World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #7 Security Watch

Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich ^ | 23 February 2007 | Sam Logan for ISN Security Watch

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

No one to counter Chavez In a region where the leading ideology is Bolivarianism, there is not one leader positioned to offer a better idea for a brighter future.

Commentary by Sam Logan for ISN Security Watch (23/02/2007)

For over two decades, the prevailing ideology in Latin America was neo-liberalism, a Washington-born idea that claimed the power of open markets would lift the region’s poor from misery. It did not, and corruption ran rampant.

While democracy still remains strong, resentful voters ushered in a new generation of neo-populist leaders touting a new idea: a form of socialism, called Bolivarianism, that has slowly but surely become the loudest and most prevalent ideology.

Bolivarianism is anti-capitalist, supports nationalization, regional trade with like-minded countries and above all, suggests that a country should rely on itself or fellow socialist states, not imperialist powers, as a source of the economic growth that will lift all from poverty. It is a sort of refurbished socialism that is not a guiding light for the future.

Latin America cannot readily absorb the economic shock of open markets, nor can it get bogged down in the trappings of old socialist ideas. A blended ideology must be promoted, but the problem is that no one is strong enough to counter Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the leader of Bolivarianism.

Chavez calls it Socialism for the 21st Century. Cuba's Fidel Castro passed him the torch. Leaders around the region pay homage to their own past as socialist upstarts through hugging and laughing with Chavez on the international stage while taking care of often pro-capitalist, neo-liberal business at home.

Brazilian President Luis Inacio “Lula” da Silva is a perfect example. He has the leftist background and eye for fiscal conservatism to become a great ideological counterweight to Chavez. His politics represent an ideal blend for the region. But his politically weak position at home and strong voices from his own left deter any would be shouting match with Chavez.

Within a week after winning his second term in office, Lula visited Chavez for a photo opportunity on a bridge linking both countries. That was in November, and it looks like Lula’s administration will remain bogged down until March as he struggles to get past his party’s sordid past and form a working cabinet willing to share the same table.

Argentina of the past could have been a counter weight to the Bolivarian ideology. But since Nestor Kirchner has come to power, Argentina has become a Venezuelan puppet.

Chavez has literally bought the support of his southern neighbor with over US$3 billion in purchases of Argentine debt. The most recent purchase occurred on 16 February, when Venezuela dumped another US$750 million into Argentine government coffers.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has the politics to promote an ideological battle with Chavez. Colombia has been a model of economic growth through a mixture of neo-liberal policies and social programs. But Uribe has serious problems.

Political allies are falling like dominos due to links with former paramilitary leaders. And if Uribe took the time to speak out for neo-liberalism and against Chavez, he would be dismissed as another of Washington's puppets. Colombia is a top recipient of US aid.

The only other leader who could take up an ideological fight with Chavez is Mexican President Felipe Calderon. He has the right politics and his country has a history of not blindly supporting the US. Voting against the US invasion of Iraq at the UN is a clear indication. But Calderon won on the thinnest possible mandate. His opposition controls enough seats in the Mexican Congress to block any unwanted initiative, and his focus is on Mexican organized crime, not on verbal sword play with Chavez.

Finally, the US has launched a diplomatic offensive in the region. This is to be a year of engagement, but the US president is clearly obsessed with the war in Iraq, not with putting a muzzle on Venezuela’s leader for the sake of the region’s future. Washington is doubly discredited, first for promoting an ideology that clearly did not work, and second for doing nothing about it.

Latin America needs an independent leader willing to stand up to Chavez, but that leader does not exist on the region’s geopolitical map. Bolivarianism will continue to seep into the minds and hearts of millions across Latin America. Chavez and his pool of allies will control the headlines until the next round of presidential elections tell the world how the region has embraced this new ideology.

As Chavez puts it, Socialism for the 21st Century is just getting started. If that is true, then he will continue to trumpet his ideology until Latin Americans learn, the hard way, that Bolivarianism did not carry them much farther from poverty than neo-liberalism. Disillusionment with reality may then spread faster than hope for the future.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam Logan is an investigative journalist who has reported on security, energy, politics, economics, organized crime, terrorism and black markets in Latin America since 1999. He is a senior writer for ISN Security Watch based in Brazil.

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author only, not the International Relations and Security Network (ISN).

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_21594-Oil-Power-Islam-Summit-Marks-Beginning-Of-Saudi-era.html

Oil, Power, Islam: Summit Marks Beginning Of Saudi-era

The Arab states have not found any solutions to their numerous
conflicts
at the Arab League summit in Riyadh.

The Lebanon was represented by two delegations that did not speak to
each other.

The Iraqis wanted to accept help but no well- intentioned advice.

But with their self-criticism the monarchs and presidents were honest
as
never before: "We have to blame ourselves, us, the Arab leaders with
our
abiding conflicts," host King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia said and nobody
dared to contradict him.

First of all, because it was difficult for the summit attendees to find
counterarguments.

Second, because it is not the best thing to pick an argument with the
man who bears the title "Protector of the Sanctuaries (of Islam)"
besides ruling the country with the world's biggest oil reserves.

Abdullah, who is highly respected by his people, has foreign political
ambitions in contrast to his predecessor.

The conservative monarch wants the Arabs to take matters into their own
hands in order not to give reasons for interference or military
intervention by foreign powers.

Despite Saudi Arabia having strong relations with Washington for
decades, a lot of the Arabs take his pleas seriously.

The seemingly dignified monarch with a long face could score by forcing
the Palestinian Fatah and Hamas to build a government together and by
asking Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad critical questions about
Tehran's nuclear programme, making the king the first Arab Leader to do
so.

Meanwhile the leadership of Egypt sees its role as the most important
negotiator in the region endangered, which is officially denied.

"If Egypt does not continue to pull the strings behind the scenes, the
Saudis could not act at all and, without the help of our secret
service,
the Palestinians in Gaza would continue killing themselves," assistant
chief editor of a government-friendly newspaper from Cairo said through
gritted teeth.

But also Arab commentators, who like the way King Abdullah dealt with
the Lebanon crisis and other acute conflicts, are finding it hard to
warm to the Saudis' style.

In Riyadh's pompous and ostentatious palace, where the conference is
taking place, you find golden toilet-paper holders but no ladies' room
because women just do not play any role in Saudi Arabia's public life.

When the Arab journalists complained that they only could follow the
opening of the summit in the palace far away from the conference hall
on
a TV screen, the eyes of the king's guard who was guarding the press
room narrowed.

When the journalists then complained about the sound quality of the
coverage from the hall, the guard shouted forcefully, "Well, if that's
not convenient to you, I'll put it on mute."

No sooner said than done, there was silence all around. Two minutes
later a group of Egyptian journalists left the building. "Bedouins,
just
a bunch of Bedouins", an angry Egyptian lady hissed.

By Anne-Beatrice Clasmann

© 2007 DPA

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.religionandspirituality.com/currentEvents/view.php?StoryID=20070329-085329-7745r

ExNazi draws parallels to radical Islam

ReligionAndSpirituality.com
March 29, 2007
"How Was it Possible?" is a moving autobiography written by former
Hitler youth and German soldier, Hilmar von Campe. While describing his
life and remorse as an active participant in the greatest tragedy of
the
20th century, von Campe warns the world that it faces greater
challenges
today then it did with Adolph Hitler.

Von Campe lived through years of Nazi power and brain-washing.
After
the war, he learned about the Holocaust and Nazi atrocities. It was
then
that he came to grips with his own contribution to these horrors and
his
moral responsibilities for them, Christian Newswire reported Wednesday.

"Hilmar is in a unique position to illuminate the mindset that
allowed Hitler to rationalize the extermination of millions of Jews -
given his personal travails during that tragic era. Americans would do
well to heed his insights into similar dangers they are facing with
Radical Radical Islam today," said Dr. James C. Dobson, Founder &
Chairman of Focus On The Family.

"The growth of the Third Reich in Eastern Europe was infinitesimal
as compared today to that of Radical Islam. The powerful delivery
system
of the Internet makes it possible for terrorist organizations to spread
their message of hate and violence to a worldwide audience, with a
simple 'key stroke.'"

Von Campe lectures at churches and major events nationwide, as he
compares the Nazi philosophy to that of Radical Islam. His analysis is
both shocking and thought-provoking, as he discusses:

How Radical Islam follows the footprints of the Third Reich.

How Russia recruited and trained Yasser Arafat, and helped the
Palestinian leader form the PLO, launching terrorism as we know it
today.

Hitler's persecution of Jews has been taken to new levels by
Radical
Islam, and today all non-Muslims are potential victims.

How God changed von Campe's heart, and how God uses von Campe to
touch the hearts and minds of others.

Listed in the 1992 "International Who's Who of Intellectuals," von
Campe is the author of five books. He is a WWII veteran of the German
Army and former prisoner of war in Communist Yugoslavia, who narrowly
escaped in 1945, after crossing seven borders to freedom.

Hilmar von Campe is now an American citizen. For more on Hilmar von
Campe, please go to: www.talkguests.com/voncampe.htm

[nw_arizona_granny]

[Bitch and moan, but hurry and send more money]

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=93673&d=30&m=3&y=2007

30, March, 2007 (11, Rabi` al-Awwal, 1428)
Creating Irritants in US-Egypt Relations

Western colonialism used to violate the sovereignty of many countries
and tribal communities in the past. After many years and in some cases
after years of fierce fighting they were able to win their
independence.
But now there is a new colonialism practiced by America who wanted to
inherit the legacy of the Spanish, English and French emperors and
colonialists.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the US became the sole
superpower
of the world. It started using threats and economic aid as strategic
weapons. When the US found these were not enough it resorted to
military
force and occupation as a means of accomplishing its strategic
objectives. Again the US is failing not because the weapons and bombs
it
uses are not lethal enough but the American solider doesn’t believe in
what he’s fighting for. Still the American administration, and
especially the current one, continues to violate the sovereignty of
different countries and interfere in their internal affairs. A few days
ago, Sean McCormack, the US spokesman officially condemned Egypt. Why?
The Alexandria court (the supreme court) upheld the verdict of a lower
court to sentence an Egyptian student blogger, Abdel Karim Suliman, to
four years in jail for defaming Islam and insulting Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak in his blog writings. The official spokesman added that
America was deeply concerned by Suliman’s conviction and prison
sentence
for expressing his views.

By any standard the statement was clear interference in the internal
affairs of a sovereign nation. This is totally unacceptable. The
Egyptian court verdict invited American ire because the current
thinking
in the US approves of anything that slanders Islam and Muslims.
Therefore, whoever defames Muslims and Islam must be supported by
Washington.

The US Department of State, without being requested or assigned by the
UN, issues its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. It
charges Egypt and the majority of the Arab countries with violating
human rights. The report about Egypt is based on incomplete information
concerning some cases that are still under the purview of the courts.
The report also criticized the way Egyptian jails and prisons are run
and the system of police administration.

However, the report didn’t mention anything about Abu Ghraib and
Guantanamo prisons because everything that is happening inside them is
permissible as long as they are managed by Americans and are part of
the
so-called war on terror. Neither did the report mention anything about
the CIA’s trips to Europe and other places in connection with the
secret
sites where those arrested and kidnapped, most of them innocent, are
locked.

In the beginning of last week and before heading to Aswan in Egypt, US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice commented on the proposed
amendments
to Egypt’s constitution. She told reporters before she left Washington
for the Middle East that she was “really concerned” about the
referendum
on constitutional changes.

Even before Rice’s arrival in Aswan, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit
harshly criticized the Bush administration’s top diplomat. “Even if
Egypt and the United States have a friendly, strategic relationship,
Egypt can’t accept interference in its affairs from any of its
friends,”
Aboul Gheit said.

Here I would like to add that a majority of people in Egypt hates the
US
and resents its interference in Egyptian affairs.

In Egypt and all the Arab countries we still have our ethics and
traditions that Americans can’t seem to comprehend. Even in America
there is a feeling their country is losing its moral moorings and the
reason is the media. This is the conclusion of a survey that was
conducted by one of the specialized research centers in Washington.
Some
74 percent of the Americans think the young generation’s idea of good
and bad, cooperation and appreciation have become so distorted and
different. 87 percent said that they’re religious but when they were
given a choice between religion and life’s interests, only 36 percent
chose religion and 64 percent preferred personal interests. It’s a very
clear indication of the moral deterioration of American society.

