August, 2021

• 20 August

  PM says Israel will respond to Gaza rocket fire ‘at a time of our choosing’

  

  Visiting troops at the Gaza border, Bennett says Israel holds Hamas responsible for attack which ended three months of relative calm; Gantz says Hamas is the real enemy of Gazans, not Israel A day after rocket fire from the Gaza Strip resumed, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned on Tuesday that …

  Read More »
• 20 August

  Syrian state TV: Israel fires missiles in southern Syria

  Syrian state media reported that Israel carried out a missile attack on southern Syria late on Tuesday, targeting an unspecified military position. There was no immediate comment from Israel. The state TV report did not specify if there were any casualties. It said two missiles were fired toward the military …

  Read More »
• 20 August

  An Afghanistan Apportionment

  

  American media and other politicians, and the people they pay to say things, are locked up tight with the demise in Afghanistan. How could anyone let this happen? Who’s to blame for these precipitous – they claim — events? What awful chaos at the airport! The answers are as vacuous …

  Read More »
• 20 August

  Biden’s Clueless Afghan Double-Cross

  

  Globally, there is not a friend or foe who doesn’t see that America’s reliability as an ally has been demolished. Great Britain, which has troops in Afghanistan, was not even consulted. Thousands of Americans awaiting instructions and with no way to get to an airport whose access is now controlled …

  Read More »
• 20 August

  Afghan chaos further incentive for India’s efforts to strengthen ties with Iran

  

  The recent rise of the Taliban in Kabul has expedited New Delhi’s efforts to boost ties with Iran, which is positioned to be India’s main corridor to Afghanistan, yet major challenges remain. The Indian government, which has been reaching out to the new administration in Iran to establish closer ties …

  Read More »
• 20 August

  Egypt counters Turkey’s influence in Mali via Al-Azhar

  

  Egypt seeks more influence in Mali through Al-Azhar, which is organizing a training program for a number of Malian imams in a bid to counter extremism. As Egypt steps up its efforts to boost its influence in the African continent, Al-Azhar announced Aug. 2 a training course for 23 imams …

  Read More »
• 20 August

  Egypt weighs Hifter’s role in Libyan transition

  

  Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Hifter visited Cairo and met with the US ambassador to Libya at a time of heightened tensions between Hifter and the new Libyan government of national unity. US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland met with Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Hifter in Cairo Aug. …

  Read More »
• 20 August

  Turkey views ties with Ethiopia as key to influence in Africa

  

  Turkey’s quest for normalization with Egypt and a new beginning with Sudan hinges on how far Ankara takes its relations with Ethiopia amid a simmering water dispute in the region over Ethiopia’s mega dam on the Nile. The crisis in the Nile basin over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has …

  Read More »
• 20 August

  Intel: Faith, civic leaders call on Biden to prioritize ending Syria’s war

  

  In a letter to President Joe Biden, a group of Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders called for the administration to adopt “a resolute, diplomacy-first” policy on Syria. A coalition of civic and faith-based leaders is urging President Joe Biden to put Syria’s decadelong civil war at the top of his …

  Read More »
• 20 August

  Ankara mulls ambitious but risky engagement with Taliban

  

  The Turkish government is eyeing a more independent — and riskier — role in Afghanistan after the Taliban’s blitz takeover of Kabul sidelined the United States earlier than expected. Ankara was perhaps among those most taken aback by the Taliban’s whirlwind takeover of Kabul and the earlier-than-expected US departure from …

  Read More »