I said in the previous post that it is possible the recent blowup… verbal blowup… in Israel between VP Biden and Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu could be either on purpose as a charade to distance the US from Israel so that the Israelis could do a military strike on Iran and we could say they did it counter to our telling them not to.

Or the players are just incompetent.

Sadly, it might be the second one.

In an underreported Obama interview with Joe Klein in the January 21 issue of Time Magazine, our President said the most amazing thing. (more…)

The mutual reflections of US and Israeli policy have been the basis for the current peace in the Middle East. As long as both countries had mirror-image stances on Israel’s security, the Iranian nuclear crisis, and the Palestinians… there was a large degree of stability.

Now those mirrors have started to crack. (more…)

Vice President Biden changed the pace of the dance in the Middle East considerably today at Tel Aviv University.

He made a signal speech in which he linked the Iranian nuclear crisis with forming two states out of Israel, one Jewish and one Palestinian.

“We are determined to keep the pressure on Iran so that it will change its course. And as we do, we will also be seeking to improve relations between the Israelis and Palestinians. They are connected indirectly, but there is a relationship. We call on Arab states who share a mutual concern about Iran — we call on Arab states to support the effort to bring peace between Palestinians and the Israelis, and to take their own steps forward for peace with Israel.”

This new stance of the Obama Administration is the first time that the United States has linked the two problems. Now they say that the solution for the Iranian nuclear crisis resides in the solution of the problems between Israel and the Arabs.

What’s the problem with that?

The “Palestinian Question” has been smack dab in the middle of the world’s major problems since before 1948. We are no closer to a solution now than we were in 1948. Perhaps we are actually much further away. And yet the Obama Administration thinks it can orate a solution in a few weeks.

What chutzpah!
(Leo Rosten in The Joys of Yiddish defines chutzpah as “gall, brazen nerve, effrontery, incredible ‘guts,’ presumption plus arrogance such as no other word and no other language can do justice to.”)

The chances of it happening, with the primary parties and other ’stakeholder’ nations all pulling back from the heavy shoving of the United States… are slim at best.

To say that it is a necessary part of the solution for the Iranian nuclear crisis is hitching the Obama Administration’s Middle East policy to a falling star.

It’s going for broke on a 1,000,000 to 1 shot.

I suppose that actually makes sense in a way, though.

If the de facto gasoline sanctions against Iran are not working… and they are not working… then what is there short of a naval blockade or military strike?

Peace in the Middle East. A chimera that has eluded the world for many decades.

Good luck.

Today’s big announcement in the major media is that Royal Dutch Shell and ‘oil-trading giant’ Vitol have suspended gasoline sales to Iran. That news has been met with much applause and patriotic glad tidings. Yea! They’re on our side!

The move by Shell isn’t new. You are just now hearing about these things. Don’t you find that odd?

Truth is, the world’s three largest gasoline suppliers, Vitol, Trafigura and Glencore, have been stopping their sales to Iran beginning late last year. (Why they’re doing it is a matter of conjecture. Its it pressure by the US and allies, or just a businessman’s instinct to get out of the way of big trouble? They aren’t saying.)

But in any event, it is not working. The Chinese’ shadowy gasoline interests… including Shen Hua, their very aggressive oil exploration company that has been making deals all over Africa… have been picking up the slack in gasoline sales to Iran. So have some Dubai traders, who obviously will do pretty much anything for money since their economy collapsed.

The world now knows that ‘harsh sanctions’ on gasoline for Iran obviously will not work. The ’sanctions’ are de facto in place, and it isn’t making a grease spot of difference.

It would take a naval blockade to keep gasoline from Iran.

Are we ready for that?

Vacuum. I love that word, because I can never spell it correctly. It’s always a challenge. I remember there are two same letters, but then I think maybe there are two pairs of same letters.

Apparently the Obama Administration has a similar problem with the word ’sanctions’. Not in spelling the word, but in figuring out what should go into it at the United Nations discussions with the other veto nations.

Instead of the crippling terms promised Israel to keep them from striking Iran, now there are vague references to ’strengthened vigilance’. Oil and gas are off the table. No arms embargo. And even then, China keeps saying, ‘well, I don’t know… too harsh still…’

Poof. (more…)

(Repost — Odd, part of this is missing. Either there was a mistake on this end, which is most likely, or… well, anyway, I will try to recreate it best I can. This is a repost March 6)

I was saying that the Obama Administration was backing down from confronting Iran, and Israel’s Netanyahu Administration seemed to be doing the same, and that Iran was probably not going to start a war, although they have been putting huge amounts of the

(old post continues here)

machinery of war into production and on their front lines. But so has everyone else, and I do mean everyone, including Saudi Arabia.

So, on the surface, it seems that the war that almost was… isn’t going to happen.

But.

There are three factors that could tip the scales at any moment. (more…)

Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing, baby…

… but a dress rehearsal is as good as it gets until the real thing arrives.

So every once in a while, we go through the motions as though it were the real thing. We put on our gear, get the appropriate things out of storage and into action locations.

Most of our First Aid supplies are stored at the proper temperature for long term storage, so we need to put them someplace more at hand during an actual emergency. Some kits go into cars, depending on (more…)

According to KB Mashynostroyeniya, the Russian manufacturer of the IGLA-S man-portable air defense missile system, it is:

“…designed to engage front line aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles and UAVs under direct visibility conditions and in the night time, head-on and tail chase, in background clutter and thermal countermeasures environment. IGLA-S MANPADS is a new-generation system featuring considerably extended firing range and enhanced kill probability against aerial targets and possessing a new quality for this class of systems - high engagement effectiveness against small-size targets like cruise missiles and UAVs.”

Why am I posting this information?

Because according to Israeli sources, the Syrians have given these things to Hizballah in Lebanon.

Israel has warned Syria not to give Hizballah such high value strategic weapons, or Israel would be compelled to strike targets INSIDE SYRIA. (more…)

In an abrupt about face, the Obama Administration has backed off sanctions for Iran.

Hillary Clinton told reporters that the US was no longer fast-tracking any sanctions whatsoever for Iran’s pursuit of nuclear materials.

“We are moving expeditiously and thoroughly in the Security Council, I can’t give you an exact date, but I would assume some time in the next several months,” she said.

It is a deliberate slap in the face to Israel. The US has been promising sanctions on the deepest level of commitment.

Israelis are not taking it lightly. Jerusalem Post comments run from ‘let’s bomb Iran now’ to ‘let’s bomb Iran now.’ Not much of a spread.

Is that the Obama Administration’s plan? To have Israel start a war? Looks like it.

The only other player that could make a difference is the US Congress. There is legislation pending that would force unilateral US sanctions on Iran. Does Obama just want to be forced, so he can throw up his hands and say ‘they made me do it’? How do you feel about that?

Surely, the Iranians now will NEVER back down. They have made the greatest military nation on earth kowtow to their ambitions.

Oil is above $80 again.

Buy food. Get water. Store it.