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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


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: globaljihad; history; iran; iusepinglistsforspam; jihad; kgb; lebanon; news; patricelumumbaschool; qassemsoleimani; reports; research; russia; syria; terrorist; wot; wt
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To: All

Title : 8 men arrested for suspected involvement in unlicensed moneylending activities
By :
Date : 25 January 2007 1944 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/254727/1/.html

SINGAPORE : Police have arrested eight men - aged 21 to 41 - for suspected involvement in unlicensed moneylending activities.

They are said to be members of the "Hell Note Ah Long" syndicate, believed to be responsible for sending threatening letters to debtors as well as their neighbours.

The arrests were made on Wednesday in a five-hour islandwide operation, covering areas such as Upper Changi Road, Woodlands, Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Aljunied and the Woodlands Checkpoint.

Four of the 40 policemen were injured during the operation.

Police seized more than S$8,300 in cash and items like laptops, palmtops, mobile phones, thumb drives, memory cards, ATM cards, rubber stamps, and documents containing written entries of debts.

The syndicate was believed to have circulating loans amounting to more than half a million dollars.

'Hell bank notes', incense papers and small pieces of sack-cloth worn by mourners were also seized.

Police say these were used as tools of harassment.

Threatening letters with the 'hell bank notes' were sent not only to debtors, but also to their neighbours, in the hope of pressuring the debtors into making repayments.

In the last 18 months, police received 600 complaints from the public about harassment using such notes.

The Criminal Investigation Department's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Wong Choong Mann, said, "I think this is a very serious situation. Not only the debtors are being harassed, we have innocent members of the public being harassed as well. We take this very seriously and we'll spare no effort in working in obtaining intelligence on these syndicates." - CNA/ms

Copyright © 2006 MCN International Pte Ltd


2,921 posted on 01/25/2007 9:29:17 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All; milford421; FARS

Title : Helicopter crash kills Ecuador's defence minister, daughter
By :
Date : 25 January 2007 1109 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/254609/1/.html

QUITO: Ecuador's defence minister, Guadalupe Larriva, and her daughter were killed late Wednesday in a collision between two military helicopters near a base on the Pacific coast, the president's spokesman said.

"The Air Force confirms to us that the defence minister and her daughter died in an accident between two military helicopters. We are going to the area to find out the details of what happened," Monica Chuji, spokeswoman of the president's office, told AFP.

President Rafael Correa, who expressed sorrow over the accident, travelled to the accident scene and confirmed the deaths near the air base at the port city of Manta.

According to local media reports, the two helicopters crashed in mid-air around 9:00 pm (0200 GMT Thursday) and the remains were spread around several meters (yards).

The United States uses the Manta air base as its main outpost in its fight against drug trafficking in the Pacific region.

Larriva took office on January 15, becoming the first woman to serve as defence minister in the country. - AFP/so

Copyright © 2006 MCN International Pte Ltd


2,922 posted on 01/25/2007 9:31:46 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All

U.S. warns North Korea-Iran missile cooperation violates U.N. resolution

http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20070125/610000000020070125140020E8.html

2007/01/25 13:59 KST

U.S. warns North Korea-Iran missile cooperation violates U.N.
resolution

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Yonhap) -- The United States on Wednesday cited
"patterns" of missile cooperation between North Korea and Iran and
warned that such ties would be in violation of a United Nations
Security
Council resolution.

The British Daily Telegraph reported earlier that North Korea was
helping Iran in what may be preparations for a nuclear test this year.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack wouldn't comment specifically
on the report because it was an intelligence matter, but said past
missile cooperation between the two countries is already known.

Iran is believed to have built its medium-range Shahab missiles based
on
parts and technology provided by North Korea.

"So there are patterns of cooperation there," McCormack said.

But U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought to play down the
report, saying she had no knowledge of what the report is based on.

"I don't see that it's based on anything that I've seen," she told
reporters accompanying her to a Lebanon donor conference in Paris.

Paul Kerr, a researcher at the Washington-based U.S. Arms Control
Association, also questioned the claim that North Korea has agreed to
share its nuclear weapons test technology with Iran.

"I think for anybody making a claim like this reporter or whoever, you
need a certain amount of evidence given how serious that claim is and
there just isn't any," he said in an interview with Radio Free Asia.

Pyongyang and Tehran, once lumped together as an "axis of evil" by U.S.
President George W. Bush, harbor nuclear ambitions and are suspected of
advancing weapons programs. Both have been sanctioned by the Security
Council to discourage further development.

A council resolution unanimously passed on October prohibits any
missile-related trade with the North, and McCormack drove in the point
at the daily briefing.

