Iran.......

http://www.jta.org/2013/08/02/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/rohanis-statement-its-distortion-and-what-it-all-means#.UfvCiisLSAg.twitter

Rohani’s statement, its distortion, and what it all

means (UPDATED)

By Ron KampeasAugust 2, 2013 10:26am

Today, Iran marked Quds day, its annual rebuke to all things Zionist generally, and Israel’s control of Jerusalem specifically.

ISNA, the semi-official Iranian news agency, quoted President-elect Hassan Rohani — much touted as a moderate — as saying the following:

The Zionist regime has been a wound on the body of the Islamic world for years and the wound should be removed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to make the following statement:

Rohani’s true face has been revealed earlier than expected. Even if they will now rush to deny his remarks, this is what the man thinks and this is the plan of the Iranian regime. These remarks by President Rohani must rouse the world from the illusion that part of it has been caught up in since the Iranian elections. The President there has changed but the goal of the regime has not: To achieve nuclear weapons in order to threaten Israel, the Middle East and the peace and security of the entire world. A country that threatens the destruction of the State of Israel must not be allowed to possess weapons of mass destruction.

So, Netanyahu was right: His unspecified “they” did indeed “rush to deny his remarks.” Except not in the ya-gotta-understand-what-the-idiom-means kind of way that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s line about wiping Israel from the map is sometimes explained away. But rather, in a he-just-didn’t-say-it kind of way.

Here’s the video, for Farsi speakers, and a translation posted on Twitter by Thomas Erdbrink, the New York Times correspondent in Tehran, which I’ve confirmed with other Farsi speakers as essentially correct:

The day of Quds, which is one of the mementos of the Imam [Khomeini], may he be admitted to God’s paradise, is the day that the people display the unity of the Islamic world against any form of tyranny and aggression. In any case, in our region, a sore has been sitting on the body of the Islamic world for many years, in the shadow of the occupation of the Holy Land of Palestine and the dear Quds. This day is in fact a reminder of the fact that Muslim people will not forgot their historic right and will continue to stand against aggression and tyranny.

There is no “remove.” And it’s not entirely clear what “sore” he’s talking about: Is he being hyper-specific, referring to the Temple Mount, the third holiest site in Islam known as Haram al Sharif? Or is he referring generally to Israel itself? Or to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank?

Those are questions for Rohani. Here are some for others:

–Why did two Iranian government-tied news agencies so egregiously misrepresent what he said? This might be a a situation of one lazy reporter’s screw up, followed by another even lazier reporter plagiarizing the screw-up. But it begs the question: How pervasive is the notion of “removing” Israel in Iran that a reporter can walk away and think, “Well that’s what he probably meant.” (Notably, Press TV, another government-run agency, quickly reported the misreporting.)

–Why did Netanyahu’s office not wait to check the video? There’s no shortage of Farsi speakers in Israel. Especially considering the import of Netanyahu’s implied “illusion” jibe at President Obama and a number of congressional Democrats. This is a substantive shot across the bow at an ally. Wouldn’t you want your ducks in a row in that case?

–Will the prime minister’s office walk this back? (UPDATE: It did, in a statement to the BBC and in removing tweets that reflected the original statement.) Further UPDATE: An official in Netanyahu’s office says the office now stands by its earlier statement, while seeming to acknowledge that it was based on misreporting. “We were responding to what was reported widely,” the official told me. “The Iranians have a consistent track record of saying things and then denying them. We have no doubt that the remarks attributed to Rohani reflect his current thinking.”

–Will others who have taken up the misreporting, like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and a number of pro-Israel groups ?

–Finally, circling back to a question for Rohani (or at least those who have studied him most closely): Is this, as Erdbrink suggests, a sign of his relative moderation? Is it significant that a president-elect, on the one day when Iranians are encouraged to focus their fury on Israel, doesn’t say much at all?

Senators’ Letter Demands More Iran Sanctions, Blasts Diplomacy

Demand More Emphasis on Attacking Iran

by Jason Ditz, August 02, 2013

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An overwhelming majority (76) of US Senators have co-signed a letter to President Obama, warning against a new round of diplomacy with Iranian President Hassan Rohani, insisting they were just an attempt to “stall for time.”

In contrast to the administration’s tepid support for diplomacy, the letter lays out materially the same position as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, insisting that it is time to tell Iran that the window for diplomacy “is coming to an end.”

Instead of talks, the Senators urged the US to immediately announce a large number of new sanctions against Iran, and to “reinforce the credibility of our option to use military force” against the nation.

