Quotes of the week—follow the links to read the whole thing.
A 12-year-old Jerusalem girl recalled the terror she experienced as she fled from an assailant who moments earlier stabbed another teen multiple times. . . .
He managed to stab one of the youths, Yehuda Ne'emad, in the stomach and the back. Next, the assailant began running in the girl's direction.
“I didn't think too much," she said. "I just grabbed my brother's hand and we ran.” . . .
The whole thing lasted 2-3 minutes," she recalled. “I thought I won't be able to escape because he was so close to me. I was sure I was going to die, but I believed that with God's help, there will be a miracle.”
At that point, onlookers came out on the street, scaring the assailant away towards an adjacent valley. Ne'emad was taken to the hospital and underwent surgery. Hospital officials said that his condition is stable and he is out of immediate danger. . . .
The defense establishment estimated that the terrorist exploited the fact that the separation fence, which divides Israeli and Palestinian territories, does not extend to Kfar Iksa. He could therefore slip in and out of the village unimpeded.
Yair Altman, “‘I thought I was going to die,’” Ynetnews, October 22, 2011
Shabaab claimed it killed more than 100 African Union peacekeepers from Burundi and Uganda during heavy fighting two days ago in a suburb of the Somali capital of Somalia. The African Union denied the reports, and claimed that Shabaab faked the photographs of dead soldiers for propaganda purposes. . .
"Upon reaching the outskirts of Daynile neighborhood, bullets rained upon them from where they did not know," Shabaab said in its statement. "Allah dispersed them and they incurred a bitter defeat. In the afternoon, the dust of battle had settled, and the mujahideen started to gather the booty and count the losses. The mujahideen counted on the ground more than a hundred bodies of Ugandan and Burundian forces, 76 of which were taken to Lafoole district in Islamic Lower Shabelle province, in the same afternoon as the battle."
Bill Roggio,“Shabaab claims killing of scores of African Union fighters in Mogadishu,” The Long War Journal, October 22, 2011
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday slammed NATO's role in Libya and said the United States -- and all other countries -- should stay out of the conflict in Syria.
“We think it is the will of the people that should work and prevail everywhere. Justice, freedom and respect to people -- this is the right of all nations,” he said in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria. . . .
U.S. authorities have accused Iran of being involved in a plot to kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, Adel Al-Jubeir, in spring 2012.
The alleged scheme involved a connection to the Quds Force, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. A 56-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen and an Iran-based member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are accused of conspiring to hire hit men from a Mexican drug cartel to bomb a restaurant, where the ambassador would have been.
In his interview Saturday, Ahmadinejad dismissed the United States' claim of Iranian involvement.
“Do we need really to kill the ambassador of a brotherly country? What is the reason and the interest behind that?” he said. “We never have any intention to hurt Saudi Arabia. Do we really want to do it in the United States? And is that the way, really?” . . .
Ahmadinejad's stances on conflicts mirror his speech last month at the U.N. General Assembly.
Delegations from the United States and several European nations, including France and the United Kingdom, walked out during his speech, in which he repeatedly condemned the United States and said some countries use the Holocaust as an “excuse to pay ransom ... to Zionists.”
In his remarks, Ahmadinejad called the September 11, 2001, attacks "mysterious" and said they were a pretext for a U.S.-led war against Afghanistan and Iraq.
He said the United States killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden instead of assigning a fact-finding team to investigate “hidden elements involved in September 11.”
“Ahmadinejad slams NATO, denounces U.S. pressure in Middle East,” CNN, October 22, 2011
U.S. Senator John McCain said Sunday that military action to protect civilians in Syria might be considered now that NATO's air campaign in Libya is ending.
However, President Barack Obama's administration has made clear it has no appetite for military intervention in Syria — a close ally of Iran that sits on Israel's border — and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted Sunday that the Syrian opposition has not called for such action as President Bashar Assad's regime.
"Now that military operations in Libya are ending, there will be renewed focus on what practical military operations might be considered to protect civilian lives in Syria," McCain said at the World Economic Forum in Jordan. "The Assad regime should not consider that it can get away with mass murder. Gadhafi made that mistake and it cost him everything," he added, referring to ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi who was captured and killed last week by fighters loyal to the new government.
Dale Gavlak, “US Senator Talks About Military Options in Syria,”Associated Press,October 23, 2011
It is no secret that Hamas was strengthened by the conclusion of its ransom deal with Israel in which over one thousand Palestinian terrorists were freed in exchange for the safe return of Gilad Shalit. But its Fatah rivals are not taking this triumph lying down. In the wake of the announcement that Hamas will be paying each of the released killers, almost all of whom are either directly or indirectly responsible for the murders of Jews, a bonus of $2,000, the Palestinian Authority has also decreedthat it will be paying every one of the murderers a separate honorarium though the amount was not specified. That PA leader Mahmoud Abbas, the man that is supposed to be Israel’s peace partner, will pay this cash reward for murder, is an irony that is lost on an Obama administration that continues to urge the Jewish state to make concessions to the PA.
This is of more than passing interest to American readers since hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer funds are transferred to the Palestinian Authority every year. That makes Uncle Sam is paying a subsidy to mass murderers. That’s a not insignificant point to remember when Congress decides whether or not to continue the flow of aid to the PA.
Jonathan Tobin, “Abbas to Pay Released Murderers’ Pensions With U.S. Aid Money,” Commentary, October 23, 2011
The death Saturday of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, 86, in New York while being treated for colon cancer, has raised questions over how the world’s largest oil producer will manage leadership transitions in the future. . . .
