Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
VEVAK learned its methodology from the Soviet KGB and many of the Islamist revolutionaries who supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini actually studied at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, the Oxford of terrorism. Documented Iranian alumni include the current Supreme Leader (the faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, under whose Velayat-e Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurisprudent) apparatus it has traditionally operated. Its current head is Cabinet Minister Hojatoleslam Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ezhei, a graduate of Qom's Haqqani School, noted for its extremist position advocating violence against enemies and strict clerical control of society and government. The Ministry is very well funded and its charge, like that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the Pasdaran) is to guard the revolutionary Islamic Iranian regime at all costs and under all contingencies.
From the KGB playbook, VEVAK learned the art of disinformation. It's not so difficult to learn: tell the truth 80% of the time and lie 20%. Depending on how well a VEVAK agent wants to cover his/her tracks, the ratio may go up to 90/10, but it never drops below the 80/20 mark as such would risk suspicion and possible detection. The regime in Teheran has gone to great lengths to place its agents in locations around the world. Many of these operatives have been educated in the West, including the U.K. and the United States. Iranian government agencies such as embassies, consulates, Islamic cultural centers, and airline offices regularly provide cover for the work of VEVAK agents who dress well and are clean shaven, and move comfortably within our society. In this country, because of the severance of diplomatic relations, the principal site of VEVAK activities begins at the offices of Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
Teheran has worked diligently to place its operatives in important think tanks and government agencies in the West. Some of its personnel have been recruited while in prison through torture or more often through bribery, or a combination of both. Others are Islamist revolutionaries that have been set up to look like dissidents - often having been arrested and imprisoned, but released for “medical reasons”. The clue to detecting the fake “dissident” is to read carefully what he/she writes, and to ask why this vocal “dissident” was released from prison when other real dissidents have not been released, indeed have been grievously tortured and executed. Other agents have been placed in this country for over twenty-five years to slowly go through the system and rise to positions of academic prominence due to their knowledge of Farsi and Shia Islam or Islamist fundamentalism.
One of the usual tactics of VEVAK is to co-opt academia to its purposes. Using various forms of bribery, academics are bought to defend the Islamic Republic or slander its enemies. Another method is to assign bright students to train for academic posts as specialists in Iranian or Middle East affairs. Once established, such individuals are often consulted by our government as it tries to get a better idea of how it should deal with Iran. These academics then are in a position to skew the information, suggesting the utility of extended dialogue and negotiation, or the danger and futility of confronting a strong Iran or its proxies such as Hizballah (Hezbollah). These academics serve to shield the regime from an aggressive American or Western policy, and thereby buy more time for the regime to attain its goals, especially in regards to its nuclear weaponry and missile programs.
MOIS likes to use the media, especially electronic media, to its advantage. One of VEVAK's favorite tricks is setting up web sites that look like they are opposition sites but which are actually controlled by the regime. These sites often will be multilingual, including Farsi, German, Arabic French, and English. Some are crafted carefully and are very subtle in how they skew their information (e.g., Iran-Interlink, set up and run by Massoud Khodabandeh and his wife Ann Singleton from Leeds, England); others are less subtle, simply providing the regime's point of view on facts and events in the news (e.g., www.mujahedeen.com or www.mojahedin.ws). This latter group is aimed at the more gullible in our open society and unfortunately such a market exists. However, if one begins to do one's homework, asking careful questions, the material on these fake sites generally does not add up.
Let's examine a few examples of VEVAK's work in the United States. In late October, 2005, VEVAK sent three of its agents to Washington to stage a press event in which the principal Iranian resistance movement, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK), was to be slandered. Veteran VEVAK agent Karim Haqi flew from Amsterdam to Canada where he was joined by VEVAK's Ottawa agents Amir-Hossein Kord Rostami and Mahin (Parvin-Mahrokh) Haji, and the three flew from Toronto to Washington. Fortunately the resistance had been tracking these three, informed the FBI of their presence in Washington, and when the three tried to hold a press conference, the resistance had people assigned to ask pointed questions of them so that they ended the interview prematurely and fled back to Canada.
Abolghasem Bayyenet is a member of the Iranian government. He serves as a trade expert for the Ministry of Commerce. But his background of study and service in the Foreign Ministry indicates that Bayyenet is more than just an economist or a suave and savvy businessman. In an article published in Global Politician on April 23, 2006, entitled “Is Regime Change Possible in Iran?”, Bayyenet leads his audience to think that he is a neutral observer, concerned lest the United States make an error in its assessment of Iran similar to the errors of intelligence and judgment that led to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, with its less than successful outcome. However, his carefully crafted bottom line is that the people of Iran are not going to support regime change and that hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually has achieved greater popularity than his predecessors because of his concern for the problems of the poor and his fight for economic and social justice. To the naive, Bayyenet makes Ahmadinejad sound positively saintly. Conveniently overlooked is the occurrence of over four thousand acts of protest, strikes, anti-regime rallies, riots, and even political assassinations by the people of Iran against the government in the year since Ahmadinejad assumed office. So too, the following facts are ignored: the sizeable flight of capital, the increase in unemployment, and the rising two-figure rate of inflation, all within this last year. Bayyenet is a regime apologist, and when one is familiar with the facts, his arguments ring very hollow. However, his English skills are excellent, and so the naОve might be beguiled by his commentary.
