[link removed]

In this mailing:
* Con Coughlin: The Destruction of Iran's Terrorist Hub in Damascus Was Entirely Justified
* Amir Taheri: European Union: Testing Election Ahead


** The Destruction of Iran's Terrorist Hub in Damascus Was Entirely Justified ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

by Con Coughlin • April 14, 2024 at 5:00 am
* Iran's decision to rely on groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas to prosecute its war against Israel has resulted in the Israelis regularly having to retaliate with air strikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria and Lebanon in an attempt to disrupt their terrorist infrastructure.
* Since October 7, the consulate served as Tehran's main regional command centre, helping to supervise the activities of Iran's so-called "axis of resistance".
* [A]s recent events have indicated, Israel is not just fighting a war against the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists who committed the terrible atrocities on October 7. It is in an existential battle for survival against the Iranian regime and its many proxies which, if left unchecked, will continue seeking to achieve their ultimate goal of destroying the Jewish state.

The bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria was not, as the Iranians claim, simply an attack on a blameless diplomatic mission. It was a carefully targeted strike on the headquarters of the expansive terrorist network that Tehran has established throughout the Middle East. Pictured: The Iranian Embassy compound in Damascus, Syria on April 1, 2024, following an airstrike that destroyed the consulate building. (Photo by Maher Al Mounes/AFP via Getty Images)

The bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria was not, as the Iranians claim, simply an attack on a blameless diplomatic mission.

It was a carefully targeted strike on the headquarters of the expansive terrorist network that Tehran has established throughout the Middle East.

The real purpose of the Iranian consulate building, an adjunct of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, was revealed when the Iranians themselves admitted that two senior commanders of the elite Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in the air strike, which has widely been attributed to the Israeli air force.

The Quds Force, which has direct responsibility for overseeing Iran's global terrorist operations, reports directly to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and was established to fulfil the ayatollahs' ambition of exporting Iran's Islamic revolution throughout the Muslim world.

Continue Reading Article ([link removed])


** European Union: Testing Election Ahead ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

by Amir Taheri • April 14, 2024 at 4:00 am
* A system is in crisis when it is hit by what in medical terms would be described as three "conditions".
* The first is a growing loss of public trust in the system as a whole.
* The second "condition" is the sluggish state of the European economies. Even Germany, the EU's wunderkind for generations, may be hit by negative growth.
* The third and, perhaps, far more important is an unprecedented desacralization of political power and a sharp fall in the prestige of those holding high offices of the state.
* Instead of moving towards a European super-state or a federal outfit, the EU's current trajectory seems to be back to the nation-state model. The coming European Parliament elections will show whether that trend is set to continue

Instead of moving towards a European super-state or a federal outfit, the EU's current trajectory seems to be back to the nation-state model. The coming European Parliament elections will show whether that trend is set to continue (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

With the campaign for the election of the next European Parliament heating up, it is becoming clear that the European Union of 27 democracies that together form the largest economic bloc in the world, is not in good shape.

To be sure, the European Union isn't quite on life-support as its arch-foe Russian President Vladimir Putin likes to claim. But nor is it in the robust, all-conquering health that French President Emmanuel Macron pretends.

To put it shortly, the EU is in crisis, deep and potentially life-threatening crisis.

A system is in crisis when it is hit by what in medical terms would be described as three "conditions".

The first is a growing loss of public trust in the system as a whole.

Continue Reading Article ([link removed])

============================================================
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** RSS ([link removed])
** Donate ([link removed])
Copyright © Gatestone Institute, All rights reserved.

You are subscribed to this list as [email protected]

You can change how you receive these emails:
** Update your subscription preferences ([link removed])
or ** Unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])

** Gatestone Institute ([link removed])

14 East 60 St., Suite 705, New York, NY 10022