Selected Articles: Middle East Update. Syria, Iraq, Israel and Turkey.
Turkey Drags NATO into Quagmire as Iraq Threatens Military Retaliation
By Sputnik, January 02 2016
Iraq’s readiness to take military action against Turkey if Ankara fails to withdraw its troops from Iraqi territory has increased the possibility of NATO involvement on the side of Turkey and its territorial ambitions, reported the German press on Thursday.
Israel Bans Novel Featuring Palestinian-Jewish Romance, Threatens ‘Jewish Identity’
By Philip Weiss, January 02 2016
Israel takes another step down a very dark path. Here is the news from Haaretz today: Israel Bans Novel on Arab-Jewish Romance From Schools for ‘Threatening Jewish Identity’ Israel’s Education Ministry has disqualified a novel that describes a love story…
Syria is the Middle East’s Stalingrad
By Andre Vltchek, January 02 2016
Day and night, for years, an overwhelming force has been battering this quiet nation, one of the cradles of human civilization. Hundreds of thousands have died, and millions have been forced to flee abroad or have been internally displaced.
Video: Strategic Advance of SAA Forces against ISIS Rebels in Southern Syria, Supported by Russian Air Strikes
By South Front, December 31 2015
In Dara’a province, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the National Defense Forces (NDF) with the Russian Air Forces’ support are advancing in the town of Sheikh Miskeen clashing with the Free Syrian Army’s “Southern Front Brigades”.
Israel and Its Lobby Lose the Iran Deal All over Again, in News of Damning Wiretaps
By James North and Philip Weiss, January 01 2016
The Wall Street Journal scoop [tells us] that the Obama administration spied on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu during the Iran Deal negotiations so as to counter his efforts to sink it. The wiretaps reveal that Israeli officials were up to their necks in the US political process; they “coordinated talking points with Jewish-American groups against the deal; and asked undecided lawmakers what it would take to win their votes, according to current and former officials familiar with the intercepts.”