Shiite militias from Iraq are engaged in the civil war in Syria, according to a new report from the Washington Institute. The group -- Liwa Abu Fadl al-Abbas (LAFA) -- is being aided by Iran's Qods Force and while it's currently just a small group (some 800-2,000 fighters), the Washington Institute's Michael Knight sees it as having a potentially "strategic impact on the war."

Why? "Small but highly motivated forces can have a disproportionate impact in civil wars, where the fighting is often focused on specific locales, and where small, iconic battles can significantly affect morale," Knight writes. "Lebanese Hezbollah's direct intervention at al-Qusayr is one example of this phenomenon, and the role of the predominantly Iraqi LAFA forces around Damascus could become another..."

Iran has played a "key role" in forming this militia and sending them into the Syrian fray, Knight continues. Citing Philip Smyth, an "independent expert on LAFA's operations," Knight claims that Shiite militias formerly targeting U.S. troops have been retrained in Iran and Lebanon to wage a more conventional urban war against Syrian rebel groups.

Despite U.S. pressure and Iraqi assurances, the flow of support from Baghdad to Damascus continues.

What should the U.S. do? Knight suggests bombing the Damascus airport and instituting a no-fly zone in the country -- essentially, starting another U.S. war in the region.

That doesn't strike me as a very sensible option, given how beneficiaries of the last U.S. war in the region -- Iraqi Shiites -- are behaving.

(AP Photo)

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Benny Avni hails the bi-partisan support for the Iranian cult group MEK and their cries for regime change in Iran:

Want to see US bipartisanship on Iran? Go to Paris and attend a rally led by Maryam Rajavi, the charismatic head of the best-organized anti-regime group of Iranian exiles.

Where else can you hear former lefty congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee calling Rajavi “my sister” and soon after listen to righty Rudy Giuliani saying she’s the best alternative to “that killer,” Iran’s President-elect Hassan Rouhani? Where else can a one-time Democratic presidential candidate, Bill Richardson, be on the same foreign-policy page as a Republican wannabe, Newt Gingrich? Or a former Obama adviser, dovish retired Gen. George Jones, support the same cause as Bushie hawks like former UN Ambassador John Bolton and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey?

Gee, what would unite Washington's political class around a cause? Maybe, I don't know, money? Let's see:

Scores of former senior officials have been paid up to $40,000 to make speeches in support of the MEK's delisting. Those who have received money include the former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, General Hugh Shelton; ex-FBI director Louis Freeh; and Michael Mukasey, who as attorney general oversaw the prosecution of terrorism cases.

The former Pennsylvania governor, Ed Rendell, has accepted more than $150,000 in speaking fees at events in support of the MEK's unbanning. Clarence Page, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, was paid $20,000 to speak at the rally. Part of the money has been paid through speakers bureaus on the US east coast.

Others accepted only travel costs, although in some cases that involved expensive trips to Europe.

In June, Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the US House of Representatives and Republican presidential candidate, flew to Paris to address a pro-MEK rally and meet its co-leader, Maryam Rajavi. He was criticised for bowing to her.

That was last June, but Gingrich evidently re-upped for 2013. And good for him, the economy's tough and everyone needs to make a living. But reading Avni's piece, you'd never know of these lavish funding efforts. (You can read more about them here.)

Avni ends his piece with this eye-opener:

Even if detractors are right that the group’s support in Iran is much less significant than in DC, Rajavi may have a key role to play. Mostly, she can help convince Americans that the best future for relations with Iranians — and for the Mideast — is regime-change in Tehran. If she succeeds, her habit of collecting fans among former US pols would end up being a worthy cause indeed.

For a more serious appraisal of the MEK you can read this RAND study on the group.

(AP Photo)

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Greetings, Earthlings.

Two weeks ago, in front of an audience of Japanese business leaders, French President Francois Hollande brazenly declared that "the crisis in Europe is over." Based solely on this comment, it cannot be precisely pinpointed upon which planet Mr. Hollande currently resides. (Perhaps Angela Merkel should contact the European Space Agency.)

Right now, the Eurozone is barely treading water. Unemployment has hit an all-time high of 12.2 percent; bad bank loans are putting Slovenia at risk of becoming the sixth nation to require a bailout; and the Greek government had to reshuffle its cabinet after it lost one of its coalition partners, making reform that much more difficult. And all of that bad news is just for the month of June.

Also, it's not like things are going well in France. The country recently entered another recession, and its large social welfare programs are causing France's budget deficit to miss the European Union target of 3 percent.

Mr. Hollande should try to be optimistic. Any psychologist will tell you that there is power in positive thinking; there is none, however, in wishful thinking.

