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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

Tehran largest donor in £500m Muslim pledg es to Palestinians


http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1991173,00.html

Tehran largest donor in £500m Muslim pledges to Palestinians


Conal Urquhart in Gaza City, Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Tuesday January 16, 2007
The Guardian

Iran has become the single biggest donor to the Palestinian Authority,
replacing the European Union, according to a senior official in the
Hamas government.

Ahmed Yusuf, an adviser to Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime
minister, said Hamas ministers had received promises of donations
amounting to £500m in recent travels around the Muslim world. The
largest pledge was from Iran.

This latest example of Iran's increasing influence will add to the
panic
gripping the US, Israel, Saudi and the Gulf states about the speed of
Tehran's expansion as a regional power.

Their concerns have given a push to a new Israeli-Palestinian peace
initiative announced by US officials yesterday.

They said the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, who is in the
region, is hoping to hold joint talks within the next few weeks with
the
Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian
president. This would be the first serious attempt by the US to broker
a
peace agreement since President Clinton held three-way talks at Camp
David in 2000 and at Taba, Egypt, in 2001.

Time magazine reported yesterday that Ms Rice is keen to head an
ambitious peace initiative and has been in discussion with the Israeli
foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, since December about putting aside the
stalled step-by-step approach, which requires the Palestinians to
dismantle their armed groups, and move straight to negotiations on a
final settlement.

But there is no guarantee that Mr Abbas or Mr Olmert will attend or be
prepared to make the necessary concessions.

An international boycott of the Hamas-led authority imposed last year
has given Iran an opportunity to increase its influence. Previously,
Palestinians were closer to Sunni regimes such as Saudi Arabia.

Last year Iran pledged to donate £125m to the authority to help Hamas
survive the international boycott.

On Sunday, Yuval Diskin, the head of Israel's secret service, Shin Bet,
warned that international sanctions against the authority were forcing
it into a closer relationship with Iran.

The European Union Border Assistance Mission, which oversees Gaza's
border terminal with Egypt in Rafah, said Hamas ministers have carried
£28m in cash into Gaza.

Mr Yusuf said: "Iran is the most generous country. They have promised a
lot and given a lot. We wish the Arab countries were as generous."


2,101 posted on 01/16/2007 7:16:07 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

Yukos Creator Found Dead in London Flat

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

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

Friday, January 12, 2007

Golubev's Death

London police said Thursday that Yukos co-founder Yury Golubev died of
natural causes in his apartment this week.

"A post-mortem on his body at Westminster Public Mortuary confirmed
death was by natural causes. The death is treated as non-suspicious,"
the police said in a statement.

The Russian Embassy said Golubev's body would be flown to Moscow for
burial in a few days.

Golubev, a longtime partner of jailed Yukos chief, billionaire Mikhail
Khodorkovsky, died on Monday. He was 64.


2,102 posted on 01/16/2007 7:18:31 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

Council of Europe is ready to help Russia with investigation of Politk

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

--- In chechnya-sl@yahoogroups.com

Caucasian Knot / Memorial
13/1/2007

Council of Europe is ready to help Russia with investigation of
Politkovskaya's murder

Rene Van der Linden, Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (PACE), has declared that PACE is ready to help
Russia
in investigating the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, if "the
investigation will come to a deadlock," the NEWSru informs.

"We are not a police organization, but we can use our political
authority," the PACE Chairman stressed at the press conference in
Moscow
on January 12. He called the Russian authorities "to hold the most
scrupulous investigation and to bring the culprits to justice."

So far, the employees of the "Novaya Gazeta" and the "Reporters without
Borders" international organization are satisfied with the progress of
the investigation of the journalist's murder.

"We intend to go on monitoring the progress of the case," the PACE
Chairman has assured. He did not exclude a possibility of a report to
be
prepared by the Council of Europe in relation to Anna Politkovskaya's
murder, the ITAR-TASS reports.

http://eng.kavkaz.memo.ru/newstext/engnews/id/1172621.html




A nice thought, but there is something they (don't want to) understand:
Though there might remain a few honest policemen in Russia who really
want to do their job, it's the role of the so-called "police force" as
one of the parts of the fascist framework to *prevent* any serious
results. You can be sure that no honest investigator was allowed into
the group working on the Politkovskaya murder. "Helping Russia" (the
Russian state) means helping the main suspects with obfuscating the
investigation, playing the well-wishing idiot who lends a little
respectability to the criminal schemes. [comment by poster]


2,103 posted on 01/16/2007 7:22:45 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

Sorry about the power problem granny...stay well. Hope all gets back up and running quickly for you all.


