World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #6 Disinformation, Inc.

Global Politician/Ocnus.Net ^ | Dec 17, 2006 | Professor Daniel M. Zucker

[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

[nw_arizona_granny]

Report: Militarization of U.S. Embassies arouses suspicion


http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_rpt/embassies.html

REPORT: MILITARIZATION OF U.S. EMBASSIES AROUSES SUSPICION

The growing military presence at U.S. embassies abroad is
arousing suspicion among some foreign officials and producing
friction between civilian foreign service officers and military
personnel, according to a new staff report from the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee.

"There is evidence that some host countries are questioning the
increasingly military component of America's profile
overseas," the report found. "Some foreign officials question
what appears to them as a new emphasis by the United States on
military approaches to problems that are not seen as lending
themselves to military solutions."

"For the most part, ambassadors welcome the additional resources
that the military brings and they see strong
military-to-military ties as an important ingredient in a
strong bilateral relationship. Nonetheless, State and USAID
personnel often question the purposes, quantity, and quality of
the expanded military activities in-country."

"One ambassador lamented that his effectiveness in representing
the United States to foreign officials was beginning to wane,
as more resources are directed to special operations forces and
intelligence. Foreign officials are 'following the money' in
terms of determining which relationships to emphasize, he
reported."

"Left unclear, blurred lines of authority between the State
Department and the Defense Department could lead to interagency
turf wars that undermine the effectiveness of the overall U.S.
effort against terrorism. It is in the embassies rather than in
Washington where interagency differences on strategies, tactics
and divisions of labor are increasingly adjudicated."

See "Embassies as Command Posts in the Anti-Terror Campaign,"
Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff report, December 15,
2006:

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_rpt/embassies.html

[nw_arizona_granny]

Rally Marks Anniversary of First Fatah Terror Attack


http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=119275

Rally Marks Anniversary of First Fatah Terror Attack
19:00 Jan 11, '07 / 21 Tevet 5767
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

Marking the 42nd anniversary of the organization's first terrorist
attack on Israel, Fatah held a rally in Ramallah on Thursday. Israeli
Arab MK Ahmed Tibi addressed the crowd.


The large rally, held on the grounds of the Mukata headquarters of the
Palestinian Authority, was attended by thousands of supporters. In
addition to an anniversary event, the rally was seen as a show of
strength in the battle with Hamas for public support in the PA.

Accompanied by leading members of the Fatah terror group, PA Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas addressed the crowd.

After placing flowers on the grave of the late arch-terrorist, PLO
Chairman Yasser Arafat, Abbas said, "We have turned guns on the
occupation, and that is our legitimate right, but to turn the guns on
each other is forbidden."

Saying that internecine violence in Gaza served no one's interests,
Abbas called on Fatah faction members to refrain even from insulting
the
Hamas terrorist group. The two terror groups have been battling in the
streets of Gaza for control of the PA government since Hamas was
elected
to the leadership a year ago, with a sharp increase in violence in
recent weeks.

Abbas condemned Israel for its recent counter-terrorist operations in
Ramallah and Gaza. He also was careful to call upon all the PA factions
and militias to adhere to what he characterized as "the laws of Islam"
and avoid killing innocent individuals.

The PA leader also indicated his opposition to the establishment of a
Palestinian state with interim borders, as called for by the Road Map
to
Peace promoted by the Quartet - the US, the European Union, Russia and
the United Nations. An interim Palestinian state is phase two in the
Road Map's three-phase plan for a final settlement of the Arab-Israel
conflict.

Also addressing the Fatah anniversary rally in Ramallah was Israeli
Arab
Knesset Member Ahmed Tibi (Ra'am-Ta'al). He called upon all PA factions
to unite and said that the struggle would continue until the conquest
of
Jerusalem by the Arabs.

"The Palestinian struggle will continue until the liberation of all the
Palestinian lands and the establishment of a Palestinian state on all
the lands occupied in 1967 - chief among them, holy Jerusalem!" MK Tibi
declared.

Even though Fatah was founded in the late 1950s, the Ramallah rally was
held to mark the first terrorist attack carried out against Israel by
the organization, on January 1, 1965. The intended target was Israel's
national water supply system, but the bombing was prevented by Israeli
security officers.

Click here for our free Daily News Report from Israel


Published: 16:28 January 11, 2007
Last Update: 19:00 January 11, 2007

[nw_arizona_granny]

Arab lawmaker picked as Israeli cabinet minister


http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/fri/jan12w22.htm

Arab lawmaker picked as Israeli cabinet minister
JERUSALEM (AP) - Defence Minister Amir Peretz, leader of Israel's
Labour
Party, has chosen Arab lawmaker Raleb Majadele to be a Cabinet
minister,
Israeli media reported Wednesday.

Majadele would be the second Israeli Arab to serve in the Cabinet.
Salah
Tarif, a Druse leader, served nine months as a minister without
portfolio before resigning in January 2002 because of a corruption
investigation against him.

Majadele would replace Ophir Pines-Paz as minister of culture, science
and sport. Pines-Paz resigned Oct 30 to protest the addition of
hard-liner Avigdor Lieberman to the Cabinet.

Majadele, 53, is the chairman of the parliament's environment
committee.
He lives in the town of Baka al-Gharbiyeh, next to the line with the
West Bank in northern Israel.

"It's great news for the Arab public," Majadele told Channel 2 TV.
"It's
a correct step in the direction of equality. We have many challenges
ahead of us."

Pines-Paz is among those challenging Peretz for the Labour Party
leadership, and Israeli media said the selection of an Israeli Arab
appeared to be an attempt by Peretz to attract support from Labour's
Arab members ahead of party primaries in May. Arabs make up about 20
per
cent of Israel's population of 7 million.

Labour is the second-largest party in Israel's coalition government,
led
by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima Party.

The Cabinet and parliament must approve Majadele's appointment.

[nw_arizona_granny]

They Wish To Shut Our Voice [by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury]


The Jewish Week, New York, (01/12/2007)
They Wish To Shut Our Voice
by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury

http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editletcontent.php3?artid=5648

Editor’s Note: The author is a journalist on trial and facing the
death penalty in his country for praising Jews and Christians,
attempting to travel to Israel and opposing Islamic militants,
according to the presiding judge. The author, who submitted this
essay to The Jewish Week, has received support from the State
Department and members of Congress. He was given the Moral
Courage Award by the American Jewish Committee in May.