(AP image)

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Russian President Vladimir Putin recently warned that his country will feel the effects of low birthrates and declining demographics of the 1990s. "At that time, our country faced a profound demographic crisis. The consequences of this crisis we have not yet felt ourselves, but they will be felt on the economic and social spheres, and in the industrial development," said the President. "We will, unfortunately, face this the coming years." He noted that demographics have vastly improved since then, with birth indicators at their best in the past 20 years.

The real demographic issue that Putin alluded to -- due in large part to a smaller female birth rate throughout the 1990s and steady migration -- was the declining quantity of women in the country reaching child-bearing age. Russia is not alone in this -- practically all European countries are facing a demographic crisis due to low birthrates among core populations.

In other news, Russian state oil company "Rosneft" inked a deal with the Chinese to deliver $270 billion worth of crude over the next 25 years. While economically beneficial for Moscow, this announcement nonetheless caused concern over potential price hikes of gas inside Russia, as consumers pay attention to oil outflows to the ever-demanding Chinese market.

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Pew Research has released a new survey showing that a strong majority of the American people do not support President Obama's decision to arm the Syrian rebels. "Overall, 70 percent oppose the U.S. and its allies sending arms and military supplies to anti-government groups in Syria; just 20 percent, favor this," Pew wrote. "Opinion is little changed from December of last year (24 percent favor) and support is down slightly from March, 2012 (29 percent favor)."

Regardless of what the American people think, the administration is plodding deeper into the Syrian morass. How deep they go remains to be seen.

Stepping back, though, you really do have to marvel at the abject absurdity of America's counter-terrorism policy. On the one hand, the danger from al-Qaeda is so tremendous and urgent, that it's imperative that all communications everywhere, including those of U.S. citizens, be monitored and collected in complete secrecy with almost no serious oversight.

On the other hand, it's not so urgent that we can't dump guns into groups fighting alongside (and with the same strategic goals) as al-Qaeda or worry about creating fresh new safe havens where they can plot further mayhem.

(AP Photo)

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A German Declaration of Independence would read something like this: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are entitled to beer, pretzels, sausages and the pursuit of ever-increasing speeds on the Autobahn." Woe unto those who would abridge these rights.

The Washington Post reported that Sigmar Gabriel, the chairman of the center-left Social Democratic Party, proposed a national speed limit of 115 kph (72 mph). That went over like a lead balloon, despite the fact that a 2007 poll showed that nearly 2/3 of Germans favor a speed limit on the Autobahn. Still, some members of Mr. Gabriel's own party immediately backed away from the suggestion.

Indeed, some Germans really like to go fast on the Autobahn. The highest speed ever clocked was 268.8 miles per hour, but that was under artificial conditions. (Basically, a raceway was set up for the purpose of setting records.) Under normal operating conditions, the fastest speed was set by a Porsche going 236 mph.

But is that safe? I've traveled on the Autobahn with my father-in-law, and he doesn't have a reputation for driving slowly. (One time, we were going at least 110 mph.) Yet, several cars passed us like we were standing still.

Actually, the Autobahn is quite safe. The Washington Post report goes on:

Germany's roads, constructed to some of the strictest safety standards in the world, rank firmly in the middle of industrialized countries in terms of traffic deaths. For every billion miles driven on German roads, nine people were killed in accidents in 2011, according to figures to be released this week by the International Transport Forum of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In the United States, 10.9 people died for every billion miles driven, while in Britain, 6.3 people were killed.

If it ain't broke, why fix it?

(Image: Autobahn by Alex Berezow)

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Bill Clinton thinks President Obama risks looking "foolish" if he heeds opinion polls and stays out of Syria's civil war:

“Some people say, ‘Okay, see what a big mess it is? Stay out!’ I think that’s a big mistake. I agree with you about this,” Clinton told McCain during an event for the McCain Institute for International Leadership in Manhattan Tuesday night. “Sometimes it’s just best to get caught trying, as long as you don’t overcommit — like, as long as you don’t make an improvident commitment.”

While American wishes don't count for much, Clinton thinks the will of the Syrian people matters more:

“Nobody is asking for American soldiers in Syria,” Clinton said. “The only question is now that the Russians, the Iranians and the Hezbollah are in there head over heels, 90 miles to nothing, should we try to do something to try to slow their gains and rebalance the power so that these rebel groups have a decent chance, if they’re supported by a majority of the people, to prevail?” [Emphasis mine.]