"If, and I emphasize if, Iran were in any way involved in those kinds
of
exchanges with North Korea, they would be in violation of U.N. Security
Council resolution," he said.

A multilateral process is under way to resolve the North Korean nuclear
issue, and Pyongyang is expected to come back to the six-party talks, a
denuclearization negotiation forum involving South and North Korea, the
U.S., China, Russia and Japan.

North Korean and U.S. envoys met in Berlin to prepare for the next
session, which the U.S. says must make substantive progress.

McCormack said the Berlin meetings were good consultations but advised
against optimism.

"You can lay the groundwork, you can have good atmospherics, but until
you actually produce a negotiated agreement, that's all it is. It's
just
hope for a new round," he said.

(END)


2,923 posted on 01/25/2007 9:37:24 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All

http://www.isria.info/FILES/2007/JANUARY/20070125__27.htm

China Defends Africa Policy, Weapons Sales to Sudan

By Daniel Schearf Beijing 24 January 2007

A Chinese Foreign Ministry official has defended Beijing's Africa policy and weapons sales to Sudan ahead of the Chinese president's eight-country visit to Africa. China has been wooing African nations with aid and business deals, but critics say in its quest for resources Beijing is ignoring human rights abuses. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing. China's President Hu Jintao will head to Africa next Tuesday to push for increased trade and continue to build ties with African leaders. This is his third trip to the continent since 2004, and is part of China's campaign to build strong trade and diplomatic ties there. But critics worry that Beijing's purchases of African oil, minerals, and other resources mainly benefit Africa's governing elite. Beijing argues its companies have improved the lives of Africans by building roads, bridges, schools and hospitals. China's Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhai Jun told reporters Wednesday there were other countries in the world taking far more resources from Africa.

He said if African leaders were upset about China's exploitation they would not have come to a China-Africa summit Beijing held in November. "If it were another country would so many African leaders have come? Why did so many African leaders gather in China? If we were robbing African resources would they have come?" he asked. Leaders from 48 African countries attended the summit.

At the gathering, China pledged to double aid to Africa by 2009. Beijing also promised $5 billion in loans and export credits and signed nearly $2 billion in trade agreements. Many African leaders have said they appreciate China's aid and business because Beijing generally does not impose the restrictions on the money that many Western nations do to prevent corruption and abuse. But human rights organizations say Beijing ignores political persecution and human rights violations in some African nations. For example, they say China's weapons sales to Sudan are fueling the conflict in Darfur, where rebel groups have fought against militias allegedly supported by the Sudanese government. Zhai says the sales are legal and follow Beijing's practice of having the buyer agree not to transfer the arms to any third parties. "With Sudan, we have cooperation in many aspects, including military cooperation. In this, we have nothing to hide," he said. During his visit, President Hu will meet with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to discuss the Darfur situation.

The U.S. wants China to use its leverage with Sudan to ensure Khartoum fully accepts a hybrid African Union and U.N. peacekeeping force. However, Zhai says using pressure or sanctions against Sudan will not help to resolve the conflict and would only make the situation worse. "We think to resolve the Darfur issue we should first respect Sudan's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said. "The relevant plan should obtain Sudan's agreement, because if the Sudanese government does not agree, the plan cannot be put into force or made reality." Mr. Hu's visit, which ends February 10, will include stops in Cameroon, Liberia, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, and the Seychelles.


2,924 posted on 01/25/2007 9:40:57 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All

http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page10829.asp

Prison Ships: England

Put that the Prime Minister today at PMQs in response to the Leader of the Opposition said that he was not ruling any options out when it came to a question about prison ships and army camps, and what progress was the Prime Minister aware of on them, the PMOS pointed out that with regard to prisons, in terms of guidance that came from the Home Secretary, the Lord Chancellor, and the Attorney General, that reflected existing policy, rather than new policy. In terms of handling the problem, the PMOS said that he was not going to get into speculation about what would happen, except that John Reid had laid out that there would be an extra 8000 prison places by the end of 2012. That came on top of the nearly 20,000 extra places there had been since 1997. It was not that the Government had not been doing anything in this field, but everyone recognised that there were pressures in the prison system.

Put that the Prison Governor's Association today had said that "we were full", 2012 seemed a long way off, the PMOS said that in terms of progress on that, by the end of this year, we would have delivered 2000 newly built prison places. Therefore, again, progress was being made.


