Friday, December 30, 2016

Israel Arrests Hamas Tunnel Leader

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

On November 27th a senior Hamas commander, the brother of the head of internal security for Hamas, crossed into Israel. He was promptly arrested.
Bilal Razineh, 24, was indicted in a Beersheba court on Wednesday.

During the month-long interrogation Razineh proved to be a treasure trove of information offering intel about his brother and Hamas leadership. In addition to that, he gave over the locations of centers of command and control HQs. Most importantly, Razineh identified the exact position of many terror tunnels.

Razineh was a major player in the tunnel development. He described a labyrinth of tunnels that emanated from his family's home and then split off in many directions.
Razineh also confirmed that Hamas and Islamic Jihad used hospitals and other civilian centers as hiding places and command HQs during the conflict with Israel. He explained that he was a messenger running messages from his brother to other Hamas leaders while his brother was commanded operations out of Kamal Adwan Hospital.

That Bilal Razineh believed that he would not be arrested when he crossed into Israel is mind boggling and frankly, unbelievable.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Thursday, December 29, 2016

Kerry's Wrong

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Outgoing US Secretary of State John Kerry took to the media to defend his policy and the US abstention at the UN Security Council last Friday.

No doubt, his words were heartfelt and passionate. And just as certainly, what he said was deluded and wrong.

Kerry defended the Obama Middle East policy by suggesting that the only direction to take is a two-state solution. Hanging Israel out to dry at the UN was a lesson from the Obama administration intended to teach Israel a lesson and to let them know that the two state solution is the only path toward peace.

He invoked the memory of Shimon Peres as a leader and visionary of peace. And yet, Peres was never actually elected Prime Minister. He shared the position with Yitzhak Rabin in a swap to placate the party. His entire life in politics was one of second place, his policies were never voted in. Peres was a nice model for those outside Israel but not internally.

The Kerry and Obama point of view is flawed. They placed almost total responsibility for the failure of the peace process on Israel. And then they taught Israel a lesson in front of the entire world - by abandoning them. The Obama administration, according to Kerry, behaves in a fair and balanced manner.

And yet the Palestinians received no reprimand, and are exempt from accountability.

And worst of all --- Kerry forgot that Israel already withdrew from all of Gaza and relocated Jewish settlers. And what did Israel get in return? International applause... NO! They got thousand of Palestinian missiles from Gaza.

So given this experience the US should understand Israel's hesitation and demand for direct talks without preconditions. The US should be support Israel not embarrass her.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Iran's New War Games

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Once again Iran is in the middle of a 5 day set of war games, conducted in the south of Iran.

The name of the war games is Defenders of Velayat Skies #7. The games include air defense drills, missile drills, artillery and radar drills and, of course, cyber and electronic war games. The games include 17,000 Iranian forces.

Included in the games are the US F-4 Phantom jet fighter and the new Russian S-300 anti air missile system.

Iranian air force chief Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili warned that any foreign aircraft over Iran's air space, including drones, will be shot down. He announced: "We are witnessing the presence of a number of trans-regional planes outside the air and sea borders of the country but we emphasize that these planes should know their limits and know that we will take action in less than one second."

This entire set of war games is also a propaganda tool, about that there is no doubt - Iran wants to send a message to Israel and the West especially the US.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Oil Prices in Flux

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Let's talk about oil prices.

The price of oil per barrel hit a 17 month high on Friday and settled down at about $53 per barrel.

The big question is how the OPEC oil production cut will impact the price of oil. As of January 1, 2017 OPEC will reduce production by 1.8 million barrels per day.

At the same time, over the past few weeks Libya has increased their production by 22,000 barrels per day. And most importantly, Russia has increased production by 5%.

One can only expect that Russia will try to increase their profits by increasing their production to fill the need created by the OPEC reductions.

If that is what happens, OPEC will have misplayed the entire situation.

OPEC originally went to Russia to explain their production cut. Everyone thought Russia was on board, but it doesn't look that way at all right now. Russia is ready to pounce.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Monday, December 26, 2016

More Secret Deals w Iran

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

The story of the Iranian deal continues to haunt us.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has discovered that the famous nuke deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA), permits Iran to keep enriched uranium above the 300 kilogram limit. The additional enriched uranium above the amount permitted was "deemed unrecoverable" by the US.

According to the IAEA, the US gave Iran an exception on uranium and would "permit the country to stockpile uranium in excess of the 300 kilogram limit set by the nuclear deal."

The US State Department could not adequately answer why this exception was never made public and how it is even possible when it directly contradicts the public agreement that was confirmed by the P5+1 and Iran.

This Iranian deal is a perfect example of Iran getting what it wants in international affairs. The most essential point is that when the international sanctions against Iran were lifted and in return, Iran was supposed to fulfill expectations and act within certain guidelines.

