confronting Nazi troops that had conquered much of Europe. General Dwight D. Eisenhower commanded the invasion, reminding his troops, "We will accept nothing less than full victory."

More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day's end, the Allies had begun to push the Germans back, but some 10,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded that day.

Continue Reading Article
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18593/europe-liberation-d-day

NATO Should NOT Pay Ransom to Turkey; Instead, Should Amend Rules to Expel It
by Burak Bekdil  •  June 5, 2022 at 5:00 am

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
"Turkey is a member of NATO, but under Mr. Erdoğan, it no longer subscribes to the values that underpin this great alliance. Article 13 of the NATO charter provides a mechanism for members to withdraw. Perhaps it is time to amend Article 13 to establish a procedure for the expulsion of a member nation." — Former US Senator Joe Lieberman and Mark D. Wallace, Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2022.

"[G]iving in to Ankara's demands amounts to letting an autocrat design the security architecture of Europe and shape the future of the Western system." — Cengiz Çandar, journalist, Al-Monitor, May 24, 2022.

With its $8,000 per capita GDP, Erdoğan's ailing Turkey is not more powerful than the other 29 NATO allies combined. NATO's political leaders must stop acting as if it is.


In a historic move, Sweden and Finland recently submitted their written applications to join NATO but Turkey's Islamist strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (pictured), is threatening to use his country's veto power to block the Nordic nations coming under the Western security umbrella. This is putting NATO's renewed credibility at stake, presumably to the delight of NATO's nemesis, Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Just when, after years of idling around, NATO appears to be gaining some strategic prominence following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the only Muslim member of the alliance is holding 29 other members as hostage, blocking the most critical move in its history. Surrendering to an Islamist's well-known oriental bargaining tactics will mean the demise of the alliance.

In a historic move, Sweden and Finland recently submitted their written applications to join NATO but Turkey's Islamist strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is threatening to use his country's veto power to block the Nordic nations coming under the Western security umbrella. This is putting NATO's renewed credibility at stake, presumably to the delight of NATO's nemesis, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18586/nato-expel-turkey

To Biden Administration on Iran: Do Not Leave Americans, Allies, in the Dark
by Majid Rafizadeh  •  June 4, 2022 at 5:00 am
"By every indication, the Biden Administration appears to have given away the store. The administration appears to have agreed to lift sanctions that were not even placed on Iran for its nuclear activities in the first place, but instead because of its ongoing support for terrorism and its gross abuses of human rights. The nuclear limitations in this new deal appear to be significantly less restrictive than the 2015 nuclear deal, which was itself too weak, and will sharply undermine U.S. leverage to secure an actually 'longer and stronger' deal. What is more, the deal appears likely to deepen Iran's financial and security relationship with Moscow and Beijing, including through arms sales." — 49 U.S. Senators, press release, March 14, 2022.

Now, Iran's negotiating team -- with which U.S. interests are being negotiated by the same Russia currently trying to crush the Western-backed democracy, Ukraine -- has excluded not only the U.S., but also those countries directly impacted by the Iran's nuclear breakout and terrorism: the latest countries it is devouring: Syria and Iraq.

The Biden administration must not exclude the U.S. regional allies and the American people from the ongoing negotiations with the Iranian regime and keep them in the dark: they are the ones directly affected by any "deal." Pictured: Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani (R) and his delegation leave a negotiating session at Coburg Palais in Vienna, Austria on December 3, 2021. (Photo by Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images)
The Biden administration must not exclude the U.S. regional allies and the American people from the ongoing negotiations with the Iranian regime and keep them in the dark: they are the ones directly affected by any "deal."

How could America allow Israel -- not to mention itself -- to be excluded from the negotiations to lift sanctions on the Iranian regime when the ruling mullahs have made it clear that their top ideological priority is to eradicate the Jewish state and "wipe Israel off the map"? Recently, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, known as the "butcher of Tehran" after reportedly being involved in the 1988 massacre of nearly 30,000 political prisoners, openly called again for the destruction of Israel:

"This great movement that we are witnessing today in the form of protests is a symbol of the solidarity of the Muslim people that will lead to the destruction of the Zionist regime."

