Peloni:  US policy towards Turkey will come to be the defining aspect of the Trump administration in the Middle East.  There is a great need for US opposition to Turkey taking up the role first played by Iran in extending its own version of Jihadi domination in Syria.  Failing to fulfill this role will see a growing tension continue to rise between Israel and antisemitic leadership provided by Turkey.  As a NATO member state, this friction has the potential of having destablizing effects not just in the Middle East, but in Europe as well, with the notable appreciation of the growing influence of Europe’s growing Islamist minority.

By Jonathan Schanzer | Mar 28, 2025

Thousands of people rallied at Istanbul’s iconic Galata Bridge on New Year’s Day 2025 in support of the Palestinian cause and to protest Israel. Bilal Erdogan, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son, was among its speakers. Bilal spoke of the “martyrs” of Palestine, including Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7, 2023, slaughter of 1,200 Israelis. This is, by now, barely newsworthy given Ankara’s long track record of pro-Hamas rhetoric. But the son of Turkey’s strongman leader caught the attention of international observers when he stated, “we are here for … Al-Aqsa Mosque, for Jerusalem.”¹

A quarter century ago, such a rally would be unimaginable. Turkey viewed itself as a pillar of stability. It was largely democratic and sought to tie its future to Europe and the United States. Turkey and Israel cooperated to defeat terror groups. Much has since changed.

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Peloni:  The Kursk invasion was eerily similar to the failure of debacle of Operation Michael from WWI in many ways, a little over a century apart.  While not the only similarity between these failed operations, perhaps the most damaging aspect was the huge loss of military assets which both the Kaiser’s Germany and Zelensky’s Ukraine could ill afford to lose without having a significant benefit towards the aims of the respective wars.

Peloni:  Yishai Fleisher presents an important conversation here with Jake Bennett about the open conflict between Trump’s Middle East Envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s soon to be confirmed Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee.  Witkoff’s punditry on behalf of both Biden’s Israel policy and Qatar’s lack of radicalism, contrasts with Huckabee’s perspective that Israel’s war with Hamas is one of an existential nature which is being fought on behalf of Western civilization against barbarism.  The distinction between these two voices is neither nuance nor commiserate, but are in fact diametrically opposed visions for Israel and the world.  I look forward to Huckabee being confirmed in his position, but also to Witkoff being fired from his position.  Both of these actions would provide significantly greater moral clarity to the Trump administration.

By Joan Swirsky 

The word Politicide was first coined by Abba Eban—Israel’s foreign minister in 1967—to describe the attempted murder of the sovereign, independent State of Israel by enemies both within and outside of the fledgling state.

When Victor Sharpe first read the word, he told me how it resonated in “the deepest parts of my heart and soul.”

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By Paul E Vallely MG, US Army (Ret) & LTG Tom McInerney USAF (Ret) | March 28, 2025

What article and section of the Constitution defines treason?

U.S. law defines treason as a high crime that poses an extreme threat to the nation, a massive, dangerous betrayal. The Constitution of the United States. Article III, Section 3: Treason against the United States shall only be committed against them or in response to their Enemies, providing them with aid and comfort. Treason is the only crime defined in the United States Constitution. It was narrowly limited to avoid countless notorious past abuses perpetrated by governments. In debates during the creation of the Constitution, the main concern was not about drafting a law that would allow the government to prosecute traitors. It was to prevent “the numerous and dangerous excrescences (monstrosities)” that had been a feature of English and European laws of treason. The founding fathers wanted to ensure that political divisions within the country did not escalate into treason charges, with death as the ultimate penalty for the dissenters.

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Israel’s Syria policy was vindicated – but it should remember lessons of failed minority alliance

Hanan Lischinsky | All Israel News | Published: March 27, 2025

The fall of the Assad regime in Syria destroyed a hostile regime on Israel’s doorstep and opened the possibility of permanently changing the security situation on the northern front.

Israel reacted by conducting an intensive diplomatic initiative against Syria’s new, Islamist-dominated regime while reaching out to the country’s minorities – but it would do well to remember the past failures of similar ventures.

