By Guma el-Gamaty
In a press conference held in Tunis on Monday 19 March, (click here) an official from the Libyan Popular Front party, Ayman Abu Ras, who claimed to be speaking on behalf of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, said that the 47-year-old son of the country's late dictator will run for president in the next Libyan election.
The following day, however, the Zintan militia that has been holding Saif al-Islam captive since 2011, the Abubakr al-Siddiq brigade, said on its official Facebook page that Saif al-Islam denied he had ever authorised anyone to make such a statement on his behalf....
Syria will be back as a "big deal." The fact of the matter is the Syrian Civil War is almost over. Nearly half a million people later, Assad has nearly reclaimed the country. I would not expect more fighting from any rebels. The fate of the refugees lies in the hands of the UN and hosting countries. The Sunnis now in refugee camps will not be allowed back into the country. If I am reading the tea leaves correctly.
Assad pulled off one of the greatest redistribution of a population in history. I don't believe even pre-history has seen such slaughter and displacement.
I expect the Shia Crescent to have been resolved to the singular countries of Syria, southern Iraq and Iran. If this is the reality, the Sunni countries may want to consider asking Shia if they want to immigrate to these lands. That leave the Houthis and Yemen. With Eric Prince in Yemen compliments of the UAE, the Houthis may also be called up as a displaced population and reapportioned back to Iran, southern Iraq and Syria.
Ah, yes, Israel and Palestine.
That is Bolton's favorite subject because it gets the public's attention. The facts are there are extremists in the Executive Branch and they are going to drown out any and all attempts at a Palestinian state.
...The Palestinians' absence (click here) from the White House meeting was a continuation of their boycott of the Trump administration, due to his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
A lot of people wonder about the American president. Tweets and comments about a range of issues suggests a lack of connection with what is politically conventional. The resignations and his firing of key aides indicates to some commentators that the man with minimum experience and knowledge about public policy is intent on surrounding himself with yes-people.
Saying yes to someone who does not know, and seems unstable in his expressions of the moment, isn't the way to run a world power....
The Trump administration can't seem to get the idea, unilateral talks aren't going to achieve any feasible to peace, but, what do I know, if Donald Trump says it happened, then it must be so.
The focus is always Gaza, because of Hamas, but interestingly enough is the fact the Palestinians of Gaza when survive rocket attacks and bulldozers, they do well.
...Two important measures of health indicate that Gaza is in better shape than many countries.
Life expectancy for women at 75.9 years and for men at 72.5 put Gaza above 87 countries in the case of women and 95 countries in the case of men.
Infant mortality in Gaza is 16.6 per 1,000 live births, which makes it better than 97 countries....
Other than Bolton's rhetoric, I wouldn't expect too much from the National Security Office. There is one thing I do expect though, silence on Russia and the 2018 elections, unless of course Putin decides to change American party affiliations more than he has before. Then the National Security Office will be all over Russia for interfering in the election and costing the Republican cronies, primarily the Kochs, more money than expected.