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18582/us-iran-allies

Iran Not Waiting for Nuclear Weapons to Destabilize the Middle East
by Khaled Abu Toameh  •  June 1, 2022 at 5:00 am
The goal of Iran's mullahs is to spread their control to as many countries as possible by using their terrorist proxies, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthi militia in Yemen.

Iran's rulers are also seeking to increase their political influence in these countries. They aim to turn Iran into a superpower and major player in the Middle East at a time when US influence in the region appears to be dwindling.

Needless to say, Iran's mullahs are not only opposed to peace with Israel. They and their proxies have repeatedly stated that their real goal is to eliminate Israel.

Some even warned that Iran's real intention is to destroy and isolate Iraq....

"Iran, not Israel, is the greatest affliction for Iraq." — Farouk Yusef, Iraqi author, Al Arab, May 29, 2022.

The Iraqis, Yusef added, would have preferred to see a law criminalizing working for Iran because they do not want to end up like Lebanon, which has been destroyed by Hezbollah.

"The forces affiliated with Iran accuse everyone who refuses to be subordinate to Iran of seeking normalization with Israel." — Hamid Al-Kifaey, Iraqi journalist, Sky News Arabia, May 15, 2022.

This is how Arab dictatorships regularly seek to discredit the opposition or anyone who speaks out against corruption and bad government: by accusing them of being Israeli or American spies and traitors.

[T]he law may be used to target political opponents who have been protesting against the corruption of the ruling elite in Baghdad. The anti-corruption activists have often been accused by the government of being "agents of Israel." — Akeel Abbas, Iraqi academic and author, Al Hurra, May 28, 2022.

The law "radically and explicitly violates two of the basic principles stipulated in the Iraqi constitution, which prohibits enacting a law that contradicts the principles of democracy and basic rights and freedoms." — Akeel Abbas, Sky News Arabia, May 29, 2022.

Additionally, while Russia has been losing thousands of soldiers trying to take over Ukraine, Iran, without so much as swatting a fly, has been quietly filling the void left by Russians abandoning Syria.

Iran is not waiting until it possesses nuclear weapons to proceed with its schemes. Instead, it is spreading its aggression like a deadly virus to other Muslim nations.

Or do the Biden administration and the international community secretly want the destruction of Israel and the Gulf States?

Continue Reading Article

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18580/iran-destabilizing-iraq

Nuclear Iran NOT an "Acceptable Risk"
by Peter Vincent Pry  •  May 31, 2022 at 5:00 am

One might well wonder if the CNAS study is a "trial balloon" from the Biden Administration to begin preparing the nation and world psychologically for the advent of Iran's "Islamic bomb."

One might also wonder if the CNAS study is an attempt to justify consequent U.S. retreat from the Middle East, not as another humiliating defeat, but as a prudent and wise reprioritization of resources to meet the threat from China.

President Biden is defunding nuclear weapons critical to U.S. national security, such as the SLCM-N and B-83. He is also still seriously considering abolition of U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and is doing nothing to accelerate desperately needed modernization of the U.S. nuclear deterrent -- despite increasing nuclear threats from Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

If America, the most benign and humane civilization that has ever existed in history, is capable of using nuclear weapons, what can be expected from the evil empires that are Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran?

At minimum, a nuclear Iran will be even more aggressive supporting terrorism against moderate Arab states, Israel, and the U.S.. Iran might well also arm its proxies -- many of which are officially designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations -- with weapons of mass destruction, while relying on anonymity and its nuclear deterrent to escape retaliation.

Unlike North Korea, whose overt pursuit of nuclear weapons is used for atomic diplomacy and blackmail, Iran's nuclear weapons program is clandestine and may remain covertly secret -- because Iran plans actually to use its "Islamic bomb."