2,925 posted on 01/25/2007 9:55:02 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All

http://www.iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2007&m=01&d=25&a=7

Thursday, January 25, 2007


Washington to Release Evidence of Hostile Iranian Activity in Iraq

January 25, 2007
DEBKA-Net
DEBKA-Net-Weekly



US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad and State department spokesman Sean McCormack said the US would soon present evidence of Iran’s hand in the violence besetting Iraq. The spoke as US-Iran military tensions over Iraq continued to rise. The ambassador stressed too that the charges against the Revolutionary Guards al Quds Brigade agents detained at the Iranian “liaison center” in Irbil on Jan 11 would be made public.

The detainees are still in custody. McCormack spoke of “solid evidence” that Iranian agents sent by the Iranian government are working with individuals and groups in Iraq. He quoted President Bush who vowed to confront the networks and individuals “trying to harm our troops.”

Eight days after the US raid on Irbil, DEBKA-Net-Weekly 286 exclusively revealed some of the evidence referred to by the two US officials of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’s direct involvement in terrorist operations in Iraq.

Quote: Their biggest catch was Iranian colonel Fars Hassami, No. 3 in the Revolutionary Guards al Quds Brigade’s hierarchy, two below the Brigades commander, General Qassem Sulemaini. Officers of the al Quds Brigade also serve with Hizballah combat units in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The interrogation of Hassami and his four fellow detainees yielded some eye-openers, supplemented by sweeps of their offices and computers.

1. Col. Hassam was found to have been in charge of Iranian operations in northern and central Iraq - from Kurdish Irbil down to the northern outskirts of Baghdad – and all links with Iraq’s Shiite militias, including Moqtada Sadr’s Medhi Army, and Sunni insurgent groups.

Hassam was the live wire behind Iran’s military, intelligence and logistic operations in the violence-stricken towns of the northern half of Iraq, Tal Afar, Mosul, Haditha, Kirkuk, Samarra, the Banji refinery town, Tikrit, Ramadi, Falluja and Baquba.

2. This same RG colonel managed an intensive recruitment campaign for the Sadrist Mehdi Army, which controls a large section of Baghdad and against which a combined Iraqi-US crackdown is under preparation.

Hassam’s recruiting center in Ur (birth town of Abraham) north of Baghdad appealed to volunteers aged 15 to 45. Each was handed ,500 in cash.

3. A second US raid in Irbil uncovered a stockpile of Iranian weapons. It consisted of 40 tons of explosives, shoulder-borne anti-air missiles, anti-tank missiles, hundreds of automatic rifles and a pile of ordnance made in Iran.

4. Inventories of the weapons and ammo supplied the Medhi Army in Baghdad and Kirkuk by Iran in the last two months were detailed on computer hard disks. Maps showed the locations of anti-air missile positions for shooting down American helicopters.

5. Questioning of the captives yielded the identity of the RGs’ overall commander for orchestrating Tehran’s program to dominate Iraq. The name of Col. Bassem Abtakhi struck a familiar chord with the American interrogators. Informed Middle East intelligence circles have come up against him before as the RGs representative attached to the Hizballah command in Lebanon in 2004 and 2005. They were told he now operates out of the Fajr base in Ahwaz, capital of the southern Iranian province of Khozestan.

Another familiar face is that of the RG officer nicknamed Mahdi Muhandes (Mahdi the Engineer – a terrorist euphemism for bomb-maker). His real name is Col. Muhammad Ali Ibrahimi and the captured men named him as responsible for smuggling Iranian supplies of arms and military equipment into Iraq.

End of quote from DEBKA-Met-Weekly

Khalilzad pointed out Wednesday, Jan 24, that Shiite political groups now dominating the Iraqi government had developed close relationships with the Iranian security forces while they were opposing Saddam Hussein. He singled out the biggest Shiite party, SCIRI for mention.

DEBKAfile’s military sources note that the threat by high US officials of detailed disclosures of Iran’s clandestine campaign to control Iraq and its hand in the spiraling sectarian violence further raises the military tensions between Iran and the United States. It adds fuel to the fears in Tehran that Washington may not be satisfied with filing a UN Security Council complaint against Iran’s complicity in terrorism, but may also conduct cross-border commando raids against the RGs’ al Quds bases near the Iranian-Iraqi border.

link to original article


2,926 posted on 01/25/2007 10:17:52 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All; milford421; FARS

http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070125/FON0101/70125033/1289/FONnews

Posted January 25, 2007


2 cargo planes collide, burn at Milwaukee airport

The Associated Press

MILWAUKEE — Two cargo planes collided and burned on a taxiway at Mitchell International Airport Wednesday night, but no serious injuries were reported.

Airport director Barry Bateman said both pilots got out after the accident, and one had a minor hand injury.

The accident happened about 8 p.m. and involved planes from the same company, Freight Runners Express Inc. of Milwaukee, he said.

