US units exiting Iraq deployed in Jordan ready for Syrian attack

US 1st Brigade departs Iraq

As the US completes its final withdrawal from Iraq, American special forces troops have been diverted to positions in Jordan opposite a Syrian tank concentration building up across the kingdom's northern border, DEBKAfile's military and intelligence sources report.

As of last Thursday, as of last Thursday Dec. 8, military convoys, air transports and helicopters have been lifting US troops across the border from Iraq. They have been deployed in position to ward off a possible Syrian invasion in the light of President Bashar Assad's warning that he would set the entire Middle East on fire if the pressure on his regime to step down persisted.

Syria's other neighbors have taken precautions against this contingency but this is the first time US boots have hit the ground directly opposite Assad's army.

The incoming US contingents are disclosed by our sources as having been housed at the King Hussein Air Base of al-Mafraq, 10 kilometers from the Syrian border. US troops were sighted Monday, Dec. 12, building surveillance towers and army posts in the Jordanian villages of Albaej, Zubaydiah and al-Nahdah al-Houshah as well as near the Sarham dam of the Yarmoukh River which runs down the international border between Syria and Jordan.

Three months ago, the Syrian ruler cautioned Jordan's King Abdullah II to stop granting asylum to Syrian military deserters and allowing his country to serve as a conduit for pumping arms to the opposition.

The king was not deterred by this threat. Seen from Damascus, Jordan would be easier to take on militarily that either Turkey or Israel. Saturday, Dec. 12, Jordanian surveillance units confirmed that Syrian armored units were gathering opposite the Jordanian town of Bura Al Hariri.

Iraqi sources report that the American units came from the big Iraqi Ain al-Assad air base in the western province of Al Anbar opposite the Jordanian border. This base is in the process of evacuation as the US military drawdown in Iraq approaches completion. Most of the troops are flown to US bases in the Persian Gulf and Europe.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, when he met US President Barack Obama at the White House Monday, approved the transfer of American contingents from Iraq to Jordan across their common border. Obama was therefore able to state after their talks: "We share the view that when the Syrian people are being killed or are unable to express themselves that's a problem. There's no disagreement there."

By this comment, the White House sought to stress that the Baghdad government is not letting Tehran twist its arms on the Syrian question.

Jewish prophecy suggests Messiah may be coming soon

A medieval Jewish prophecy regarding the coming of Israel's Messiah appears to correspond to the current situation in the Middle East, Israel National News reported at the weekend.

A piece of rabbinic literature known as the Yalkut Shimoni touches on many future scenarios both for the nation of Israel and for the world. In its section on the biblical Book of Isaiah and the prophecies contained therein, a rabbi cited by the Yalkut Shimoni states:

"In the year in which the Messiah-King appears, all the nations of the world are provoking each other. The King of Persia provokes an Arab king and the Arab king turns to Aram for advice."

That description closely mirrors Iran's defiant nuclear program and the tension it is creating with Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia. But what happens next? According to the Yalkut Shimoni:

"The King of Persia goes back and destroys the entire world. And all the nations of the world are in panic and distress and they fall upon their faces and are seized with pains like those of a woman giving birth..."

A recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran is working on nuclear weapons and that it could probably field such weapons in no more than a year's time. That means diplomatic efforts have failed, and barring a dangerous preemptive strike by Israel and/or America, Iran will obtain nuclear weapons.

Many in the West are now focusing their efforts on downplaying the dangers of a nuclear Iran. They argue that just as the Soviet Union did not use its nuclear weapons against the West, so, too, will Iran show restraint. But such commentaries fail to take into account the deeply ingrained religious ideology of those who rule Iran, who see themselves as the instruments of Allah in ushering in a new golden age for Islam.

What does all this mean for Israel, assuming the Yalkut Shimoni is accurate? The text reads:

"...and Israel are in panic and distress and asking 'where shall we go? Where shall we go?,' and He says to them 'my sons, do not fear; all that I have done, I have done only for you. Why are you afraid? Do not fear, your time of redemption has come, and the final redemption is not like the first redemption, because the first redemption was followed by sorrow and servitude under other kingdoms, but the final redemption is not followed by sorrow and servitude under other kingdoms."

Israel is indeed already showing signs of that panic and distress. Over the past month, Israel has been engaged in tense public debate over whether or not to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, and newspaper spreads have detailed what could happen to the Jewish state both if it attacks and if it does not. Meanwhile, Israel's Home Front Command has been practicing for a massive unconventional missile barrage on Tel Aviv.

It is not known who exactly compiled the Yalkut Shimoni, but the oldest surviving copy dates to around 1310 AD. Many of the rabbis quoted in the Yalkut Shimoni lived far earlier, during the Talmudic era in the first and second centuries AD.

Israel Today Magazine

Iran must chose between a bomb or survival: Israel

A senior Israeli cabinet minister on Monday said Iran must be forced to face an existential question over its nuclear drive: choose between getting an atomic bomb, or survival.

"We believe that in order to stop the Iranian military nuclear project, the regime in Tehran should face a dilemma -- whether to have a bomb or to survive," Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon told reporters in Jerusalem.

Yaalon said however it was for the international community, rather than Israel, to apply what he called an "achievable" policy.

"We prefer that the international community led by the United States will bring about this dilemma in order to convince the regime to give up its military nuclear programme," he said, stressing the need for political isolation and economic sanctions aimed at the banking and oil sectors.

