National Review's Jim Geraghty and Radio America's Greg Corombos discuss current events. Today's topics: Marco Rubio looks set to run for president, Yemen devolves into chaos, and the White House has a meltdown over Boehner's invitation to Benjamin Netanyahu.
Yemen Joins List of Collapsed Mideast States
This week in Yemen, an Iran-backed Shia militia captured the presidential palace. The president has since resigned. It was the latest stage in the slow advance of the Houthis, who entered the capital Sana'a in September of last year.
The latest Houthi victories do not bring the Shia rebels undisputed control of the country. They do, however, ensure the undisputed presence of the Iranian clients in the central government.
The situation in Yemen exemplifies in acute form most of the phenomena which are currently tearing much of the Middle East apart: the fragmentation and weakness of central governments; growing sectarian divisions; the presence and power of a strong, Iranian backed political-military force; the importance of local and tribal power structures; Saudi support for the Sunnis; and the existence of a powerful Sunni Jihadi organization, committed both to local struggle and to terrorism against the West.
The uprising of the Houthis was launched in 2004. The movement derived its popular support from the 30% or so of Yemenis who belong to the Zaidi Shia community, concentrated in the north of the country.
While protesting undoubted discrimination against the Shia, the evidence of Iranian backing for the Houthi militia — officially known as "Ansarullah" (fighters of God) — was apparent from the outset. The stance of the Houthis is reflected in the group's unambiguous slogan: "God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, a Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam."
Also read:
Obama's bloody Yemen disaster
Obama's Hollow Threats of Revenge on Bibi
Jim and Greg discuss the GOP choosing Cleveland for the 2016 convention, the Obama administration piling on Israel, and Harry Reid's plan to override the Hobby Lobby decision.
As Hamas Attacks Israel with Rockets, the Obama Administration and Liberals Call for Israeli 'Restraint'
With hundreds of rockets raining down on Israel on a daily basis, the establishment in the United States tells Israel to show "restraint," and to work on resuming the failed peace process.
Not only did this position come from the anti-Israel editorial board of the New York Times, as could be expected, but it also came from the spokesman for the Obama administration, White House Middle East chief Philip Gordon, and finally from President Barack Obama himself. The president did his bit to urge restraint in an op-ed he wrote for Israel's left-wing daily newspaper (where else?), Haaretz.
Let us start with the widely discussed Times editorial. The first thing to notice is the false moral equivalence the editors claim exists between the killing of the three Israeli teens, including one American teenager who had dual Israeli citizenship, and the murder of the Palestinian boy by Israeli fanatics, most likely soccer toughs, supporters of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team known for their hostility to Arabs. Editorializing, the Times reported that "days of near silence" went by before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the killing of the Palestinian boy, Muhammad Abu Khdeir.
That story has since been taken down because it was false. Apparently the editors did not read their own reporter's article, which had clearly stated the falsehood of the claim...
Also read:
Mr. President, Where Is Your Outrage?
Moral Equivalence, Moral Idiocy
Pope tells presidents only God can bring peace to Holy Land
Praying for peace in the Holy Land alongside leaders of long-antagonistic nations, Pope Francis called on God to act where human efforts had failed, to end what he described as violence inspired by the devil.
"More than once we have been on the verge of peace, but the evil one, employing a variety of means, has succeeded in blocking it," the pope said June 8 at an evening ceremony in the Vatican Gardens. "That is why we are here, because we know and we believe that we need the help of God."
The pope addressed his remarks to Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during an "invocation for peace" in the Holy Land, to which he had invited them during his visit to the region two weeks earlier.
The event, at which Christians, Muslims and Jews prayed in each other's presence, was almost certainly the first of its kind at the Vatican, according to Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office.
Also read: Palestinian Christians: A New Generation Rises for Peace
I was pleasantly surprised at how thoroughly and objectively the war years were covered in the video. The last 10-15 minutes (when it deals with more recent history) get a little sketchy in my opinion but I leave it up to the viewer to decide. It's nearly two hours long but if you appreciate history and want to have a better understanding of the region and how the history drives current events then I highly recommend setting aside the time to watch it!
