Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
VEVAK learned its methodology from the Soviet KGB and many of the Islamist revolutionaries who supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini actually studied at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, the Oxford of terrorism. Documented Iranian alumni include the current Supreme Leader (the faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, under whose Velayat-e Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurisprudent) apparatus it has traditionally operated. Its current head is Cabinet Minister Hojatoleslam Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ezhei, a graduate of Qom's Haqqani School, noted for its extremist position advocating violence against enemies and strict clerical control of society and government. The Ministry is very well funded and its charge, like that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the Pasdaran) is to guard the revolutionary Islamic Iranian regime at all costs and under all contingencies.
From the KGB playbook, VEVAK learned the art of disinformation. It's not so difficult to learn: tell the truth 80% of the time and lie 20%. Depending on how well a VEVAK agent wants to cover his/her tracks, the ratio may go up to 90/10, but it never drops below the 80/20 mark as such would risk suspicion and possible detection. The regime in Teheran has gone to great lengths to place its agents in locations around the world. Many of these operatives have been educated in the West, including the U.K. and the United States. Iranian government agencies such as embassies, consulates, Islamic cultural centers, and airline offices regularly provide cover for the work of VEVAK agents who dress well and are clean shaven, and move comfortably within our society. In this country, because of the severance of diplomatic relations, the principal site of VEVAK activities begins at the offices of Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
Teheran has worked diligently to place its operatives in important think tanks and government agencies in the West. Some of its personnel have been recruited while in prison through torture or more often through bribery, or a combination of both. Others are Islamist revolutionaries that have been set up to look like dissidents - often having been arrested and imprisoned, but released for “medical reasons”. The clue to detecting the fake “dissident” is to read carefully what he/she writes, and to ask why this vocal “dissident” was released from prison when other real dissidents have not been released, indeed have been grievously tortured and executed. Other agents have been placed in this country for over twenty-five years to slowly go through the system and rise to positions of academic prominence due to their knowledge of Farsi and Shia Islam or Islamist fundamentalism.
One of the usual tactics of VEVAK is to co-opt academia to its purposes. Using various forms of bribery, academics are bought to defend the Islamic Republic or slander its enemies. Another method is to assign bright students to train for academic posts as specialists in Iranian or Middle East affairs. Once established, such individuals are often consulted by our government as it tries to get a better idea of how it should deal with Iran. These academics then are in a position to skew the information, suggesting the utility of extended dialogue and negotiation, or the danger and futility of confronting a strong Iran or its proxies such as Hizballah (Hezbollah). These academics serve to shield the regime from an aggressive American or Western policy, and thereby buy more time for the regime to attain its goals, especially in regards to its nuclear weaponry and missile programs.
MOIS likes to use the media, especially electronic media, to its advantage. One of VEVAK's favorite tricks is setting up web sites that look like they are opposition sites but which are actually controlled by the regime. These sites often will be multilingual, including Farsi, German, Arabic French, and English. Some are crafted carefully and are very subtle in how they skew their information (e.g., Iran-Interlink, set up and run by Massoud Khodabandeh and his wife Ann Singleton from Leeds, England); others are less subtle, simply providing the regime's point of view on facts and events in the news (e.g., www.mujahedeen.com or www.mojahedin.ws). This latter group is aimed at the more gullible in our open society and unfortunately such a market exists. However, if one begins to do one's homework, asking careful questions, the material on these fake sites generally does not add up.
Let's examine a few examples of VEVAK's work in the United States. In late October, 2005, VEVAK sent three of its agents to Washington to stage a press event in which the principal Iranian resistance movement, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK), was to be slandered. Veteran VEVAK agent Karim Haqi flew from Amsterdam to Canada where he was joined by VEVAK's Ottawa agents Amir-Hossein Kord Rostami and Mahin (Parvin-Mahrokh) Haji, and the three flew from Toronto to Washington. Fortunately the resistance had been tracking these three, informed the FBI of their presence in Washington, and when the three tried to hold a press conference, the resistance had people assigned to ask pointed questions of them so that they ended the interview prematurely and fled back to Canada.
