Intelligence Committee Chair Describes Explosive Confrontation Between Netanyahu and American Ambassador

If Obama doesn't want to lead the Free World, I'll have to do it myself

From the Atlantic:

Rep. Mike Rogers, the Michigan Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, says that his much-discussed meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem late last month did, in fact, devolve into an sharp confrontation between Netanyahu and the American ambassador to Israel, the former National Security Council official (and former Obama campaign Jewish liaison), Dan Shapiro. 

Rogers told a Michigan radio interviewer earlier this week that he had not previously witnessed such a high-level confrontation, and he described Israeli leaders as being at "wits' end" over what they see as President Obama's unwillingness to provide them with his "red lines" in the effort to stop Iran's nuclear program. He also said that neither the Israelis nor the Iranians believe that Obama would use force to stop the nuclear program. (UPDATE: Rogers said as well he believes the Israelis will "probably" bomb Iran if they don't get clearer red lines from the U.S.) 

Rogers description of the meeting directly contradicts repeated Administration assertions that there is "no daylight" on the Iran issue with the Israeli government.

Go read the whole thing.

Obama Admin Tells Iran: Don't Worry, We Won’t Join An Israeli Attack On Your Nuke Sites

I guess that means, "all options are on the table", except an attack disabling Iranian nukes.

And yes, for any of you who do not remember, Obama has declared that "all options are on the table", when it comes to Iran.

But, as we already guessed, Obama's words mean nothing.

Senior officials in the Obama Administration sent a message to Tehran in the past few days, according to which the U.S. does not intend to join Israel’s side if it decides to attack the Iranian nuclear installations on its own, reports Israel’s second-largest paper, Yediot Aharonot. 

According to the report, the U.S. sent the message to Iran in order to avoid an Iranian response military response that would target U.S. installations in the Gulf region. 

The message was reportedly conveyed to Iran through two European countries that serve as a conduit of communication between Iran and the U.S. in times of crisis. 

Nationalist newspaper Makor Rishon has accused Yediot Aharonot of working with the Obama Administration against the Netanyahu government’s planned strike on Iran. 

According to the New York Times, senior U.S. officials have argued that Israel is “trying to corner” Obama into a military commitment that he does not yet need to make.

Read the whole thing at INN.

Iran: Pastor’s Wife Released as Husband Faces Execution

Worthy Christian News � NEWS ALERT: Iran Releases Pastor’s Wife as Husband Faces Execution:

"The wife of a prominent evangelical pastor in Iran was free Monday, October 18, after four months of detention, but her husband still faced the death penalty for abandoning Islam, the Church of Iran said.

Fatemeh Passandideh, the wife of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, was released October 11 by a court in Gilan province, in northern Iran, an official linked to the Church of Iran told Worthy News and its news partner BosNewsLife.

'The release of Fatemeh Passandideh comes ten days after the announcement of the death sentence for her husband Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani,' he said, speaking on earlier agreed conditions of anonymity, amid security concerns.

Pastor Nadarkhani was convicted of 'apostasy', or leaving Islam, last month by the 11th Chamber of the Assize Court of the province of Gilan. The pastor's attorney is expected to file an appeal against the ruling after he reportedly found 'serious procedural flaws' in the case."

Background:
Christian pastor sentenced to death for "thought crime".

Cross-posted from T&P.

Peace in Our Time!

Hours away.



Bill Whittle explains it all, here.



But you're probably bored with this topic. I bet you're wondering what is going on with the Real Housewives of D.C. or what's on the Lifetime channel. Or the Cooking Channel.

BIG NEWS:

Israel Calls ALL Ambassadors Home For Special Meeting in Jerusalem

This is very likely the second biggest story of the year. The biggest story will be that which comes after this "diplomatic" meeting.

For the first time ever, Israel has called ALL of its ambassadors and consuls home for meetings this week in Jerusalem.
The meetings opened today.
MFA.gov reported:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman, will host a conference next week (27-31 December) for Israeli Heads of Missions. At the conference, Israel’s ambassadors and consuls general serving throughout the world will discuss broad diplomatic and strategic issues.

This is the first time a conference for all of Israel’s Heads of Missions has been held. The idea is to facilitate direct dialogue with the country’s leaders, mutual updates on major diplomatic issues, and a discussion of action plans to deal with the challenges awaiting the State of Israel in the international arena in the coming year, including the Iranian threat.

A comment from Ken Solomon of Red State, to Jim at Gateway Pundit:

Jim:

Sincere thanks for putting this on GP. People need to understand the probable outcome.

