Beware of a brittle Iran

Posted by Matt in December 10th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Iran, Combustible Mix, Daily Star, Economic Woes, Editorial, End Result, Explosion, inflation, Iran, Lebanon, Middle East, Outrage, Public Discontent, Regime, Strains, Unemployment, Unstable Situation

The danger of continuing this iron-fisted strategy is that it will compound the pre-existing strains on the government, particularly unemployment, inflation and other economic woes. The end result could be a highly combustible mix of public discontent for various reasons – all of it aimed at the regime.
Such an unstable situation would be extremely [...]

The world tires of the Palestinian cause | The Daily Star

Posted by Matt in November 18th, 2009 | 1 comment

Published in Middle East, Arab Country, Arab World, Arabs, Atmosphere, Cairo, Daily Star, Governments, incompetence, Palestinian Cause, Palestinian Leadership, Palestinians, Star World, Tires

The atmosphere in Cairo this week tells us much about the contemporary Arab world’s view of the Palestine cause in relation to domestic issues in every Arab country. Ordinary Arabs and their governments alike seem fed up with the incompetence of the Palestinian leadership, while remaining strongly committed emotionally to the justice and rights of [...]

Israel accuses Hizbullah of massive weapons stockpile

Posted by Matt in November 10th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Israel, Middle East, Anonymity, Armament, Daily Star, Fence, hezbollah, Hizbullah, Israel, Israeli Security Officials, Kilometers, Paradox, Peek, weapons

“Some of [Hizbullah’s weapons] have a range of 300 kilometers and some of them have a range of up to 325 kilometers,” Ashkenazi was quoted as saying by Israeli security officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.
“There is a paradox – on one hand there is calm, but [...]

Israel says Hizbullah ‘amassing weapons’ in civilian homes

Posted by Matt in November 3rd, 2009 | no comment

Published in Middle East, Daily Star, Defense Committee, Foreign Affairs, hezbollah, Hizbullah, International Peacekeeping Troops, Israel, Israel Military, Military Intelligence Chief, Pons, South Lebanon, Unifil, weapons

Israel’s military intelligence chief on Tuesday accused Hizbullah of stockpiling weapons inside civilian homes in south Lebanon, a charge dismissed by current and former UNIFIL officials as either premature or disingenuous. During a briefing with Israel’s foreign affairs and defense committee, Major General Amos Yadlin said that Hizbullah’s arms were proliferating and being stored in [...]

Hizbullah: still strong, getting weaker

Posted by Matt in September 23rd, 2009 | no comment

Published in Middle East, arsenal, Beirut, Daily Star, Electricity Network, Ground War, Hizbullah, Igla, Israel, Israelis, Lebanese Infrastructure, Lebanon, Military Expert, Missiles, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General, Southern Suburbs, Tel Aviv Israel, Willingness

One needn’t be a military expert to grasp that the next war against Israel will be very different for Hizbullah than the last one. By most accounts the party’s arsenal has been upgraded. It may well have anti-aircraft missiles today, some are suggesting the SAM-24 (Igla-S), and the secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has warned [...]

Israel will blame Lebanon for any attacks

Posted by Matt in August 9th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Israel, Assassination Plot, Assassinations, Attempt, Citizens, Consequences, Daily Star, Danny Ayalon, Foreign Minister, Hizbullah, Israel, Israeli Defense, Israeli Radio, Israelis, Lebanon

Israel will hold Lebanon responsible for any attempt to assassinate its citizens abroad, a leading Israeli defense official said on Sunday. Speaking on Israeli Radio, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon warned that Hizbullah would be blamed for any assassination plot, implicating Lebanon itself in any incident. “It is important … to relay this warning to [...]