Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows:

ABC's "This Week" — GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, White House chief of staff Jack Lew, and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
___

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Santorum, Lew.
___

CBS'"Face the Nation" — GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Lew
___

CNN's "State of the Union" — Santorum, Lew.
___

"Fox News Sunday" — Lew, former Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska.

by MJ Rosenberg, Foreign Policy Matters

These are strange times for those of us who follow the debate about a possible war with Iran. It is clear that the Israeli government and its neoconservative camp followers here in the United States are increasing pressure on President Obama to either attack Iran or let Israel do it (in which case we would be forced to join in). But the idea of another war in the Middle East is so outlandish that it seems inconceivable it could actually occur.

Still, the conventional wisdom holds that it can, because this is an election year and the assumption is that no one will say no to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

War enthusiasm will rise to a fever pitch by March, when AIPAC holds its annual policy conference. Netanyahu will, if the past is any indication, bring the crowd of 10,000 to its feet by depicting Iran as the new Nazi Germany and by coming very close to stating that only war can stop these new Nazis. Other speakers will say the same. The few who mention the idea of diplomacy will be met with stony silence.

From the convention center, 10,000 delegates will be dispatched to Capitol Hill with two or three “asks” for Members of Congress. One will, no doubt, be that “containment” of a nuclearized Iran be ruled off the table (leaving war as the only remaining option should Iran get the bomb). Another will likely be that the U.S. stop all dealings with the Palestinian Authority should Hamas and Fatah permanently reconcile. A third could apply either to Iran or Palestine and will inevitably demand fealty to whatever Netanyahu’s policy of the moment happens to be. I’ve sat in on those meetings where the AIPAC “asks” are developed, and it was always clear that the substance didn’t matter all that much.

MORE...

http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/will_aipac_and_bibi_get_their_war_20120209/

Tel Aviv has expressed grave concerns about the fate of Syria's weaponry should Bashar al Assad fall, saying they pose as great a threat to Israeli security as Iranian nuclear development.

--clip
Syria's massive stockpile of weapons includes surface-to-air missiles, high-trajectory long-range rockets and missiles, biological and chemical weapons, which are currently under the watchful guard of government troops.

An Israeli defence official was quoted last week in free Israeli daily Israel Hayom, a paper closely affiliated with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning that the transference of chemical weaponry to Lebanon would be tantamount to a declaration of war by the Lebanese government, adding that Israel would act to prevent such a move.

MORE...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9066222/Israel-We-will-act-to-prevent-Syrias-chemical-weapons-from-reaching-Hezbollah.html

By Roxana Tiron

Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senator John McCain said he’ll be among a group of senators traveling to Egypt as early as next week amid a dispute over charges against American pro-democracy workers.

McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters yesterday that the visit will include discussions about U.S. military aid to Egypt.

Obama administration officials and lawmakers have criticized Egypt’s plans to prosecute 43 people associated with non-governmental organizations, including U.S. citizens. The dispute has strained ties between the U.S. and Egyptian military leaders over the pace of the country’s transition to democracy and raised questions about the future of U.S. aid to Egypt.

U.S. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will continue to press the case of the Americans during a separate, previously planned visit to Egypt later this week, a U.S. military official said.

MORE...

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-08/u-s-senators-going-to-egypt-amid-dispute-over-american-workers.html

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS | Wed Feb 8, 2012 8:42am EST

(Reuters) - Russia's veto of a Security Council resolution on Syria goes far beyond mere protection for a close ally and arms buyer - it showed Moscow's determination to crush what it sees as a Western crusade to use the United Nations to topple unfriendly regimes.

The same holds true for China, which followed Russia's lead and joined Moscow in its second double veto to strike down a European-Arab draft resolution that would have endorsed an Arab League plan for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to transfer power to his deputy to prepare free elections.

Russia's move, analysts and diplomats say, was a diplomatic counteroffensive responding to an unusually active period for the Security Council. Last year the 15-nation panel twice adopted resolutions authorizing "all necessary measures" - diplomatic code for military force - in Libya and Ivory Coast.

Libya and Ivory Coast were also the first time the council invoked the Western-backed notion of the "responsibility to protect" civilians threatened by their own governments.