2,104 posted on 01/16/2007 7:59:55 AM PST by milford421 (U.N. OUT OF U.S.)
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To: milford421

LOL, soon it will be summer and too hot.

Thanks, for caring.

Did you get the Kentucky train wreck, Yahoo has it in headlines.


2,105 posted on 01/16/2007 8:13:28 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

I did get the Kentucky wreck...an a large number of other recent and disturbing incidents. What are you using for power?


2,106 posted on 01/16/2007 8:15:08 AM PST by milford421 (U.N. OUT OF U.S.)
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To: All; Founding Father; milford421

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1768371/posts

Muslims see injustice
The Washington Times ^ | January 16, 2007 | AP


Posted on 01/16/2007 8:11:38 AM PST by 3AngelaD


PARMA, Ohio (AP) -- The former imam of Ohio's largest mosque became a man without a country after being convicted of concealing his ties to terrorist groups. Fawaz Damra was rejected by 72 countries and left with no choice but to be deported to his native West Bank, leading to his arrest by Israeli authorities on Jan. 4. The arrest has angered Muslim leaders in Ohio, some of whom complained that he was double-crossed by U.S. immigration officials... Damra, 46, a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Nablus,.. Less than a month after 9/11, footage from a 1991 speech aired on local television showing him raising money for a Palestinian holy war and saying Muslims should be "directing all the rifles at the first and last enemy of the Islamic nation and that is the sons of monkeys and pigs, the Jews." Stripped of his U.S. citizenship and facing deportation, Damra struck a deal with federal authorities to leave the country, said his attorney, Mo Abdrabboh. ...But even Jordan, where he holds citizenship, refused him. After his time to find a country willing to accept him elapsed, he was taken into custody in November 2005, then spent a year in a Michigan jail. Then he was arrested when he was presented to Israeli immigration officials for admission to the West Bank. Haider Alawan, a friend of Damra's and a member of the Parma-based Islamic Center's council of elders, is one of many Muslims angry with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement... "There's no end to what they can do," Mr. Alawan said. "They take you, hold you and extradite you to wherever they want. It's un-American."


(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


2,107 posted on 01/16/2007 8:16:18 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

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1768369/posts

Video: “Dispatches: Undercover Mosque”;
HotAir.com (c/o Michelle Malkin) ^ | 1.16.07 | YouTube


Posted on 01/16/2007 8:10:33 AM PST by bboop


Video: “Dispatches: Undercover Mosque”; Update: Part 2 added; Update: Part 3 addedposted at 8:11 pm on January 15, 2007 by Allahpundit

http://hotair.com/archives/2007/01/15/video-dispatches-undercover-mosque/

Here it is, fresh from Channel 4 (UK) by way of our pal kasper kasper’s Tivo: what happens when “moderate” Muslims stop being polite and start getting real.


2,108 posted on 01/16/2007 8:18:05 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; milford421

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1768362/posts

Train derails, catches fire near Louisville
CNN ^ | January 16, 2007 | CNN


Posted on 01/16/2007 7:57:23 AM PST by EndWelfareToday


BROOKS, Kentucky (CNN) -- A train derailed Tuesday morning just south of Louisville, Kentucky, sparking a huge fire and shutting down part of nearby Interstate 65 in both directions, the Bullitt County Sheriff's Office said.


