Iran to Syria: Give us back the uranium we illegally sold you. And oh yeah—do it on your own damned dime. Wow, this one’s just awesome. Iran wants Syria to return the uranium it was supposed to use in the nuclear plant that Israel bombed so that, well, Syria couldn’t make a nuclear bomb. I hope they do try it. And the IDF intercepts the ship. That would be fun.

No Security Council resolution on Goldstone: Israel and the White House have apparently reached a “silent understanding” on not letting Goldstone reach the Security Council. How long before the Palestinians and the OIC get noisy about the silence? I figure a day or two.

The Palestinian Lobby trumps the Israel lobby. Hillary Clinton has now been spanked by just about all the major players in the Middle East for daring to suggest that a total settlement freeze should not be a precondition to peace talks. And she has been properly repentant:

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Washington does not accept the legitimacy of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and wants to see their construction halted “forever.”

That’s funny. I thought it was the Israel lobby that was powerful enough to force the U.S. President to dance to its tune, and yet, here she is, slamming Israel only days after saying that Netanyahu made “unprecedented” steps toward freezing settlement construction. Huh. Go figure. That Walt & Mearsheimer—boy, they really pulled one over on the world, hey?

If an army has to be there for your swearing-in, are you really the “elected leader”? Robert Gibbs said yesterday that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the “elected leader” of Iran, in spite of the fact that he had to have 5,000 security forces at his swearing-in ceremony, the opposition boycotted it, and his mentor, the Ayatollah Khameini, didn’t give him the victory kiss of congratulations the other day. Sucks to be you, Mad Mahmoud. (As for that “Smartest administration EVAH” thing—I’m thinking not.)

Billy Jeff goes to North Korea: President Clinton came through with the goods and got two American journalists out of the hell that is North Korea. As I am simply glad that he got them back, there is not much to snark about. Oh, of course there is. The North Koreans rejected the Obama administration’s first choice for mediator: Al Gore. Do you think it was the gasbag effect, or the Gore Effect? The good news is that Clinton didn’t do to Obama what Jimmy Carter did to him, and go off the reservation. We’re still paying for that trip.

News I really don’t care about: Paula Abdul is leaving American Idol. The fact is I have watched, perhaps, a total of ten minutes of the show since it first aired. The only “reality show” I’m finding myself at all interested in watching is Wipeout, because you get to go “Oooh!” “OW!” “That had to hurt!” and “No way are you going to make it!” at the TV when you watch it. Plus, it’s fun to watch people get knocked into the water over and over again. I can’t explain why. But it really is.

According to the sources, the aircraft was carrying a large number of modern fuses composed of 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of explosives and electrical instrumentation.

The report is in line with testimonies on explosion sounds heard before the crash. According to the sources, the plane was meant to transfer the fuses from Iran to Armenia, and from there to Syria through Turkey, and then on the ground to Lebanon. This route was chosen, according to exiled opposition sources, so as not to draw attention.

Chalk another one up to our terrorist buddies in Lebanon and Syria. And it’s just lovely that the Turks are complicit in this terror track as well. Why on earth shouldn’t we trust them to negotiate between Israel and Syria?

Egyptian border guards murder refugee, UN doesn’t care: If Israel were doing this, of course, there would be UN resolutions. And yet, it’s perfectly okay for Egyptians to continue to murder African refugees. I won’t hold my breath waiting for world condemnation.

Obama’s wising up? President Obama extended sanctions on Syria. Good for him.

Living in the mystical world: Madonna’s treatise on Kabbalah in Ynet, just because I love you all and want you to suffer as much as I did when I read it. Truthfully, I think it’s not a bad thing to have someone famous actually liking Israel, regardless of how or why she does. No, she’s not a role model. But she does influence the kiddies, and if she likes something, they like something. It’s win-win. It’s like her adopting African kids. No matter what the real reasons, those children go from poverty to princehood in 2.8. Good for them, good for her. I guess all this is just to say: You know, I kinda like her. And I really love “La Isla Bonita.” That’s my favorite of her songs.

