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)