Dhaka, Bangladesh — Islamist radicals are intolerant. They don’t
want anyone to raise a voice and say “enough to the increasing
trend of spreading religious hatred and provoking people with the
false interpretations of Koran.”

For example, they say, “Jews and Christians are your enemies, go
for jihad [holy war] against them.” Islamofascist clerics openly
give sermons preaching that the Koran forbids taking Jews and
Christians for friends, but in fact the verse refers to a time
when Islam was developing and is merely cautioning against
depending on Judaism and Christianity for your understanding of
religion, for guidance in theology, etc.

Islam surely does not forbid friendship between Muslims and
non-Muslims; in fact, a Muslim man can take a Jewish or a
Christian woman as his wife and mother of his children.

Certainly the Islamist radicals are waiting to execute voices
like those who oppose their call for “holy war.”

I have faced persecution since 2003 when I first wrote in my
newspaper, Weekly Blitz, about how the jihadists were being bred
in madrassas [Islamic religious schools] and kindergarten
madrassas. We wrote that cadres for the militant organizations
have been recruited from the thousands of madrassas that have
mushroomed throughout the country. Many are located along the
Indian border in the West and North, where young radicals from
both countries are taught the virtues of Orthodox Islam.

Funding for the madrassas comes from donations from local
communities and international Islamic charities, such as the
Saudi Arabia-based and immensely wealthy Rabitat Al Alam Al Islami.

The madrassas fill an important function in a country where basic
education is available only to a few, especially in the
impoverished countryside, but, as Bangladeshi journalist
Salahuddin Babar said: “Once the students graduate from the
madrassas, they either join mosques as imams or similar
religious-related jobs. There are … thousands of mosques, so
there is employment in that field. But they find it difficult to
get employment in secular institutions. Certain quarters grab
this opportunity to brainwash them, make them into religious
fanatics rather than modern Muslims.”

According to latest estimates, there are at least 64,000
madrassas in Bangladesh, most of which are beyond any form of
governmental control or supervision. Moderate Muslims note that
the Taliban was born in similar madrassas in Pakistan’s Northwest
Frontier Province and in Afghan refugee camps, where they
promoted a new radical and extremely militant model for Islamic
revolutions.

Evil forces became active in suffocating my voice by bringing
ridiculous and false charges against me of sedition, treason and
blasphemy. To justify their notoriety, they said, “By praising
the Jews and Christians, by demanding relations between
Bangladesh and Israel and by forecasting the so-called rise of
Islamist militancy in this country,” I have tarnished the image
of Bangladesh in the international arena.

Almost every month, I have to face a radically inclined judge in
Dhaka, who has the absolute power to award me capital punishment
for my “crime” mentioned above. In 2006 alone they tried twice to
kill me, while my family and I live in extreme danger at all times.

Radical Islamist leader, Noor Hussain Noorani, personally
threatened my life, terming me an “agent of Ahmadis.” Noorani
heads the radical Khatmey Nabuat Movement (KNM), which clashed
with police several times when it tried to attack the Ahmadi
prayer services in Bangladesh. The Ahmadi is a Muslim group that
has angered fundamentalists with its belief that Muhammad was not
the final prophet, and its belief in the crucifixion of Jesus.

The reason behind Noorani’s anger was publication of a number of
articles and editorials in Weekly Blitz exposing the nasty attack
on the Ahmadi community by Islamofascists.

These threats were not new to me. When I was arrested on Nov. 29,
2003 and sent to prison, some of the prisoners, who were
considered to be supporters of Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden,
tried to physically assault me or even kill me inside the prison.

Some of my friends abroad say I should leave Bangladesh and take
asylum abroad. But to me, there is no dignity or honor in
retreating from my mission of peace. I know for sure, if I will
retreat from this very “battlefield,” which is filled with
religious fanatics, or abandon my mission, anyone else might
think twice before raising a strong voice to say no to jihad.

I am grateful for the support of many friends and admirers around
the world, although their concern has yet to prod Bangladesh
authorities to resist Islamic radicals.

The case brought against me possibly stands as proof that
Bangladesh is not deserving of its claim to be a moderate Muslim
nation. n

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is the publisher and editor of
Weekly Blitz (www.weeklyblitz.net), published from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Special To The Jewish Week

[milford421]

Hang on to these granny...our site is down.

[nw_arizona_granny]

ISLAMIC REGIME STRATEGIST CAPTURED IN IRAQ


http://www.antimullah.com/

TOP ISLAMIC REGIME STRATEGIST CAPTURED IN IRAQ

Reports from Tehran state that Iran 's top IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps) strategist, Hassan Abbasi, was captured in the recent raid on the
Islamic Iran 's office in Erbil , Iraq .

Referred to inside Islamic Iran as the Regime's version of Kissinger, Abbasi
works directly as special advisor for the dead or dying Supreme Ruler in
Iran - Ali Khamenei.

His attitude to the main competitor for the Supreme Leadership position,
Hashemi Rafsanjani, as the telephone report elaborated, is "like a knife and
cheese", meaning he hates Rafsanjani.

Abbasi has in the past indicated he has already chosen and set up attack
capability on a large number of targets inside the USA and said the Islamic
regime would wipe out the Western culture - as a whole - and replace it with
Islam.

He also runs the "Freedom Organizations" an umbrella group, coordinating and
networking every "anti-imperialism" terror group around the globe. Be it the
IRA in Ireland or Japanese cults or Puerto Rican gangs in the USA . Anyone
who is ready to disrupt their country and governments through acts of
terrorism.

As the Islamic Regime's top tactician and strategist, his being found and
caught in Iraq comes as little or no surprise when reorganization of the
jihadists in Iraq has to be done to meet President Bush's new initiative.

In the past Abbasi was closely linked to the Islamic Regime's former
MInister of Defense, Shamkhani and authored much of the plans to block the
Persian Gulf as well as plans to insert the Ghods Brigades into Iraq via the
Basra area and the Northern Kurdish borders.

He has long established ties to the Kurds, who cooperate with him as part of
the Freedoms Organizations in their quest for a Kurdish homeland.