Another day, another mortar from Hamas: Gee, I thought they were building up their PR, not firing deadly weapons into civilian areas. And while they’re doing that, the peaceful, moderate Palestinians of the West Bank are still trying to murder civilians as they drive nearby. Funny how they never seem to come up when Obama is discussing obstacles to peace.

The real skinny on Syria: Tony Badran explains why Syria, contrary to the Obama administration’s view, is not the key to peace in the Middle East.

Alabama police tase a deaf and mentally disabled man for refusing to leave a store bathroom: Your police force at work, showing that not listening to police officers is a tase-able offense.

Weapons cache? What weapons cache? Lebanon is doubling down on the next war with Israel by (of course) siding with Hezbullah and insisting that the arms cache that exploded was arms “left behind by the Israelis.” Even the UN is unable to cover up this blatant violation of 1701. However, nothing will be done about it. You know it. I know it. The UN will manage to find a satisfactory excuse for allowing Hezbullah to keep arming south of the Litani, in violation of 1701, because, well, the UN is virulently anti-Israel. The Lebanese are placing themselves squarely at fault for anything that happens next. Old Chipmunk Cheeks has emerged (vocally, anyway) from his secure, nondisclosed location and threatened Tel Aviv. Not many people will remember this the next time Hezbullah invades Israel or sends rockets that way, and Israel goes after non-Hezbullah areas. But I will.

Speaking of Lebanon: The IDF built a Hezbullah city to train its troops for the next war. This, of course, is why the IDF will continue to succeed against Israel’s enemies. Well, that, and a little help from above.

U.K. groveling to Arab world: I’m currently reading Benny Morris’ 1948, and you know, the Brits haven’t really changed at all in regards to Israel. They’re currently expressing “regret” that they sold Israel arms that were used to defend herself in the Gaza war. It’s almost as if the Brits are really, really sorry they allowed any Jews to settle in their ancestral homeland at all. Oh. Wait.

U.S. groveling to Arab world: George Mitchell is in Syria, talking to the man who is responsible for the murder of American soldiers in Iraq, asking him to cut a peace deal with Israel. Here’s my prediction: Assad will not closed down the offices of Hamas and other terror groups in Damascus. He will not break ties with Iran. And he will not stop sponsoring Hezbullah and trying to run Lebanon. But he will, of course, blame Israel for the lack of peace in the Middle East, and demand the return of the Golan Heights, plus territory that never belonged to Syria in the first place. Why not? It’s worked all along. The world will not see Syria as part of the problem. Only Israel’s refusal to turn over the Golan. That would be the same Golan from which Assad’s father used to regularly shell Israeli civilians while they were working on their farms and living their lives.

Sarah Palin: Free at last. Sarah’s no longer governor of Alaska. Expect to hear even more from her now that her enemies can’t charge her every move with ethics complaints. Really, the SOB’s actually tried to say that her raising money for her defense against ethics charges was unethical. Can you say, “Set-up”? I knew you could.

Snakes in a drain: Just for something different, a 14-foot python was hiding in a storm drain in Florida. You know, the alligators are bad enough. I may never visit Florida again.

Sing Hallelujah for me, Lennie. Or: If at first you don’t succeed, try to force someone to accede to your point of view. The same jackasses who forced the cancellation of Leonard Cohen’s (mostly symbolic) concert in Ramallah are protesting his concert in Ireland. Why? Because they want him not to play in Israel. Once again, I must point out to these morons that a) Cohen is Jewish and b) Cohen is religious. Rotsa ruck, rokers. You’ll need it.

Settlement near on settlements? Really, there’s going to be a settlement on the settlement issue. (Why, yes, I like typing that phrase a lot. Settlement on settlements! Settlement on settlements!) Apparently, the Obama administration has wised up to the fact that if they’ve lost the Israeli left on Jerusalem, they really are taking the anti-Israel position. So there is some kind of freeze being negotiated that will not include “natural growth.” We’ll see how this goes.

