Reporters in Gaza know exactly where the main Hamas compound is located but they refuse to discuss it because:  a.) they fear retaliation from Hamas, and, b.) the media don’t want to report anything that supports Israel’s contentions.
GAZA – The idea that one of Hamas’ main command bunkers is located beneath Shifa Hospital in Gaza City is one of the worst-kept secrets of the Gaza war.

So why aren’t reporters in Gaza ferreting it out? The precise location of a large underground bunker equipped with sophisticated communications equipment and housing some part of the leadership of a major terrorist organization beneath a major hospital would seem to qualify as a world-class scoop—the kind that might merit a Pulitzer, or at least a Polk. (more…)

A really odd dynamic surfaces yet again in the realm of the Obama administration’s remarkable list of “firsts”.   President Obama has become the first U.S. administration ever to factually side with radical islamists – like al-Qaeda, ISIS, The Muslim Brotherhood and HAMAS – over the more moderate Arab nations like Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Even the Palestinian Authority, yes the Palestinian Authority, was shocked by the Obama/Kerry proposal for Gaza.

For years some people have claimed the Muslim Brotherhood actually has serious influence inside the White House.   Given jaw dropping recent events it seems almost impossible now to refute such a proposition.
(Via Newsweek) American diplomacy in the Middle East in recent days may have failed to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, but it has managed to reposition the United States on an unfamiliar side of the region’s complex web of alliances.
Israelis believe US Secretary of State John Kerry’s week-long ceasefire negotiations has firmly placed the US in the camp of Qatar and Turkey, both of which back the militant government of Hamas, while it has sidelined its traditional allies. (more…)

There was, and for many still is, a considerable amount of Stockholm Syndrome type anxiety amid the general population of Israel when it comes to decisions to mount defensive strategies using offensive engagements.
However, even the most dovish of the Israeli population recognized the inherent risk when the IDF began publically exposing the size, scope and intents of the Gaza Tunnels:

With thirty tunnels found and almost seventy entrances it is now apparent that there was a “second Gaza” under the ground – complete with weapons stocks and everything needed for a combined attack on Israel.

Some of the tunnels had storage facilities with IDF-issued uniforms, helmets and shoes, as well as syringes with tranquilizers and handcuffs, ready for kidnapping Israeli citizens and taking them into Gaza.

Some people have asked me how come Israel never saw these tunnels which have exits inside Israeli territory. The answer is that the tunnels are not fully dug. They leave the last 3-6 feet of dirt intact so that there would be no outward sign of a tunnel being there.

The Hamas plan, it now turns out, was to simultaneously dig out of those tunnels the last 3-6 feet and then attack Israel from 30 or 40 tunnels simultaneously, using hundred if not thousands of Hamas terrorists, some dressed as IDF personnel. Such a massive wave of attack, combined with a barrage of rocket fire, could have had a devastating effect on Israel – had it not been for Operation Protective Edge.

Even the doves within Israel recognized they could not simply attempt defense any longer.  Consequently the internal support for the Netanyahu and IDF response has been overwhelming.   Hamas must be left without the potential to create such a network again.  Against this reality Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to his nation:  (more…)

BREAKING NEWS: Ebola forces Liberia to shut border crossings  (link)

*NOTE*  Did Dr. Kent Brantly’s family anticipate the border closure ? (see article below)

BOONE, N.C. (AP) — A second American aid worker has tested positive for the Ebola virus at the same hospital in Liberia where an American doctor became infected while helping to combat an outbreak of the deadly disease, a relief group official said Sunday.
Ken Isaacs, a vice president of Samaritan’s Purse, told The Associated Press that Dr. Kent Brantly — the 33-year-old medical director for the group’s Ebola care center on the outskirts of the Liberian capital of Monrovia — was stable and in very serious condition.

“We are hopeful and prayerful,” Isaacs told AP by telephone from the group headquarters in Boone, North Carolina. He said the doctor quickly recognized the symptoms and sought speedy treatment.
Isaacs identified the second American, Nancy Writebol, as a worker with an allied aid group SIM, or Serving in Mission, which runs the hospital where Samaritan’s Purse has an Ebola care center on the grounds. He said she was in stable and serious condition.
(more…)

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama own this outcome !
(Via Fox News) The United States shut down its embassy in Libya Saturday and evacuated its diplomats to neighboring Tunisia under U.S. military escort amid a significant deterioration in security in Tripoli as fighting intensified between rival militias, the State Department said.
“Due to the ongoing violence resulting from clashes between Libyan militias in the immediate vicinity of the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, we have temporarily relocated all of our personnel out of Libya,” spokeswoman Marie Harf said.
The withdrawal underscored the Obama administration’s concern about the heightened risk to American diplomats abroad, particularly in Libya where memories of the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in the eastern city of Benghazi are still vivid and the political uproar over it remain fresh ahead of a new congressional investigation into the incident. A senior military official told Fox News the Pentagon has been advising the State Department leave the post for weeks.  (read more)

It’s tough to know which is more laughable:  #1)The United Nations expressed shock that Iranian missiles used by Hamas were openly stored in a U.N. Gaza school;  or, #2) The United Nations expressed regret the Hamas missiles subsequently went missing; or, #3) The United Nations expressed outrage the Hamas missiles were given back to Hamas for use against Israel.

NEW YORK – The UN secretary-general on Wednesday said he was “alarmed” to hear that rockets were placed in a UN-run school in Gaza and now “have gone missing,” and he demanded a full review of such incidents.
A statement by the spokesman for Ban Ki-moon expressed the UN chief’s “outrage and regret” at the placement of weapons at a site run by the global organization. The UN says that has happened at least twice so far in the current fighting.
“Those responsible are turning schools into potential military targets, and endangering the lives of innocent children,” UN staff and anyone seeking shelter, the statement said. (more…)

More evidence.   Just in case you were wondering what the current “trust level” is between Egypt and the U.S regime….

EGYPT – Secretary of State John Kerry defied a Federal Aviation Administration ban and flew into Israel’s main airport Wednesday in a sign of sheer will to achieve a cease-fire agreement in the warring Gaza Strip despite little evidence of progress in ongoing negotiations aimed at halting fighting that’s left at least 31 Israelis and 650 Palestinians dead.

Kerry: “me? you don’t trust me”?  el Sisi: “you do work for Obama, no”?

Kerry’s arrival in Israel came as Israeli troops battled Hamas militants near a southern Gaza Strip town as dozens of Palestinian families trapped by the fighting scrambled to flee the area.
It also came as Israel closed the border crossing into Gaza at Erez “until further notice,” citing the heavy fighting.
Kerry planned to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during what appeared to be a crucial day in the flailing talks. (more…)

Best missed call ever pic.twitter.com/4LFzNr5ssK

— Il Padrino (@Famegiver24) July 22, 2014

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MOSCOW — Russia’s richest businessmen are increasingly frantic that President Vladimir Putin’s policies in Ukraine will lead to crippling sanctions and are too scared of reprisal to say so publicly, billionaires and analysts said.

If Putin doesn’t move to end the war in Ukraine in the wake of last week’s downing of a Malaysia Air jet in rebel-held territory, he risks becoming an international outcast like Belarus’s Aleksandr Lukashenko, whom the U.S. famously labeled Europe’s last dictator, one Russian billionaire said on condition of anonymity. What’s happening is bad for business and bad for Russia, he said.
‘‘The economic and business elite is just in horror,’’ said Igor Bunin, who heads the Center for Political Technology in Moscow. Nobody will speak out because of the implicit threat of retribution, Bunin said by phone on Sunday. ‘‘Any sign of rebellion and they’ll be brought to their knees.’’ (more…)