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
Russia secures permission for its military planes to land at Uzbekistan's air base
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/21/europe/EU_GEN_Russia_Uzbekistan.php
Russia secures permission for its military planes to land at
Uzbekistan's air base
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 21, 2006
MOSCOW Russia has secured permission for its military aircraft to use an air
base in Uzbekistan, a news report said Thursday, as part of Moscow's
efforts to extend its presence in Central Asia.
The Interfax news agency quoted Lt. Gen. Aitech Bizhev, a deputy chief
of the Russian air force, as saying that the two nations agreed last
month that Russian military aircraft could use the Navoi air base in
central Uzbekistan in emergencies.
In exchange, Russia will equip the air base in the ex-Soviet nation
with
modern navigation systems and air defense weapons, Bizhev said.
While falling short of a permanent military presence, the deal offers
Russia an opportunity to quickly deploy its forces to the region.
Bizhev also said in the future, Uzbekistan will host the regional
headquarters of a unified air defense system for Russia and several
other ex-Soviet nations.
Uzbekistan evicted U.S. troops last year and signed a far-reaching
alliance treaty with Moscow that opened the way for possible Russian
military deployment.
In the past, Uzbekistan's authoritarian President Islam Karimov had
reacted coldly to Russia's military cooperation initiatives and sought
to cultivate closer ties with the United States and other Western
nations, hosting U.S. troops for operations in Afghanistan in the wake
of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
But Karimov abruptly changed course following Western criticism of the
Uzbek authorities' brutal suppression of the May 2005 uprising in the
city of Andijan, and forged closer ties with Russia and China.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security grouping dominated by
Moscow and Beijing that includes Uzbekistan and three other former
Soviet Central Asian nations, urged the United States in 2005 to set a
timetable for withdrawing from their bases in the region.
Both the United States and Russia maintain air bases in another
ex-Soviet nation, Kyrgzystan. Russia also has a military base in
neighboring Tajikistan.
Bizhev said Thursday that Russia was modernizing Tajikistan's air
defense headquarters with state-of-the art equipment.
Attorney Challenges Pakistan's Detention of Alleged Terror Conspirator
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,239818,00.html?sPage=fnc.specialsections/waronterror
Attorney Challenges Pakistan's Detention of Alleged Terror Conspirator
Friday, December 29, 2006
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan --- The attorney for a British Muslim described
as a
key suspect in an alleged plot to bomb trans-Atlantic passenger jets
challenged his client's arrest Friday, demanding the man's immediate
release.
Pakistan officials, working closely with British agents, arrested
Rashid
Rauf in August. Pakistan's government subsequently identified him as a
key person in the alleged airline terror plot.
continued..........
Gazprom gets gas, oil-prospecting license in Tajikistan
http://en.rian.ru/business/20061229/58085258.html
Gazprom gets gas, oil-prospecting license in Tajikistan
12:57 | 29/ 12/ 2006
MOSCOW, December 29 (RIA Novosti) - Gazprom [RTS: GAZP] has been
granted
two licenses by the government of Tajikistan for the geological
prospecting of natural gas and oil fields in the Central Asian
republic,
the energy giant said Friday.
The licenses were issued under a strategic cooperation agreement signed
between Gazprom and the Tajik government May 15, 2003.
The Rengan gas field is located 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the
republic's capital, Dushanbe, with probable natural gas reserves of 35
billion cubic meters.
The Sargazon field is based in the Dangarin district of the Khatlon
region, 150 (90 miles) kilometers southeast of Dushanbe, with probable
gas reserves of 30 billion cubic meters.
By now, 12 oil and gas fields have been discovered in Tajikistan, of
which two gas and five oil deposits are being developed.
The republic needs over 1.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year.
In 2005, Tajikistan produced 29.4 million cubic meters of gas.
