MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

And into the hands of Islamists. It’s a no-win situation with Syria.  If Assad remains in power, Syria’s alliance with Israel’s arch enemies in Iran, Lebanon and Gaza will continue and remain as strong as ever.  If his grip begins to crumble even further and his fall is all but certain, like a wounded animal cornered in a fight-or-flight stratagem Assad may decide to go down with one final ‘hurrah’, a ‘blaze of glory’ as it were and an outcome that we could only begin to imagine. And as we have seen time and again after each and every overthrow, the Islamists will surely seek to devour all that remains …

“Hillary Clinton has urged the Syrian opposition to build a society that is free of the ‘whims of a dictator’.

The US Secretary of State spoke after meeting six members of the Syrian National Council, an exile group seeking to end the 41-year rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his late father.

She also urged the group to respect the rule of law and minority rights: ‘Obviously, a democratic transition includes more than removing the Assad regime.

‘It means setting Syria on the path of the rule of law and protecting the universal rights of all citizens, regardless of sect or ethnicity or gender.’

She added: ‘The Syrian opposition that is represented here recognises that Syria’s minorities have legitimate questions and concerns about their future.

‘They need to be assured that Syria will be better off under a regime of tolerance and freedom that provides opportunity and respect and dignity on the basis of…consent rather than the whims of a dictator.’

Clinton’s meeting with the opposition comes after the United States announced it would be sending its ambassador to Syria back to Damascus after he was recalled in October.

A senior Obama administration official confirmed Robert Ford would be returning after the administration argued that his presence was important for advancing US policy goals and serving as a witness to the ongoing violence there.” Read more.

Flashback: Syria’s Choice: Murderous Secular Regime or Islamic Fundamentalists – “As Syrian dictator Bashar Assad continues to slaughter his people, there are growing indications that the Islamists are increasing their efforts to replace his regime. What started as a secular Facebook revolution against the Assad regime is now beginning to look more like a jihad [holy war] led by Muslim fundamentalists. The Muslim Brotherhood is clearly seeking to hijack the anti-Assad protests, in both the political and military fields. In the past few months, there have been many signs of a ‘return to Islam’ in Syrian society.” Read more.

By CAROLINE B. GLICK – “With vote tallies in for Egypt’s first round of parliamentary elections in it is abundantly clear that Egypt is on the fast track to becoming a totalitarian Islamic state. The first round of voting took place in Egypt’s most liberal, cosmopolitan cities. And still the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists received more than 60 percent of the vote. Run-off elections for 52 seats will by all estimates increase their representation.

And then in the months to come, Egyptian voters in the far more Islamist Nile Delta and Sinai will undoubtedly provide the forces of jihadist Islam with an even greater margin of victory.

Until the US-supported overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt served as the anchor of the US alliance system in the Arab world. The Egyptian military is US-armed, US-trained and US-financed.

The Suez Canal is among the most vital waterways in the world for the US Navy and the global economy.

Due to Mubarak’s commitment to stemming the tide of jihadist forces that threatened his regime, under his rule Egypt served as a major counter-terror hub in the US-led war against international jihad.

GIVEN EGYPT’S singular importance to US strategic interests in the Arab world, the Obama administration’s response to the calamitous election results has been shocking. Rather than sound the alarm bells, US President Barack Obama has celebrated the results as a victory for ‘democracy.’

Rather than warn Egypt that it will face severe consequences if it completes its Islamist transformation, the Obama administration has turned its guns on the first country that will pay a price for Egypt’s Islamic revolution: Israel. Read more…

By Khaled Abu Toameh – “The Obama Administration is making a mistake by endorsing the Muslim Brotherhood as if it were made up of moderates or ‘good guys’ just because they are not blowing things up.

What moderate Arabs and Muslims do not understand is the rush of the Barack Obama Administration to endorse extremist Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood decision to run in the parliamentary elections under the banner of ‘Freedom and Justice’ does not necessarily mean that the organization has changed its ideology.

Its credo was and remains: ‘Allah is our objective, the Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader, jihad is our way and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.’

The organization believes the Quran and Sharia law (the ‘Justice’ part of ‘Freedom and Justice’) should be the basis for any Islamic government; that all Muslims should be unified under a Caliphate, and that its principles include ‘liberating Arabs and Muslims from foreign imperialism.’

