Donald Trump’s rapid rise even has some fellow Republicans worried/ News flash for Obama: With or without a nuclear deal, Hizballah’s Iranian missiles threaten Tel Aviv/ Turkey to start fight against ISIS in Syria ‘soon’

News flash for Obama: With or without a nuclear deal, Hizballah’s Iranian missiles threaten Tel Aviv
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis August 5, 2015
President Barack Obama missed the point when he warned the 22 Jewish leaders he invited to the White House Tuesday, Aug. 3, that if Congress strikes down the Iranian nuclear deal, …”Hizballah rockets will rain down on Tell Aviv” – not on New York – and that Iran would… “arm and land proxies on Israel’s borders.”
Both these menaces have been fully active for years, and never related to any kind of nuclear diplomacy.
For nine years, from the 2006 Lebanese war and up to the July 2014 Gaza operation, missiles and rockets supplied by Iran have repeatedly rained down on Israeli population centers.
As time went by, the missiles became more precise and sophisticated. Terrorist attacks staged by Hizballah at Tehran’s behest are not unknown either.
Therefore, Obama’s warning to the Jewish leaders does not stand up to the test of logic or reliable intelligence.
Furthermore, as the president spoke, the contention that the nuclear accord will keep Israel and the Middle East at large safe, including from the danger of missiles, was belied.
debkafile’s military sources report that, at that very moment on Aug. 3, Hizballah units under the command of Iranian officers were firing heavy Iranian Zelzal 3 surface missiles at Syrian rebels barricaded for more than a month in the Syrian town of Zabadani, just 200km from Tel Aviv and even less, 140km, from Israel’s heavy industrial town of Haifa.
Zelzal, a proud product of Iran’s munitions industry, has an optimal range of 200km, which can be extended to 250km, by reducing its payload from 600 to 500 kg.
Israel is familiar with the deadly capabilities of the Zelzal, because it was fired by Hamas on Nov. 20, 2012 the last day of the last Gaza operation. It exploded and razed a whole built-up street in Rishon Letzion, a town situated 14 km south of Tel Aviv and 9.3 km from Israel’s only international airport at Lod.
On Jan 18, this year, Israel’s air force struck a group of Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hizballah officers as they prepared to set up military quarters and missile pads on the Syrian Golan within shouting distance of IDF border defenses.
The above partial catalogue of Iranian and Hizballah aggression was perpetrated alongside negotiations in Geneva and Vienna for a comprehensive nuclear accord with Tehran.
It is therefore obvious that Israel faces an Iranian-Hizballah missile threat today, as it did yesterday, and probably also tomorrow, regardless of whether the US Congress endorses or throws out President Obama’s nuclear deal with Tehran.
He might have made a difference to this grim reality if US negotiators had stipulated that the deal include the lifting of the Iranian missile peril hanging over Israel and that Tehran’s waive its standing threat to destroy the Jewish state. But as things stand now, this particular argument in support of his nuclear deal with Iran is an irrelevancy.
Republican debate: Trump leads the crowded field into Thursday’s GOP showdown
The Associated Press | August 4, 2015 /National Post/

Donald Trump’s rapid rise even has some fellow Republicans worried.
Fox News announced the ten candidates who will take the stage for Thursday’s Republican debate in Ohio, the first official clash of the 2016 Presidential race. Fox used a ranking based on a combination of polls to winnow down the field of hopefuls. Here’s what you need to know about the debate:
Kasich and Christie are in
While new Republican darling Donald Trump easily secured top spot, a pair of governors just squeaked into the Top Ten. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich will round out a field that also contains former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Perry and Fiorina are out
Former technology executive Carly Fiorina and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry are among seven hopefuls who were relegated to second-tier status. Republican officials were particularly concerned about Fiorina, hoping she would help balance Hillary Rodham Clinton’s push to rally women to her candidacy. Fiorina and Perry will be allowed to take part in a pre-debate forum, along with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former New York Gov. George Pataki and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.
The methods have been questioned
Fox didn’t say before Tuesday’s announcement which polls it would use to determine its top 10. Many candidates are grouped together in the single digits, most separated by a number smaller than the margin of error. For example, in a Monmouth University survey released Monday, Kasich was the 10th candidate with the support of 3.2 percent of voters. But after taking the margin of error into account, Monmouth noted that Kasich’s support could be as low as 1.5 percent, while almost any of the candidates who polled lower could be that high or higher. Monmouth found that only five candidates — Trump, Bush, Walker, Cruz and Huckabee — were definitely in the top tier of candidates, while just two -Pataki and Gilmore – would not make it into the top 10 even when margin of error was taken into account.
The Moderators are ready
Fox has tapped three of its anchors — Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace — to moderate the debate, which thanks to Trump’s presence could become one of the most watched events in U.S. political history. Wallace, a ten-year veteran of Fox, told the Washington Post he was thinking a lot about Trump. “He’s a big wild card because you don’t know how he’s going to react,” Wallace said.
Trump will be the focus
Donald Trump’s rapid rise has surprised many Republican officials, some of whom fear his rhetoric on immigration and other divisive issues could hurt the party. In a Tuesday interview, Trump said he’s been defying expectations all his life. “I think people are tired, they’re sick and tired of incompetent politicians,” he said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe when asked to explain his rise.
The Associated Press and The Washington Post
5.6 million Iraqis at risk amid U.N. funding crisis
By The Associated Press | United Nations/Wednesday, 5 August 2015/The U.N. says a funding crisis has led to the closure of a majority of health programs in Iraq. The World Health Organization said the U.N. appeal for health services received only $5.1 million — just 8 percent of the $60.9 million required, which has forced more than 184 front line health services in 10 governorates to suspend operation. It said 84 percent of health programs in Iraq have been shuttered. Dr. Syed Jaffar Hussain, WHO’s representative in Iraq, warned Tuesday that “unless additional funding is received, millions more will be deprived of health services they urgently need.” He said WHO is contacting donors and hopes funding will be provided to restore the suspended activities and provide funds to reach 5.6 million vulnerable Iraqis.

Turkey to start fight against ISIS in Syria ‘soon’
AFP, Kuala Lumpur/Wednesday, 5 August 2015/Turkey will soon start combating Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group militants inside northern Syria, its foreign minister vowed Wednesday as he met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Malaysia. “Now we are training and equipping the moderate (Syrian) opposition together with the United States, and we will also start our fight against Daesh very effectively soon,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters at the start of the meeting with Kerry, using the Arab acronym for the militant group. “Then the ground will be safer for the moderate opposition that are fighting Daesh on the ground,” he added. The two envoys met at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of a regional security gathering hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Washington has long been pushing its long-time ally Turkey to step up the fight against the so-called ISIS, something Ankara had until recently been reluctant to do. That position changed after deadly attacks inside Turkey, some of which were blamed on ISIS. Turkey has since carried out a series of air strikes, claiming they were targeting militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq as well as ISIS militants. But observers say PKK fighters been on the receiving end of far more airstrikes that ISIS. Last month Ankara also said it would allow U.S. warplanes to launch attacks against Islamic State from Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey. The moves marked a significant increase in Turkey’s role in the fight against the militants, who have seized large areas of Syria and Iraq.Turkey shares a 500-mile (800-kilometer) border with Syria, and a section of its southern frontier abuts directly with territory controlled by the ISIS group.