Daily Headlines:

Iran To U.S.: Bring It On

WASHINGTON – High-ranking Iranian military officials are rattling sabers again, this time by issuing a warning that Iranian submarines “can ambush and destroy enemy vessels especially U.S. aircraft carriers” should they return to the Persian Gulf – even as the first has returned, according to a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

Iran is known to have a number of diesel-run submarines, some purchased from Russia years ago, but the nation also has developed an indigenous submarine production.

The submarines not only can fire missiles off of their decks when surfaced but they are assessed by various reliable sources to have the Russian export version of the Shkval, a high-speed supercavitating rocket-propelled torpedo designed to be a rapid-reaction defense against other submarines and surface vessels.

“It would be the worst threat to the enemy,” Amiri said. “That is one of the U.S. concerns since Iranian submarines are noiseless and can easily evade detection as they are equipped with the sonar-evading technology and can fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously.

Netanyahu Renews Speculation Over Military Action Against Iran

Benjamin Netanyahu has renewed speculation that he is considering military action against Iran after he was accused of attempting to appoint a pro-war officer as head of the Israeli air force.

The Israeli prime minister riled senior commanders by advancing the candidacy of his military secretary, Maj Gen Yihanan Locker, for the post after the present commander signalled his desire to retire.

Mr Netanyahu's reported interference in the military appointments system has prompted a political backlash in Israel

Mr Netanyahu, supported by Ehud Barak, his defence minister, is widely known to lead a camp favouring military action against Iran but he has run into persistent opposition from senior military and intelligence commanders who question whether unilateral air strikes would be effective.

Russia Sells Dozens Of Combat Aircraft To Damascus

In defiance of international efforts to topple President Bashar Assad, Russia announced on Monday it signed a $550 million deal to sell 36 combat aircraft to Syria.

According to a report in Russia’s Kommersant, the deal for the Yak-130 aircraft was signed in December.

Russia and Syria began negotiations over the possible sale of Yak-130 advanced fighter trainers in late 2010. The plane is operational in Algeria and Libya, and if delivered to Syria would likely replace its older fleet of L-39 trainers.

Russia recently completed the delivery of advanced supersonic Yakhont anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria as part of a deal negotiated in 2007. In December, Syria test-fired one of the Yakhont missiles during a series of war games aimed at signaling Assad’s continued control over the Syrian military.

Earlier this month a ship full of ammunition from Russia was detained in Cyprus. The ship was released the next day and sailed to Tartus.

The United States said it raised concerns about the ship with Russia, but Moscow replied that it needs no justification for its defense trade with Syria as there is no internationally binding arms embargo in place.

Capitalism Is The Problem - Who Knew?

The perfectly named World Economic Forum—that is, an organization dedicated to the creation of a world economic system—is meeting in Davos again to discuss the problems of the day, and to propose solutions. Although the official problem-solving has not yet begun, a hint as to the direction of said solutions can be found in the definition of the main problem to be solved, offered by the group’s leader: the “out-dated and crumbling” economic system, capitalism. Surprise!

Among the problem-solvers in attendance: the dean of the China European International Business School, a joint project of the Chinese communist and European socialist governments; the President of the European Central Bank, formerly the head of the Bank of Italy; the Treasury Secretary to America’s first openly redistributionist President; and Tunisia’s new Islamist prime minister, who recently stood with a Hamas Party deputy and called for the “liberation of Jerusalem.” Who better to reform the world’s economy?

The solution? Well, if capitalism is “out-dated and crumbling”; if it is the source of the “morality gap”; if it is the cause of our being “over-leveraged”; and if it is the means of our having “undermined social coherence,” then the solution must be something that is not “capitalism.” Any guesses as to what the great minds of Davos—most of them Harvard/Goldman Sachs folks—might come up with?

World War

This is a very interesting read. Let's go straight to the conclusion:

In short, we face a global war waged by a well-established alliance of Iranian and Syrian Islamists, Russian and Chinese crony plutocrats, and Latin American radical leftists who share a love of totalitarian control of their own people and a hatred of America. We have failed to design a strategy to win this war, and indeed it often seems as if our leaders share the world view of our enemies.

Obama thought he could make deals with all of them, apparently believing this would come about when they realized he shared their conviction that most of the world’s problems are America’s fault. Indeed, when push comes to shove in their own countries, his instinctive response, as Fouad Ajami recently wrote regarding Syria, is to favor the success of the anti-American tyrants.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan once famously said of Jimmy Carter’s administration that our leaders could not distinguish between our friends and our enemies, and had ended by adopting our enemies’ view of the world. It’s as accurate today as it was 35 years ago.