Watchman Newsletter

Islamist Super-Bloc Begins Forming in the Middle East

The Clarion Project (Link) - Ryan Mauro  (November 6, 2013)

A monumental strategic shift is taking place in the Middle East as an Islamist super-bloc is forming. Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood are making up with Iran and Hezbollah. Egypt and the Gulf states are forming their own alliance. The U.S. outreach to Iran and the Brotherhood has left it missing from the equation.

The Syrian civil war has pitted the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood and Turkey against Iran, Hezbollah, Iraq and the Syrian regime since 2011. Now, with a bloody stalemate resulting in consequences each side fears, the two sides are looking for ways to make amends.

Turkey has been trying to move its relationship with Iran past the ancient Ottoman-Persian rivalry for years. The Erdogan government gave secret U.S. intelligence to Iran and in early 2012, informed Iran about ten of its nationals meeting with Israeli intelligence inside Turkey.

One of the architects of the Turkish-Iranian relationship is Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan, who the Israeli Defense Minister described as a “friend of Iran.” Some Israeli officials privately refer to him as the “station chief in Ankara” for Iranian intelligence.

These statements about Fidan’s role is not hype. The recent U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Iraq, James Jeffrey, put it this way: “Hakan Fidan is the face of the new Middle East.”

Iran: Armageddon at hand, prepare for war

WorldNet Daily (Link) - Reza Kahlili (July 29, 2013)

Iran is again asserting that Armageddon is at hand and that the Islamic regime’s followers, indeed all of Islam, must prepare for a monumental change in the world.

Officials of the Islamic regime last month held their annual conference on the Mahdism Doctrine to prepare for the coming of the last Islamic messiah, the Shiites’ 12th Imam, Mahdi.

Shiites, whose clerics rule Iran with an iron fist, believe that at the end of times, Mahdi, a 9th century prophet, will reappear with Jesus Christ at his side, kill all the infidels and raise the flag of Islam in all four corners of the world, establishing worldwide Islamic governance.

Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said at the conference that, “I hope (Iran’s) Islamic Revolution is that of the righteous government before the coming,” according to Fars News Agency, the regime’s media outlet run by the Revolutionary Guards.

“Righteous government” is a key to Mahdi’s return, the Shiites believe.

“It has been stated in the Islamic hadith that a wave of uprisings (such as the current upheavals in the Arab world) … takes place before the main uprising and that the righteous government (takes place) before the coming, which I hope (Iran’s) Islamic Revolution is that.”

IDF Intel Chief Warns: Syria Becoming Global Jihad Hub

YNet News (Link) - Yoav Zitun (July 23, 2013)

“Syria is drawing thousands of global jihad activists and radical Muslims from the region and the world who are basing themselves in the country, not only to overthrow (President Bashar) Assad, but also to promote the vision of an Islamic state,” IDF Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said Tuesday.

“Right before our eyes a center of global jihad is developing on a scale that may affect not only Syria and the borders of the State of Israel, but also Jordan and Sinai,” he said at an intelligence officers’ graduation ceremony, shortly after returning from a work trip to Washington.

Kochavi relayed similar warning to senior American security officials.

In April, Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra, announced that it had merged with al-Qaeda’s branch in Iraq to form a new entity called “The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant,” and that it was taking orders from Ayman al-Zawahiri, who took over Osama bin Laden as the leader of al-Qaeda.

Iran’s Rouhani Affirms Support for Syria, Hizbullah

Israel National News (Link) - Rina Tzvi (July 16, 2013)

Iranian president-elect Hasan Rouhani has sent messages to Syria’s Bashar Assad and Hizbullah reaffirming his support for the two allies, as well as his support of confrontation with Israel.

Iranian-Syrian ties will be able to confront “enemies in the region, especially the Zionist regime,” Rouhani said Tuesday, as quoted by the official IRNA news agency, adding that, Syria will “overcome its current crisis.”

Rouhani also “lauded the Syrian nation for its resistance against western plots” and said Syria will “overcome its current crisis,” the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Iran’s foreign ministry said earlier on Tuesday referred to Israel as “a warmonger regime,” saying that Prime Minister Binyamin Netnayahu seeks to damage relations between Iran and the international community.

Israel and Syria brace for regional war between mid-Dec. 2011 and mid-Jan 2012

DEBKAfile (Link) (December 5, 2011)

The actions and words of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Syrian ruler Bashar Assad in the last 72 hours indicate they are poised for a regional war, including an attack on Iran, for some time between December 2011 and January 2012.

