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World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #6 Disinformation, Inc.
Global Politician/Ocnus.Net ^ | Dec 17, 2006 | Professor Daniel M. Zucker

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


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To: All; struwwelpeter

Interfax: Beslan probe deadline extended by three months


--- In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com,

Beslan probe deadline extended by three months

MOSCOW. Jan 15 (Interfax) - The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has
extended by three months the deadline for the completion of the
preliminary investigation into the Beslan school siege.

"Deputy Prosecutor General Ivan Sydoruk has extended by three months
the
term for the preliminary investigation into the Beslan school siege by
a
group of militants," the Prosecutor General's Office said in a
statement
on Monday.


2,081 posted on 01/16/2007 5:16:28 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2057 | View Replies]

To: All

RFE/RL: Pro-Moscow Chechens said to defect to resistance


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/message/51263


--- In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com,

RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 4, Part I, 9 January 2007

PRO-MOSCOW CHECHENS SAID TO DEFECT TO RESISTANCE. Three members of
the so-called Kadyrovtsy -- the armed men loyal to pro-Moscow Chechen
Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov -- quit their base in Gudermes in
November and have gone over to the resistance, the website
kavkazcenter.com reported on January 8, citing a source in the
Eastern Front headquarters. The defectors reportedly said Kadyrov and
his entourage are wholly controlled by Russia's Federal Security
Service (FSB), and that they could no longer tolerate the
"humiliation" and forced Russification to which they claimed they
were constantly subjected. The pro-Moscow Chechen authorities have
announced that the three men are missing. LF


2,082 posted on 01/16/2007 5:19:00 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2057 | View Replies]

To: All

RCIA: The history of the Chechen tragedy since 1994


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/message/51268


--- In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com,

RCFS: The history of the Chechen tragedy since 1994
By Oksana Chelysheva
Russian-Chechen Information Agency


The Russian-Chechen armed conflict has been developing since 1994
and it has become the longest-ever war of contemporary Europe. It
has resulted in approximately 100 thousand civilian casualties and
thousands of missing people. The capital of Chechnya, the city of
Grozny, used to be one of the biggest industrial, cultural and
scientific centers of the North Caucasus, with a population of 500
000 people, and it was completely destroyed by carpet bombings and
regular shelling by the Russian air force and artillery in 1999 and
2000. At the same time, this armed conflict has become one of the
most desperate catastrophes of contemporary Europe due to its having
been neglected by the countries of the free world.

There are two periods in the Russian-Chechen armed conflict. The
first war started in December 1994 and finished on 31 August 1996
with the Khasavyurt Peace Agreement. On 12 May 1997 the Peace Treaty
was signed in Moscow. As a result, the Russian troops were withdrawn
from Chechnya and Chechnya received independence de-facto. However,
the legal status of the independent Chechen state of I
chkeria was
not settled, remaining suspended according to the terms of the Peace
Agreement until 2002. However, it is important to point out that it
is not political or military leaders who won the war; it is neither
Chechnya nor the Kremlin that gained the victory in the first
campaign. It was the result of very strong anti-war sentiments
inside Russia, adequate pressure imposed upon Russia by the
international community and extremely effective work of journalists,
both Russian and foreign, in covering the conflict.

The second campaign which started in 1999 has been completely
different in its character. The Russian side waged the first war
with the sole purpose of securing the integrity of the Russian Federation. Their main purpose was to keep the tiny republic of
Chechnya under the rule of Moscow, whereas the second was necessary
for the Kremlin political technologists to ensure Putin's coming to
power. To achieve the recognition of the relatively unknown FSB
colonel among the electorate, they decided to organize a small
victorious war.

Russian mass media and the public opinion supported the war hysteria
that started after the explosions in Moscow. The war, the
informational blockade of the conflict and the first attempts to
introduce censorship in Russia in the context of the war began the
process of curtailing freedom of expression. There is very strong
evidence that the FSB was behind the terrible bombings in Moscow in
summer 1999. No effective investigation into those acts of terror
has been carried out. Moreover, the Ryazan incident should be taken
as a serious ground to claim that the FSB of Russia was involved in
organizing this plot against peace and stability in Russia. On 23
September 1999 residents of an apartment building situated in
Novosyoly Street detained people who were planting sacks containing
a mixture of sugar with explosive substance. The people turned out
to be FSB agents. A few days after the incident the FSB claimed that
they had organized a special "training exercise" to check the
vigilance of people. The lawyer Mikhail Trepashkin, a former
security officer, was involved in investigation of the Moscow
bombings. He was convicted in May 2004 of revealing state secrets
and illegally possessing ammunition. He was sentenced to four years'
imprisonment in a prison colony following a criminal investigation
and trial that appeared to be politically motivated and fell short
of international standards. He has been suffering severe asthma
attacks in the colony. Many human rights groups have already
expressed their concerns about Trepashkin's health as he has been
regularly denied adequate medical treatment. Another former FSB
officer, Alexander Litvinenko, was poisoned in London. He also
revealed the responsibility of the FSB in being behind those who
organized the acts of terror in his book "FSB blows up Russia".

The Kremlin also managed to provoke an armed crisis in Dagestan
which was used as a pretext for the Russian troops to enter Chechnya
by playing on religious Wahabi sentiments inside Dagestan, by
secretly backing up Chechen militants' groups headed by such people
as Shamil Basaev and Amir Khattab who had refused to obey orders of
the legitimate Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov and by labeling all
Chechens as being a nation of terrorists.

Since the very start of the second war in Chechnya, the Russian
authorities denied there was an armed conflict there, claiming it to
be a counter-terrorist operation. One of their goals has been to
prevent application of the international humanitarian law by
declarations that Russia has become involved in the fight against
international terror. However, the introduction of a new concept
of "a counter-terrorist operation", in place of an anti-terror
operation, shows that the Russian authorities feel free to interpret
international norms in a way that is advantageous to them.

First and foremost, the current situation in the Chechen Republic is
far from being post-conflict. Neither can we agree with the
assertion that it is a sustained low-intensity conflict. We form our
opinion on the information coming from the network of our reporters
as well as on the information published by our partner human rights
organizations ("Memorial" human rights center, first of all) and
independent media venues (Radio Liberty, "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper,
etc.).

Although the large-scale fighting in Chechnya took place between
autumn 1999 and spring 2000, broad "mopping-up" operations followed
it including ID checks carried out by combined force units such as
army, Federal Security Service, the Ministry of the Interior and the
Ministry of Justice forces.

However, since approximately 2002 the federal side started the
process of the so-called "chechenization" of the conflict by
establishing force agencies made up of ethnic Chechens. The
intention was obvious from the very beginning of this process. It
was aimed at preventing the conflict from dying down by pushing
Chechens into a civil war. At the same time, setting Chechens on to
fighting with each other is a good ground for the Kremlin
propagandists to claim that there is no separatist component in the
on-going fight in Chechnya.