Bateman described the aircraft as small twin-engine planes, a Cessna 402 and Beech 99, that hauled freight from small communities into Milwaukee to be shipped via United Parcel Service Inc.

“I’m told that one (plane) had just landed and was taxiing into the cargo area,” Bateman said. “A significant fireball occurred but both pilots were able to escape.”
Firefighting crews put out the fires.

“The airport closed immediately, which is normal procedure,” he said.


2,927 posted on 01/25/2007 11:06:12 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All; milford421; FARS; Founding Father

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CUBAN_MIGRANTS?SITE=WIFON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Jan 25, 10:42 AM EST

Cubans Land on Military Grounds in Fla.
U.S. Video
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KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) -- Nineteen Cubans came ashore on the Naval Air Station Key West commander's backyard, officials said.

The 12 men, five women and two children were discovered Wednesday morning by an off-duty Defense Department officer jogging on military property, Key West police said. The officer knocked on Capt. J.R. Brown's front door, alerting him to the group and asking to use his phone to call authorities.

The group arrived in what appeared to be a homemade boat, police said.

continued............


2,928 posted on 01/25/2007 11:10:49 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All

OSINT: Google Rules

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htintel/articles/20070125.aspx
Google Rules
January 25, 2007:

It's official, the U.S. Department of Defense has a new form of
intelligence; OSINT (Open Source Intelligence.) This joins such old
standbys as HUMINT (Human Intelligence), ELINT (Electronic
Intelligence) and several others. Basically, OSINT is the Internet.
Before the World Wide Web showed up in 1995, there was "open source"
(unclassified information in books, magazines and newspapers), but it
was so difficult to sort through it all to find anything useful, that
it was rarely a factor in intelligence work. Well, not entirely. The
Soviet Union found the freely available technical publications in the
United States to be a very profitable source of useful information.
But for military use, OSINT wasn't there yet. No one expected it to
ever be. Then came the world wide web and search engines. Everything
changed.

Official recognition of OSINT is all about the ease of finding things
on the Internet, and sheer depth, and timeliness, of data on the web.
In the last few years, CIA, military intelligence, and many other,
analysts have been finding good stuff on the web, that they can't find
in their expensive, and highly classified, databases. While there's a
lot of bad information on the web, the ease with which one can quickly
locate several different versions of data, enables an astute analyst
to quickly eliminate the trash, and come up with very useful material.

The only downside of OSINT is that everyone has access to it. The only
edge anyone can have is the skill of their OSINT researchers. Thus the
rush to master Google and other OSINT sources. Nothing good comes
without a price.


2,929 posted on 01/25/2007 11:20:30 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All

UAE READY TO ORDER NAVAL MISSILES

http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2007/january/01_25_3.html

UAE READY TO ORDER NAVAL MISSILES

ABU DHABI [MENL] -- The United Arab Emirates plans to order ship-based
missiles from the United States.

The UAE firm Abu Dhabi Ship Building Co. intends to sign an agreement
for the Rolling Airframe Missile from Raytheon Missile Systems. ADSB
would deploy the Mk-31 Mod1RIM-116B missiles aboard the six Baynunah
corvettes ordered by the UAE Navy.

All but one of the six corvettes would be built by ADSB in cooperation
with France's Constructions Mecaniques de Normandie, or CMN. The 72
meter vessels were designed by CMN, which has been building the first
corvette.

ADSB would work with CMN to accommodate the RAM system. RAM would be
one
of several combat systems ordered for Baynunah, an $817 million
program.


2,930 posted on 01/25/2007 11:23:17 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All

Afghanistan: Kabul Sharing Intelligence With Pakistan, NATO

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/01/553d621b-c0c5-46e1-976b-510216d08b2e.html

Afghanistan: Kabul Sharing Intelligence With Pakistan, NATO

KABUL, January 24, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The NATO-led force International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Afghanistan, and Pakistan have set up
a joint intelligence-sharing center at ISAF headquarters in Kabul. NATO
officials said they expect the new center to coordinate the fight
against insurgents coming from Pakistan into Afghanistan without
tackling the highly charged questions of where the border lies or how
it
should be secured.

The new intelligence-sharing body represents a breakthrough in the
difficult relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Detailed Operations And Intelligence

Brigadier General Richard Nugee, the chief ISAF spokesman, said in
Kabul
today that this is the first time that the Afghan and Pakistani armies
-- together with their NATO allies -- will be sharing tactical
intelligence on a continuous basis.

"In very broad terms, this center is looking at detailed operations and
intelligence and therefore is [working] on day-to-day tactical -- what
we call tactical issues -- low-level issues to ensure that the
coordination between the Pakistan army, the Afghan army, and ISAF is as
close as possible," Nugee said.