Talabani to visit Syria next month
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0612284635193333.htm
Talabani to visit Syria next month
Damascus, Dec 28, IRNA
Syria-Iraq
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will visit Syria next month for talks
with President Bashar Assad on outstanding issues concerning the two
neighboring countries.
Earlier this month, Syria restored diplomatic ties that had been
severed
for 24 years with Iraq following a visit by Syrian Foreign Minister
Walid Moallem to Baghdad.
Assad met with Talabani's envoy in Damascus, Fakhri Zanganeh, and the
two agreed that the Iraqi president would visit Syria in mid-January.
Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa also met with Zanganeh on
Wednesday and the two discussed the situation in Iraq, according to the
official Syrian news agency.
Yemen mulls energy options
http://www.tradearabia.com/tanews/newsdetails_snOGN_article116879_cnt.html
Yemen mulls energy options
Posted: Saturday, December 30, 2006
Aden Yemen said it was interested in joining a regional nuclear energy
programme being studied by neighbouring Gulf Arab states.
The GCC states said earlier this month they would study a possible
peaceful nuclear programme amid concerns in the West and the region
over
Iran's nuclear programme.
'We in Yemen support the decision by the ... Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) to study the launch of a joint Gulf programme in nuclear energy
for peaceful purposes,' state media quoted Yemeni President Ali
Abdullah
Saleh as saying.
'Yemen is ready and interested to join such a programme,' Saleh said.
Yemen has been holding talks to join the GCC, which groups energy
producers Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain,
and Oman.
The loose, political and economic alliance approved a Yemeni request in
2002 to gradually enter the GCC, but said it must implement economic
and
security reforms before it can become a fully-fledged member.Reuters
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=December2006&file=World_News2006123074740.xml
Saudi cleric denounces Shi'ites as infidels
Web posted at: 12/30/2006 7:47:40
Source ::: AFP
DUBAI . An influential cleric of Saudi Arabia's hardline Sunni school
of
Islam has denounced Shi'ite Muslims as "infidels" in a new religious
edict that comes amid rising sectarian tension in the region.
"The rejectionists (Shi'ites) in their entirety are the worst of the
Islamic nation's sects. They bear all the characteristics of infidels,"
Sheikh Abdel Rahman Al Barrak said in the fatwa, or ruling, distributed
on Islamist Web sites.
"They are in truth polytheist infidels, though they hide this," it
said,
citing theological differences 14 centuries after the death of the
Prophet Mohammad, such as reverence of shrines which followers of Saudi
Arabia's Wahhabi school consider abhorrent.
Concern is growing in Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Islam, over
Shi'ite-Sunni violence in Iraq which has taken the northern neighbour
to
the brink of civil war. Sunni-Shi'ite tensions are also high in
Lebanon,
where Shi'ites are leading efforts to bring down a Sunni-led cabinet.
"The Sunni and Shi'ites schools of Islam are opposites that can never
agree, there can be no coming together unless Sunnis give up their
principles," the fatwa said.
Barrak, an independent scholar, has come to be regarded by many as the
highest authority for Wahhabi Muslims.
Clerics of the austere Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam have long
dismissed
Shi'ites as virtual heretics and Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite minority
complains of second class treatment.But Barrak's fatwa was the
strongest
in recent years.
The fatwa, which was published on Barrak's Web site in response to a
follower's question, also appeared to criticise efforts by some
government-backed Saudi preachers at reconciliation between Sunnis and
Shi'ites.
get your own air surveilance for around euro 10k:
http://www.microdrones.com/
[Penquin?]
Turkmenistan may compete against Russia on gas market
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20061229/58118491.html
Turkmenistan may compete against Russia on gas market
19:06 | 29/ 12/ 2006
MOSCOW. (Andrei Grozin for RIA Novosti) - The question of
Turkmenistan's
future requires a serious analysis. The death of the "diamond crown of
the Turkmen nation, Turkmenbashi the Great" (one of Saparmurat
Niyazov's
official titles) suggests a new look at the potential domestic
political
events in the republic.