However, the recent incidents evidence that the current situation in
Chechnya is broadly characterized by rivalry and hostility among the
pro-Moscow Chechen force units. Blood feud is one of the main moving
factors of the Russian policy in Chechnya, and this centuries-long
tradition is one of the most effective hooks to ensure the necessary
level of servitude.

The overwhelming majority of the so-called Chechen law-enforcement
units have been established by people who perpetrated such crimes as
murders and kidnappings. Immediately after the Russian federal
forces established control over Chechnya, a militant group headed by
Movladi Baysarov took the Russian side. Baysarov was a member of a
criminal group headed by Ruslan Labazanov which was destroyed in
summer 1994. In the period between the two war campaigns Baysarov
was allegedly involved in a number of kidnappings with the aim of
obtaining ransom. Recently Baysarov was officially put on the wanted
police list for the crimes that he has perpetrated. However, it
can't be taken for a sign that the Russian authorities are genuinely
trying to bring the guilty to accountability. As a matter of fact,
Baysarov was freely moving around Moscow in his armored jeep
vehicle, giving interviews to journalists explaining that his
misfortunes have been caused by hatred that the Chechen Prime
Minister Ramzan Kadyrov felt towards him.

He must have been absolutely sincere in his attempt to identify the
roots of his problem. This distorted system of the loyalty and
servitude is based on discreditable information filed on almost each
and everyone who serves for Moscow. These files are being used
selectively when the time comes to either remind the disobedient
servant about their dependency or to get rid of those who dare go
too far. Baysarov's "Highlander" unit had been rounded up for the
last few weeks before they surrendered and laid down their arms. On
18 November, Movladi Baysarov was killed by the special detachment
of police servicemen who tried to detain him. Thus, one more story
of Kadyrov's rivals ended with a skirmish and exchange of fire --
not in "remote" Chechnya but in the middle of Moscow.

Kadyrov the younger has become the supreme ruler of Chechnya after
the assassination of his father Akhmad-Khadji Kadyrov that occurred
on 9 May 2004. This badly-educated young man with an inclination to
violence has become the nightmare of Chechnya.

Two images of the present Chechnya have been in strong contradiction
to one another for the last two years. The Chechnya of official
declarations has become a post-conflict zone with the only
requirement being reconstruction of its economic infrastructure. It
is being revived under the rule of the actual Chechen leader, Ramzan
Kadyrov, who has gained the love and respect of all his
subordinates. Ramzan Kadyrov is being depicted as a trustworthy pro-
Moscow Chechen leader who is reconstructing Grozny, taking care of
children and the disabled people and following all recommendations
of his PR advisors, including master classes in the Russian
language.

I would propose that we develop this cloudless picture further, and
imagine Ramzan Kadyrov wearing a proper suit and a bow-tie, making
speeches about his devotion to the peace process, amnesty to all the
lost souls of young people, for whom he just is a caring father, and
his absolute respect for women, including and particularly Anna
Politkovskaya. We would believe his assertions about his absolute
unawareness of numerous severe human rights abuses on the territory,
which is under his absolute rule. We would forget what kind of power
this young dictator is imposing on all the people, what kind of
methods he is using to get rid of his rivals and opponents.

It is really true that quite a number of people around him are
former combatants whose sins are forgiven for their declared loyalty
to Kadyrov and not just for their own physical security but also the
security of their relatives. They know pretty well what might happen
to those who dare to betray Ramzan Kadyrov. Mayrbek Eshiev
surrendered in 2004, and Ramzan made him one of his commanders. But
no sooner had he established that Eshiev was continuing to help
combatants than all his family was annihilated, including little
children.

The other ones do not want to follow this example. Sulim Yamadaev
was among the first who joined the Russian federal side. According
to the data established by the prosecutor's office, his criminal
group perpetrated such crimes as kidnapping. However, it was
legalized as a special unit subordinate to the military commandant
of Gudermes district. Then the "Vostok" battalion was based on it
and it is now part of the 42nd division at the Ministry of Defense
of the Russian Federation.

"Zapad" battalion is another unit within the same division. It is
headed by Said-Magomed Kakiev who is also notorious for the crimes
and terrorist acts in which he was involved. In April 2006 this very
agency perpetrated the enforced disappearance of two young people in
the vicinity of Samashki village. One of them, Bulat Chilaev, worked
as a driver with a prominent humanitarian organization "Civil
Assistance". The other one, Aslan Israilov, allegedly contributed to
the work of the "Kavkaz-Center" web page by collecting information
on the situation in Chechnya. Although the crime was committed in
front of numerous witnesses who managed to remember the state
license plates of the perpetrators' cars, who found the ID tag
dropped by one of the officers, the fate of the two young men still
remains unknown.

The kadyrovtsy remain the principal threat for the civilian
population in Chechnya. These "enforcement units" have been set up
on the basis of Akhmat Kadyrov's security service. They are headed
by his former guards even now. Ruslan Alkhanov is the Minister of
the Interior and Adam Demilkhanov has become the vice prime minister
of the government responsible for enforcement agencies. Idris
Gaibov, the assistant of the Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov,
became especially infamous after he personally beheaded one of the
chiefs of the resistance, Dushaev Khozh-Akhmed, who was taken
captive in the clash. His subordinates took video footage of the
medieval carnage with their cell phones. The head and the blood-
covered trousers of the murder victim were horrifying people in the
village for the next two days.

Having taken all this information into account, we have come to the
conclusion that the conflict there remains highly intensive, that
the general situation in the Chechen Republic is utterly unstable
and is fraught with serious consequences. The Chechen combatants
attack Russian federal forces, checkpoints and military vehicles,
and plant explosive devices almost every day. Large areas situated
in the South of the republic are not controlled by the Russian
federal forces. Forested and mountainous areas in that region are
subjected to shelling and even air raids almost every day. Thus, we
can speak about an on-going guerrilla war of high-level intensity.
The Russian and Moscow-backed Chechen authorities do not even manage
to keep their own forces under control. The events in the settlement
of Borozdinovskaya evidence it. The police carried out a special
operation there on 4 June 2006 in which armored vehicles were
involved. Eleven people were arbitrarily detained in front of
hundreds of witnesses. All of them disappeared without a trace. That
day some 100 unidentified persons from the power structure
subordinate to Sulim Yamadaev made a raid on the village of
Borozdinovskaya, killing one person and kidnapping 11 other citizens
of the settlement. After the incident, almost all the residents of
the village (the overwhelming majority being Avars by nationality)
left their homes and set up a tent camp in the Kizlyar District in
neighboring Dagestan. After Ramzan Kadyrov's personal promises, they
returned home, but then again left for Dagestan. The basic
objectives of the residents - the return of their kidnapped
neighbors, payment of compensation and punishment of the culprits -
have never been fulfilled. The authorities have failed to recognize
Borozdinovskaya residents to be refugees. Even now, the camp, which
the former Borozdinovskaya residents had called "Nadezhda" (Hope),
is now sheltering about 160 persons including over 60 children. The
refugees' children have no opportunity to go to school, since they
are not taken to local schools, and adults are actually deprived of
their right to work, as they have no local registration.

