The Middle East

They're keeping very quiet about this one!

U.S. Troops Deployed in Iraq Again

A unit of U.S. Army Special Operations soldiers was recently deployed to Iraq and more U.S. soldiers may soon be on their way, according to a New York Times report on the impact the civil war in neighboring Syria is having on Iraq's "fragile society and fledgling democracy."

the New American.

27 September, 2012

Buried in the 15th paragraph of the report in Tuesday's Times was the news that "Iraq and the United States are negotiating an agreement that could result in the return of small units of American soldiers to Iraq on training missions" and that a unit of Army Special Operations soldiers has already been deployed to Iraq to advise on counterterrorism and help with intelligence.

Nearly a decade after U.S. and coalition forces invaded Iraq and overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein and just nine months after withdrawal of the last of the American combat units, the Shia government in Iraq is fighting for its survival against Sunni insurgents in its own country, while struggling to cope with the "spillover" of the fighting and the influx of refugees from the war next door in Syria. Meanwhile, the Times reported, the Baghdad government "leans closer" to the Shia regime in Iran and is looking to buy arms from Russia, while continuing to rely on military support from the United States. Aerial attacks by Turkey on Kurdish enclaves in the mountains of northern Iraq have added to the woes of a government trying to assert its sovereignty both in the air and on the ground.

For article GO HERE

US temporarily reduces more staff from Libya embassy

Reuters,

28 Septermber, 2012

The United States is temporarily withdrawing more staff from its embassy in Libya's capital for security reasons, but hopes to return them to Tripoli early next week, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.

"This is a temporary further drawdown of staff for security reasons. We will review our posture again early next week with the goal of restoring staff as soon as conditions allow," a State Department official said in New York, where Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is attending the U.N. General Assembly.

The senior official declined to say how many staff were being withdrawn or discuss specifics.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed during what Washington has called a terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on September 11.

Half of Israelis fear war with Iran would endanger Jewish State's existence

More than half of Israelis fear that war with Iran would endanger the Jewish State's very existence, a new poll has found.

The Independent,

28 September, 2012

It is a startling finding that will worry Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has argued that a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities may be necessary to prevent it from obtaining the atom bomb.

It also suggests that few were convinced by Defence Minister Ehud Barak's surprising assertion last November that Israel would suffer fewer than 500 casualties were Iran to retaliate to an Israeli attack.

Undermining the calls for military action from the government are the sober warnings from retired defence officials, who fear that a pre-emptive strike would precipitate a new Middle East war, the consequences of which would be impossible to predict.

The Tel Aviv University poll, published in Israel's Haaretz newspaper, found that a majority of Israelis thought the likelihood of a conflict with Iran “high” or “medium,” while half either feared or “greatly” feared for Israel's existence. The newspaper did not provide a detailed breakdown of the poll's findings.

But even as Israelis appear to accept the inevitability of a showdown with Iran, the poll suggested that it would not affect Mr Netanyahu's ability to form a coalition government if elections were held today.

Mr Netanyahu has stepped up his rhetoric in Iran in recent weeks, and tried unsuccessfully to push Washington to set “red lines” over Iran, a demand dismissed by President Barack Obama in a recent interview as “noise.”