You have no idea how much this flipped me out on the 24th when I read just the first two paragraphs of the press release – honestly, I thought it was some sort of incredibly well-done fake. I had to make sure it was the real deal before I sent it anywhere.

I must say, I feel the same way as the guy from Red State.

History is about to be made, apparently, and the subtlest of indicators tell us it is so.

Take note of some other subtle indicators of major happenings in history:

The assassination on 28 June 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.

The Assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud.

One could almost imagine this not happening, and maybe it isn't.

But, I think it is. War is upon us, finally.

From Red State:

If nobody realizes it yet, the merde is about to encounter the ventilateur in a VERY big way

and even though this bit of news isn’t happening here, the end result will directly affect every man, woman, child and nation on the planet………..

Nothing like this has ever happened before with Israel…… Sure, they called home an ambassador or two for odd expense accounting, a chief of mission for offending some peace-lover via a newspaper quote and maybe even had real problems with a few of the folks they thought were on the side of their own homeland…… They even had all European ambassadors back a few times for conferences on the Lisbon thing. Every nation holds “home field” events with their foreign staff members.

But nothing like this meeting that started today…… The title and timing are getting curiouser and curiouser……….

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/MFA+Spokesman/2009/Press+releases/First-Heads-of-Mission-Conference-24-Dec-2009.htm

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman, will host a conference next week (27-31 December) for Israeli Heads of Missions. At the conference, Israel’s ambassadors and consuls general serving throughout the world will discuss broad diplomatic and strategic issues.

This is the first time a conference for all of Israel’s Heads of Missions has been held. The idea is to facilitate direct dialogue with the country’s leaders, mutual updates on major diplomatic issues, and a discussion of action plans to deal with the challenges awaiting the State of Israel in the international arena in the coming year, including the Iranian threat.

—————-

Want that in reality-speak?

Bibi Netanyahu is gonna talk to ‘em all……. Know what he’s gonna say ?

We’re going in. Hard. Heavy. Not stopping. You can go back to your posts now….. Except you two - yeah, you two…..The dudes sittin’ in DC and at the UN….. We’ve gotta talk….. C’mere……..

Listen up and listen good…….. There’s a new sheriff in town and it’s us Eeeeevil Jooooooooooos. You go back there and verbally smack that p.o.s. posing as a supposed leader of free men. Tell him the 22% of our people who saw through his Jihadist arse have much better things to do than swat flies the likes of him. So he better wise up and either resign, or get ready to start something he can never, ever finish, or win.

You can even tell him flat-out in these exact words: Don’t F with Israel.

You don’t need to wait for a response from that Dictator In Training Pants either…. Leave him standing there with his teeth trying to bite through the back of his neck. Also, make sure that traitorous waste of carbon, ’supposedly-a-Jew’ Rham is right next to him when you meet.

Just so you understand what’s going on, this ‘bring-’em-all-in’ conference wasn’t planned to take place until Iran got a bit further on with the big toys that go bang program. But since their own people are starting their uprising with the Ashura holiday, why not get going now, eh ?

NY Times Says Obama, Not Israel, Should Bomb Iran...Wait, The NY Times Said That?...

From Weasel Zippers:

Yes, they really did....

(NY Times)- PRESIDENT OBAMA should not lament but sigh in relief that Iran has rejected his nuclear deal, which was ill conceived from the start. Under the deal, which was formally offered through the United Nations, Iran was to surrender some 2,600 pounds of lightly enriched uranium (some three-quarters of its known stockpile) to Russia, and the next year get back a supply of uranium fuel sufficient to run its Tehran research reactor for three decades. The proposal did not require Iran to halt its enrichment program, despite several United Nations Security Council resolutions demanding such a moratorium.

Iran was thus to be rewarded with much-coveted reactor fuel despite violating international law. Within a year, or sooner in light of its expanding enrichment program, Iran would almost certainly have replenished and augmented its stockpile of enriched uranium, nullifying any ostensible nonproliferation benefit of the deal. .....The final question is, who should launch the air strikes? Israel has shown an eagerness to do so if Iran does not stop enriching uranium, and some hawks in Washington favor letting Israel do the dirty work to avoid fueling anti-Americanism in the Islamic world.

But there are three compelling reasons that the United States itself should carry out the bombings. First, the Pentagon’s weapons are better than Israel’s at destroying buried facilities. Second, unlike Israel’s relatively small air force, the United States military can discourage Iranian retaliation by threatening to expand the bombing campaign. (Yes, Israel could implicitly threaten nuclear counter-retaliation, but Iran might not perceive that as credible.) Finally, because the American military has global reach, air strikes against Iran would be a strong warning to other would-be proliferators