Was the attack on the US Embassy in Greece a retaliation for this capture?
It fits the Freedom Organizations type of activity and no other recent event
clearly warrants this attack.

Pure, unfounded speculation: it could be a diversion to cover up or distract
from Khamenei's death or even the "nuclear trigger" version of the explosion
in the desert near Kerman .

[nw_arizona_granny]

I wondered where you and Jeffrey were.

Bruce is coming through just fine, LOL, I think.

Have a a good day and stay safe.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Three jailed in Bosnia for planning suicide attack



http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070110/wl_nm/bosnia_court_dc

Three jailed in Bosnia for planning suicide attack

By Maja Zuvela Wed Jan 10, 12:58 PM ET

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Bosnia's state court jailed a Swede, a Turk and a
Bosnian on Wednesday for planning a suicide attack in Europe.
ADVERTISEMENT

Judge Mehmed Sator said Swede Mirsad Bektasevic, 19, Denmark-based Turk
Abdulkadir Cesur, 21, and Bosnian Bajro Ikanovic, 29, all Muslims,
wanted to press Bosnia and European governments to withdraw their
forces
from
Iraq and
Afghanistan.

"Bektasevic and Cesur are sentenced because ... they traveled to
Sarajevo to carry out a terrorist attack on the territory of Bosnia or
another European country," Sator said.

continued.......

[nw_arizona_granny]

FUTURE JIHAD - Terrorist Strategies against the West and ot her Democracies




http://worlddefensereview.com/phares011107.shtml



FUTURE JIHAD - Terrorist Strategies against the West and other
Democracies

by Walid Phares, Ph.D.
World Defense Review columnist





The international version of Professor Walid Phares' Future Jihad is
now
released. The new title is "Terrorist Strategies against the West"
(Palgrave/St Martin; New York and London, December 2006). The paperback
includes a long chapter on the Jihadist movement strategies around the
world.

Following are adapted excerpts:

During the year Future Jihad was published in America, significant
developments further proved true the conclusions of the initial book.
In one
single year, before and after its publication a series of declarations
by
the Jihadists, by international leaders and by intellectuals on all
sides of
the conflict, signaled that the "War on Terrorism" was after all an
all-out
confrontation between a worldwide Web of Islamist movements and regimes
on
the one hand and a dispersed international community, some of which was
engaged, while parts of it weren't in this world war, on the other
hand.

My first objective was to explain basic facts to the international
public
community: That there was an ideological current out there, aiming at
world
domination, which he defined as "Jihadism." The latter comes from two
trees,
one is Salafi the other is Khomeinist. The Salafists, formed in Sunni
environment, are inspired by middle ages doctrinaires and have emerged
in
modern times as Wahabis, Muslim Brotherhoods, Takfiris, Deobandis,
Tablighi
and others. They want the reestablishment of a modern day Caliphate.
They
feel they are the heirs of 14 centuries of history and reject modern
international law. The Khumeinists are the Jihadists who emerged in the
Shiia community. They aim at establishing an Imamate to reunify all
Muslims
under their guidance in pursuit of Jihad.

The books' second objective was to show how Jihadists view the world,
its
modern history, its international relations, its wars, the various
civilizations and how they adapt their strategies to modernity.
Chapters
three, seven, eight and nine were dedicated to show the readers how the
Jihadists viewed the 20th century, WWII, the cold war, the choices they
made
and the different options they developed as Salafists, Wahabis,
Khumeinists,
regarding the Soviets, Israel, the West, and the Muslim regions. The
bottom
line was to show that there were no sheer emotional and simplistic
reactions
to crisis, but rather focused, integrated, and complex policies and
strategic objectives. This assertion goes against the dominant theories
of
the past, which never went away yet, that in essence Islamist attitudes
are
created by Western policies. Future Jihad precisely argues otherwise:
Jihadi
ideologies are sui generis. They were developed before current
international
relations were formalized in laws, survived the latter and have
projected
their aims regardless of Western or non-Western policies. Certainly,
diplomatic, economic and military acts by greater and small powers
impact
the evolution, decisions and plans of the Islamists. Policies affect
other
policies, but Jihadism and its various trees and branches, is a being
of its
own. It relates to the evolution of political Islam historically and
can
only be explained from inside out.

The third objective of the book was to describe the Jihadi war against
the
Soviet Union during the Cold War and against the United States and some
of
its allies after the cold war, leading to 9/11 and beyond.

The final objective in producing Future Jihad was an attempt to analyze
the
specific conflict between al Qaeda and the United States. In chapter
twelve
I examined the root causes of America 's failure showing that the
breaches
were not simple security flaws but rather systemic malfunctioning at
the
national security level. In Chapter thirteen, I suggested a model of
what
could have been a historically successful Jihadist offensive worldwide
and
its consequences in the US had a 9/11 of a greater dimension occurred
years
later instead.

The fifth objective was to offer modest guidelines and prescriptions to
face
off with the growing dangers of Salafi and Khomeinist ideologically
based
terrorism. While geopolitical threats to regional and world peace come
from
classical radical regimes, such as Tehran's and to a certain extent
Damascus' and Khartoum's, another type of threats is represented by the
capacity of Jihadi networks to transform moderate or stable Muslim
Governments into radical ones, with a full use of their resources.

Finally I made another set of recommendations to educate the public,
the
Government's agencies and the media as to the mind, visions, strategies
and
if possible the tactics of the Jihadists. The prescription aimed at
developing a "global resistance" against Jihad-Terrorism, both within
the
Arab Muslim world and within the international community. I am glad to
announce that the paperback Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies against
the
West is out in English and Spanish. Versions in other languages are
expected
in the near future.