In addition, many Chechen citizens get abducted every day and
perpetrators of these crimes escape punishment. The story of the
Bugaevs is one of the clearest examples of the selective character
of the harassment of particular families. Only one member of the
family, Arbi Bugaev, has managed to escape the misfortune of the
other members of the family as he is residing in Austria now. One of
his brothers, Alvi Bugaev, was first abducted and tortured in 2003.
On his release, the same very day he was executed by unidentified
people in the yard of his sister's house, all his children
witnessing how their father was shot dead. The other brother,
Olkhazur Bugaev, disappeared the same year. His nephew, a student of
the law faculty, was arbitrary detained, and subjected to torture.
It is the usual way to force detainees to give confessions of crimes
that they have not committed. Now he is a heavily disabled person
suffering from epilepsy that developed as an after-effect of torture
with electric shock. Their mother was taken hostage at the time of
the school siege in Beslan, in accordance with the strategy of
counter-taking of hostages. The elderly woman spent four days with
her hands tied up, and a bag on her head, with no food or water. She
was set free only after it had been established that her sons were
not among the terrorists in Beslan.

After Maskhadov's death all the remaining illusions about any
prospects for a political settlement of the conflict were shattered.
Already before that, the reluctance of the Russian authorities to
negotiate had been clear for several years. If Maskhadov had
survived, he would have been possibly held accountable for the acts
of his guerrilla fighters, who were becoming more and more
brutalized by the prolongation of the war. Maskhadov proved that he
was capable of controlling the forces of the armed resistance. At
the same time, he hoped that sooner or later he would be able to
exorcize the war with his unsuccessful, empty calls for peace.
However, his calls for peace were hopeless, not least because the
Russian side has never been really interested in commencing a real
political process, as distinct from the feigned one which all of us
have observed. It is how the dictatorship of Ramzan Kadyrov has been
successfully established.

Kadyrov has managed to create the atmosphere in which people are
afraid of their relatives and neighbors. The increasingly effective
work of the special services and local power-wielding structures,
the work of secret agents and, most importantly, the neutralization
of a section of the population who sympathize with the separatist
movement thorough their banishment or annihilation of dissidents and
constant abuse of power have really weakened the social base of the
resistance. In Chechnya it is more and more difficult for guerrillas
to find refuge, to buy goods in the areas where Kadyrov's people are
controlling the situation.

Right now the cult of personality of Ramzan Kadyrov is developing in
Chechnya. Grozny and all the administrative and school buildings all
over Chechnya are decorated with the Kadyrovs' portraits and their
wise statements.

Nevertheless, it doesn't mean anything else but the fact that
Chechnya of 2006 has become a huge concentration camp and its
silence is nothing but the silence of the grave.

Russian policies in Chechnya and North Caucasus in particular are a
clear example of the official misuse of counterterrorism that has
perpetuated and facilitated human rights violations in the context
of the Chechen conflict, but also had a corrosive effect on the rule
of law and the integrity of state institutions throughout Russia as
a whole. Just as importantly, the apparent inability of European
and international mechanisms to respond effectively to continuing
severe violations of human rights in Russia presents a challenge to
the credibility of multilateral human rights discourses and
mechanisms.

The situation with the mass burial discovered on 24 February 2001 in
the vicinity of the main military base of the Russian federal forces
in the village of Khankala is an evident example of the reasons why
the perpetrators of the most unimaginable crimes are enjoying their
impunity. The main two reasons for such a state of things are the
Russian authorities' indifference to these violations and their
readiness to do whatever possible to cover their own servicemen from
responsibility. There was one crucial factor that contributed to the
atmosphere of lawlessness, and it is the absolute indifference to
the shocking discovery, and ineffective investigation from the world
community. Human Rights Watch in their report on the mass grave in
Dachny settlement drew a very distressing conclusion on the
inactivity of international bodies. The Council of Europe was the
only international organization that had access to the site, and
they failed to insist on conducting effective investigation.
However, its experts didn't visit the site, didn't carry out the
forensic expertise of the corpses and didn't control the course of
the investigation. The attitude towards the tragedy in Chechnya was
completely different from the loud-voiced expressions of indignation
with the discovery of similar mass graves in Kosovo in 1999 and
2000. Neither the USA nor the OSCE made any public statements The
Permanent Council of the European Union called for a thorough
investigation but did nothing to attract attention to it. On 20
April 2001 the UN Commission on Human Rights adopted the resolution
condemning such extrajudicial executions and the practice of
enforced disappearances in Chechnya but no practical steps followed
that declaration.

Fifty-one corpses of both men and women were discovered in that mass
grave. Only nineteen of them were identified. Sixteen of these
nineteen people had been detained by the Russian military in
different places all over Chechnya. The European Court on Human
Rights made a decision on one of the cases submitted by a relative
of one of the women, 40-year-old Nura Lulueva, found in that mass
grave after she had been arbitrary detained in the market of Grozny
with several other people, including her two cousins. Lulueva was a
mother of four children who earned their living by marketing food.
On 3 June 2000 a group of military servicemen appeared at the market
and detained her. Eyewitnesses to the detention report that the
military servicemen arrived on armoured personnel carriers (APC),
which are only used by federal forces. The European Court regarded
the case as a violation of Article 2, 3, 5 and 13 of the European
Convention. They decision was unanimous to award 12 000 Euros to
each of Nura Lulueva's children, and 10 000 Euros to her parents and
2000 Euros to each of her brothers. The compensation seems to be
fair and it is likely that they will receive it as Russia complies
with its obligations in regard to paying out the compensations to
the victims of human rights abuses. However, they are very unwilling
to implement the general measures which are aimed at resolving the
systematic problems identified by the Court, including lack of
effective investigations and the issue of impunity. At the same
time, people in Chechnya consider the European court as the most
effective mechanism to demand fair punishment for the perpetrators
of the most atrocious crimes.
There is an evident link between the armed conflict in Chechnya and
the growing tension in the neighboring republics of Ingushetia,
Kabardino-Balkaria and Dagestan. The conflict has already spread
into the adjacent regions. The Russian-Chechen conflict is the
detonator and the catalyst of the conflicts in Dagestan and
Ingushetia, and partly in Kabardino-Balkaria. The assault on
Ingushetia carried by units of Chechen combatants on 21-22 June 2004
is a glaring example of this tendency. The hostage-taking in Beslan
on 1 September 2004 has deteriorated the situation in the region as
it ignited the Ossetian-Ingush relations that had been extremely
tense since 1992, the time of the massacre. The ideology of the
Chechen separatist movement is gradually slipping down from national
liberation ideology to radical Islam. It has resulted in the
appearance of the Salafi underground movement in Dagestan,
Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. It is evident that there is close
cooperation and coordination of actions undertaken by fighting
jamaats based in these republics with those leaders of the Chechen
resistance movement that share the Salafi ideology and organize acts
of terror as it was when Basaev was alive. However, on 17 November
2006 the leader of the Kabardino-Balkarian jamaat Astemirov
published a video appeal to the Russian state and those local people
who rebels consider to be collaborators in which he threatened them
with a new wave of escalation of fighting and assaults on the
officials, clergy and enforcement agents that work with the official
bodies.

