"Middle East Troop Build-up"

There's a lot of unusual troop movement going on:

• Israeli Defense Forces have moved troops to its borders with Egypt and Syria.
• Seventeen other nations; including the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Qatar have massed troops on the Jordanian-Syrian border.

What's happening in the Middle East? While the most obvious reason for the troop movement is the continuing chaos going on in Syria, it seems like overkill to us. Do they really need so many to deal with Bashar Assad?

Granted, Damascus has seen a lot of action lately. In fact, the two recent explosions in the city galvanized Tehran into ordering Hezbollah to run weapons and military equipment across the border to the Syrian army. Meanwhile, Washington is threatening (what else?) sanctions saying Syria poses an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security.

Although the daily death toll has dropped lately, at last count 9,000 had been killed in Syria. "Unacceptable," says international envoy Kofi Annan. And of course there's always the possibility the situation could deteriorate into civil war. But why gather all the troops on the border and then just sit there? Shouldn't they be doing something?

Unless...there's another reason for all the hoopla. Could the troops be positioning themselves to deal with any attack that could come from Syria, Lebanon and the Sinai in the event of an Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities? That's the rumor, and it makes sense in light of a new report coming from an Iranian opposition group, Mujaheddin-e Khalq. It seems the Iranians are much further along in their nuclear aspirations than anyone suspected, including the Israelis. According to DebkaFile, "The exhaustively-detailed Mujaheddin-e Khalq document presents a completely new picture of a well-advanced and centralized nuclear weapons program, quite different from the one broadcast by the U.S. and its fellow nuclear negotiators."

Apparently the report gives new (and terrifying) details of just how advanced the program really is. While the United States is skeptical about the document's credibility, DebkaFile claims: "all of this Iranian group's previous disclosures in the past nine years have proved accurate."

So what's happening in the Middle East? Nothing good--no matter who you believe. Maybe the second round of nuclear talks scheduled to take place in Baghdad on May 23rd will bring clarity. We can only hope (and pray, of course!)

A wise man once said: "The only certain barrier to truth is the presumption that you already have it."

News:

• CNBC: Jim Rogers: "2013 will be a (financial) mess."
• DebkaFile: Palestinians claim eight shot dead in Gaza by Israeli forces
• Jerusalem Post: U.S. Senate Republicans block Iran sanction vote
• Jerusalem Post: Moscow says action on Syria, Iran may lead to nuclear war
• CBN News: Iran's Ayatoliah Khamenei: Israel a 'Historical Cancer'
• Associated Press: Iran hangs 'Mossad agent' for nuclear scientist killing