The Jihadi counteroffensive

During 2005-2006, I had several important opportunities to address and
interact with policy, legislative, media, community decision makers,
experts
and concerned citizens across the US and Europe, including in Paris,
London,
Brussels, Vienna, and Lisbon. In America, my book tour allowed me to
discuss
Future Jihad in Washington, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, San Francisco,
Los Angeles, Miami and on many campuses nationwide. Since its launching
I
have received many emails and messages from bright readers of the book
as
well as viewers of and listeners to talk shows. These inputs were
sociologically critical for the assessment of the public understanding
of
the bigger picture. I was also able to conduct briefings at the
European
Parliament, the US Congress, the United Nations Security Council,
Interpol
and other international bodies. In addition, my participation in Arab
media
forums including on al Jazeera, al Hurra, al Arabiya and other outlets
provided me the opportunity to interact with ideologues, academics and
activists from all sides, and particularly of relevance the self
declared
Jihadi camp. In addition, my interactions with democracy groups and
intellectuals from the Arab and Muslim world on the one hand, and
frequent
visits to and learning process from the various Islamists -particularly
Jihadists- chat rooms online, helped my analysis of Future Jihad
refines
itself and develop ballistics of knowledge in the clashing strategies
of the
so-called War on Terrorism. My main post-book conclusion is as follow:
The
Jihadists are -Salafists and Khumeinists alike- on a worldwide counter
offensive with their perceived enemies and they are planning on
widening it,
rationalize it, and render it irreversible. Here are the various
sketches
from present situations into future trends:

In the paperback version of 2006 I discussed the specific issue of Bin
Laden
and al Qaeda and their importance in the global Jihadi movement; their
centrality but also their relativity as well. One concept I noted
particularly the so-called Hudna (truce) proposed several times by the
group, particularly to Europe. The Hudna is indicative of Jihadi
geopolitics, often misunderstood in the West. Another concept I
revisited is
the worldwide web of Jihadism, stressing its ideological but also its
political nature. While loose and full of fragments, I believe it has a
centrality that escapes the classical perception of Western defense
parameters.

Europe's Jihads

Following my several field trips to Europe and monitoring of Jihadi
deployments on the continent I analyzed the global strategies of the
Salafists in specific zones: the United Kingdom; Western European
battlefields: Belgium, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Germany in addition to
the
southern European zone including Spain and Italy; finally France (which
I
consider as one zone by itself). Two other European zones are Eastern
Europe
and the Balkans with different outlooks and geopolitical Jihadi
realities.
The European Jihads are ahead of their cross Atlantic parallels. The
ideological mobilization that surfaced during the so called "Cartoons
Jihad"
is an important indicator of the wide spread of Wahabi and Salafi
teachings
across the continent.

The world's battlefields

Russia's battlefields with the Salafists have reached a national
security
level of threat, both from Chechnya and through its southern borders
with
Central Asia . The Asian battlefields have grown geometrically in
intensity
and scope: Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia to the
East;
Bengla Desh, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to the West; and
Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the center.
Asian
Jihad is gradually including a Chinese Jihad in the old Muslim Sin
Kiang and
spills over to Australia south bound and to the Greater Middle East
West
bound. Aussie is facing two threats: One regional to its north, linked
to
the success and advance of Salafi forces in Indonesia and the
Philippines,
and the other through domestic infiltration by radical Islamists,
similar to
the global patterns of penetration in the West. In Africa, the Jihadi
battlefields are spreading rapidly from Somalia to Darfur all the way
to the
sub-Saharan countries of Chad, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.

The Greater Middle East

But it is in the Greater Middle East, from Morocco to Iran, where the
central battlefields will be decisive. Iraq 's Sunni triangle -
contrary to
the mediatized wisdom in the West - is only the tip of the Jihadi
iceberg.
Al Qaeda in Iraq has "chosen" the battlefield to pin down US central
forces
while Salafist and Khomeinist forces are on the offensive in other
spots.
Had America not chosen Iraq as a ground for confrontation, the
Jihadists
would have chosen another terrain for the clash. It is ironic that
mainstream scholarship in the West is blind to this reality. In the
Arabian
Peninsula, al Qaeda and its wider web of Wahabis patiently await their
moment for the ultimate leap. In North Africa, the combat Salafists are
omnipresent, and from there on, dispatch their cells into Europe . In
Egypt
and among Palestinians, the Brotherhoods and Hamas have created
strongholds;
and in Turkey the soft Islamists are taking all the time needed to
deliver
their battle of ideas against the seculars. In addition to the Salafi
surge,
the Iranian-led axis of Jihadism from Tehran to southern Lebanon, with
the
Syrian regime in the center wages its own campaign. Ahmedinijad's
regional
offensive - with nuclear ambitions and terrorism tools - is only the
most
recent expression of the older Khamanei's regime. The "axis" has
mounted a
separate state-sponsored Jihad: Hamas and PIJ in Palestine, HizbAllah
in
Lebanon, Muqtada al Sadr in Iraq and cells around the Middle East and
within
the West. The question of Terrorism in the Greater Middle East isn't
confined to the Arab-Israeli conflict anymore. The latter has become a
consequence of the region's Jihadism, not the other way around.

Latin American Ambitions of the Jihadists

From Venezuela under Chavez's populist power and from Bolivia's new
"Castrist" leadership the Jihadist bases are growing to meet the
tri-border
emerging "Emirate" of the tips of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Al
Qaeda
and HizbAllah are racing to outnumber the cells of each other
organizations.
From the south of the Americas, the Jihadi thrust will be reaching the
US
mainly through the Mexican border and deep into the heart of the
country.

Canada's Jihadists

With the arrest of cells during the summer of 2006 in Toronto, Canada
has
entered the Global sphere of Jihadi penetration. Modeled after their
American counterparts, the Canadian Jihadists are as determined and
prepared
to strike and enflame the country. In fact North America seems to have
become a one continental hub of operations. Cells form on both sides of
the
border and interact with each other. For example the arrest of the
Georgia
cell last year showed a Montreal connection. The same type of radical
literature is found in American and Canadian cities, and interestingly
enough the Islamist radical activism operates on a "North American"
level.

America's Jihad mutates

As I argued in the first edition of Future Jihad (Terrorist Strategies
against America ), the Mohammed Atta type of Terrorists is not in the
majority anymore. Today, 2006-2007, the new Jihadists are mostly
US-born,
speak the language well, are educated and operates within the system.
And
more importantly, they benefit from a militant political shield, which
protect them as they grow ideologically and organizationally. In the
past
few months more evidence is emerging on the deep influence the
pro-Jihadist
groups have developed inside the country. The wall protecting the
spread of
the Wahabi-Salafi, and even Khomeinist ideologies in America has become
close to be legal, after it has thickened politically. The mutation of
Jihadism inside the US is the single most important challenge the
country
will face in this decade and maybe beyond. The incapacitation of the US
Government in its counter Jihadist efforts has become the central
breach in
national security.

