This issue looks at possible Assad retaliation, another enemy tunnel discovered in Israel, Iran in the Mediterranean, chemical weapons in Syria, treason complaints against Obama, the hostage crisis in Algeria, and Iran’s plans to hang another Christian pastor.
OUR ISRAELI CONNECTION

News from The Israel Project
Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad has instructed his commanders to attack Israel and American targets if he is assassinated, according to rumors published in state-linked Iranian press outlets that place Assad at meetings with top commanders. Other reports, this time published in Saudi media, place Assad and his family on an offshore Russian warship in the Mediterranean, with Assad having lost “confidence” in his personal security detail.

IDF officials uncovered an attack tunnel on Monday that opened into Israeli territory near

Galid Shalit

the Israeli community Kibbutz Nir Oz.A similar tunnel was used in the 2006 attack in which Palestinians killed two Israeli soldiers and kidnapped a third Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. Another attack through a tunnel could be expected to severely undermine regional stability, especially if the attack included mass casualties and kidnappings, which the discovered tunnel seems to have been built to enable. The discovery comes as the rival Palestinian factions in control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Hamas and Fatah respectively, are seeking reconciliation under Egyptian auspices. It promises to call into question the intentions of the Hamas negotiators, who would be expected to accept previous Palestinian agreements with Israel in the context of a unity government.

Iran’s 24th fleet will begin a new three-month tour of duty next week that will take the warship and submarine into the Mediterranean Sea to “block threats to the Islamic republic.” Similar deployments have been used as symbolic moves channeled into domestic propaganda channels, but have also been used to deliver assets to Iranian proxies in places as far-flung as Sudan, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip. These and other Iranian moves to project power conventionally come at a time when Iran continues to deny experts from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog access to the Parchin military facility, where it is believed that Iranian scientists conducted work related to the detonation of nuclear warheads.

IT’S NEWS TO ME

Joe Biden Promises Gun Bans Via 19 Executive Orders
LastResistance.com reports: “They are coming for your guns” is no longer a wild warning from conservatives; it is a promise from Vice President Joe Biden. A headline at Politico reads, “Joe Biden: White House eyeing 19 executive actions on guns.” They use the word “actions” because it doesn’t sound as dictatorial as “orders,” which is what they are: executive orders. Read more.

As 2nd Amendment Issues Flare: Obamacare keeps Creeping In
Conservative Daily reports: Insurance premiums are rising. A hospital in southwestern Pennsylvania will no longer deliver babies after March 31st. Small businesses are laying off workers, cutting the hours of others and shifting jobs to China. And now Obama has proclaimed that under his Affordable Healthcare Act, doctors should ask their patients if they have a gun in their home and offer safety tips to those who do. Welcome to the United States of America under the crushing intrusions of Obamacare.

Citizen Files Treason Complaint Against Barack Obama
Conservativeamericanonline reports: But Navy Veteran Walther Fitzpatrick III simply didn’t file a Treason Complaint against Barack Obama, he’s encouraging others to do the same. Fitzpatrick says that it’s a very simply process and he’s willing to walk others, who contact him through his website, how exactly how to file a complaint. Read more.

Did Syria Use Chemical Weapons in December?
Joel Rosenberg reports: In early December, media reports suggested the Assad regime in Syria was preparing to use chemical weapons. Now a report by Foreign Policy magazine says Damascus may have actually used such weapons of mass destruction in late December. Could such revelations lead to a U.S. or Israeli strike on Syria’s remaining WMD stockpiles? Read more.

Hostage Crisis in Algeria
Newsmax reports: Islamist gunmen holding dozens of Western hostages and scores of Algerians – including seven Americans – at a gas plant deep in the Sahara desert let some of them speak to the media on Thursday to warn they would be blown up if the site is stormed. Governments around the globe were holding emergency meetings to respond to one of the biggest international hostage crises in decades, which sharply raises the stakes over a week-old French campaign against al-Qaida-linked fighters in neighboring Mali. Read more.

Iran Set to Hang Christian Pastor
Jay Sekulow reports: American Pastor Saeed Abedini will face a trial in Iran for his Christian faith in just days. After sustaining painful beatings in Iran’s brutal Evin Prison, he has been told that he “will hang” for his “faith in Jesus.” Yesterday, for the first time, his Iranian attorney was able to see the charge brought against him. He will be tried by one of Iran’s notorious “hanging judges.” While the U.S. State Department has stated it has “serious concerns” about the imprisonment of Pastor Saeed, an American citizen, it has yet to call for his release. The ACLJ is working aggressively for his freedom, urging Members of Congress, the State Department, and the United Nations to take action to secure this persecuted Pastor’s freedom. Sign the petition to save Pastor Saeed today.

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