Expect the Center for a New American Security to weave more fig leaves rationalizing Biden Administration blunders and irresponsible policy as a species of wisdom. Coming soon, U.S. nuclear inferiority to Russia and China will be called an "acceptable risk."


Unlike North Korea, whose overt pursuit of nuclear weapons is used for atomic diplomacy and blackmail, Iran's nuclear weapons program is clandestine and may remain covertly secret -- because Iran plans actually to use its "Islamic bomb." (Image source: iStock)
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS), comprising largely former, mostly Democrat administration foreign policy and defense officials, in a new study — "Risk and Responsibility: Managing Future Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction Threats" — tries to sell the notion that Iran armed with nuclear, biological and chemical offensive weapons will be an acceptable risk. CNAS is a source of staff and "expertise" to the Biden Administration. Unfortunately, their idea is preposterous.

Based on three tabletop exercises, the CNAS report concludes that "even if Iran acquires a nuclear weapon, the likelihood the regime will use it is low."

Therefore, according to CNAS, the Biden Administration is justified in its plans to "accept risks in the Middle East and against future Iran threats" in order to "better address the long-term 'pacing challenge' posed by China."

The CNAS report states:

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18568/nuclear-iran-risk

Why, for the UN, Is One Mosque Massacre So Much Worse than Countless Church Massacres?
by Raymond Ibrahim  •  May 30, 2022 at 5:00 am

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
[I]f one non-Muslim attack on a mosque is enough for the UN to institutionalize a special day for Islam, what about the countless, often worse, Muslim attacks on non-Muslim places of worship? Why have they not elicited a similar response from the UN?

The above list, it should be noted, is hardly comprehensive; there have been many similar attacks on churches — in Egypt alone. But because there were few, if any, fatalities, they received little or no coverage in the Western press.

This dismissal is especially true for those remote — and, apparently, in the views of Western media, "unimportant" — regions, such as Nigeria, where Christians are being purged hourly in a Muslim-produced genocide. Thus, after noting that Muslims have eliminated 60,000 Christians between just 2009 and 2021, an August 2021 report states that, during that same time frame, Muslims also destroyed or torched 17,500 churches and 2,000 Christian schools. How many undocumented souls perished in those largely unreported terror attacks?

Therefore, the original question: If one non-Muslim attack on a mosque, which claimed 51 Muslim lives, was enough for the UN to establish an "international day to combat Islamophobia," why have so many Muslim attacks on churches, which have claimed thousands of Christian lives, not been enough for the UN to establish an "international day to combat Christianophobia"?

The UN, it seems, would have us ignore and brush aside all these ongoing massacres of Christian church worshippers as unfortunate byproducts of misplaced "Muslim grievances" — and instead fixate on this one singular, if admittedly horrendous, incident.

For the UN, evidently, one incident constitutes a "pattern" — one in dire need of recognition and response. The response is to silence, ignore or attack all those who expose the heavily documented real pattern of abuse and violence against non-Muslims — which, make no mistake, is precisely what "combatting Islamophobia" is all about.


On Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019, Muslim terrorists bombed three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka; 359 people were killed and more than 500 wounded. Pictured: The wreckage of St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka, on April 21, 2019, following the bomb attack. (Photo by Stringer/Getty Images)
The United Nations recently named March 15 as "international day to combat Islamophobia." That date was chosen because it witnessed one of the worst terror attacks on Muslims: on March 15, 2019, an armed Australian, Brenton Tarrant, entered two mosques in New Zealand and opened fire on unarmed and helpless Muslim worshippers; 51 were killed and 40 wounded.

Not only has this incident been widely condemned throughout the West — and rightfully so. It has also caused the UN to single out Islam as needing special protection.

This response, however, raises a critically important question: if one non-Muslim attack on a mosque is enough for the UN to institutionalize a special day for Islam, what about the countless, often worse, Muslim attacks on non-Muslim places of worship? Why have they not elicited a similar response from the UN?