It also never seems to dawn on Syrian interventionists that if a majority of Syrians really do support the rebellion, that rebellion is going to win no matter what the U.S. does. Everyone points to the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan as reasons for the U.S. to stay out of Syria, but they're useful lessons for Iran and Hezbollah as well. Insurgents with a wellspring of domestic support can't be defeated militarily, at least not easily or cheaply. The most powerful army in the world backed by the largest economy in the world struggled mightily with a pair of insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If Syria's revolution is as broad and deep as interventionists claim, it will bleed Hezbollah and Iran without help from the U.S.

(AP Photo)

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Alex Jones is an interesting guy. In his world, there is a conspiracy around every corner -- many of which involve the Bilderberg Group, the incredibly secretive global organization that publishes a participant list and has its own Wikipedia page. This year's meeting, which just concluded in the UK, included a whole host of shady people, from UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to American statesman Henry Kissinger and U.S. General David Petraeus.

Jones was recently invited on the BBC to talk about the Bilderberg Group. He took the occasion to spout many different conspiracies, including FEMA camps and a government eugenics program that puts cancer viruses in vaccines. The most interesting conspiracy, for our purposes here, is that the Bilderberg Group helped found the euro which, according to Jones, "was actually a Nazi German plan to take over countries economically."

That's exactly backwards. The Nazi German plan to take over countries economically involved air raids and land invasions. On the other hand, the Eurozone was formed as a check on German power. The fundamental idea behind the European Union was that a continent that was tied together politically and economically would have no incentive to go to war. Even though most Germans want to revert back to the Deutsche mark, many in the German government feel that defending the euro is part of the obligation the country has to post-war Europe.

A clip of the interview is posted below. It ends with the host telling Jones that he's the worst guest he's ever had, and with Jones shouting, "You will not stop freedom! You will not stop the Republic! Humanity is awakening!"

It's a pity that such passion isn't matched by reality or sanity.

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According to the latest Gallup polling, most Americans want no part of the war in Syria:

Sixty-eight percent of Americans say the United States should not use military action in Syria to attempt to end the civil war there if diplomatic and economic efforts fail, while 24% would favor U.S. military involvement.

American's are also skeptical that diplomatic and economic means will end the fighting -- only 27 percent think that's likely.

For now, it appears the Obama administration is hewing closer to the public on this. Then again, polling conducted before the Libyan intervention showed a preference to stay out, and we all know how that ended.

(AP Photo)

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Perhaps I'm biased because my in-laws are Polish and live in nearby Elblag, but I think Gdansk is the crown jewel of the Baltic Coast. A few years ago, my wife and I visited Copenhagen, and while it is definitely a pretty city, it is outrageously expensive and a tad bit overrated (particularly the mermaid statue). I haven't been to Stockholm yet, so I will have to reassess Gdansk's "crown jewel" status after visiting there someday.

Home of Lech Walesa's Solidarity movement which helped oust the communists from power, Gdansk is part of a three-city metropolitan area called "Trojmiasto" (which means "Tricity" in Polish). Gdynia and Sopot are the other two cities, with Sopot attracting wealthy people since it has some of the highest real estate values in Poland.

The main attraction is Gdansk's Old Town ("Stare Miasto").

Old Town. Gdansk's Old Town, now home to dozens of restaurants and shops, was largely destroyed during World War II. There are, however, reminders of the ancient origins of the city, such as stones etched with dates from the 1600s and 1700s. (A few years ago, a Gdansk cathedral was celebrating the city's millennial year with banners reading, "Gdansk: 997-1997.")

Town Hall. The giant clock is a part of the old Town Hall, which now houses a history museum.

Town Hall.

Neptune's Fountain. Gdansk's identity and history are intimately tied to the Baltic Sea, making Neptune -- the Roman god of the sea -- a particularly fitting symbol for the city.

Motlawa River. The ship "Black Pearl" is taking tourists on a cruise.

Gdansk waterfront. Part of the Old Town, the Gdansk waterfront overlooks the Motlawa River.

Amber. Amber from the Baltic Sea -- which is believed to be 44 million years old -- regularly washes ashore after storms. It is common to find Poles and tourists combing the beach for beautiful specimens. Of course, businesses are doing the same thing. Craftsmen then shape the amber into valuable pieces of jewelry or art. (These items are from a store on the waterfront called Dawid.)

Jacobsen. We stopped for lunch at a tasty restaurant called Jacobsen which was playing vinyl records with a gramophone. The restaurant also had a very strange fascination with porcelain cats.

Your humble correspondent. Much to his surprise, your humble correspondent stumbled across his favorite European coffee chain, the Italian-based Segafredo. It's like Starbucks ... with the exception that it's really, really good.

Well, that wraps up Compass' time in Eastern Europe. We will most assuredly return in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, please check out the photo-essays on Budapest and Zakopane from earlier in the trip!

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