Initially, Ovezgeldy Atayev, 55 year-old speaker of the Mejlis
(parliament), and deputy head of the People's Assembly or Halk
Maslahaty
(the highest legislative body), was mentioned as a possible successor.
A
former teacher, lawyer and ex-Chairman of the Supreme Court, he is not
a
striking personality. However, the domestic Security Council rejected
his candidacy because the Prosecutor General has initiated criminal
proceedings against him.
Deputy Prime Minister Kurbangeldy Berdymukhamedov has been appointed
Acting President of Turkmenistan. He was in charge of Turkmenbashi's
funeral. He is also viewed at home as a weak, rubber-stamp politician
without serious influence. Judging by all, he will become the next
President of Turkmenistan.
Incidentally, all Turkmen elite is weak, has limited resources, and
lacks charismatic figures. Top officials in Turkmenistan are suffering
from the fly-by-night syndrome more than their counterparts in any
other
post-Soviet republic. In Turkmenbashi's government a minister occupied
his post no more than half a year on average, after which he was
ousted,
sent to prison, or fled abroad. It is enough to recall that parliament
speakers were changed four times from the early 2001 to November 2002.
None of the claimants to power have great resources, especially as
regards social support.
Now the local elites are gaining strength, and are apparently in for a
short but tough struggle for power. The range of people who could claim
the highest government position is extremely broad. They enjoy roughly
the same modest influence.
Niyazov did not concern himself with choosing a successor. To all
intents and purposes, he was so confident of his exclusivity that he
did
not even wish to think that someone might replace him one day. Nobody
dared remind him of a successor. A quasi-dynastic change of power
patterned after Azerbaijan is not likely - Niyazov's son Murad does not
have any support at home.
It would seem that law enforcers are in a better position to fulfil
their ambitions, and take power in their hands. But the army, ministry
of the interior, and ministry of national security were regularly
purged
every six to twelve months, and they are no stronger than the others.
Presidential elections will take place on February 11. Nobody knows who
will succeed Niyazov. I think that there is no successor at all, which
is not surprising considering Niyazov's regular clean-up operations
among the Turkmen elites. Political life in Turkmenistan looks like a
desert. The country does not have any mechanisms for force majeure,
such
as the President's death.
The influence of the members of the opposition on relations within the
elites is not great, and was limited to government positions of their
relatives. The Turkmen political class rests on multiple family and
regional interrelations, but after Boris Shikhmuradov, Khadaiberdy
Orazov, Nurmukhammed Khanamov, and other "nomenclature oppositionists"
were removed from power, their relatives were ousted from top echelons
of government and big business.
In fact, the domestic opposition does not exist - Niyazov did away with
it once and for all. Emigre oppositionists cannot control the situation
from afar. They are not likely to be allowed to return home in the near
future - nobody needs extra rivals in the mounting struggle for power
and business.
Turkmenistan will not be able to carry out Kyrgyz-style social
mobilization, or match the scale of Orange protests in Ukraine. The
population is used to demonstrating loyalty to the central government,
and it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to encourage it to go
for a velvet revolution. Most people will accept a figure that will
seize power and make the loudest declaration about this.
Local power ministers will play a very important role during
interregnum. They are backed by real power. There are three power
centers - a 60 year-old Defense Minister Agageldy Mamedgeldyyev (the
oldest from Niyazov's entourage, and, hence most likely to head the
Halk
Maslahaty), who was previously the director of a military health
resort,
and deputy defense minister for logistics support. Judging by all, the
defense minister is acting together with the number one security
official - Akhmurad Redzhepov, the head of the Presidential Guards.
The Minister of the Interior and Niyazov's confidant Akmamed Rakhmanov
heads the second group, while Security Minister Geldy Ashirmukhamedov
is
in charge of the third one. The latter is a seasoned security veteran
with a Soviet training. He is well connected in the Turkmen army - for
several years he was the commander of the ground forces before he was
appointed to his current position.
