By: Robert Maginnis – Human Events

President Obama must heed the advice of a new congressional commission which warns against bargaining away our nuclear deterrent at the upcoming Moscow summit. It cautions the president to “maintain a nuclear deterrent that is safe, secure, and reliable” which is becoming more difficult as our complex atomic threat grows.

The May 2009 congressional commission report, “America’s Strategic Posture,” acknowledges President Obama’s campaign goal to eliminate all nuclear weapons but cautions such a reality would “require a fundamental change in geopolitics.” The bipartisan commission, which was led by former secretaries of defense William Perry and James Schlesinger, doesn’t believe elimination of nuclear weapons is possible anytime soon but accepts an interim “base camp” position that “would be safer than where we are today.”

The commission warns arms control is a minefield marked by opaque and incomplete information as well as advantages for our potential adversaries. It provides clear recommendations for President Obama’s strategic nuclear planning: maintain our triad of delivery systems, sustain an infrastructure to protect atomic weapons reliability, cache enough warheads to keep our potential enemies in check and maintain policies like the doctrine on weapons of mass destruction [WMD] that deter emerging threats.

President Obama travels to Moscow on July 6 at the invitation of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, for a summit to curb nuclear arms replacing the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires this December. The commission proposes a limited — “base camp” — summit outcome, “a mutual reduction of operationally deployed strategic nuclear weapons in some increment should be achievable.”

We have made significant progress since the height of the Cold War. The U.S. nuclear arsenal numbered over 32,000 warheads and the Soviet arsenal had over 45,000 in the 1980s. Today, the U.S. has 2,200 strategic warheads deployed and Russia has 2,800. The 2002 Moscow Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions between then-President Vladimir Putin and President George W. Bush called for cuts to between 1,700 and 2,200 operationally deployed warheads by 2012. Both nations have withdrawn about 14,000 tactical nuclear weapons from forward deployments as well.

The commission suggests our future atomic posture should “create the conditions in which nuclear weapons are never used” but warns of a growing “new, more complex and fluid threat environment.” President Obama must consider this global threat when negotiating arms reduction at the Moscow summit.

The new threat environment includes potential state adversaries, rogue countries like North Korea and Iran as well as terror groups. The terror group al Qaeda declared that obtaining a nuclear weapon is a “holy duty” for its members. “That’s why preventing nuclear terrorism is closely tied to preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons,” states the commission.

“But we are in danger of losing the battle to stop proliferation,” states the commission. North Korea has a nuclear arsenal and is willing to sell that technology. Iran appears to be following in Pyongyang’s atomic footsteps. “Thus, the proliferation of nuclear weapons and fissile materials is dangerously close to a ‘tipping point,’” warns the commission.

China’s nuclear arsenal is significantly smaller than the U.S.’s arsenal, but they are expanding rapidly and their no-first-use of nuclear weapons commitment “may be conditional,” according to the commission. China’s expansion covers the spectrum of capabilities on land, air and sea.

Russia maintains a large ICBM force and is modernizing its complete arsenal on nuclear capable platforms. The U.S. doesn’t know, definitively, the numbers of atomic weapons in the Russian arsenal, especially tactical warheads. The commission states Russia “stores thousands of these [tactical] weapons in apparent support of possible military operations west of the Urals” and “as reductions continue in the number of operationally deployed strategic nuclear weapons, this imbalance will become more apparent and allies less assured.”

The commission makes a number of recommendations for America’s future strategic posture. These should guide the President in Moscow.

It recommends structuring our nuclear force to discourage Russia and China from trying to “compete for some new advantage in the nuclear realm.” We should keep enough capability, says the commission, “to impress upon Russian leaders the impossibility of gaining a position of nuclear supremacy.” We should also “retain a large enough force of nuclear weapons that China is not tempted to try to reach a posture of strategic equivalency with the United States.”

The commission defends our triad — bombers, ICBMs, and submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) — of strategic delivery systems as providing “unique contributions to stability.” It argues our triad “should be maintained for the immediate future and this will require some difficult investment choices.”

Our bomber force is a visible presence in times of crisis which in itself extends deterrence. It also, as the commission states, imposes a significant cost burden on adversaries to invest in air defenses.

Our highly responsive ICBM force is widely dispersed, which would require an aggressor to attack with a very large number of atomic weapons. This would deplete his forces especially for small nuclear powers like China and ensure a devastating response from the U.S.