Mohsen Sazegara is VEVAK's “reformed revolutionary”. A student supporter of Khomeini before the 1979 revolution, Sazegara joined the “imam” on his return from exile and served in the government for a decade before supposedly growing disillusioned.
He formed several reformist newspapers but ran afoul of the hardliners in 2003 and was arrested and imprisoned by VEVAK. Following “hunger strikes”, Sazegara was released for health reasons and permitted to seek treatment abroad. Although critical of the government and particularly of Ahmadinejad and KhameneМ, Sazegara is yet more critical of opposition groups, leaving the impression that he favors internal regime change but sees no one to lead such a movement for the foreseeable future. His bottom line: no one is capable of doing what needs to be done, so we must bide our time. Very slick, but his shadow shows his likely remaining ties to the MOIS.
http://www.ocnus.net/artman/publish/article_27144.shtml
http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5906736&nav=menu107_2
'Guardian Angels' working to keep Las Vegas safe
Jan 8, 2007 08:59 AM
A group of crime fighting angels are patrolling Las Vegas streets, working to keep the city safe. The volunteer group of men and women make citizens arrests if they come across any crime on their routes.
The "Guardian Angels" are relatively new to the area, but they say they have already signed up 25 volunteers. Members are unarmed, and only carry a walkie talkie, cell phone, handcuffs and a small flashlight.
"We're going to be looking for crimes in progress. Hopefully, we prevent it. If we don't and we can be a witness to it, then what we'll do is immediately call 911, inform police that we're witnessing a crime that's happening. The police can come make an arrest and we can become good witnesses," said Weston Conwell, Guardian Angel.
The Guardian Angels say their next step is to meet with the mayor to discuss their plans in the city. The group recruits members ages 18 to 85.
Reports reaching us from Tehran, Iran: Amir Abbas Fakhravar, apparently was NEVER a student, nor ever held a student ID card.
He was reportedly one of the people who physically helped suppress the students on the 18th Tir uprising at the University - as one of the IRGC (Islamic Regime Guard Corp).
More on http://www.antimullah.com in an expansion of this post later today (Saturday).
ARTICLE - Secret holocaust archives opened to public for first time
Because of its enormous historical as well as topical importance and
at the risk that some may have already seen this documentary, I am
sending the following link for those who have missed it,
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=2274705n
When the web page opens choose your player by clicking in the
relevant circle and be a little patient. The story starts after the
short ads.
Israel TV channel 1 yesterday, January 19, 2007 aired a rerun of this
"60 Minutes" story originally aired on December 17. It is very
poignant, especially in view of the recent meeting of Holocaust
deniers in Iran.
The documentary describes for the first time a German archive
containing detailed information about 17.5 million victims of the
Holocaust. The archive, whose existence had been kept secret until
now, houses 16 miles of shelving containing 50 million pages of
documents.
After the German government recently opened the archives, CBS News'
Scott Pelley traveled there with three Jewish survivors who were able
to see their own Holocaust records. It is heartrending to see and
hear the reactions of these survivors, as they view the records of
their own incarceration 64 years ago
This remarkable documentary deserves to be widely distributed to
opinion makers world-wide.
Amir Abbas Fakhravar, apparently was NEVER a student<<<
That is interesting, why is he attempting to get us to go in now?
Are their nukes ready for us?
Would it be they want to see us/Israel make the first hit, so they can say to the world "see the evil west?".
Rather goes with all the mid-east leaders, who are meeting and making deals.
We already know that China, Russia and Venezuela are ready to back them.
Please, do keep us up on this one.
Stay careful.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1770813/posts
Russia and the Middle East
aei.org ^ | January 19, 2007 | John Elliott, Igor Khrestin
Posted on 01/20/2007 10:58:33 AM PST by Tailgunner Joe
Where does Moscow stand in the fight against Islamism and the global war against terror? Facing the Chechen threat at home, the Russian government might be sympathetic to U.S. and even Israeli concerns. Not so.