Power ministers have the strongest positions in the Turkmen elites.
Civilian politicians can only claim compromise, rubber-stamp positions.
Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister in charge of healthcare
Kurbangeldy Berdymukhamedov, or Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov may
well
become the formal leaders of the country, but will not have any real
levers of power.
The same is true of the Halk Malakhaty nominees. One of them is deputy
head of the Turkmengeologiya State Corporation, and Minister of the Oil
and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources Ishankuli Nuryyev. There are
many
other candidates, and this fact alone testifies to the general weakness
of the domestic elites.
After Niyazov's death the bad domestic situation has changed for the
worse. The social and economic sphere is the hardest hit. Hidden
unemployment is widespread; professional personnel who received
education abroad cannot be employed because their diplomas were
declared
invalid; the living standards are very low, which further discredits
Niyazov's regime; Turkmen salaries are among the lowest in the region
in
terms of real purchasing capacity; hidden inflation has persisted for
several years - the manat (national currency) has depreciated 12,500
(sic!) times since it was put into circulation. Niyazov's death will
bring out all economic and social problems, and reveal the worst
contradictions in the Turkmen economy.
The regime is likely to become milder because the Turkmen elites are by
no means interested in bringing another Niyazov to power. Moreover,
they
would like to become less odious in the eyes of the world community.
However, this "dosed" democratization will be very modest, and will
take
place only if the change of power is more or less peaceful.
Under the circumstances, Russia has a window of opportunity for
enhancing its influence in the republic. No matter who becomes
President, he will be interested in getting political and financial
resources - on a big scale and as soon as possible. Only one
organization can offer this - Gazprom. It has been working in
Turkmenistan for a long time, and has a ramified network of influence
on
local elites.
There are also objective reasons for the preservation of Russian
influence regardless of who becomes Turkmen President. The mechanism
which brings Turkmen gas to the world market is simple - all streams
pass though Russian, Uzbek, and Kazakh territory and pipelines. Gazprom
is the owner of the local gas deposits, and will keep them in its hands
for another 25 years in line with the corresponding agreement between
Moscow and Ashgabat.
Until recently, Russia's attitude to Turkmenistan's encroachments on
the
rights and freedoms of tens of thousands of our compatriots has been
extremely lax. Having signed a bilateral agreement on the export of
Turkmen gas to third countries, we have tied up our hands to a certain
extent. But now Moscow has many serious arguments for talks with
Ashgabat. If Russia seriously limits Turkmenistan's gas exports for at
least a month, the latter's economy will cease to exist. It is time to
realize that the late Turkmen leader was a man who did not accept
criticism or listen to diplomats - he only respected force. His
successors are likely to be the same.
If Russia does not take a number of important measures as regards the
future regime in Turkmenistan, the United States is likely to do this.
Turkmenistan is very rich in gas, and is the last link in the anaconda
belt, which encompasses Iran. It is also a country which may
potentially
become a serious rival to Russia in the European gas market. Right now
the emigre opposition has no influence at home, but time, money and
political technologies are capable of shaking the positions of
Turkmen-style stability.
In this situation, Russia should concentrate not on short-term gas
deals, but on building long-term relations with the young and old
Turkmen elites, which would consolidate Russian influence in the
republic and the rest of Central Asia.
Andrei Grozin is an expert at the Institute of CIS Countries
This investigative reporter has a few new ideas on the
Litvinenko murder:
http://www.atlargely.com/opinion/index.html
LOL, She appears to have lots of opinions.
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/headlines/ci_4920017
N.E. Dems fear war escalation
EVAN LEHMANN, Banner Washington Bureau
Article Launched: 12/29/2006 12:40:47 PM EST
[strange site to post this one]
http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2006/press_release_12282006.shtm
CAIR Welcomes TSA Hajj Sensitivity Training
WASHINGTON -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today welcomed an announcement by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that it has provided special training about Islamic traditions related to the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, to some 45,000 airport security officers.