Abolghasem Bayyenet is a member of the Iranian government. He serves as a trade expert for the Ministry of Commerce. But his background of study and service in the Foreign Ministry indicates that Bayyenet is more than just an economist or a suave and savvy businessman. In an article published in Global Politician on April 23, 2006, entitled “Is Regime Change Possible in Iran?”, Bayyenet leads his audience to think that he is a neutral observer, concerned lest the United States make an error in its assessment of Iran similar to the errors of intelligence and judgment that led to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, with its less than successful outcome. However, his carefully crafted bottom line is that the people of Iran are not going to support regime change and that hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually has achieved greater popularity than his predecessors because of his concern for the problems of the poor and his fight for economic and social justice. To the naive, Bayyenet makes Ahmadinejad sound positively saintly. Conveniently overlooked is the occurrence of over four thousand acts of protest, strikes, anti-regime rallies, riots, and even political assassinations by the people of Iran against the government in the year since Ahmadinejad assumed office. So too, the following facts are ignored: the sizeable flight of capital, the increase in unemployment, and the rising two-figure rate of inflation, all within this last year. Bayyenet is a regime apologist, and when one is familiar with the facts, his arguments ring very hollow. However, his English skills are excellent, and so the naОve might be beguiled by his commentary.
Mohsen Sazegara is VEVAK's “reformed revolutionary”. A student supporter of Khomeini before the 1979 revolution, Sazegara joined the “imam” on his return from exile and served in the government for a decade before supposedly growing disillusioned.
He formed several reformist newspapers but ran afoul of the hardliners in 2003 and was arrested and imprisoned by VEVAK. Following “hunger strikes”, Sazegara was released for health reasons and permitted to seek treatment abroad. Although critical of the government and particularly of Ahmadinejad and KhameneМ, Sazegara is yet more critical of opposition groups, leaving the impression that he favors internal regime change but sees no one to lead such a movement for the foreseeable future. His bottom line: no one is capable of doing what needs to be done, so we must bide our time. Very slick, but his shadow shows his likely remaining ties to the MOIS.
http://www.ocnus.net/artman/publish/article_27144.shtml
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1766040/posts
[photos and see comments]
Terrorists Claim To Have Fired Chemical Missiles At US In Iraq
MEMRI/Sweetness & Light ^ | January 11, 2007 | N/A
Posted on 01/11/2007 11:19:18 AM PST by Sam Hill
From those truly courageous reporters at MEMRI:
Salahaldin Al-Ayoubi Brigades Claim To Have Launched Missiles Loaded With Chemicals
The Salahaldin Al-Ayoubi Brigades, the military wing of JAMI, Al Jabha Al-Islamiyya l'il-Muqawama Al-'Iraqiyya, announced via Islamist websites that today, January 10, 2007, it had fired four missiles loaded with chemicals at a U.S. base near Samara, Iraq.
The organization posted a film showing militants wearing gas masks and filling the missiles with a liquid which the organization claims are chemicals. Below are images from the film.
Alas the film link no longer seems to work.
However, if this claim is true, this is quite a story.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1766086/posts
Nuclear explosion in IRAN?
The Jawa Report ^ | 11 Jan 2007 | Dr, Rusty Shackleford
Posted on 01/11/2007 12:41:35 PM PST by Herosmith
January 11, 2007 Report: Nuclear Explosion in Iran A major explosion is being reported in the Iranian desert. It said to be a nuclear explosion. In the general area of one of Iran's nuclear testing sitees.
The alternative theory is that a UFO crashed. That is what one Iranian blogger is reporting, anyway. Anti-Mullah:
Reports emanating from Iran on Wednesday indicate a huge explosion - reportedly NUCLEAR - from the Kerman area at the edge of the Kavir Lut (major desert).
I waited to get confirmation of the event that was felt a 100 kilometers away but apart from on the ground phone reports, the local Islamic Iranian news media reported that an UFO had crashed and blown up to explain the incident.
The explosion took place at what would be the Islamic Regime's testing ground for an atomic weapon.
Since even North Korea tested its nuke underground, I'm guessing that the even the Iranians aren't stupid enough for an above ground test.
Which leaves the UFO theory. Kerman: Iran's Roswell. Now excuse me while I go feed my pet sasquatch.
But GM seems to think that the explosion might have been a detonator test. My guess is that this is just rumor compounded by fear.
By Dr. Rusty Shackleford
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1765204/posts
UFO Crash in Central Iran
Fars News Agency ^ | 10 Jan 2007 | Fars News Agency
Posted on 01/10/2007 5:58:31 AM PST by FLOutdoorsman
An Unidentified Flying Object crashed in Barez Mounts in the central province of Kerman Wednesday morning.
Deputy Governor General of Kerman province Abulghassem Nasrollahi told FNA that the crash which was followed by an explosion and a thick spiral of smoke has caused no casualties or damage to properties.