Our SLBM force is the most survivable and our insurance policy should the other parts of the triad fail.

The commission promotes the continued threat to use nuclear weapons as a WMD deterrent. It affirms the U.S. should “continue to make clear that it reserves the right to respond with overwhelming force — including through resort to all of our options — to the use of WMD against the United States.”

Use of atomic weapons in response to WMD use is justified, says the commission, in part by the principle of “belligerent reprisal,” a rule of international law under which the “illegal action of an aggressor permits the victim to carry out retaliation.”

The commission cautions the U.S. to preserve our at-risk atomic infrastructure. It warns we are losing our nuclear weapons technical talent to other industries and morale has declined in part because of budget cuts and the fact that we no longer build and test new weapons or produce fissile material. The commission says the U.S. risks inadvertently reducing “laboratory capabilities below some tipping point, after which it would be necessary to redevelop the capability to design and produce nuclear weapons if there is a future requirement.”

The commission dispelled a myth Obama embraced during the presidential campaign. American and Russian forces are not on so-called “hair trigger” alert. Their alert postures are “in fact highly stable” with multiple layers of control.

It called for investment to reduce the vulnerability of the nation to electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects. The commission indicated this is a serious potential threat, given the high level of vulnerability from emergent atomic powers like Iran and North Korea. The commission indicates “such attacks could have catastrophic consequences” such as shutting down our electrical system, disabling the Internet and incapacitating transportation systems.

The commission concludes with a sobering warning that the global community of atomic powers must preserve the non-use atomic weapons policy. “Any future use of nuclear weapons is likely to be the beginning of a catastrophic change in the world order … and would risk a highly unstable nuclear disorder.”

In Moscow, Obama must live up to his promise to “maintain a nuclear deterrent that is safe, secure, and reliable.” That deterrent requires our triad of delivery systems, a reliable infrastructure that maintains our atomic arsenal, enough warheads to keep our potential enemies in check and policies like the doctrine on WMD that deter emerging threats.

By: Scott Peterson – The Christian Science Monitor

The price has been high of massive and sometimes violent Iranian reaction to the official landslide reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But no one has paid more than the country’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, whose decision to bless the result as “divine” – and side openly with Mr. Ahmadinejad, despite charges of extensive fraud – has sparked the widest popular challenge to the Islamic Republic in 30 years.

So why is Ahmadinejad the chosen one?

Experts suggest a number of reasons, from his ties to the military and security forces, to populist domestic and hardline foreign policies, to sheer loyalty, that might have caused the leader to approve of – or even engineer – an Ahmadinejad win.

“[Ayatollah Khamenei] realizes that the armed forces of the establishment are more supportive of Ahmadinejad than they would be of anyone else,” says Massoumeh Torfeh, an Iran specialist at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

On Monday, police and armed basiji militants, operating from their makeshift base at the large Shirudi sports complex in downtown Tehran, forcefully prevented several hundred people from gathering at the nearby Haft-e Tir Square.

The Revolutionary Guard threatened a “revolutionary confrontation” to put down any further protests.

Analysts say that, among other things, Ahmadinejad’s four-year cultivation of the basiji and Revolutionary Guard forces with posts and contracts may have given him an edge.

“Ahmadinejad came from them. Ahmadinejad always had their support, and Ahmadinejad placed them in all important positions of power, right across the country; governors and all the provincial places are full of Revolutionary Guards, basiji, and his people – he changed everyone,” says Ms. Torfeh. “He’s put them there. He’s looked after them…. He’s got the thugs. He’s got the power behind him, and of course Khamenei has.”

A political analyst, speaking in Tehran, says the supreme leader prefers Ahmadinejad’s tough stance in foreign policy, which in four years has yielded a boost in Iran’s nuclear program from zero to some 7,000 centrifuges enriching uranium – despite United Nations and Western sanctions. In addition, Washington is no longer talking about regime change, but asking for dialogue.

“This was Khamenei’s hardball foreign policy, and it’s worked,” says the analyst, who asked not to be named. “If you care about your geopolitical position, what matters most? Not sanctions. You are standing tall, and you basically won against your [foreign] enemies.”

But Khamenei’s domestic strategy has yielded an unprecedented challenge to the regime – seen in the hundreds of thousands of Iranians who have protested in the past 10 days.

