Middle East Policy

Human Rights Watch launched its 2007 World Report on January 11. The report evaluates human rights development in Bahrain , Egypt , Iraq , Iran , Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories , Jordan , Lebanon , Libya , Morocco , Saudi Arabia , Syria , Tunisia , and the United Arab Emirates . Here are two reports concerning the only Middle East totalitarian regimes occupying Iran and Syria: Iran Events of 2006 Respect for basic human rights in Iran, especially freedom of expression and assembly, deteriorated in 2006. The government routinely tortures and mistreats detained dissidents, including through prolonged solitary confinement. The Judiciary, which is accountable to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, is responsible for many serious human rights violations. World Report 2007 Report, January 11, 2007 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s cabinet is dominated by former intelligence and security officials, some of whom have been implicated in serious human rights violations, such as the assassinatio

The Struggle for the New Middle East: A Domestic Perspective By Nassim Yaziji In the context of the international and regional struggle for the new Middle East, where freedom, democracy and peace have the chance for the first time in the Middle East's history to replace totalitarianism, authoritarianism and violence which came from the pre-2003 regional regimes' interdependent authoritarian system. The remnants of this system represented by the totalitarian regimes and entities are fighting to survive after the Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and the semi-liberation of Lebanon in 2005 aiming to restore their previous stability through deliberate instability in the region. Methodology through Essential Facts The empirical approach with a comprehensive geopolitical perspective, in my view, is indispensable to find out the basic relations and rules controlling the Middle East political occurrences and then to develop the appropriate policy to cope with them in the comprehensive ge

There is an important regional dimension in the U.S. new Iraq strategy as I explained before. Here are two related analyses by the Council on Foreign Relations . Some related posts and articles: - U.S. Middle East strategy - The U.S. New Iraq Strategy - Explaining Bush's Plan to Secure Baghdad - The Neo-Internationalism After 9/11 and Middle East Democratization - Defining the Iraqi Question - Totalitarianism, Violence and Terror - Iraq Victory: Middle East Salvation - Middle East Totalitarians and Existential Choice - Middle East Totalitarian Axis - Middle East Salvation - Lebanon's Independence and Democracy - The International 'New Deal' of the Middle East On Course for Iran January 16, 2007 Prepared by: Michael Moran Nearly a week since President Bush’s vow to “ surge ” U.S. forces into Baghdad, a surge of a different kind got underway in the direction of Iran. The carrier Stennis (NYT) and its battle group will join the USS Eisenhower and its escorts in the Arab

The Middle East totalitarian axis represented by the Iranian terrorist armed gang of Hezbullah , is attacking Lebanon's freedom and democracy. Meanwhile, the international community continues its support to Lebanon and its legitimate and democratically-elected independence government and assures the achievements of the Cedar Revolution which kicked out the totalitarian occupation in 2005. Nevertheless, as I frequently said before, the essential problem was diagnosed and the prescription was and still obvious and stated in the historic UNSC resolution 1559. I frequently warned of not fully implementing this resolution that it would cause Lebanon to be held as a hostage on behalf of some regional totalitarian regimes. So, the international community should do more with the concerned totalitarian regimes to save Lebanon and the democratic project in the Middle East. Here are some related reports. Some related posts and articles: - Lebanon's Independence and Democracy - Lebano

The "Iranian Armed Group of Hezbullah" has proved to the whole world that they are the "Iranian Terrorist Armed Group of Hezbullah" after their latest terrorist attacks. This time it is not the Israeli civilians are the victims, whom their government proved that it is totally out of the strategic sense of the 'new Middle East' after Iraq when it secured and supported over the past years a totalitarian terrorist regime, which is one of the two operators of the Iranian Terrorist Armed Group of Hezbullah, and ultimately made a fool of itself after the result demonstrated in the high cost it paid last summer. This time the victims of Hezbullah are the Lebanese civilians who were yesterday under attack of the Hizbullah terror. The aggression targeted Beirut besides freedom and civilization as quite expected from a totalitarian armed gang as Hezbullah on behalf of the Middle East totalitarian axis and to preclude the Special Tribunal for Lebanon at any cost. On

Finally, the US has acknowledged the regional active role in Iraq's instability and violence. So, it will activate the regional dimension in the U.S. new Iraq strategy as an essential element. It is quite clear that without foreign support the insurgency in Iraq cannot be sustainable or politically effective. As the Iraq's insurgency has its domestic roots, the foreign (regional) input and intervention were essential in turning its efficacy from the security level to the political level. Here I should remind that the insurgency course in Iraq was in reverse that the violence advanced or led the political issue or problem not the political strife which produced the violence. That indicates that there are external roles and players taking their parts in this whole operation and manipulate the course of events there. So, as we should be totally aware of the domestic roots of the insurgency in Iraq, we should also be aware that it is definitely a regional issue and a deliberate war

Iranian regime, the leader of the Middle East Totalitarian Axis (META), is fighting back after the geo-strategic change in the Middle East through the liberation of Iraq and the semi-liberation of Lebanon and the new regional and international realities associated with the Bush Forward Strategy of Freedom. The Iranian battle is pretty clear in Iraq and in Beirut's streets and somewhere in Gaza, associated with Iranian defiance on the nuclear question strengthened by the status and performance of the META. The picture of the regionally rising Iran and the retreating Western democratic involvement associated with the new Middle East project is not accurate. The real picture is wider and has a different nature should we have a strategic and comprehensive vision. This analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations is helpful to conceive a more comprehensive and realistic perspective. (The unanimously-adopted UNSC resolution 1737 which sanctioned Iran on the nuclear issue can be downloa

Iran Freedom Support Act (H. R. 6198) has been adopted by Congress. This is definitely an important step in the right course towards the new Middle East. It becomes clearer day by day that the fate of the Middle East will be determined by the outcomes of the war between Middle East totalitarians led by Iran and democratic forces backed or represented by determined democratic international powers led by the US. To be accurate, I stress on the term 'totalitarian' because the general authoritarian Arab states are weaker than taking this war. Hence, what matters now is the totalitarian axis. This totalitarian axis, the terror umbrella, as already became obvious and in public consists of the Iranian regime as leader and the remnants of al-Ba'ath party (or the 'last Ba'ath' as I would love to call) besides Hezbullah and Hamas as proxies and hit men. There will be no salvation, peace, stability and of course freedom and democracy in the Middle East without targeting th