How are Obama's strategies losing the Middle East? Watch Bret Stephens of the Wall St. Journal, live with Josh Block

Under the presidency of Barack Obama the Islamic State (ISIS) is spreading into Iraq and Gaza, Iran trifles with Obama's nuclear sanctions lifting, and Islamism is growing in global socio-political influence.  Wall St. Journal columnist Bret Stephens analyzed the US' interests under the Obama administration's Middle East policies- in conversation with The Israel Project's Josh Block at Congregation Beth Jacob in Beverly Hills,  Sunday evening June 7, 2015.  

Enjoy some of Mr. Stephen's analysis in 21 minutes of video and 30-minutes of preceding audio from the presentation.  

Exiled Iranian human-rights advocate asks Americans not to remove sanctions against Mullah regime

Exiled Iranian opposition leader, Morad Moallem, likens the nature of the Ayatollahs' regime to the Nazis, Fascists, or Communists. He explains their goals, apocalytpic nature, and strategies for the West to protect the world from them.

Democratic-reformer in exile, Morad Moallem, explains the mentality of the totalitarian power ruling Iran and seeking complete Middle East oil domination, and the defeat of Western resistance to Islamic domination.

Presciently expressed in DemoCast exclusive in 2007

(Under "settings" cog, set playback speed to 1.25)



Filmed days after Boston Marathon bombing at the L.A. Times Festival of Books

Egyptian President Abdel al-Sisi at U.N. denounces Islamism and its enablers; includes Palestine

Egyptian Pres. Abdel Sisi addresses U.N. General Assembly

Egypt’s President Sisi Addresses the United Nations by Mohamed Khairat in Egyptian Streets| September 25, 2014

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi addressed the United Nations General Assembly’s 69th Session, stressing Egypt’s commitment to tackling the “plague” of terrorism while hundreds of supporters stood outside the United Nations in New York.

Upon being called to the podium, the Egyptian President was received with a loud applause from delegates, including world heads of state, of the General Assembly. The applause visibly pleased President Sisi, who immediately acknowledged it by smiling and putting his hands together in a sign of gratitude.




‘A New Egypt’

Minutes after commencing, the President was met with another applause after declaring the intentions of Egyptians to build a “New Egypt.”

“Our aim is to build a new Egypt,” said the President before being interrupted by the clapping of the hall.

“A state that respects the rights and freedoms, honours its duties, and ensures the co-existence of its citizens without exclusion or discrimination. A state that respects and enforces the rule of law, guarantees freedom of opinion for all and ensures freedom of belief and worship to its people. A state that is determined to achieve growth, prosperity, and a promising future that meets the aspirations of its people,” declared the President after silence had returned to the General Assembly.

To attain this promise, the President stressed that the State should respect and enforce the rule of law, guarantee freedom of speech and religion, and work towards the growth and prosperity of the country.

At the start of his speech, President Sisi had addressed criticism of Egypt’s road map since the ouster of deposed President Mohammed Morsi.

The President said Egyptians had made history in the past two years by first revolting against corruption and despotism to claim their right to freedom, dignity and social justice, and then when they rose up against exclusion and refused to succumb “to the tyranny of a faction who, in the name of religion, put its narrow interests before the interests of the people.”

Terrorism and the threats on the world

The world is starting to grasp the reality of what happened in Egypt, and to understand the circumstances that drove Egyptians to intuitively take to the streets to rebel against the forces of extremism and darkness,” explained the President in his 17-minute speech.

The President added that Egypt had warned the world about the spread of terrorism at the hands of extremist groups.

“The upsurge in extremism and violence perpetrated in the name of religion that the region is currently witnessing is an evidence of the true objectives of these groups that exploit religion,” said Sisi.

“They have transformed the values of justice, compassion and mercy treasured by Judaism, Christianity and Islam, into grim sectarianism and destructive civil and regional wars which continue to claim the lives of innocent people of different religions.”

The President, who showed confidence in his words, asserted that Egypt has suffered from the scourge of terrorism since the 1920s at the hands of a ‘handful of extremists that commit atrocities in the name of religion.’

However, Sisi added that these extremists should not be allowed to abuse Islam and offend the 1.5 billion Muslims across the globe.

“Terrorism is a plague that does not differentiate in its spread between developing and developed societies.”

Tackling problems in the region

Egypt’s President said that extremism and polarisation had led to strife and divisions in the region.