Nugee said the center, to comprise between 15-20 intelligence officers
from the two countries and ISAF, has already begun its work. Its formal
inauguration ceremony will take place on January 25.

Nugee said the creation of the new body was decided at the last meeting
of a tripartite council that brings together the senior commanders from
Afghanistan, Pakistan, and ISAF every two months.

He said the newly created Joint Intelligence Operations Center (JIOC)
will not make policy, but instead execute policies already agreed to by
the tripartite council.

Fence And Mine The Border?

Nugee said the JIOC will not discuss issues such as Pakistan's reputed
plans to fence and/or mine parts of the border.

The border remains an extremely sensitive issue between the two
countries. Although Kabul wants Pakistan to take measures to curb the
movement of Taliban insurgents across the border into Afghanistan, it
objects to Islamabad's reported plans to fence and mine parts of it.

NATO officials in Kabul say this position tallies with Afghanistan's
long-standing policy of nonrecognition of the so-called Durand Line,
drawn in 1893 to separate Afghanistan from what was then British India.
Since 1947 the Durand Line has formed the boundary between Afghanistan
and Pakistan, though Kabul argues it was forced into the 1893 agreement
under duress and says the border should be renegotiated. Pakistan
rejects that idea.

Nugee said today that NATO believes no fencing of the border has taken
place yet. He said the tripartite meeting in Islamabad earlier this
week
did not discuss the border, but did involve talks about closer
cooperation between the militaries "to make sure that we understand
what's going on either side of the border."

One senior NATO officer said today that Kabul fears any fencing of the
border by Pakistan would "cement" the Durand Line. Another official
noted privately that the route of the Durand Line itself is a source of
bitter dispute between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The placement of the
line can vary by a number of kilometers in the two sides'
interpretations.

Cross-Border Insurgents

Mark Laity, a senior NATO spokesman in Kabul, told RFE/RL today that
Afghanistan and Pakistan need to come to a political agreement over the
border before it can be effectively secured.

"[Pakistani] President [Pervez] Musharraf has acknowledged quite openly
that the Taliban operate from Pakistan; he has acknowledged quite
openly
that he's concerned about 'Talibanization' within Pakistan, that it
will
be a threat to Pakistan itself," Laity said. "So, everybody recognizes
that the border is a problem. Everybody recognizes that there is a
problem within Pakistan. The issue is what you do about it. And that in
itself is something [that is not going to require aggressive military
actions,] it requires a political solution, and that's why we have the
tripartite council."

Laity said Afghanistan, Pakistan, and NATO will need to work together
to
"solve the problems that emanate from the border areas."

NATO officials say they have no information about which parts of its
2,500-kilometer-long border with Afghanistan that Pakistan might want
to
fence.

NATO: No Support For Mining Border

One NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated that
any moves to secure the border will need to focus on traffic from the
Pakistani regions of Quetta, Peshawar, and Miranshah, where the Taliban
is particularly strong.

NATO spokesman Laity said today that any plans to fence or mine the
border must be "properly discussed."

He also indicated NATO will not support any moves to mine the border.
"With regard to mining in particular, NATO looks upon the issue of
mining with deep concern and strong reservations," he said.

One NATO source told RFE/RL that instead of fencing or mining the
border, Pakistan appears increasingly more likely to opt for installing
sophisticated monitoring systems along its border with Afghanistan.


2,931 posted on 01/25/2007 11:25:15 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All

AUS: Muslim GP gets 13 years for rape

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21120088-5006784,00.html

Muslim GP gets 13 years for rape
* January 26, 2007

AN Iraqi-trained doctor who claimed to be the victim of an anti-Muslim
conspiracy has been jailed for 13 years for drugging and raping a
patient.
Rafid Alramadan, 55, was sentenced yesterday in the NSW District Court
after he was found guilty of giving a woman in the NSW country town of
Grenfell an injection of the stupefying drug valium and having
non-consensual sex with her.

The victim, a patient of about 12 months, had visited Alramadan in
December 2005 when the surgery was closed to pick up a driver's licence
and had asked the doctor to give her a cortisone injection for knee
pain.

But rather than administer the drug in the affected area, Alramadan
gave
her two injections in the arm, which left her feeling "hazy" and too
weak to fight him off.

Alramadan then kissed and fondled her before raping her.

He was convicted in September of administering a stupefying drug,
aggravated sexual intercourse without consent and aggravated indecent
assault.

After being convicted at trial, the doctor accused the judge and jury
of
racism.

"This is because I am a Muslim. This is because I am from overseas.
They
go overseas to kill people, they want to kill me and my children, this
is racism," he said.

