In this issue:

London's Global Asymmetrical War Ignites Again in Southwest Asia

Is Netanyahu Provoking an New Arab-Israeli War?

Israelis Warned that Netanyahu Was Planning a Security Crisis and War

London's Global Asymmetrical War Ignites Again in Southwest Asia

Aug. 19 (EIRNS)—The British empire and its global financial system are bankrupt, and in order to maintain control, longtime assets of the British empire are in full asymmetrical warfare deployment across Southwest Asia. This pattern of chaos and destabilization changes the subject from the only significant question of today: how can citizens of sovereign nation states bury the already dead British financial system, and put in its place the Glass Steagall banking regulations of 1933, and the science-driven infrastructure projects that are desperately needed for humankind?

In short, the British empire is unleashing terrorism and more wars to block the solutions put forward by American economist Lyndon LaRouche. Unless the British empire and its accomplice, British puppet Barack Obama, are stopped, no country of Southwest Asia or North Africa—the playground of the World War I-era Sykes Picot imperial deal—is safe from hell. In just three days this week, low-intensity wars have escalated across the Sykes-Picot area.

* In Turkey, on Aug. 17, the narco-terrorist Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) attacked a military convoy at Cukurca, a town in the southeastern province of Hakkari, killing 8 Turkish soldiers and 1 village guard, and wounding another 15 soldiers. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul immediately announced retaliatory strikes, and Turkish warplanes hit 28 PKK targets, most of them across the border in Northern Iraq, killing 4-5 PKK rebels. Until the June 2011 elections, there had been negotiations with PKK leader Ocalan to stop the PKK attacks, but those talks have broken down.

* The Aug. 18 attacks on the Israeli town of Eilat that killed 8 Israelis and wounded 40 others, are suspected to be coming from al-Qaeda or Saudi-backed neo-Salafi operatives, based in the Sinai Desert in Egypt—not Palestinians. Deutsche Welle reports that a group calling itself al-Qaeda in the Egyptian Sinai, has become active in the Sinai, and that this grouping had recently attacked an Egyptian gas pipeline that delivers liquefied natural gas to Israel and Jordan. After attacks on the pipeline, Egypt—with permission from Israel—deployed 10,000 additional crack troops into Sinai to wipe out the terrorists. The deployment exceeded the number of troops allowed under the original Camp David Accords, which is why the Israelis had to be consulted. It is not to be excluded that Israel could move to reoccupy parts of the Egyptian Sinai at some point, as a security measure, which would be tantamount to a new state of war.

* On Aug. 18, President Obama, reportedly over objections from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, openly called for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, prompting questions about whether the United States was prepared to take military action against the Syrian regime. This move by Obama came less than a week after the United Nations publicly released the indictments against several Hezbollah members for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The news media have jumped on the released indictment to point a finger at both Syria and Iran, for ordering the Hariri assassination—another possible trigger for deeper destabilization of the region.

Is Netanyahu Provoking an New Arab-Israeli War?

Aug. 20 (EIRNS)—Is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provoking a new Arab-Israeli War? This is the question that must be asked now that the Egyptian government has officially withdrawn its Ambassador to Israel. The Egyptian move follows the killing of five Egyptian border guards when Israeli soldiers crossed into Egyptian territory in pursuit of Palestinian militants who had launched attacks inside Israel.

The killing of the Egyptian guards happened on Aug. 18. Citing "unnamed" military sources, the Israeli government first tried to claim that a suicide bomber who blew himself up amidst the Egyptian soldiers and killed them. Then they tried to claim the guards were caught in cross-fire. Then it was revealed that the Israelis had in fact crossed into Egypt in pursuit of Palestinian militants. It is also reported that the Egyptians themselves were conducting security operations on their side of the border, to prevent militants, smugglers, and illegal immigrants from crossing into Israel, especially, saboteurs who have been targeting the gas pipeline that runs between Egypt and Israel.

When Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak then issued a statement that the border incident "reflects the weakening of Egypt's hold in the Sinai and the broadening of activities by terror elements," it was a slap in the face to the Egyptians.

The reality is that the Israeli-Egyptian border is highly regulated, because it's at the center of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, and therefore the Israeli crossing into Egypt could not have been decided by a local commander, but only under rules of engagement that could be issued solely by the highest levels of the Israeli government.

Egypt's withdrawal of its ambassador followed Cairo's formal protest refuting Barak's statement, and demanding an apology, while calling for Israel to conduct an official investigation, and accusing Israel of violating the 1979 peace treaty.

Egyptian Presidential candidate and former secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, denounced the Israelis, declaring, "Israel must realize that the day when Egypt's sons are killed without an appropriate and strong response are over." Another Presidential candidate, Hamdeen Sabbahi, called for a deterrent response.

Netanyahu's intentions are clear. First, he is acting as a provocateur on behalf of British financial interests who would like to start a new Middle East war. Second, he is facing a mass strike at home that could neutralize the right-wing Zionist ideology he has used to control the Israel population, which requires him to recreate the threat that the Arabs want to "throw the Jews into the sea."

Israelis Warned that Netanyahu Was Planning a Security Crisis and War

Aug. 18 (EIRNS)—After a series of escalating protests against high rents and cost of living had brought more than 300,000 Israelis into the streets on Aug. 6—equivalent to a mass protest of an incredible 12.5 million Americans—it was widely anticipated that Netanyahu would unleash warfare, even war with Iran, to try to shut them down.

On Aug. 8, for example, +972 magazine journalist Rechavia (Rick) Berman published an article titled "Netanyahu Must Go," saying that Bibi "spat in the eye" of the social protesters, ignoring their demands and imposing even more austerity. Berman also warned that to stop the protests, "Netanyahu is quietly trying to bring about a security crisis. The Israeli Air Force bombed Gaza a couple of times until the desired couple of flying pipe bombs flew out, but Hamas itself cracked down on the launchers. In the West Bank, the IDF is arresting people and carrying out raids deep in Area A. This weekend, an actor from the Freedom Theater in Jenin was arrested, and several hours later the theater itself was raided, as were villages in the Hebron area."

Then, on Aug. 17, squads of gunmen killed seven Israelis in a series of assaults outside the resort town of Eilat near the Egyptian border. In the past, such terrorist attacks have often occurred out of the blue when they were convenient for Israeli governments. After the attacks, Israeli jets struck the Gaza Strip, and a rocket fired from Gaza later hit near the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, the army said. No injuries were reported. Defense Minister Barak said that "if there is a need, the operations will be expanded."

A major military operation in Gaza "could bring about an escalation that could spiral out of control as Israel heads towards the difficult period in September," said Yoram Meital, chairman of Ben Gurion University's Herzog Center for Middle East Studies in Beersheva. "Hamas is not interested right now in an escalation," he told Bloomberg News today.