GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Regime stability of Arab States and Iran

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Iranian Diplomacy

11February2011 9:48amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Can Iran become the old and new bridge head of the West? Geopolitically, it is located between the Middle East, the Caucasus and Asia. According to the German Ur-father of the Middle East expert Prof. Dr. Peter Scholl-Latour, Iran remains an "island of stability".

In the meantime, the revolts that started in Tunisia have spread to several Arab countries, and have now reached Egypt. It is evident why the riots have captured Egypt most intensely. The regime of President Hosni Mubarak was akin to the Tunisian regime in many ways, despite the fact that the Egyptian system will prove to be more stable and more resistant, particularly as it profits from the experience of the Tunisian revolution and the awkward TV appearances of President Zeynel Abidin Ben Ali.

The current unrest in the streets of the Arab countries have thus far not spread to Iran, in spite of the strong reductions of subsidies that began one month ago, which pose the greatest structural economic reform in recent Iranian history. Some Western commentators regarded the reductions of subsidies as a success of the latest sanctions, even though the IMF has been recommending Iran for many years to cut its gigantic subsidies. As a matter of fact, the reductions, which have occurred, are a sign of the political stability and economic prosperity of Iran. No government prior to Ahmadinejad was able to tackle the long overdue reform, although the debate in Iran had been going on for more than a decade. It is all the more bizarre that even some newspapers with laissez-faire policies in the U.S. and Europe played down and did not welcome these bold measures. Ultimately, there were no protests whatsoever after these severe reductions. (read full report)

 

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Calls for weekend protests in Syria

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: ALJAZEERA

03February2011 1:35pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Calls for protests in Syria are spreading on social media websites, following popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Organisers say protests will be staged in front of the parliament in the capital, Damascus, on Friday and Saturday, and at Syrian embassies across the world.

Several pages have been set up on Facebook, with the most popular one, named "The Syrian Revolution", "liked" by about 13,000 people by Thursday.

However, many of those writing comments on Facebook appeared to be Syrians living abroad calling on their "brothers" at home to protest.

Sources in Syria told Al Jazeera they doubted that the calls for protests would really result in much action on the ground.

"I think the day of anger will turn out to be no more than a day of mild frustration," one journalist told Al Jazeera.

"There's no appetite for regime change in Syria as there has been in Egypt for a while. The president isn't hated as much as [Hosni] Mubarak, or seen as out of touch. Also, the local context is very different ... and the poverty rate is significantly lower in Egypt." (read full report)

 

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Gingrich: "We're losing war on terror"

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: CNN

03February2011 1:23pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Washington (CNN) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gave a grim assessment on the war on terror last night during a debate with former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, and suggested the situation unfolding in Egypt could pose a threat to the United States.
"Any honest assessment on 9/11 this year, ten years after the attack, I think will have to conclude that we're slowly losing the war," Gingrich said. "We're losing the war because there are madrassahs around the planet teaching hatred. We're losing the war because the network of terrorists is bigger, not smaller."

Gingrich pointed to the unrest in Egypt as posing a potential new threat to American security.
"There's a real possibility in a few weeks, if we're unfortunate, that Egypt will join Iran, and join Lebanon, and join Gaza, and join the things that are happening that are extraordinarily dangerous to us," Gingrich said. (read full report)

 

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.