He further denied earlier reports that the explosion has been the result of a plane or chopper crash, reminding that all the passing aircrafts have been reported as sound and safe.
The official further stated that investigations are underway by police and other relevant authorities in this regard.
While other reports spoke of meteors, Nasrollahi said there were no conclusive witnesses in this regard but he did not dismiss the possibility that the crash has been caused by a meteor.
Eye-witnesses assure that the explosion has been caused as a result of the crash of a radiant unidentified flying object onto the ground.
Meantime, an informed source told FNA that the object has been on fire and there has been thick smoke coming out of it prior to the crash, concluding that the object couldn't have been a meteor as meteors do not smoke.
The source also said that the crash has been witnessed by people in several cities, and mentioned that the rendezvous point is located 100 kilometers from the provincial capital city of Kerman.
He said that people in the city of Rafsanjan also reported to have witnessed a similar incident several days ago.
Similar crash incidents have been witnessed frequently during the last year all across Iran, and officials believe that the objects could be spy planes or a hi-tech espionage device.
[I have to ask, is this related to the Denver rocket parts?]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1766102/posts
Ship drifting towards gas platform
Evening Standard ^ | 1/11/07 | Staff
Posted on 01/11/2007 1:08:27 PM PST by Pontiac
A 4,500 tonne ship is adrift in the North Sea and heading for a gas platform.
The vessel, named Vindo, broke down in very poor weather nine miles from the Murdoch gas platform.
Coastguards said the ship, with nine crew on board and laden with 4,200 tonnes of fertiliser, was drifting towards the rig.
Rescuers said it was a "race against time" to save lives.
Michael Mulford, of RAF Kinloss, told Sky News there were nine people on the ship and 30 people still on the platform.
He said: "We are planning to winch them off the ship two at a time but the timing will be critical."
He said it was possible the crew could fix the ship's engine in time but added: "You don't want to leave them on if they're heading for a gas platform."
Mr Mulford said: "This is the original white knuckle ride."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1765959/posts
NEW FOR 2007: UPDATED MASTER List of FReeper PING LISTS; Vol. VII - JANUARY Edition!
FreeRepublic.com | 1-11-07 | Various FReepers
Posted on 01/11/2007 8:59:37 AM PST by cgk
[interesting comments]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1766233/posts
Plane landed at wrong airport
Ireland.com ^ | 1/11/2007 | staff
Posted on 01/11/2007 5:22:18 PM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
The crew of an Airbus plane with 39 passengers on board landed at the wrong airport, an accident report revealed today.
The Dublin-based Eirjet flight, being operated on behalf of Ryanair, should have touched down at Derry, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.
But the Airbus A320, flying from Liverpool, landed at Ballykelly airfield, an ex-RAF base now used by the British Army, about five miles from Derry Airport.
[they keep saying that it is coming out]
Imminent release of new jihadi software
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070110-060443-9131r
Imminent release of new jihadi software
UPI
January 10, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) has announced the
imminent release of new computer software, Mujahideen Secret, to
further jihadist outreach to the world.
The Middle East Media Research Institute reports that according to the
advertisement for the software, it is "the first Islamic computer
program for secure exchange [of information] on the Internet," and it
provides users with "the five best encryption algorithms, and with
symmetrical encryption keys [256 bit], asymmetrical encryption keys
[2,048 bit], and data compression [tools]."
An announcement by the GIMF, an Al Qaeda mouthpiece, was recently
posted on several jihadist forums in which the group claims to present
information to both jihadis and "the Western peoples." The message,
written by Ahmad Al Hatheq Bin Allah, argues that the Internet serves
as the best alternative to broadcast television for Muslims to execute
a "kind of jihad" involving preaching and information dissemination.
According to Bin Allah's announcement, since the Western media
obfuscates "facts," it is incumbent upon Muslims to join Western
Internet forums, to portray the truth convincingly through visual or
oral arguments, especially as it concerns Iraq, Afghanistan,
Palestine, and Chechnya.
With successfully engaging debate, Bin Allah claims the American
people will place pressure upon the US government, "the guardian of
terrorism and its promotion," to reverse its Middle East foreign
policy. Otherwise, warned Bin Allah - echoing the words of Osama Bin
Laden number two Ayman Al Zawahiri - the American people themselves
will be to blame for attacks brought upon them.