The War of Ideas: The Future of the War on Terror

Hence, it has also become clear that whoever would be able to shape the
minds of Americans as to identify the enemy will win the War on Terror.
And
whoever can show the US public or bar it from seeing the reality of the
Jihadi wars against democracies will make or break the War on Terror
and its
length.

[nw_arizona_granny]

YouTUBE: Video Alleged to Show Chemical Weapons Fired at US Base


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC4d0s4vDnQ
Video Alleged to Show Chemical Weapons Fired at US Base
According to the Salahaldin Al-Ayoubi Brigades, the military wing of
JAMI (Iraqi Resistance Islamic Front), on January 10, 2007 it fired four
missiles loaded with chemicals at a U.S. base near Samara, Iraq. Video
posted at Islamist Web sites shows militants wearing gas masks and
filling the missiles with a liquid which the organization claims are
chemicals.

WATCH IT HERE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC4d0s4vDnQ

Must see also: The Chicken Defense

---

http://mprofaca.cro.net/chickens.html

Marines using chicken to serve as a low-tech chemical detection system.

A war against Iraq will see the debut of some of the most sophisticated
weaponry ever used. But U.S. Marines will also rely on one of the most
low-tech detection devices around: chickens. Worried that the pollution
from blown oil installations will clog up complicated detection
equipment and make it difficult to pick up deadly chemicals and nerve agents,
U.S. marines will drive into battle across the dusty plains of Iraq
with caged chickens atop their Hum-Vees.
-- Simon Robinson, south of the Kuwait-Iraq border
Time, Feb. 21, 2003

Mario Profaca
http://www.youtube.com/MarioProfaca

[nw_arizona_granny]

Leanese Judge Demands Life For Six German Train Bomb Suspects

http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_8544-Lebanese-Judge-Demands-Life-For-Six-Ger
man-Train-Bomb-Suspects.html

Lebanese Judge Demands Life For Six German Train Bomb Suspects

A Lebanese judge Thursday recommended life sentences with hard labour
for
six Lebanese accused of involvement in a plot to blow up trains in
Germany
last July.

Lebanese judicial sources said the charge sheet accused the six of
"attempting to massacre people in trains in Germany and to set ablaze
the
train with explosive materials...which will lead to the killing of a
number
of civilians.. to avenge the publishing by some German newspapers of
pictures defaming the Prophet Mohammed."

The sources said Judge Abdel Rahim Hammoud demanded life sentences with
hard
labour to eventually be passed by a higher court for the six - Youssef
Mohammed al Hajj Dib, who was arrested in Germany on August 16, Jihad
Hamad,
Khaled Al Hajj Dib, Ayman Hawa, Khalil Ahmed Al Boubou and Saddam Hajj
Dib.

The judge's recommendations against Youssef al Hajj Dib and Saddam Hajj
al
Deeb were issued in absentia, as both had avoided arrest in Lebanon.

Jihad Hamad and the three remaining Lebanese were arrested by the
Lebanese
authorities in northern Lebanon in connection with the train bombing,
and
questioned in the presence of a German prosecutor.

The judge accused Hamad of planting a bomb in the train station in Hamm
and
Youssef al Hajj dib of putting the other bomb in a train heading to
Koblenz.


At the time, Lebanon's general prosecutor Saeed Mirza opposed
transferring
the four suspects to Germany. State law says that only Lebanese judges
can
undertake interrogations on Lebanese territory.

"They are Lebanese citizens, their trial needs to take place here and
they
must serve here any sentence they may be given," a judicial source told
Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

German police said publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in
Western and some Arab Media had been the "trigger" for the alleged
terrorists to organize the bombings on July 31.

The plan failed when bombs hidden on two regional trains did not
exploded
owing to detonator faults.

Youssef al-Hajj Deeb and Jihad Hamad, the two main suspects, were said
by
Lebanese security sources to have been influenced by the late al-Qaeda
chief
in Iraq Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.ameinfo.com/106763.html




Iran, $1bn Iraq reconstruction loan


Iran: Sunday, December 31 - 2006 at 11:14


Iran is to loan $1bn to Iraq for reconstruction purposes, reported the
Gulf
Daily News citing the IRNA news agency. Iranian Economy Minister Davoud
Danesh Jafari said Iraq had committed to using Iranian contractors and
experts for the various infrastructure projects. The loan will be
directed
towards the construction of power plants, roads, hospitals and schools.








http://www.ameinfo.com/106098.html




Total Iran investigation


Iran: Thursday, December 21 - 2006 at 07:30


French energy group Total is being investigated over alleged $2bn
bribes
paid to Iran, MSNBC report. The bribes relate to the South Pars gas
contract, which Total won in 1997. Christophe de Margerie, Total's head
of
exploration and production who is due to take over as chief executive
in
February, faces separate charges of corruption during the UN
oil-for-food
programme.








http://www.ameinfo.com/106281.html




Iran, UAE gas deal concerns


Iran: Saturday, December 23 - 2006 at 16:41


Iran's Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said last week that the
country
will be unwilling to export gas to the UAE unless the price suggested
for
its deal with Sharjah's Crescent Petroleum is revised upwards, reported
the
IRNA. Hamaneh said the MD of Crescent was prepared to hold face to face
talks to resolve the issue.








http://www.ameinfo.com/104936.html




Irancell, Hua discussions


Iran: Monday, December 11 - 2006 at 10:37


Irancell, Iran's second mobile provider, and China's Hua have been
holding
discussions about the production of base station transceiver and base
station controller systems, reported the Tehran Times. A senior
official
from Irancell told the ISNA news agency that talks concerning the
setting up
of assembly lines in Iran had gone well. He added that the manufacture
of
other communication products was also possible.








LEBANON



http://www.ameinfo.com/99811.html


The Professional Computer Association of Lebanon, Intel, MercyCorps,
IESC,
Microsoft, CISCO, CA and UNDP launches training and technology centre
in
Baalbek


The PCA ICT Academy, an ICT development project which aims to transform
the
lives of thousands of families throughout Lebanon, announced the
opening of
a training and technology centre in Baalbek.