MORE...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/08/us-un-russia-idUSTRE8170BK20120208

Any good armchair general with a good search engine and time on their hands can figure out in a hurry that the song and dance about Iran being unable to close the Strait if Hormuz for long is just a plain crock. Worse than a crock. Yet, this big Orwellian lie persists, so once again I have to set the record straight. Iran has the capability of not only closing the Strait for some time, but creating a world of hurt for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Iran possesses a build up of anti-ship weapons called Sunburn missiles, which it has procured from Russia and China over the last decade. These are top-notch weapons developed by the Russians as a low-cost challenge to the expensive, tech-heavy weaponry of the U.S., and specifically the aircraft carrier task force. A conflict, which I now assign a high probability to [see Scenario for an Israel Attack on Iran], is going to be a huge test of a global-naval doctrine that Russia and China will watch with tremendous interest. That’s why I think they have armed Iran to the teeth. The big question: How many of these weapons does Iran have? I would suggest thousands, and that this is the real show.

Given that U.S. crony logic seems to be about squandering money on weapons in the military-industrial complex, I fear for young sailors and marines on the 5th Fleet. Don’t get me wrong, the US Navy is professional, but the Strait doesn’t allow for the normal defense in depth available in open seas, in fact it offers the Iranians a cross fire setup or triangulation (see map of Strait below) . If you read discussions on various military sites, there is a lively debate on American ship defense system like the Aegis. However, almost nobody claims this to be fully protective against ship strikes. And an oil tanker, no way. It is important that the US is working on new generation lasar defense to counter these missiles, however they are still in development. This puts added pressure for Iran to have this fight now, not later. The following is from ”Russian Military Equality Network. (I have cleaned up the English a bit]

U.S. Navy Pacific Commander Admiral Timothy Keating said that due to lack of sufficient funds for the procurement of simulated target missile defense system, the U.S. Navy can not now afford to fight “the club” category of supersonic anti-ship missiles. It is reported that the U.S. military that is used to simulate the “club” missile target missile is still being developed, and is expected to be put into use in 2014.

MORE...

http://www.businessinsider.com/irans-arsenal-of-sunburn-missiles-are-more-than-enough-to-close-the-strait-2012-2

Preparing for Iran strike? Foreign embassies in Israel have recently started to formulate contingency plans to evacuate their citizens from the Jewish State in case of a missile attack on Israel.

Senior officials in Jerusalem said that several diplomatic missions have shown great interest in preparing for various emergency situations, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday.

In the framework of the preparations for possible fallout in case of an Israeli strike on Iran, foreign diplomats stationed in Israel requested that the Foreign Ministry equip them and their family members with gas masks.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry has provided foreign embassies in Israel with a list of public bomb shelters across the country, as well as an instructional pamphlet in English produced by the IDF Home Front Command.

MORE...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4186799,00.html

By Alexander Bolton - 02/07/12 05:15 AM ET

Some Democrats are grumbling over how Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has run the floor this year.

The frustration is felt mostly among junior lawmakers, who want more of a role in decision-making and have yet to resign themselves to the traditional pace of the Senate, where seniority rules and lawmakers often have to wait years to have significant influence.

They say Reid’s style leaves them feeling out of the loop.

Colleagues have second-guessed Reid’s decision to greenlight a deal with Republicans on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorization bill.

MORE...

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/209023-reids-floor-maneuvers-leave-some-democrats-frustrated-

By Alexander Bolton - 02/07/12 03:57 PM ET

Senate Democratic leaders on Tuesday accused Republicans of trying to derail the national economic recovery for political purposes after talks to extend the payroll tax holiday hit a wall.

“We’ve had five straight months of the unemployment rate coming down. Let’s make no mistake, there are some Republicans who think that doesn’t really work with their strategy of defeating President Obama. These are some of the same voices who are opposing any bipartisan agreement to extend the payroll tax cut,” said Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.).

When asked whether he thought Republicans were intentionally attempting to derail the economic recovery to bolster their chances in November, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said: “It appears that is true.”

“Based upon the battles, the number of battles they’ve had, especially as we’ve seen with the debates with the Republican candidates — what are they going to talk about if the economy continues to improve?” he said.

MORE...

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/209229-dems-accuse-gop-of-seeking-to-derail-economic-recovery

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON | Mon Feb 6, 2012 6:43pm EST

(Reuters) - An Egyptian military delegation abruptly cancelled its meetings with U.S. lawmakers to return to Cairo on Monday after warnings from both Congress and the White House that Egypt's crackdown on non-governmental groups could threaten its $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid.

A spokesman for the Egyptian Embassy confirmed that the delegation had cancelled its meetings this week with U.S. lawmakers, but gave no reason.

Last week, the Egyptian army delegation met State Department officials who outlined both the U.S. position on the pro-democracy non-governmental groups and the new conditions that Congress recently imposed on American military assistance.

Nineteen Americans are among 40 foreign and Egyptian activists whose cases have been referred to criminal court by Egypt's army-backed government. A number of the U.S. citizens involved have sought refuge in the American Embassy.

MORE...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/06/us-egypt-usa-whitehouse-idUSTRE8151YX20120206