Putin's domestic war on terrorism enjoyed only limited success. Russian security forces did impose some order in Chechnya, but the Kremlin was unable to stem Chechen and Islamist terrorism on Russian soil. ...Faced with only marginal gains at home, Putin changed tack. Rather than continue cooperation with Washington on the broader war on terror, he sought to cut a deal. In 2003, he asked to join the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), even though with only 20 million Muslims--about 15 percent of the population--Russia lacked the required 50 percent minimum Muslim population.[13] While the OIC did not grant Russia full membership, it did grant Moscow observer status.[14] The relationship was symbiotic: the OIC saw Moscow as a patron that could offset U.S. pressure while Moscow received de facto immunity from criticism of Russian policy in Chechnya as a result of OIC reluctance to interfere in the internal affairs of member-states, even honorary ones. Putin further outlined his vision of alliance with the Islamic world when, addressing the newly-elected Chechen parliament in December 2005, Putin called Russia "a faithful, reliable, and dedicated promoter . . . of the interests of the Islamic world" and "its best and most reliable partner and friend." The desire both to cut a deal and stymie Washington also explains Moscow's policy toward Tehran.
Perhaps nothing underlined the relativity of Moscow's fight against terror as much as the Kremlin's 2006 invitation to Moscow of a Hamas delegation. ...While Moscow had long supported the Palestine Liberation Organization and lobbied for the creation of the Palestinian state, Putin's outreach to Hamas broke with tradition.
(Excerpt) Read more at aei.org ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1770794/posts
The Communist-influenced "Media Reform" Movement
aim.org ^ | January 20, 2007 | Cliff Kincaid
Posted on 01/20/2007 10:14:35 AM PST by Tailgunner Joe
Having previously reported on the participation of Revolutionary Communist Party members at the "National Conference on Media Reform," I can now confirm that members of the old Soviet-line Communist Party USA were there, too. ...In a message to supporters of the People's Weekly World (PWW), the CPUSA paper, editor Teresa Albano reports that she attended the event along with two St. Louis PWW bureau members. "Over 3,000 people attended¯all concerned about the state of democracy in this country now that Big Media Conglomerates control most of the political debate, culture and stories that Americans see, hear and read everyday. It's a new and blossoming movement…" ...she reports, "Many conference speakers celebrated the defeat of the Bush administration in the November elections. All stayed on message—targeting the big corporate and right-wing interests that have taken over the news and other sources of information. Speakers also blasted the commercial media's role in the run-up to the Iraq invasion."
"With a new Congress, ...the conference touched on legislative possibilities for media reform. Rep. [Maurice] Hinchey said legislation governing media reform is possible in this session of Congress, but only with continued public pressure. Hinchey sponsored the Media Ownership Reform Act, a bill that would rein in media monopolies and reinstate the Fairness Doctrine that requires broadcasters to present issues in an all-sided manner. That kind of equal access, he said, was 'wiped out' in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan."
As I previously reported, the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) was at the conference, maintaining a booth and passing out literature about its leader, Bob Avakian, who thinks the current leadership in Communist China has sold out to the capitalist West. The RCP is regarded as the largest Maoist party in the U.S., and Mao is considered the greatest mass murderer in history.
(Excerpt) Read more at aim.org ...
[Maybe it is the word 'aviation' that grabs my thoughts?]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1770751/posts
Reward offered for information that leads to missing student (Wade S. Steffey-Purdue)
http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html3month/2007/070119PoliceReward.html ^ | 1/19/2007 | Christy Jones
Posted on 01/20/2007 8:20:28 AM PST by pctech
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The parents of a missing Purdue University student on Friday (Jan. 19) announced a reward is being offered for information leading to his whereabouts.
Wade S. Steffey, 19, a freshman from Bloomington, Ind., has been missing for nearly a week. Steffey, a National Merit Scholar majoring in aviation technology, was last seen early Saturday (Jan. 13).
"More than 350 volunteers helped explore a large area of campus during an organized search on Thursday," said Purdue spokesperson Jeanne Norberg. "We hope this reward will generate additional interest and encourage someone to come forward with information that helps us find Wade."
The reward fund, established by Steffey's family and friends, is being administered by Fifth Third Bank in Central Indiana. Donors should make their checks out to The Wade Steffey Reward Fund in Central Indiana, and donations can be made at any Fifth Third Bank branch. For information, call Fifth Third Bank in Lafayette at (765) 423-5557.
On Friday (Jan. 19) police began asking people to display a flyer with a photo of Steffey. The flyer is available online at
http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html3month/2007/071019SteffeyFlyer.pdf
Purdue police also requested that campus and Greater Lafayette residents search areas near their homes and workplaces for clues to Steffey's whereabouts.
In addition, Purdue police have partnered with A Child Is Missing, a non-profit agency that helps police departments find missing people. The alert program will send out 2,000 to 3,000 phone calls to residents within a three- to five-mile radius of where Steffey was last seen. The calls will include a description of Steffey and his clothing, as well as a phone number people can call to report information on the case.