(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


2,109 posted on 01/16/2007 8:20:33 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.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1768358/posts


Top Taleban spokesman 'arrested'
BBC ^ | 1/16/07


Posted on 01/16/2007 7:51:21 AM PST by Valin


Afghan intelligence agents say they have arrested a leading spokesman for the Taleban near the Pakistan border. Intelligence service spokesman Sayed Ansari named him as Dr Muhammad Hanif, who has been speaking for Afghanistan's former rulers since October 2005. Mr Ansari told the Associated Press the spokesman had been detained on Monday. He did not say where he is being held. Dr Hanif's capture, if confirmed, would be a notable success for the Afghan government as it battles the Taleban. The authorities say more than 3,500 people were killed in Afghanistan in 2006 as bombings by the Taleban and their allies and operations by Nato-led troops soared.

'Confessed'

Mr Ansari said Dr Hanif had been detained in the border town of Towr Kham in Nangarhar province soon after entering Afghanistan from Pakistan. Two others travelling with him were also apprehended. The spokesman first gave his name as Abdulhaq Haqiq, Mr Ansari said. "But during the investigations we discovered that he is Dr Hanif," he told AP. "He also confessed to it himself."

Dr Hanif has been highly active over the past year, regularly e-mailing news organisations with the Taleban's versions of events in the east of the country. A man called Qari Mohammad Yousuf has performed similar functions for the Taleban in the south. The two men were appointed after the capture in Quetta, Pakistan, of former Taleban spokesman Latifullah Hakimi in October 2005.


2,110 posted on 01/16/2007 8:24:06 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; FARS

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1768334/posts

Ahmadinejad Under Fire at Home for LatAm Trip
Asharq Al-Awsat / AFP ^


Posted on 01/16/2007 6:55:04 AM PST by Valin


TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's latest tour of Latin America has come under fire from a moderate newspaper and some MPs who charged it was badly-timed. "While Condoleezza Rice, Iran's nuclear file in hand, is in the region talking to Iran's Arab neighbours, the Iranian president is lauding the victory of socialism in Latin America," said the reformist daily Etemad Melli on Tuesday. During the visit, Ahmadinejad met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Ecuador President Rafael Correa and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, all leftist leaders who share Iran's anti-American stand. Addressing Ahmadinejad, the paper asked: "Does he really think people like Chavez, Correa and Ortega can be Iran's strategic allies?" "These left-wing friends are good for coffeeshop discussions but not to determine our security, political and economic priorities. We have our own priorities and we cannot build our house on water," it said.

However the conservative daily Ressalat saw the visit differently. "Ahmadinejad's presence in the back yard of the United States and the very warm reception he received has certainly angered US President George W. Bush and his friends," it said.

But leading conservative deputy Mohammad Khosh-Shehreh said the visit was "not justified" at a time when next year's budget, which has already been delayed, was being prepared. "When he returns, parliament will ask the president to explain why he chose this moment, these countries, and over the need to make such a visit in the current situation," he said.

The comments come less than a week after Ahmadinejad found himself the subject of unusual criticism from two conservative newspapers over his handling of Iran's nuclear standoff with the West.


2,111 posted on 01/16/2007 8:28:53 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

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1768333/posts

Records detail missing TSA badges, uniforms[3700 Badges/Uniforms]
KGBT-4 ^ | 21Dec 2006 | Brian Collister


Posted on 01/16/2007 6:54:33 AM PST by FLOutdoorsman


SAN ANTONIO More than 37-hundred Transportation Security Administration badges and uniforms have gone missing since 2003. That's according to records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by W-O-A-I-T-V in San Antonio.

Los Angeles International Airport reported the most missing items -- 636 uniforms. O'Hare International Airport in Chicago reported 189 badges missing.

Bush International Airport in Houston reported 77 missing badges.

Security experts say badges and uniforms could end up in the wrong hands -- posing a national security threat.

Despite the thousand of missing items, T-S-A field operations general manager Earl Morris says the system is far from flawed. Morris says various levels of security would thwart attempts to breech security.

Republican Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas says he wants to propose legislation to fine T-S-A employees who lose their badges or uniforms.


2,112 posted on 01/16/2007 8:31:01 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

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1768308/posts?page=4

Iran Gets Army Gear in Pentagon Sale
mywaynews ^ | Jan 16, 7:57 AM | SHARON THEIMER


Posted on 01/16/2007 6:10:37 AM PST by edpc


WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. military has sold forbidden equipment at least a half-dozen times to middlemen for countries - including Iran and China - who exploited security flaws in the Defense Department's surplus auctions. The sales include fighter jet parts and missile components.