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18532/mosque-church-massacres

The Real Purpose of the Iran Nuclear Deal
by Soeren Kern  •  May 27, 2022 at 5:00 am

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
Many analysts argue that the nuclear deal — original and revised — is primarily about legitimizing Iran's nuclear program. The deal, they say, is designed to strengthen, not weaken, the Islamic Republic.

Statements by Obama and his senior foreign policy advisors, the same people who are now advising President Biden, reflect a belief — a naïve one, many say — that if Iran were stronger, and traditional American allies — Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — were weaker, the Middle East could achieve a new balance of power that would result in more peaceful region.

"The catch to Obama's newly inclusive 'balancing' framework was that upgrading relations with Iran would necessarily come at the expense of traditional partners targeted by Iran — like Saudi Arabia and, most importantly, Israel. Obama never said that part out loud, but the logic isn't hard to follow: Elevating your enemy to the same level as your ally means that your enemy is no longer your enemy, and your ally is no longer your ally." — Lee Smith, Middle East analyst, Tablet magazine.

"The Realignment rests on, to put it mildly, a hollow theory. It misstates the nature of the Islamic Republic and the scope of its ambitions. A regime that has led 'Death to America' chants for the last 40 years is an inveterately revisionist regime. The Islamic Republic sees itself as a global power, the leader of the Muslim world, and it covets hegemony over the Persian Gulf — indeed, the entire Middle East." — Tony Badran and Michael Doran, Middle East analysts, Tablet magazine.

"After oil, the Islamic Republic's major export item is the IRGC-commanded terrorist militia — the only export that Iran consistently produces at a peerless level. Malley and Sullivan got it exactly wrong when they argued, in effect, that allies are suckering the United States into conflict with Iran. It is not the allies but the Islamic Republic that is blanketing the Arab world with terrorist militias, arming them with precision-guided weapons, and styling the alliance it leads as 'the Resistance Axis.' It does so for one simple reason: It is out to destroy the American order in the Middle East." — Tony Badran and Michael Doran.


U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley confirmed this week that the Biden administration is seeking a new nuclear deal with Iran that is "shorter" and "weaker" than the original deal. Malley also admitted that the Biden administration does not have a back-up plan to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Pictured: Malley, testifies at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations on May 25, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley has confirmed that diplomatic efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal originally signed by U.S. President Barack Obama are at an impasse. "We do not have a deal with Iran, and prospects for reaching one are, at best, tenuous," Malley told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a hearing on May 25.

Malley also admitted that the Biden administration is seeking a new deal that is "shorter" and "weaker" than the original deal. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during his confirmation hearing in January 2021, promised that the administration would pursue a new deal that is "longer" and "stronger."

When asked if he knew about efforts by Iran to hide its prior nuclear work from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Malley responded: "Senator, did Iran lie? Of course. Did Iran have a covert nuclear program? Absolutely. That's the reason why prior administrations imposed such crushing sanctions on Iran."

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18564/iran-nuclear-deal-purpose

How The Biden Administration Is Getting Erdoğan's Moves All Wrong
by Burak Bekdil  •  May 26, 2022 at 5:00 am

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when every sane country is staying away from wiring even a few cents to Russia, NATO "ally" Turkey is still talking about buying a second S-400 system.

The result? The U.S. is further appeasing [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan.

Erdoğan has long been playing the old oriental carpet-selling game: pitting potential buyers against each other to get the best price -- Turkey is hoping to be sold to the highest bidder.

The West's appeasement will just further embolden Erdoğan to keep blackmailing it: If you do not sell me F-35s or F-16s, I will buy fighter jets from Russia. Erdoğan then turns to Putin: I am your man in NATO. If you do not want me to be a real NATO ally, you must give me something. Erdoğan's double-play has to be stopped. For that, is needed a determined Western bloc who will remind him that he will not get what he wants from his (theoretical) allies in the West by blackmailing them.