Should not the American administration fix its own problems before
invading other countries to “reform” them?

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_21618-At-Least-12-terrorists-Killed-In-Military-Crackdown-In-Algeria.html

At Least 12 "terrorists" Killed In Military Crackdown In Algeria
06:03 PM, March 29th 2007

Algerian security forces killed at least 12 alleged terrorists in a
major security operation, the Algerian military said Thursday.

The alleged terrorists were killed on Wednesday evening in the "cleanup
operation" in the region of Amizour, 260 kilometres east of Algiers.

Several hundred soldiers using heavy weapons were deployed during the
military operation in which an emir of the Salafist Group for Preaching
and Combat (GSPC) was reportedly killed. The operation was the most
extensive mounted in Amizour against the group since June 2004.

The GSPC seeks to establish an Islamic state within Algeria and is
reported to have ties with al-Qaeda.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Ethiopian Evangelist Beaten to Death by Militant Muslims

http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/194262642.html

Ethiopian Evangelist Beaten to Death by Militant Muslims: Militant
Wahabbi
Islamists Drag Christian Evangelist into Mosque and Beat Him to Death

WASHINGTON, Mar. 29 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Washington-DC based
human
rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) has just learned
that an
Ethiopian evangelist named Tedase was beaten to death by militant
Muslims on
Monday, March 26th, as he and two young women were on a street
evangelism
assignment in Jimma, Ethiopia. This marks the second time in six months
that
Christians residing in Southeast Ethiopia have been attacked and killed
by
extremist (Wahabbi) Muslims.

On Monday afternoon Tedase and two female coworkers were conducting
street
evangelism on Merkato Street in Jimma, Southern Ethiopia. Merkato
Street
runs by a Wahabbi Mosque. As the team was walking by the Mosque, a
group of
Muslims exited the Mosque and began to run after them to confront them.
Tedase's female coworkers ran away from the mob but Tedase continued
on. The
Muslims caught up with Tedase, pulled him into the mosque, and savagely
beat
him to death. Sources from Jimma reported that Tedase was beaten with a
calculated intention to kill him. This was no accident or case of mob
frenzy
getting out of control. His body was later taken to the hospital for an
autopsy and he was buried Tuesday, March 27.

Our sources also reveal that Jimma Christians were conducting an
evangelism
campaign, and news of the outreach was spreading among Jimma residents
as
well as militant Muslim groups in the area. The Muslims that belonged
to the
Wahabbi sect purposefully beat Tedase to death as a message to
Christians
that they are ready to combat evangelism.

Aftershocks of the September 2006 Pogrom

This most recent incident in Ethiopia confirms ICC's decision to
include
this country in its Hall of Shame list, which highlights nations where
Christians are enduring the most severe persecution. It is important to
note
that the Muslims who attacked Tedase belonged to the Wahabbi brand of
Islam,
an extremist sect imported from Saudi Arabia. It is clear that the
Christians in Ethiopia are feeling Saudi Arabia's influence,
particularly in
Jimma, a Muslim dominated area where local authorities are almost
exclusively Muslim. It was only six months ago, in September of 2006,
that
Muslim extremists burned down a number of churches and parishes, as
well as
Christian homes. As many as 2,000 Christians were displaced by the
attack,
an attempt to intimidate Christians with the hopes of converting them
to
Islam.

Evangelical church leaders are fearful that if police ignore Tedase's
death,
it will be a green light for Muslim groups in the area to attack their
Christian neighbors at will and without retribution. We appeal to
concerned
individuals to contact the Ethiopian embassy in their own countries to
ask
for an investigation of Tedase's murder.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?fr=yalerts-keyword&c=&p=plane+crash&ei=utf-8

1. Safety board makes no conclusion for cause of plane crash Open this result in new window
The Standard-Times - Mar 30 8:18 PM
NEW BEDFORD — A much-anticipated preliminary report, released yesterday, on a Feb. 2 plane crash at New Bedford Regional Airport offered no conclusion as to what caused the accident.
Save

2. Second body from plane crash is identified as Woodburn man Open this result in new window
Salem Statesman Journal - 8 minutes ago
Authorities have identified a body found off Lincoln Beach last week as that of a missing Woodburn passenger who was presumed dead in a small airplane crash.
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3. PILOT DIES IN CRASH OF SMALL PLANE Open this result in new window
Asbury Park Press - Mar 29 10:36 AM
The pilot of a single-engine plane was killed Wednesday night when the aircraft crashed at about 8 p.m. in a wooded area off Cascades Avenue, only 100 yards away from a row of homes in the large Parkside development, Federal Aviation Administration officials said. State Police said the plane did not strike any homes, but it did catch fire. Howell police said the person killed in the crash was a ...
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4. UPDATE: No distress calls received before plane crash Open this result in new window
Asbury Park Press - Mar 29 12:36 PM
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board said there were no distress calls received from the pilot of the fatal plane crash last night in Howell. NTSB Senior Air Safety Investigator Robert Gretz said at the 2 p.m. press conference that Eugene R. Pilot, 70 of Neptune, had radioed the control tower at McGuire Air Force Base when he was about 5 miles southwest of Monmouth ...
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5. UPDATE: NTSB at the scene of fatal plane crash in Howell Open this result in new window
Asbury Park Press - Mar 29 6:21 AM
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are on the scene of the fatal plane crash in Howell. The NTSB members arrived around 8 a.m. this morning, police said. The plane's pilot was killed Wednesday night when single-engine plane crashed in a wooded area off Cascades Avenue, about 100 yards away from homes in the Parkside development, according to Federal Aviation ...
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6. Two men survive crash of plane near Ravenna Open this result in new window
Akron Beacon Journal - Mar 30 11:51 AM
Two pilots escaped serious injury when a single-engine plane crashed in a Ravenna Township field during an emergency landing at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, the State Highway Patrol said.
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7. Lack of speed is cited in fatal plane crash Open this result in new window
The Providence Journal - Mar 29 9:40 PM
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) — A pilot failed to maintain enough speed to avoid stalling while trying to land a plane that crashed two years ago, killing six members of two Rhode Island families, federal investigators said in a new report.
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8. One killed in small plane crash in NJ Open this result in new window
WABC-TV New York - Mar 28 6:09 PM
Authorities say the small plane went down in a wooded area missing homes. The crash killed the pilot.
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9. Runway lights eyed in crash Open this result in new window
The Standard-Times - Mar 30 8:02 PM
As federal authorities launch their investigation into the crash of a single-engine plane that killed three people Friday night, accusations are swirling about the adequacy of runway lights at New Bedford Regional Airport.
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10. Crash sheds light on lack of illumination at airport Open this result in new window
The Standard-Times - Mar 30 8:02 PM
Friday's deadly plane crash called attention to the lack of working approach lights for Runway 5 at New Bedford Regional Airport, a subject of recent controversy.
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[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=67166

Undercover agents slip bombs past DIA screeners

KUSA - Checkpoint security screeners at Denver International Airport
last
month failed to find liquid explosives packed in carry-on luggage and
also
improvised explosive devices, or IED's, worn by undercover agents
sources
told 9NEWS.

continued, with many details.........

[nw_arizona_granny]

[Is this also the town with a lot of rapes? A second poison has now been found in the pet food]

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2007/03/terror_central_.html#more

Saturday, March 24, 2007
TERROR CENTRAL: MISSISSAUGA CANADA

UPDATED 3/25

Terrortoronto_060605300w

Apparently there is a malevolent confluence of jihadi events coming straight out of Mississauga Ontario in Canada. Terrorist School bus drivers, rat poisoned dog/cat food, Muslim bomb plot and everything was based in Mississauga ON Canada. The latest from Bill Warner's WBIPI investigation here;

Rat poisoned dog/cat food came from MENU FOODS in MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, one of the production plants is in MISSISSAUGA, Ontario. As part of the Muslim upbringing, dogs and cats are treated as non-entitiites, dogs are not allowed in Muslim Homes.

Head Office:MENU FOODS INCOME FUND
8 Falconer Drive
Mississauga ON Canada L5M 2C1
Phone:905 826-3870
Fax:905 826-4995
Website: www.menufoods.com
Other Locations: Production facilities in Mississauga ON,
Fiscal Year End: Dec 31
Auditor: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Employee Count (2005/2004): 958 / 959
NAICS Codes: 311111, Dog and Cat Food Manufacturing; 52591022, Food Processing Income Trusts

In June 2006 there were arrests of 17 Muslim terrorists in Canada in a far ranging bomb blot, most of the arrests of the Muslim terrorists took place in MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, where the store front Mosque was run by Qayyum Abdul Jamal a school bus driver by trade.

"Police arrested 12 adults, ages 19 to 43, and five suspects younger than 18 Friday and Saturday on charges including plotting attacks with explosives on Canadian targets".

"The oldest, Qayyum Abdul Jamal, led prayers at a storefront mosque attended by some 40 to 50 families down the street from his home in a middle-class neighborhood of Mississauga, west of Toronto".

Two suspects, Mohammed Dirie, 22, and Yasim Abdi Mohamed, 24, already are in an Ontario prison serving two-year terms for possession of illegal weapons.

Neighbors said the oldest suspect, Jamal, was often home (he was a school bus driver) and did not seem to work regularly, although his wife drove a schoolbus.

Abdul Jamal is one of 17 people detained on June 2 and June 3, 2006, in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. He and his co-conspirators are alleged to have plotted coordinated bombing attacks against targets in southern Ontario. He was the oldest of the suspects at 43 years of age at the time of his arrest and drove a school bus in MISSISSAUGA, Ontario

A school bus driver by occupation and a father of four boys, Jamal is married to a Canadian woman named Cheryfa Macaulay-Jamal, who converted to Islam. She was his second wife as his first wife died of an illness, and he may have been briefly married to both. He was an active member of directors of the Ar-Rahman Islamic Centre in Mississauga where he sometimes led the prayers.[1] More here.

Six (6) of the arrested Canadian terrorists came from MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, see all their profiles below.

Bill Warner

Sting led to Canada terrorism arrests Authorities arrested 17 after delivering bomb-making materials MSNBC une 5, 2006

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police itself delivered three tons of potential bomb-making material to a group that authorities said wanted to launch a string of attacks inspired by al-Qaida, according to a news report Sunday.

The Toronto Star said the sting unfolded when investigators delivered the ammonium nitrate to the group of Muslim Canadians, then moved in quickly on what officials called a homegrown terror ring.

The newspaper said that investigators learned of the group’s alleged plan to bomb targets around Ontario, then controlled the sale and transport of the fertilizer.

INDEPTH: TORONTO BOMB PLOT Profiles of the suspects CBC News Online | June 12, 2006

UPDATE: Bill Warner over at Warner Brothers Private Investigations sent me an update.The lamestream media (which stopped doing these investigative pieces long ago) does not have any figures on pet deaths in Canada where menu foods has their main office and a major processing plant in Mississauga ON Canada , both USA Menu Foods processing plants in Kansas and New Jersey have been targeted as a source of the 16 pet deaths in the USA only, the Kansas plant has been shut down.

Quote from CNN article below "Rosowsky speculated that the substance would not show up in pet food unless somebody put it there."

In Toronto Canada there has been a $60-million lawsuit filed against Menu Foods, on behalf of Canadian pet owners, due to the death of their pets from eating Menu Food products manufactured in Canada.

All three Menu Foods processing plants have had rat poison show up in the pet food !

Please look at the 3 short articles below from Canada press CBC news, CNN and the "Pet connection" web site.

Bill Warner www.wbipi.com

Tests find rat poison in recalled pet food

Last Updated: Friday, March 23, 2007 | 5:09 PM ET
CBC News

The head of an Ontario-based pet food company said Friday he has no idea how rat poison got into its products, but denied his company was negligent.

"At this stage, we don't know," Menu Foods chief executive Paul Henderson told reporters at a news conference in Mississauga, Ont. "We have a lot of work to do."

Henderson also offered an apology to pet owners across Canada and the U.S. who have lost their pets or been subject to worrying over their well-being.