The President called for states in the region to ensure equality among citizens and respect for the rule of law. Sisi added that confronting extremism was also essential in tackling the various crises the region faces.

On Libya, Sisi said that Egypt had partnered with the country’s neighbours to achieve a comprehensive political solution aimed at ending bloodshed and helping strengthen and support elected Libyan institutions.

Turning to Syria, the President added a political framework which reflected the aspirations of the Syrian people without compromising with terrorists or extremists was necessary.

Meanwhile, Sisi hailed the formation of a new government in Iraq, stating that it was a significant development in the path to achieving stability and regaining territories that have fallen under the control of ISIL.

In regards to Palestine, the President stated that the Palestinian issue remained a top priority for Egypt.

“Palestinians still aspire to establish their independent state on the occupied territories in 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” said the President, adding that Egypt had worked to achieve this goal since the 1970s.

“The continued deprivation of the Palestinian people of their rights is undoubtedly exploited by some to inflame other crises, achieve hidden goals, fragment Arab unity, and impose control on Palestinians under the guise of realising their aspirations.”

Africa was also the focus of President Sisi’s speech. The President urged the world to commit to tackling the outbreak of the deadly ebola virus in Western Africa and reaffirmed Egypt’s continued desire to work with its African partners.

Security Council and Final Applause

Ending his speech, Egyptian President Sisi announced his country’s bid for non-permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council in 2016-2017.

The President added that Egypt, which was last on the Security Council in 1997, aspires to take the seat in 2016 in order to achieve the protect the interests of developing countries as well as to accelerate reform of the United Nations system.

Sisi invited member states to support Egypt’s candidature to the Security Council, adding that as a founding member of the United Nations, Egypt’s vision of international relations is one founded on the respect of the principles of international law, treaties and conventions.

Moments before concluding his speech, the President was once more interrupted with applause upon declaring “long live Egypt!”

“Long live Egypt. Long live the loving people’s of the world. Long live the principles of humanity and the values of tolerance and coexistence. Peace be upon you and God’s mercy and blessings.

L.A.-resident Egyptian Coptic-Christians rallied to support Egypt's army liberating the country from Islamist rule, which was imposed by Obama administration-supported, Muslim Brotherhood facilitator, Mohamed Morsi. This DemoCast exclusive video was recorded last August outside of the Federal Building in Los Angeles.

Bret Stephens: Americans will rue-the-day Obama allowed Iran to build a nuclear bomb in weeks

"In 1938, Chamberlain bought time to rearm. In 2013, Obama gives Iran time to go nuclear. To adapt Churchill : Never in the field of global diplomacy has so much been given away by so many for so little." -Bret Stephens "Worse than Munich" column in the Wall St. Journal

In addressing a Zionist banquet by StandWithUs in Los Angeles on Sunday, 8 December, Mr. Stephens augmented this theory, echoed by other experts. Listen to the speech audio here. Transcript for 2nd half of the speech appears here on JewTube.Info:

"Now, it will come as no surprise to anyone that I want to spend most of my time tonight talking about Iran, but I think that it is also fitting feel that I should begin by speaking about Nelson Mandela and the meaning of his legacy and its meaning for us as Americans- for us as Jews. 



"In the 1980s there was a sharp debate in this country about how the United States ought best to deal with the apartheid regime in South Africa. On one side there were those who argued, this was the Regan administration, that the best way to deal with the apartheid regime was through a process of 'engagement'- critical engagement but engagement. The argument that the administration made was that sanctions will only hurt ordinary people, above all ordinary black people in South Africa, and furthermore that South Africa for all its obvious moral failings, was none the less a critical strategic partner for the United States and so that the were interests beyond morality- that there were interest of "real politik" in maintaining an alliance of sorts with that regime. On the other side of the argument there was a bi-partisan coalition that ranged from Bob Dole to Lowell Weicker, to Ted Kennedy, who thought that the best approach to the apartheid regime was also the most moral one- that is, a punitive regime(n) of economic and diplomatic sanctions that would show South Africa's white rulers that they would not be allowed to profit from their rule and that the only road to redemption was to eliminate their repressive system and let the people, all of the people, rule.

"Worse than Munich"- Iranian, American, & Israeli experts agree- Obama/Kerry's Geneva appeasement (enabling Iran nuclear-weapons) will lead to war, nuclear arms race

Obama / Kerry's Geneva appeasement deal handcuffs allies Saudi Arabia & Israel- will spark nuclear arms race

The Nuclear Deal With Iran is a Foreign Policy Disaster by Daniel Pipes 

“For the first time in nearly a decade we have halted parts of Iran’s nuclear program” announced a jubilant Barack Obama after the news of the just-signed Geneva six-month interim agreement with Iran.