In their different ways, both have posted road signs to the fast-approaching conflict as DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources disclose:

1. Saturday, Dec. 3, Syria staged a large-scale military exercise in the eastern town of Palmyra, which was interpreted by Western and Israeli pundits as notice to its neighbors, primarily Turkey and Israel, that the uprising against the Assad regime had not fractured its sophisticated missile capabilities.

DEBKAfile’s military sources advise attaching more credibility to the official Damascus statement of Sunday, Dec. 4: “The Syrian army has staged a live-fire drill in the eastern part of the country under war-like circumstances with the aim of testing its missile weaponry in confronting any attack.”

Putin prepares the Russian empire to strike back

The Guardian (Link) - Simon Tisdall (December 1, 2011)

As prime minister for the past four years, Vladimir Putin never really went away. But his looming reincarnation as the all-powerful, executive president of Russia – the country’s “paramount leader” in Chinese parlance – poses a stark challenge for which the US, Britain and other beleaguered western powers seem ill-prepared. As president, potentially until 2024, Putin has one overriding objective: the creation of a third, post-tsarist, post-Soviet Russian empire.

Putin famously described the collapse of the Soviet Union, the “evil empire” of Ronald Reagan’s imagining, as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” His aim, once this weekend’s heavily managed parliamentary elections and next March’s presidential coronation are out the way, is to put this disaster to rights. Reinstalled as president, and with his political potboy, Dmitry Medvedev, pushed aside, Putin will again exercise unchallengeable control over Russia’s external affairs.

Never much interested in domestic policy, Putin’s only political trick is a hyper-nationalism that pits a proudly embattled Russia against a hostile, US-led, world conspiracy. But the trick works. Despite mounting criticism during the Duma campaign, both supporters and opponents acknowledge his perceived achievement in restoring Russia’s standing in the world following Boris Yeltsin’s chaotic 1990s decade.

Report: Hizbullah preparing missile war on Israel as Iran braces for attack

World Tribune (Link) (November 3, 2011)

The Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah is planning for war with Israel, a report said.

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs asserted that Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, in coordination with Teheran, has been meeting senior commanders to plan for war with the Jewish state. The center, in a report by Shimon Shapira, said Nasrallah has ordered his commanders to prepare for long-range missile attacks that would target Tel Aviv and other major Israeli cities.

“Nasrallah’s recent escalation of public statements stems from heightened fear in Hizbullah that an Israeli and/or American attack on Iran is drawing nearer,” the report said. “As a strategic arm of Iran, Hizbullah sees itself as Iran’s first line of defense against Israel.”

“Hizbullah forces are being trained to fire at least 10,000 missiles, right at the war’s outset, at military and strategic targets such as airfields, military camps, and vital facilities including maritime ones, followed by the firing of rockets from launch sites whose location will come as a surprise to Israel,” the report, titled “Hizbullah Discusses Its Operational Plan for War with Israel,” said.

Turkey-Israel ties fall to new low in response to UN flotilla report

Christian Science Monitor (Link) - Ariel Zirulnick (September 2, 2011)

Turkey-Israel relations dipped to a new low today over a long-awaited United Nations report on the Gaza flotilla debacle, freezing a key regional alliance despite more than a year of attempts to resuscitate ties.

Turkey announced today that it is expelling Israel’s ambassador and suspending all joint military agreements after failing to secure a formal apology from Israel for the deaths of eight Turks and one Turkish-American on May 31, 2010, when Israeli commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara, the flagship of the flotilla.

The convoy of ships had been seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, which Israel said was necessary to prevent the Islamist militant group Hamas from obtaining weapons but which many in the international community had objected to on humanitarian grounds.

The UN report, due to be formally released today but leaked yesterday by The New York Times, surprised many by declaring Israel’s blockade of Gaza as legal. While it criticized Israeli commandos for using “excessive and unreasonable” force in halting the mainly Turkish flotilla, it requested merely that Israel “express regret” for the deaths and pay unspecified reparations to the families, the Times reported.

Signs of the Times: Ezekiel’s Prophecies Set to Unfold?

CBN News (Link) - Chris Mitchell & Julie Stahl (August 22, 2011)

Last year, an international crisis exploded when Israel stopped a flotilla of ships from breaking its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The incident left Israel feeling more isolated, but some Jews saw the pages of scripture coming alive through the crisis.