Norberg said police are particularly interested in recovering any items of clothing, cell phones, wallets and other personal effects, such as identification cards.
Police were alerted to Steffey's disappearance on Tuesday (Jan. 16) after family and friends became concerned that he had not been seen since early Saturday (Jan. 13). Steffey attended a party at the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity house, 900 David Ross Road, on Friday (Jan. 12) evening and was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with light blue stripes and light-colored jeans.
Police received a tip that a person matching Steffey's description was seen at the northwest corner of Owen Hall around 12:30 a.m. Saturday, near the time when a call was placed from his cell phone to a female student who lives there. Steffey had reportedly left his coat in Owen Hall, Norberg said.
Steffey is white with short brown hair and brown eyes, is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Purdue Police Department at (765) 494-8221 or the anonymous tip line at (765) 496-3784.
[photo in comments]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1770750/posts
Tense Moments Revealed in Guard Border Incident
Arizona Daily Star ^ | 1/20/2007 | Brady McCombs
Posted on 01/20/2007 8:20:28 AM PST by nopendejos
Four armed Guardsmen from Tennessee were surrounded by six to eight men carrying automatic weapons during an encounter on Jan. 3 east of Sasabe.
This and other details have emerged about the widely-discussed incident in accounts released by Gov. Janet Napolitano's office and confirmed by the National Guard and the U.S. Border Patrol.
Statements from legislative liaisons from the National Guard Bureau and U.S. Customs and Border Protection released by Napolitano's office describe a much closer and potentially more dangerous encounter than has previously been acknowledged by the Border Patrol and the National Guard.
(Excerpt) Read more at azstarnet.com ...
US asks Czechs to host radar base
US asks Czechs to host radar base
Topolanek's centre-right government was confirmed in power after a confidence vote on Friday [AFP]
The United States has asked the Czech Republic to host a key part of its global anti-missile system, the country's prime minister has said.
The official request came minutes after Mirik Topolanek's centre-right government was confirmed in power in a parliamentary confidence vote which ended more than seven months of political deadlock.
"Late last night we were informed that they would like to launch negotiations over the possible siting of an anti-ballistic missile defence system in our country. Concretely, this would be a radar station," Topolanek said.
The government has previously backed Czech participation in the system.
Washington wants to deploy 10 interceptor missiles and a radar station in Europe to reinforce its defences against the threat of a ballistic missile attack from North Korea or Iran.
The US has been negotiating with the Czech Republic and Poland, both former communist states that now belong to Nato, over hosting a missile defence site in Eastern Europe.
It has also suggested that the system could be split between the two countries.
Russian objections
Russia has protested against Washington's plans, saying it could lead to a new arms race.
"We are convinced that a possible deployment of the radar station on our territory is in our interest."
Mirik Topolanek, Czech prime minister
Sergei Ivanov, the Russian defence minister, called it a "destabilising" move that Russia would respond to.
"The government is ready to seriously consider the United States' request," Topolanek said, adding that a committee would be set up in the next week to discuss the issue.
He said it could take several months before a decision is taken on whether to host the radar system.
If the plan is approved, about 200 specialists would be deployed to the base which would become operational in 2011.
"We are convinced that a possible deployment of the radar station on our territory is in our interest," he said on Saturday. "It will increase security of the Czech Republic and Europe."
Sensitive issue
The siting of a foreign base on Czech soil is a sensitive issue and both houses of parliament would have to approve it.
Topolanek's three-way coalition only commands 100 votes in the 200-seat lower house and was only confirmed in power thanks to two rebel Social Democrats.
The opposition Social Democratic Party has called for a national referendum on the issue, but Topolanek opposes the idea.
An opinion poll released earlier this month indicated two thirds of Czechs were against a missile interceptor site on Czech territory, but about 60 per cent would agree with just a radar.
Source: Agencies
[unknown url]
See posts 2499 and 2522 for Fars comment:
I see others have doubts too, but he has sure racked up the miles:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Amir-Abbas+Fakhr-Avar+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=time+for+revolution%2C+world+must+support+Iranian+people+against+regime&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
Several here to read:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Fakhr-Avar+describes+his+blueprint+for+how+to+topple+the+regime&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Iranian+student+leader&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Iman+Samizadez&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
The link is here for the "we will use nuclear weapons":
http://www.google.com/search?q=Ayatollahs+will+run+if+Iran+attacked+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=13154&R=111E82551A
The End of Deterrence
A nuclear Iran will change everything.
by S. Enders Wimbush
01/11/2007 12:00:00 AM
IF PRESIDENT BUSH is persuaded by the Iraq Study Group to speak directly with Iran, he will be under strong pressure to cut a deal that makes Iran a significant partner in salvaging, at least temporarily, the mess in Iraq. For its quid pro quo in aiding America to come up with a face saving exit strategy, Iran will insist on a free hand to develop its "peaceful" nuclear power. One can almost hear the inevitable claims by those seeking to justify the president's giving ground on this issue. A nuclear Iran can be "managed" or deterred, we will hear; moreover, this is a good trade-off for extricating America from Iraq. President Bush should not be taken in. He must reject even the hint of compromise.