There is no doubt that the situation in the North Caucasus can
improve only if the Russian-Chechen conflict is resolved, which is
not possible under the present political circumstances in Russia and
due to the lack of adequate response on the part of the
international community. Thus, the Russian-Chechen armed conflict is
becoming more and more silenced which is likely to result in the
further deterioration of the situation in different parts of Russia.
The double standards of the current Russian policy are very apparent
when the Kremlin supports the separatist tendencies in
Transdnistria, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and crushes any attempts
to demand the right to self-determination in Russia. The negligence
of the world society to the on-going crisis in the North Caucasus
can be also regarded as a factor stirring the conflict and
radicalizing the combatants. People in the North Caucasus feel
abandoned and betrayed by societies which proclaim the democratic
values of the West. The separatist movement of the 1990s was secular
and desperately called on the European institutions to intervene and
contribute to the political resolution of the Russian-Chechen armed
conflict. As these attempts failed, the underground movement has
started to be dominated by the doctrines of fundamentalist Islam.

By Oksana Chelysheva,
Editor, Russian-Chechen Information Agency


2,083 posted on 01/16/2007 5:24:27 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All

UK advises 48 countries on polonium tests


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/message/51285


--- In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com,

Thu 11 Jan 2007

UK advises 48 countries on polonium tests

By Mark Trevelyan

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is working with nearly 50 countries to help
them assess the risk to some 450 people who fear they may have been
exposed to the radioactive poison that killed former Russian agent
Alexander Litvinenko in London.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said on Thursday that tests in
Britain alone had identified 116 people who had "probable contact" with
the poison, Polonium 210, but only 13 of these showed levels that
required further monitoring.

The 13, mostly London hotel staff, were assessed to have received
radiation doses above six millisieverts (mSv), but the dose that killed
Litvinenko was "many thousands of times greater", HPA chief executive
Pat Troop said.

The risk of a fatal cancer is 0.005 percent per mSV, so 6 mSV equates
to
a risk of 0.03 percent -- tiny when considered that the general
population has a 23 percent chance of dying from canc

er anyway.

Troop said the HPA was sharing its data and testing methods with dozens
of countries whose nationals had visited sites including a London hotel
and sushi bar, where Litvinenko held meetings on the day he fell ill.

"We've been working with 48 other countries who have between them
around
450 of their nationals who were affected through this incident," she
told a news conference.

"We've been sending them a lot of information ... about how they might
assess their risk."

Litvinenko, a former FSB security agent who became a fierce critic of
the Kremlin in exile, died an agonising death in a London hospital and
accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering his death, a
charge
dismissed by Moscow.

Investigators subsequently discovered a trail of radiation across
London
at hotels, restaurants, bars, offices and even a soccer stadium visited
by people who had dealings with him.

British police are investigating his death as murder and have visited
Moscow to attend questioning of Litvinenko's Russian associates by
authorities there.

It remains unclear how the 13 people with doses over 6 mSv absorbed the
traces of polonium. HPA officials said hotel workers could, for
example,
have inhaled it in dust or ingested it by touching contaminated
crockery
and then eating something themselves without washing their hands.

An associate of Litvinenko, Yuri Shvets, told the BBC last month that
he
had drunk tea with two Russians on November 1 at the Pine Bar of the
Millennium Hotel, where British tests show eight staff and two guests
received doses above 6 mSv.

In addition, authorities in the Netherlands said last month that a
Dutch
guest who stayed at the same hotel had tested positive for a very low
level of polonium.




This constitutes a "dirty bomb" attack by a foreign power on the
citizens of London and their guests. It's interesting to compare the
attitude to this very real terrorist attack, on top of it committed by
a
state, with the ear-deafening noise about the Hollywood story of
"liquid
explosives" (whose falling apart of course went unreported). While
every
mom carrying a glass of baby food became a terrorist suspect, bumbling
KGB agents were spreading the most toxic substance known to science
through most of the City. What are the British authorities going to do
about this? N.S.


2,084 posted on 01/16/2007 5:26:34 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All

"Since there had been little or no development of sustained capacity
for interrogation practice, training, or research within intelligence
or military communities in the post-Soviet period, many interrogators
were forced to 'make it up' on the fly," wrote Robert A. Fein,
chairman of the study, published by the National Defense Intelligence
College. "This shortfall in advanced, research-based interrogation
methods at a time of intense pressure from operational commanders to
produce actionable intelligence from high-value targets may have
contributed significantly to the unfortunate cases of abuse that have
recently come to light."

The report explores scientific knowledge on interrogation in the wake
of reported abuse around the globe. The study, sponsored by the
Defense Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon's Counterintelligence
Field Activity, was posted yesterday on the Federation of American
Scientists' Web site, at http://www.fas.org/irp/dni/educing.pdf.

In it, experts find that popular culture and ad hoc experimentation
have fueled the use of aggressive and sometimes physical interrogation
techniques to get those captured on the battlefields to talk, even if
there is no evidence to support the tactics' effectiveness. The board,
which advises the director of national intelligence, recommends
studying the matter.

[this is the middle of the article]

From:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501204.html
Interrogation Research Is Lacking, Report Says
Few Studies Have Examined U.S. Methods
By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 16, 2007; Page A15


2,085 posted on 01/16/2007 5:29:47 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All

Arab fund extends two loans to Lebanon worth total of US$208 million


http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/15/africa/ME-GEN-Kuwait-Lebanon-Loans.php

Arab fund extends two loans to Lebanon worth total of US$208 million

KUWAIT CITY: A Kuwait-based Arab financing fund on Monday extended two
loans worth a total of 60 million dinars (US$208 million) to the
Lebanese government to help them revive the private sector and rebuild
electrical power facilitates damaged in last summer's Israeli-Hezbollah
war.

Lebanon's finance minister, Jihad Azour, signed the loan agreements
with
the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development while on a brief
visit
to Kuwait, the state-owned Kuwait News Agency said.