“[Khamenei] never anticipated such a reaction [and] miscalculated everything,” says another political analyst in Tehran, who could not be named for fear of reprisal. “I strongly believe that he is the one pulling the strings [and] this has been a project in the making over the last year or so.”

Official decision: ‘No major fraud’

The Guardian Council – the powerful 12-cleric body examining 646 electoral complaints – stated on Tuesday that “no major fraud” occurred in the election, and ruled out a rerun. Earlier it had found that 50 cities showed more than a 100 percent turnout, affecting some 7 percent of the entire vote.

The negative public reaction was predictable over such a large and unexpected Ahmadinejad victory, if not the scale of protest that has brought protesters onto the streets, to be stamped out violently by riot police and basiji militiamen with bullets, clubs, and knives.

The official death toll is 20, but sources in Tehran suggest one far higher. More than 450 have been detained, though unofficial figures suggest it could reach 1,500. Human rights groups describe agents arresting and taking away wounded protesters from hospitals.

Judicial official Ibrahim Raisi said on Tuesday a special court would be set up to try demonstrators: “Elements of riots must be dealt with to set an example. The judiciary will do that,” he said, in remarks quoted by state radio, according to the Associated Press.

Khamenei left no room for compromise when he declared during a Friday sermon that Ahmadinejad was the clear victor, that the election was clean, and that street marches had to end.

Khamenei: Ahmadinejad’s views closest to mine

For two decades as Iran’s highest authority, Khamenei has largely kept above the political fray. But on Friday, he said Ahmadinejad’s views were closest of all candidates to his own, and ruled out a rerun of the vote as demanded by supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

During protests, demonstrators have burned banners showing the supreme leader and chanted “Death to Khamenei,” according to video images uploaded onto the Internet.

Frustration seems to have grown in recent days, since big clashes on Saturday yielded to the much smaller street showing on Monday.

“When is it right to take up guns?” asked one angry Iranian contacted on Tuesday. “We are emphasizing silence and peaceful. Is it wrong [to] think about the violent way?”

“I think right now the aim is just to push them back and scare them enough to stop killing us,” says this Iranian, who could not be further identified. “Then we will think of what we want for the country.”

Lonely at the top

Though Khamenei has “crushed” key rivals, says the second analyst, his standing is less sure. He has “already lost the reformist camp, [and] many within the conservative camp are not happy with the way he handled the situation by bringing himself down to the level of Ahmadinejad.”

“So he is lonely, though still supreme leader. But the supremacy comes from the gun rather than loyalty,” adds the analyst. “The slim minority that loves him no matter what is still there, even though part of that constituency has become a little concerned.”

By: ANDREW LEE BUTTERS – Yahoo! Inc.

If the street protests roiling Iran since its disputed election have created a problem for the leadership in Tehran, imagine the dilemma it raises for Iran’s allies elsewhere in the Middle East. Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah was quick out of the blocks to congratulate President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when the authorities announced his re-election, calling the result a “great hope to all the mujahedin and resistance who are fighting against the forces of oppression and occupation.” But since supporters of defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi have taken to the streets to decry the election as rigged, Nasrallah has become more circumspect. And he specifically refuted suggestions that either candidate might be more pro-Hizballah than the other, merely saying that “Iran is under the authority of the Wali Al Faqih [divinely-inspired clerical rule] and will pass through this crisis.”

As a longtime client of Iran, Nasrallah is wise to hedge his bets, for he’ll need patronage and weapons from whoever emerges victorious in the post-election battle. But his caution is more than just good politics: the electoral crisis in Iran poses a problem for Hizballah and other Iranian allies in the region that goes far beyond simply who controls the purse strings in Iran. (See pictures of the turbulent aftermath of Iran’s election.)

For Syria, Iran’s closest ally, the problem hits close to home: a mass anti-government protest movement over allegations of a fraudulent election is not a welcome sight for an authoritarian regime whose President, Bashar Assad, won his first presidential referendum with 97% of the vote. (No surprise, then, that the official Syrian Arab News Agency website is largely ignoring news of Iran’s election.) For Syria, the sooner the Iranian government cleans up this mess – by any means necessary – the better.