Iran is fast building its position as the Middle East's political and military hegemon, a position that will be largely unchallengeable once it acquires nuclear weapons. A nuclear Iran will change all of the critical strategic dynamics of this volatile region in ways that threaten the interests of virtually everyone else. The outlines of some of these negative trends are already visible, as other actors adjust their strategies to accommodate what increasingly appears to be the emerging reality of an unpredictable, unstable nuclear power. Iran needn't test a device to shift these dangerous dynamics into high gear; that is already happening. By the time Iran tests, the landscape will have changed dramatically because everyone will have seen it coming.
The opportunities nuclear weapons will afford Iran far exceed the prospect of using them to win a military conflict. Nuclear weapons will empower strategies of coercion, intimidation, and denial that go far beyond purely military considerations. Acquiring the bomb as an icon of state power will enhance the legitimacy of Iran's mullahs and make it harder for disgruntled Iranians to oust them. With nuclear weapons, Iran will have gained the ability to deter any direct American threats, as well as the leverage to keep the United States at a distance and to discourage it from helping Iran's regional opponents. Would the United States be in Iraq if Saddam had had a few nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver them on target to much of Europe and all of Israel? Would it even have gone to war in 1991 to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi aggression? Unlikely. Yet Iran is rapidly acquiring just such a capability. If it succeeds, a relatively small nuclear outcast will be able to deter a mature nuclear power. Iran will become a billboard advertising nuclear weapons as the logical asymmetric weapon of choice for nations that wish to confront the United States.
It should surprise no one that quiet discussions have already begun in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, and elsewhere in the Middle East about the desirability of developing national nuclear capabilities to blunt Iran's anticipated advantage and to offset the perceived decline in America's protective power. This is just the beginning. We should anticipate that proliferation across Eurasia will be broad and swift, creating nightmarish challenges. The diffusion of nuclear know-how is on the verge of becoming impossible to impede. Advanced computation and simulation techniques will eventually make testing unnecessary for some actors, thereby expanding the possibilities for unwelcome surprises and rapid shifts in the security environment. Leakage of nuclear knowledge and technologies from weak states will become commonplace, and new covert supply networks will emerge to fill the gap left by the neutralization of Pakistani proliferator A. Q. Khan. Non-proliferation treaties, never effective in blocking the ambitions of rogues like Iran and North Korea, will be meaningless. Intentional proliferation to state and non-state actors is virtually certain, as newly capable states seek to empower their friends and sympathizers. Iran, with its well known support of Hezbollah, is a particularly good candidate to proliferate nuclear capabilities beyond the control of any state as a way to extend the coercive reach of its own nuclear politics.
Arsenals will be small, which sounds reassuring, but in fact it heightens the dangers and risk. New players with just a few weapons, including Iran, will be especially dangerous. Cold War deterrence was based on the belief that an initial strike by an attacker could not destroy all an opponent's nuclear weapons, leaving the adversary with the capacity to strike back in a devastating retaliatory blow. Because it is likely to appear easier to destroy them in a single blow, small arsenals will increase the incentive to strike first in a crisis. Small, emerging nuclear forces could also raise the risk of preventive war, as leaders are tempted to attack before enemy arsenals grow bigger and more secure.
Some of the new nuclear actors are less interested in deterrence than in using nuclear weapons to annihilate their enemies. Iran's leadership has spoken of its willingness--in their words--to "martyr" the entire Iranian nation, and it has even expressed the desirability of doing so as a way to accelerate an inevitable, apocalyptic collision between Islam and the West that will result in Islam's final worldwide triumph. Wiping Israel off the map--one of Iran's frequently expressed strategic objectives--even if it results in an Israeli nuclear strike on Iran, may be viewed as an acceptable trade-off. Ideological actors of this kind may be very different from today's nuclear powers who employ nuclear weapons as a deterrent to annihilation. Indeed, some of the new actors may seek to annihilate others and be annihilated, gloriously, in return.
What constitutes deterrence in this world? Proponents of new non-proliferation treaties and many European strategists speak of "managing" a nuclear Iran, as if Iran and the new nuclear actors that will emerge in Iran's wake can be easily deterred by getting them to sign documents and by talking nicely to them. This is a lethal naiveté. We have no idea how to deter ideological actors who may even welcome their own annihilation. We do not know what they hold dear enough to be deterred by the threat of its destruction. Our own nuclear arsenal is robust, but it may have no deterrent effect on a nuclear-armed ideological adversary.