New Book Describes the Virgins of Paradise
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP142107
Special Dispatch Series - No. 1421
January 12, 2007 No.1421
Islamist Websites Monitor No. 47
New Book Describes the Virgins of Paradise
On January 11, 2007, the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) posted on Islamist websites a 20-page book titled "The Desire of the Souls for the Women of Paradise." The book, by Abu Usama Al-'Iraqi, consists mostly of excerpts from medieval Islamic sources. The text focuses on the behavior and physical characteristics of the virgins who await those who enter Paradise, with emphasis on the contrast between them and earthly women. For example, it is said that the virgins of Paradise are free of all the physical and mental impurities that characterize earthly women (e.g., menstrual blood and other bodily discharges, unclean speech, and inappropriate glances at men other than their husbands).
The book ends with the following message to the reader: "...Intelligent people do not forgo [the prospect] of the brides of Paradise for the sake of false beauty in this world. They do not prefer forbidden… lust, which dooms one to Hell, over genuine desire in Paradise."
US: Some countries fear revealing intelligence secrets to Hariri probe
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=78487
US: Some countries fear revealing intelligence secrets to Hariri probe
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Friday, January 12, 2007
WASHINGTON: Ten governments which have withheld information from the
UN probe into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri are apparently concerned about revealing intelligence secrets,
a senior US official said Wednesday. UN chief investigator Serge
Brammertz said recently that 10 countries had failed to cooperate with
him as he looked into the massive car bombing which killed Hariri and
22 others in Beirut in February 2005.
Syria, the long-time powerbroker in Lebanon, is widely suspected of
involvement in the assassination of Hariri, who was seeking to lessen
the influence of Damascus over his country.
Russia, which currently chairs the UN Security Council, pressed
Brammertz this week to reveal which countries were not cooperating, a
demand opposed by the United States.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb
The official said the reticence of the 10 governments "could involve
intelligence" secrets, but he declined to elaborate.
The State Department meanwhile said it was up to Brammertz to
determine if and when the 10 states should be identified.
"It shouldn't be about finger pointing at this time," spokes-man Sean
McCormack said.
"The fact that Syria has been cited as not being fully cooperative in
the past with the investigation was important because - let's be frank
- the signs pointed to some Syrian involvement in some fashion," he
said. - AFP
http://www.resourceshelf.com/category/resources/resource-of-the-week/
Archive for Resource of the Week
Resource of the Week: Airline Industry Data
January 11, 2007 at 1:09 am · Filed under Resources, Statistics, Databases and Directories, Resource of the Week
Has many links to parts of the Airline sites, live urls on site.
Check the other newsletters, you never know what they will have in them.
granny
Flight crew held for drinking
The crew of a Ukrainian cargo flight was prevented from flying out of
Bergen's Flesland airport this week, after several crew members were
suspected of being under the influence of alcohol.
The crew of the Antonov flight faced a custody hearing on Tuesday.
The captain and radio operator of the Antonov Airlines flight were
among
crew members stopped at the airport as they were preparing to board the
cargo plane that was bound for Azerbaijan.
The flight had a crew of 17 persons and was on contract to the
Norwegian
postal service Posten Norge.
Elisabeth Ryen of the Hordaland Police District in Bergen said the
Antonov
captain, radio operator and at least one of two flight technicians were
due
for a custody hearing Tuesday afternoon.
Seven crew members were stopped after a breathalyzer test was
administered
at the airport. Results of blood tests conducted immediately afterwards
were
pending.
Posten Norge told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) that it was considering
cancelling its cooperation with the airline where the Ukrainian crew
members
work.
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1594482.ece
Knife incident slows security, airport flights
ORLANDO -- -A passenger with two hunting knives in his carry-on luggage
temporarily shut down security operations and held up flight operations
for
about a half-hour Monday at Orlando International Airport.
An officer for the Transportation Security Administration noticed the
knives
on the X-ray image as the bag was being scanned and called to have the
bag
searched by hand. Before that search could be done, though, the
passenger
took off with the bag. At that point, operations in the east part of
the
terminal froze, TSA spokeswoman Sari Koshetz said.
Koshetz said TSA officials reviewed a surveillance tape to be sure of
the
identity of the passenger and shut down gates 60-129 to look for him.
He was
detained and questioned by police, but no charges were filed.