But for Iran-backed “resistance” movements such as Hamas and especially Hizballah, the dilemma is more acute. Both groups are Islamist organizations committed both to religious law and secular democracy. Hamas’ legitimacy as an expression of the Palestinian political will was put beyond question in 2006, when it was democratically elected as the ruling party in the Palestinian parliament. Hizballah uses the fact that it is the largest political party in Lebanon as well as its self-proclaimed commitment to the country’s constitutional norms to burnish its claims to bear arms in defense of Lebanon’s national interest. And its devotion to political Islam gives its struggle a resonance among people ruled by secular autocrats throughout the Arab world. (See pictures of the enduring influence of Ayatullah Khomeini in Iran.)

There may be an inherent contradiction in at once following God’s laws, which are non-negotiable, and the pragmatism of democracy, but Iran, for all its flaws and limits, has managed to make that combination work for 30 years in the face of extreme international hostility. But as the two sources from which Iran’s system claims its legitimacy – democratic and clerical – come into conflict, Iran may become more authoritarian. And, of course, that will make it look a lot more like some of the regimes against which its supporters in the Middle East are fighting.

The strains inside Iran’s system are replicated, to some extent, within Hizballah, which is officially committed to the goal of making Lebanon an Islamic republic but long ago adopted the pragmatic realization that no single sect can dominate Lebanon’s religiously diverse society. Nasrallah’s movement largely plays by the rules of the Lebanese Republic: it accepted its defeat at the polls in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections earlier this month in a show of what, by Middle Eastern standards, was unusually good sportsmanship. But there remains a degree of blind faith in the devotion of Hizballah supporters, many of whom will do almost anything that the charismatic Nasrallah asks of them – including holy war, martyrdom and turning their weapons against fellow Lebanese in order to protect their sect and the resistance.

Indeed, the crisis in Iran seems to have heightened the sectarian and authoritarian sensibilities of some Lebanese Shi’ites. A recent reporting tour of Hizballah’s stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut found overwhelming support for Ahmadinejad, hailed not only for standing up to the U.S. and Israel, but also as a champion of Lebanese Shi’ites. There was not much sympathy for the revolutionary credentials of Mousavi and his supporters. “Those who are demonstrating in Iran must be burned,” says Wissam al-Amin, a 34-year-old architect. “We are with dictatorship in preventing demonstrations if their purpose is to create instability in Iran.” (Read an exclusive interview with Ahmadinejad’s opponent, Mousavi.)

Iran built its regional influence in no small part by contrasting itself with the Arab regimes that stood by helplessly when U.S. tanks rolled into Baghdad or Israeli tanks rolled into Gaza. Its image may lose some luster on Arab streets, however, should Iranian tanks roll through Tehran.

* Netanyahu: Settlements debate is a waste of time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that international “arguing” over Israel’s stance on settlements was impeding progress on the Middle East peace progress.

* Netanyahu: Iran greatest threat to peace In Rome for his first European visit since being elected, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu briefed Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi on his peace plan.

* China urges caution on North Korean ship checks Beijing backed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning North Korea’s nuclear test on May 25.

* Iran’s Crisis Posing a Problem for Its Mideast Allies If the street protests roiling Iran since its disputed election have created a problem for the leadership in Tehran, imagine the dilemma it raises for Iran’s allies elsewhere in the Middle East.

* China and US hold military talks Defence officials from the United States and China are meeting in Beijing for two days of high-level talks.

* Russia aims to host Middle East peace parley by end of 2009 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in Cairo on Tuesday that Moscow aimed to hold a Middle East peace conference before the end of 2009.

* No ‘Big Bang’ for EU foreign service, says Solana The EU’s planned foreign service should be established gradually and not in a ‘Big Bang’, if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified after a second Irish referendum.

* Iran’s supreme strategy: Why is Ahmadinejad the chosen one? The price has been high of massive and sometimes violent Iranian reaction to the official landslide reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

* Ethiopian troops return to Somalia With or without an international mandate, Ethiopian forces have entered Somali territory to back up a fast-failing Somali government.

* Europe must change after economic crisis, says Sarkozy In a historic speech before a joint session of the French parliament on Monday (22 June), President Nicolas Sarkozy said that the global economic crisis meant that “nothing will be the same any more”.

* Police break up new Tehran rally Iranian riot police have fired tear gas to break up a new opposition rally in the centre of the capital Tehran, hours after a stern warning to protesters.

* Al Qaeda says would use Pakistani nuclear weapons If it were in a position to do so, Al Qaeda would use Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in its fight against the United States.

* Can Third Temple be built without destroying Dome of the Rock? A new Jewish interfaith initiative launched last week argues building the Third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem would not necessitate the destruction of the Dome of the Rock.