This is the world Iran is dragging us into. Can they be talked out of it? Maybe. But it is getting very late to slow or reverse the momentum propelling us into this nuclear no-man's land. We should be under no illusion that talk alone--"engagement"--is a solution. Nuclear Iran will prompt the emergence of a world in which nuclear deterrence may evaporate, the likelihood of nuclear use will grow, and where deterrence, once broken, cannot be restored.
S. Enders Wimbush is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and director of its Center for Future Security Strategies.
© Copyright 2007, News Corporation, Weekly Standard, All Rights Reserved.
US military strike on Iran seen by April 07
ARAB TIMES ^ | 1/17/07 | Ahmed Al-jarallah
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1770852/posts
[Note: this is a Marxist website and it will give you an idea of how many there are, if you will recall the marches and protests of last spring, to support the open borders, there is much more of this evilness there....
There is a lot of info in here about Iraq and there should be info on Iran, all hate of course for the U.S., I can't see to read it on the black background.....granny]
http://www.pwgd.com/blog/lb/2006/10/
The Digest
anti-imperialist marxist info. and analysis
2006 October 31, Tuesday
10/31/6 OAXACA: Urgent Call for Support! Mexican Groups Warn
Urgent Call for Solidarity
ORGANIZE SUPPORT WHEREVER YOU ARE!
NECDP forwards the following message from friends working on solidarity with the
resistance in Oaxaca:
“Dear Compas in the Boston Area,
The situation in Oaxaca is getting more and more grim, especially since
Friday, with the murder of comrades Emilio Alonso Fabián, Bradley Will,
Eudocia Olivera Díaz and Esteban Zurita López by state police and
paramilitaries. Now, the Federal Police is occupying the city,
electricity has been shut off, and a forced re-occupation of
people-liberated spaces across the city seems imminent. This will be met
with popular resistance and we expect the forces of repression to
inflict more suffering upon our comrades.
We are therefore organizing a demonstration in front of the Mexican
consulate in Boston to protest the ongoing repression and murders.
When: Thursday Nov 2, at 4pm
Where: 20 Park plaza
Boston, MA 0211
(617) 426-4181
Please attend, bring signs, etc. and contact groups and organizations
you know and/or work with and ask them to mobilize with us.
For more information about the situation in Oaxaca, We suggest reading
the following websites to get started:
http://www.narconews.org
or
http://www.asambleapopulardeoaxaca.com/
or
http://www.nodo50.org/cipo-van/
In struggle,
Todos.”
Mexican guerilla groups warn the “federales”
Ten Mexican armed guerilla groups warned the “federales” on
Saturday that when peaceful protests fail, an armed uprising is the only
alternative. “Military action is the last resort when the forms of
peaceful protest fail, and in politico-military action we acknowledge
that it will be the people’s organizations that determine the cause and
development of the fight to achieve complete freedom,” the groups said
in a joint communique concerning the situation in Oaxaca.
The ten insurgent groups are:
1) Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR)
2) Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN)
3) Democratic Revolutionary Tendency-People’s Army (TDR-EP)
4) Revolutionary Workers Command “Mexico Barbaro”
5) Tendencia Democratica Revolucionaria-Ejercito del Pueblo
6) Colectivo Revolucionario Francisco Javier Mina
7) Brigada de Ajusticiamiento 2 de Diciembre,
8) Movimiento Revolucionario Lucio Cabanas
9) Organizacion Insurgente 1 de Mayo
10) Brigadas Populares de Liberacion.
La Voz de Aztlan
Website:http://www.aztlan.net
Contact:http://www.aztlan.net/contactlavozdeaztlan.html
COMMUNIQUÉ FROM THE CLANDESTINE REVOLUTIONARY
REVOLUTIONARY
INDIGENOUS COMMITTEE OF THE ZAPATISTA ARMY OF NATIONAL LIBERATION
Many communists in Mexico:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Urgent+Call+for+Support%21+Mexican+Groups+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
Greece shows up here:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Urgent+Call+for+Support%21+Mexican++Venezuela+take+over+of+America&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=+Mexican++Venezuela+plan+to+take+over+U.S.&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.netscape:en-US&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=1&ct=result&cd=1&q=+Mexico++Venezuela+plan+to+take+over+U.S.&spell=1
http://www.google.com/search?q=Mexican+guerilla+groups&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
Take a good look:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Mexican+guerilla+groups+Muslim+connection&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
Several and Jihad Watch:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Mexican+guerilla+groups+jehad+connection&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
Yes:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Mexican+guerilla+groups+al-Qaeda+connection&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=politico-military+action&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Popular+Revolutionary+Army+%28EPR%29&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
Very interesting:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Popular+Revolutionary+Army+al-Qaeda+connection&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Zapatista+National+Liberation+Army+%28EZLN%29+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
Maybe back to 1980:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Zapatista+National+Liberation+Army++al-Qaeda+connection&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Russian+Mafia+and+Mexico%E2%80%99s+Zapatista+National+Liberation+Army&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
Everything:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Beyond+al-Qaeda&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.netscape:en-US&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=1&ct=result&cd=1&q=Democratic+Revolutionary+Tendency-People%27s+Army+(TDR-EP)+&spell=1
http://www.google.com/search?q=Revolutionary+Workers+Command+%E2%80%9CMexico+Barbaro%E2%80%9D+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Tendencia+Democratica+Revolucionaria-Ejercito+del+Pueblo+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Colectivo+Revolucionario+Francisco+Javier+Mina+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Brigada+de+Ajusticiamiento+2+de+Diciembre&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Movimiento+Revolucionario+Lucio+Cabanas+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
They use bombs:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Organizacion+Insurgente+1+de+Mayo+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Brigadas+Populares+de+Liberacion&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1770852/posts
Thanks Lucy for catching the thread on when we will strike Iran.
