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Category Archives: Iran
Why wouldn’t IRGC play Oil Futures? Saddam did in the 1990’s.
Today’s volatility in oil markets and feverish trading in markets today reminds me of Saddam’s practices in the 1990’s. Oil reserves were very low. There were contentious political discussions in the UN Security Council concerning a relaxation of sanctions on Iraq oil … Continue reading
Posted in Gaza,Hamas, Israel, Global Shipping, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia
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Coercive Disarmament in Iran: 1991 Iraq Model
The conflict with Iran will end with at least two elements: One will be some sort of political agreement to cease hostilities. Second will be an intrusive weapons inspection mechanism to account for the Iran nuclear program (and possibly other WMD … Continue reading
Posted in Allies, Chemical Weapons, Iran, Iraq, nuclear weapons, United Nations
Tagged Iran Nuclear, Iran Nuclear Agreement, Iraq, WMD
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The “Successful” Strike on Iran
President Trump, Secretary of Defense Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Cain all expressed great satisfaction with the military achievement of bombing three critical nuclear sites in Iran. From the description of “Operation Midnight Hammer” provided by … Continue reading
Posted in Allies, China, Intelligence, Iran, nuclear weapons, Putin, Russia, WMD
Tagged China, Intelligence, Iran, Iraq, WMD
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Israel and Iran – Remember 1991 Iraq
In January 1991 I happened to be running the task force in the State Department Operations Center set up for Desert Storm. President George H. W. Bush had gone to enormous effort to assemble a coalition of over 30 countries to … Continue reading
Posted in Allies, Chemical Weapons, Gaza, Gaza,Hamas, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Israel, nuclear weapons
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A Houthi State on Bab al-Mandab?
Can the UN Security Council accept a settlement of the Yemen conflict which does not mandate adherence to Freedom of Navigation? It appears the Houthi leadership in Sana’a aspires to be to the Bab al-Mandab, as Egypt is to the … Continue reading
Things to Consider: Iraq War at 20
Everyone (and their dog) is writing/commenting about the Iraq war 20 years later. I doubt more accuracy is achieved in these tales after 20 years. Everyone seems to think they were central to events. Some of them were.[1] My perspective was also partial, … Continue reading
Posted in Allies, Chemical Weapons, Intelligence, Iran, Iraq, Sunni, Syria CW, United Nations, WMD
Tagged Intelligence, Iran, Iraq, Iraq Survey Group, Iraq War, Saddam Hussein, United Nations, WMD
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Death of Choice – Aymen al-Zawahiri
The US “took the shot” on 31 July that killed Aymen al-Zawahiri, the identified leader of Al-Qaeda. Zawahiri had been hunted by the US since the 9-11. It took a decade to find and kill Osama bin Laden. It took … Continue reading
Reward for What?!
According to news reports, the US State Department announced that in response to the continued attacks on US diplomatic personal and assistance missions in Iraq it was offering a reward of $3 million for information about the perpetrators. This seemed … Continue reading
Posted in Allies, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sunni, Syria
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The New CIA Director
Ambassador William J. Burns is a great and timely choice to head the CIA. He will assure that the Administration has the intelligence collection and analysis for the critical security issues facing the United States. He is a long time … Continue reading
Posted in Allies, China, Cyber Threat, Elections, Intelligence, Iran, Russia, Uncategorized, WMD
Tagged Bill Burns, China, Russia
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Impeachment and Foreign Policy Redux
In February 1998, I was in Baghdad discussing the ongoing disputes between Iraq and the UN weapons inspectors with Saddam’s key deputy Tariq Aziz. (I was the deputy chairman of the UN WMD inspection group called UNSCOM.) It was late … Continue reading
Posted in Iran, Iraq, United Nations, WMD
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