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Peloni:  Hussein Abubakr Mansour discusses the ongoing power struggle between Iran and Turkey for influence in Syria

By Hugh Fitzgerald | Mar 28, 2025

The Egyptians have continued to reject President Trump’s suggestion that Egypt and Jordan take in large numbers of Gazans while the reconstruction of the Strip takes place. But now they have been threatened with the loss of American aid if they do not agree to accept between 500,000 and 700,000 people from Gaza. More on the threat, conveyed to the Egyptians by the president of the UAE Mohammed bin Zayed, can be found here: “US support for Egypt at risk if Cairo refuses to accept Gazans, UAE President warns – report,” by Yuval Levy, Jerusalem Post, March 26, 2025:

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Peloni:  Self delusion seems to becoming a basic tenet of the Western world

What it really means.

by Daniel Greenfield | Mar 26, 2025

There is no meaningful opposition to Hamas in Gaza. The Muslim Brotherhood terror group retains the support of a majority of Arab Muslims occupying Gaza. While they’re far from enthusiastic about it, the only other game in town is the PLO’s Palestinian Authority which tends to be far more hated.

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Peloni:  Carmon, the founder of MEMRI, presents a particularly concerning warning to America as a consequence of pretending that Qatar is a US ally.

Peloni:  Highly recommended article.  In war, every advantage must be employed to secure the enemies subjugation.  In honor based societies, humiliation is likely the most effective tool to achieve this point, and those who fail to acknowledge this, or worse, those who choose to not employ it, have already ceded the greatest victory possible to their enemies.  The revelation of the breaking of Nasrallah was a supreme victory in the war against the Iranian crescent, and yet, if acknowledging and promoting this fact is judged to be too distasteful, the victory of this momentous event will be passed to the Barbarians, an eventuality which should be unthinkable, even as it is inevitable when Western sensitives are preferred in a war against a society which only fears the expression of being publicly shamed.

ANJULI PANDAVAR | 28 Mar 2025

In honour-shame cultures, the end of war means one side humiliates the other.

Retired United States Lieutenant-General Ben Hodges is fond of saying, at risk of belabouring the obvious, a soldier’s will to fight is at least as important as what weapon he has. It is a wisdom as ancient as war itself, and recalls San Tzu’s famous aphorism, “To conquer your enemy, you need to conquer his mind first.” The question that follows from this is, how do you erode a soldier’s will to fight, i.e., conquer his mind? Some answers, such as the Maori Haka and the Zulu Indlamu, do so by terrifying the will to fight out of their enemies.

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Peloni:  Oren covers a great deal of ground in this video.  In it he touches on some of the topics discussed by Tony Badran in his brilliant essay, “The Right’s Sectarian Moment”.  He analyzes the loud quiet arising from Carlson and his pro-Iran allies regarding the very real atrocities which are and have taken place against the Christian communities in Muslim countries, and the fact that these communities are fast disappearing.  Instead Carlson presents antisemitic reports put forth by Islamist-captured  sources as exhibited by Carlson in his outrageous interview with Rev. Munther Issaac.  As Oren explains, Issaac is completely at the mercy of his Muslim overlords.  This however strongly contrasts with Carlson and his ilk, who are very much free agents, and yet they choose to advocate for the preservation and domination of the very overlords which threaten Christians such as Issaac and his community.

Peloni:  The reports of establishing Turkish bases in Syria presents a growing threat for Israel. Recent talk of Turkey’s return to the F35 program presents an exponential component to the growing threat between Turkey and Israel.  How the US ultimately deals with Turkey will determine how great the threat from Turkey will become.

By Ahmad Sharawi | March 27, 2025

By File:Syrian National flag.svg: (User:The360Degree)File:Flag of Turkey (alternate).svg: (User:Dbenbenn) – Own work, Public Domain

Reports circulating on Syrian social media claim that Syrian interim President Ahmad al Sharaa is planning a visit to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to finalize a defense and military agreement between the two countries. These reports are unconfirmed but not without precedent. Prior to Sharaa and Erdogan’s February meeting, Reuters reported that the two leaders were discussing a defense pact.

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See Links to List of Speakers at the Bottom

Links to Speakers:

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The Iranian regime is forced to accept it lacks the means to intimidate Israel, and to order an invincible force to stand down has to be extremely carefully handled. The members of such a force would question the motives of a Supreme Leader who capitulates. Shari’a takes a dim view of such things.