The company has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog in the U.S. resulting from kidney failure. No deaths have been confirmed in Canada, although at least three Canadians have blamed the tainted food for their pets' deaths.

Toronto lawyer Joel Rochon has filed a $60-million lawsuit against Menu Foods. Another national class-action lawsuit filed Thursday seeks compensation for pet owners who purchased the food.

The allegations in the lawsuits have not been proven in court. Menu Foods isn't commenting on the lawsuit.

CNN POSTED: 4:28 a.m. EDT, March 25, 2007

ALBANY, New York (AP) -- Pet owners were rechecking their cabinets and threatening legal action after state officials said rat poison was found in pet food blamed for the deaths of at least 16 cats and dogs. [Wrong, way wrong, see below]

Aminopterin is highly toxic in high doses. It inhibits the growth of malignant cells and suppresses the immune system. In dogs and cats, the amount of aminopterin found -- 40 parts per million -- can cause kidney failure, according to Bruce Akey, director of Cornell's diagnostic center.

"It's there in substantial amounts," Akey said. Aminopterin is no longer marketed as a cancer drug, but is still used in research, said Andre Rosowsky, a chemist with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Rosowsky speculated that the substance would not show up in pet food "unless somebody put it there."

---

See Dr. Marty Becker's "Pet connection" blog below, pet owners are responding to his web site directly, and over 1,300 dogs/cats have been reported deceased !

Menu Foods is majority-owned by the Menu Foods Income Fund, based in Ontario, Canada

pet connection
Update 3/24: More than 1,3oo pets have been reported as deceased to our PetConnection database. Dr. Marty Becker As a veterinarian, media personality, author and educator, Dr. Marty Becker (photo to left) has become known as the "best-loved family doctor for pets."

Marty is the popular veterinary contributor to ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" and is the host of "The Pet Doctor With Marty Becker" on PBS. In association with the American Animal Hospital Association, Marty hosts a nationally syndicated radio program, "Top Vets Talk Pets," on the Health Radio Network. He has appeared on Animal Planet, and is a frequent guest on national network and cable television, and radio shows. He has also been interviewed for countless magazine and newspaper articles.

Welcome to online home of the Pet Connection, the weekly pet-care feature syndicated to newspapers, magazines and Web sites throughout the United States and Canada by Universal Press Syndicate.

But we're more than a pet column, as we hope you'll find out exploring our Web site. We're best-selling books on pet care, and we're a popular pet-related Web log. You can search our archives for answers to your pet questions, and check out some helpful links we've collected.

We're glad you're here, and hope you'll make Pet Connection a regular stop on the information superhighway Pet-food recall: Have your pets been affected?

Menu Foods, a company manufacturing pet food brands for many companies, has announced a massive recall of pet foods. The affected product lines at this time are restricted to "wet" foods in cans or pouches, with more than 48 dog food brands and 40 cat food brands represented -- more than 60 million containers in all.

We're asking pet-lovers whose pets have been made ill or have died to fill out the simple form below. We're not lawyers, and we're not forming a class-action suit. We're pet-lovers, veterinarians and journalists who are trying to get an accurate idea of the scope of this tragedy. And that's why we need your help.

Please take a few minutes and fill out the form below. You'll be helping us to help other pet-lovers.

You should also report your pet's illness or death to the FDA.

Update 3/24: More than 1,3oo pets have been reported as deceased to our PetConnection database.

Shareef Abdelhaleen (John Mantha/CBC)
Shareef Abdelhaleen | Mississauga, Ont.
Age: 30

Computer programmer. Emigrated from Egypt 20 years ago with his father who is an engineer with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.
Charges:

* Knowingly participating in or contributing to activity of a terrorist group.
* Doing anything with intent to cause an explosion that is likely to cause serious bodily harm or death or serious damage to property.

Fahim Ahmad (John Mantha/CBC)
Fahim Ahmad | Toronto (Scarborough)
Age: 21

Attended Mississauga's Meadowvale Secondary School with two other suspects.
Charges:

* Knowingly participating in or contributing to activity of a terrorist group.
* Importing a firearm and prohibited ammunition for the benefit of a terrorist group.
* Providing guns and ammunition intending that they be used to carry out terrorist activity.
* Receiving training with a terrorist group.
* Providing training for a terrorist group or recruiting people to receive training in a terrorist group.
* Doing anything with intent to cause an explosion that is likely to cause serious bodily harm or death or serious damage to property.

Zakaria Amara (John Mantha/CBC)
Zakaria Amara | Mississauga, Ont.
Age: 20

Lived in a multi-generational household in Mississauga. Attended Mississauga's Meadowvale Secondary School with two other suspects, where he was known as "Zak."
Charges:

* Knowingly participating in or contributing to activity of a terrorist group.
* Receiving training with a terrorist group.
* Providing training for a terrorist group or recruiting people to receive training in a terrorist group. * Doing anything with intent to cause an explosion that is likely to cause serious bodily harm or death or serious damage to property.

Asad Ansari (John Mantha/CBC)
Asad Ansari | Mississauga, Ont.
Age: 21

Lived with a family of four or five people in Mississauga.
Charges:

* Knowingly participating in or contributing to activity of a terrorist group.
* Receiving training with a terrorist group.
* Doing anything with intent to cause an explosion that is likely to cause serious bodily harm or death or serious damage to property.

Steven Vikash Chand (John Mantha/CBC)
Steven Vikash Chand | Toronto (Scarborough)
Age: 25

Recently converted to Islam and started using the name Abdul Shakur. Lived in a basement apartment. Was reportedly a member of the Royal Regiment of Canada, a reserve unit, from June 2000 until April 2004. Attended Salaheddin Islamic Centre two or three times a week, a member of the mosque said. Distributed material about Islam at local public schools.
Charges:

* Knowingly participating in or contributing to activity of a terrorist group.
* Receiving training with a terrorist group.
* Providing training for a terrorist group or recruiting people to receive training in a terrorist group.

Mohammed Dirie (John Mantha/CBC)
Mohammed Dirie | Kingston, Ont.
Age: 22

Landed immigrant in the process of becoming a Canadian citizen. Came to Canada from Somalia at the age of seven. Worked as a carpenter and took courses toward a college diploma. Serving a two-year sentence in Kingston's Collins Bay Correctional Institute for attempting to smuggle guns and ammunition from the U.S. in August, 2005.
Charges:

* Knowingly participating in or contributing to activity of a terrorist group.
* Importing a firearm and prohibited ammunition for the benefit of a terrorist group
* Providing guns and ammunition intending that they be used to carry out terrorist activity.

Amin Mohamed Durrani (John Mantha/CBC)
Amin Mohamed Durrani | Toronto (Scarborough)
Age: 19

Family members said Durrani would disappear for weeks at a time with no explanation.
Charges:

* Knowingly participating in or contributing to activity of a terrorist group.
* Receiving training with a terrorist group.
* Providing training for a terrorist group or recruiting people to receive training in a terrorist group.

Ahmad Mustafa Ghany (John Mantha/CBC)
Ahmad Mustafa Ghany | Mississauga, Ont.
Age: 21

Recently graduated from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont. with a degree in health sciences. His father immigrated to Canada from Trinidad and Tobago over 40 years ago.
Charges:

* Knowingly participating in or contributing to activity of a terrorist group.
* Receiving training with a terrorist group.

Qayyum Abdul Jamal (John Mantha/CBC) Qayyum Abdul Jamal | Mississauga, Ont. Age: 43 The oldest of the suspects. A school bus driver and father of four boys.
Charges:

* Knowingly participating in or contributing to activity of a terrorist group.
* Receiving training with a terrorist group.
* Doing anything with intent to cause an explosion that is likely to cause serious bodily harm or death or serious damage to property.

Jahmaal James | Toronto (Scarborough)
Age: 23

Regularly prayed at the Salaheddin Islamic Centre. Distributed material about Islam at local public schools. Recently married a woman in Pakistan. Unemployed at the time of his arrest.
Charges: m/p>

* Knowingly participating in or contributing to activity of a terrorist group.
* Receiving training with a terrorist group.

Saad Khalid (John Mantha/CBC)
Saad Khalid | Mississauga, Ont.
Age: 19

Attended Mississauga's Meadowvale Secondary School with two other suspects, where he created the Religious Awareness Club and would preach Islam in the school's drama room. Charges:

* Knowingly participating in or contributing to activity of a terrorist group.
* Receiving training with a terrorist group.
* Doing anything with intent to cause an explosion that is likely to cause serious bodily harm or death or serious damage to property.

Yasim Abdi Mohamed (John Mantha/CBC)
Yasim Abdi Mohamed | Kingston, Ont.
Age: 24

Born in Somalia. Immigrated to Canada with his family at the age of seven. Lived in Cambridge, Ont., before moving to Toronto five years ago. Serving a two-year sentence in Kingston's Joyceville Correctional Institute for attempting to smuggle guns and ammunition from the U.S. in August 2005. Charges:

* Knowingly participating in or contributing to activity of a terrorist group.
* Importing a firearm and prohibited ammunition for the benefit of a terrorist group.
* Providing guns and ammunition intending that they be used to carry out terrorist activity.
Five other suspects are under the age of 18 and cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. They all face these charges:

* Knowingly participating in or contributing to activity of a terrorist group.
* Receiving training with a terrorist group.

The Toronto Star said some of them attended the same Scarborough high school and allegedly knew Amin Mohamed Durrani, one of the adult suspects.

Posted by Pamela Geller Oshry on Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 12:56 PM in Global Jihad 2007 | Permalink
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Comments

You're not entirely correct in what you have to say about the status of cats in Islam. The hadith make it clear that the Prophet had a great fondness for cats, as did his companion, Abu Hurayrah. You're welcome to ignore this or to present a reason for why you don't think it's important in this particular case, but I'm sure you'd rather be accurate.

On an unrelated note: given the more up to date information from CNN about the origin of the pet-food problem in plants in Kansas and New Jersey, and the source of the problem being wheat from China, you might want to reconsider the idea that this is coming from TERROR CENTRAL: MISSISSAUGA CANADA.

Posted by: Ormady | Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 09:43 PM

"Ormady"'s IP address links back to Herndon VA and dead ends in a Road Runner account, Ormandy has a blank page in his type key profile wonder why ?

Terrorism is what it is, cats, dogs, humans, it makes no difference. My reference was to dogs and Muslims do not tolerate dogs.

The reader who replied to the Rat Poison in the Dog/Cat food story from Mississauga ON Canada, is using selective reasoning, I read the same CNN article about the wheat form China and what I got was "It would make no sense to spray a wheat crop itself with rodenticide, Aminopterin would have been used in traps around the wheat field not on the crops, we are talking about rats not locust ! see portion of the 3/24/2007 CNN article below.

Also the teams at Cornell University lab have found the rat poison Aminopterin (40 parts per million) in the cat food sent to the lab by Menu Foods, "It's there in substantial amounts," Bruce Akey said.

There would not be substantial amounts of the rat poison Aminopterin in the cat food in 2 out of 3 cans if it had been sprayed on the wheat from China (something not done anyway) and then processed with all the other products that make up the cat food, the wheat, if contaminated, would have been substantially diluted in the processing of the cat food.

The results from the Cornell Univ Lab indicate that Aminopterin was put in the cat/dog food as or during the processing.

One final note, Mississauga ON Canada, is Islamic Terror Central, 6 out of the 17 arrested for the massive bomb plot in Toronto and elsewhere in Canada lived or where in school in Mississauga ON Canada, the mastermind of the plot the Iman Jamal worked out of a store front Mosque in Mississauga ON Canada where other members of the bomb plot attended daily prayers.

The truth hurts and most Muslims refuse to accept what the "religion of peace" has evolved into.

Bill Warner

www.wbipi.com

Posted by: Pamela Geller Oshry | Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 12:09 AM

"The truth hurts and most Muslims refuse to accept what the "religion of peace" has evolved into."

EVOLVED into? Islam has been violent since Day One. It needs a Reformation, or else it won't survive the 21st Century. It means "moderates" must speak up and turn in the "radicals" en masse...or else they will all DIE.

