Friday, March 18, 2016

Did you know there were US forces in Jordan? Two responses in the Atlantic to the Atlantic's interview with President Obama below, suggest this is a good thing. How many “boots on the ground” are there?
Europe
France: Jihad Infecting Army, Police – Yves Mamou (Gatestone Institute)
EU Uses Aid Money to Build on Disputed West Bank Land - Jake Wallis Simons (Daily Mail-UK) The EU is using taxpayers' money to build unauthorized settlements and roads for Palestinians on Israeli parts of the West Bank. More than 1,000 EU-funded Palestinian homes have been erected in the Israeli Area C without permits in more than 40 locations around the West Bank.
Iran
Iraq
Jordan
U.S. Forces in Jordan Attack ISIS in Syria - Andrew Tilghman (Military Times)
North Korea
The North Korean Connection - Yaakov Lappin (Jerusalem Post) Hamas attack tunnels in Gaza, Hizbullah's Scud D missile stockpiles, and the Iranian Fordow nuclear facility dug into a mountain, would not exist in their current form without North Korea's assistance, 
Partners for Peace?
Palestinian Red Crescent hosts Fatah terror-honoring event - Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (PMW)
Why It Doesn't Matter What Israel Does - Jonathan S. Tobin (Commentary) This past week Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu offered to pull back military operations from Ramallah and Jericho in the West Bank as a gesture of good will. Yet the Palestinians were not interested. There is now a consensus that stretches across party lines in Israel about the lack of a peace partner.
Journalist Group Defends ‘Incitement to Murder’ - Daniel Pomerantz (Honest Reporting)
Russia
Russia's Withdrawal Is Another Facade - Anna Borshchevskaya (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Islamic State Claims Killing Russian Soldiers at Palmyra Caleb Weiss (The Long War Journal)
Islamic State Loses 22 Percent of Territory - Columb Strack (IHS Jane's-UK)
USA
The Obama Doctrine Revisited - Tamara Cofman Wittes (Atlantic)
Apple's Other Jihadi Encryption Problem - Steven Stalinsky and R. Sosnow (MEMRI)