* N Korea defends nuclear program North Korea has boasted of being a “proud nuclear power” and warned the US that it will strike back if attacked.

* Fayyad: Palestinian state in 2 years Palestinian PM says Netanyahu’s recent policy speech attempt to dodge international agreements, calls for end to settlement building, Gaza blockade.

* Somali President Declares State of Emergency Somalia’s president has declared a state of emergency as his government tries to fight off an offensive by militant Islamist groups.

* Iran turmoil likely to benefit Israel Like the collapse of the Soviet Union nearly two decades ago, the outcome of the post-election unrest in Iran could be of major strategic significance for the Middle East and for Israel.

* Sarkozy speaks out against burka French President Nicolas Sarkozy has spoken out strongly against the wearing of the burka by Muslim women in France.

* Iraq hit by fresh wave of attacks At least 21 people have been killed and 75 people wounded in a spate of bomb attacks across Iraq.

* Iran starts airforce manoeuvres in Gulf Iran began three days of airforce exercises in the Gulf and the Sea of Oman to raise operational and support capability.

* Iran police disperse protests Iranian police have used water cannon, batons, tear gas and live rounds to break up protests over the presidential election.

* Navy Positions Destroyer For Possible Intercept of North Korean Ship Suspected of Proliferating Missiles, Nukes The U.S. military is preparing for a possible intercept of a North Korean flagged ship suspected of proliferating weapons material in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution passed last Friday.

* World hunger ‘hits one billion’ One billion people throughout the world suffer from hunger, a figure which has increased by 100 million because of the global financial crisis, says the UN.

* Minister Ya’alon: There will be revolution in Iran Minister for Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya’alon said Iranian reformist presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi has brought about a new spirit of openness.

* Sarkozy calls for ‘strong’ EU president European institutions, especially the European Commission, should be given more power, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.

* Lieberman: Settlements no obstacle to peace Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Friday he saw good prospects for reviving peace talks with the Palestinians.

* Irish PM hails ‘successful’ EU summit result Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen has hailed as “entirely successful” the outcome of an EU summit.

* Mubarak says time is right for Arab-Israeli peace President Barack Obama’s “reassertion” of US leadership in the Middle East offers a rare opportunity to get peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

* EU leaders urge Iran to halt violence EU leaders on Friday (19 June) asked Iranian authorities to show restraint against protesters contesting the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

* Taliban gains money, al-Qaida finances recovering He moved his finger slowly across his throat, to show that the Taliban kills truckers who don’t pay for safe passage through large swaths of territory near Afghanistan.

* Ayatollah demands end to protests Iran’s supreme leader has issued a stern warning that protests against the country’s disputed presidential election results must end.

* Blair: ME peace possible ‘within a year’ An Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement could be reached “within the year,” but only if all sides agree to peaceful negotiations.

* Pakistani offensive ‘nears end’ The military offensive against Taliban militants entrenched in north-western Pakistan is nearly over, the defence minister has said.

* EU leaders give ‘unanimous’ support to Barroso reappointment EU leaders have given unanimous political backing for Jose Manuel Barroso to become president of the European Commission for a second time.

* Go fly a kite! Megiddo fights plan for second int’l airport A battle is raging over the pending construction of a new international airport in Megiddo, in the Jezreel Valley.

* Suleiman’s popularity worries Mubarak government Senior representatives of the Egyptian regime are “extremely worried” about the growing popularity of General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman and reports that he may succeed President Hosni Mubarak.

* U.S. Military Tracking North Korean Ship Suspected of Proliferating Missiles, Nukes The U.S. military is tracking a flagged North Korean ship suspected of proliferating weapons material in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution passed last Friday.

* Mubarak: Determine Palestine’s borders Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called Friday to determine the “contiguous” borders of a future Palestinian state as the first priority of getting the Israeli Palestinian peace process back on track.

* Nuclear and Diplomatic Dangers Lead to Western Wall Prayers A mass prayer rally has been called for late Sunday afternoon at the Western Wall in light of the diplomatic and other dangers facing Israel.

* Arab world sees settlement row as test of Obama’s credibility The clash on the settlements between the Obama-Clinton administration and the Netanyahu-Lieberman (and Barak) government is not some petty haggling over expanding a kindergarten in Ofra.

* Sheikh Salah: Netanyahu wants to rebuild Temple Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, spoke Wednesday afternoon in front of Muslim students at Haifa University.

