MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : LOOKING INTO OBAMA’S/BIDEN’S BRAINS !
MIDDLE EAST POLICY FROM TRUMP TO BIDEN: VIEWS FROM INSIDE THE STATE DEPARTMENT’S NEAR EAST BUREAU
Featuring David Schenker and Robert Satloff 16 March 2021
Policy Forum Transcript March 2021 – The recently departed assistant secretary in charge of the Middle East portfolio discusses his time in office and how the region’s challenges and opportunities are evolving at the start of the Biden administration.
On March 10, The Washington Institute hosted a virtual conversation between executive director Robert Satloff and senior fellow David Schenker, who recently rejoined the organization after serving in the State Department. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS Opinion: Israel needs to offer a strategic umbrella to Gulf states
The Gulf states, Turkey and Egypt understand that the US is not expected to go to war with Iran. It means a Middle Eastern nuclear arms race. An Israeli strategic umbrella may moderate it
Ami Rojkes Dombe | 15/03/2021 ISRAEL DEFENSE – The rise of Biden to power and the lack of will and ability by Israel or the US to destroy the Iranian nuclear program by a military operation during Trump’s term turned back the clock from Israel’s standpoint. It means that the US is headed toward an agreement with Iran, including the partial or complete lifting of sanctions, the strengthening of Iran’s economy, and zero chance for US military action against Iran or support for such action by Israel.
Also, it is possible that the Mossad’s activity in Iran will be restricted by US pressure. In such a reality, Israel is left with three main courses of action. First, continued collection of intelligence on the nuclear program in order to diplomatically influence the US and Europe. Second, prevention of a nuclear arms race by the Gulf states, Turkey and Egypt. Third, updating the perception of nuclear deterrence of Iran.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS “AFTER TRUMP!” : Biden Is Targeting Longstanding Alliances with Israel and Saudi Arabia to Curry Favor with Iran
By Dr. Frank MusmarMarch 15, 2021 ISRAEL – BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,966, March 15, 2021
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Biden administration’s targeting of the US’s longstanding alliances with Israel and Saudi Arabia in order to placate Iran is not only immoral but disastrously counterproductive.
The Islamic Republic of Iran appears to have concluded that the eagerness of the new US administration to reengage with it and resuscitate the nuclear deal gives it carte blanche to engage in violent acts of provocation. On February 15, 2021, for example, Tehran launched a missile attack on Erbil’s international airport, killing a contractor and wounding several US personnel and Iraqi civilians. On February 26, Iran attacked the Israeli-owned cargo ship MV Helios Ray in the Persian Gulf.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : NEVER FORGET HALABA 16. MARCH 1988 ! / „DER TOD IST EIN MEISTER AUS DEUTSCHLAND!“
Die deutsche Gaslinie – Kontinuitäten
Proliferation von chemischen Massenvernichtungswaffen nach Irak, Syrien & Libyen. Der deutsche Exportweltmeister als Todeshändler. Von Katharina Raudonat – www.mesop.de
Friedhof für die Opfer von Saddams Giftgasangriff aufs irakisch-kurdische Halabja
Am 21. August jährt sich zum ersten Mal der Chemiewaffenangriff des syrischen Regimes auf Gebiete der Opposition in den Vororten von Damaskus. Es wird an diesem Tag nicht an mahnenden Worten fehlen, die das Geschehene unmissverständlich verurteilen. Gerade in Deutschland wird dies auch immer mit den Hinweisen auf die eigne Geschichte geschehen, die im Hinblick auf chemische Waffen eine besondere Verantwortung bedeute. Vermutlich keine Erwähnung wird allerdings finden, das es deutsche Firmen waren, die maßgeblich Assad und andere Despoten der Region mit der Technik und dem Know-How für die Produktion dieser Waffen ausgerüstet haben. Die niederländische Organisation für das Verbot chemischer Waffen, hat seit Herbst 2013 durch Informationen des syrischen Regimes eine detaillierte Liste erstellt, aus der hervorgeht, das deutsche Firmen zwischen 1983 und 1984 in über fünfzig Lieferungen maßgeblich an der Entwicklung des Chemiewaffenprogramms beteiligt waren. Die Bundesregierung, der diese Liste übergeben wurde, weigert sich bis heute die Namen der Firmen zu nennen, mit der Begründung, dass dies für die Firmen Existenzbedrohend sei.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS INTEL : Israel behind mysterious attacks on Iranian oil tankers, report claims
MARCH 15, 2021 BY JOSEPH FITSANAKIS
THE ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE SERVICES are behind a series of mysterious attacks that have damaged Iranian oil tankers in the past 24 months, according to a new report that cites sources in the international shipping industry. The report, which appeared last week in The Wall Street Journal, cites a number of “shipping professionals” and “regional officials”, but does not name them.
