Syria

The Israeli ground offensive is now well underway, Hezbollah despite the rhetoric and threats of retaliation has not responded, and Hamas is left to its own devices in the Gaza. It raises the question of what is the future of Hamas? Various Israeli representatives, including the Israeli Ambassador to the UN, have gone a [...]

We have been reporting on how Iran may well direct the Arab reaction to the Israeli attacks on the Gaza, and now it appears Syria and Iran are together orchestrating the response. Both Iran and Syria are actively involved in dialog and supplying Hezbollah. Israel needs to be keeping at least one eye on [...]

The US war in Iraq has subtly, but crucially, shifted the balance of power in the Middle East. The ramifications are still playing out, can be seen at work in the Israeli attacks on the Gaza, and may be the single most important policy bungle that costs the West in the coming years. President Bush was, always and [...]

  The Israeli government’s focus seems to be firmly centered on the potential for domestic violence emanating from Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and the worrisome nuclear programs in Iran. While Israel may be focusing on the close to home issues, there is a much more dangerous threat to Israel’s security, and that threat is [...]

  Where there is a will there is a way, allegations are circulating that Venezuela’s President Chavez, has his sticky fingers in the Middle East arms controversy in Syria and Iran. The Italian newspaper, La Stampa, citing intelligence sources reports that the Venezuelan national airline is smuggling missile parts and other sanction-busting technology on its scheduled [...]

  The arrest of the 23 supposed Iraqi security officials alleged to have been in a conspiracy to reestablish Saddam Hussein Baath’s party has been widely reported. Today, they were all released by a judge who said, they cannot be detained  “because they are innocent.”  All charges have been dismissed against the 23 - 19 of [...]

   The Russian foreign policies towards the Middle East are something akin to a multiple personality disorder. They are on one hand the preachers of peace and reconciliation in the region, while they simultaneously shovel as much advanced weaponry and nuclear technology there as they can. The dualism is to a degree understandable. Russia is [...]

Given the hard line approach to relations with Syria that the Bush Administration is taking, one has to assume they are privy to some pertinent information that nobody else knows. It appears that the US, given any potential forum likes to slam Syria’s actions and intents. This runs contrary to the softening of rhetoric [...]

Past actions tend to have a way of catching up with you. In a case of poetic justice today, the US got served notice that its past intelligence errors in relation to Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction, call its current credibility into question. The head inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency bluntly [...]

    Iran has an objective to be the dominant force in the Arab Middle East. To do this, one of the key determinants is to be the leading figurehead in opposition to the US. When President Bush was in power this was relatively easily achieved. Bush’s policies were universally unpopular in the region. It was simple for Iran [...]

There had been hope that US President-Elect Obama’s victory might act as a catalyst for change in the mired Middle East. Reports from Syria this morning may well be evidence that this could be the case. Sami Mubayed often viewed as an official voice of Syria, wrote this morning that Syria would stand down Hamas and [...]

  Iran State Radio today warned the US that its helicopters are flying dangerously close to the Iranian border. This follows on from the US helicopter incursion into Syria last week. Iran said that it will respond immediately to any infringement of its air space. The following statement was released by Iran’s military command “Recently U.S. [...]

It has been a busy few days for Damascus, and for the media that have been following the US attack inside Syria. The US has still not officially confirmed or denied the attack inside the Syrian border that killed 8 people was a US action. Syria however, unlike Pakistan who is subject to similar [...]

  The consequences of the US attack in Syria are beginning to reverberate internationally. The Syrian Foreign Minister, in London for meetings with the British government, cancelled the meetings in outrage. At the same time the British newspaper, The Times, said that the attack should serve as a warning to Syria to cease its relationship [...]

Reports from Damascus are circulating that 4 US helicopters covertly landed 5 miles within Syrian sovereign territory. They dispatched US special services operatives who raided a construction site - the result 8 dead civilians (or alleged insurgents) and whole diplomatic storm. If confirmed, this is the first US attack within Syria (though Israel has done [...]