This of course echoes repeated calls from Netanyahu for the US to focus its efforts on threatening Iran much more often than it already does. That the letter got in excess of a supermajority for that position in the Senate underscores the overwhelming opposition within the US government to real efforts at negotiation.

Egypt.......

http://www.debka.com/article/23168/Putin-visit-to-Cairo-impending-El-Sisi-moves-to-outlaw-Brotherhood-US-in-blocking-mode

President Vladimir Putin is set to visit to Cairo – possibly next Wednesday Aug. 7 – on the advice of Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, DEBKAfilereports exclusively. The prince landed in Moscow Wednesday, July 31 without warning. He told Putin that Saudi King Abdullah was in favor of the Russian president going to Cairo as soon as possible and did not rule out the visit occasioning the signing of a large Russian arms sale to Egypt, bankrolled by the oil kingdom.

Putin will find Egypt’s strongman, Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, in full cry with his next steps against the Muslim Brotherhood, after unseating its president in a coup on July 3.

El-Sisi is holding urgent discussions with the heads of the judiciary to have the movement outlawed. The unwritten pact between the generals and judicial system is the most potent political force in Egypt today, which the Brotherhood will find hard to beat.

The army’s first action will be to break up the round-the-clock protests which tens of thousands of supporters of the ousted president Mohamed Morsi have been staging in Cairo for the past month for his release and reinstatement.

Wednesday, July 31, their sit-in was ruled a threat to national security. For the next step, soldiers of the Republican Guard division, whose normal duties are guarding the president, have been issued with police uniforms for a more acceptable appearance when they clear protesters off the streets of the capital any day now.

The prospect of a Russian presidential visit has fired Gen. El-Sisi with redoubled energy and impetus for his crackdown on the Brotherhood.

For Putin, this will be his second trip to Cairo; his first took place in 2005 when Hosni Mubarak was president. He will play it to the hilt as a platform to show the world, and especially Arab Muslims, that he alone of the world’s five leading powers is openly committed to fighting radical Islam and ready to assist any Arab leader sharing this commitment.

He will also try and use his Cairo visit for much needed image repairs over his backing for Bashar Assad and Hizballah terrorist fighters in their savage war against a rebellion led by the Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda affiliates. Putin hopes to come away from Cairo as champion of the war on radical Islam in two important Arab countries and the most reliable ally of forces for moderation.

His next stop around mid-August is Tehran. This will be hard to explain away as a gesture of support of a moderate regime, but with some fast footwork, the Russian leader will use the double exposure to underscore Moscow’s solid presence at the power centers of the Middle East - in striking contrast to Washington.
The Obama administration is already seething over the Kremlin’s decision to grant the fugitive former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden temporary asylum in Russia for escaping trial in the States on a charge of espionage.

Even more painful knocks are in store for Barack Obama’s Middle East policy and prestige when Egypt’s military strongman proceeds to outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood movement in defiance of his wishes and Putin turns up in Cairo with more provocations.

Secretary of State John Kerry, aware of the shoals ahead for Washington, sent European Union foreign policy executive Catherine Ashton to Cairo earlier this week, followed by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerweller Friday, Aug 2, to try and hold El-Sisi’s hand.

When they got nowhere, Kerry assigned US Undersecretary of State for the Middle East William Burns with paying a second visit to Cairo since the coup. He has an appointment to meet interim Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy Saturday, Aug. 3, and is waiting for one with the defense minister.

Burns came away from his first trip to Cairo empty-handed.

Egypt Protests as US Loudly Backs Coup

What Failed in Pakistan Won't Work in Egypt

Egypt General Has Country Wondering About Aims

Egypt Army Seeking 'Peaceful' Way to Disperse Sit-Ins: Spokesman

Syria.......

Bloody Fighting as Syrian Islamists, Kurds Turn On Each Other

22 Kurds Killed Over Past Few Days

by Jason Ditz, August 02, 2013

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Fighting between al-Qaeda-linked Islamist factions and Syria’s Kurdish militias continues to escalate today, with reports that 12 al-Qaeda fighters were killed early Friday morning in heavy fighting with the YPG militia.

The al-Qaeda fighters have been contesting control of multiple Kurdish towns and one of the towns, Ras al-Ayn, is facing heavy shelling from Islamist fighters. 22 Kurdish fighters are said to have been killed in the past several days, and a number of Kurdish civilian casualties were also reported.

The YPG issued a call to arms earlier this week, calling on all able-bodied Kurds to take up arms to resist the loss of control over their towns to rebel fighters. Jabhat al-Nusra has taken at least 200 Kurdish civilians hostage since then.