Posted by: Macker | Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 10:24 AM

"Ormady"'s IP address links back to Herndon VA and dead ends in a Road Runner account, Ormandy has a blank page in his type key profile wonder why ?

That would be because I use Road Runner, and because I just signed up because I wanted to make a point about cats (one of the "non-entities" of the original post). I didn't even notice the profile page, but thanks for pointing it out.

The reader who replied to the Rat Poison in the Dog/Cat food story from Mississauga ON Canada, is using selective reasoning, I read the same CNN article about the wheat form China and what I got was...

I'm no chemist, so I'm not really in a position to make an argument for the most likely part of the process for the food to be poisoned. That said, the press release from Menu Foods does mention that the food being recalled was from two plants in the United States, not Canada, which makes the Mississauga connection a little shakier.

I suppose the point that you're making has little to do with pet food, though, and more to do with your views on Islam, so I'll let you get back to those.

Posted by: Ormady | Sunday, March 25, 2007

[nw_arizona_granny]

This is a site with info on terror, several on stolen/exported cars, the jihadi at the Utah mall, and many others we know of, are updated.

It does not work on my computer/phone line.

http://www.wbipi.com/

[nw_arizona_granny]

Amir of Ansar al-Sunnah Group Cautions Sunnis in Iraq Against New Deceptive Tactic

Originally published on 3/30/2007 by Jihadist Websites -- OSC Summary in Arabic
Terrorism: Amir of Ansar al-Sunnah Group Cautions Sunnis in Iraq Against New Deceptive Tactic

On 30 March, a jihadist website posted a statement issued by the Ansar al-Sunnah Group and signed by its amir, Abu-Abdallah, in which he cautioned Muslims in Iraq against falling victim to a new deceptive government tactic so as not to disappoint their mujahidin brothers. The statement, dated 29 March 2007, was attributed to "Bashir al-Sunnah" of the Ansar al-Sunnah Group.

A summary of the statement follows:

The amir of the Ansar al-Sunnah Group alerted the Sunnis to a new tactic, which he claimed that the Iraqi and the US governments have been resorting to lately, following the failure of all their previous tactics of "arrests, torture, and killing." This new tactic, according to Abu-Abdallah, aimed at "confounding the Muslims and confusing them." He warned, "They [the two governments] found that they were left with no other option but resort to deception, misguidance, and playing with words through the media and the lips of the spies and the agents, the most recent [example] of which was the conference that was held in Baghdad." The amir continued to explain that the enemy aims to use these new tactics in order to keep the people preoccupied with their safety instead of working towards the empowerment of their religion.

The amir warned the Muslims in Iraq from falling victim to these deceptions, which might lead them to join the political process, or withdraw and wait in fear, or simply escape and leave the country. Instead of warning against such behavior, the amir questioned the loyalty of Muslims who might make such choices, "Muslim brother, how can you escape...how can you leave your Muslim brothers to the criminals?" The amir of the group ended his message by stating that "the duty of jihad is everyone's duty," and asked the believers not to disappoint their mujahidin brothers, and instead rise to support them.

[nw_arizona_granny]

HAMAS-IRAQ Issues First Statement

Hamas-Iraq Issues First Statement, Calls on Arabs, Muslims to Support Resistance

Originally published on 3/30/2007 by Jihadist Websites -- OSC Summary in Arabic
Terrorism: Hamas-Iraq Issues First Statement, Calls on Arabs, Muslims to Support Resistance

On 28 March, a jihadist website posted the first statement issued by the General Command of The Islamic Resistance Movement in Iraq, which now refers to itself as Hamas - Iraq, in which it announced the new name of its military wing, discussed a meeting it held with all of its various brigades, and called on Arabs and Muslims to support the resistance.

A translation of the statement follows:

"Statement Number 1

"The Historical Speech of The Islamic Resistance Movement: Hamas - Iraq

"On the fourth anniversary of the occupation of Iraq

"Praise belongs only to God, and prayers and peace be upon the seal of the prophets, and upon all of his family, companions and soldiers.

"O sons of our relentless, enduring Iraqi people,

"O sons of our Arab and Muslim nation,

"As the fourth year of Iraq's occupation by the invading American forces and their allies nears its end, since these forces have carried out their barefaced aggression against Iraq's faith, Iraq's land, and its people without any international cover, and after four years of organized destruction and crimes against humanity and the targeting of the elderly and women and children as well as the infrastructure and economic resources, your children in all of the resistance and the jihad groups have continued to clash with this atrocious enemy in an open fight, through which the heroes of Islam in Iraq were able to shake the solemnity of this gigantic military structure of the American army. At the same time, they have made the Arab and Muslim nation proud and restored to the millions amongst the children of our nation their self-confidence.

"On this occasion, the leadership of The 1920 Revolution Brigades - The Islamic Conquest Corps in addition to the Shura Council met with the amirs of the various districts, in accordance with the following divisions:

"The Baghdad Sector, which includes:

"1. The Special Brigade of Baghdad

"2. Al-Fath al-Mubin [Clear Victory] Brigade

"3. Abdallah Azzam Brigade

"4. Nahawand Brigade

"5. Al-Muthanna Ibn-Harithah al-Shibani Brigade

"The Diyala Sector, which includes:

"1. Sa'd Bin-Ma'adh Brigade

"2. Sa'd Bin-al-Rabi Brigade

"3. Sa'd Bin-Ubadah Brigade

"4. Al-Zubair Bin-al-Awwam Brigade

"5. Al-Nu'man Bin-al-Muqrin Brigade

"6. Hudhayfah Bin-al-Yaman Brigade

"7. Uthman Bin-Affan Brigade

"8. Al-Alaa Bin-al-Hadrami Brigade

"9. Al-Ahrar Brigade

"10. Al-Mustafa Brigade

"11. Umar Bin-Abd-al-Aziz Brigade

"12. Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade

"13. Abdallah Bin-Mas'ud Brigade

"14. Ali Bin-Abu-Talib Brigade

"15. Khalid Bin-al-Walid Brigade

"16. Al-Karar Brigade

"The Al-Anbar Sector, which includes:

"1. Al-Fallujah Brigade

"2. Al-Hamidin Brigade

"3. Ahmad Bin-Hanbal Brigade

"4. Ahmad Yasin Brigade

"5. Mahmud Shiit Khattab Brigade

"6. Al-Firdaws Brigade

"7. Al-Aqsa Brigade

"8. Abu-Basir Brigade

"9. Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi Brigade

"10. Umar Ibn-al-Khattab Brigade

"11. Abdallah Bin-al-Mubarak Brigade

"12. Abd-al-Aziz al-Rantisi Brigade

"13. Ibad al-Rahman Brigade

"14. Al-Khadra Brigade

"The Salah al-Din Sector, which includes:

"1. Abu-Bakr al-Siddiq Brigade

"2. Al-Faruq Brigade

"3. The Special Brigade

"4. Hamzah Bin-Abd-al-Muttalib

"5. Abd-al-Rahman al-Dakhil Brigade

"6. Al-Hassan Bin-Ali Brigade

"The Northern Sector, which includes:

"1. Muham mad al-Fatih Brigade

"2. Nur al-Din Zinki Brigade

"3. Sayf Allah Brigade

"After three days of deliberation and revision of the general plans, strategies, and studies of the future of Iraq, in light of a series of political and field developments, and after relying on God, the following was decided:

"1. To establish political, media and legal establishments and offices as part of a comprehensive political process that rewards the military endeavor in the field, and complements it, which will realize the mujahidin's goals of victory and complete liberation of Iraq, from its north to its south, from the filth of the occupiers and their hirelings, and the preservation of its Arab and Islamic identity.

"2. To change the name of the military wing from "The 1920 Revolution Brigades - Al-Fath al-Islami Corps" to the "Al-Fath al-Islami Brigades."

"3. To announce the name of The Islamic Resistance Movement: Hamas-Iraq as the overall name for the movement to include other political and civic offices, in addition to the military wing, the Al-Fath al-Islami Brigades.

"4. To elect the general command of the movement. Praise be to the Almighty, a legal and complete pledge of allegiance to this leadership has been given.

"On this occasion, we call upon all our mujahidin brothers from all of the groups to respond to the requirements of the upcoming phase with more cooperation, coordination, and unity in order to ensure the continuation of the resistance and to preserve the greater mission of jihad until full empowerment is realized and the invaders are driven out, God willing.

"To all our Iraqi people, with all their components and types, we say: Be patient. Be patient, rise above the pain, and unite in the face of the enemies, for God's victory is imminent, His comfort is impending, and all the conspiracies that are attempting to harm the unity of Iraq, the reputation of the Iraqis, and their glorious history, will fail and will bounce back to their originators, God willing. We say to all our people and our brothers in our broad Arab setting at all levels: The sons of Iraq have never let you down and will not let you down, and that they are today defending, in this big battle of theirs, the honor of every Arab male and female, and every Muslim male and female. Open your doors to them and raise your voices in their support. Iraq must not continue to be, after four years, a battlefield for international and regional conflicts, while the Arab and Muslim brothers of Iraq stop playing a responsible role, even though [the situation in] Iraq represents only the first phase of these rival and competing projects.

"And, in this regard, we would like to express our determination to maintain our relationships with our Arab and Muslim masses at all levels, which serves the interests of Iraq and the entire nation.

"Finally, we address the American people that continue to suffer from losses in the lives of their sons and in their resources as a result of the reckless adventures of the present administration of "lies" in the White House, and the merchants of war who are controlling the administration, and we say to them: We do not believe in the inevitability of the conflicts of civilizations and we do not aim at spilling blood. However, this is a war that was imposed on us, and we have no option but to defend our religion, our country, and our future, even if the fight continues over many generations to come. This administration promised you decisive solutions and you [always] discover that it had lied to you, starting with [Jay Montgomery] Garner's and [Paul] Bremmer's era and until the experience of the elections and the forged democratic carnivals, which did nothing but bring about hateful sectarian conflicts and grudges. This administration has hurt you and has done you a great deal of harm, and will afflict you with more harm if you do not put an end to this heedlessness and craziness. As for us, we are as confident in God's support as we are in the [eventual] break of day, 'There is no help except from Allah. The Exalted, the Wise' [Koranic verse; Al Imran 3:126].

"God is great, and honor belongs to the great [religion of] Islam.

"God is great, and victory be to His mujahidin servants in all of the battlefields from Iraq to Palestine. [May] the mercy and acceptance [of God] be with our righteous martyrs.

"The General Command of The Islamic Resistance Movement

"Hamas - Iraq

"On 7 Rabi al-Awwal 1428, [corresponding to] 26 March 2007"

[nw_arizona_granny]

The Gathering Storm eBook, with an Introduction by ex-terrorist Walid Shoebat, contains 300 pages of hyperlinked information, pictures, cartoons and videos that will detail the intimidation, infiltration and disinformation tactics and the multiple types of jihads that Islamists are using to advance their goal of the Islamic rule of the world under Shariah law.

Limited Time Special to My Newsletter Readers
$5.95

Click Here for More Information
and to Purchase

Here's what the bloggospher is saying about The Gathering Storm eBook.

When I began reading The Gathering Storm, I could not put it down. It explained in detail how westerners from political pundits, media, and academia twist our laws in order to facilitate the Jihadist agenda and help launch a war against the West. It refutes all the myths and exposes the so called moderate Islam, the Muslim victim hood mentality, excuses of mental illness, and shows that international Jihadism has an element of psychoses, yet as the author puts it 'the goals are well defined, planned out, well coordinated and reveal a patient effort of intimidation, infiltration, and disinformation at the same time being encouraged by the free world's many attempts at appeasement.
--- Walid Shoebat

Churchill would be proud. Prescient. Bold. Frightening. The Gathering Storm is here and we are awash in it. READ IT!
--- Pamela Geller Oshry
Atlas Shrugs

This The Gathering Stormis, at the same time, a warning for the future, and a historical document which preserves the past. WC has assembled an amazing amount of information into one volume which tells the story of the frightening and confusing events of our time.
--- Pastorius
Infidel Bloggers Alliance

The Gathering Storm is a must-read collection of essays proving that the global jihad consists of more than spectacular attacks by Islamofascists. WC, with his pointed and pithy commentary, makes the reader aware of the subtler forms of jihad presently Islamicizing the West. An outstanding book and an essential reference!
--- Always On Watch

Click Here for More Information
and to Purchase
This Week's Cox & Forkum Cartoon
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Intimidation Tactics
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CAIR, Democracy, and Jihad:
The Conservative Voice - Kernersville,NC,USA
And what the Times did not do, but what many in the blogosphere have done, is to expose CAIR for what it is: a "democratic" front for Jihad. ...