The paper claims that the Israeli government decided to target the Iranian oil tankers after it concluded that Tehran uses the proceeds from oil sales to fund groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Most of the damaged ships were attempting to deliver oil to Syria in violation of a host of international sanctions against Iran, which are led by the United States. Washington appears to be quietly supporting the Israeli attacks on Iranian ships, according to The Wall Street Journal.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS SYRIA : THE MAIN DEVIL IS A WOMAN ! UK Opens War Crimes Investigation of Asma al-Assad
Posted by Scott Lucas | Mar 14, 2021 | EA WORLDVIEW
London’s Metropolitan Police have opened a preliminary investigation into possible war crimes by Asma al-Assad, the British-born wife of Syria’s leader Bashar al Assad.
The investigation is based on a complaint by Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers that Asma al-Assad is among “influential actors” supporting and encouraging terrorism and war crimes, during her husband’s lethal suppression of the Syrian uprising since 2011.
The attorneys told Sky News:
This is an important step in holding senior political officials accountable for their acts and ensuring that a state, through an independent and impartial legal process, takes responsibility for the acts of its own nationals.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS Top of the Agenda : U.S. Confirms Plans for High-Level Meeting With China
– 11. March 2021
The U.S. State Department announced that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will meet (SCMP) with China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and its foreign minister, Wang Yi, in Alaska on March 18. Blinken described the talks as an opportunity to lay out U.S. concerns about China’s actions and said subsequent dialogue is contingent on tangible progress.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS BACKGROUNDER: US, Israel and GCC perspectives on China-MENA relations
MENA Source by Jonathan Fulton, Eyal Propper, and Ahmed Fahmy
Related Experts: Jonathan Fulton
This article is part of a strategic collaboration launched by the Atlantic Council (Washington DC), the Emirates Policy Center (Abu Dhabi), and the Institute for National Security Studies (Tel Aviv). The authors are associated with the initiative’s Working Group on Chinese and Russian Power Projection in the Middle East. The views expressed by the authors are theirs not their institutions’.
Great power competition is increasingly dominating the way in which US-China relations are analyzed. This prospect is a troubling one in regions around the world as it leads to an unappealing binary choice when complex policy problems require a wider set of options and coordination between global powers.
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is one such region, with deep longstanding relations with the United States and growing economic, technological, and development relations with China. This piece summarizes perceptions of China’s growing MENA presence from three vantage points: the US, Israel, and the Gulf monarchies.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS RESEARCH : RESHAPING U.S. FORCE POSTURE IN THE MIDDLE EAST – by Christine McVann
PolicyWatch 3447 March 10, 2021 – Lt. Col. Christine McVann, USAF, is a 2020-21 military fellow at The Washington Institute. The views expressed in this article are her own and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Air Force, the Defense Department, or the U.S. government.
By adjusting carrier rotations, ISR capabilities, headquarters locations, and other key aspects of its posture, the Biden administration can contribute to regional security and self-sufficiency while still shifting toward great-power competition.
On February 4, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that his department would start a global force posture review of America’s military footprint, resources, strategy, and missions. Previously, the Trump administration’s 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) focused on competing with China and Russia as its top priority, and the Pentagon may finally be able to make good on that intention given the current Middle East framework and the Biden administration’s desire to shift focus away from the region.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS ANALYSIS : HOW SHOULD JOE BIDEN RESPOND TO RUSSIA’S MIDDLE EAST STRATEGY?
by Anna Borshchevskaya 19FortyFive March 8, 2021
Washington has prioritized counterterrorism for years and is only now shifting to great-power competition, but Moscow has never lost sight of geopolitics, and its actions in the region should be seen through that lens.
The challenge of Russia in the Middle East may appear a narrow one. And given the strong domestic push to end “forever wars” and withdraw American troops from the Middle East, it would be unrealistic to expect it as a top priority. “More than at any other time in my career—maybe in my lifetime—distinctions between domestic and foreign policy have simply fallen away,” said Tony Blinken in his first major speech as State secretary last week.
In this context, the Biden administration should look at the big picture when it comes to Russia in the Middle East—at Moscow’s overall aims and how they fit with its activities in Europe and the Middle East, as well as Russia’s relationship with China, a country which presents the “biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century” for the U.S. according to Blinken.
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