When Israeli commandos stormed the Turkish-owned flagship, Mavi Mamara, leading the flotilla, things quickly turned deadly. Pro-Palestinian activists attacked the soldiers, who then defended themselves. Nine activists died in the melee.

Israel acted to keep weapons out of Hamas-controlled Gaza, but that didn’t stop an international rush to judgment.

The U.N. Security Council condemned Israel and called for an investigation.

Sweden, Ireland and other nations planned boycotts against the Jewish state.

Netanyahu to Clinton: No apology to Turkey

YNet News (Link) - Attila Somfalvi (August 17, 2011)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that Israel will not apologize to Turkey over the 2010 flotilla incident, despite an earlier demand by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to do so.

Clinton spoke with Netanyahu, asking Israel to apologize to Turkey for killing nine of its citizens aboard the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship in May 2010. However, Netanyahu made it clear that given the current situation in the Middle East, Israel will not issue an apology.

Later on Wednesay, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said it would be impossible for Turkish-Israeli ties to improve unless Israel apologised and paid compensation for the killing of the nine Turks.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference in Istanbul that “if the Palmer Report does not contain an apology, both sides and the United States know what we will do.” He did not elaborate.

“Israel is facing a choice: deeper relations with Turkey or open a gap with the Turkish state that will not be overcome very easily,” he said.

Turkey absent again from naval drills with Israel, US

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Yaakov Katz (August 4, 2011)

Israel and the United States started their annual joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean Sea this week again without the participation of the Turkish navy, in another sign of Jerusalem’s deteriorating ties with Ankara.

Called Reliant Mermaid, the annual exercise was started over a decade ago and included the Israeli, Turkish and American navies. The objective of the exercise is to practice search-and-rescue operations and to familiarize each navy with international partners who also operate in the Mediterranean Sea.

The exercise was last held with all three partners in the summer of 2009 but following the Israeli navy raid on the Mavi Marmara last May, Turkey pulled out of the 2010 drill.

The IDF had expected Turkey would not participate this year as well.

The Battle for Syria

The Trumpet (Link) - Robert Morley (August 2, 2011)

When the United States government and al Qaeda agree on something, you know that can’t be a good thing.

In this case, they both want Syrian President Bashir Assad to step down. Bizarrely, that’s not all they agree on. On July 11, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “President Assad is not indispensable. … Our goal is to see that the will of the Syrian people for a democratic transformation occurs” (emphasis added throughout).

Responding to America’s overtures to the anti-government protesters, al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri warned the pro-democracy activists not to deal with America. America would only corrupt them, he said. He called Assad, however, a “leader of criminal gangs,” an “aggressor,” an “oppressor,” and a “traitor” to his people. He applauded the pro-democracy activists’ efforts to teach Assad a “lesson.” And he hailed Syrian protesters as “mujahideen,” or holy warriors.

Both America and al Qaeda are pushing for democracy in Syria. Yet for all the talk, that is mostly all it is. Neither group has much influence in Syria.

Erdogan’s ‘Plan B’: Downgrading Israel ties

YNet News (Link) (July 25, 2011)

Turkish newspaper Hurriyet on Monday reported that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is considering moving to a “Plan B” which will see relations with Israel suffer further by downgrading the level of Turkey’s diplomatic staff in Israel.

On Sunday, Erdogan said that he still expects an apology from Jerusalem. “We will wait for the Israelis’ decision a certain period. If they don’t apologize by this time we shall move to plan b,” he said.

According to Hurriyet, “Plan B” means cooling down relations with Israel. One of the most significant steps will be downgrading the level of Turkey’s embassy staff in Israel. Ankara recalled its ambassador following last year’s flotilla event. It is also possible Turkey will not approve an Israeli ambassador to replace Gaby Levy.

On Sunday, the Turkish newspaper reported that the Palmer report has ruled that IDF soldiers boarded the ship with “the intent to kill.”

According to the report, Israel is considering compensating the families of the nine people killed aboard the ship, and intends to issue a statement regretting the loss of life - regardless of Turkey’s demand for an official apology. †

Turkey to double the size of its army

Joel’s Trumpet (Link) - Joel Richardson (July 5, 2011)

With Prime Minister Erdogan’s Islamist AK party having seized its third landslide election victory in Turkey, many throughout the international community have been watching to see what will be next on the Turkish agenda.

