World View: Egypt Launches Military Operation Against Sinai Militants

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Egypt launches military operation against Sinai militants
• Egypt – Israel alliance grows with Sinai attacks
• Syria may have used chemical weapons without Assad’s permission
• Poland confiscates private pension funds to pay public debt
• Nasa satellite pictures show a switch from global warming to cooling

Egypt launches military operation against Sinai militants

Egyptian soldiers stand guard on top of a minaret in Sinai (AFP)

Egypt’s police and armed forces launched on Saturday the largest andmost violent military operation yet seen in the Sinai Peninsula. Theclashes took place near the borders with Gaza and Israel.

Ground forces raided a number of houses, accompanied by a number ofApache helicopters. Armed forces also bombed militants’ locations inCentral Sinai with reports of casualties in the region.

A security source stated that the initial attack resulted in the deathof 10 militants and injuring of 20 others, in addition to the arrestof 15 armed assailants. Eye witnesses stated that during the campaign,armed forces employed nearly 30 different types of tanks and armouredvehicles, along with 6 Apache helicopters which were used to pursuemilitants attempting to flee the area.

Eye witnesses stated that Apache helicopters launched strikes againstmilitant locations, accompanied by tanks and armored vehicles.Witnesses further described loud explosions being heard in the area,along with rising clouds of smoke, after a number of four-wheel-drivepickup trucks had been attacked, which led to the death and injury ofa number of individuals.

The Egyptian attack was triggered by an al-Qaeda linked group, AnsarBeit al-Maqdis (“Partisans of Jerusalem”), which claimedresponsibility for a suicide bomber attack in Cairo that targeted theconvoy of Egypt’s interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim, whom theterrorists blame for killing and arresting of hundreds of Islamist andMuslim Brotherhood supporters of Mohamed Morsi, overthrown by themilitary in a popularly backed coup on July 3. Daily News Egypt and AFP

Egypt – Israel alliance grows with Sinai attacks

Although not discussed publicly, the growth in Sinai attacks isresulting in greater cooperation between Israel and Egypt. Accordingto Israeli army figures, more than 300 attacks were launched againstEgyptian troops in Sinai over the past few weeks. Last month, 25Egyptian policemen were shot to death execution-style in the Sinai,prompting widespread anger in Cairo. Israeli military sources saythere are hundreds of terrorists in Sinai, in jihadist groupssupported by local Bedouin tribes. Cooperation between Israel andEgypt will get even closer if jihadists launch attacks on Israel fromSinai. The Media Line

Syria may have used chemical weapons without Assad’s permission

One of the puzzles of the massive August 21 chemical weapons attack bySyria’s forces is why the attack took place when the United Nationsinspectors were in the country. I speculated at the time that perhapspresident Bashar al-Assad did not personally order the attack, andthat it might have been ordered by one of his lieutenants who didn’teven know that the U.N. inspectors were in town. Now Germanintelligence is saying that it may have happened that way. Theintelligence was obtained from radio traffic intercepted by a Germannaval reconnaissance vessel sailing close to the Syrian coast.Reuters

Poland confiscates private pension funds to pay public debt

Poland announced that it will confiscate private pension funds andtransfer them to the national government in order to alleviate publicdebt. Although some pension reform was expected, total confiscationcaught investors off guard. By putting the private funds on thegovernment balance sheet, the debt-to-GDP ratio is lowered enough sothat Poland can borrow more money. This is the latest of Europeanpolicies that began with the Cyprus confiscation of private bankaccounts where countries confiscate private assets to pay public debt,in order to keep borrowing. Reuters and ZeroHedge

Nasa satellite pictures show a switch from global warming to cooling

Six years ago, global warming scientists predicted that there would beno Arctic ice left by 2013, but Nasa satellite pictures show thatafter a chilly Arctic summer there’s 60% more Arctic ice this summerthan in 2012. In the 1970s and 80s, the term “climate change”referred to global cooling and a “nuclear winter.” In the 1990s, itchanged to mean “global warming.” Now it’s apparently back to “globalcooling.” Daily Mail (London)

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