The east checkpoint was reopened shortly after 8:30 a.m.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/orl-mcfbriefs09_307ja
n09,0,3854283.story?coll=orl-business-headlines-tourism
The High Risk of Travel in Indonesia
The latest sea and air tragedies point up how corruption, cutthroat
competition and bad weather combine to take lives
The discovery on the sea bottom Monday off West Sulawesi of what is
believed
to be the wreckage of a Boeing 737-400 that crashed on New Year’s day
dramatically points up Indonesia’s astonishingly bad air and sea
transport
safety record, especially since the turn of the century.
Owned by three-year old budget carrier Adam Air, flight KI 574 was
flying at
35,000 feet when it vanished from radar screens at Makassar’s
Hasanuddin
Airport at 3:07 pm local time on 1 January, with 102 people aboard,
including three Americans. The disaster was compounded by an
announcement a
day later that the craft had been found and that 12 people had been
rescued,
only to have authorities say the report wasn’t true.
An extensive search for the doomed aircraft over land and sea came up
blank
until this week if indeed it has been found
Sadly, another transport disaster here is hardly surprising. A fleet of
ageing planes operated by cash-strapped carriers and supervised by
corrupt
officials has experienced 73 accidents since 2001, with a total of 479
victims, including 201 fatalities and 278 injured.
On the sea, during the last week of 2006 at least five passenger boats
sank,
including the Senopati Nusantara ferry, which went down in rough water
in
the Java Sea with the loss of more than 400 of the 628 people aboard.
In the case of Flight KI 574, reports now suggest the Indonesian navy
has
found three metal objects on the sea bed, 1,050 meters down, close to
Mamuju, West Sulawesi. The USS Mary Sears, a naval oceanographic vessel
with
sonar capability and the ability to detect metal underwater, was due to
arrive in the area on Tuesday to help identify the wreckage.
A team of six investigators from the US National Transportation Safety
Board
(NTSB) has arrived in Indonesia to help with the search and
investigation.
Boeing is sending technical assistance "at the request of the
investigating
authorities." Nonetheless, Indonesia's National Transportation Safety
Committee, NTSC, is responsible for any probe and has refused to
comment on
the cause.
While speculation has centered around bad weather, the fact is that
since
Indonesia’s budget airline industry took off in 2001, a plethora of
airlines have been launched with dubious maintenance standards,
sparking
fears that the country’s endemic corruption is at least partly
responsible
for the dreadful safety record. The crowded, competitive market has
forced
most carriers to cut costs and fares to avoid bankruptcy. There are
now 19
scheduled airlines and 36 non-scheduled operators in the country.
Profit
continues to take priority over safety with tragic consequences.
Critics say that the low airfares have compromised passenger safety.
But
revisiting an earlier tragic crash illustrates the gravity of the
threat to
innocent lives and the failure by Indonesia authorities to learn from
the
past and to absolutely insist on safety first.
On 5 September 2005, seconds into a two-hour, 15 minute scheduled
flight
from Medan's Polonia Airport to Jakarta, a 24-year-old Boeing 737-230
operated by Mandala Airlines crashed in a densely populated residential
area
500 meters beyond the runway. In the ensuing inferno, 150 people were
killed
103 on board and 47 on the ground while 15 passengers survived.
Following the Medan crash, officials went into damage control and
legislators convened a special parliamentary hearing to discuss airline
safety. Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa, who still occupies the
position,
blamed corrupt officials for allowing safety standards to be flouted
and
announced that random checks would be carried out to ensure aircraft
were
being properly maintained.
From December of that year, Indonesian airlines would be required to
limit
aircraft to a maximum of 30 years service and 50,000 flight hours.
Previous
regulations set a limit of 35 years and 70,000 flight hours.
Indonesia is rated Category 1 (meeting International Civil Aviation
Organization standards) in the US Federal Aviation Administration's
International Aviation Safety Assessment Program (IASA). These
standards
imply monitoring and control of airline operations, aircraft
maintenance,
pilot training and licensing, and minimum required equipment on
aircraft.
But the problem lies in enforcement of these regulations and the
accompanying checks and tests, in a culture where corruption, to a
lesser or
greater degree, is the norm.
Radjasa himself told local radio station El Shinta "It's how to
implement
these regulations without officials who can be bribed. This is what can
endanger safety."
Legislators and local commentators questioned safety and maintenance
standards for fleets of elderly jets. Though some factions in
parliament
demanded that all 737-200 series aircraft be banned, for example, the
government chose instead to initiate random inspections of aircraft on
the
ramp and in maintenance hangars.
"Most local carriers operate this type of aircraft [Boeing 737] and
they
have the highest accident rates, but we will not ground all of the
planes,"
Radjasa said.