In one case, federal investigators said, the contraband made it to Iran, a country President Bush branded part of an "axis of evil."

In that instance, a Pakistani arms broker convicted of exporting U.S. missile parts to Iran resumed business after his release from prison. He purchased Chinook helicopter engine parts for Iran from a U.S. company that had bought them in a Pentagon surplus sale. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, speaking on condition of anonymity, say those parts made it to Iran.

The surplus sales can operate like a supermarket for arms dealers


(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...


also from comments:

Related

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1768244/posts
Iran, China Seek Military Equipment From Pentagon Surplus Auctions



2 posted on 01/16/2007 6:12:57 AM PST by Calpernia (Breederville.com)


2,113 posted on 01/16/2007 8:35:48 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: All; milford421

Another thread for the train derailment in Ky...........

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1768309/posts

AP update:

22 minutes ago



SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. - Several train cars derailed and were on fire Tuesday south of Louisville, prompting authorities to shut down a busy interstate.

ADVERTISEMENT

"We had a train derailment with some type of an explosion," said Kentucky State Police dispatcher Joey Mattingly. He said he didn't know what was aboard the train.

There were no immediate reports of injuries from the wreck that occurred about 8:50 a.m. EST, he said.

Flames from the derailed cars produced a huge column of smoke.

Bullitt County resident Daymon Strange, who lives less than a half-mile from the crash, said he was outside feeding some ducks when he heard a boom.

"I turned around and looked and there was fire at least 500 feet in the air," he said in a telephone interview. "I've never seen such a fire. It was huge."

Strange said he smelled the fumes even though they were blowing away from his home.

"You can taste it and feel it in your lungs when you go outside," he said.

Authorities had shut down an 18-mile stretch of Interstate 65, Mattingly said.

It was the second fiery train crash in Kentucky in the last two days. On Monday, four runaway rail cars struck two parked locomotives in central Kentucky, causing a fire and spilling a chemical that prompted a limited evacuation.



29 posted on 01/16/2007 7:21:41 AM PST by leadpenny


Here's the latest from Louisville's ABC affiliate WHAS:
Bullitt train crash evacuates area schools

10:50 AM EST on Tuesday, January 16, 2007

The Bullitt County Sheriff’s department is responding to a fiery train crash that happened at approximately 8:45 am Tuesday. Nearly 20 cars were derailed in the crash.

All of Bullitt County is under a Hazardous Materials Warning reported by the Bullitt County Emergency Management Agency.

A Poison Control expert told WHAS11 News that he believes that the train was carrying butadiene. Butadiene is a chemical used in industrial manufacturing and is a respiratory irritant. If it is inhaled, it can cause problems for the elderly and those with asthma.

The Kentucky National Guard is sending the 41st civil support team to monitor air quality and determine if the air is toxic.

Metro Louisville is also sending crews to help combat the fire.

Emergency officials are telling residents in the Bullitt County area to close all windows, bring in pets and turn off heaters.

Brooks Elementary School is being evacuated and students are being transported to Hebron Middle School. Micah Christian School in Hillview, Ky. is closing three hours early as a precaution. Parents may pick up students at any time.

Jefferson County Public Schools are monitoring the situation and believe they are safe at this time. The afternoon preschool sessions at Bullitt Co. elementary schools are cancelled today. Morning session students will go home at the end of the school day.

Both north and southbound I-65 are shut down for approximately a half-mile in either direction between the Gene Snyder and exit 117 at Shepherdsville. Hwy. 1020 near Huber Station Rd. have also been shut down.

WHAS11 News will bring you more information as it becomes available.


32 posted on 01/16/2007 8:06:30 AM PST by Severa (I can't take this stress anymore...quick, get me a marker to sniff....)
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To: leadpenny
There's a live video/news report on

http://www.wave3.com/

They are planning on having a press conference at 11:45 ET, and at that time - may be able to say what chemicals were on the train.