Hi, my name is America, and I’m a terrorholic. Seriously? I mean, seriously? George Mitchell says the U.S. wants Syria’s help in solving the Palestinian-Israel problem? Because, it’s not like he doesn’t financially and materially support Israel’s enemies, so once again, I must ask: Seriously? This effer is responsible for the deaths of Americans in Iraq, the deaths of Americans in Israel by proxy via terror groups, and the deaths of Israelis all around. And Mitchell wants his help in making peace? Seriously?

That’s funny, I thought Hamas couldn’t control the rocketeers: The New York Times publishes an article profiling Hamas’ change from rockets to PR initiatives (see? They’re just like us!) and manages to prove, yet again, that Hamas controls utterly the firing of rockets and mortars from the Gaza Strip. But the next time there is a rocket attack and Israeli retaliates, watch for the Times to buy into the bullshit that it was a “rogue group” that fired the rockets. P.S.: They’re not fooling anyone. But everyone will pretend they are, since it’s always Israel’s fault.

Libya wants Lockerbie bomber freed on humanitarian grounds: See, here’s how it is. The poor terrorist is dying, so the fact that he murdered 259 people shouldn’t be taken into account as you consider his release from prison to die at home with his family. Because that’s how all 259 people died, right? Well, the ones on the ground, anyway. I have a suggestion. Free the bomber only if Muammar Ghadafi takes his place.

Well, that’ll piss off the left: 50 million Christians support Israel? Wow, that’s a lot. I can name one in particular that doesn’t (why yes, that means you, Jimmah Carter), and a few more like PCUSA’s leadership, but all in all, I think it makes a lot of sense for Christians to support Israel. Hello, parent religion here. (But you can’t call me Mom.) Just remember one thing, my Christian friends: Try to convert Jews and you’re grounded. (Everyone else is fair game.)

And I’m off to the gym.

Another murder, another terrorist attack. Yeah. The Palestinians want peace. Really they do.

A keen grasp of the obvious: UN: Israel-Lebanon ceasefire fragile. Wow, that Ban Ki-Moon is one hell of a deep thinker, ain’t he?

Syria to Israel: We lost the war, so you must give us concessions. Actually, that’s the Arab way, isn’t it? We lost, so you have to do what we say. Really, it’s an Alice in Wonderland world view. Luckily, the Israel response can be summed up as: BWAHAHAHA!

Mubarak to Israel: Shalit is fine. Hamas to Mubarak: You don’t know nuffin‘. But they insist they’re not deliberately insulting Mubarak, so everything’s cool. Mind you, this is what happens every single time someone says Shalit is fine. All I will say is: He was shot in the stomach, and there has never been any proof that he’s still alive.

Today Ha’aretz is reporting that Shalit’s transfer to Egypt is “imminent.” (via memeorandum)

The European source said Shalit’s transfer to Egypt was the first stage of the Egyptian-brokered agreement hammered out between Fatah, Hamas and other Palestinian factions, in coordination with the U.S. and with Syria’s support.

The deal would put the Gaza Strip under the leadership of a joint committee subordinate to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, removing it from the control of the government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

There’s a lot here that’s distasteful. Ha’aretz reports that Hamas is insisting on the release of prisoners with “blood on their hands.” If Syria is supporting this deal, it suggests that the American decision to restore diplomatic relations with Syria is related to this deal. Also Jimmy Carter was apparently very much involved in the transaction.

Finally, while he’s far from ideal, the only Palestinian official who has shown any capacity for governing is Salam Fayyad. Removing Gaza from his authority is a sign that Hamas has won a power struggle. Abbas is wholly ineffectual. Of course this also would show that Fayyad has absolutely no power base.

I have to say that there’s a lot here to be skeptical about. Certainly, if the deal as described by Ha’aretz is accurate, and Shalit is released, Israel will have, once again paid an extremely high price for the return of a soldier. Additionally the deal will strengthen the positions of Syria and Hamas, which is not good.

But Ha’aretz reminds us that:

On Tuesday Palestinian news agency Maan quoted Egyptian sources as saying that Shalit was to be transferred from the Gaza Strip into Egypt within hours, a report that Israeli sources denied.