Outspoken Muslim seeks police protection
The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
One of Australia's most important Muslim leaders has sought police protection after criticising controversial cleric Sheikh Taj al-Din al-Hilali. ...

Head-scarf Ban Upsets Muslim Women
Playfuls.com - Targu Mures,Romania
Muslim women in the Belgian city of Antwerp are fighting a ban on the wearing of head scarves by municipal employees. The city council argues that the ban ...

UK: DRUNK JAILED FOR CHATTIN' ON MUSLIM WOMAN
By Pamela Geller Oshry
So, to ask a Muslim woman simply to remove her veil is considered an act of religious harassment. And for such an act of religious harassment, a native of Britain, the father of a child, was ordered to jail today for a nine month ...
Infiltration Tactics
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TERROR CENTRAL: MISSISSAUGA CANADA
Atlas Shrugs
Apparently there is a malevolent confluence of jihadi events coming straight out of Mississauga Ontario in Canada. Terrorist School bus drivers, rat poisoned dog/cat food, Muslim bomb plot and everything was based in Mississauga ON Canada.

INVESTIGATION: Emissaries of Militant Islam Make Headway in Bosnia
BIRN - Pristina,Kosovo,Serbia
Apart from their specific appearance, they preached a style of Islam previously unknown to local Muslims and demanded complete subordination to their rules. ...

Terrorist one of thousands to slip through passport net
Yorkshire Post Today - Leeds,Yorkshire,UK
AN al-Qaida terrorist who planned to launch massive attacks on both sides of the Atlantic was among thousands of people who have been able to fraudulently ...

Terror Supporter and Antisemitic Conspiracy Theorist Teaches at ...
By Jawa Report
Imagine my, er, shock when reader Mike e-mailed me about yet another antisemitic conspiracy theorists and terror supporter in academia. Given that this is Georgia, though, I would have imagined that the good people of the state would ...

Democrat's Extremist Muslim Ties
By Pamela Geller Oshry
Democrats forge closer ties with extremist Muslim group Insight Magazine hat tip Carolyn. House Republicans have expressed concern that the Saudi-funded Muslim lobby is making serious inroads among Democrats in Congress. ...

Islam is destroying us!
By Dorothy
Islamic schools and mosques are being built in record numbers across the nation with Saudi oil money being funneled into the US legally. Islam is on the march. The submission of the great country of the United States to Islam has begun ...

A cancer in Islam
By Dennis(Dennis)
Once recruits showed interest in learning more about Islam, says Butt, the next step was to enrage them by talking about the suffering of Muslims around the world. Then a Koranic rationale for killing innocents would be argued. ..
Disinformation Tactics
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TV's cyber-jihad slot exposes al Qaeda's web ops. Or not.
Register - London,England,UK
Take 60 Minutes' recent special on "jihad.com." Reported by Scott Pelley and produced by Harry Radcliffe, the 800lb gorilla of US journalism led with the ...

'300' supports false basis for 'war on terror'
People's Weekly World - USA
If we replace mysticism with Islam, we find the basic premise that is used to support today's so-called war on terror. The Spartans are portrayed as a stoic ...

Terrorized by 'War on Terror'
Washington Post - Washington,DC,USA
The "war on terror" has created a culture of fear in America. The Bush administration's elevation of these three words into a national mantra since the ...

Liberal Myths about Radical Islam
Town Hall - Washington,DC,USA
Let us remember that before the rise of Islam, the region we call the Middle East was predominantly Christian. Inspired by Islam's call to jihad, ...

Column: US is world's leading terrorist
Virginia Tech Collegiate Times Online Edition - Blacksburg,VA,USA
Reasonable people should immediately discount it, as the United States is the world's leading terrorist state. It would be akin to a rapist declaring a war ...
Appeasement & Apologists
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The Internet Jihad and Useful Idiots
By Beth
In the past few months, Islamists engaged in "media jihad" have increased their efforts to expose as broad a Western audience as possible to their jihad films,

The Norwegian Government Surrenders to Muslims
By Baron Bodissey(Baron Bodissey)
In a Friday sermon on February 3, 2006, Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, exhorted worshippers to show rage to the world in response the cartoons depicting Muhammad. The sermon was aired on TV. ...

German Judge Cites Koran, Stirring Up Cultural Storm
New York Times - New York,NY,USA
FRANKFURT, March 22 - A German judge has stirred a storm of protest by citing the Koran in turning down a German Muslim woman's request for a speedy divorce ...

Muslim women allowed to cover face when voting
CTV.ca - Scarborough,ON,Canada
All three front-runners in Monday's provincial election protested a decision by Elections Canada to allow Muslim women to cover their faces while they vote. ...
The Winston Churchill Golden Balls Award
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The Golden Balls Award goes each week to the most flagrant Appeaser or Apologist or those that outright lie that has done most to undermine our defense against Islamists. This weeks Golden Balls Award goes to......

Rosie O'Donnell

Rosie O'Donnell Blames British Soldiers: Iran's Hostages 'On Purpose'
Apparently she has been given the green light by once respected journalist Barbara Walters to now spout fringe theories and her latest is a doozy. On the air and on her blog Rosie believes that the British soldiers now being held hostage by Iran wanted to be captured. On her blog Rosie writes: "The British did it on purpose."

Rosie is also heavily into the 9/11 conspiracy camp that blames America for the attacks on the World Trade Center. The Post Chronicle has a fantastic wrap up of links that you can peruse and decide for yourself.

Congratulations to blowhard Rosie! You can check in and claim your award at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay.
Contact Information
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web: http://the-gathering-storm.blogspot.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[nw_arizona_granny]

Somali Prime Minister on Arrest of Al-Qa'ida Members in Somalia, US Strikes

Report by Huda al-Salih in Riyadh: "Somali Prime Minister Tells Al-Sharq al-Awsat: I Hope the Riyadh Summit Will Help in Supporting Us Financially and Politically"

Originally published on 3/29/2007 by Al-Sharq al-Awsat (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic

In an exclusive interview with Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Somali Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gedi has revealed the arrest of Saudis and Jordanians, as well as European nationals, within Al-Qa'ida network in Somalia. Through this network, the activity of Al-Qa'ida network within the Islamic Courts was proven, he said. He noted that Al-Qa'ida network in Somalia includes various Arab and Western nationals. He hoped that the Riyadh summit will provide political and financial support from the Arab League members to his government.

On the strikes carried out by US aircraft in southern Somalia, Gedi said: "The US intervention was in accordance with the joint security agreement between the Somali Government and the United States to pursue those involved in terrorism."

On the security situation, especially in the capital, Mogadishu, the Somali prime minister said that the security situation has improved recently. He noted that there are positive moves to consolidate security and stability, since the Somali Government seeks to gather all militias in military camps in preparation for merging them into the government Somali police forces after training them. He added: "This is one of the clauses of the reconciliation program. The current government is in the process of implementing this program."

He said that disarming the Somali militias requires a big effort and it is the main goal of Somalia's presence at the Riyadh summit, since financial and logistical support is very important to implement the plan for assembling the militias in military camps to train them and merge them into the state's security and military agencies. He pointed out that the possession and spread of weapons in Somalia have no political dimensions, but are a result of the poverty and hunger that push people to commit acts of theft and looting.

Gedi appealed to the Arab League to help ensure the success of the Somali national reconciliation conference, which will be held in Mogadishu in mid April. He said: "All clans and tribes from all parts of Somalia will be gathered in Mogadishu, and pardon will be declared among all sides in preparation for reconstructing Somalia, improving living standards and social services, and boosting security and stability."

Concerning the participation of the Islamic Courts in the conference, he confirmed that the moderate figures will participate in the conference as part of their clans and tribes. He noted that all figures, which have nothing to do with the ongoing violence in Somalia and which recognize--and this is a major condition--the Somali federal national charter and the government, will participate in the conference.

On the Ethiopian forces in Somalia, he said that their withdrawal will take place after completing the sending of the African peacekeeping forces, which are currently confined to Ugandan forces. He called on the other African countries to send the previously agreed-upon forces, whose members number 4,000. He noted that the current delay in their arrival is due to "logistical reasons."

On the challenges facing Somalia, he said that the main challenges lie in security aspects and in achieving stability in Somalia. This is followed by reconstructing the infrastructure and providing social, health, and educational services, in addition to improving the economic situation.

On the scope of US interventions in Somalia, Gedi denied that there are any political and military interventions by the US side. He said: "What is happening is a joint cooperation between the United States and Somalia, since the common goal is the war on terror." He stressed that Somalia needs security support for the government from all Western and Arab countries. He ruled out that there are US ambitions in the Horn of Africa region.

: London Al-Sharq al-Awsat (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic -- Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; editorials reflect official Saudi views on foreign policy. URL: http://www.asharqalawsat.com/

[nw_arizona_granny]

American investors in Bahrain advised to pack up business operations and leave

http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=3990

DEBKAfile Exclusive: US financial sources in Bahrain report American
investors in Bahrain advised to pack up business operations and leave

March 30, 2007, 3:56 PM (GMT+02:00)

USS Nimitz nuclear carrier

USS Nimitz nuclear carrier

The advice came from officers with US Central Command 5th Fleet HQ at
Manama, who spoke of security tension, a hint at an approaching war
with
Iran. Arab sources report the positioning of a Patriot anti-missile
battery
in Bahrain this week; they say occupancy at emirate hotels has soared
past
90% due mostly to the influx of US military personnel. They also report
Western media crews normally employed in military coverage are arriving
in
packs.

Thursday, March 29, Gen. Khaled al-'Absi, Bahrain's chief of air
defense
operations disclosed that new alarm networks had been installed and air
defense systems upgraded to handle chemical, biological and radioactive
attacks.

The USS Nimitz and its support ships will be departing San Diego
Monday,
April 2, to join the John C. Stennis Strike Group in the Persian Gulf.
The
nuclear carrier is due to relieve the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower , but
military sources in the Gulf believe all three US carriers will stay
put if
tensions continue to climb or if fighting breaks out involving
American,
British and Iranian forces.

The mighty American armada is further supported by the USS Bataan and
USS
Boxer strike groups.

War tensions have been triggered most recently by the crisis over the
seized
British sailors and large-scale US sea, air and amphibious exercises in
the
Gulf.

1. DEBKAfile's Tehran sources report that in the contest within the
Iranian
leadership over how to handle the affair of the captured British
seamen, the
wildest radical element has gained the upper hand, reducing the
prospects of
their imminent release. Heading the tough Tehran faction are hardline
president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Gen. Rahim Safavi, commander of the
Revolutionary Guards whose naval wing performed the seizure.

They gained strength from the British premier Tony Blair's initial
passive,
semi-conciliatory response. Tehran quickly grasped it had acquired not
just
a propaganda tool but a military asset, which the UK cannot match as
long as
the Americans desist from throwing their military might into the fray.
Washington has refused to risk of a full-scale war confrontation with
the
Revolutionary Guards for the sake of the British sailors.

Iranian strategists also registered that, although the Blair government
has
begun moving mountains to gain the freedom of the marine crew held in
Tehran, London appeared fairly laid back about the kidnap of BBC
correspondent Alan Johnston in broad daylight by gunmen in Palestinian
Gaza,
although three weeks had gone by.

Revolutionary Guards serving with Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza
no
doubt filed a full report on the Johnston case to Tehran, which drew
its own
conclusions.

2. Taking part in the big demonstration of American naval, air and
marine
force launched March 27 are the two nuclear carrier strike forces
Stennis
and Eisenhower , thousands of marines and 100 warplanes. Maneuvers on
this
scale in the tight, overcrowded waters of the Persian Gulf carry risks
of a
collision between American and Iranian craft.

