Let me be crystal clear on what I am about to say.  Four days ago former president Jimmy Carter made a statement about the situation in Egypt.  
Mr. Peanut said unequivocally that he “trusts the Islamists in Egypt” stay committed to the 1978 Arab – Israel peace accord.
Just so there can be no claims of my misinterpretation, or my opinion of the completely detached idiot, I am posting a video with his specific words.

In the face of warnings by the Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood to tear up the Arab nation’s peace treaty with Israel if U.S. aid is cut, former President Jimmy Carter, the chief negotiator of the 1978 deal, says he trusts the Islamists to do the right thing no matter what.

The reason: because they told him so.

(please watch this video for his own words before proceeding) (more…)

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s newly elected upper house of parliament picked an Islamist as its speaker on Tuesday, consolidating control by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party over the two legislative chambers.

The election of pharmacology professor Ahmed Fahmy as speaker of the Shura Council came during the chamber’s inaugural session. Saad el-Katatni, like Fahmy a member of the Freedom and Justice Party, was elected speaker of the more powerful lower house, or People’s Assembly, on Jan. 23. (more…)

Screw em’, what are they gonna do if we don’t give them money? Get more radical? They are already slipping violently toward a rabid Islamist state….

(JPost) — US aid to Egypt is guaranteed by the Camp David Accords, and stopping it would be a violation of that treaty, a high-ranking Muslim Brotherhood lawmaker said Sunday.

Essam El-Erian, who also serves as chairman of the Egyptian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said that should aid from Washington be cut, the Brotherhood would consider changing the terms of Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel. (more…)

Including the son of transporation secretary Ray LaHood.

CAIRO (AP) — Ignoring a stern U.S. threat, Egypt on Sunday referred 43 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, to trial before a criminal court for allegedly using illegal foreign funds to foment unrest.

The decision marked a sharp escalation of the dispute between Cairo and Washington over Egypt‘s crackdown on U.S.-funded groups promoting democracy and human rights. The two countries have been close allies for more than three decades, but the campaign against the organizations has angered Washington and jeopardized the $1.5 billion in aid Egypt is set to receive from the U.S. this year. (more…)

In other words, plans quickly being put into place.    You don’t say “no rush” unless you are rushing.   We know a rapid response naval “mother ship” is being retrofitted for special forces use in the Strait of Hormuz and we just found out a third, yes third, carrier group is headed to the gulf.  Probably the USS George HW Bush out of Virginia which pushed out two weeks ago.   This is unprecendented.   We have never before had 3 complete carrier groups in one region simultaneously.  

USS Abraham Lincoln had already entered the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz on Jan 22. She is escorted by a guided missile cruiser and two destroyers (USN), one British and one French warships.  Meanwhile, another US Navy’s carrier strike carrier group headed by USS Carl Vinson is stationed eastward the Strait of Hormuz, in northern part of the Arabian Sea washing southwest coast of Iran.

At present, the US has 15,000-men force deployed in Kuwait, expeditionary marine battalion, and amphibious landing group.

(The Hill) — The White House won’t be rushing to make a decision on Iran’s nuclear program, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday.

While Carney would not respond directly to questions about whether President Obama would have to decide within a year whether to use military force against Iran to stop it from obtaining nuclear weapons, he did say Obama’s policy is “clear.” […] (more…)

I have been reading reports for months waiting to read about such a move.   Believe it or not we have a serious weakness in our naval operations around the Strait of Hormuz.  The US may outspend the Islamic Republic nearly 90-to-1 on defense. But Iran, heir to ancient Persia’s naval innovation, has a well-honed asymmetric strategy designed to reverse that advantage.  A 2002 US military exercise simulating such a conflict proved devastating to American warships.

Iran has a fleet of small, fast, and highly maneuverable ships that can easily lay mines despite our presence.   In addition Iran has a fleet of 300 drone speedboats which can be used in attacks against larger warships and vessels such as oil tankers.   The goal of Iran doesn’t need to be “closing” the strait, they can do significant economic harm in just clogging up the traffic which flows through the strait.

(Washington Post) The Pentagon is rushing to send a large floating base for commando teams to the Middle East as tensions rise with Iran, al-Qaeda in Yemen and Somali pirates, among other threats.

In response to requests from U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, the Navy is converting an aging warship it had planned to decommission into a makeshift staging base for the commandos. Unofficially dubbed a “mothership,” the floating base could accommodate smaller high-speed boats and helicopters commonly used by Navy SEALs, procurement documents show. (more…)

I sense another strongly worded Obama memo coming their way ……

(Reuters) – Six Americans working for publicly funded U.S. organizations promoting democracy in Egypt have been barred from leaving the country, provoking angry demands in Washington that Cairo’s new military rulers stop “endangering American lives”.

Among those hit by travel bans – one of those targeted called it “de facto detention” – is a son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, as well as other foreign staffers of the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute, officials at the two organizations said. (more…)

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) – Hundreds of angry Libyans on Saturday stormed the transitional government’s headquarters in the eastern city of Benghazi, carting off computers, chairs, and desks while the country’s interim leader was still holed up in the building.

Libyans have grown increasingly frustrated with the pace and direction of reforms in the country more than three months after the end of the civil war that ousted longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Those concerns spurred residents in Benghazi, where the uprising against longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi broke out in February, to begin protests nearly two weeks ago to demand transparency and justice from the country’s new leaders.

The melee at the National Transitional Council’s headquarters began after protesters broke through the gates using hand grenades and streamed into the grounds of the headquarters. They banged on the building’s doors and demanded officials meet with them.

In a bid to calm tensions, NTC chief Mustafa Abdul-Jalil tried to address the crowd from a second-floor window, but protesters began throwing bottles at him. (more…)

We need a press corp that will push the Administration to explain.   This is insufferable stupidity.   The Brotherhood has said they will put it up for a referendum vote, knowing full well the vast majority of Egyptians oppose relations with Israel, and will therefore have plausible deniability.   Then the Administration will hide behind ‘well, it’s their Democracy’…..

(JPost) — The Muslim Brotherhood assured the United States that it will not break the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty despite public statements to the contrary, a State Department spokesperson said Thursday.

The second most dangerous woman in the administration.  Samantha Power

“We have had other assurances from the party with regard to their commitment not only to universal human rights, but to the international obligations that the Government of Egypt has undertaken,” State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in a briefing. (more…)

TEHRAN, Iran –  Iranian scientists have produced the nation’s first nuclear fuel rod, a feat of engineering the West has doubted Tehran capable of, the country’s nuclear agency said Sunday.

The announcement marks another step in Tehran’s efforts to achieve proficiency in the entire nuclear fuel cycle — from exploring uranium ore to producing nuclear fuel — despite U.N. sanctions and measures by the U.S. and others to get it to halt aspects of its atomic work that could provide a possible pathway to weapons production. (more…)