Azour accompanied Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who is touring
Arab states ahead of a Jan. 25 international donors' conference in
Paris
aimed at securing financial aid for the country's struggling post-war
economy.

The Lebanese government will have 25 years, including a grace period of
eight years, to repay the loans --- one with a 3 percent annual
interest
rate and the other with a 4.5 percent rate.

Monday's agreements raise the loans extended by the fund to Lebanon to
387 million dinars (US$1.34 billion).


2,086 posted on 01/16/2007 5:32:25 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All; milford421

Ethiopia: Company Opens Pilots Training School


http://allafrica.com/stories/200701150341.html

Ethiopia: Company Opens Pilots Training School

Abyssinia Flight Services (AFS) has opened the first private pilot
training school in the country.

Established by Capt. Solomon Gizaw, its owner and managing director,
AFS
has been providing light aircraft charter flights to customers with two
Cessna aircraft since 1998. In addition to passenger and cargo charter
flights the company's operations include aerial services and medical
evacuation flights.

A statement sent to The Reporter said the pilot training training
school
was certified and approved by the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority.

"The school meets the requirements set by the International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO), the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)
and the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority," the statement said.

Capt Belay Assefa, head of the pilots training school, told The
Reporter
that the school has two single-engine Cessna trainer aircraft. Capt
Belay said one of the trainer aircraft called C-172 was a modern
aircraft equipped with state-of-the-art engine capable of consuming
diesel and jet fuel. "The aircraft is fitted with a modern avionics
system, including GPS and auto pilot," he added.

The pilot training school has a classroom housed in TK Building near
the
Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. "The school has a modern
classroom equipped with the necessary training aids that include
projectors, charts and up-to-date DVD for private pilot license package
aimed at enhancing the students learning process to become competent
pilots," the statement said.

A candidate to be admitted to the school must be a high school graduate
with at least 18 years of age. Candidates should have medical
certificates issued by an aviation medical examiner and should be able
to pay the required school fee.

The duration of the course is about 20 weeks and during that period a
trainee shall cover seventy hours of ground instruction subjects and
fifty- eight hours of flight instruction in single engine trainer
aircraft. The school fee for the whole training program is 8,700
dollars
per trainee. Capt Belay claims that this was the cheapest fee when
compared to that of flight schools in other countries. Capt Belay
believes that the school would provide Ethiopian Airlines with licensed
pilots.

Posted on Saturday, January 13 @ 09:40:25 EAT by staff


2,087 posted on 01/16/2007 5:35:47 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All; Founding Father; milford421

Undercover Mosque


http://www.channel4.com/news/dispatches/article.jsp?id=1066



A Dispatches reporter attends mosques run by organisations whose public
faces are presented as moderate and finds preachers condemning
integration into British society, condemning democracy and praising the
Taliban for killing British soldiers.

Prime Minister Tony Blair recently described tolerance as 'what makes
Britain Britain' but in this extensive investigation Dispatches reveals
how a message of hatred and segregation is being spread throughout the
UK and examines how it is influenced by the religious establishment of
Saudi Arabia.

Dispatches has investigated a number of mosques run by high profile
national organisations that claim to be dedicated to moderation and
dialogue with other faiths. But an undercover reporter joined
worshippers to find a message of religious bigotry and extremism being
preached.

He captures chilling sermons in which Saudi-trained preachers proclaim
the supremacy of Islam, preach hatred for non-Muslims and for Muslims
who do not follow their extreme beliefs - and predict a coming jihad.
"An army of Muslims will arise," announces one preacher. Another
preacher said British Muslims must "dismantle" British democracy - they
must "live like a state within a state" until they are "strong enough
to
take over."

The investigation reveals Saudi Arabian universities are recruiting
young Western Muslims to train them in their extreme theology, then
sending them back to the West to spread the word. And the Dispatches
reporter discovers that British Muslims can ask for fatwas, religious
rulings, direct from the top religious leader in Saudi Arabia, the
Grand
Mufti.

Saudi-trained preachers are also promoted in DVDs and books on sale at
religious centres and sermons broadcast on websites. These publications
and webcasts disseminate beliefs about women such as: "Allah has
created
the woman deficient, her intellect is incomplete", and girls: "By the
age of 10 if she doesn't wear hijab, we hit her," and there's an
extreme
hostility towards homosexuals.

The investigation reveals that the influence of Saudi Arabian Islam,
Wahabism, extends beyond the walls of some mosques to influential
organisations that advise the British government on inter-community
relations and prevention of terrorism.

The Dispatches reporter attends talks at mosques run by key
organisations whose public faces are presented as moderate and
mainstream - and finds preachers condemning the idea of integration
into
British society, condemning British democracy as un-Islamic and
praising
the Taliban for killing British soldiers.

Undercover Mosque features interviews with moderate British Muslim
figures who are speaking out against the influence of Saudi Arabia's
extreme brand of Islam, which is seeking to overturn Islamic traditions
of diversity and peaceful co-existence: "We are losing our children to
extremists," says Haras Rafiq of the Sufi Muslim Council. Dr Al Alawi
of
the Islamic Heritage Foundation also warns: "If this continues, you
will
have extremist mosques in every corner of the UK. You will not have
moderate Muslims walking on our streets anymore."


2,088 posted on 01/16/2007 5:38:36 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All; struwwelpeter; Rick.Donaldson

[the last 2 pages have new Chechen and Russian posts..granny]

Chechnya must provide 30,000 conscripts for the Russian army


--- In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com,
January 11th 2007 · Prague Watchdog

Chechnya must provide 30,000 conscripts for the Russian army

By Ruslan Isayev

CHECHNYA - This year a full draft into the Russian Army will be
declared
in Chechnya, that will be the same as in other regions of Russia. In
all, the republic must guarantee the call-up of 30,000 conscripts, a
source in the republic's Central Commissariat told PW's correspondent.

It is unlikely such a large number of recruits can be drafted. "The
real
figure for Chechnya will be 15,000," the source said.

The authorities are in no hurry to widely advertise this since it is
very bad news for the parents of potential draftees. The fact is that
Chechens are neither morally nor physically prepared (about 40 percent
of young men of draft age in Chechnya are the only breadwinners in the
family) to let their children serve in the army in a different Russian
region for two years.

Four years ago the Chechen authorities attempted to revive the practice
of conscription into military units located in other regions of Russia.
Subsequently, two conscripts from Chechnya's Nadterechny district,
which
is supposedly loyal to Russia, were maimed when serving in the Saratov
region, and another young men from the same district, who served in the
Voronezh region, died from beatings inflicted by other soldiers.