In court yesterday, Alramadan sat with his head bowed as judge Anthony
Puckeridge told him he had brought disgrace on himself and his family.

He said the doctor had abused his patient's trust, and "abused his
privileged position in the community by administering a drug for an
improper purpose".

During his trial, Alramadan said he had consensual sex with his
patient,
who he described as a "drug seeker".

Alramadan will be eligible for parole in December 2016.


2,932 posted on 01/25/2007 11:28:05 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All

Chinese TV Network Bans Pig Ads During Year of Pig Celebrations Due to Muslim Sensitivity

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,246709,00.html

Chinese TV Network Bans Pig Ads During Year of Pig Celebrations Due to
Muslim Sensitivity

Thursday, January 25, 2007

SHANGHAI --- Companies looking to reach China's consumer market with
pig
images during Year of the Pig celebrations next month will have to
adjust after a national television network adopted a policy to be
sensitive to the country's small Muslim population, according to
published reports.

China Central Television said it would ban all verbal and visual pork
references from advertisements during Lunar New Year celebrations next
month, the Wall Street Journal reported. This week, the network banned
a
TV ad from Nestle SA featuring a smiling cartoon pig and the message,
"Happy new pig year."

CCTV's ad department said the regulations are intended to avoid
offending Muslims, who consider pigs unclean animals. China's 20
million
Muslims comprise less than 2 percent of the population, the Journal
reported.

"China is a multiethnic country," the network said in a notice. "To
show
respect for Islam, and upon guidance from higher levels of the
government, CCTV will keep any pig images off the screen."

continued............


2,933 posted on 01/25/2007 11:31:38 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All

25 January 2007
US seeks Persian Gulf allies against Iran

With the deadline for Iranian compliance with a United Nations Security Council resolution on its nuclear program less than a month away, recent remarks by a United States envoy to the Persian Gulf suggest that American opposition to Tehran is hardening. The extent to which that position will enjoy unqualified support among Persian Gulf residents, however, remains in doubt.

By Camelia Entekhabi-Fard for Eurasianet (25/01/07)

At a speech in Dubai on 23 January, United States Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told a group of academics, diplomats and journalists that a second US aircraft carrier strike group headed toward the Persian Gulf "is Washington's way of warning Iran to back down in its attempts to dominate the region."

The USS John C Stennis, along with several accompanying ships, is expected to arrive by late February in the Gulf, where it will join the USS Dwight D Eisenhower aircraft carrier group. Its presence will mark the first time since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 that there have been two American carrier battle groups in the region.

The dispatch of the carrier groups to the Persian Gulf comes on the heels of a US-backed United Nations Security Council resolution in December, which called on Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program and imposed limited sanctions on the country. Iran has until 21 February to comply with the resolution.

"The Middle East isn't a region to be dominated by Iran. The Gulf isn't a body of water to be controlled by Iran," Burns commented.

"Iran is going to have to understand that the United States will protect its interests if Iran seeks to confront us," he continued. "We will defend our interests if we are challenged. That is a message Iran must understand."

Burns' trip to Dubai followed a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Middle East and Persian Gulf states on 13-17 January. The desire to show Iran that the US has strong support in the Arab world, and in the Persian Gulf in particular, for its opposition to Iran's nuclear development program featured prominently in both visits, which were officially designed to bolster support for the US campaign in Iraq.

However, remarks by analysts attending Burns' speech in Dubai suggest that such support is far from firm among Persian Gulf residents. Although US officials, including Burns, have insisted that they are not seeking a military solution to their differences with Iran, many in Dubai believe the opposite.

"We are not interested in [whether there] is another war in the region," Dr. Mohammad al-Naqbi, who heads the Gulf Negotiations Center, a think-tank in Abu Dhabi, told Burns in reference to US opposition to Iran. "You destroyed a country that had institutions," he said in reference to the increasingly violent clashes between US forces and militia groups in Iraq. "You handed that country to Iran. Now you are crying to Europe and the Arabs to help you out of this mess. Why do you want to create a new war?"

Another attendee, lawyer Dr Al-Rokn Mohammad, echoed that concern, arguing that experts say that Iran would be "10 to 15 years away" from creating a nuclear device "even if they have any plan to develop nuclear weapons."

In response, Burns, repeating earlier assertions, affirmed that the US is "not seeking confrontation."

"If Iran continues to ignore the UN resolution, it will be harsher, and there will be more sanctions for Iran. We are not seeking war. We are seeking negotiation."