The TSA cultural sensitivity training includes details about the timing of Hajj travel, about items pilgrims may be carrying and about Islamic prayers that may be observed by security personnel. See: http://usinfo.state.gov/ (Search using the term "Hajj.").
Earlier this month, CAIR advised those going on Hajj to be aware of their civil and legal rights as airline passengers. CAIR's "Your Rights and Responsibilities as an American Muslim" pocket guide states: "As an airline passenger, you are entitled to courteous, respectful and non-stigmatizing treatment by airline and security personnel. You have the right to complain about treatment that you believe is discriminatory."
"We welcome the fact that airport security officers nationwide will now be better informed about Islamic traditions relating to Hajj," said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. "This proactive effort on the part of the Transportation Security Administration demonstrates that there is no contradiction between the need to maintain airline safety and security and the duty to protect the religious and civil rights of airline passengers."
Hooper said representatives of CAIR chapters nationwide have met with TSA, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials on issues related to cultural sensitivity and national security.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 32 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
Syria's Forgotten - But Dangerous - Nuclear Program (back)
December 28, 2006
by Olivier Guitta
The Iraq Survey Group is calling for open negotiations with Syria , but new reports show that Damascus is up to no good. Indeed, while world attention is rightly focused on the nuclear capabilities of Iran and North Korea , Syria has been quietly — but quickly — advancing its own secret nuclear program.
The first signs appeared in 2003 when the Russian Foreign Ministry inadvertently revealed that a Russian-Syrian agreement for the delivery of a nuclear power plant in an undisclosed Syrian location had been signed.
In 2004, Syrian President Bashar Assad made a point to say that Syria would not dispose of its WMD program until Israel did the same. 'Since some of my country is occupied,' Assad added, ' Syria can legitimately use all the necessary means to liberate its territories.'
German magazine Der Spiegel revealed in March 2004 that Swedish authorities and the CIA were investigating a very likely Syrian nuclear program secretly developed in Homs in the northern part of the country. That July, investigators looking into the Pakistani nuclear network of A.Q. Khan pointed out that Syria may have procured centrifuges capable of enriching uranium to produce a bomb.
This fact was confirmed in May 2006 in a declassified report to the U.S. Congress on the acquisition of technology relating to weapons of mass destruction. Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq , Syria also got help from Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Keep in mind that Syria ’s economy was very dependent on Iraq ’s trade, especially oil-smuggling revenues. Sunday Telegraph journalist Con Coughlin affirmed in a September 2004 article that 12 Iraqi nuclear scientists — who were transferred to Syria and given new identities before the war — were on their way to Iran to assist their counterparts there in building a nuclear weapon. 'The results of the research would then be shared with Syria ,' Coughlin added.
But what really broke the camel’s back was a recent report from the well-informed Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al Seyassah. It quoted European intelligence sources as saying that ' Syria has an advanced nuclear program' in a secret site located in the province of Al Hassaka , close to the Turkish and Iraqi borders. British sources quoted by the paper believe that 'it is President Assad’s brother, Colonel Maher Assad and his cousin Rami Makhlouf, who supervise the program.'
This nuclear weapons program is based on material that Saddam Hussein’s two sons shipped to Syria before — and during — the U.S. war against Iraq . According to the Kuwaiti newspaper, this explains why international investigative teams found no proof of Hussein’s nuclear program.
Furthermore, British sources in Brussels affirm that 'Iranian nuclear experts contribute to the Syrian program along with 60 Iraqi experts who had taken refuge in Syria since 2003 and experts from the ex-Soviet republics.' British intelligence says this information is validated by their German counterparts, who were well established in the countries close to the ex- Communist block, including Syria .
Europeans fear that a focus solely on the Iranian nuclear program might facilitate a much quieter joint Iranian-Syrian program of uranium enrichment in Hassaka. The geographical choice for the Syrian nuclear site is very meaningful. Because it is located in an area with a Kurdish majority, the program evades Western suspicions. And striking against these installations would initially hurt the Kurds — who historically have sided with the West against the Baathist regimes in both Baghdad and Damascus .