Yemen



http://www.ameinfo.com/106776.html




Yemen eyes GCC nuclear plan


Yemen: Sunday, December 31 - 2006 at 15:39


Yemen is keen to join a nuclear energy programme currently being
considered
by neighbouring GCC countries according to President Ali Abdullah Saleh
and
cited by Reuters. The GCC is to look at a peaceful nuclear option amid
geopolitical concerns over Iran's objectives with its nuclear
activities.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Bosnia Reviewing Citizenship Of Former Fighters


http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/01/7fd93f85-314a-4961-9e21-60a8e69edfab.html

Bosnia Reviewing Citizenship Of Former Fighters
January 11, 2007 -- Bosnia-Herzegovina has revoked the citizenship of
330 people, including so-called Islamic holy warriors who fought in the
country's 1992-95 war.

The head of a commission tasked with reviewing citizenship, Vjekoslav
Vukovic, said that among those who lost their citizenship were people
who obtained the citizenship "illegally."

The majority of them were from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

There are some 500 cases left for revision.

(AFP)

[nw_arizona_granny]

Fears grow for 'Aussie Taleban'



http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=340&objectid=10418621

Fears grow for 'Aussie Taleban'

Protests are planned today to mark the fifth anniversary of the
incarceration in Guantanamo Bay of the "Aussie Taleban" David Hicks,
amid growing fears for his mental health.

Hicks has been imprisoned without charge or trial in the United States
military prison camp in Cuba since the day it opened in January 2002.
He
is the only Australian inmate.

A former kangaroo hunter and a Muslim convert, the 31-year-old from
South Australia was captured by the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan in
late 2001 and accused of fighting for al Qaeda.

He is one of about 400 suspected Taleban and al Qaeda fighters being
held in Guantanamo and is expected to be one of the first to face
trial,
although there is still no clear indication from American authorities
when that might be.

There was little sympathy for Hicks among the Australian public when he
was first captured.

A drifter with a background of petty crime, he fought for the Kosovo
Liberation Front in 1999 in the Balkans, where he was photographed
brandishing a bazooka in what has become his defining image in
Australia.

A father of two, he was described by released British inmates of
Guantanamo Bay as "a tiny white guy no more than five feet three inches
(1.6m) tall with a lot of tattoos."

He has variously been portrayed as a luckless adventurer caught up in
the wrong place at the wrong time or a hard-core terrorism recruit -
"the worst of the worst".

But as the delay in bringing him to trial has dragged on, and Britain
insisted that its citizens detained in Guantanamo be repatriated, there
is a growing feeling that he is the victim of a gross injustice,
whether
he fought for the Taleban or not.

There is also concern that the interminable delays in his case have
brought him to the brink of mental collapse.

"I live in fear of receiving the phone call that says he's committed
suicide," his lawyer in Australia, David McLeod, said yesterday.

"When he was last seen two weeks ago he was despondent and very
despairing. He's lost hope and he's refusing to talk to his family.
Everything is as bad as it can be for David Hicks. He's the
longest-serving prisoner of war in Australian history."

Hicks is kept in his cell for 23 hours a day, with a small window
letting in daylight.

Charges against him of conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the
enemy
were dropped last June when the US Supreme Court rejected the tribunal
system set up by President George W. Bush to try foreign terrorism
suspects.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer believes charges will be
laid against Hicks "within a matter of weeks".

Regulations passed by Congress are scheduled to take effect on January
17, clearing the way for trials to proceed.

In a rare note of rebuke for the US Government, Attorney-General Philip
Ruddock and Prime Minister John Howard have admitted in recent weeks
that Hicks' case has dragged on too long.

"The acceptability of him being kept in custody diminishes by the day,"
Howard said.

Hicks' lawyers maintain that his treatment has been a disgrace and that
he stands no chance of a fair trial.

"Who arrested him? The Department of Defence. Who interned him? The
Department of Defence. Who charged him? The Department of Defence,"
McLeod said. "Where's the separation of powers? There is none. This has
been nothing more than a sham."

Public opinion appears to be swinging behind Hicks. In September a
survey found that more than 90 per cent of Australians believe Hicks
deserves a fair trial, but less than a quarter believe he is likely to
receive one.

His detention without charge has been criticised in recent months by
federal Government MPs, judges, archbishops, the head of the Australian
Federal Police and the Defence Force's chief military prosecutor, who
branded his treatment "abominable".

The opposition Labor Party said yesterday that the Government should
press for Hicks to be released on bail and placed under a control order
in Australia.

"There's a crescendo building about his case," said Tim Bugg, president
of the Law Council of Australia. "It's now becoming a matter of great
embarrassment for the Australian Government.

"Our concern is that political considerations have overwhelmed issues
of
principle which form the cradle of the justice system in this country.

"The Australian Government has abandoned an Australian citizen for
political reasons. They should insist that he be released and returned
to Australia."

Hicks could not be charged under Australian anti-terrorism laws because
they were introduced after the offences he is alleged to have
committed.

Hicks was a "minnow in the war on terrorism" and had been sacrificed by
the Australian Government in order for it to remain on good terms with
Washington, McLeod said.

"His treatment has been appalling, shameful and lamentable," he said.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Will 5 new unregulated virtual banks become money laundering centres ?


http://www.world-check.com/articles/2007/01/11/will-5-new-unregulated-virtua
l-banks-become-money-/



Will 5 new unregulated virtual banks become money laundering centres ?

11 January 2007

Entropia Universe,One of the largest online role-playing games, and
where
subscribers can do business in a virtual universe, has announced that
it
will auction off five virtual banking "licenses" this month. These are
full-service cyberbanks without any governmental regulation, meaning
absolutely no compliance requirements, presenting a golden opportunity
for
money launderers and terrorist financiers to thrive there, and to do so
with
impunity. Is the phrase "Barbarians at the Gate" appropriate here ?

Entropia, a Swedish-based online game from MindArk PE AB, claims to
have
500,000 subscribers that moved $ 160m through its virtual economic
system.
It actually has a fixed rate of exchange, where virtual currency is
convertible to US Dollars at ten to one, which can be accessed through
an
established real-world ATM system reportedly from over 1m automated
tellers
worldwide. The website says " the first virtual universe with a real
cash
economy."