33 posted on 01/16/2007 8:35:30 AM PST by sasha123


2,114 posted on 01/16/2007 8:46:47 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; milford421; FARS

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1768286/posts

Iran Shots Down US Spy Plane-(drone)
fars ^ | 1/16/07 | na


Posted on 01/16/2007 5:28:46 AM PST by Flavius





TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian military troops have shot down a spy plane of the US army during the last few days, an Iranian MP said here on Tuesday.

Representative of Dasht-e Azadegan at the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Seyed Nezam Mola Hoveizeh also told FNA that the aircraft has been a spy drone of the US army and that it has been shot down when trying to cross the borders.

"Americans send such spy drones to the region every now and then," the lawmaker further pointed out.


2,115 posted on 01/16/2007 8:50:43 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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To: milford421

I didn't loose power, just the water pipes froze, and my wiring is old, so I can't run space heaters or use the wood stove, because of the oxygen machine.

So I get through it.

It is up to 30 degrees and that feels warm.

I haven't checked yet for more broken pipes.


2,116 posted on 01/16/2007 9:04:04 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

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1768373/posts

Venezuela to nationalize 'absolutely all' energy sector
CNN Money ^ | Jan. 14, 2007 | Reuters


Posted on 01/16/2007 8:16:52 AM PST by FairOpinion


Chávez tells parliament: 'We have decided to nationalize the whole Venezuelan energy and electricity sector, all of it, absolutely all.'

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said on Saturday the country's entire energy sector had to be nationalized, reinforcing his socialist revolution and possibly giving himself more targets for state take-over.

But he said he would permit foreign firms to hold minority stakes in energy deals.

The president was reinaugurated this week for a term that runs through 2013.

Chávez has already pursued oil and gas projects and power utilities but on Saturday left no leeway for a private company to hold a majority in operations anywhere in the energy sphere.


(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...


2,117 posted on 01/16/2007 9:11:20 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

January 16, 2007 Anti-Terrorism News

(Iraq) At least 19 killed in Baghdad bomb attacks
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2007/January/focusoniraq_January110.xml&section=focusoniraq

U.N. says 34,000 Iraqis killed in 2006
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070116/wl_nm/iraq1_dc_3

Iraq edges closer to Iran, with or without the U.S.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iranians16jan16,0,2678083.story?coll=la-home-headlines

British, US see Iran behind violence in south Iraq: report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070116/pl_afp/britainusiraniraq_070116140024

Pentagon: militia gangs more dangerous than al Qaeda
http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/InternationalNews/tabid/187/articleID/17081/Default.aspx

Pakistan army destroys al-Qaida hideouts - in an airstrike near the
Afghan border on Tuesday, killing 10 people
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070116/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_al_qaida

Pakistan will close four camps to foil Afghan terror
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20070115-115352-6990r.htm

Nigerian gunmen kill 12, oil stations evacuated
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070116/wl_nm/nigeria_attack_dc_2

(Afghanistan) U.S. officials say Taliban attacks surge
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070116/ap_on_re_as/us_afghanistan_3

(Afghanistan) Kabul bombing thwarted as Gates visits
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070116/ap_on_re_mi_ea/afghanistan_15

(Afghanistan) Alleged Taliban spokesman arrested in Afghanistan - Dr.
Muhammad Hanif
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467745820&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Yemen Police Kill Suspected Al-Qaeda Fugitive In Shootout
http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_9247-Yemen-Police-Kill-Suspected-Al-Qaeda-Fugitive-In-Shootout.html

(India) Army defuses two bombs in Kashmir
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070116/india_nm/india283793_1

Egypt charges six Muslim Brotherhood members
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467746364&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

(USA - TSA) BWI second in losses of uniforms, ID cards
http://www.washingtontimes.com/business/20070115-115346-2426r.htm

(UK) Terror bombs 'made in defendant's home'
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23381936-details/Terror+bombs+'made+in+defendant's+home'/article.do

(UK) Bomb plot Muslims were under police surveillance, court told
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/16/nplot16.xml

(UK) British jury sees footage of suicide bomber suspect
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2007-01-16T133539Z_01_L16543321_RTRUKOC_0_US-BRITAIN-PLOT.xml&WTmodLoc=IntNewsHome_C1_%5bFeed%5d-8