In light of all these facts, it is not surprising that Syria might actually turn out to be 'Plan B' for the mullahs’ regime in Tehran . This is, in fact, quite a smart strategy: While the world community focuses on Iran , Syria can continue its own nuclear program without unwelcome attention.
But because of the close links between Tehran and Damascus , sealed by an important defense agreement signed over the summer and the fact that Syria would do anything to please its benefactor, Syria getting the bomb would be exactly like Iran getting it. For proof, Al Seyassah reported on Dec. 13 that top Syrian leaders had transferred $3 billion to the Iranian central bank.
Need we say more?
Source: http://www.examiner.com/a-478177~Olivier_Guitta__Plan_B__ Syria_s_forgotten___but_dangerous___nuclear_program.html
Border Threat: Leaders Look the Other Way (back)
December 29, 2006
Daily Bulletin reporter Sara Carter's three-day installment of Beyond Borders was an unsettling way to end 2006.
The increased smuggling of drugs, humans and who-knows-what-else through a burgeoning international trade route through Nuevo Laredo , Mexico , and Laredo , Texas , is unsettling. So is the human carnage in the all-out battles among Mexican drug-smuggling cartels to control the Mexican trade route. Even more unsettling are the border crossings by 'special-interest aliens' - persons from countries that sponsor terrorism - and the 'culture of death' catching hold among drug smugglers, a culture that appears to share characteristics with terrorist fanaticism.
But perhaps most unsettling is the disconnect between those on the border's front lines and the higher echelons of the U.S. government, where a seemingly willful ignorance persists.
In 2005 the Border Patrol apprehended about 650 people in the U.S. illegally from special-interest countries - who knows how many weren't caught - yet Carter was told the FBI and CIA are not using information from Border Patrol and Drug Enforcement Administration agents to make connections among the drug trade, illegal immigration and terrorist organizations.
The DEA warns in an intelligence report that Asian narcotics traffickers, in collusion with Mexican drug cartels and terrorist groups, could use the so-called Gateway to the Pacific - a plan to expand border trade through the two Laredos - to bring contraband into the United States .
'Contraband can be anything from narcotics, pirated videos, humans or weapons of mass destruction,' said a DEA spokesman.
Meanwhile, we can't take 4 ounces of shampoo on an airplane. Is that supposed to make us feel safer?
Carter reported in January on repeated incursions by Mexican military personnel into the United States - 226 since 1996 - apparently to help cartels smuggle humans and drugs. Shortly thereafter, local law enforcement officials videotaped and photographed an incursion in Hudspeth County , Texas , and Sheriff Arvin West and others testified before a congressional committee with evidence in hand.
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, told West and the others they were 'lying or mistaken,' West said, and Reyes, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and other U.S. and Mexican government officials played down the incursion documents obtained by the Daily Bulletin as well as the Hudspeth County incident.
(Reyes has since been appointed incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and promptly displayed his ignorance of Al-Qaida and Hezbollah. Will somebody please buy this guy a newspaper subscription before he takes over the committee known as 'Intelligence'?)
El Paso County Sheriff Leo Samaniego told a House committee in August that terrorist organizations are probing the border with the help of Mexican smugglers.
Webb County , Texas , Sheriff Rick Flores testified before Congress about the growing violence in Laredo , which is spilling over from Nuevo Laredo . But former Laredo Mayor Elizabeth Flores said the increasing cross-border trade is 'about growth, not death.'
And that might be the crux of the official downplaying of the border violence and terror threat. There's a lot of money to be made.
Wal-Mart, for example, and a Hong Kong-based company have invested $300 million to expand a Mexico container port that feeds the Gateway to the Pacific route. The plan is to get more goods from Asia into the United States , in the process redirecting half of the East Coast-bound Asian cargo from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to Mexico . More trade routes and competition among ports help Wal-Mart keep its prices down.