DEBKAfile's military sources report that the Nimitz group is composed
of the
Princeton guided-missile cruiser, four guided missile destroyers - the
Higgins , Chafee , John Paul Jones and Pinckney . The strike force is
armed
with two helicopter squadrons and a special unit for dismantling sea
mines
and other explosive devices.

Earlier, DEBKAfile quoted intelligence sources in Moscow as predicting
that
a US strike against Iranian nuclear installations codenamed Operation
Bite
has been scheduled for April 6 at 0040 hours. Missiles and air raids
will
conduct strikes designed to be devastating enough to set Tehran's
nuclear
program several years back.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:

EU Backs Britain on Iran Standoff

EU foreign ministers, meeting in Germany, will send a message of
solidarity with Britain over Iran's detention of 15 British naval
personnel, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
said Friday.

To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the
internet address below:

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Iran airs British sailor's "confession"

One of Iran's Arab-language television news channels has shown
footage of what it describes as a "confession" by Nathan Thomas
Summers, one of the 15 detained British Royal Navy personnel who
allegedly strayed into Iranian waters. British Prime Minister Tony
Blair condemned the footage as "disgraceful" propaganda. Blair also
said that a patient and calm approach was needed to deal with the
matter. In the meantime Iran has released a third letter purported
to be from the sole female sailor in which she claims to have been
sacrificed to the UK and US governments' policies. At a meeting of
EU foreign ministers in the German city of Bremen, British Foreign
Secretary Margaret Beckett told reporters that she saw no sign of
Iran trying to resolve the standoff quickly.

EU says Iran's actions are "illegal"

European Union foreign ministers meeting in the northern German city
of Bremen have called on Iran to immediately release the 15 British
Royal Navy personnel captured last week. In a draft statement, the
ministers described Iran's actions as "illegal." Their talks also
covered the Middle East peace process and the UN-sponsored plan to
grant Kosovo internationally-monitored independence.

Hicks sentence limited to seven years

David Hicks, the Australian prisoner being held at the US military
prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, has signed a plea agreement that
limits his sentence for supporting terrorism to seven years in
prison. Under an agreement between the US and Australia, the
31-year-old Hicks is to serve his sentence in Australia. He pleaded
guilty on Monday to the charge of providing material support to
terrorism. Hicks was detained as a suspected terrorist by the
US-backed Northern Alliance in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.

Guantanamo inmate alleges torture

A suspected Saudi terrorist has told a military hearing that he was
tortured into confessing that he was involved in the bombing of a US
warship. That's according to a US Defence Department transcript
released on Friday. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri said he made up stories
that tied him to the attack on the USS Cole, in order to stop the
torture. Seventeen US servicemen died in the 2002 attack on the
vessel as it was docked at a port in Yemen. A Pentagon spokesman
said that any allegations of torture would be investigated.

Israeli PM ready to talk with Saudi Arabia

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he is ready to hold
talks with Saudi Arabia and other moderate Arab states and believes
a comprehensive peace with them and the Palestinians could be
reached within five years. In interviews with major Israeli
newspapers published on Friday, Olmert said the peace plan endorsed
by Arab leaders at a summit in Riyadh could trigger new momentum in
future negotiations. The Arab plan offers Israel normal ties with
all Arab countries in return for its withdrawal from land seized in
the 1967 Middle East war, the creation of a Palestinian state and a
fair solution for displaced Palestinians.

Mugabe seeks party approval

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has appealed for unity within his
ruling party as he sought the ZANU-PF's approval to run again in
next year's polls. This comes as the country grapples with rampant
inflation and rising unemployment. Mugabe used the meeting of the
party's central committee in the capital Harare to accuse the main
opposition movement of a terrorist campaign to try and oust him from
office. The Movement for Democratic Change and its leader Morgan
Tsvangirai have been the targets of a violent clampdown by police
squads resulting in the beating and arrests of Tsvangirai and other
activists. The ZANU-PF is expected to rubberstamp 83-year-old
Mugabe's bid to stand again next year.

Left Party fails to block Tornado deployment

The Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe has removed the final hurdle
standing in the way of Germany sending six Tornado reconnaissance
jets to Afghanistan. The court rejected an application for an
injunction against the planned deployment, which had been filed by
the opposition Left Party. The Bundestag approved the deployment
earlier this month. The mandate explicitly precludes German
participation in combat missions. The Tornados are to be used to
identify potential targets for members of the NATO-led International
Security Assistance Force and US-led troops. Germany already has
almost 3,000 Bundeswehr soldiers stationed in northern Afghanistan.

Schäuble launches anti-terror data-bank

Germany has launched a new terrorism data-bank which will provide
information on suspects to police and the intelligence services.
Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the data-bank was needed
to strengthen security in view of the threat posed by Islamic
terrorists. The data-bank allows police and intelligence easier
access to a host of information on suspects, including membership of
terrorist groups, firearms registration information as well as
internet and telecommunications data.

UN rights body vows to monitor Darfur

The UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution put forward by
European and African nations expressing its concern over the
situation in Sudan's Darfur region and saying it would continue to
monitor developments. However the text stopped short of expressly
criticising the Sudanese government for its role in the human rights
abuses there. A compromise was reached after Germany agreed to
remove any mention of Khartoum's role in the attacks on civilians
and the destruction of villages.

Fighting rages in Mogadishu for second day

Fighting has continued for a second day in the Somali capital
Mogadishu between government allies and Islamist insurgents. At
least 30 people have been killed since Thursday, including several
civilians. Scores of others have been injured but medics have been
unable to get them to hospital because of the sustained fighting.
Thousands of residents are said to be fleeing the area. The latest
clashes are the worst since Somali forces backed by Ethiopian troops
drove out Islamist militias from Mogadishu late last year. So far, a
Ugandan contingent of African Union peacekeepers has not intervened
in the fighting.

Bundestag approves retirement at 67

The upper house of the German parliament, the Bundesrat, has passed
the grand-coalition government's plan to raise the age of retirement
from 65 to 67. Under the new law, the age of retirement is to be
increased on a gradual basis beginning in 2012 and reaching 67 in
2029. The government says the move is necessary to prevent a sharp
rise in mandatory pension contributions for working Germans. The
bill still has to be signed into law by the president for it to come
into force.

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Take DW-WORLD.DE's Quiz of the Week starting each Friday! Answer a
few questions about this week's news for a chance to win a prize.

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For more information please turn to our internet website at

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[struwwelpeter]

Distilled Water Touted as Eye 'Elixir'
By Carl Schreck / Staff Writer
01 November 2006
It was a scam that would have made Ostap Bender proud. City police are investigating a company that obtained the medical records of people suffering from eye maladies and used the information to market therapeutic eye drops that contained nothing but distilled water.



OSTAP BENDER!! MY HERO!!
He was the super conman from a pair of books by Stalin-era writers Ilf and Petrov. Several movies were made and remade about the first book "12 Chairs". One version was even made be Mel Brooks.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Critical Infrastructure Exposed (back)

March 23, 2007

We take the ready availability of fuel, telecommunications, power and water for granted. Disasters like Hurricane Katrina remind us that entirely too many people in this country could not survive for very long if those systems were shut down for even a few days, which makes news that computer security researchers recently discovered a new vulnerability in Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems all the more disturbing.

SCADA systems include the computers, switches and controls that are used to control dams and water treatment plants, rail systems, power plants and other elements of our national critical infrastructure. The flaw in question could allow an attacker to remotely launch a denial-of-service (DoS) attack against a given SCADA system, potentially shutting down the system or causing it to react in such a way as to endanger lives.

It was a DoS attack that temporarily shut down two of the computers used to manage the Internet’s addressing system last month, and DoS attacks are routinely used by criminal hackers to hold poorly defended networks hostage while they extort money from the network owners. As far back as 1998, non-state actors have used DoS attacks against US government, including the White House and Department of Defense. Captured al-Qaeda computers have reportedly revealed extensive research had been conducted on SCADA systems.

How difficult is it to bring down or at least degrade the operations of a SCADA system? Such systems have been compromised to varying extents for years (PDF). In 1999 the Russian government noted that hackers had gained control over Gazprom’s natural gas pipeline. Safety and monitoring systems associated with oil and power systems in the US have been disabled, as have municipal emergency communications systems. Formerly trusted insiders have been the cause of some attacks, but by and large it is outsiders without special knowledge of SCADA systems that have wrought the most havoc.

There would be less of a concern over SCADA security if such systems were not configured insecurely by default. For the sake of convenience and speed, most such systems do not bother with separate user accounts or passwords (who wants to bother with login credentials at 3 A.M. when people are without water or heat?). Penetration testing carried out by computer security firms regularly expose these and other weaknesses that could be readily exploited by those with malicious intent and modest technical skills.

Most of the critical infrastructure at risk is owned and operated by the private sector, which places a premium on efficiency in operation and availability of service. Traditional approaches to security tend to hamper both of those factors, which is why more original thinking is needed in order to secure these systems from compromise. For motivation the SCADA industry would do well to remember what has happened to the business world since the fall of firms like Enron: A dramatic compromise will come, and with it will follow expensive and burdensome regulation.

Hole Found in Protocol Handling Vital National Infrastructure

Researchers on March 21 announced that the systems which control dams, oil refineries, railroads and nuclear power plants have a vulnerability that could be used to cause a denial of service or a system takeover.

The flaw, reported by Neutralbit, is the first remotely exploitable SCADA security vulnerability, according to the security services provider. SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) is a large-scale, distributed measurement and control system used to monitor or control chemical or transport processes in municipal water supply systems, to control electric power generation, transmission and distribution, gas and oil pipelines and other distributed processes. Wikipedia has a schematic of SCADA here.

Neutralbit identified the vulnerability in NETxAutomation NETxEIB OPC (OLE for Process Control) Server. OPC is a Microsoft Windows standard for easily writing GUI applications for SCADA. It's used for interconnecting process control applications running on Microsoft platforms. OPC servers are often used in control systems to consolidate field and network device information.

Neutralbit reports that the flaw is caused by improper validation of server handles, which could be exploited by an attacker with physical or remote access to the OPC interface to crash an affected application or potentially compromise a vulnerable server. Neutralbit has also recently published five vulnerabilities having to do with OPC.

This isn't the first time that this vital bit of national infrastructure has gotten a black eye. Errata President Robert Graham published a scathing report last year titled 'SCADA Security and Terrorism: We're Not Crying Wolf.' In that report and in his more recent blog, he called SCADA 'completely open to attack, especially OPC.'

Graham described the OPC Windows applications as being used to translate between Windows primitives such as MS-RPC/DCOM to back-end protocols that do the actual monitoring and controlling of switches, valves, pressure gauges, thermometers, and so forth.

'These backend protocols are often based upon standards that pre-date Windows,' Graham wrote in his blog. 'They are horribly insecure because few people in the SCADA industry know what a 'buffer-overflow' is.'

Graham said that it took him all of five minutes to find a remotely exploitable bug when he downloaded sample implementations from the OPC Foundation a few years ago.
Graham said that the real problem isn't vulnerabilities but the fact that OPC installations are normally run without authentication such as a username and password. '[That] means a hacker can control them without having to mess around with things like buffer overflows,' he wrote.

If proper authentication and encryption are in fact enabled, a hacker can't actually remotely exploit OPC installations without first logging on, Graham said. This is the case with the vulnerability reported by Neutralbit, he said: 'It's only exploitable if the user has login privileges.'

In fact, Graham said, he doesn't believe that many SCADA organizations will take this recent vulnerability warning seriously because they know that since their systems are already wide open to attack, patching them against this bug won't stop a hacker.
'That would be wrong,' Graham said. 'First, there is the possibility of [a] worm exploiting these bugs. Second, at some point the SCADA industry is going to have to catch up with the rest of the world with regards to securing their products.

'Neutralbit has done an excellent job of explaining to you potential problems with OPC, but they've also explained them to hackers and cyber-terrorists. Any kid who wants to prove he's a vulnerability hunter now knows he can go onto eBay, get some cheap OPC products, find vulnerabilities in them, and announce them to the world.'
Graham says there's a 'good chance that many more OPC vulnerabilities will be announced and/or exploited in the next couple years.'