The Obama Administration seems deliberately to want to be unaware of ‘taqiyya’ [dissimulation], a silent and therefore even more dangerous tactic advocated in Islam to achieve the strategic goal of soothing the infidels into submitting without their even realizing what they have submitted to until it is too late for them — called ‘Stealth Sharia.’

If anyone thinks that the Muslim Brotherhood will abandon jihad and extremism once its members come to power, they are living in an illusion. Read more…

By Con Coughlin – “An order from Gen Mohammed Ali Jaafari, the commander of the guards, raised the operational readiness status of the country’s forces, initiating preparations for potential external strikes and covert attacks.

Western intelligence officials said the Islamic Republic had initiated plans to disperse long-range missiles, high explosives, artillery and guards units to key defensive positions.

The order was given in response to the mounting international pressure over Iran’s nuclear programme. Preparation for a confrontation has gathered pace following last month’s report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna that produced evidence that Iran was actively working to produce nuclear weapons.

The Iranian leadership fears the country is being subjected to a carefully co-ordinated attack by Western intelligence and security agencies to destroy key elements of its nuclear infrastructure.

Recent explosions have added to the growing sense of paranoia within Iran, with the regime fearing it will be the target of a surprise military strike by Israel or the US.

Its ballistic missile programme suffered a major setback on Nov 12 after an explosion at the regime’s main missile testing facility at Bidganeh, about 30 miles west of Tehran.

At least 17 people died, including Gen Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the head of Iran’s missile research programme.

The IAEA report said Iranian scientists had worked to develop a missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Security analysts described Iran’s missile advances as ‘a turning point’ that had ‘profound strategic implications’.

Last week another mysterious explosion caused significant damage to Iran’s uranium conversion facility at Isfahan.

‘It looks like the 21st century form of war,’ said Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Washington think tank, told the Los Angeles Times. ‘It does appear that there is a campaign of assassinations and cyber war, as well as the semi-acknowledged campaign of sabotage.’

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s spiritual leader, issued a directive to the heads of all the country’s military, intelligence and security organisations to take all necessary measures to protect the regime.” Read more.

By Gil Ronen – “A senior US State Department official said Monday that ‘strong steps’ need to be taken against Iran’s nuclear program urgently. The statement is arguably the toughest yet made by the Obama administration on the subject.

‘Iran is violating international obligations and norms. It is becoming a pariah state,’ Robert Einhorn, the State Department senior adviser for non-proliferation and arms control, told reporters in the South Korean capital.

‘The situation in Iran has become more and more worrisome,’ Reuters quoted Einhorn as saying. ‘The timeline for its nuclear program is beginning to get shorter, so it is important we take these strong steps on an urgent basis.

‘If we do not, pressures will grow for much stronger actions. The US favors a diplomatic solution, but if we cannot achieve a diplomatic solution soon, inevitably interests will grow in a different kind of solution. That is why we need to act soon.'” Read more.

Argentina flirts with Iran as West watches nervously – “Argentina is quietly reaching out to Iran, worrying key Western powers and Israel as they try to tighten Tehran’s international isolation over its nuclear program, UN diplomats told Reuters… Iran has every reason to want to mend relations with Argentina. Under sanctions and increasingly isolated due to its nuclear program, Tehran has few allies and needs friends. Argentina is also on the 35-nation board of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, where Iran’s nuclear program is a key issue… Several European diplomats noted that [Argentine President] Fernandez is a close ally of regional leftists like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Bolivia’s Evo Morales, who have warm ties with Iran.” Read more.

Flashback: ‘A World Without America’: Iran Building Rocket Bases in Venezuela to be Used Against ‘Iran’s Enemies’ – “The Iranian government is moving forward with the construction of rocket launch bases in Venezuela, the German daily Die Welt wrote in its Friday edition. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is Teheran’s most important South American ally. Iran is building intermediate- range missile launch pads on the Paraguaná Peninsula, and engineers from a construction firm – Khatam al-Anbia – owned by the Revolutionary Guards visited Paraguaná in February. Amir al-Hadschisadeh, the head of the Guard’s Air Force, participated in the visit, according to the report. Die Welt cited information from ‘Western security insiders.’” Read more.