Israel and much of the international community fear that Iran's nuclear programme masks a drive for a weapons capability.

Tehran denies any such ambition and says the programme is for peaceful civilian energy and medical purposes only.

"Our policy is very clear -- by one way or another, the military nuclear project in Iran should be stopped," Yaalon said, indicating it "might be 12 months, might be 24 months" until Iran was able to reach a military nuclear capability.

Israel has pushed Washington and the European Union for tough sanctions against Tehran, but has repeatedly warned it would not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.

Yaalon, a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inner circle of eight ministers, also reiterated the line that while a military option was still on the table, as "the last resort."

He declined to comment on what was behind a deadly explosion at a Iranian military base near Tehran last month, which a top Israeli intelligence official reportedly said was a site where ground-to-ground missiles were being developed.

"They had some blow to the missiles project in the last incident in which a missile site absorbed a significant blow -- especially regarding long-range missiles," Yaalon said.

Media reports have suggested the blast was part of a covert effort by the United States, Israel and other states to disable Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.

Last month, the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency said it had "credible" information Iran was carrying out "activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device."

Breitbart

'Iran to reverse-engineer, mass produce US drone'

Iran will reverse-engineer the US drone it captured on December 4, Iran's Press TV quoted a senior Iranian official as saying Sunday.

Parviz Sorouri, member of the Majlis Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, said that his country will "mass produce" the drones in the near future. He also said that the Iranian version would be "of higher quality" than the original RQ-170 Sentinel, according to the Press TV report.

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Souriri added that decryption of the drone was in its final stages and that soon Iran would be in posession of confidential US information.

The advanced US drone was reportedly flying a mission over western Afghanistan when it entered Iranian airspace and was intercepted.


“After it entered the eastern parts of the country, this aircraft fell into the trap of our armed forces and was downed in Iran with minimum damage,” said Revolutionary Guards Commander Ali Hajizadehhe upon the drone's capture December 4.

“With God’s help, we were able to bring down one of America’s most advanced planes... with minimal damage,” he told the semi-official FARS news agency.

Sourouri also claimed that Iran had developed advanced capabilities in countering electronic warfare, stating that that these contributed to the identification and distruption of the US electronic system.

Last Thursday Iran’s state television published pictures and a video of a drone the Iranian military claimed it had shot down with an American flag hanging from it.

The RQ-170 Sentinel, built by Lockheed Martin, was first employed by the US Air Force in December 2009. It has a full-motion video sensor that was used this year by US intelligence to monitor al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan ahead of the raid that killed him.


Jerusalem Post

Abbas raises Palestinian flag at UNESCO

The Palestinian flag was raised at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris Tuesday, in a ceremony attended by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

The Palestinian leader was also to hold talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The flag-raising ceremony at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization takes place at noon local time. Abbas was scheduled to give a press conference afterwards.

UNESCO members voting by an overwhelming majority to admit Palestine as the agency's 195th member state on October 31.

The previous month Abbas had applied for full UN membership. That application is still pending at the UN Security Council.


The UNESCO vote triggered a funding crisis at the organization.

The United States, which opposed Palestinian membership, suspended its UNESCO funding, saying its laws barred it from funding a UN agency that made a Palestinian state a full member. Israel also suspended its contributions.


Haaretz

Belgium attack ,Gunman kills three, then himself, citizens running from scene

Netanyahu calls urgent meeting after rightists attack IDF base

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an emergency discussion with Israeli defense officials on Tuesday, following an attack by right-wing activists on an IDF base in the West Bank.

"The situation is intolerable," Netanyahu said at the opening of the discussion. "We must take care of these rioters with a firm hand. We will not tolerate a situation in which IDF officers and soldiers are attacked and distracted from protecting Israeli citizens."

Early Tuesday morning, some 50 settlers and right-wing activistsentered a West Bank military base and threw rocks, burned tires, and vandalized military vehicles. An IDF officer was lightly wounded as a result of the rock-throwing.

In addition to the attack on the IDF base, right-wing activists blocked a main West Bank road and threw stones at passing Palestinian vehicles and IDF soldiers in the area.

Around 100 right-wing activists and settlers came to the area of the base before 50 of them entered the base, according to the IDF spokesman.

The youths were repelled by security forces. No arrests were made.

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak harshly condemned the attack, with Barak saying the actions carried "an air of self-made terrorism."

Netanyahu instructed Israeli security forces to act decisively against right-wing activists and Barak said he is determined to put a stop to such actions and instructed IDF forces to use all means necessary to find the perpetrators.

Moreover, prominent settler leaders as well as right-wing lawmakers also denounced the attack.

Yesha Council chairman Danny Dayan said the attack was an "inappropriate, shameful, and ungrateful" act and called on the perpetrators to turn themselves in.

Rightist group Im Tirtzu also condemned the attack and called to punish those responsible. "We call for the investigation and severe punishment of those people who adopted the ways of Arab terrorists and activists from the extreme left," a statement said.

Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon described Tuesday night’s events as “terrorism.”

“The violent acts last night in Judea and Samaria are acts of terror,” he said.

Meanwhile, MK Yaakov Katz, chairman of the National Union, also condemned the attack, saying “anyone who harms the IDF, its soldiers and officers, is not related to settlers, but in fact wants to harm them.”

Haaretz