The full army call-up is really an attempt to put the final touch to
Chechnya's virtual return to the bosom of Russia. Many Chechen
political
analysts consider it more likely to be a political move rather than one
dictated by necessity. They assume that in exchange for the many
concessions it has made to Chechen authorities, the Federal centre is
now able to demand more and more from the republic. It is a kind of
test
for a pacified Chechnya with the object of securing its complete
loyalty
to Moscow. As the official line stresses, it is time for Chechnya to
prove by some real actions the slogans proclaimed by the Chechen
authorities about their devotion to Russia.

As for the Chechen residents themselves, they are willing to let their
children serve in the army, but on condition that it is done under
contract and within the republic. Many residents are seriously
concerned
that in the event of a poor response to the draft, the local military
registration and enlistment offices [voyenkomaty] may introduce the
practice of nocturnal visits by police officials with the aim of
sending
young men off to the army. (*)

Translated by David McDuff.

www.watchdog.cz




* I don't know why Ruslan Isayev engages in this nonsense from the
Lubyanka comics department. Chechen residents willing to let their
children serve in "the army"? Firstly, Chechnya already has an army
(the
armed forces of the ChRI), which is busy fighting the occupation.
Secondly, young men of military age have been hunted game in Chechnya
since the beginning of the occupation. Not in order to shanghai them
into the colonial army, but in order to disappear/murder them, so they
can't join Chechnya's regular armed forces. The whole issue of the
draft
of Chechens into the Russian occupation gangs is a bloody propaganda
vaudeville. N.


2,089 posted on 01/16/2007 5:44:05 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All

http://www.praguemonitor.com/ctk/?story_id=w49988i20070116;story=Czech-civilian-intelligence-to-open-communist-agents-files

Czech civilian intelligence to open communist agents´ files

Prague, Jan 15 (CTK) - The Czech civilian intelligence service (the
Office for Foreign Relations and Information, UZSI) will facilitate
access to the documents concerning former communist espionage activity
since so far some information was not open to the public at all, UZSI
spokesman Bohumil Srajer told CTK today.

Under the new regulations, people requesting information will have
immediate access to the files of the agents that were kept by the
civilian intelligence more than 30 years ago. They will receive
complete information about these agents including their personal data.
The only limit will be the assessment whether the documents contain c
classified information the revelation of which could harm the national
interests.

So far, access to these documents in which many historians and
ordinary people are interested has been complicated by the different
interpretation of the law by the UZSI and the Interior Ministry.

The Interior Ministry maintained that the new archive law applies to
all the documents concerning the activities of the former communist
state police (StB). The law allows those who request it to see all the
documents, including personal data. However, the UZSI acted on the
basis of the law on the opening of files which, it believes, is
superior over the archive law. People thus had to ask access to the
files of secret agents through the Interior Ministry where issuing the
permission took many months and documents with blackened personal data
were finally produced.

However, the UZSI recently obtained a legal analysis made by the
Interior Ministry archive department that settled the matter. The
files that are older than 30 years and that do not contain secret
information will be opened in the easiest possible way and completely.

"The public has the right to access to the intelligence service
files," Srajer said.

The UZIS has first started processing the older documents from the end
of the 1940s and the beginning of the 1950s, but gradually other
documents including the files of secret agents for the period of up to
1977 will be opened.

UZIS employees are now studying the files of communist agents and are
making lists of all names that appear in the files, the names of
institutions, companies but also StB operations. These registers will
be gradually supplemented.

"We hope that at the end of the year we will achieve an ideal state in
which those interested in the history of the civilian intelligence
service till 1977 will not have to ask for any files. All the lists
will be published on the Internet and with the help of keywords they
will be able to find the documents in which they are interested,"
Srajer told CTK.

However, some 500 pages of documents from the time of the
establishment of the civilian intelligence will appear on its website
in Tuesday and till the end of February 900 files of its agents from
that period will appear till the end of February. The new regulations
will gradually apply to 1,000 files. The Communist intelligence
service kept some 10,000 files of its agents for the entire period of
its existence.

By the end of this year, the UZIS intends to study all the documents
from the period before the 1989 fall of communism in Czechoslovakia
and check the extent of their secrecy. If the controls show that there
is no need in keeping them secret any longer and if they are older
than 30 years they will automatically be opened to the public.

The UZSI research centre has operated since October 2005, and its
Internet research centre has been in operation since May 2006 and has
been visited by 60,000 people.

vv/dr/pv


2,090 posted on 01/16/2007 5:46:35 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All

Bin Laden Group $170m Syria deal


http://www.ameinfo.com/107818.html

Bin Laden Group $170m Syria deal
Syria: 1 hour, 6 minutes ago
Saudi Bin Laden Group has set up a holding company with $170m capital
in
Syria. The Syrian and Saudi joint stock company will trade in building
materials. The company will bring under one roof nine building
materials
firms at a 2.62m sqft industrial compound.


2,091 posted on 01/16/2007 5:48:32 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All; struwwelpeter

CK: PACE is not going to investigate Politkovskaya's murder yet


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/messages/51321?o=1&xm=1&l=1

--- In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com,

PACE is not going to investigate Politkovskaya's murder yet

Mr. Rene Van der Linden, Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (PACE), sees no reason now to start an international
investigation into the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Mr. Chairman has noted that during his recent visit to Moscow he had a
meeting with "Novaya Gazeta" journalists, the "Prime-TASS" reports.

"In the opinion of the journalists of the edition, the official
investigation of Politkovskaya's murder is being held thoroughly, but
they are thinking of what could be done, if the outcomes prove to be
unsatisfactory. I have promised that in this case the Council of
Europe will render assistance in a new investigation," he said.
According to Mr. Van der Linden, the PACE will hold a soon debate on
the situation with media employees in many countries.

http://eng.kavkaz.memo.ru/newstext/engnews/id/1172588.html


2,092 posted on 01/16/2007 5:53:55 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All; FARS; Founding Father

Gates Says Iran Sees U.S. As Bogged Down

http://www.examiner.com/a-510131~Gates_Says_Iran_Sees_U_S__As_Bogged_Down.html

Gates Says Iran Sees U.S. As Bogged Down

U.S Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, arrives at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday Jan. 15, 2007. New U.S. military moves in the Persian Gulf are aimed in part at Iran's 'very negative' behavior and its belief that U.S. forces are over-committed in Iraq, Gates said Monday. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
U.S Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, arrives at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday Jan. 15, 2007. New U.S. military moves in the Persian Gulf are aimed in part at Iran's "very negative" behavior and its belief that U.S. forces are over-committed in Iraq, Gates said Monday.

By ROBERT BURNS, The Associated Press
Jan 15, 2007 8:13 PM (7 hrs ago)

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that new U.S. military moves in the Persian Gulf were prompted in part by signals from Iran that it sees the United States as vulnerable in Iraq.

