http://www.debka.com/ DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security en Copyright 2000-2007 DEBKAfile Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:13:07 +0300 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:13:07 +0300 webmaster@debka.com (Debka.com Webmaster) http://www.debka.com/images/logo.gif http://www.debka.com/ <p>The US military spokesperson provided no details about the missing US soldier, the first abduction in America's eight-year Afghan war, except to say that he went missing Tuesday, June 30. <b>DEBKA<i>file</i></b>'s military sources report that big US air bases are located between Herat in the east and the Iranian border. </p><p>News of the capture broke after 4,000 US marines and 650 Afghan troops launched Operation Strike of the Sword against the Taliban heartland in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan.</p> http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6161 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:12:12 +0300 <p>Parties, processions, a parade in the fortified Green Zone seat of government and embassies, and prime minister Nuri al-Malikii's proclamation of June 30 National Sovereignty Day celebrated the US military's handover of towns and cities to Iraqi security personnel on the way to a full withdrawal by the end of 2011. </p><p>Yet <b>DEBKA<i>file</i></b>'s military sources stress that unresolved tensions among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds still simmer and may erupt after the withdrawal of 130,000 US troops to 39 remote rural bases - nowhere near on hand for emergencies. </p><p></p> http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6160 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:12:20 +0300 <p>Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak and prime minister's adviser Yitzhak Molcho arrived in New York Tuesday June 30 for talks with US envoy George Mitchell on the settlement construction row between the two governments. Except that while they were airborne, the White House suddenly switched to a new, flexible willingness for compromise. This is explained by sharply altered US circumstances in the Middle East, as <b>DEBKA<i>file</i></b>'s Exclusive Analysis below explains.</p><p></p> http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6158 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:10:03 +0300 <p>Iran and Israel are each thinking about using the fallout of the domestic unrest in Tehran for attacking the other: Iran to flex muscle, Israel to strike a looming nuclear menace. </p><p>In its next issue out Friday, <b>DEBKA-Net-Weekly</b> weighs the chances of a clash, discloses how the Obama administration plans to hold the two back from a major conflagration.</p><p> <b>To subscribe to <b>DEBKA-Net-Weekly</b> click <i><a href="http://www.debka-net-weekly.com?ref=001" target="_blank">HERE</a></i> </b> .</p><p> </p><p></p> http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6159 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:12:29 +0300 <p>The Israeli government's decision Sunday, June 28, to extend Meir Dagan's service as director of Israel's external intelligence service, the Mossad, until the end of 2010 raised some dust in political circles - especially after his deputy resigned in a huff over the long wait for his turn at the helm.</p><p>As <b><b>DEBKA-Net-Weekly</b> 396</b> revealed on May 15 this year, prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu mad this the decision last May for the sake of an orderly transition.</p><p> <b>To subscribe to <b>DEBKA-Net-Weekly</b> click <i><a href="http://www.debka-net-weekly.com?ref=001" target="_blank">HERE</a></i> </b> .</p><p></p> http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6157 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:10:03 +0300 <p>Iran's opposition leaders relied heavily on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and other social sites to orchestrate their street rallies and expose regime repression. They did not appreciate at first that Iranian intelligence Internet experts were manipulating their electronic communications to shoot them down. </p><p>The United States has been alerted to seek new cyber defense systems to fight massive Internet invasions like the one Iran mounted to suppress its protest movement.</p><p>Read more about Iran's cyber war methods in <b>DEBKA<i>file</i></b> Exclusive Report below.</p><p></p><p></p> http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6155 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:10:03 +0300 <p>Two fundamental conceptions underpinning the Obama administration's Middle East policies have been swept away by the upheaval in Iran: the principle of nuclear negotiations with Iran and the premise that progress on the Palestinian peace front is the key to a US breakthrough with Iran.</p><p>Sunday, June 28, Washington observers familiar with White House thinking cited insiders as speculating that Binyamin Netanyahu's government is too weak to survive defying the US over the settlements. If it did, Netanyahu would fall and Ehud Barak take over.</p> http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6156 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:12:40 +0300