With West Kurdistan, the Syrian northeast, awash in oil it is considered a vital territory for the rebels to seize financially. At the same time, the clashes with the Kurds seem to be distracting much of their force from the ongoing civil war, allowing the Assad government to make significant gains in Homs.

25 Killed, 120 Wounded as Rebels Bomb Homs Weapons Depot

Number of Civilians Among the Slain in Attack

by Jason Ditz, August 02, 2013

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Syria’s rebel Haqq Brigade has claimed credit for an attack on a temporary weapons depot in the Homs neighborhood of Wadi Thahab today, setting off a series of explosions that killed at least 25 people and wounded 120 others.

The “weapons depot” was actually a sports complex in a civilian neighborhood that has been temporarily converted into makeshift storage as the Syrian Civil War has focused on the Homs province.

The death toll of the attack could actually end up being considerably higher as a large number of the injuries were quite serious. Unconfirmed reports already suggested the toll could be as high as 40.

The Ansar al-Haqq is nominally a branch of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the pro-West secular rebel faction. The group is mostly independent of the FSA parent group, however, and tends more toward alliances with Islamist factions.

UN Probes Rebels Over Massacre of Captives in Aleppo Village

Syrian Kurds Take Fragile Steps Towards Autonomy

Lebanon Leader Rejects Intimidation After Attack

Af- Pak.....

22 Afghan Police, 76 Taliban Killed in Major Battle

Police Were Ambushed After Operation to Rescue Politician

by Jason Ditz, August 02, 2013

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At least 22 Afghan police have been reported killed today in an “intense” gunbattle with Taliban fighters in the Nangarhar Province. The attack started with a militant ambush after the police operation to rescue a captured politician.

The police report said that 16 Taliban were killed in the initial operation, and 60 others were slain in the battle that followed the ambush. The Taiban are disputing that toll, claiming only five were lost in the battle.

It’s not unusual for both the Taliban and the Afghan officials to issue starkly different reports on clashes, and its rarely ever clear which, if either, offers a more accurate death toll.

The clash occurred in the Sherzad District, which is the same place that the US killed five police in an attack on a police checkpoint just two days ago. It is unclear if the two incidents are related at all.

Fresh Evidence of CIA Drone Strikes on Pakistani Rescuers

US: Terror Threat on the Rise in Pakistan

Afghan Middle Class: What Will Happen to Us When US Leaves?

Libya........

Report: The CIA Has Been Polygraphing Operatives to Stop Benghazi Leaks

Associated Press

ELSPETH REEVE1,230 ViewsAUG 1, 2013

The CIA is subjecting operatives working in Libya to polygraphs as much as once a month to stop them from leaking to the press or Congress about Benghazi, CNN's Jake Tapper and Drew Griffin report. Usually, CIA operatives are polygraphed only once every three or four years. "It is being described as pure intimidation, with the threat that any unauthorized CIA employee who leaks information could face the end of his or her career," CNN reports. The CIA told CNN that it has been cooperating with congressional oversight committees and "CIA employees are always free to speak to Congress if they want."

The story suggests the CIA wants to keep its operations in Benghazi secret, not specifically what happened the night of the attacks. It was not until weeks after the Benghazi attacks that it was reported the diplomatic facility there was mostly a CIA operation. Two former Navy SEALs who died during the attack were reportedly CIA contractors. Now CNN reports that 21 people were working at the CIA annex on the night of the attacks, while a total of 35 people were working at the mission. (This tracks with estimates in earlier reporting.) What were they doing there? That's been the subject of much speculation for months. In March, Sen. Rand Paul floated the theory that the Obama administration was covering up a gun-running operation to arm Syrian rebels. In May, Paul speculated on CNN. "I’ve actually always suspected that, although I have no evidence, that maybe we were facilitating arms leaving Libya going through Turkey into Syria."

The CNN report offers a nod to that:

The State Department told CNN in an e-mail that it was only helping the new Libyan government destroy weapons deemed "damaged, aged or too unsafe retain," and that it was not involved in any transfer of weapons to other countries.

But the State Department also clearly told CNN, they "can't speak for any other agencies."

On Thursday, House Oversight Committee chair Darrell Issa subpoenaed more State Department documents related to Benghazi. Issa is seeking interviews and documents collected by an independent review board. The initial focus of the Benghazi controversy was who wrote the talking points for then-U.N. ambassador Susan Rice to use on five Sunday shows after the attacks. But as Paul's comments show, the controversy seems to be evolving.

Prisoners escape in Tripoli

By Ashraf Abdul Wahab. Tripoli, 3 August 2013: At many as 18 prisoners managed to escape in Tripoli on Thursday afternoon when a judicial police vehicle was ambushed…