This seemed a sensible approach, given that most aircraft crashes have
proven to be related to pilot error, faulty maintenance, air traffic
control
errors or extremely bad weather conditions. On the rare occasions a
crash or
even a reported incident, is proven to be due to faulty design, a quick
change in the design follows, even preceded by a grounding of the
global
fleet until the fault has been remedied if it has the potential to
bring
down more of the aircraft type.
Certainly, older aircraft can be operated safely as long as they are
adequately maintained. There are about 4,200 Boeing 737s of all series
still
in service across the world – the most widely flown aircraft in
service.
The doomed Adam Air Boeing 737 flew for the first time on Jan. 11, 1989
–
18 years ago and had carried the livery of eight airlines. It had
flown
45,371 hours and was last evaluated and declared airworthy by the
Indonesian
transport ministry more than two years ago, on 25 December 2005. Its
next
check was due in late January.
Jakarta-based Adam Air started operations on 19 December 2003. The
company
is partly owned by Agung Laksono, the speaker of the Indonesian
parliament.
Currently its fleet of 19 Boeing 737s operates on 22 routes, including
two
international sectors: Medan-Penang and Jakarta-Singapore. The
company's
president-director, 25-year-old Adam Adhitya Suherman, said last month
that
the airline planned to have about 50 planes in five years.
Most reports describe the carrier as a "budget" airline but the
airline's
CEO, Gunawan Suherman, told Tempo magazine last week, "Adam Air is not
a
budget airline. That is what people say. We are a boutique airline.
Flying
with us means flying with glamour."
But pilots hardly look on Adam Air as glamorous. Seventeen pilots
resigned
in May 2005 over concerns about aircraft safety, recounting a series of
incidents where they disagreed with the airline’s management over the
state of readiness of their aircraft. For example, an Adam Air Boeing
flying out of Jakarta towards Makassar went off course in February last
year, lost communication with the tower before it was due to land, and
almost an hour later turned up requesting emergency clearance to land
at
Tambolaka Airport in Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara province, several
hundred
kilometers off course.
The disappearance of KI 574 has sparked intense media speculation.
Discarding the wildest suggestions that the flight actually
disappeared
into an Indonesian "Bermuda Triangle", or was downed the use of mobile
phones in the air most early conjecture centered around the
supposedly bad
weather conditions at the time. The aircraft experienced 80 mph winds
and
storms halfway through the two-hour flight, forcing it to change course
at
least twice.
And, while there are no suggestions that KI 574 was badly serviced or
unsafe, local sources suggest carriers commonly "dumb down" aircraft by
disabling the auto brakes and auto throttle to maintain higher utility
rates
and low turnaround times. This is not a safety issue, per se, but it
means
more brake and engine changes than normal are needed. Falling yields
and the
soaring fuel price, the argument goes, may have led to even more
drastic
cost-cutting measures.
Compensation here for victims also does not even begin to touch the
lower
limits of a major Western carrier's payouts. Payment for death or
disability
is only about $5,000 and medical treatment is only up to $2,500. This
low
level of compensation has increasingly led to the families of victims
suing
in the United States, where sympathetic juries have delivered up much
more
lucrative legal settlements.
Sea travel can be equally hazardous. In a little over a week at the end
of
2006, facing bad weather conditions, hundreds of people were killed.
But a
major part of the problem is that corrupt officials allow grossly
overloaded
ferries and ships without adequate safety equipment to leave harbors.
The
Indonesian Transport Society (MTI) claims many accidents at sea are
caused
by overloaded vessels, and there is no real attempt to control
passengers
boarding ships without tickets.
Many have raised the question of whether the real danger to passenger
safety
is lax attitudes toward safety in a country prone to frequent major
accidents on road, rail and in the air. And given the continuing low
value
placed on Indonesian lives by transport operators, and by the
government’s
seeming lack of commitment to improve safety, 2007 is likely to take a
high
toll yet again.
Asked by a Tempo magazine reporter what really happened to KI 574,
Gunawan
responded: "It was a weather problem. Everything was OK when the plane
took
off, except for the X factor. We are not God".
http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=336&Itemid
=32
Transport Canada knew of jet engine limit
Transport Canada knew about an engine problem that could cripple
Bombardier
regional jets 13 years before it contributed to the 2004 fatal crash of
an
RJ in Missouri.