NETxAutomation has addressed the flaw by releasing version 3.0.1300 of the NETxEIB OPC Server. The company has also released a patch for NETxEIB OPC Server version 3.0. US-Cert recommends restricting remote access to the server to only trusted hosts by using firewalls or only connecting them to private networks, until a fixed version of the server can be deployed.

According to its Web site, Neutralbit has issued the vulnerability disclosure in collaboration with US-CERT—whose advisory is here—and the affected vendors.

Correction to This Article
A June 27 article on concerns about cyber-terrorism misstated the capacity of the Roosevelt Dam in Arizona . It is 489 billion gallons.

Cyber-Attacks by Al Qaeda Feared

Terrorists at Threshold of Using Internet as Tool of Bloodshed, Experts Say

Late last fall, Detective Chris Hsiung of the Mountain View, Calif., police department began investigating a suspicious pattern of surveillance against Silicon Valley computers. From the Middle East and South Asia , unknown browsers were exploring the digital systems used to manage Bay Area utilities and government offices. Hsiung, a specialist in high-technology crime, alerted the FBI's San Francisco computer intrusion squad.

Working with experts at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the FBI traced trails of a broader reconnaissance. A forensic summary of the investigation, prepared in the Defense Department, said the bureau found 'multiple casings of sites' nationwide. Routed through telecommunications switches in Saudi Arabia , Indonesia and Pakistan , the visitors studied emergency telephone systems, electrical generation and transmission, water storage and distribution, nuclear power plants and gas facilities.

Some of the probes suggested planning for a conventional attack, U.S. officials said. But others homed in on a class of digital devices that allow remote control of services such as fire dispatch and of equipment such as pipelines. More information about those devices -- and how to program them -- turned up on al Qaeda computers seized this year, according to law enforcement and national security officials.

Unsettling signs of al Qaeda's aims and skills in cyberspace have led some government experts to conclude that terrorists are at the threshold of using the Internet as a direct instrument of bloodshed. The new threat bears little resemblance to familiar financial disruptions by hackers responsible for viruses and worms. It comes instead at the meeting points of computers and the physical structures they control.

U.S. analysts believe that by disabling or taking command of the floodgates in a dam, for example, or of substations handling 300,000 volts of electric power, an intruder could use virtual tools to destroy real-world lives and property. They surmise, with limited evidence, that al Qaeda aims to employ those techniques in synchrony with 'kinetic weapons' such as explosives.

'The event I fear most is a physical attack in conjunction with a successful cyber-attack on the responders' 911 system or on the power grid,' Ronald Dick, director of the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center, told a closed gathering of corporate security executives hosted by Infraguard in Niagara Falls on June 12.

In an interview, Dick said those additions to a conventional al Qaeda attack might mean that 'the first responders couldn't get there . . . and water didn't flow, hospitals didn't have power. Is that an unreasonable scenario? Not in this world. And that keeps me awake at night.'

'Bad Ones and Zeros'

Regarded until recently as remote, the risks of cyber-terrorism now command urgent White House attention. Discovery of one acute vulnerability -- in a data transmission standard known as ASN.1, short for Abstract Syntax Notification -- rushed government experts to the Oval Office on Feb. 7 to brief President Bush. The security flaw, according to a subsequent written assessment by the FBI, could have been exploited to bring down telephone networks and halt 'all control information exchanged between ground and aircraft flight control systems.'

Officials said Osama bin Laden's operatives have nothing like the proficiency in information war of the most sophisticated nations. But al Qaeda is now judged to be considerably more capable than analysts believed a year ago. And its intentions are unrelentingly aimed at inflicting catastrophic harm.

One al Qaeda laptop found in Afghanistan , sources said, had made multiple visits to a French site run by the Societé Anonyme, or Anonymous Society. The site offers a two-volume online 'Sabotage Handbook' with sections on tools of the trade, planning a hit, switch gear and instrumentation, anti-surveillance methods and advanced techniques. In Islamic chat rooms, other computers linked to al Qaeda had access to 'cracking' tools used to search out networked computers, scan for security flaws and exploit them to gain entry -- or full command.

Most significantly, perhaps, U.S. investigators have found evidence in the logs that mark a browser's path through the Internet that al Qaeda operators spent time on sites that offer software and programming instructions for the digital switches that run power, water, transport and communications grids. In some interrogations, the most recent of which was reported to policymakers last week, al Qaeda prisoners have described intentions, in general terms, to use those tools.

Specialized digital devices are used by the millions as the brains of American 'critical infrastructure' -- a term defined by federal directive to mean industrial sectors that are 'essential to the minimum operations of the economy and government.'

The devices are called distributed control systems, or DCS, and supervisory control and data acquisition, or SCADA, systems. The simplest ones collect measurements, throw railway switches, close circuit-breakers or adjust valves in the pipes that carry water, oil and gas. More complicated versions sift incoming data, govern multiple devices and cover a broader area.

What is new and dangerous is that most of these devices are now being connected to the Internet -- some of them, according to classified 'Red Team' intrusion exercises, in ways that their owners do not suspect.

Because the digital controls were not designed with public access in mind, they typically lack even rudimentary security, having fewer safeguards than the purchase of flowers online. Much of the technical information required to penetrate these systems is widely discussed in the public forums of the affected industries, and specialists said the security flaws are well known to potential attackers.

Until recently, said Director John Tritak of the Commerce Department's Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office, many government and corporate officials regarded hackers mainly as a menace to their e-mail.

'There's this view that the problems of cyberspace originate, reside and remain in cyberspace,' Tritak said. 'Bad ones and zeros hurt good ones and zeros, and it sort of stays there. . . . The point we're making is that increasingly we are relying on 21st century technology and information networks to run physical assets.' Digital controls are so pervasive, he said, that terrorists might use them to cause damage on a scale that otherwise would 'not be available except through a very systematic and comprehensive physical attack.'

'Mapping Our Vulnerabilities'

The 13 agencies and offices of the U.S. intelligence community have not reached consensus on the scale or imminence of this threat, according to participants in and close observers of the discussion. The Defense Department, which concentrates on information war with nations, is most skeptical of al Qaeda's interest and prowess in cyberspace.

'DCS and SCADA systems might be accessible to bits and bytes,' Assistant Secretary of Defense John P. Stenbit said in an interview. But al Qaeda prefers simple, reliable plans and would not allow the success of a large-scale attack 'to be dependent on some sophisticated, tricky cyber thing to work.'

'We're thinking more in physical terms -- biological agents, isotopes in explosions, other analogies to the fully loaded airplane,' he said. 'That's more what I'm worried about. When I think of cyber, I think of it as ancillary to one of those.'

White House and FBI analysts, as well as officials in the Energy and Commerce departments with more direct responsibility for the civilian infrastructure, describe the threat in more robust terms.

'We were underestimating the amount of attention [al Qaeda was] paying to the Internet,' said Roger Cressey, a longtime counterterrorism official who became chief of staff of the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board in October. 'Now we know they see it as a potential attack vehicle. Al Qaeda spent more time mapping our vulnerabilities in cyberspace than we previously thought. An attack is a question of when, not if.'

Ron Ross, who heads a new 'information assurance' partnership between the National Security Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, reminded the Infraguard delegates in Niagara Falls that, after the Sept. 11 attacks, air traffic controllers brought down every commercial plane in the air. 'If there had been a cyber-attack at the same time that prevented them from doing that,' he said, 'the magnitude of the event could have been much greater.'

'It's not science fiction,' Ross said in an interview. 'A cyber-attack can be launched with fairly limited resources.'

U.S. intelligence agencies have upgraded their warnings about al Qaeda's use of cyberspace. Just over a year ago, a National Intelligence Estimate on the threat to U.S. information systems gave prominence to China , Russia and other nations. It judged al Qaeda operatives as 'less developed in their network capabilities' than many individual hackers and 'likely to pose only a limited cyber-threat,' according to an authoritative description of its contents.

In February, the CIA issued a revised Directorate of Intelligence Memorandum. According to officials who read it, the new memo said al Qaeda had 'far more interest' in cyber-terrorism than previously believed and contemplated the use of hackers for hire to speed the acquisition of capabilities.

'I don't think they are capable of bringing a major segment of this country to its knees using cyber-attack alone,' said an official representing the current consensus, but 'they would be able to conduct an integrated attack using a combination of physical and cyber resources and get an amplification of consequences.'

Counterterrorism analysts have known for years that al Qaeda prepares for attacks with elaborate 'targeting packages' of photographs and notes. But, in January, U.S. forces in Kabul , Afghanistan , found something new.

A computer seized at an al Qaeda office contained models of a dam, made with structural architecture and engineering software, that enabled the planners to simulate its catastrophic failure. Bush administration officials, who discussed the find, declined to say whether they had identified a specific dam as a target.

The FBI reported that the computer had been running Microstran, an advanced tool for analyzing steel and concrete structures; Autocad 2000, which manipulates technical drawings in two or three dimensions; and software 'used to identify and classify soils,' which would assist in predicting the course of a wall of water surging downstream.

To destroy a dam physically would require 'tons of explosives,' Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff said a year ago. To breach it from cyberspace is not out of the question. In 1998, a 12-year-old hacker, exploring on a lark, broke into the computer system that runs Arizona 's Roosevelt Dam. He did not know or care, but federal authorities said he had complete command of the SCADA system controlling the dam's massive floodgates.

Roosevelt Dam holds back as much as 1.5 million acre-feet of water, or 489 trillion gallons. That volume could theoretically cover the city of Phoenix , down river, to a height of five feet. In practice, that could not happen. Before the water reached the Arizona capital, the rampant Salt River would spend most of itself in a flood plain encompassing the cities of Mesa and Tempe -- with a combined population of nearly a million.

'Could Have Done Anything'

In Queensland , Australia , on April 23, 2000, police stopped a car on the road to Deception Bay and found a stolen computer and radio transmitter inside. Using commercially available technology, Vitek Boden, 48, had turned his vehicle into a pirate command center for sewage treatment along Australia 's Sunshine Coast .

Boden's arrest solved a mystery that had troubled the Maroochy Shire wastewater system for two months. Somehow the system was leaking hundreds of thousands of gallons of putrid sludge into parks, rivers and the manicured grounds of a Hyatt Regency hotel. Janelle Bryant of the Australian Environmental Protection Agency said 'marine life died, the creek water turned black and the stench was unbearable for residents.' Until Boden's capture -- during his 46th successful intrusion -- the utility's managers did not know why.

Specialists in cyber-terrorism have studied Boden's case because it is the only one known in which someone used a digital control system deliberately to cause harm. Details of Boden's intrusion, not disclosed before, show how easily Boden broke in -- and how restrained he was with his power.

Boden had quit his job at Hunter Watertech, the supplier of Maroochy Shire's remote control and telemetry equipment. Evidence at his trial suggested that he was angling for a consulting contract to solve the problems he had caused.

To sabotage the system, he set the software on his laptop to identify itself as 'pumping station 4,' then suppressed all alarms. Paul Chisholm, Hunter Watertech's chief executive, said in an interview last week that Boden 'was the central control system' during his intrusions, with unlimited command of 300 SCADA nodes governing sewage and drinking water alike. 'He could have done anything he liked to the fresh water,' Chisholm said.

Like thousands of utilities around the world, Maroochy Shire allowed technicians operating remotely to manipulate its digital controls. Boden learned how to use those controls as an insider, but the software he used conforms to international standards and the manuals are available on the Web. He faced virtually no obstacles to breaking in.

Nearly identical systems run oil and gas utilities and many manufacturing plants. But their most dangerous use is in the generation, transmission and distribution of electrical power, because electricity has no substitute and every other key infrastructure depends on it.

Massoud Amin, a mathematician directing new security efforts in the industry, described the North American power grid as 'the most complex machine ever built.' At an April 2 conference hosted by the Commerce Department, participants said, government and industry scientists agreed that they have no idea how the grid would respond to a cyber-attack.

What they do know is that 'Red Teams' of mock intruders from the Energy Department's four national laboratories have devised what one government document listed as 'eight scenarios for SCADA attack on an electrical power grid' -- and all of them work. Eighteen such exercises have been conducted to date against large regional utilities, and Richard A. Clarke, Bush's cyber-security adviser, said the intruders 'have always, always succeeded.'