Business interests could also play a role in local skepticism about US intentions. Iranians in Dubai, the Middle East's financial hub, enjoy longstanding close business ties with their counterparts throughout the United Arab Emirates. Trade between Iran and the UAE in 2006 stood at about US$10 billion, according to the Iranian Business Council, a 400-member organization in Dubai. In 2007, that number is expected to increase to US$11 billion.

"Of course, no one wants war in this region. Our Emirates business partners are upset," commented Iranian Business Council Vice-President Nasser Hashempour. "Iran is one of the biggest business partners in Dubai. If anything bad happens to Iran, they lose this large market and our partnership, which will be a huge loss for them," said in Dubai.

In a live television interview on 23 January, however, Iranian President Ahmadinejad discounted the threat of a US attack against Iran. The pressure put on the Islamic state is "more psychological," he told viewers.

The US is "absolutely incapable of inflicting serious damage on the Islamic Republic of Iran," the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported Ahmadinejad as saying. "They would like to hurt [Iran] but they are not in a position to do so."

In a 23 January meeting with Undersecretary of State Burns, Dubai's ruler, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the vice-president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, assured the US official that the UAE "strongly supports sincere international and regional endeavors aimed at consolidating security and stability in the region."

The next few weeks could prove critical to the varying interpretations of US intentions toward Iran and of the Islamic state's own readiness to comply with Security Council demands, however. Iran is expected to shortly hold official celebrations for its creation of centrifuge cascades, which can produce enriched uranium. One US-based analyst, who asked not to be named, conjectured that the event could provide an opportunity for Iran to agree to at least a temporary suspension of enrichment activities without renouncing their self-described national "right to enrich."

US officials no doubt would welcome such a decision. If Iran gives up its nuclear program, Burns said in Dubai, the US government, including Secretary of State Rice, would be willing to talk directly with Iran. "The offer is on the table," Burns said.

But for now, at least, Tehran looks unlikely to take up that offer, the visits by Burns and Rice to the Persian Gulf region notwithstanding. One Iranian diplomat, who spoke with EurasiaNet on condition of anonymity, stated that while nothing is impossible for Iran's relations with the US - even a visit by Secretary of State Rice to Tehran - it does not see its Persian Gulf neighbors as allied with the US against Iran.

"We have very good relationships with our neighboring countries and know that the US is just making propaganda about having regional support against us," the diplomat said.


EurasiaNet provides information and analysis about political, economic, environmental, and social developments in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as in Russia, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia. The website presents a variety of perspectives on contemporary developments, utilizing a network of correspondents based both in the West and in the region. The aim of EurasiaNet is to promote informed decision making among policy makers, as well as broadening interest in the region among the general public. EurasiaNet is operated by the Central Eurasia Project of the Open Society Institute.

Printed from http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=17165
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


2,934 posted on 01/25/2007 11:42:16 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All

25 January 2007
Speculation still rife about Litvinenko case

Two months have passed since former Russian intelligence officer Aleksandr Litvinenko died of radioactive poisoning in a London hospital.

By Claire Bigg for RFE/RL (25/01/07)

The mystery shrouding Aleksandr Litinenko's death is thicker than ever.

With investigators tight-lipped on their findings, speculation is intense on what has grown into the most dramatic espionage case since the Cold War era.

On 22 January, Britain's BBC television broadcast two documentary films on the former Russian intelligence officer and fierce Kremlin critic

Andrei Nekrasov, a Russian filmmaker and friend of Litivinenko, is the author of one of these films, titled "My Friend Sasha: A Very Russian Murder."

He tells RFE/RL's Russian Service that the case is generating huge public interest in Britain.

"I know there is very strong pressure from British society on the government and the police to comment on this issue, and television, too, is pressured," Nekrasov said. "For example, I asked the BBC to give me at least six weeks for editing. This is normal. I was given three weeks for everything, for the reason that society needs some kind of answer - if not the name of the perpetrators, then an honest and open discussion."

So far, Litivinenko's 23 November 2006 death has raised more questions than answers.

The second documentary film shown by the BBC, "How To Poison A Spy," puts forward a different theory. It suggests a first attempt to poison Litvinenko with polonium-210, a rare radioactive substance, took place more than two weeks before he received the fatal dose.

According to the film, the radioactive traces found at a London sushi restaurant where Litvinenko met Italian contact Mario Scaramella on 1 November - the day the Russian fell violently ill - were found in a different place from where they were sitting.

The filmmakers say the traces were probably at the seats where Litvinenko had met two former Russian security officers turned businessmen - Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun - on 16 October.

The two Russians met Litvinenko again on 1 November, at London's Millenium Hotel. Radioactive contamination was found at the hotel and eight staff members have tested positive for small doses of polonium.