The economic aspects are far from theory; players have paid up to
$100,000
to purchase virtual properties on Entropia. Whilst financial
transactions in
the game may seem imaginary to most financial professsionals, they do
indeed
require real dollar funding, which is input into the primitive, but
effective, virtual ecomony. The website boasts " Make real money on
virtual
planet Calypso." Will the presence of virtual banks accelerate its
growth ?

The licenses, which will be exclusive for a period of two years, allow
lending to subscribers, and appear to have no restrictions whatsover on
the
scope of banking business which may be transacted. This mean that
typical
virtual transactions might look like this :

* Money launderers, using financial professionals in their employ as
front men, purchase a virtual bank license. They choose a name for the
bank
that is deceptively similar to that of a well-known international
financial
institutions, and open correspondent accounts in some of the more
unsavory
offshore tax havens.
* They create bogus "loans" to fund the criminal activities of their
clients on a global basis. Inasmuch as there is neither compliance nor
regulatory structure, they can pretty much accept anyone as a customer.
Of
course, all the "customer identification" documents they accept as
proof of
identity are bogus.
* Narcotics traffickers, arms dealers, counterfeiters, and all other
types of financial criminals flock to the virtual banks, where no
questions
are asked about source of funds, whether you are a fugitive from
justice, or
even if you are financing global terrorist operations. Anything goes.
* Since the virtual banks do not exist in any physical sense, there
are serious jurisdictional issues confronting law enforcement and
regulators. The virtual banks exist on the science-fiction planet of
Calypsyo When one bank is closed up, through action against the company
sponsoring the website, another opens up in a faraway country where
enforcement is lax and corrupt, or where the law has not yet developed
sufficiently to allow enforcement.
* Money launderers adapt to enforcement by operating a string of
virtual banks, moving on when one is eventually terminated.

In short, this is a potential money laundering nightmare. The virtual
banks
have no government-issued licenses, and we trust that this virtual
financial
"industry" can be promptly terminated under existing laws. Online
role-playing games simply cannot create financial structures without
real-life regulation. It would open the floodgates for financial
criminals.

For Further Reading: Virtual Money Laundering now available on the
World
Wide Web, World-Check 2 January, 2007.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Sudanese defence minister arrives in Iran Friday



http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article19710

Sudanese defence minister arrives in Iran Friday
Friday 12 January 2007 02:30.

Jan 11, 2007 (TEHRAN) --- Sudanese Defence Minister tomorrow is
expected
to arrive in Teheran a four-day visit to Iran to discuss military
cooperation, Iranian press reported.

Sudanese Defence Minister Abdelrahim Hussein, at the invitation of
Iranian Defence Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar, is
due to hold talks with senior Iranian political and military officials.

Hussein after the official welcoming will participate in Friday prayer

The first round of talks between the two countries' military
delegations
is scheduled for Saturday.

(ST)

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=18400

Man Questioned -- Again -- For Pre-paid Cell Phones
Posted Tuesday, January 9, 2007 ; 06:07 PM

Watch Video
Philippi police question man with large quantity of phones previously linked to terrorism

Story by Gabe Gutierrez Email | Bio

PHILIPPI -- A Michigan man was questioned Friday during a routine traffic stop after Philippi police found 90 pre-paid, or TRAC, cellular phones in his car.

The unusual discovery prompted officers to contact federal authorities, following alerts that large quantities of the phones have been linked to terrorist activity.

At 5:08 p.m. Friday, police stopped Hashem Sayed, 24, on Route 119 near its intersection with Hackers Creek Road. According to the traffic citation, Sayed was heading north towards Grafton and was driving left of center.

Barbour County Prosecutor Lynn Phillips said he had about 90 TRAC phones with him. Police questioned Sayed and the two others with him.

The police contacted federal authorities, but officers soon released Sayed.

Phillips said the investigation is considered complete at the local level.

Bill Crowley, an FBI spokesman, could not confirm or deny any ongoing investigation Monday.

This is not the first time Sayed, of Dearborn, Mich., has raised a red flag.

In August, Grafton police pulled him over for a routine traffic stop. What they found in his car was far from routine: more than 150 TRAC phones.

It may have been unusual, but not illegal. Still, the police contacted federal authorities.

At the time, Sayed said he was buying them to ship to California to sell for a profit. Authorities let him go.

Cases like this have the FBI on high alert.

Last February, the agency sent out a bulletin warning local law enforcement of links between the pre-paid cell phones and terrorist activity. The phones' digital frequency has been used to detonate car bombs overseas.

In Marietta, Ohio, two Michigan men were found last August with a large quantity of phones. In the past year, men with large numbers of cell phones have been found across the country. Some have been arrested on terror charges.

Copyright 2007 West Virginia Media.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1766824/posts

2 Dead in Small Jet Crash in Los Angeles
Breitbart.com ^ | 01.12.07 | GREG RISLING


Posted on 01/12/2007 4:58:31 PM PST by CAWats


A small business jet crashed while taking off from Van Nuys Airport on Friday, killing two people, federal officials said. A witness said the door of a nose compartment on the plane was open as it took off.

The plane had been carrying only its two crew members when it went down around 11 a.m., said Joe Miller, a dispatcher with Sun Quest Executive Air Charter, which operated the plane. Fire Department spokesman Ron Myers said two bodies were located in the burned wreckage.

The plane's left-hand nose baggage door was "wide open" as it took off, and the jet was veering side-to-side at a low speed, said witness Steve Purwin, a corporate jet pilot with 25 years experience.

"He was right on the verge of stall," Purwin said.

The plane then banked to its right before crashing, he said.

Little remained of twin-engine Cessna Citation but smoldering debris in a field near the San Fernando Valley airport. No nearby structures appeared to be damaged.

The plane had been leaving the airport in the Los Angeles suburbs, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said. It was headed to Long Beach, about 25 miles south of Los Angeles.

Depending on the model, a Citation can hold four to eight passengers, plus two pilots.