(UK) Court hears how hero took on 'tube bomber
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=429179&in_page_id=1770

France: Algiers provides France with terrorism blacklist
http://www.lefigaro.fr/english/20070116.WWW000000537_algiers_provides_france_with_terrorism_blacklist.html

(Canada) Was imam another informant in Toronto terror plot?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070116.wxinformant16/BNStory/National/home

Germany considers releasing two main leftist terrorists
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=26&story_id=35565

Russian missiles delivered to Iran: Ivanov
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070116/ts_nm/russia_iran_missiles_dc_2

Russia Says More Chechens Surrender as Amnesty Deadline Expires
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2007/01/16/militantsamnesty.shtml

Iran, China Seek Military Equipment From Pentagon Surplus Auctions
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243858,00.html

Iran said to install uranium centrifuges
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070115/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear_1

CIA Still Hunting for al Qaeda Operatives in Somalia
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/01/cia_still_hunti.html

Somali government lifts ban, media back on air
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070116/wl_nm/somalia_conflict_dc_134

(Israel) Planes provided with new anti-terror system
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467744562&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Commentary: Jack Bauer's Real Enemies - he's no match for Arab
petro-dollars
http://www.theonerepublic.com/archives/Columns/Kincaid/20070112KincaidBauer.html


2,118 posted on 01/16/2007 9:39:31 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

http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/news/index.cfm

New Name, New Website



15 January 2007

The Parallel History Project on NATO and the Warsaw Pact (PHP) has a new website and a new name:

Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security (PHP).

Latest Publications


* Andreas Wenger, Christian Nuenlist, and Anna Locher (eds), Transforming NATO in the Cold War: Challenges beyond Deterrence in the 1960s (London: Routledge, 2007).

* Christian Nuenlist and Anna Locher (eds), Transatlantic Relations at Stake: Aspects of NATO History, 1956-72 (Zurich: Center for Security Studies, 2006).

* Vojtech Mastny, Sven G. Holtsmark, and Andreas Wenger (eds), War Plans and Alliances in the Cold War: Threat Perceptions in the East and West (London: Routledge, 2006).

Latest Collections


* Bulgarian Arms Delivery to Third World Countries, 1950-1989

* Warsaw Pact Exercises during the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962

* Records of the Meetings of the Warsaw Pact Deputy Foreign Ministers, 1964-1989


Latest Conferences


* A Strained Partnership: European-American Relations and the Middle East from Suez to Iraq

* From Helsinki to Gorbachev, 1975-1985: The Globalisation of the Bipolar Confronation

* Oral History Roundtable on Military Planning


more project news
Latest PHP Newsletter (subscribe here)

PHP News, 15 January 2007

It is with special pleasure and pride that we announce a major revamp of the PHP website, including an updated name, a shorter URL, a number of new features, and a fresh look and feel.

To start with the most conspicuous, what used to be the Parallel History Project on NATO and the Warsaw Pact (PHP) now transforms into the Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security (PHP). We retain the "Parallel History Project" part both for recognition effects and because we still aim at a comparative approach that enables us to confront various models of security. "Cooperative Security" stands for a broader and integrative notion of security, transcending alliance politics and military issues. In short, the updated directions of the project are the European Security Model; NATO Enlargement and Its Out-of-Area Problem; Regional Security in Asia, Latin America, and Africa; Threat Perceptions, Strategic Doctrines, Military Plans: Overcoming the Legacies of the Cold War; Peacekeeping and Nongovernmental Organizations as New Security Factors during and after the Cold War.

In this context, we would also like to draw your attention to the PHP's new URL: www.php.isn.ethz.ch. The old URL (www.isn.ethz.ch/php) remains intact and will be redirected to www.php.isn.ethz.ch.

The content of the PHP website has been migrated to a new data management system. All documents are now stored from a database, which allows to retrieve and pack documents in more customized manner. In addition, every single document has been classified and described as to give our audience more focused access to the over 1,800 documents or 20,000 document pages. In this vein, also the search functions offered have been improved. It is now possible to look for terms either through a full-text search or by clicking key words that focus your search.

To account for the shift from document declassification and document collections to conferences and publications, we have added a section on publications resulting from research undertaken by PHP affiliates.

