Jerusalem News (28 January, 2015, 8 Shevet, 5775)
Contents:
1. The Real Fight Against ISIS Begins in Saudi Arabia by Tarek Fatah
2. 'Obama army' deploys to Tel Aviv to topple Netanyahu
After White House snubbed PM to 'avoid influencing election'
by Aaron Klein forwarded by Steve Collins
3. Assad's Secret: Evidence Points to Syrian Push for Nuclear Weapons By Erich FollathÂ
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1. The Real Fight Against ISIS Begins in Saudi Arabia by Tarek Fatah
The Toronto Sun
January 27, 2015
http://www.meforum.org/4995/shame-and-scandal-in-saudi-arabia
Extracts:
There is a disgraceful spectacle unfolding in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in which some of the leading lights of the West are playing the role of medieval court jesters, singing platitudes to tyrants in a demonstration of subservience that shames the rest of us.
Ostensibly, the American, British, French and other European leaders travelled to the medieval monstrosity we call Saudi Arabia to offer condolences to the family of the late King Abdullah.
But the reality is different. They are there because the Saudis have money and oil.
On one hand the West claims it is fighting to destroy Islamic State (ISIS), yet it strengthens its ties with the very people who have spent an estimated $100 billion to spread Wahhabism, the foundational Islamist creed of ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaida, Boko Haram and the Taliban.
The West is strengthening ties with the very people who have spent an estimated $100 billion spreading the foundational Islamist creed of ISIS.
How such statesmen and personalities of the free world as President Barack Obama, Prince Charles, French President Francois Hollande, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and the Archbishop of Canterbury could be taken in by the Saudis is mind-boggling.
But the hypocrisy and chicanery of Western leaders has not gone unnoticed.
Alastair Crooke the former MI-6 agent and author of the book, Resistance: The Essence of Islamic Revolution, has been trying to educate Western Liberals.
Writing in the Huffington Post, Crooke says, "You Can't Understand ISIS If You Don't Know the History of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia."
Saying there is little difference between the Saudis the West supposedly admires and the Islamic State (ISIS) it is fighting, the former MI6 agent explains his argument by citing a historic slaughter the Saudis and their ISIS-like allies of the time committed:
Their (Saudi) strategy like that of ISIS todayy was to bring the peoples whom they conquered into suubmission. They aimed to instill fear ...
In 1801, the Allies (Saudis and Wahhabis) attacked the Holy City of Karbala in Iraq. They massacred thousands of Shiites, including women and children ... A British official, Lieutenant Francis Warden, observing the situation at the time, wrote: 'They pillaged the whole of it (Karbala) ... slaying in the course of the day, with circumstances of peculiar cruelty, above 5,000 of the inhabitants...'
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2. 'Obama army' deploys to Tel Aviv to topple Netanyahu
After White House snubbed PM to 'avoid influencing election'
 http://www.wnd.com/files/2012/09/Aaron-Klein_avatar.jpg
 Aaron Klein
forwarded by Steve Collins <scollins@sio.midco.net>
TEL AVIV. Â A consulting firm almost entirely composed of former staffers of President Obama's re-election campaign has been hired to run an election effort in Israel aimed at defeating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Extracts:
The conservative blogosphere is reporting Jeremy Bird, national field director for Obama's 2012 campaign, is now working for a new non-profit group, V15, that is running an effort to defeat Netanyahu in the upcoming election.
A closer look at Bird's consulting firm as well as its working relationship with the Israeli groups finds he is just one of scores of former senior Obama election campaign staffers now working on the anti-Netanyahu effort.
Last week, the Obama White House rejected an opportunity to meet with Netanyahu in March when he is in Washington to address a joint meeting of Congress, saying it didn't want to influence the Israeli elections. The White House criticized House Speaker John Boehner for inviting Netanyahu, accusing him of 'breaking protocol.'
The left-leaning Haaretz daily in Israel reported V15 is 'trying to replace Israel's government' and cause 'nothing less than an electoral upset' in elections here in March.
Haaretz reporter Roy Arad writes that he directly asked V15 founder Nimrod Dweck whether his group's goal was 'anyone but Bibi,' referring to Netanyahu by his popular nickname.
Dreck replied: 'We say 'replace the government,' it's not directed at specific individuals. There have been many years of right-wing governments during which little happened, it's time to change course and give people hope.'
V15, or 'Victory 2015' is backed by a U.S.-U.K. group called 'One Voice,' whose official Tel Aviv offices are adjacent to those of V15.
One Voice bills itself as an 'international grassroots movement that amplifies the voice of mainstream Israelis and Palestinians.'Â It has a clearly leftist tone.
One Voice put out a press release Tuesday that was decidedly anti-Netanyahu.
'We believe that it's critical that the majority of Israelis who are concerned about the numerous security and socio-economic challenges we face have their voices heard in the next election,' said OneVoice Israel's executive director, Polly Bronstein.
'We need a prime minister and a government who will be responsive to the people.'
The release announced that OneVoice Israel and V15 'are working with premier grassroots consulting firm 270 Strategies to leverage the most cutting-edge mobilization techniques.'
270 Strategies is led by Bird [i.e. Jeremy Bird, national field director for Obama's 2012 campaign] who was described in the Haaretz articles as V15's 'secret campaign weapon'
Haaretz reported Bird has arrived in Tel Aviv with a team of four consultants 'that will try to channel the energies of V15 into an organized methodology.'
Part of the strategy includes a door-knocking campaign as well as a social media blitz.
