Although Israeli Defense Minister Barak was specifically told not to ‘negotiate’ with the US during his stay in Washington DC this week, and although there were no official ‘negotiations’, it is clear that negotiations took place. What a surprise.

Today our Defense Secretary Gates stood with Defense Minister Barak … and of course we all know that in diplomatic language “War” is translated as “Defense”… answering questions from the cadre of Pentagon reporters.

Barak enunciated Israel’s part of the deal this way: (more…)

A one-line piece of information today from a primary source of breaking news about Israeli and the Middle East:

“Obama unexpectedly joins White House conversation between defense minister Ehud Barak and NSA James Jones Monday.”
— Debka File

That is so very curious. Because Barak was specifically disallowed by Israeli President Netanyahu to negotiate for the Israeli government during his week-long visit to Washington DC… quite an odd thing in itself. Especially since Barak and US Special Envoy George Mitchell met in the El Al visitor’s lounge at Ben Gurion airport in Israel before the two of them flew to Washington together… another sort of rare event. Alone, these things make one wonder what is going on.

So we have these curious elements…. (more…)

Breaking news further down in this post as it came in.

The official US position is that scud missiles, used by Iraq in the Gulf war with some success, and originally developed by Russia as a carrier of nuclear weapons, have not been transferred from Syria to Lebanon. Our spokesmen say, essentially, ‘we would have seen them’ if the transfer had taken place.

Why are we mentioning them at all? Because there is a great deal of talk that such a transfer has taken place. Or is about to take place. (more…)

The potential for a catastrophic war is certainly present in the Middle East. But it is not certain. Everything could calm down for an extended time before things heat up to the boiling point. We might have to wait for weeks, months… years. Or it could all go south tomorrow. Or a few minutes from now.

I just want to encourage my friends… and I consider you my friend if you read this blog with a good heart… not to become weary with doing good.

If you have stored provisions against disaster, you have done a good work. (more…)

Crux - an essential point requiring resolution or resolving an outcome.

High ranking Deputy Defense Secretary Michele Flournoy, speaking in Singapore at a policy news conference, said today that “…the US has ruled out a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program any time soon….. Military force is an option of last resort. It is off the table in the near term.”

Shortly after that announcement which surely has the imprimatur of Hillary Clinton, a Pentagon spokesman contradicted Ms. Flournoy. But the cat is out of the bag. The real US official position is clearly to rely solely on whatever weak sanctions can be wrangled out of the United Nations.

That leaves Israel holding the bag, the one full of Iranian nuclear power and/or weapons. The distancing of the United States from Israel is essentially complete. If they perform a surgical strike, (more…)

Reported in Middle East media from Jerusalem to Tehran, the deputy research chief and Secretary-General of Iran’s atomic energy department said today that Iran will ‘join the global nuclear club’ within one month. The official Iranian new agency went on to report he said that “no country would ever think about attacking Iran” once the nuclear threshold has been crossed.

Seems to me that the window for a first strike from Israel or the United States against Iranian nuclear facilities is almost closed. I doubt that the Obama administration has any intent to make that strike. The question is whether the Israelis will shoot the dice, with or without America’s tacit approval. They know it is dangerous, will create world censure, and might not work. But do they think they have any option but to try?

As I write this, I see that Kayhan, Iran’s state-run newspaper, has published a glaring statement that  “If the US strikes Iran with nuclear weapons, there are elements which will respond with nuclear blasts in the centers of America’s main cities.”

Clearly, Iran has not ruled out a US first strike. And apparently they’re claiming they already have dirty bombs secreted in cities in the US. Not good. But my guess is the Obama administration will just deny the possibility and sweep it under the rug. If we don’t believe it, it doesn’t exist.

I see that I need to top off some of our food supplies to be at maximum levels. I think I’ll go do that.

Physical Gold

Buying gold for whatever happens in the future?

Might want to think again. Unless you take physical delivery of your gold, you might be in for a surprise.

Interesting post says actual gold held by institutions are a tiny fraction… 1 to 10 percent… of what they have sold to people. Looks like unless you actually have it in hand, you may not get it if you ask for it. I can’t vouch for this information. But it’s something to consider.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/latest-gold-fraud-bombshell-canadas-only-bullion-bank-gold-vault-practically-empty

If you are thinking of having gold around in case of a disaster, rings of ‘junk gold’ - minimum karat, say 8 or 10 - seems to be a reasonable medium for trade. In those circumstances, higher value gold of 18-24 karat can’t get it’s real value, because there are no easy ways to test it, and everyone is suspected of scamming. So everything is assumed to be junk gold, and the exchange is based on the lowest value. And woe be to him who tries to pass off plated gold as solid. That test is easy, and the consequences could be very great.

A few posts back I wrote that it would be wise to keep an eye on Oil. That I thought the price would keep edging up slowly if the big boys think it may be about time for a confrontation in the Middle East that could close the Strait of Hormuz and send oil prices skyrocketing.

Today oil was at $86.66 when the US market closed. That level has not been seen since October, 2008. It continues on its steady climb. You may be seeing some of the results of that at the gas pump. (more…)

The United States apparently fired a nuclear-capable Trident in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia last week. (more…)