"The Iranians clearly believe that we are tied down in Iraq, that they have the initiative, that they are in a position to press us in many ways," Gates told reporters at NATO headquarters before flying to Kabul to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and to visit U.S. soldiers and commanders.

It was Gates' first trip to Afghanistan since he took over for Donald H. Rumsfeld last month; he had said several times recently that he is worried that U.S. gains in stabilizing Afghanistan could be in jeopardy as the radical Taliban movement makes a comeback in some parts of the country, particularly the south.

In Brussels, Gates indicated that Iran's perception of U.S. vulnerability was part of the reason the Pentagon decided last week to send a second aircraft carrier battle group and a Patriot anti-missile battalion to the Gulf area. Patriots defend against shorter-range missiles of the type that Iran could use to target U.S. forces in the area. The Pentagon has not said exactly where the Patriots will be based.

The second aircraft carrier gives the U.S. more flexibility and serves as a reminder of U.S. firepower.

Laying out his concerns about Iran, Gates cited Iranian support for the radical Hezbollah movement in Lebanon. He also asserted that the Iranians "are doing nothing to be constructive in Iraq at this point." Other U.S. officials have accused Iran of providing sophisticated bomb-making materials to insurgent groups in Iraq.

Gates said that as recently as 2004 the Iranians were "actually doing some things to be helpful" in Iraq, at a time when they felt concern at the presence of U.S. troops on their western and eastern borders, in Iraq and Afghanistan. At that point he felt diplomatic dialogue would be useful.

"None of those conditions apply any longer," Gates said, responding to reporters' questions about the reasoning behind the Pentagon's decision announced last week to dispatch a second aircraft carrier battle group and a Patriot missile battalion to the Gulf area. Neither move seemed directly to Iraq.

"And so the Iranians are acting in a very negative way in many respects," Gates said, mentioning their refusal thus far to accept repeated international calls to stop elements of their nuclear program.

"My view is that when the Iranians are prepared to play a constructive role in dealing with some of these problems then there might be opportunities for engagement," he added.

Gates said there was nothing surprising at the U.S. decision to send a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf.

"We are simply reaffirming that statement of the importance of the Gulf region to the United States and our determination to be an ongoing strong presence in that area for a long time into the future," he said.

Gates' comment about Iran perceiving the U.S. military as bogged down in Iraq appeared to reflect a concern felt by many in the Pentagon in connection with deepening U.S. involvement in Iraq. U.S. officials want to knock down any speculation that the burdens of war in Iraq might present an opportunity for adventurism by U.S. adversaries elsewhere in the world, including Iran and North Korea.

Iran's increasing assertiveness is a cause for concern among many Gulf nations ruled by Sunni Arabs, including Saudi Arabia. They worry that U.S. failure in Iraq would further embolden the Iranians, whose links to Shiite extremists in the region are seen as a threat to U.S.-allied Gulf nations.

Gates has indicated he would like the Saudis and other Gulf nations to do more, particularly with economic assistance, to help stabilize Iraq.

During talks in London on Sunday, top British government officials told him they plan on reducing their contingent of 7,000 soldiers in southern Iraq this year. During his news conference in Brussels on Monday, Gates gave no indication that he opposed that move, saying the security situation in the south is different than in Baghdad, where the United States is building up forces to quell sectarian violence.


2,093 posted on 01/16/2007 5:56:48 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: nw_arizona_granny
It is about 14 or 15 degrees in my house

Granny! You've got mail.

2,094 posted on 01/16/2007 5:57:19 AM PST by Velveeta
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To: All; Founding Father

Secret Talks with Syria


http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=119550



Secret Talks with Syria
05:15 Jan 16, '07 / 26 Tevet 5767

(IsraelNN.com) Israeli and Syrian officials, in a series of meetings
that took place between 2004 and 2006, reached an understanding for a
peace deal between the two countries. Under the agreement, Syria would
withdraw support from terrorist organizations Hizbollah and Hamas,
distance itself from Iran, and help secure a stable Iraq. Israel would
help Syria normalize relations with the United States. The Golan Heights
would be demilitarized and mostly become a park, accessible to both
Israelis and Syrians. Israel would retain access to the headwaters of
the Jordan Rivar and Lake Kineret.

Syria is seen as being on the verge of economic collapse, which would
endanger the Assad regime. Israel and Syria are officially at war,
though the current cease-fire has lasted for decades. From Haaretz News
Service.


2,095 posted on 01/16/2007 6:11:06 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All; DAVEY CROCKETT

Is Russia Really That Authoritarian?

Anna Arutunyan | January 11, 2007

Editor: John Feffer, IRC


Email this page to a friend

Comment on this article
Foreign Policy In Focus
www.fpif.org

Russia, according to the Western news media, is increasingly slipping toward totalitarianism. The man allegedly pulling all the strings is Russian President Vladimir Putin, ex-KGB operative and apparatchik extraordinaire. This misconception of Putin as a powerful dictator whose control over his citizens must be countered through punitive measures is deeply ingrained. The myth is embraced by journalists and politicians alike.

According to Le Point, “Putin is endlessly displaying his might.” His government, according to The Guardian's Marc Rice-Oxley, is more “brazen and confident” than it ever was in the 1990s. Max Boot reiterated the repetitive claim in another syndicated column: “Having taken power in a nascent democracy six years ago, Putin has been reestablishing authoritarian control.” And to “secure” that “control,” The Independent editorialized, Putin “knew where to turn for help”—none other than the siloviki (power elite) of the former KGB. He is, in the words of Senators Lindsey Graham and Joseph Biden, “a one-man dictatorship” who “continues to consolidate power” in Russia.

continued........


http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3899

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Ethan+S.+Burger%22+and+%22Mary+Holland%22&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US


2,096 posted on 01/16/2007 6:56:12 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All; FARS; Founding Father

http://www.google.com/search?q=Stansfield+Turner&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Larisa+Alexandrovna&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=U.S.+national+security+and+its+ability+to+counter+nuclear+proliferation+abroad&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=tracking+distribution+and+acquisition+of+weapons+of+mass+destruction+technology+to+and+from+Iran.&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

Good

http://www.google.com/search?q=nuclear+proliferation+black+market&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=proliferation+activities+of+Pakistan%27s+nuclear+%22father%2C%22+A.Q.+Khan&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=network+was+the+major+supplier+of+WMD+technology+for+Iran.&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

xx
http://www.google.com/search?q=weaponized+nuclear+devices&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=collaboration+between+Pakistan%2C+North+Korea+and+Iran+was+an+ongoing+and+serious+problem&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Iran%27s+possible+WMD+capability&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22boots+on+the+ground%22+intelligence+in+Iran%2C+North+Korea%2C+Sudan%2C&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US&q=%22boots+on+the+ground%22+intelligence+in+Iran%2C+North+Korea&btnG=Search

http://www.google.com/search?q=pro-Iranian+factions+exist+in+the+US+right+now+and+what+are+their+capabilities&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US








