MUST-READS

• Turkey and Smuggling
  The truth about Turkey and Islamic State oil

  For decades, successive Turkish governments have tolerated this illegal trafficking based on some strategic logic. The 30-year war between the state and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) impoverished the southeastern region, diminishing revenues from agriculture and husbandry. Smuggling remained the only source of income for some villages. “Pro-state” (anti-PKK) villages especially benefited from the government’s benign neglect, which was a form of compensation for their loyalty. The December 2011 accidental bombing of 34 smugglers from Roboski village by the Turkish armed forces was a horrific tragedy that exposed this tradition. Villagers revealed to the press that until that day, the soldiers always looked the other way when they “went out to smuggle.”

  • BBC News - Turkey hints at Iraq Mosul hostage exchange
• Israeli Arabs
  Surprise! Mohammed Is the Most Popular Baby Name in Israel

  On Sunday, Israel’s Population, Immigration and Border Authority released the list of the most common baby names in the Jewish year 5774. On it, Yosef and Tamar took home the titles for most popular boys’ and girls’ names, respectively. There was, however, one fairly large flaw in the list. As reported in Haaretz, the authority included only Hebrew baby names, omitting any of Arab origin. Turns out that the most popular baby name in Israel isn’t Yosef. It’s Mohammed.

• Bahrain
  Protests Greet Bahrain’s Latest Political Plan

  The opposition is no doubt frustrated at being offered the prospect of political reform but only after elections in which their hope of victory is nil. A large-scale boycott would be embarrassing for the government, yet delaying the vote until reforms are enacted is probably not a realistic option. Under the constitution, polls have to be held before December 15 unless the king extends the terms of current members of parliament by two years. Perhaps the ominous presence of the "Islamic State"/ISIS in Syria and Iraq -- which is a danger to Bahrain's Shiites and ruling family alike -- will avert a major crisis at home.

• Syrian Refugees
  Fleeing ISIS, Syrian Kurds Swarm into Turkey (28 Photos)

  Late last week, ISIS fighters attacked a Kurdish city in northern Syria, after seizing 21 nearby villages in a major assault. The attack on the city of Ayn al-Arab, known as Kobani in Kurdish, drove hundreds of thousands of residents to flee, most heading to the nearby border with Turkey. The Associated Press is reporting that more than 150,000 Syrian Kurds have entered Turkey since the border was opened to refugees on September 19, and the United Nations warns that number could soon climb as high as 400,000

• Refining Capacity
  Saudi Refinery Hits Capacity as Total, Vitol See EU Slump

  The Satorp refinery, a venture between Total and Saudi Arabian Oil Co., processed crude at full capacity of 400,000 barrels a day on Aug. 1, Patrick Pouyanne, Total’s president of refining and chemicals, said at a conference in Brussels today. Europe’s refineries are too small and not sophisticated enough to compete with new plants, Chris Bake, executive director at Vitol, the world’s largest oil trader, said at a separate conference in Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates.

• Afghanistan
  Afghan election body names ex-finance minister Ghani president-elect

  Afghanistan's election commission declared former finance minister Ashraf Ghani as the war-ravaged country's president-elect on Sunday after an acrimonious dispute over fraud, but did not give the final vote tally after a U.N.-monitory audit.

  • USA Today - Obama Team Applauds Afghanistan Power Sharing Deal
• Qatari Foreign Policy
  Saudi Qatari Dispute: Will Doha Abandon the Muslim Brotherhood?

  It is easy for Qatar to implement, for example, the point of ceasing to nationalize defectors from other Gulf States. But the tough nut for Qatar to crack is its policy towards Egypt. In this case, it is not merely an utterance by the Emir that may stop or continue this or that policy; it is the comprehensive approach of Doha to the Middle East.

• ISIS and Lebanon
  Leaks Claim 40 ISIS Cells Are Waiting to Strike Lebanon

  Six months ago anyone could drive through this exclusive part of town, framed by the elegant Lebanese parliament and the blue Mediterranean. Now army checkpoints and tanks block its wide boulevards. Heavily armed security squads guard its embassies and political centres, including the house of dynastic former prime minister Saad Hariri.

• Global Conference on Human Rights
  Opinion: Saudi Arabia: Champion of Human Rights?

  Given Saudi Arabia’s unsavory reputation on this subject—it is routinely denounced in the State Department’s annual human rights report and by activist groups such as Human Rights Watch—Riyadh might seem to be an unlikely venue for such an event. But the key to understanding the rationale for this conference lies in the announced theme: “Promoting a Culture of Tolerance.” This is not about individuals’ freedom of expression, or the status of women, or freedom of assembly. This is about the Islamic State, or ISIS.

• Intelligence
  NSA Says Intelligence on the Islamic State Could Have Been ‘Stronger’

  The question becomes, then, what could have made the intelligence gathering operation in Iraq more robust, allowing for better and earlier indication of the Islamic State’s capability? The panelists at the conference were in agreement: spies on the ground. “You have indirect capabilities in terms of intelligence, whether it’s overhead or from your sources. But unless you’re actually there, you’re getting second, third hand intelligence,” Brennan said. In other words, the haste of the U.S. withdrawal in Iraq in 2011 played a causal role in the intelligence community’s myopia.

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