This theory has already been put forward by a different source -- Russian Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika. Chaika has alleged Lugovoi and Kovtun themselves were poisoned on 16 October.
Skeptics abound

But many observers reject the version put forward by the film.

Oleg Gordiyevsky is the highest-ranking Russian intelligence officer ever to defect. He now lives in London and was a friend of Litivinenko's.

In an interview with RFE/RL's Russian Service, he says that what the BBC describes as a first poisoning attempt was in fact a dress rehearsal for Litvinenko's murder staged by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

"If he had been given some kind of poison [on 16 October], he would have died before 16 November," Gordiyevsky said. "This was a general rehearsal. Everyone involved in operations - secret services, military officers - perform general repetitions of their operations. This day was a rehearsal. They had poison with them, because all warfare substances are meant to be at hand. They arrived, they made up nonsense, but they didn't decide themselves to use the ampule."

Gordiyevsky told Britain's The Times newspaper last week that a fourth man present at the 1 November 2006, meeting with Lugovoi and Kovtun was responsible for lacing Litvinenko's tea with polonium.

The man was reportedly introduced to Litvinenko as Vladislav and was traveling on a forged EU passport.

The Times reports that British police suspect the man of being the killer and says his image was recorded by security cameras at London's Heathrow airport. The newspaper has described the suspect as having Central Asian features.

British investigators from Scotland Yard have declined to comment on these allegations.
Suspicions deepened

Another London-based ex-KGB agent, Boris Volodarsky, also dismissed the version put forward by the BBC's film as "absurd."

Volodarsky worked as a consultant for the film.

"In my opinion, it's full of mistakes. It's confused. They showed the Kremlin's stance as allegedly being that [exiled tycoon and Litvinenko acquaintance Boris] Berezovsky stands behind this, which is totally absurd," Volodarsky said. "They said the attempt to poison [Litvinenko] took place on 16 October. So they indirectly confirmed Russia's version that the attempt to poison him was possibly made on 16 October, which is absolutely not true and goes against the investigation's findings and common sense."

Like Gordiyevsky, Volodarsky squarely pins the blame for Litvinenko's poisoning on the FSB.

The accusations echo Litvinenko's deathbed statement blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin - who formerly headed the FSB - for his murder.

New footage released on 22 January is likely to deepen suspicions against the FSB.

The BBC and the British broadcaster ITV News aired a previously unseen interview by an Italian investigator in February 2006 in which Litvinenko says he was being persecuted by the FSB.

In the footage, Litvinenko accuses Russian secret services of threatening to kill his 6-year-old son and says a bomb was thrown through his window.

Litvinenko says he wanted the recording to remain secret as he feared for his life.


Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington DC 20036. Funded by the US Congress.

Printed from http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=17166
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


2,935 posted on 01/25/2007 11:44:15 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: nw_arizona_granny

How predicatable that Russia is not cooperating in the bomb grade uranium investigation.


2,936 posted on 01/25/2007 4:14:56 PM PST by Velveeta
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To: Velveeta

Have you noticed that Russia does not cooperate about anything?

Not on the spy and Anna P death, not on weapon sales, or the attempts to put an end to the nukes in Iran or N. Korea.

But not to worry, it is us that is wrong, as usual.


2,937 posted on 01/25/2007 4:36:02 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: All; milford421; Calpernia; Velveeta; DAVEY CROCKETT; FARS

kdwn.com

radio news at 6 pm.

Las Vegas, McCarren Airport.

All flights being met and illegals arrested.

So far all arrests are from Mexico, but also checking the international flights.

Now, who would they be looking for?


2,938 posted on 01/25/2007 5:06:33 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Pray for peace, but prepare for the worst disaster. Protect your loved ones.)
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To: nw_arizona_granny

I sure have noticed!


2,939 posted on 01/25/2007 5:27:32 PM PST by Velveeta
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To: nw_arizona_granny

Illegal Immigrant Arrests up at McCarran Airport

Border patrol agents are making more arrests at McCarran Airport.

The Las Vegas Review Journal is reporting that nearly 200 suspected illegal immigrants have been arrested at McCarran in the last five days.

A patrol supervisor based in Yuma says the agents are also looking for terrorism suspects and drug traffickers.

He says it makes sense to increase enforcement at the nation's fifth largest airport because McCarran is also a customs entry station.

The Las Vegas group, Hispanics in Politics, says it's worried about racial profiling but the border patrol says agents are trained to look beyond race.
http://www.klas-tv.com/global/story.asp?s=5990548&ClientType=Printable

*Looking for terrorists*


2,940 posted on 01/25/2007 5:39:35 PM PST by Velveeta
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