Transport Canada discovered the potentially catastrophic condition when
testing the plane for certification in 1991. But outside the tight
circle of
Bombardier, engine manufacturer General Electric and Transport Canada,
the
aviation community that operated the regional jets was left unaware.
The GE
engines are installed on about 1,000 Bombardier regional jets, the
plane
type Air Canada Jazz flies between Hamilton and Montreal. Details of
just
how long the manufacturer and Canada's aviation regulator knew of the
problem came yesterday as the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board
released its report on the tragedy.
It blamed the pilots for the 2004 Pinnacle Airlines crash. They were on
a
ferry flight without passengers when they flew their plane to its
maximum
certified altitude of 41,000 feet. They lost speed and the plane
started to
fall from the sky. Both engines flamed out.
The pilots blundered more as they tried to recover, including flying
the
powerless plane too slowly. That led to core lock and doomed them.
"Simply adhering to standard operating procedures and correctly
implementing
emergency procedures would have gone a long way to averting this tragic
accident," said safety board chairman Mark Rosenker.
Core lock is essentially a jam after a jet engine stops and cools
suddenly.
GE doesn't accept that core lock occurred and said it can happen with
any
jet engine pushed beyond its limits. The company said flight manuals
contained instructions to restart engines.
The safety board says while the manuals contained the procedures,
including
a "target" speed of at least 240 knots, pilots weren't told why they
should
fly that fast or that engines could lock up.
Officials for Bombardier and Ottawa could not be reached for comment.
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/L
ayout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1168384214732&call_pageid=1020420665036&co
l=1014656511815
All 12 aboard survive plane crash
A twin engine Peace Air commuter plane trying to land in a blizzard
crash
landed in Fort St. John, B.C., yesterday morning.
RCMP Cpl. Stephen Wile said none of the 12 people on board, including
two
crew members and 10 passengers, was injured in the crash. The accident
happened just after 11:30 a.m. B.C. time about 110 kilometres northwest
of
Grande Prairie, Alta.
Cpl. Wile said it appears the Jetstream twin-engine turboprop landed
short
of the runway. "The plane ended up shearing off two rows of lights at
the
far end of the runway and plowing through the heavy snow at the end of
the
runway."
Once on the tarmac, it veered to the right side of the runway where it
stopped, badly banged up, missing much of its landing gear and leaning
to
the right. People remained on the plane until emergency service crews
arrived to help them off.
"We're very fortunate that the plane didn't dig in at the end of the
runway
and start to catapult and turn over," Cpl. Wile said. "It could have
been a
far different situation."
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=4cf9810c-fbe1-4825-9d0d-b91441fae2e6
[unknown url for Pakistan flight]
Engine trouble forces jet to return to Toronto
(AP) A Pakistan-bound passenger jet from the country's national airline
returned to Toronto with engine trouble shortly after taking off from
the
Canadian city on Wednesday, airline officials and a news report said.
The Pakistan International Airlines direct flight, bound for the
eastern
city of Lahore, landed back in Toronto after one of its engines began
malfunctioning, said Chaudhry Mohammed Bashir, a spokesman for the
airline.
The engine of the plane began vibrating as it climbed, the Associated
Press
of Pakistan said, quoting a news release from the airline.
The PIA Boeing 777-200 jet was carrying 200 passengers and 10 crew
members,
Bashir said.
The aircraft safely returned to Toronto after about one hour into its
flight, an official in PIA's engineering department said on condition
of
anonymity because he did not have the authority to make media comments.
[Isn't India's airports under heavy security, still?]
Nails found embedded in Indian plane tyre
DUBAI: Minutes before an Indian (formerly Indian Airlines) flight was
to
take off for Doha, officials at the Bahrain Airport discovered four
nails
embedded in the front right tyre of the aircraft.
Ground engineers found the five-inch-long nails during a final check on
Flight IC997 before departure, averting what an airline official
described
as a 'potential disaster'.
The nails were discovered while checking the flight which had arrived
from
Kochi, via Calicut and Doha, at 8:20 am on January 2, Gulf Daily News
reported.
Civil aviation officials in Bahrain confirmed there had been 'an
incident,'
but said the nails could have been picked up anywhere and not
necessarily in
Bahrain.
The flight, which originated in Kochi, had its first halt at Calicut
from
where it flew to Doha and then to Bahrain to return on the same route
to
Calicut.
The nails were detected as the boarding was in progress, and the flight
left
Bahrain 15 minutes behind schedule, at 12:20 pm on Thursday.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1073872
[Does this also tie to the Sunday Miami Port truck shipments?