Now there are strong indicators in the Turkish media that Turkey is planning on literally doubling the size of its army – this coming from the nation that already has the largest army in Middle East and the second-largest army in NATO, second only to the United States. Presently, Turkey’s army has over 500,000 troops. Its army is larger than France, Germany and England combined. And now Turkish media are reporting that they are planning on adding another 500,000 paid soldiers.

According to Egemen Bağış, a state minister and Turkey’s chief EU negotiator, the purpose of the army is to kill two birds with one stone, overcoming two of Turkey’s biggest challenges: terrorism and unemployment. This move would create half a million new jobs for Turkey while answering once and for all Turkey’s problem with Kurdish separatist terrorists in the southeast.

China, Russia sign revised currency agreement

China Daily (Link) (June 23, 2011)

The People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, said on Thursday that it has signed a revised bilateral currency settlement agreement with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

According to the revised agreement, individuals and corporations from both countries will be able to conduct settlements and payments using the yuan, the ruble and freely convertible currencies, the central bank said in a statement on its website.

In addition to border trade, ordinary trade may also be settled in both countries’ official currencies, following the revision of the agreement.

The move will help promote bilateral financial cooperation, trade and investment, the statement said.

Analysts said the move will be of great significance in reducing reliance on the U.S. dollar in bilateral trade, lowering exchange rate risks and promoting the internationalization of the yuan. †

EU and Russia see eye-to-eye on Hamas

EU Observer (Link) - Andrew Rettman (June 7, 2011)

Russia and the EU are framing a joint position on relations with the Palestinian unity government, as divisions on the subject with the US and Israel deepen, a senior Russian diplomat has said.

Russia’s ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, told press in Brussels on Tuesday (7 June) that EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov are aiming to put out a joint communique on the subject at the EU-Russia summit on Thursday and Friday.

The details of the text are being kept under wraps. But Chizhov said: “The Russian position is closer to the EU position than the US position ... We’ve expressed the need to foster Palestinian unity, because without that no progress whatsoever is possible.”

He indicated that the EU’s position is unpopular in Washington: “I don’t think there is an immediate danger of the collapse of the Quartet. There is a divergence of views.”

Hamas in May agreed to accept an Israeli state based on 1967 borders, to call a truce with Israel and to abide by former international pacts as part of a new government with rival Palestinian faction Fatah.

Russia unites Palestinians on East Jerusalem issue

Ria Novosti (Link) - Yelena Suponina (May 25, 2011)

Palestinian and Libyan delegations left Moscow yesterday after causing quite a stir. The two delegations have nothing to do with each other: a representative of the Libyan opposition just happened to be in Moscow at the same time as a group of Palestinian leaders traveling as a single delegation for the first time in many years. Political scientists are wondering what Russia hopes to achieve with this flurry of Mideast diplomacy. To singlehandedly end the war in Libya? And surely Russia can’t expect to wave a magic wand and create an independent Palestinian state.

Nevertheless, the importance of these contacts - cloaked in semi-secrecy though they were - should not be underestimated. The official announcement of the arrival of the delegates was made at the last minute, although foreign diplomats and journalists had found out about it in advance. They have been busy discussing the news and eagerly awaiting the results ever since.

Putin decides to retake presidency

The Australian (Link) - Mark Franchetti (May 23, 2011)

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has decided to run for the presidency next year, raising the possibility of a power struggle with his protégé Dmitry Medvedev, the incumbent Kremlin leader, say highly placed sources.

The once-close relationship between Mr. Putin, the tough-talking former KGB officer who has inspired a personality cult, and Mr. Medvedev, a softly spoken Twitter enthusiast, has become increasingly fractious amid speculation in Moscow that the younger man wishes to stand again.

Insiders familiar with both leaders said Mr. Putin, who served eight years as president before becoming Prime Minister three years ago, had begun to lose confidence in Mr. Medvedev’s loyalty.

Under the constitution, Mr. Putin’s move to reclaim the presidency could see him rule for two consecutive six-year terms until 2024, when he will be 72. If so, he would have served as prime minister or president for 24 years in all.