The one thing that is definate, is that the middle east does rather expect us to strike Iran, or as I read the signs.
very interesting, thank you............
It may be more lies designed to rally the nation around its leaders.
Thanks. I noticed it was posted by a new FReeper, 1-16-2007.
This one caught my eye, in an alert, odd enough to give deep thought to.........granny
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/16383208.htm
Police not sure why someone would take tags for boxcars
Associated Press
CLARKSDALE, Miss. - Clarksdale police are looking for thieves who decided on the most unusual items to snatch - computer tags for railroad cars.
"I have no idea why they would want them," police Capt. Danny Hill said Thursday.
He said the theft from Delta Railroad was reported by Reggie Howell, the local railroad operator.
"The (grey colored) computer tags are about 10 inches long with a plastic cover and are mounted on the side of each boxcar," Hill said. "These tags contain a computer chip that lets them know what is in each car."
Hill said the cost of the tags were about $75 each and that a large number had been taken.
"They probably didn't know what they were getting and I don't know what they can do with them," he said.
---
Information from: The Clarksdale Press Register
It is near the bottome of the page here:
http://islam-exposed.blogspot.com/2007/01/islamic-lies-exposed.html
An interesting blog.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070120/missile_defence_070120/20070120?hub=World&s_name=
Russia warns U.S. over Czech missile defence base
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek announces that the United States has said it would like the Czech Republic to host components of its global missile defense system. (AP Photo/CTK, Rene Volfik)
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek announces that the United States has said it would like the Czech Republic to host components of its global missile defense system. (AP Photo/CTK, Rene Volfik)
Associated Press
Updated: Sat. Jan. 20 2007 6:50 PM ET
PRAGUE — The United States has asked the Czech Republic to host a radar base that would be part of a global missile defence system, the prime minister announced Saturday, drawing a warning from Russia of retaliatory actions.
U.S. officials contend the system could defend Europe against intercontinental missiles fired by states such as Iran and North Korea. But the Kremlin warned that the military balance in Europe could be at stake and said the development risked a new arms race.
Independent defence experts have said the ground-based missile defence system is still years from being able to protect against long-range missile attacks.
Washington declined comment on Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's statement. But the United States has been negotiating with Poland and the Czech Republic, both former communist states now in NATO, as it explores setting up missile defence sites in Eastern Europe.
The United States has missile interceptor bases in Alaska and California. It activated a powerful X-band radar site in northern Japan as part of the system last September, but so far has no anti-missile weapons based outside U.S. territory.
The U.S. request that the Czech Republic host only an X-band radar facility could indicate Washington is considering putting launchers for anti-missile missiles in Poland.
Czech authorities refused to comment on Poland's possible role. Topolanek said only that he would discuss the issue with his Polish counterpart, Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
Topolanek said his government would name a committee in the next week to consider the U.S. request and a decision could take several months. Czech opposition parties have spoken against the defence system, and the premier's governing coalition does not have enough parliament votes to pass measures on its own.
In Moscow, Andrei Kokoshin, the former Russian Security Council chief who now heads parliament's committee for ties with former Soviet bloc countries, warned that Czech approval of the plan would "not pass without consequences.''
Russian legislators dealing with security issues "will recommend taking retaliatory measures'' that would "help maintain strategic stability and ensure the national security of Russia and our friends and allies,'' Kokoshin was quoted as telling the Interfax news agency.
A State Department spokesman, Edgar Vasquez, told The Associated Press he could not confirm that the Czechs had been asked to host the radar site and Poles the missile interceptors. He only repeated that negotiations were underway.