We invite you to take a look at the new website at www.php.isn.ethz.ch and welcome your feedback in this crucial first period after the switch in particular. Feel free to send us you add-ons that we are happy to consider for publication.

We would like to thank the PHP migration team for the enormous task to migrate the PHP content into the ISN Knowledge Management System (KMS) and the ISN ICT team for their valuable support.

* * * * *

Stay tuned! As ever - we welcome your feedback and hope you enjoy the PHP website.

Sincerely,
Anna Locher and Christian Nuenlist
Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich



Site Search

Print / easy read version
Special Feature

Transforming NATO in the Cold War: Challenges beyond deterrence in the 1960s

From the CSS Studies in Security and International Relations
Publication Series (Routledge)

Editors: Andreas Wenger, Christian Nuenlist, Anna Locher

Transforming NATO in the Cold War: Challenges beyond deterrence in the 1960s. Studies in Security and International Relations publication Series

The 12 essays in this collection focus on the the expansion of NATO's political role rather than its military and force planning functions.
More


Parallel History Project (PHP)
show link footnotes

Printed on: 16 January 2007
Printed from: www.php.isn.ethz.ch/news/index.cfm?print=1&show=0


2,119 posted on 01/16/2007 10:43:03 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

12 January 2007
US faces eviction from Ecuadorian base

Rafael Correa wants the US military to leave its base in Manta, Ecuador, and Washington is not overly concerned, though it would mean losing a strategic drug war position.

By Sam Logan for ISN Security Watch (12/01/07)

The Eloy Alfaro air base in Manta, Ecuador, is one of five primary air bases in the country. After Washington negotiated a ten-year lease agreement that would allow the US military to use a portion of the base, US operations there attracted little attention, at least until Ecuador’s 2006 presidential election campaign, when President-elect Rafael Correa pledged not to renew the lease in 2009. It was a popular move among many of his constituents.

US Southern Command (SouthCom), the branch of the US military that oversees operations in the Western Hemisphere, claims that installations at Manta play an important role in counter-drug operations. As a Forward Operation Location (FOL), Manta is one of a number of air bases that replaced US facilities closed in Panama in 1999.

Yet, as a beach head for US activities in South America and with 2009 drawing closer, the base will find itself at the center of a new focus. Some experts believe that Ecuador may test the waters to see just how important the base is to the US by using its impending existence as a leverage point to gain preferential trade access to US markets.
Forward operations

Once the US government signed the ten-year lease, it promptly spent over US$70 million to prepare the base for US aircraft and personnel. A new runway was installed and upgrades were made to base facilities. Today, the base can accommodate up to eight aircraft - four large, four medium - and is authorized to house a maximum of 475 military personnel, according to Jose Ruiz, spokesman for US SouthCom.

“On average, [the base] is supported by 250 personnel from the US Armed Forces and US Customs and Border Patrol,” Ruiz told ISN Security Watch. “An additional 65 US citizens and 180 Ecuadorian contractors support the FOL counter-drug operations,” he said

As the US FOL at Manta is a counter-drug operation, a number of AWACS surveillance planes stationed there make two flights daily, according to a 19 December article by the UK magazine The Economist. Ruiz suggested that missions over the Eastern Pacific and the Andean mountains have greatly aided the US’ overall counter-drug strategy for the region.

“Since 1999, the FOL has conducted more than 3,300 counter-drug missions, totaling over 18,000 flight hours and has contributed directly or indirectly to the seizure of more than 52,000 kg of illegal drugs with a street value exceeding US$2 billion,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz pointed out that it was in the best interests of the US and its regional partners to continue monitoring narco-trafficking activities. When asked about options the US government would have in the event the base was closed in 2009, Ruiz replied that the US government would “continue pursuing, considering and assessing effective options for counter-drug activities.”
Regional partners

The US FOL at Manta has attracted more attention among Ecuadorians because it is seen as part and parcel of Plan Colombia, the US-Colombia policy to combat narco-trafficking and terrorism inside Colombia. Correa’s election suggests that Ecuador wants no part of Plan Colombia because he campaigned strongly against any Ecuadorian role. And as tensions between the two countries escalated in 2006, and again this year, a measure of Ecuadorian ill will aimed at Colombia is now being redirected to the US at Manta.