Israel holds secret talks with Russia in bid to thwart recognition of Palestinian state

Haaretz (Link) - Barak Ravid (April 1, 2011)

Isaac Molho, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior adviser and top negotiator on the Palestinian channel, made a secret trip to Moscow on Wednesday and met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The purpose of the visit was to dissuade Russia from supporting the European Union’s intention to present in two weeks’ time a plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

Molho was accompanied on the trip by the Foreign Ministry’s legal advisor, Daniel Taub, and spent over an hour with Lavrov. Taub and Molho also met with the Russian envoy to the Middle East, Sergei Yakovlev, and other senior Russian officials. A senior Israeli official told Haaretz that Taub and Molho used the visit “to present new Israeli ideas for re-launching the peace process with the Palestinians.”

The visit comes just two weeks before the foreign ministers of the Quartet − the United States, Russia, the European Union and the UN − are to meet. France, Germany and the United Kingdom are pushing for announcing a new international peace initiative. The principles of the initiative known so far include setting up two states on the basis of the 1967 borders with territorial swaps; a fair, realistic and agreed-upon solution to the predicament of the Palestinian refugees; Jerusalem as a capital for both states and security arrangements that would protect Israel but not infringe on Palestinian sovereignty.

Why Iran Is Sweating Bullets

The Trumpet (Link) - Brad Macdonald (March 31, 2011)

When it comes to understanding Middle East geopolitics, one question brings terrific clarity: Does this work to the advantage of Iran?

Generally speaking, if an event, decision or circumstance pleases Iran, it will come with negative repercussions for Israel, America or the broader Western community. If Iran is displeased—if sweat is pooling on the brows of Iran’s mullahs—the West must somehow be gaining an advantage. Consider the wave of anti-government uprisings rolling across the region. In virtually each case, be it Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain or Libya, Iran watched the chaos with an ear-to-ear grin. Why? Because in each instance Tehran knew the outcome would bolster its regional influence, either directly or via its radical Islamic proxies.

The only exception to this trend is the unrest in Syria—which has the mullahs in Iran sweating bullets!

The Syrian Time Bomb

Foreign Policy (Link) - Patrick Seale (March 28, 2011)

While one war rages in Libya, another rages in Washington as to the necessity of U.S. action there. Indeed, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said as much this weekend, noting that Libya was not a “vital national interest.” But if Washington is looking for an Arab state in the throes of unrest, one that is key to its regional and national interests, planners might want to pay more attention to Syria, which is currently undergoing upheaval not seen since the early 1980s.

Syria lies at the center of a dense network of Middle East relationships, and the crisis in that country -- which has now resulted in the deaths of well over 100 civilians, and possibly close to double that number -- is likely to have a major impact on the regional structure of power. The need to contain pressure from the United States and Israel, for decades the all-consuming concern of Syria’s leadership, has suddenly been displaced by an explosion of popular protest highlighting urgent and long-neglected domestic issues.

If the regime fails to tame this domestic unrest, Syria’s external influence will inevitably be enfeebled, with dramatic repercussions across the Middle East. As the crisis deepens, Syria’s allies tremble. Meanwhile, its enemies rejoice, as a weakened Syria would remove an obstacle to their ambitions. But nature abhors a vacuum, and what will come will be unpredictable, at best.

And the winner is...Turkey

YNet News (Link) - Manfred Gerstenfeld (March 2, 2011)

For the moment, Turkey seems to be a major winner in the midst of the unrest in the Mideastern and North African Muslim world. This is not a result of anything it has done, but derives largely from the loss of power of other nations.

As far as population is concerned, there are three major nations in the Middle East – Turkey, Iran and Egypt, each with 70-80 million inhabitants. Saudi Arabia has a substantially higher Gross Domestic Product per capita than all three, but its population of 25 million is much smaller.

After Mubarak’s fall, it will take many years before another internationally relevant leader emerges in Egypt. In the meantime, Iran is trying to use an increasing power vacuum to raise its own profile. Sending warships through the Suez Canal to Syria is a small but visible sign of this. Iran also hopes to benefit from the partial shift away of Western focus upon it, as there are so many problems elsewhere in the Muslim world. At the same time, Iran is vulnerable as it has to cope once again with growing internal protests.

Iran to build permanent naval base in Syria

DEBKAfile (Link) (March 1, 2011)

Just two days after two Iranian warships reached the Syrian port of Latakia via the Suez Canal, Friday, Feb. 25, an Iranian-Syrian naval cooperation accord was signed providing for Iran to build its first Mediterranean naval base at the Syrian port, DEBKAfile’s military and Iranian sources reveal.