* World Bank raises China forecast The World Bank has raised its forecast for growth in China this year from 6.5% to 7.2% amid signs that the economy is doing better than expected.

* Israel says ElBaradei biased on Syria Israel accused the head of the UN atomic agency of political bias in its probe of Syria Thursday, provoking a bitter response by the agency chief.

* Irish to be offered Lisbon pledge EU leaders meeting in Brussels are once more grappling with the Lisbon Treaty, hoping to agree on ways to help it pass a second Irish referendum.

* Dutch anti-Islam MP: ‘Israel is West’s first line of defense’ Israel will be a major part of Geert Wilders’ next film on Islam, the rightist Dutch legislator said last week.

* Iran investigates 646 poll complaints Iran’s top legislative body says it is investigating 646 complaints from the three defeated presidential candidates over last week’s election.

* Hamas rejects Carter plea to recognize Israel A senior Hamas official praised former President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday, a day after he met with the group, but said he failed to persuade the Islamic rulers of Gaza to accept international demands.

* Lieberman to Clinton: No settlement freeze Sharp differences remained between the US and Israeli positions on key issues Wednesday.

* Hu wraps up ‘breakthrough’ visit to Russia Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday wrapped up a visit to Russia that has seen the powers vow to beat the economic crisis.

* North Korea may fire a missile toward Hawaii North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July, a Japanese news report said.

* ‘Hamas helping Iran crush dissent’ Palestinian Hamas members are helping the Iranian authorities crush street protests in support of reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

* Pakistan and EU in ‘terror’ talks Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is meeting Nato and European Union leaders in Brussels for talks on boosting security co-operation and trade links.

* EU document scraps Quartet demands In what is perceived in Jerusalem as a mistaken effort to give Hamas room to maneuver, the EU’s 27 foreign ministers, in a statement issued Monday, did not call, as in the past, for Hamas to forswear terrorism.

* Barak: Mousavi is a fundamentalist too Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that both Iranian presidential candidates were fundamentalists.

* New protests over Iran elections Iranian presidential challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi has called for peaceful demonstrations in protest at the result of last week’s contested election.

* North Korea warns of retaliation North Korea has threatened a “thousand-fold” military retaliation against the US and its allies if it is provoked.

* China, Russia call for talks on Iran, North Korea The presidents of Russia and China on Wednesday called for a diplomatic push to resolve tensions over the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea after wide-ranging talks in Moscow.

* ‘Twitter revolutionized Israeli diplomacy’ An Israeli envoy to the U.S. said on Tuesday that Twitter, the short messaging website, has revolutionized Israeli diplomacy and become a leading advocacy apparatus.

* Right-wing group plans 30 new outposts The Land of Israel Faithful group says it has a plan to construct 30 new outposts in the West Bank over the summer.

* Brazil finds new strain of H1N1 virus Brazilian scientists have identified a new strain of the H1N1 virus after examining samples from a patient in Sao Paulo.

By: Maayana Miskin
– Arutz Sheva

Hamas chief in Syria, Khaled Mashaal complained Thursday that the United States is discriminating against Hamas in comparison to Iran and Syria. In an interview with the London-based Ash-sharq il-Awsat, Mashaal said U.S. President Obama is making demands of Hamas, while speaking to leaders of Middle East countries with no preconditions.

Obama “is beginning dialogue with the Iranians and the Syrians without preconditions, so why is he setting preconditions for Hamas?” Mashaal asked.

Mashaal expressed hope that the Obama administration would soon drop the preconditions set for Hamas as well. Obama’s “new language” when speaking about Hamas indicates that he may become willing to relax his conditions, he said.

As an example, Mashaal said Obama did not use the word “terrorism” when referring to Arab attacks on Israel in a recent speech.

The Obama administration, like previous U.S. administrations, has called on Hamas to recognize Israel, end terrorist attacks, and agree to abide by previous agreements signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The U.S. will only hold direct talks with Hamas if those three conditions are met, American diplomats say.

On Tuesday, Mashaal urged the U.S. and Europe to make Hamas a partner in Israel-PA talks. Hamas “will not be an obstacle,” he said. However, Mashaal refused to meet any of the U.S. conditions for talks, and said international law supports Hamas attacks on Israel.

One day earlier, Gaza terrorists carried out an attempted attack on Israeli troops near the Karni crossing. The terrorists were trained and armed by Hamas.