Van Nuys is the busiest general aviation airport in the nation, with an average of nearly 500,000 takeoffs and landings annually. It is owned by the city's Los Angeles World Airports department and used by private, corporate, charter, flight instruction and maintenance operations.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1766650/posts

PA: School Bus Crash in Falls Twp. (Final total of student injuries: 14)
Local Philly News ^ | 1-12-07


Posted on 01/12/2007 12:12:18 PM PST by cgk





School Bus Crash in Falls Twp.



As Many As 15 Students Injured

FALLS TWP., Pa. - January 12, 2007 - A school bus crash went out of control and crashed into a group of students at Pennsbury High School.

---

CLICK HERE TO WATCH CHOPPER 6 LIVE FROM THE SCENE

---

The accident happened around 2:30 outside the high school.


Pictures from Chopper 6 showed a group of students being tended to on the sidewalk outside the school.


Some of the students were being placed on stretchers. Reports from the scene said as many as 15 students were injured.


The bus appeared to have traveled quite a bit away from the scene, before crashing into a wall.


A school official told Action News that some students on the bus were also injured.




(Copyright 2007 by Action News and 6abc.com. All Rights Reserved)

[nw_arizona_granny]

Source: Press Release Ft. George S. Meade (MD) [edited]
http://www.ftmeade.army.mil/pdf/news-release/NR_Botulism.pdf


Fort Meade officials say 2 cases of infant botulism have been
reported in residents at the Army post since Oct 2006. Fort Meade
spokesman Travis Edwards says one infant, who was diagnosed on 6 Oct
2006, has recovered. He says the 2nd, who was diagnosed late in
December 2006, remains hospitalized at Walter Reed Army Medical
Center. Both infants were under the age of 6 months when they were
diagnosed. Some 6000 people live on the installation.

Lieutenant Colonel Sharon Cole-Wainwright, chief of preventative
medicine at Fort Meade, says infant botulism is caused by ingesting
[spores of the] _Clostridium botulinum_ bacterium found naturally in
soils and in some contaminated food products.

Edwards says officials placed hay on a dirt lot at the base to reduce
the spread of dust, and the installation commander went door-to-door
handing out fact sheet about infant botulism.

--
Brent Barrett
Indianapolis, Indiana
salbrent@sbcglobal.net

[Infant botulism results from the ingestion of spores of the organism
rather than preformed toxin. It is the most common form of botulism
in the USA. A much rarer equivalent to infant botulism, adult
colonization botulism, also may occur. Both can be grouped under the
umbrella term intestinal botulism. This term implies in situ
production of the neurotoxin. The following is the CDC editorial
note with references from the 2003 report of a cluster of cases of
infant botulism in New York City. As noted in the piece, apparent
clusters of infant botulism are quite rare.

"Intestinal botulism is the commonest form of human botulism in the
United States (1); about 100 cases are reported among infants in the
United States annually. Intestinal botulism occurs rarely in older
children and adults (2-6). Intestinal botulism results from
colonization and bacterial production of botulinum toxin in the
colon. Swallowing ambient _C. botulinum_ spores, which exist
worldwide in soil and dust, has been proposed as the principal route
of exposure; honey is an avoidable source of some causative spores
(4). A common source of exposure generally is not identified;
apparent clusters such as the 4 Staten Island cases are rare and
often remain unexplained after investigations are complete (7). In a
cluster of infant botulism cases identified previously in the
mid-Atlantic region of the United States, no common source of
exposure was identified (8).

Botulism should be suspected in previously healthy infants aged 12
months who are constipated and who exhibit weakness in sucking,
swallowing, or crying; hypotonia; and progressive bulbar and
extremity muscle weakness. About half of patients require mechanical
ventilation during hospitalization (9). Lumbar puncture and brain
imaging generally yield normal results but can help differentiate
among other causes of flaccid weakness. When infant botulism is
suspected, local and state health departments should be notified
promptly to arrange diagnostic stool testing.

The primary therapy for infant botulism is intensive care with
mechanically assisted ventilation when necessary. Prompt diagnosis
and treatment of infant botulism with BIG-IV might reduce the length
of time needed for recovery. In a placebo-controlled trial of BIG-IV,
the mean hospital stay of patients with infant botulism was reduced
from 5.6 to 2.6 weeks (4).

Therapy is guided by clinical diagnosis; to avoid delay in treatment,
BIG-IV should be requested and administered without awaiting
laboratory confirmation. BIG-IV can be obtained from the CDHS Infant
Botulism Treatment and Prevention Program, telephone 510-540-2646.
Use of BIG-IV under the FDA-approved Treatment Investigational New
Drug open-label protocol requires informed parental consent and
coordination with the hospital's institutional review board (IRB).
The license application for BIG-IV was filed with FDA in 2001; should
it be licensed, IRB approval would no longer be required. Infant
botulism is notifiable at the national level, and physicians should
report all cases promptly to state and local health departments.

1. CDC: Botulism in the United States, 1899--1996: handbook for
epidemiologists, clinicians, and laboratory workers. Atlanta,
Georgia: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, 1998.

2. Fenecia L, Franciosa G, Pourshaben M, Aureli P: Intestinal toxemia
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6. Griffin PM, Hatheway CL, Rosenbaum RB, Sokolow R: Endogenous
antibody production to botulinum toxin in an adult with intestinal
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7. Istre G, Compton R, Novotny T, et al: Infant botulism: three cases
in a small town. Am J Dis Child 1986; 140: 1013-4.

8. Long SS: Epidemiologic study of infant botulism in Pennsylvania:
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9. Bleck TP: Clostridium botulinum (botulism). In: Mandell GL,
Bennett JE, Dolin R, eds. Principles and practices of infectious
diseases, 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Churchill Livingstone,
2000."

Ft George S. Meade is located in eastern Maryland between Baltimore
and Washington DC, just south of the Baltimore Washington
International Airport.

ProMED thanks Brent Barrett for the posting as well as A-Lan Banks,
who forwarded a similar report. - Mod.LL]

[see also:
2005
----
Adult colonization botulism - Czech Rep. ex. Georgia (02): susp
20050426.1159
Adult colonization botulism - Czech Rep. ex Georgia: susp 20050420.1108
2003
----
Infant botulism - USA (New York City) 20030117.0144
2001
----
Botulism, baby formula - UK, Ireland: recall 20010814.1919]
...............ll/pg/mpp