The Astute Blogger is skeptical. Michael Goldfarb is hopeful, but I think he’s wrong that it will help Netanyahu, as I wrote above it will strengthen Hamas and Syria and it will vindicate (at least in the short term) the administration’s efforts to reach out to extremists.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

The acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, Jeffrey D. Feltman, informed Syria’s ambassador to Washington, Imad Mustafa, tonight of Obama’s intention, according to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the decision had yet to be made public.

By returning a senior U.S. envoy to Damascus, the Syrian capital, the Obama administration is seeking to carve out a far larger role for the United States in the region as the president works to rehabilitate U.S. relations with the Islamic world and the Arab Middle East.

Of course the decision to withdraw the American ambassador, wasn’t merely due to a fit of pique, but to protest a real problem.

The Bush administration withdrew its ambassador in February 2005 to protest the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri. Syrian intelligence officials are suspected of being behind the bombing in Beirut that killed him, a claim Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has long rejected.

Of course Assad’s rejected it. It doesn’t make him look good. And even if the recent Der Spiegel report is true that Hezbollah was responsible for the murder, it’s hard to believe that Hezbollah didn’t act with the cooperation of Syria.

So this is apparently the administration’s rationale.

The loss of U.S. diplomatic leverage in the region — because of opposition among many Arabs to the Iraq war and a perceived U.S. favoritism toward Israel — has left a vacuum in recent years filled in large part by Iran. The decision to return the ambassador to Syria, senior administration officials said, represents the restoration of a sustained U.S. diplomatic presence in a secular Arab country central to many U.S. interests in the region.

It’s only central if it cooperates with the United States. Back in March, the United States initiated contacts with Syria and presented conditions for changing its policy towards Syria.

A senior U.S. State Department official told the Lebanese daily Al-Nahar that during Feltman’s meeting with the Syrian ambassador to Washington, the former had brought up the issues of Syria’s support of terrorism, its efforts to obtain nuclear weapons, its involvement in Lebanon, and the deterioration of the human rights situation in Syria. [10] The Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported that if Syria severed its ties with Iran, Hizbullah, Hamas, and other Palestinian factions that operate within its territory, the U.S. would be willing to play a role in Israeli-Syrian negotiations, to remove Syria from the list of states sponsoring terror, and to lift the sanctions currently imposed on it. [11]

The official Syrain response was:

After the commencement of the U.S.-Syria dialogue, spokesmen of the Syrian regime and articles in the Syrian press expressed the following positions:

· Syria has no intention of changing its policy and will continue to be part of the resistance camp. The U.S. is the one that must change its policy by lifting the sanctions imposed on Syria, appointing an ambassador to Damascus, and launching a dialogue with the resistance forces.

· In starting a dialogue with Syria, the U.S. has capitulated to the resistance and acknowledged the importance of Syria and Iran.

· The advent of the Obama administration does not herald an improvement in the relations with Syria.

Apparently Syria met none of the conditions that the Obama administration had earlier specified and the United States still has awarded Damascus with one of the prizes it sought. One would have assumed that Syrian support for terrorist organizations was a bigger threat to Middle East peace than Israeli settlements. Apparently the Obama administration has decided otherwise.

Remarkably, at a time when the Iranian regime is facing internal political pressures, the United States is going easy on its closest ally.

If Jimmy Carter’s boasts are true, the administration is also considering dropping the Quartet demands on Hamas. Hamas isn’t just a terrorist organization dedicated to Israel’s destruction it is also a major proxy of the Iranian regime in its efforts to project its influence across the Middle East.

If the administration really is intent on rehabilitation Syria and Hamas, it has really chosen a bad time to do it. It should be working to exert even more pressure on Iran not providing respite to the regime. Even if one believes (as I don’t) that President Obama’s Cairo speech has been responsible for stirring the citizen of Lebanon and then Iran to choose freedom, it’s hard to see how cozying up to Syria and Hamas promotes freedom.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.