The base will include a large Iranian Revolutionary Guards weapons depot stocked with hardware chosen by the IRGC subject to prior notification to Damascus. Latakia harbor will be deepened, widened and provided with new “coastal installations” to accommodate the large warships and submarines destined to use these facilities.

Iran has much to celebrate, DEBKAfile’s military sources report. It has acquired its first military foothold on a Mediterranean shore and its first permanent military presence on Syrian soil. Tehran will be setting in place the logistical infrastructure for accommodating incoming Iranian troops to fight in a potential Middle East war.

According to our sources, the “cadets” the Kharg cruiser, one of the two Iranian warships allowed to transit the Suez Canal, was said to be carrying were in fact the first construction crews for building the new port facilities.

With Russia’s $650 billion rearmament plan, the bear sharpens its teeth

Christian Science Monitor (Link) - Fred Weir (February 28, 2011)

The graying bear is getting a make-over. Russia’s military is launching its biggest rearmament effort since Soviet times, including a $650 billion program to procure 1,000 new helicopters, 600 combat planes, 100 warships, and 8 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.

Analysts say Russia, while already the world’s fifth-largest military spender, needs strong conventional forces to reduce its overreliance on its aging Soviet-era nuclear missile deterrent. Valentin Rudenko, director of the independent Interfax-Military News Agency, says it could create “a whole new ballgame.”

“For about two decades we’ve had no real modernization, at least not like what’s being proposed now,” he says. “Russia will finally have a modern, top-level armed forces that are capable of protecting the country.”

Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin last week announced the unprecedented new outlays, which will see a massive re-equipping of Russia’s strategic nuclear deterrent as well as its conventional forces. The Defense Ministry today said the “modernization drive” will begin this year with the deployment of new generations of air defense and antimissile weapons by Russian ground forces.

Syria and Iran agree to cooperate on naval training

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Contribution by Yaakov Katz (February 26, 2011)

Iran and Syria have agreed to cooperate on naval training, Reuters reported Iran’s official news agency saying on Saturday.

“The two parties will cooperate with each other in training issues and the exchange of personnel,” the Iranian news agency quoted the agreement, signed by the commanders of both navies, as saying.

The agreement came days after two Iranian warships – the Khark, which has 250 crew members and can carry three helicopters, and the Alvand, which is armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles – arrived at Syria’s Latakia seaport on Thursday through the Suez Canal.

The announcement of the cooperation agreement came the same day that Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that Russia would fulfill its contractual obligation and complete the transfer of cruise missiles to Syria, according to an AFP report. The report said that news agencies in Moscow said the Kremlin did not intend to withdraw from the deal signed between the two countries in 2007, despite the objections of Israel and the United States.

Russia unveils huge rearmament drive

The Telegraph UK (Link) - Andrew Osborn (February 25, 2011)

The Kremlin has unveiled the biggest rearmament programme since the fall of the Soviet Union, saying it intends to buy 600 new planes, 100 new ships and 1,000 new helicopters within the next decade.

The ambitious overhaul will cost the equivalent of £406 billion and comes at a time when other countries around the world such as Britain are cutting their defence spending to try to balance their national budgets.

But with oil prices rising, Russia, the world’s biggest energy exporter, feels confident it can afford to upgrade its dilapidated Soviet-era military and believes it urgently needs to do so in order to confirm its self-proclaimed status as a major world power.

Vladimir Popovkin, Russia’s deputy defence minister, said the rearmament programme would be sweeping.

“The main task is the modernisation of the armed forces,” he said. “Nineteen trillion roubles (£406 billion) will be allocated for this. We are not interested in purchasing any foreign weapons or military equipment.”

Gaddafi to Arab ‘Refugees’: March on Israel

Israel National News (Link) - Maayana Miskin (February 15, 2011)

Libyan dictator Muammer Gaddafi has called for a mass Arab march on Israel, in an attempt to force Israel into accepting Arab demands. He directed his call to Palestinian Authority Arabs and to the millions of Arabs who define themselves as “Palestinian refugees” that seek to “return” to Israel.

“Fleets of boats should take Palestinians... and wait by the Palestinian shores until the problem is resolved,” Gaddafi said on Libyan television. Now is the time for PA Arabs to capitalize on the wave of Middle East revolts, he added.