Clearly Iran has not held up their end of the bargain and just as clearly, the United States has sponsored Iran as Teheran skirts around their commitments.

Micah@@MicahHalpern.com

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Sunday, December 25, 2016

Why Obama Abandoned ISsrael

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Still perplexed and spinning form the UN vote condemning Israel. I thought I had
analyzed the possibilities from every angle and figured out every which way it would go. But it never occurred to me that the US decision would be based on childish silly character issues - not substance and history.

I was not alone.

Even the Arabic press and the Islamic press covered the US abstention as a watershed. They, too, were taken aback by the US abstention, it was seen by them also as a first -- the first time the United States did not defend Israel in the Security Council.

Sometimes it is important to investigate who was in favor of a resolution or a historical incident and who lent public support - and who did not. Then you can get a sense of which is the correct side.

Obviously, there were 14 countries who voted for the resolution.

Turkey supported the resolution. Iran supported the resolution. Hamas and Hezbollah supported the resolution. The Arab League and Syria supported the resolution. ISIS and al Qaeda supported the resolution.

Normally, when ISIS and Iran come together to support anything it is not good for the freedom and the lovers of democracy.

How and why did the United States choose to crawl into bed with these deeply nefarious and problematic groups and nations? Trust me, it was not because Obama was insulted by Netanyahu.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Friday, December 23, 2016

Israel Busts Hamas Cell

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Israel uncovered a Hamas terror cell and arrested the cell members. The information was cleared for publication yesterday.

Some twenty terrorists were arrested in Shechem aka Nablus.

The group had constructed numerous bombs and procured M16s over the summer.
They have been planning to perpetrate numerous shooting and bombing attacks against Israelis.

Under interrogation some of the terrorists confessed their plans to perpetrate attacks on the major cities of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa as well as other cities.
Their targets would be city centers and bus stops.

Apprehending these terrorists utilized great intelligence resources and analysis. Had the terrorists succeeded the attacks would have been devastating.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Israel Offers to Help Aleppo

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
Israel has invited Aleppo survivors to come to Israel and to provide medical care for those in need.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement: --- "We see the tragedy of terrible suffering of civilians and I've asked the Foreign Ministry to seek ways to expand our medical assistance to the civilian casualties of the Syrian tragedy, specifically in Aleppo," said Netanyahu.

The statement continued "We're prepared to take in wounded women and children, and also men if they're not combatants. We'd like to do that: bring them to Israel, take care of them on our hospitals as we've done with thousands of Syrian civilians. We're looking into ways of doing this; it's being explored as we speak."

Israel has the ability to help. The real question is whether those in need will allow Israel to provide the aid they are ready to offer in order to save thousands of lives.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Putin & Ruouhani Speak about Syria

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Hassan Rouhani. The conversation came at the initiative of Iran.

Putin told Rouhani that he hopes to get a resolution in Syria as soon as possible.

This came to us via a Kremlin statement declaring that Putin wants to put this Syrian issue to bed.

A summit is scheduled for Wednesday in Moscow. Russia, Turkey, Iran and even Syria will sit down and discuss how to quickly bring the situation to an end.

Russia has an influence on Iran. Putin knows that he has that power. And there will be important instances when Russia's influence will prove essential in bringing about a resolution between Iran and the world community of nations.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Monday, December 19, 2016

Iran Promises to Uphold Nuke Deal

Iran Promises to Uphold Nuke Deal
By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Yukiya Amano, head of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), the UN's nuclear watchdog, just visited Iran and met with Iranian leadership.

Iran convinced Amano that they are committed to fulfilling and living up to the terms of the now infamous nuke deal. The meeting was covered by media across the world.

At the same time, Iran also asserted that when the US Congress resumed sanctions against them, even without President Obama's signature it was "inconsistent" - meaning it was a violation of the nuke deal.

It is hard to take what Iran says seriously. All I can say is that the Iranians are very good at playing the game of nuclear chess.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Sunday, December 18, 2016

Mossad Assassinates Hamas Engineer

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Rumors, many spurred on by media outlets, about a Mossad assassination in Tunisia of a Hamas operative, abound.

Piecing together the pieces this is probably what happened - and why.

Mohammed al Zawahiri, also known as Murad, was on his way home at 1:50am when his car was overtaken by several other cars. He was shot in the throat and the heart, literally, while speaking on the phone.

Zwaharia was working on a doctorate in engineering. But the motivation for the assassination was his work for Hamas. He is the man who developed automated spy drones for Hamas and was in Tunisia working on an automated submarine. This information comes from his brother Radwan.

There is no connection to the Mossad.