But the American goal for the accord was that the Iranians not “advance their program” of building a uranium nuclear bomb (and perhaps a plutonium bomb too); the apparent deal exactly permits such advancement, plus sanctions relief to Tehran worth about US$9 billion.

This wretched deal offers one occasion when comparison with Neville Chamberlain in Munich in 1938 is valid. An overeager Western government, blind to the evil cunning of the regime it so much wants to work with, appeases it with concessions that will come back to haunt it. Geneva and Nov. 24 will be remembered along with Munich and Sep. 29. 

Barack Obama has made many foreign policy errors in the past five years, but this is the first to rank as a disaster.

Aaron Klein reports in WND.com  "Israeli personnel in recent days were in Saudi Arabia to inspect bases that could be used as a staging ground to launch attacks against Iran, according to informed Egyptian intelligence officials.The officials said the U.S. passed strong messages to Israel and the Saudis that the Americans maintain and control radar capabilities around the skies of Iran and that no strike should be launched without the permission of the Obama administration.

The officials said Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and other Arab and Persian Gulf countries have been discussing the next steps toward possible strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.

Ben Shapiro analyzes why the P5+1 Geneva agreement to de-nuclear-weaponize Iran is "Worse than Munich" in Breitbart.com

"President Obama’s cowardly deal with the Iranian regime – a regime dedicated to the destruction of Israel, pursuing nuclear weapons in violation of multiple United Nations resolutions, and the persecution of Christians – marks the most ignominious moment in western foreign policy in decades. The easy comparison is to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler in Munich in 1938, when he signed allowed Hitler to consolidate his gains in the Sudetenland on the bare promise of no further aggression in Europe.

But in truth, the west’s appeasement of Iran is significantly worse than its appeasement of Hitler in 1938, for a variety of reasons. First, as of 1938, Hitler had not yet made clear his plans to exterminate European Jewry. He was still attempting to ship European Jews out of Europe; the Final Solution was not formally adopted until 1941. Iran has made clear its desire to wipe Israel off the map. Its current leader, supposed moderate Hassan Rouhani, has refused to acknowledge the Holocaust as historically accurate, participated in a rally calling for Israel’s destruction, and according to Iranian press reports, stated, “The Zionist regime is a wound that has sat on the body of the Muslim world for years and needs to be removed.” Yet the Obama administration wants to pretend he is a moderate. 

Video: Dr. Mordechai Kedar: "Obama sells Iranian nuke-maker Ayatollah Khamenei's "taqiya-trap" to appeasement-amnesics"

... Both Israel and Saudi Arabia are militantly opposed to the western sellout of its allies in the Middle East in favor of paper promises from a lying regime.

Finally, Chamberlain’s foolishness was a combination of myopia and fear. President Obama’s foolishness is a combination of malice and egotism.

Desperate to misdirect from his failing signature program, Obamacare, and eager to earn his diplomatic laurels in his second term to placate his ego, President Obama’s Iran solution is just a convenient piece of a larger cowardly foreign policy. President Obama’s foreign policy over the last six months has “won” America the diplomatic victory of leaving a weapons of mass destruction-using dictator in power in Syria while shifting Russia into the Middle Eastern driver’s seat and donating American stockpiles to al Qaeda. Obama has undercut the secular Egyptian military regime in favor of the fascistic Muslim Brotherhood. American power in the Middle East has been effectively minimized.

Prof. Mordechai Kedar: Iran's Rouhani threat? Is Obama setting-up Israel to confront Iran on nukes?

But most of all, he (Obama) has successfully vented his anti-Israel malice. How else to read an administration that has repeatedly leaked Israeli national security secrets in order to stop an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities? How else to interpret an administration that has made it safer to be an anti-Israel dictator seeking nuclear weapons than a free and prosperous democracy? How else to understand an administration that insists that Israel apologize to Turkey for confronting a terrorist flotilla aimed at helping Hamas, insists that Israel building homes in its capital city of Jerusalem is more flammable than Iran building nuclear weapons, and suggests that the Israel-Palestinian issue lies at the heart of all Middle Eastern conflict?