Next hate meeting in U.S.:

2007 International Holocaust Revisionist Conference
Memorial Day Weekend: May 26-27, 2007
William Luther Pierce Memorial Hall
Hillsboro, West Virginia

The conference will feature some of the world's most prominent voices on Holocaust revisionism and related matters. Featured speakers include:

http://www.natall.com/





http://www.milnet.com/domestic/data/na.htm

National Alliance (NA)


From: Domestic Terror: What It Holds For The New Millennium, an original report from MILNET at http://www.milnet.com/milnet/domestic/Dom-Terror.htlm
Description
Founded by an infamous militia writer, William Pierce of Hillsboro, West Virgina. This white-supremicist group is extremely active on the Internet.
Activities
Founder William Pierce's two books The Turner Diaries and the Hunter are heavily respected by white supremicist and militia groups throughout the country. In his books he promotes the idea of the "lone gunmen", where members of militia groups must quit and take action when their conscience tells them it is necessary. This allows such groups to train and motivate violence without it being traced back to the mentors.
Strength
-
Location/Area of Operation
West Virginia
External Aid
Local aid from sympathizers


Back to Index

Created: 3/01
Last Updated: 3/01
Page Maintained by MILNET, milnet@milnet.com





Here is a link to a list of almost 30 domestic terrorist
organizations and their profiles.

http://www.milnet.com/domestic/dtgmain.htm





http://www.google.com/search?q=TERRORISM+WITHIN+CONUS+FROM+INTERNAL+SOURCES&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Identify+terrorist+groups+in+CONUS&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US


2,097 posted on 01/16/2007 6:58:37 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All; DAVEY CROCKETT

http://www.google.com/search?q=Wolfgang+Bohringer+9-11&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Wolfgang+Bohringer+CIA&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Wolfgang+Bohringer&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=RUSSIAN+MOBSTER+TIED+TO+9%2F11&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Russian-Ukrainian-Israeli+mobsters+tied+to+notorious+Russian+weapons&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Freedom+Fighter+Groups&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US


2,098 posted on 01/16/2007 7:02:56 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All

US 'to go after Iran-Syria agents'


http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=167409&Sn=WORL&IssueID=29302

US 'to go after Iran-Syria agents'

BAGHDAD: The United States plans to "go after" what it said were
networks of Iranian and Syrian agents in Iraq, US Ambassador Zalmay
Khalilzad said yesterday.

"We're going after their networks in Iraq," he said, as he laid out the
new US and Iraqi strategy to end sectarian violence - by both Sunnis
and
Shi'ites - at what Khalilzad called a "defining moment" for Iraq.

US forces are holding five Iranians following a raid on an Iranian
government office in Arbil last week - the second such operation in
recent weeks.

Khalilzad and the US commander in Iraq, General George Casey, denied
there was any disagreement between Washington and Iraqi Shi'ite Prime
Minister Nuri Al Maliki over the detentions.

Iraq's foreign minister has endorsed Iranian calls for the release of
the five men.

Khalilzad noted that some Iraqi political organisations that opposed
Saddam Hussein from exile had historical ties to security forces in
neighbouring countries - an apparent reference in part to ties between
some of Maliki's fellow Shi'ites and the Shi'ite Iranian Revolutionary
Guards.

"We will target these networks in the ... expectation of changing the
behaviour of these states," Khalilzad said.

In Brussels, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates accused Iran of doing
nothing to help the US in Iraq, saying Washington could only engage
with
Tehran if it showed it was ready to be constructive.

Gates, making a first visit to Nato headquarters in Brussels after
taking over from Donald Rumsfeld last month, said the Iranians "clearly
believe that we are tied down in Iraq, that they have the initiative".


2,099 posted on 01/16/2007 7:11:55 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All

Tajikistan, China sign six cooperation documents


http://www.asiaplus.tj/en/news/16/14681.html

Tajikistan, China sign six cooperation documents

16.01.2007 08:20

Author: Bahrom Mannonov

DUSHANBE, January 16, Asia-Plus -- On Monday January 15, China and
Tajikistan signed a friendship and cooperation treaty in Beijing.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov and his Chinese counterpart, President
Hu Jintao, inked the document after talks in the Chinese capital. The
two heads of state also presided over the singing of other cooperation
agreements in economic and technological spheres. Both parties pledged
to develop a long-term neighborly relations aimed at supporting
economic
ties and strengthening their respective positions on international
arena.

President Rahmonov arrived in Beijing Sunday evening on a six-day visit
to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries.

Abdufattoh Sharipov, a spokesman for the Tajik president, reported from
Beijing that on January 15, President Rahmonov met with his Chinese
counterpart, President Hu Jintao. In the course of the talks the two
discussed a state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral
cooperation between Tajikistan and China. Rahmonov and Hu, in
particular, exchanged views on cooperation between the two nations in
the fields of commerce, transportation, communications, energy,
industry, agriculture, culture, and education.

"During the talks it was noted that over the past five years, a trade
between the two countries has increased more than twenty times and the
presidents vowed to develop mutually beneficial economic ties,"
Sharipov
said.

The Chinese side supported Rahmonov's proposal to project a program for
an economic cooperation for the period until 2015, according to the
spokesman.

According to Sharipov, Rahmonov noted that China is close neighbor and
reliable partner of Tajikistan. "Strengthening of friendly ties with
China has been and remains one of priorities and main directions of
Tajikistan's foreign policy," Rahmonov said.

For his part, Hu hailed a high economic growth rate in Tajikistan and
noted that his country is ready to support the present socioeconomic
policy of Tajikistan in future as well. President Hu ordered the
Chinese Government to allot 70 million yuan (equivalent to nearly $9
million) in no-strings aid to Tajikistan, according to Sharipov.

In the course of the talks the two also exchanged views on addressing
modern challenges and threats and issues on providing regional
security.

After the official meeting, Rahmonov and Hu signed the friendship and
cooperation treaty. According to the new accord, Tajikistan reaffirmed
its support for Beijing's "One China" policy. Under the treaty, China
supports Tajikistan's policy aimed at strengthening national
sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and ensuring
sustainable economic development in the country.

Rahmonov and Hu also presided over the singing of other cooperation
documents: an agreement between the governments of Tajikistan and China
on technical-economic cooperation; an agreement on handover of mobile
X-ray equipment; an agreement on aerial communication between
Tajikistan
and China; a supplementary protocol to an agreement between the
education ministries and a supplementary principle agreement between
central banks of the two countries.

The same day, Rahmonov held meetings with top managers of a number of
large banks and companies of China to discuss cooperation issues.


2,100 posted on 01/16/2007 7:14:11 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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