Middle East Politics

Classical Mechanic said:
There’s a really good documentary series on iPlayer- Once Upon a Time in Iraq, which tells the story of the Iraq war through testimonies of Iraqi civilians, soldiers and other actors in the conflict. Some really interesting testimonies.
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Been watching it, it’s excellent. Nate Sassaman is a decent representative for the American shit-show there, and should probably have spent the last decade defending himself in The Hague rather than giving motivational talks on leadership.
 
2cents said:
Been watching it, it’s excellent. Nate Sassaman is a decent representative for the American shit-show there, and should probably have spent the last decade defending himself in The Hague rather than giving motivational talks on leadership.
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I thought it was clear that what happened there was eating him up inside, as some consolation.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
There’s a really good documentary series on iPlayer- Once Upon a Time in Iraq, which tells the story of the Iraq war through testimonies of Iraqi civilians, soldiers and other actors in the conflict. Some really interesting testimonies.
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As a complement focussing on on-the-ground reality, a friend of mine recommended Nowhere to Hide, adding that it's a tough watch. I stupidly missed the chance to watch it, and I don't think it's available atm. But if it becomes available at some point in the future, it may be of interest.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6113688/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt

(Edit: An Al Jazeera edited version is on youtube. However, this version is shortened to about half of the original length.)
 
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While we’re on the topic, No End in Sight remains a standard account of the basic political decisions which drove the fiasco:

 
Tension at the Lebanese-Israeli border earlier today.



It seems Israeli soldiers were shooting at Israeli soldiers because Hezbollah denied crossing the border initiating an attack

 
Interesting parts:

“As a result, they added, Israel would suspend its plans to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank...

...In the coming weeks delegations from Israel and the UAE will meet to sign bilateral agreements regarding investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies.”

A lot of people wonder why Netanyahu keeps winning elections, this kind of stuff is a large part of it.
 
Amir said:
It really isn't. There are probably not five people who will vote for him because of this.
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Fair enough, you’d know. It’s certainly representative of his achievements as PM, opening and strengthening relations with a wide range of countries (e.g. Oman, Chad, UAE, Sudan, India, China, etc.) previously generally cold or even hostile to Israel. And done so without making any move on the peace process.
 
Dutch right wing media are claiming this is the work of Trump.. I guess that's overstating it?
 
Lebanon and Israel agree to talks to end sea border dispute

BEIRUT/TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Lebanon and Israel have agreed to a framework for U.S.-mediated talks aimed at ending a long-running dispute along the border between the two nations that have fought several conflicts.

Still in a formal state of war, Lebanon and Israel have contested their land and maritime borders for decades, namely over an area in the sea on the edge of three Lebanese offshore energy blocks. Israel said the talks would cover the sea border.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-crisis-israel-idUSKBN26M63V
 
As with most ME countries, Israel had normalised relationships with these countries unofficially, long ago.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. They really hate Iran.
 
Saudi Arabia denying the meeting.
MBS running scared of the clerics. It is obvious the meeting happened.
 
Netanyahu nominated for the Nobel Peace Price by Trimble. He must have lost his mind. It's like nominating Mugabe or Assad or Khomeini.
 
This assassination (joining dozens of similar ones over the years) is the best proof the meeting happened. It's interesting that the west still has proxy terrorists they use so directly, wonder if they'll morph into anything.
 
Il Prete Rosso said:
Trump, Pompeo, Kushner, Netanyahu, Bin Salman.

No need to look further.
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Been happening on and off since 2010, I think you’ll find just one common denominator among those you’ve named.
 
GenZRed said:
Or Henry Kissinger or Barack Obama.
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You are correct. Obama would never have won it at the end of his term. He should never have been awarded it anyway. The difference is Netanyahu is currently occupying Palestine. Obama never did occupy foreign land and deny it for the population. Kissinger is the other one who should not have been awarded.
Rabin, yes I agree with it.
 
Foxbatt said:
You are correct. Obama would never have won it at the end of his term. He should never have been awarded it anyway. The difference is Netanyahu is currently occupying Palestine. Obama never did occupy foreign land and deny it for the population. Kissinger is the other one who should not have been awarded.
Rabin, yes I agree with it.
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Rabin was “currently occupying Palestine” no less than Netanyahu when he won it.
 