The purpose of the mass march would not be to declare war, but rather “to create a problem for the world,” Gaddafi explained.

Turkey: Islamist Consolidate Power By Purging The Military

Big Peace (Link) - Rob Miller (February 15, 2011)

While everyone’s eyes are on Egypt and its possible Islamization, something even more significant is going on under the wire in Turkey.

The government of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan took a major step towards consolidating its regime by conducting what amount to show trials of high ranking military officers and political opponents on charges that they attempted to overthrow Erdogan’s Islamist government in 2003.

A Turkish court ruled Friday, February 12th that 133 current and former Turkish military officers must be immediately arrested and jailed pending the outcome of their trial on charges of plotting to overthrow the government and issued warrants for the immediate arrests of 29 other officers.

The Erdogan government was obviously made aware of the ruling in advance. As soon as the ruling was issued by the bench, the court’s doors were sealed, security forces cleared the courtroom and the defendants, including the former air force and navy chiefs were immediately arrested and are being held without bail.The defendants face between 15 and 20 years in prison if convicted on charges of “attempting to topple the government by force.”

The emerging Muslim Union

WorldNet Daily (Link) - Walid Shoebat (February 4, 2011)

PREPARE [Wa-a-iddou] is a single Arabic word that appears on the Egyptian-based Muslim Brotherhood’s logo written under the sign of the two swords, the symbol of Islamic Jihad. “Prepare” actually comes from the Quranic verse:

“Prepare against them as you are able of force and cavalry to terrorize Allah’s enemy and yours...” (Al-Anfal:60)

Warfare and terror is their motto. It started when many Egyptians were angered at Arabia’s collaboration with the West in the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire, especially since the Caliphate fell with it. That dismantling was the primary reason the Muslim Brotherhood was created four years later in 1928; its sole purpose was the resurrection of the Caliphate. They made inroads, especially after the failure of Arab Nationalism; the Brotherhood gave birth to the slogan “Al-Islam-Huwa-Alhal” (Islam is The Solution), which became their main slogan.

The Brotherhood even adapted and learned from the al-Qaida experience as well as the revolution in Iran, which contributed to a bad image of Islam in the West. Despite this, many Arabs envy Iran’s success, especially since it grew in influence, becoming a formidable power in the region after the fall of Iraq, influencing Syria, Lebanon and the Arab Gulf states, creating a Shiite horn that extended from Iran west through Iraq and Syria into Lebanon, with its tip pointing at Israel’s head. Iran wants to dominate the Middle East and emerge as a mini-super power in the region. What we now see forming as a result of the latest unrest in Tunisia and Egypt is the beginning pieces of another puzzle, another horn – the Sunni alliance.

But this one is different. Using new Western-style slogans of democracy, freedom and social justice, it comes across as a lamb while its inner soul speaks like a dragon. Soon, it will emerge with the two horns of a Shia base in Iran and a Sunni one based temporarily in Egypt; it will find its resting place somewhere else the West never expected. This Sunni horn sparked by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is currently seeking a non-Arab axis to represent it. To the West, this red dragon will come as a shocking surprise.

Russia and Iran to mount joint operations

The Voice of Russia (Link) - Zakharov Ivan (January 28, 2011)

Russia and Iran are to join efforts to prevent unlawful action at sea, such as poaching and smuggling.

A few days ago, the Russian Justice Ministry handed over drafts of documents containing the legal basis of both countries’ future cooperation at sea, to Tehran. The papers deal with issues like cooperation agreement between the Russian and Iranian Justice Ministries, an agreement on the extradition of detainees, as well as on Consular Convention. Cooperation in the work of lawyers and Notaries is also being proposed and in addition, Russia has equally promised to help train legal personnel for Iran, at Russian higher educational institutions. The agreements are due to be signed during the visit to Tehran by Alexander Konovalov, the Russian Justice Minister, toward the end of this year.

There are problems on which cooperation between Russia and Iran is extremely vital, and one of them is the fighting of the Afghan illegal drug trade. By virtue of their location, Russia and Iran lie at the crossroads of the distribution of Afghan illegal drugs. Both countries have recently signed a memorandum on the war on illegal drugs from Afghanistan, but to make their cooperation more effective, there is a need to work out a single legal basis, says Vasily Likhachev, the Russian deputy Justice Minister, who led a delegation of Russian lawyers who visited Tehran recently.