Israel is on its own. Obama’s deal now makes clear that if Israel hits Iran, it does so at the risk of losing American support, even should Iran retaliate against Israel militarily. More than that, Obama’s deal makes clear that America will never take action against Iran under his administration, or greenlight action from others. After all, President Obama is not a man who declares that he has been duped. Just as in Syria, Obama will assume away any problems arising from his diplomatic blundering.  

With photo-ops with Netanyahu in the album, Obama denies ally Israel's reasoned requests vis a vis Iran sanctions, ceding strategic land to Palestine, Russia / Syria WMD

Updated: Amos Harel in Ha'aretz || Analysis Oct 9th: When it comes to Iran, Israel is walking a fine line in Washington 

Lobbying Congress for tougher sanctions against Iran risks incurring Obama Administration’s wrath.

Israel is conducting a diplomatic campaign aimed at blunting the success of the so-called charm offensive led by Iranian President Hassan Rohani during his visit to the United Nations last month. After the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aggressive speeches, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who is now in the United States, is focused on persuading the Americans not to allow any relaxation of the sanctions on Iran before Tehran signs a binding agreement that will slam the brakes on its nuclear program. In the background, Israel is canvassing Congress with a more ambitious goal in mind – intensifying the sanctions, a move that could lead to a confrontation with the Obama administration, which opposes doing so at this stage.   . . .

Jerusalem now realizes, perhaps more than at earlier stages, the full ramifications of conducting an independent military strike on Iran against the will of the United States. A former senior defense official, who played a major role in recent years in the relations between the two countries, told Haaretz this week that an Israeli strike after an agreement is reached between Iran and the world powers and against the latter’s will, on grounds that the compromise reached was insufficient, could be likened to “an act of strategic suicide.”

'Don't say I didn't warn you' || Ahead of Iran talks, Netanyahu tries to convince Europe not to ease sanctions by Barak Ravid in Ha'aretz Oct 10 21:04

In a series of press interviews, Netanyahu urges European countries to stop Iran’s race for a nuclear bomb while it’s still possible; insists Israel is not isolated.

 On Thursday, Netanyahu gave interviews to several leading media outlets in the three European powers participating in the talks – France, Britain and Germany. The other members of the P5+1 are the United States, Russia and China. In Britain, he spoke to the Financial Times and the Sky television network, in France to Le Monde and the France 24 network, and in Germany to Frankfurter Allgemeine and the ARD network.

A press statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said that in these interviews, Netanyahu urged European countries to stop Iran’s race for a nuclear bomb while it’s still possible.

“The [Iranian] regime is currently smiling and saying, ‘You know what? Let me continue enriching uranium, let me keep my plutonium plants, and I’ll give you tactical concessions, cosmetic concessions, and you’ll ease the sanctions,’” the Hebrew-language statement said, summarizing Netanyahu’s message.

“But if the sanctions are eased, the sanctions will collapse. They’ll get everything they want, and we, collectively, won’t get anything. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. The Jewish people has been around for 4,000 years. They tried to destroy us over and over, but they didn’t succeed, and we also won’t let people like the ayatollahs succeed. It’s important to stress that this isn’t just an Israeli issue; this issue also affects you.”

In an exclusive interview with France 24, Netanyahu urged France to take a tough stance on Iran and look past Prime Minister Hassan Rohani’s “smile campaign.”

“I don’t have any problem telling the truth even if it’s not popular. It so happens that I’m not isolated - Israel is not isolated,” Netanyahu said.

“Just about every country in the Arab world agrees with our position; some say so openly, some say that less openly. There’s one country who doesn’t agree with us: Syria’s Assad, of course, because he supports Iran’s regime that continues to help him in the mass murder of women and children.”

Benjamin Netanyahu navigates liberal press to present challenge to Iran/Obama-nuclear-ruse directly to fellow "infidel" targets - American citizens

Did Netanyahu's UN speech quash US optimism over Iran?

Israel may be willing to be the spoiler of US-Iranian rapprochement because in its leadership's eyes, the alternative is extermination.

By Ariel Zirulnick, Christian Science Monitor  / October 2, 2013

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly warned world leaders not to be taken in by Iran's beneficent overtures in an address to the United Nations Tuesday. His bellicose speech stood in sharp contrast to a week of conciliatory words and optimism about US-Iranian rapprochement, and has weighed on US efforts to sustain the sense of hope that pervaded the UN last week.

Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to CBS' Charlie Rose about Iran: "They're not developing those ICBMs for us"

The Wall Street Journal wrote that he "castigated" the US outreach to Iran, while The New York Times carried the headline "Israeli leader excoriates new president of Iran" and its editorial board described the speech as "aggressive." Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli newspaper,called it "combative."

Mr. Netanyahu gave his now-familiar refrain that the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, is a "wolf in sheep's clothing," warned that the US is at risk of being duped by the new leadership's moderate facade, urged that sanctions not be eased, and said Israel was not convinced by the new leadership's assertion that it was not pursuing nuclear weapons, the Journal reports.

"I want there to be no confusion on this point. Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said in the address. "If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone."

Israeli Prime Minister to NBC's Andrea Mitchell: "Don't be fooled by Rouhani's charm"

How Obama's bungled Middle-East agenda bodes for the future

"The Solution: How to Deal with Obama Middle-East Policy" by Barry Rubin 

It is likely that the efforts of the Obama Administration during its second term will fail, not only because of its lack of understanding of the region and its ideology, but also due to the specific agenda.

No Middle Eastern country (only hostile ones or movements) can depend on the United States.  And to clarify this further:  No country -- including Israel -- can depend on the Obama Administration.

But as I noted above, this U.S. policy of Obama’s second term will fail. For example, the main goals of the second term are four big issues:

--Israel-Palestinian peace

--Egypt government coalition with Muslim Brotherhood

--Syrian civil war resolution with rebel victory

--U.S.-Iran rapprochement resolving nuclear issue.

Yet because of irreconcilable differences, these may well be unresolvable. Due to such failures and hardline radical positions (Palestinians, Muslim Brotherhood, Syrian Islamists and regime, Iranian regime), the next administration would probably be forced back on recognition of extremism, support of allies, and U.S. interests.

Thus, regarding the “peace process,” we may well see the typical pattern in which the Palestinians wreck the peace process by rejecting or demanding even more concessions. Once again, it will only be necessary to wait until American negotiators learn better why their goals are impossible. Radicals will just raise their demands and demonstrate their anti-Americanism, and necessary priorities will shift.

If Obama’s Syria Promises Mean Nothing, How Can We Trust Him on Iran?

Syrian chemical attack victim (Photo: The Times London)

Jonathan Tobin writes in Commentary:

With even ardent Obama supporters like Jeffrey Goldberg reminding the president he has made it crystal clear that chemical weapons use would be a red line that would trigger a strong U.S. response, what follows will not only tell us whether that promise would be kept. It will also illustrate just how seriously to take other pledges the administration has made, specifically its vow never to allow Iran to go nuclear.

With the White House desperately trying to buy time before making a decision on Syria, it’s fair to ask why anyone should regard American rhetoric on Iran as anything more than an elaborate bluff if Obama won’t keep his word about Assad’s behavior.

Read more

With presidential debates behind us, DemoCast revisits Israel's plight under Obama - broadcast tonight - LegacyTV at 9pm/ 8pm CT

Obama's real record on Israel by Anne Bayefsky Oct 23, 2012 in FoxNews.com  Anne Bayefsky is director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust. 

The question before American voters, who value our special bond with the Middle East’s only democracy, is whether the specifics of the president’s four-year record are consistent with the well-being of the people who live and breathe Jewish self-determination as a bulwark against modern anti-semitism. 

Just a partial rap-sheet speaks for itself: 

• President Obama has never visited Israel during his time in office, despite having been as close as thirty minutes away in Egypt, and managing to go to Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iraq 

• President Obama told Jewish leaders in July 2009 that he was deliberately adopting a policy of putting daylight between America and Israel. Read More:

Before the candidates' debate rhetoric erased everyone's memory, during the Obama first-term, DemoCast chronicled a foreboding of the American-Israel relationship under Obama.

The second installment of the "Israel under Obama" series will be broadcast tonight on Legacy TV at 9pm ET/8pm CT. 

The program shows Obama's ceremonial pledges to be on Israel's side - contradicted by examples of his philo-Islamist Iran and Arab Palestine policies working against Israel's strength and self-defense. 

It features statements from Amb. John Bolton, former CIA director James Woolsey, Israeli analyst Barry Rubin, actor Jon Voight, radio host, Michael Medved, Malcolm Hoenlein of the Conference of Presidents of Jewish Organizations, and activist Bob Kunst at AIPAC and the White House. 

The show will be broadcast nationwide on LegacyTV across America- check for your for local station listings. 



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