The people so far arrested include the car rental agents who supplied the assassins with their cars. Weapons and silencers were found in one of the cars. A Hungarian female journalist was also arrested as was a camera man.

The assassins dismantled all the cameras in the area redirecting the video feed elsewhere in the city to cover the time and details of the assassination.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Friday, December 16, 2016

Tech Companies Join to Fight Terror

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Microsoft are collaborating to fight extremism.

Yesterday a message went out saying that they will all share information through a central database of sites and material that they have hashed as problematic. Hashing is the term used to describe the computer additive that the tech companies attach to problematic sites, videos, images and activities and discussions.

They will all go into a shared industry data base so that once caught, extremists cannot reinvent themselves on another platform.

This is a major step forward. These tech gurus have all been seriously criticized for not doing enough in combating extremism and sometimes, for not even acting against terror and extremism at all.

This collaborative effort will really help. This is an important and very positive step.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Thursday, December 15, 2016

Assad Says Putin & Trump See Eye to Eye

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Assad of Syria was interviewed by Portugal RTP Television. The president of Syria explained that he is hopeful about Trump's presidency and his Middle East policy. He also suggested that Putin and Trump will be great allies.

Assad said that if Trump is committed to fighting terror, he will be great for Syria.

"We cannot tell anything about what he's going to do, but if... he is going to fight the terrorists, of course we are going to be ally, natural ally in that regard with the Russian, with the Iranian, with many other countries," he told Portugal's RTP state television.

"Trump's statements were clear during his campaign in relation to fighting terrorism, non-intervention against states in order to depose governments, as the United States has been doing for decades."

"This is good, but this depends on Trump's will to carry on with this approach, and his ability to do that."

Assad commenting on Trump and Putin has no foundation in reality value except that it shows what Assad is thinking.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Murdering Christians in the MidEast

By Micah Halpern

Wednesday December 14, 2016

I've Been Thinking:

On Sunday a suicide bomber murdered 24 Christians and wounded almost another 50 people in attendance at Marks Christian Cathedral in Egypt. The suicide bomber was a 22 year old named Mahmoud Shafik Mohammed Mostafa.

ISIS claims responsibility for the terror attack.

This was a terrible attack. Thankfully, this time the Western world paid attention and the Western press covered the terror attack against Egypt's Coptic Christians.

The plight of Christians, who were repeatedly attacked by Muslims in Egypt and other parts of the Middle East, has been ignored for way too long. They tragedies were, at best, simply ignored. Other times they were even justified.
Christians are being targeted by ISIS and other Islamic extremists.
Not to see this is not to understand ISIS or the Middle East.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Iran Conducting War Games

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Iran is conducting war games. The games began on Sunday and will continue through Wednesday.

Patting their own back, Iranians are calling it a demonstration of Iran's "superiority" in the region.

These war games include all the various branches of the Iranian military - land, sea and air. Particularly new in these war games is the use of Iran's newest unmanned drones.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran's military forces enjoy supremacy over the Persian Gulf region more than any other time," Brigadier General Massoud Jazzayeri, the deputy chief of staff of Iran's Armed Forces, was quoted as saying over the weekend. "The military and security conditions of the Persian Gulf are in a way that the enemy's forces and equipment are fully within the range of the Iranian military men."

The other very special weapon Iran claims to be testing is their new jammers - a system that will block and bring down enemy drones. They also are showing off their newest missiles, helicopters and ammunition.

Iran is showcasing their great weapons and saying that they will defend themselves against attacks from Western forces. And quite honestly, Iran really does have an impressive array of advanced defensive weapons.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Monday, December 12, 2016

ISIS Re-Takes Palmyra

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
The pendulum is swinging back again and this time Palmyra is squarely in the hands of ISIS.

The battle for Palmyra began in March of 2015 and then, in May of 2016, Russia took charge. Russia withdrew in early December and ISIS has taken over total control of Palmyra and the entire region.

Now Russia is bombing Palmyra in an attempt to take back the city and the province.

Many people have been killed on both sides.

As a result of the bombing ISIS fled the center of the city. Now, the bombing has stopped, and reporting on all sides says that over the past few hours ISIS has returned and once again established control of the city Palmyra.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Friday, December 9, 2016

Company The Builds Israel's Subs Hacked

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

The company that is making Israel's top secret submarines and patrol boats was hacked.

ThyssenKrupp, arguably the largest steel manufacture in the world, was hacked sometime in February. The attack was discovered only two months ago. According to the company report, the marine division was not hacked.

But that might not be so. Upon further analysis it is unclear what was or wasn't hacked and what was taken. ThyssenKrupp's own computer defense unit detected the hack. They assert that, as of now, the material hacked and stolen was from the unit of Industrial Solutions.

This is very troubling - also expected.