"Depending on the result of the discussions, the U.S. will seek to field a limited number of ground-based missile defence silo launchers, with their associated interceptors, similar to those currently fielded at Fort Greely, Alaska, and to deploy an X-band radar for midcourse tracking and discrimination of ballistic missile threats out of the Middle East,'' he said.
Vasquez would not specify which countries in the Middle East are considered a threat, but U.S. officials and others worry about Iran's development of long-range missiles that can reach Europe.
The missile defence system is intended to begin tracking missiles early during their boost phase and then guide intercepter missiles that would destroy the threatening missiles in flight.
So far, the U.S. military has deployed only a small number of interceptor missiles, at least 11 at Fort Greely and two at Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast.
Topolanek said that if the Czech Republic approves the U.S. request, some 200 American specialists would be deployed here and the base would become operational in 2011.
"We are convinced that a possible deployment of the radar station on our territory is in our interest,'' he said. "It will increase security of the Czech Republic and Europe.''
© 2007 CTVglobemedia All Rights Reserved.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=119855
Ahmadinejad Says Ready for War, UN Nuke Chief Urges Talks
Friday, January 19, 2007 / 29 Tevet 5767
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Thursday that Iran is now fully prepared for a war with Israel and the United States.
"Today, with the grace of God, we have gone through the arduous passes and we are ready for anything in this path," Ahmadinejad said, according to Iran’s state-run TV.
The comments were in response to the US decision to send the USS Stennis to the Perisan Gulf, joining another such vessel already stationed there. Iranian media is also reporting that 3,000 centrifuges are prepared to go online.
Ahmadinejad responded to criticism from Iranians who say Iran should compromise its nuclear ambitions to avoid a conflict with the Western world and sanctions from the UN. "Unfortunately, some inside the country try to fabricate news and portray a bad image of the great achievement of the Iranian nation," he said. "[They] prescribe compromise and repeat the words of the enemy. Of course, this will have no effect. Their aim is to frighten Iran and weaken the resistance of the Iranian nation, but they will not succeed.”
Meanwhile, Mohamed El Baradei, who heads the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency, said he was concerned that UN sanctions on Iran could escalate the standoff with the West and called for a resumption of negotiations.
In the eight years following the Egyptian’s appointment to head the watchdog group, it has failed to detect covert nuclear programs in three countries. It also failed to detect the “nuclear supermarket” run by the Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan.
Meanwhile, the Hashemite King of Jordan told Haaretz that his regime is also seeking to become a nuclear power. As the Hashemite regime is propped up by the West in a country that is majority Palestinian, Jordanian nukes would be only an election away from being controlled by an Islamist group, possibly Hamas.
“The rules have changed on the nuclear subject throughout the whole region,” King Abdullah II said. “Where I think Jordan was saying, 'we'd like to have a nuclear-free zone in the area,' after this summer, everybody's going for nuclear programs. The Egyptians are looking for a nuclear program. The GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] are looking at one, and we are actually looking at nuclear power for peaceful and energy purposes.”
http://www.newstribune.com/articles/2007/01/20/news_state/345state09irs.txt
Posted: Saturday, Jan 20, 2007 - 10:49:53 am CST
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Kansas City missing 26 IRS tapes
KANSAS CITY (AP) - Twenty-six IRS computer tapes containing taxpayer information that were delivered to City Hall in August are missing, Kansas City officials say.
The tapes contain information the Internal Revenue Service and Kansas City share. City officials use the information to enforce collection of a 1 percent city earnings tax, which people living or working in the city must pay.
Foul play isn't suspected, although it has not been ruled out, said Assistant City Manager Rich Noll.
Special equipment and software are needed to read the tapes, he said.
Kansas City officials did not know what exactly was on the tapes, including how many taxpayers might be included, and the IRS would not provide details.
IRS spokesman Michael Devine said only that the IRS and other taxing agencies share information to enhance voluntary compliance with tax laws.
Shared information can include taxpayer names and addresses, Social Security and bank account numbers and employer information.
City officials and special agents with the Inspector General's office of the Treasury Department are investigating. Officials are trying to retrace the tapes' trail.
Noll said the missing tapes were an entire shipment the city received in August.
Employee offices have been searched, but the tapes haven't turned up.
Charles said there's no documentation showing the tapes ever reached the city Finance Department, which would have reviewed them.
The investigation began after the tapes were not returned to the Treasury Department in a timely manner. Noll said he learned the tapes were missing in late December.
“We are cooperating in every way we can,” Noll said. “We are continuing to search every avenue.”
Noll said the city has taken steps to secure remaining taxpayer information.
He wasn't aware of any other instance in which the city's taxpayer information came up missing.
Tax lawyer Stan Weiner said the situation in Kansas City could be serious.
“Anytime taxpayer information is lost, taxpayers need to be concerned,” Weiner said.
continued.........
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