The West's appeasement will, unfortunately, only embolden Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and push him further into the Russian orbit, both politically as a covert ally and militarily as a client of critical weapons systems. Pictured: Erdoğan holds a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 22, 2019 in Sochi, Russia. (Image source: kremlin.ru)
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has revived an old, outdated, near-defunct concept: a Western habit of overrating Turkey's "geo-political importance." Totally blind to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's anti-Western policy calculus, the Biden administration is pushing Turkey's Islamist strongman into further stealth hostility toward the civilized parts of the world.

"For better or for worse, Turkey is a NATO ally and will remain so. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, global politics are rapidly evolving in an unpredictable direction. The U.S. has, therefore, an interest in Turkey maintaining a robust air force," wrote Henri J. Barkey, a professor of international relations at Lehigh University. Ironically, Turkish court indictments mention Barkey, a former member of the U.S. state department's policy planning staff, as the key CIA operative behind the failed coup against Erdoğan's government in July 2016. Barkey, in Turkey, is a wanted man.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18483/getting-erdogans-moves-wrong

Palestinians: A Vote to Destroy Israel
by Bassam Tawil  •  May 24, 2022 at 5:00 am

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram Send Print
These Palestinians are evidently fed up with the rampant corruption and bad governance of the Palestinian Authority leadership. Moreover, these Palestinians who no longer support Abbas are stating that they have no interest in any peace process with Israel.

As the last poll showed, 70% of the Palestinians are opposed to an unconditional return to peace negotiations with Israel. Another 58% expressed opposition to the two-state solution.

The truth is that Abbas called off the elections [in 2021] because he was afraid that Hamas would defeat his Fatah faction in the parliamentary election, as took place in 2006.

The results of the Birzeit University elections prove that Abbas's fears were not unfounded. Had he insisted on proceeding with the presidential and parliamentary elections, it is most likely.... that Hamas would have taken control of the Palestinian presidency and parliament.

Hamas, for its part, said that it sees the results of the university election as a vote of confidence in its policy of pursuing deadly terrorist attacks against Israel.

The students who voted in support of Hamas fully identify with the terrorist group's covenant, which states that "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."

Palestinians have been radicalized by their leaders and media to a point where they do not want to hear anything about a peace process with Israel. In fact, they want to see Israel vanish from the map, as the results of the student council elections and the polls clearly illustrate.

The results of the Birzeit University elections and the polls stand in sharp contrast to the views expressed by the Biden administration concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Over the past year, Biden administration officials have repeatedly stated their commitment to the "two-state solution" while totally ignoring the widespread support among the Palestinians for the elimination of Israel.

The Hamas victory at the university's student council should sound alarm bells in the Biden administration, especially the State Department, regarding the true intentions of the Palestinians – that their sole commitment is to have a state that would replace Israel, not one that would exist peacefully alongside Israel. That is why it is nonsensical to pressure Israel to make any territorial (or non-territorial) concessions to the Palestinians, who are openly proclaiming that they want to establish a Palestinian state on the ruins of Israel and the bodies of dead Jews.


Hamas sees the results of its landslide victory in Birzeit University student council elections as a vote of confidence in its policy of pursuing deadly terrorist attacks against Israel. Pictured: Hamas supporters celebrate victory at Birzeit University, near Ramallah, on May 19, 2022. (Photo by Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images)
The Palestinians have once again shown that they have not given up the dream of destroying Israel and replacing it with an Islamist state funded by Iran and its terrorist proxies, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hezbollah.

On May 18, Hamas, on the US list of Foreign Terrorist organizations, and which does not believe in Israel's right to exist, scored a landslide victory in the elections for Student Council at Birzeit University, one of the most important Palestinian academic institutions in the West Bank.

The Hamas-affiliated Islamic Bloc won 28 of the 51 seats of the council; by contrast, the list belonging to Fatah, the ruling Fatah faction headed by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, got only 18 seats.

A third list belongs to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), another Palestinian Foreign Terrorist Organization that does not believe in Israel's right to exist, won five seats.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18553/palestinian-vote-destroy-israel