“The nationwide position not to involve Ecuador in Plan Colombia is the first reason why Ecuadorians do not want the US military to remain in Manta,” Fredy Rivera, professor and researcher with the Ecuadorian branch of the Latin American University for Social Sciences, told ISN Security Watch during a recent telephone interview.

Rivera explained that another reason why Ecuadorians did not want the base to remain was their belief that the base was not only used for counter-drug missions. “The surveillance equipment can be used to watch activity in Colombia, Peru, parts of Venezuela and Bolivia, and of course Ecuador,” Rivera said, adding, “this is official discourse.”

Clearly, Ecuador does not regard the US as a close regional partner. And as the US draws ever closer to Colombia, holding on to what many consider Washington’s last beach head in South America, it is possible Ecuador will consider Colombian and US foreign policy as one.

“The final reason why Ecuadorians do not want the base at Manta renewed is due to US and Colombian foreign policy,” Rivera noted. During 2006, relations between Ecuador and Colombian were tense due to fumigation on the Ecuadorian-Colombian border and the presence of Colombian armed forces on Ecuadorian sovereign territory. On two occasions, the Ecuadorian ambassador to Colombia was called back to Quito for consultations - diplomatic signaling for a high level of discontent.

Also, mutual agreements of understanding that dictate a free-flowing information exchange between the two countries have not been honored by Colombia, according to Rivera.

These sentiments inside Ecuador stand in a line parallel to the negative sentiments Ecuadorians feel for the US, and the most tangible piece of real estate that symbolizes these negative feelings has, over time, become Manta.
Negotiation and leverage

Since Correa’s election, Washington has been worried about losing Ecuador to the Venezuelan sphere of influence. Whether or not Correa falls in step with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, analysts believe he will be reminded of his campaign promise to close the Manta base, and has already publicly considered using the base as an international airport to link South America with Asia.

It is still too early to gauge how far the US will go to keep Manta. Nor is it clear if Washington will use economic incentive to pressure Correa into renewing the lease agreement, but many believe he will see how much leverage he has for negotiation with the US.

"Correa has a campaign pledge to honor,” John Walsh, Senior Associate for the Andes and Drug Policy with the Washington Office on Latin America, told ISN Security Watch.

Walsh argued that Correa had adopted a tough stance as the most logical negotiation position at this point. "If the US wants to prevent the base from being closed, then Correa should ask, 'What are you going to give me?'" he said.

“It makes sense for Correa to start with a very hard line. And if he extracts from the US aid or other kinds of concessions, perhaps something related to trade, then it's part of the bargaining,” Walsh pointed out. “He has a while yet where he can take a tough stance and see what he can get for it," he said.
Little concern in Washington

Correa, however, may find that the US government holds low regard for the base. "When the base was first conceived and built-out, for SouthCom and the Pentagon in general, the drug war was a bigger deal than it is now,” Walsh said. “It's no longer the top war on anyone's agenda.”

Michael Shifter, Vice President of Policy with the Inter-American Dialogue, agrees.

“The Manta base serves no larger strategic purpose for the US in Latin America, apart from some support in fighting the Drug War,” Shifter told ISN Security Watch in a recent email interview.

Correa’s attempts to use the base as leverage to improve his negotiation position with the US, after all the campaign promises and shouting, may be met with ambivalence, according to Shifter. Correa's closure of the base could very well come and go as little more than a minor blip on SouthCom’s radar.

According to Shifter, “It is easy to imagine possible options for Washington in the region, especially if [other countries] were prepared to offer highly favorable terms.”

“The concern about the Manta base is overdrawn and unnecessary.”


Sam Logan is an investigative journalist who has reported on security, energy, politics, economics, organized crime, terrorism and black markets in Latin America since 1999. He is the Latin American correspondent for ISN Security Watch.
Printed from http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=17114
Online version provided by the International Relations and Security Network
A public service run by the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich © 1996-2004


2,120 posted on 01/16/2007 10:47:19 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect you loved ones.)
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