2cents said:
Rabin was “currently occupying Palestine” no less than Netanyahu when he won it.
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But he had signed an agreement with the palestinians. Then he got killed by an Israeli. Nothing to show that he would not honour the agreement he signed.
 
Foxbatt said:
But he had signed an agreement with the palestinians. Then he got killed by an Israeli. Nothing to show that he would not honour the agreement he signed.
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I’m being a bit mischievous because I do think Rabin was a more admirable figure than Netanyahu, who presented himself in stern opposition to Rabin during the early Oslo process. And of course we cannot know how far Rabin might have gone had he survived to be swept along by the course which history had seemingly laid out for him. However - the “agreement” Rabin signed (actually a number of agreements) did not lay out the terms of a final settlement, which were to be reached by negotiations. About a month before his death, Rabin laid out his own vision of a final settlement before the Knesset, and it was not significantly different (IMO) from the vision of the Trump peace plan embraced by Netanyahu:

“military presence but no annexation of the Jordan Valley; retention of the large blocks of settlements near the 1967 border; preservation of a united Jerusalem with respect for the rights of the other religions; and a Palestinian entity which would be less than a state and whose territory would be demilitarized.”

Also should be mentioned that in his first term, and despite his supposed staunch opposition to the process, Netanyahu handed over the vast majority of Hebron to Palestinian authority, a concession with great symbolic significance. And if we’re using military occupation of others’ territories as a measure of Nobel (un)worthiness, we should probably mention that Israel remained in occupation of a small slice of southern Lebanon throughout Rabin’s tenure. Ultimately, Barak (and in a less pressured context, Olmert) went much further than Rabin ever said he would, or than Netanyahu ever has.

Anyway, perhaps the lesson here is that the Nobel committee would be better off waiting and rewarding solid, concluded achievements rather than using the prize to encourage behavior that might be beyond the recipient. Or perhaps we shouldn’t put any value into this dumb prize in the first place.
 
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If this was Russia, there'd be millions of worldwide condemnation and calls for sanctions in place already.

With Mossad, it's all shits and giggles and perhaps a Hollywood movie will come of it in a few years.

Such is life.
 
CNN not even pretending Israel is not responsible.
Fawaz Gerges makes an important point. Iran have shown restraint when it comes to retaliation.
My guess is they will wait for Biden before making any moves.
On a wider point. I think it is scandalous Israel can assassinate civilians such a blatant fashion and countries just shrug.
International relations with Israel have been a real scandal of our time and history will not look kindly on it. They can basically do whatever they want/
 
Adisa said:
CNN not even pretending Israel is not responsible.
Fawaz Gerges makes an important point. Iran have shown restraint when it comes to retaliation.
My guess is they will wait for Biden before making any moves.
On a wider point. I think it is scandalous Israel can assassinate civilians such a blatant fashion and countries just shrug.
International relations with Israel have been a real scandal of our time and history will not look kindly on it. They can basically do whatever they want/
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I don't think the Iranians are stupid. I hope they are not. I hope they wait for Biden to become president and reactivate the nuclear treaty.
The best way for them is to show restraint and also show solidarity with Qatar. And make better relationship with Turkey and Jordan.
But why is such an important figure traveling without security?
 
I don't think they should reactivate the treaty, since they know that the next Republican will just tear it up again and try and starve them into submission. The weapons themselves could be a better bargaining chip than a piece of paper.
 
berbatrick said:
I don't think they should reactivate the treaty, since they know that the next Republican will just tear it up again and try and starve them into submission. The weapons themselves could be a better bargaining chip than a piece of paper.
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But four years of no sanction is huge for them. Plus the Democrats may retain the presidency so 8 years of no sanction is worth for them.
 
Adisa said:
I think it is scandalous Israel can assassinate civilians such a blatant fashion
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According to the Guardian he was a “brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps”, so not sure if he counts as a civilian if he was engaged in his work in that capacity.
 
2cents said:
According to the Guardian he was a “brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps”, so not sure if he counts as a civilian if he was engaged in his work in that capacity.
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The lab neighbouring mine gets a DoD grant.
 
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