While the conservative blogosphere focused largely on Bird's role, WND has found that his firm, which was hired for the V15 campaign, is composed of scores of former Obama campaign employees.
270 Strategies' team of 45 staffers includes 16 who worked directly for Obama's campaigns.
Most of the former Obama staffers comprise the senior posts at the firm. Others worked for the Democratic Party, the Democratic National Committee or grassroots groups involved in progressive efforts, including a group to enroll Americans in Obamacare.
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3. Assad's Secret: Evidence Points to Syrian Push for Nuclear Weapons By Erich FollathÂ
DER SPIEGEL January 09, 2015 - 09:20 PM
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/evvidence-points-to-syria-still-working-on-a-nuclear-weapon-a-1012209.html
Extracts:
For years, it was thought that Israel had destroyed Syria's nuclear weapons capability with its 2007 raid on the Kibar complex. Not so. New intelligence suggests that Bashar al-Assad is still trying to built the bomb. And he may be getting help from North Korea and Iran. At 11 p.m. on Sept. 5, 2007, 10 F-15 fighter bombers climbed into the sky from the Israeli military base Ramat David, just south of Haifa. They headed for the Mediterranean Sea, officially for a training mission. A half hour later, three of the planes were ordered to return to base while the others changed course, heading over Turkey toward the Syrian border. There, they eliminated a radar station with electronic jamming signals and, after 18 more minutes, reached the city of Deir al-Zor, located on the banks of the Euphrates River. Their target was a complex of structures known as Kibar, just east of the city. The Israelis fired away, completely destroying the factory using Maverick missiles and 500 kilogram bombs. The pilots returned to base without incident and Operation Orchard was brought to a successful conclusion.
In Jerusalem, then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his closest advisors were in a self-congratulatory mood, convinced as they were that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was seeking to build a nuclear weapon and that Kibar was the almost-completed facility where that construction was to take place. They believed that their dangerous operation had saved the world from immense harm. But they also wanted to prevent the situation from escalating, which is why they didn't even inform the US of their plan prior to the bombing run. Olmert only called Washington once the operation had been completed.
Orchard was also to remain secret in Israel so as to avoid anything that smacked of triumphalism. Nor did they want it to become known that North Korean nuclear experts had been spotted in Deir al-Zor helping out with the construction of the reactor. They hoped to provide Assad an opportunity to play down the incident and to abstain from revenge attacks. And that is in fact what happened. ...
 The public at the time did not learn what had really taken place.
Now, secret information obtained by SPIEGEL indicates that the world is once again being misled by Assad. Syria's dictator has not given up his dream of an atomic weapon and has apparently built a new nuclear facility at a secret location. It is an extremely unsettling piece of news.
According to IAEA research, Syria possesses up to 50 tons of natural uranium, enough material for three to five bombs once the enrichment procedure is completed. The Institute for Science and International Security in Washington D.C. likewise has strong indications for the existence of such stockpiles and expressed its concern in September 2013. "This large stock of natural uranium metal poses nuclear proliferation risks," the institute wrote. "It could be obtained by organizations such as Hezbollah or al-Qaida or undeclared nuclear programs of states such as Iran."
According to findings of Western intelligence agencies, however, the situation is much more explosive than previously assumed. Based on documents that SPIEGEL has in its possession, the agencies are convinced that Assad is continuing in his efforts to build the bomb. Analysts say that the Syrian atomic weapon program has continued in a secret, underground location. According to information they have obtained, approximately 8,000 fuel rods are stored there. Furthermore, a new reactor or an enrichment facility has very likely been built at the site -- a development of incalculable geopolitical consequences. Some of the uranium was apparently hidden for an extended period at Marj as-Sultan near Damascus, a site that the IAEA likewise views with suspicion. Satellite images from December 2012 and February 2013 show suspicious activity at Marj as-Sultan.
The facility, located not far from a Syrian army base, had become the focal point of heavy fighting with rebels. Government troops had to quickly move everything of value. They did so, as intelligence officials have been able to reconstruct, with the help of Hezbollah, the radical Shiite "Party of God" based in Lebanon. The well-armed militia, which is largely financed by Iran, is fighting alongside Assad's troops. Intercepted Conversations Intelligence agency findings indicate that the material was moved to a well-hidden underground location just west of the city of Qusayr, not even two kilometers from the border with Lebanon. They managed the move just in time. Marj as-Sultan ultimately did fall to the rebels, but has since been retaken by government troops.
In the spring of 2013, the region around Qusayr saw heavy fighting. But the area surrounding the project in the mines was held, despite heavy losses suffered by elite Hezbollah units stationed there. ...
 the clearest proof that it is a nuclear facility comes from radio traffic recently intercepted by a network of spies. A voice identified as belonging to a high-ranking Hezbollah functionary can be heard referring to the "atomic factory" and mentions Qusayr. The Hezbollah man is clearly familiar with the site. And he frequently provides telephone updates to a particularly important man: Ibrahim Othman, the head of the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission. The Hezbollah functionary mostly uses a codename for the facility: "Zamzam,"....Work performed at the site by members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard is also mentioned in the intercepted conversations. The Revolutionary Guard is a paramilitary organization under the direct control of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. It controls a large part of the Iranian economy and also plays a significant role in Iran's own nuclear activities. ... Experts are also convinced that North Korea is involved in Zamzam as well.
... And experts believe that the new nuclear facility could never have been built without North Korean know-how. The workmanship exhibited by the fuel rods likewise hints at North Korean involvement.
 IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis Website: www.imra.org.il