It appears that the hackers came from Asia. That, too, is par for the course.

The hackers want info and intel and they want to sell it to the highest bidder.

Micah@Micah@Halpern.com 

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Thursday, December 8, 2016

Israel Bombs Near Damascus 2xs

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

Official Syrian News Agency (SANA) reported that Israel bombed a Damascus suburb for the second time this week. According to the report Israel fired surface missiles at an airbase outside Damascus.

Israel is typically silent about these issues, they do not respond when questioned. This time, however, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said "We are trying to prevent the smuggling of sophisticated weapons, military hardware and weapons of mass destruction from Syria to Hezbollah."

Liberman's statement was a message for both Syria and Hezbollah.

Liberman's statement left out some essential components that all the parties who needed to know, clearly knew.

Israel was preventing weapons of mass destruction (WMD's) from being transferred by Syria to Hezbollah.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Wednesday, December 7, 2016

MiGs Crash in Syria

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

For the second time in only a few weeks, a Russian MiG fighter jet has crashed in Syria near their only aircraft carrier.

Two MiG crashes near their aircraft carrier is causing people to conclude that the problem has less to do with the MiGs and probably more to do with the carrier.

The Russian carrier is ancient, it is named the Admiral Kuznetsov. It does not have a catapult system which is what helps the jets land and takeoff. Without a catapult, landing and taking off is very difficult.

The ship is over 30 years old and it is simply not up to standards.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Islamic Terrorist Sentenced in Ohio

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

In January of 2015, twenty-two year old Christopher Lee Cornell planned to assassinate President Obama in the Capitol Building as he delivered his State of the Union address.

Yesterday, Cornell was sentenced to 30 years in a federal court in Cincinnati. The judge also added a life sentence of probation after the 30 years end. Cornell was convicted of "attempted murder of US officials and employees."

As he was convicted Cornell called out "Allah is in control, not the judge."

This is just another example of Islamic terrorism. Thankfully, this time the plot was uncovered and the terrorist, Cornell, was caught.

There are many others like Cornell out there, plotting to do harm to the United States.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Monday, December 5, 2016

Australia Rejects 2500 Refugees- US Takes Them

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
2,465 refugees were rejected from Australia. They have been accepted to enter the United States.

The refugees were being held in temporary camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru as they tried to get into Australia. They are from Iran, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, and Sudan.
The story has been reported in the Australian press and on FoxNews.

Some in Congress are livid. Two Congressmen sent a scathing letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry and
Homeland Security Director Jeh Johnson who agreed to accept these refugees from dangerous countries. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) condemn the situation as "concerning for many reasons" foremost because:

"...your departments negotiated an international agreement regarding refugees without consulting or notifying Congress."

They said that Congress only learned of this deal "through the media". These two legislators maintain that even they have been unable to learn how many of the 2,465 refugees will, in the end, actually be transferred to the U.S.


The entire situation is unacceptable. We will see how it is resolved.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Sunday, December 4, 2016

Egypt Floods Tunnels and Kills 4

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
Hamas radio reported that the bodies of three Palestinians were recovered in a smuggling tunnel this morning, they are still searching for a fourth.

The smuggling tunnel ran from Gaza into Egypt. The Egyptians flooded the tunnel with sea water and the tunnel collapsed with the 4 smugglers inside.

Flooding the tunnels was one of Egypt's most effective methods of confronting the tunnel threat. All kinds of people and goods came and went through the tunnels and the Egyptians were powerless to stop them or even monitor what and who was coming in and going out.

The issue came to a head in 2015 when it was clear that terror groups were shuttling people and weapons in to and out of Egypt and that they were attacking Egyptian targets in major cities. At that point, the Egyptians started flooding the tunnels.

Throughout most of this year, however, Egypt has turned a blind eye to the tunnels.

 Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Friday, December 2, 2016

Huge Raid On Cyber Mafia

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
Ten countries from around the globe worked together, coordinating their efforts, utilizing their counter cyber resources, and arresting and shutting down one of the largest cyber crime syndicates in history.

Germany was the focal point of the raid. In the end, 16 people were arrested in 10 countries, but the group carried out their investigation in 40 countries.

Here are some impressive numbers. 39 servers and 50,000 computers were confiscated. It is the biggest botnet ever, actually a zombie army infecting over 900,000 routers.

The routers were all infected with malicious software, each of them sending out notes that asked recipients to click or open an email. If they clicked, their system became part of the botnet. Deutsche Telekom was attacked. They repelled the attack but it brought the entire German internet to a freeze for a few minutes.

Over a million emails were sent each week. The objectives were numerous. The cyber terrorists were gathering and selling information and intel as well as gaining access to many high value targets.
And now, it's over. Mission accomplished.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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