DEBKAfile Special Analysis
June 6, 2009, 11:39 PM (GMT+02:00)
Gloves off, no more legalistic quibbling
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton roughly rejected any secret Bush agreements with Israel on expanding settlements. She meant to have the last word and shut down the Obama administration's settlement freeze argument with Israel. But she only threw fresh fuel on the fire.
It is now a straight issue of word against word, Washington versus Jerusalem's - a dark point from which to restart any peace process.
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IAEA: Accelerated Iranian, Syrian enrichment out of control
DEBKAfile Special Analysis
June 6, 2009, 11:46 PM (GMT+02:00)
Iran's enrichment plant at Natanz
According to the calculations of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency in its new report, Iran will be able to produce one nuclear bomb by the end of this year, doubling that figure in 2010. They do not factor in the product of Iran's clandestine enrichment plants.
The IAEA admits its investigations are stalled both in Iran and Syria, where its inspectors have discovered of new traces of man-made uranium near Damascus.
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Lebanon misuses French surveillance gear to crack alleged Israel spy rings
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
June 3, 2009, 8:43 PM (GMT+02:00)
DEBKAfile's intelligence sources reveal that Lebanon is enabled to crack alleged Israeli spy rings with the help of ultra-sophisticated surveillance equipment recently consigned to Lebanon by French intelligence services. French president Nicolas Sarkozy handed it over against a personal pledge from Lebanese president Michel Suleiman that it would be used exclusively against subversive Syrian and Hizballah targets.
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Hamas fails to kidnap Israeli soldiers in major assault from Gaza
DEBKAfile Special Report
June 8, 2009, 11:45 AM (GMT+02:00)
Israeli helicopters pound Hamas missile squads in Gaza
DEBKAfile's military sources report at least four Palestinians killed after Israeli air force helicopters went into action against Palestinian gunmen who mounted coordinated assaults at several points on the border early Monday, June 8. At least three Palestinian organizations, Hamas, Jihad Islami and Fatah-al Aksa Brigades plus the al Qaeda cell, opened automatic-machine gun-mortar fire on the Nahal Oz sector in the north, the Karni crossing in the center and Nir Oz opposite Khan Younes in the south.
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Fears in Beirut of Hizballah coup after its election defeat
DEBKAfile Special Report
June 8, 2009, 4:28 AM (GMT+02:00)
Saad Hariri triumphant in Beirut
Early Monday, June 8, Saad Hariri announced his 14 March bloc had retained its parliamentary majority of 70 out of 128 seats in Sunday's Lebanese election. A politician close to the Hizballah-led March 8 coalition, which is supported by Syria and Iran, admitted defeat. Both spoke as the votes were still being counted.
DEBKAfile's Middle East sources report Hizballah, although tipped to win, is reported in Beirut to have a backup plan ready to seize power if defeated at the ballot-box. Loss of Lebanon is a major setback for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's chances in Iran's presidential vote Friday.
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Obama kowtows to Damascus while Syria rigs Lebanese poll
DEBKAfile Special Report
June 6, 2009, 12:56 PM (GMT+02:00)
US troops carry coffin on last's terror victim in Mosul
In less than a month after US president Barack Obama renewed sanctions against Syria over the Assad regime's involvement in terrorism and dabbling in weapons of mass destruction, another of his envoys, George Mitchell, is on his way to Damascus to explore the chances of renewed Syrian-Israeli peace talks.
A US military delegation has also been consigned to discuss the expanded flow of terrorists from Syria into Iraq.
None of these actions, any more than the UN nuclear agency's discovery of "man-made uranium particles" near Damascus, has slowed the American dash to thaw relations with Syria.
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Obama reshuffles America's Middle East allies
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis
June 4, 2009, 10:58 PM (GMT+02:00)
During his fast-moving two days stay in the Middle East, crowned by a speech from Cairo to the world's Muslims on June 4, US president Barack Obama pursued some practical politicking behind the scenes, DEBKAfile's regional sources report. His private talks with Saudi King Abdullah and overnight stay in Riyadh June 3 and his conversation with Hosni Mubarak at the presidential Quba palace the next day cemented a new coalition between the US, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, cutting out the special US-Israel relationship.
This dramatic policy change and its ramifications are explored further in the coming DEBKA-Net-Weekly out Friday.
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