Joseph M. Weiss of KEMA Consulting, a leading expert in control system security, reported at two recent industry conferences that intruders were 'able to assemble a detailed map' of each system and 'intercepted and changed' SCADA commands without detection.

'What the labs do is look at simple, easy things I can do to get in' with tools commonly available on the Internet, Weiss said in an interview. 'In most of these cases, they are not using anything that a hacker couldn't have access to.'

Bush has launched a top-priority research program at the Livermore , Sandia and Los Alamos labs to improve safeguards in the estimated 3 million SCADA systems in use. But many of the systems rely on instantaneous responses and cannot tolerate authentication delays. And the devices deployed now lack the memory and bandwidth to use techniques such as 'integrity checks' that are standard elsewhere.

In a book-length Electricity Infrastructure Security Assessment, the industry concluded on Jan. 7 that 'it may not be possible to provide sufficient security when using the Internet for power system control.' Power companies, it said, will probably have to build a parallel private network for themselves.

'Where Their Crown Jewels Are'

The U.S. government may never have fought a war with so little power in the battlefield. That became clear again on Feb. 7, when Clarke and his vice-chairman at the critical infrastructure board, Howard A. Schmidt, arrived in the Oval Office.

They told the president that researchers in Finland had identified a serious security hole in the Internet's standard language for routing data through switches. A government threat team found implications -- for air traffic control and civilian and military phone links, among others -- that were more serious still.

'We've got troops on the ground in Afghanistan and we've got communication systems that we all depend on that, at that time, were vulnerable,' Schmidt recalled.

Bush ordered the Pentagon and key federal agencies to patch their systems. But most of the vulnerable networks were not government-owned. Since Feb. 12, 'those who have the fix in their power are in the private sector,' Schmidt said. Asked about progress, he said: 'I don't know that we'd ever get to 100 percent.'

Frustrated at the pace of repairs, Clarke traveled to San Jose on Feb. 19 and accused industry leaders of spending more on coffee than on information security. 'You will be hacked,' he told them. 'What's more, you deserve to be hacked.'

Tritak, at the Commerce Department, appealed to patriotism. Speaking of al Qaeda, he said: 'When you've got people who are saying, 'We're coming after your economy,' everyone has a responsibility to do their bit to safeguard against it.'

New public-private partnerships are helping, but the government case remains a tough sell. Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute in Bethesda , said not even banks and brokerages, considered the most security-conscious businesses, tell the government when their systems are attacked. Sources said the government did not learn crucial details about September's Nimda worm, which caused an estimated $530 million in damage, until the stricken companies began firing their security executives.

Experts said public companies worry about the loss of customer confidence and the legal liability to shareholders or security vendors when they report flaws.

The FBI is having even less success with its 'key asset initiative,' an attempt to identify the most dangerous points of vulnerability in 5,700 companies deemed essential to national security.

'What we really want to drill down to, eventually, is not the companies but the actual things themselves, the actual switches . . . that are vital to [a firm's] continued operations,' Dick said. He acknowledged a rocky start: 'For them to tell us where their crown jewels are is not reasonable until you've built up trust.'

Michehl R. Gent, president of the North American Electric Reliability Council, said last month it will not happen. 'We're not going to build such a list. . . . We have no confidence that the government can keep that a secret.'

For fear of terrorist infiltration, Clarke's critical infrastructure board and Tom Ridge 's homeland security office are now exploring whether private companies would consider telling the government the names of employees with access to sensitive sites.

'Obviously, the ability to check intelligence records from the terrorist standpoint would be the goal,' Dick said.

There is no precedent for that. The FBI screens bank employees but has no statutory authority in other industries. Using classified intelligence databases, such as the Visa Viper list of suspected terrorists, would mean the results could not be shared with the employers. Bobby Gillham, manager of global security at oil giant Conoco Inc., said he doubts his industry will go along with that.

'You have Privacy Act concerns,' he said in an interview. 'And just to get feedback that there's nothing here, or there's something here but we can't share it with you, doesn't do us a lot of good. Most of our companies would not [remove an employee] in a frivolous way, on a wink.'

Exasperated by companies seeking proof that they are targets, Clarke has stopped talking about threats at all.

'It doesn't matter whether it's al Qaeda or a nation-state or the teenage kid up the street,' he said. 'Who does the damage to you is far less important than the fact that damage can be done. You've got to focus on your vulnerability . . . and not wait for the FBI to tell you that al Qaeda has you in its sights.'

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/threatswatch/combined

[nw_arizona_granny]

Defense Firm Gave Data to China (back)

March 28, 2007

ITT Corp. has agreed to pay a $100 million penalty for illegally sending classified night-vision technology used in military operations to China and other countries, U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said Tuesday.

ITT, the leading manufacturer of night-vision equipment for U.S. armed forces, will plead guilty in U.S. District Court today to two felony charges, Brownlee said. One count is export of defense articles without a license and the other is omission of statements of material facts in arms exports reports.

'The criminal actions of this corporation had threatened to turn on the lights on the modern battlefield for our enemies and expose American soldiers to great harm,' Brownlee said.

ITT defense-related technical data was given to contractors in China , Singapore and the United Kingdom in order to cut costs, government investigators said.

'Placing profits ahead of the security of our nation is simply not acceptable for any corporation,' said Julie Myers, Homeland Security assistant secretary, in a statement.

ITT is the first major defense contractor convicted of a criminal violation under the Arms Export Control Act that a Brownlee spokesman said was passed in 1976. The company is the U.S. military's 12th largest systems supplier.

Wilsonville-based Flir Systems Inc. also produces night-vision equipment for the military.

ITT Chief Executive Steven Loranger noted that the case related to the actions of a few individuals in one of 15 business units but said the company 'regrets very much that these serious violations occurred.'

'I want to reinforce, however, that the heart of our night-vision goggles -- the tube -- is secure,' he said.

According to the prosecutor, ITT agreed to pay a $2 million criminal fine, forfeit $28 million in illegal proceeds to the U.S. government and pay $20 million to the State Department.

'ITT will pay $50 million in restitution to the victims of their crimes
-- the American soldier,' Brownlee said.

The fine will be suspended for five years and the White Plains, N.Y.-based company can reduce it dollar for dollar by investing in the development and production of more advanced night-vision technology so the U.S. military maintains battlefield advantage.

The government will maintain the rights to any technologies ITT develops and can share them with rival defense firms bidding on future contracts, Brownlee said.

No individuals have been charged, but Brownlee said the investigation was continuing.

Shares of ITT ended Tuesday down 31 cents, to $60.89, on the New York Stock Exchange.

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/b usiness/117505050881130.xml&coll=7

[nw_arizona_granny]

Iran's Plan to Drag the US and the UK (back)

March 27, 2007

The capture of British Navy servicemen by Iranian forces is not simply an incident over sea sovereignty in the Persian Gulf . It is a calculated move on behalf of Teheran's Jihadi chess players to provoke a 'projected' counter move by London and its American allies. It is all happening in a regional context, carefully engineered by the Mullahs strategic planners. Here is how:

The Iranian regime's master plan is to wait out the remainder of Tony Blair's mandate (few more months) and the remaining 'real time' of President Bush (till about the end of 2007). For the thinking process in Tehran , based on their Western consultants, believe that Washington and London have reached the end of the rope and will only have till 2008 to do something major to destabilize Ahmadinejad regime. As explained by a notorious propagandist on al Jazeera today the move is precisely to respond to the Anglo-American attempt to 'stir trouble' inside Iran. Anis Naccash, a Lebanese intellectual supporter of the Ayatollahs regime, appearing from Tehran few hours ago on the Qatari-based satellite and 'explained' that the 'US and the UK must understand that Iran is as much at war with these two powers in as much as they support the rise of movements and security instability inside Iran.' He added that Khamenei is clear on the regime's decision to strike: 'we will be at war with you on all levels: secret, diplomatic, military and other.' Pro-Iranian propagandists in the region, via media and online rushed to warn that this movement is part of Iran 's counter-strike against any attempt to destabilize the regime. Two major tracks emerge from these statements, the Iranian military maneuvers and the capture of British Navy personnel.

1) Iran 's domestic front is putting pressure on the Ahmadinejad regime.
From internal reporting, dissidents and anti-Ahmadinejad forces from various social sectors are practically in slow motion eruption against the authorities. Stud ents, women, workers and political activists have been demonstrating and sometimes clashing with the regime's security apparatus. Western media didn't report proportionally on these events over the past few weeks. In addition, ethnic minority areas have been witnessing several incidents, including violence against the 'Revolutionary Guards,' including in the Arab and Baluch areas. And last but not least, the defection of a major intelligence-military figure early this month to the West was, according to internal sources, a 'massive loss' to the regime and a possible first one in a series.

2) The regime 'need' an external clash to crush the domestic challenge.
As in many comparable cases worldwide, when an authoritarian regime is faced with severe internal opposition it attempts to deflect the crisis onto the outside world. Hence, Teheran's all out campaign against the US and its allies in Iraq , Lebanon and the region is in fact a repositioning of Iran 's shield aga inst the expected rising opposition inside the country. Hence the Khomeinist Mullahs plan seem to be projected as follow:

a. Engage in the diplomatic realm, to project a realist approach worldwide, but refrain from offering real results

b. Continue, along with the Syrian regime, in supporting the 'Jihadi' Terror operations (including sectarian ones) inside Iraq

c. Widen the propaganda campaign against the US and its allies via a number of PR companies within the West, to portray Iran as 'a victim' of an 'upcoming war provoked by the US .'

d. Engage in skirmishes in the Gulf (and possibly in other spots) with US and British elements claiming these action as 'defensive,' while planned thoroughly ahead of time.

3) The regime plan is to drag its opponents into a trap
Teheran's master planners intend to drag the 'Coalition' into steps in engagement, at the timing of and in the field of control of Iran 's apparatus. Multiple options and scenari os are projected.

a. British military counter measure takes place, supported by the US . Iran 's regime believe that only 'limited' action by the allies is possible, according to their analysis of the domestic constraints inside the two powerful democracies.

b. Tehran moves to a second wave of activities, at its own pace, hoping to draw a higher level of classical counter strikes by US and UK forces. The dosing by Iran 's leadership is expected to stretch the game in time, until the departure of Blair and of the Bush Administration by its political opponents inside the country's institutions and public debate.

In a short conclusion the 'War room' in Tehran has engaged itself in an alley of tactical moves it feels it can control. But the Iranian regime, with all its 'political chess' expertise, may find itself in a precarious and risky situation. For while it feel that it can control the tactical battlefield in the region and fuel the propaganda pressure inside the West with its Petro-dollars, it may not be able to contain the internal forces in Iran, because of which it has decided to go on offense.

The Ahmadinejad regime wishes to crumble the international consensus to avoid the financial sanctions: that is true. But as important, if not more, it wants to be able to crush the revolt before it pounds the doors to the Mullahs palaces.

Source: http://www.newmediajournal.us/staff/w_phares/03272007.htm

[nw_arizona_granny]

Hirsi Ali Under Threat in US (back)

March 27, 2007

Former MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali is now in danger in the US as well. Her security has been stepped up for the past three weeks. Because of concrete threats, she is now receiving the same level of protection as she previously needed in the Netherlands , the Volkskrant reports.

Hirsi Ali had more freedom of movement when she first arrived in the US last September. Her lack of freedom in the Netherlands was one of the reasons for her move.

The forced isolation made it impossible for her to continue in her position as MP at the time, she said. The Liberal VVD politician had to travel by armoured car in the Netherlands , accompanied by six bodyguards. In the US just two security workers, who kept an eye on her from a distance, sufficed.

Hirsi Ali's protection is carried out by American security personnel commissioned by the Dutch Justice department. Hirsi Ali works at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC , a think-tank that has close ties with the Republican party.

As in the Netherlands , the threats against her come from Muslim extremists. They are in connection with the lectures and media appearances Hirsi Ali has been making since the publication of the American version of her autobiography, 'The Infidel,' in January.

The book has sold 148,000 copies over the past two months and led to heated debate in the US .

Besides glowing reviews in The New York Times and other media, Hirsi Ali is also coming up against opposition because of her uncompromising criticism of Islam.

Source: http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=1&s tory _id=38109