When Abdullah officially came to the throne in 2005, after serving seven years as regent to the medically incapacitated Fahd, he changed the succession rules to give an appointed council of princes, the Allegiance Council, more power in selecting a new ruler.
The council, made up of 33 male descendants of Saudi Arabia’s founder and from every branch of the royal family, has never been tested before. But its decision in picking a new Crown Prince will set Saudi Arabia’s course into the future.
Analysts almost unanimously agree the Allegiance Council and King Abdullah will appoint Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz al Saud, the conservative Interior Minister since 1975.
The most politically active of the founding king’s remaining 19 sons, the 77-year-old may be the last to hold power before the line of succession passes to a new generation. . . .
With political unrest sweeping Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Morocco, Algeria and Iran, Saudi Arabia has become the focus of counter-revolutionary reaction in the Middle East.
Prince Nayef and his security services are on the front lines a Saudi battle to resist change. He commands a paramilitary force of about 130,000 men, the secret security services, local and national police, customs and immigration officials, and coast and border guards.
He is also responsible for the country’s notorious religious police, who enforce strict Islamic practices, such as women’s dress codes.
U.S. diplomatic cables, released by WikiLeaks, say Prince Nayef is “a hardline conservative who at best is lukewarm to King Abdullah’s reform initiatives.”
The cables described him as “elusive, ambiguous, pragmatic, unimaginative, shrewd and outspoken.”
Peter Godspeed, “‘Unimaginative, shrewd, outspoken’ and likely the next Saudi king,” National Post,October 24, 2011
Syrian army deserters killed seven soldiers in an attack on an armored convoy on Tuesday, an activist group said, a day ahead of an Arab League visit which aims to open dialogue between President Bashar al-Assad and his opponents.
Residents and activists said the fighting took place at a roadblock on the edge of the northwestern town of Maarat al-Numaan, where soldiers who defected during a military assault in the central province of Homs had gathered. . . .
The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights said the seven soldiers were killed in Maarat al-Numaan, 230 km (145 miles) north of Damascus, when their armored convoy came under attack.
"A firefight broke out in the early afternoon at the large barrier which is manned by soldiers and military intelligence personnel. Tanks are also deployed there," a local resident, who gave his name as Raed, said by telephone.
He said the roadblock was attacked in response to a military operation overnight against defectors sheltering around a chicken factory on the outskirts of Maarat al-Numaan.
Khaled Yacoub Oweis,“Syrian army deserters kill 7 troops in revolt,” Reuters, October 25, 2011
Lawyers in Algeria went on strike Tuesday to protest against proposed changes in the organisation of the profession which they say will limit their independence and powers in court.
The strike was due to last three days and was called by the National Union of Bar Associations of Algeria. Barrister Fatima-Zohra Benbraham told AFP that the goal was to suspend all participation by lawyers in court cases.
“Algerian lawyers strike against 'repression,’” AFP, October 26, 2011
Iran has just defeated the United States in Iraq.
The American withdrawal, which comes after the administration's failure to secure a new agreement that would have allowed troops to remain in Iraq, won't be good for ordinary Iraqis or for the region. But it will unquestionably benefit Iran.
President Obama's February 2009 speech at Camp Lejeune accurately defined the U.S. goal for Iraq as "an Iraq that is sovereign, stable and self-reliant." He then outlined how the U.S. would achieve that goal by working "to promote an Iraqi government that is just, representative and accountable, and that provides neither support nor safe haven to terrorists."
Despite recent administration claims to the contrary, Iraq today meets none of those conditions. Its sovereignty is hollow because of the continued activities of Iranian-backed militias in its territory. Its stability is fragile, since the fundamental disputes among ethnic and sectarian groups remain unresolved. And it is not in any way self-reliant. The Iraqi military cannot protect its borders, its airspace or its territorial waters without foreign assistance. . . .
Opponents of the U.S. presence in Iraq have long argued that the withdrawal of American forces would reduce anti-American sentiment and violence, denying the militias their excuse for continued operations. Sadr does not see it that way.
Two days after the president's announcement, Sadr declared that even an expanded U.S. diplomatic presence in Baghdad would be a continued occupation. Speaking of American diplomats in Iraq, he said, "They are all occupiers, and resisting them after the end of the agreement is an obligation." . . . .
Many Americans felt a sense of relief when the president announced that "America's war in Iraq is over." That relief must be tempered, however, by the recognition that Tehran has achieved its goals in Iraq while the U.S. has not. Henceforth, Iranian proxy militias are likely to expand their training bases in southern Iraq and use them as staging areas for operations throughout the Persian Gulf.
Frederick W. Kagan and Kimberly Kagan, “Out of Iraq,” Los Angeles Times, October 27, 2011
Don’t get fresh with Omar Sharif! The 1960’s screen heartthrob slapped a woman who was little too persistent in trying to get her photo taken with him at a Qatar film festival. It’s possible this kind of thing happened all the time on the red carpets for “Doctor Zhivago,” but no one had cam-phones then, whereas video obtained by TMZ caught Thursday’s bizarre encounter. “My dear!” Sharif exclaimed in Arabic, swatting at the lady, “I told you I’d get to you afterwards! I just said that and you’re standing here. Put something in your brain!”
The Reliable Source, “Omar Sharif slap a fan at film festival,” Washington Post, October 27, 2011
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