I am thinking of the pallets of auto wiring harnesses...granny]
http://www.intel-dump.com/
Friday, December 29, 2006
Cops and Counterterrorism
[Phillip Carter, Friday December 29, 2006 at 1:04pm EST]
Friday's Wall Street Journal (subscription required) carries a great article on the front page describing a successful LAPD operation which took down an international car-theft ring in L.A. The story talks about how smart police work and expert prosecutorial work dismantled a sophisticated criminal enterprise.
No big deal, right? L.A. has lots of cars, and lots of car theft too. Except that this particular ring was tied to Chechen terrorists, including those responsible for the 2004 massacre in Beslan. And, more important, the LAPD found that it didn't need to use sophisticated or legally questionable tactics to get the job done here. Good old-fashioned police work and conventional criminal law tools were more than enough to get the job done. According to the WSJ:
The Los Angeles police's low-key strategy is to use local laws — from parking ordinances to antifraud statutes — to crack down on suspected terrorists. It's akin to the tactic the federal government used in the 1930s when going after gangster Al Capone: He was indicted for tax evasion instead of murder.
Los Angeles police say that since 9/11 they have arrested nearly 200 people, both American citizens and foreign nationals, with suspected ties to terrorist organizations. These included a group of North Africans that LAPD and federal officials are convinced were part of an al Qaeda support cell living in Los Angeles. The charges against them have ranged from marriage fraud to identity theft to illegal weapons possession.
Each arrest was the result of a conventional criminal investigation using California state law with no need for warrantless phone taps or secret court orders. None of the cases ever mentioned terrorism at all. Trials are still pending in many cases but there have been dozens of guilty pleas. In some cases, suspected foreign terrorists arrested on fraud charges have been scooped up by federal agents and deported on separate federal immigration charges before their criminal trials got under way.
At a time when the FBI and other Washington agencies are coming under growing criticism for terrorism cases that often fall apart in the courts, the Los Angeles police approach using conventional crime cases is gaining attention as an alternative.
"What the LAPD is doing with a straightforward crimes approach is upholding the integrity of the justice system and showing that when used correctly it is powerful and effective," says Karen Greenberg, executive director of New York University's Center on Law and Security.
Comments: There remain some concerns, of course, which the article makes clear. Effective counterterrorism requires intelligence, and where international terrorism is concerned, that intelligence often lies in immigrant groups. Unfortunately, for myriad reasons, the LAPD lacks good relations with those groups. So gathering that kind of intel is difficult, sensitive work. It must be done with one eye on the law, and one eye on public relations. So far, the LAPD is doing a pretty good job here, one I hope other police departments are learning from.
Much ink has been spilled about the need for new paradigms, new laws, new ways of thinking, etc., for this "new war" against terrorism. I understand these arguments from an operational perspective and see some merit in them. But I've been skeptical, because I've long felt that conventional legal tools remained a potent arsenal for dealing with these threats.
In light of successful prosecutions like United States v. McVeigh, United States v. Noriega, and United States v. Bin Laden, among others, I've maintained my confidence in our legal system to adapt and evolve to meet new forms of terrorism and criminal activity. Nothing about international terrorism per se, nor the nature of asymmetric warfare generally, justifies the wholesale departure from the rule of law. [See this amicus brief and this article for more development of this argument.] There are a few exigencies relating to this form of warfare which do raise some concerns, but our system has developed mechanisms (such as FISA, the Classified Information Procedures Act and "material witness" detention authority) to address those problems. The LAPD's actions in this case show that my faith was well-placed.
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http://news.google.com/news?q=Greece%20explosion&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=119311
Report: Huge Explosion at American Embassy in Greece
07:03 Jan 12, '07 / 22 Tevet 5767
(IsraelNN.com) A huge explosion was heard at the American embassy in Athens a short time ago, Reuters News Agency reported. All roads to the embassy have been closed. There have been no reports of injuries, and officials are checking the source of the explosion, which was heard on the third floor of the embassy.
Details to follow.
[connected to the U.S. invasion of the Iran Embassy in Iraq??]
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=119314
Update from Athens: No Injuries in Terror Attack
07:38 Jan 12, '07 / 22 Tevet 5767
(IsraelNN.com) Police cordoned off streets around the American embassy Friday morning after an apparent terrorist attack that caused damage but no injuries, police reported.
The explosion occurred following the firing of a rocket-propelled grenade on the building, according to Voice of Israel government radio.
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