But U.S. consumers might be paying a higher price in terms of lost security. At least the threat appears considerably greater than the one from that 4 ounce bottle of shampoo you had to leave at home.
Source: http://www.dailybulletin.com/opinions/ci_4914735
Links Between Illegal Immigration, Terrorism, Drug Trade Worry U.S Officials (back)
December 29, 2006
by Sara A. Carter
On Sept. 5, a man calling himself Miguel Alfonso Salinas was apprehended off a deserted highway near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The tinted windows on Alfonso Salinas' vehicle aroused the suspicion of Border Patrol agents patrolling a dark and desolate stretch of Highway 9, which runs parallel to the border and is the site of large numbers of illegal crossings.
The agents discovered three Mexican migrants in the vehicle with Alfonso Salinas.
But what they discovered several days later made a far greater impression.
Alfonso Salinas was not who he seemed, according to U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security documents. He lied to the agents about who he was, where he came from and what he was doing.
It would take nearly a week of interviews with federal agents before Alfonso Salinas would give his real name: Ayman Sulmane Kamal, a Muslim born in Egypt - a country designated as 'special-interest' by the United States for sponsoring terrorism.
Kamal's case is not an isolated one.
Evidence of 'special-interest aliens' using the Mexican border to gain entry to the United States has been kept secret from the American public, according to federal law enforcement agents, terrorism experts and critics of U.S. foreign policy with Mexico.
In 2005, the Border Patrol apprehended approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. illegally. Of those, 165,000 were from countries other than Mexico , and roughly 650 were, like Kamal, from special-interest countries, according to the Border Patrol.
Those interviewed by the Daily Bulletin say agencies including the FBI and CIA are not using information from Border Patrol and Drug Enforcement Administration agents to make connections between the drug trade, illegal immigration and terrorist organizations.
'For us to believe that Mexican smugglers will not assist, knowingly or unknowingly, foreign terrorists trying to enter the United States is incomprehensible,' said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, who, along with other congressional representatives, has pushed for stricter border security policies.
Whether Kamal had ties to a terrorist group is not known. No information about him, including his current whereabouts, is available aside from what is in Justice Department and Homeland Security documents.
But the links between illegal immigration, expanded trade, Mexican narcotics organizations and terrorist groups has already been assessed by U.S. federal law enforcement agencies, according to DEA documents obtained by the Daily Bulletin.
According to an intelligence report written by the DEA, 'La Entrada al Pac fico (Gateway to the Pacific)' - also the name of a Texas-Mexico plan to expand border trade - Asian narcotics traffickers, in collusion with Mexican drug trafficking organizations and terrorist groups, could use expanded trade routes to bring contraband into the United States.
'The DEA has made a conscious effort to generate predictive intelligence so policy makers can be aware and plan ahead for significant changes in narcotics and smuggling operations,' said a DEA official who asked to remain anonymous. 'Any time you send in a predictive piece of intelligence that has merit and it's ignored, then the consequences of that can be devastating to national security.'
According to DEA intelligence reports, the link between terrorism and narcotics has been well known since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York , Washington , D.C., and Pennsylvania .
But federal agents say getting bureaucrats to understand the growing danger is difficult when most lawmakers won't even acknowledge many of the problems already happening along the U.S. border.
BORDER BATTLES
One of those problems was on full display in Texas earlier this year.
Sheriff Arvin West of Hudspeth County - a border area 50 miles east of El Paso - and other Texas border sheriffs had complained for more than a year that Mexican military personnel were helping cartels smuggle humans and contraband across the Rio Grande and into the U.S.
The Daily Bulletin first published Department of Homeland Security documents and maps from the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy in January, showing 226 Mexican military incursions into the United States since 1996. That information led to a call for congressional investigations and hearings to determine the extent of the intrusions.
Shortly afterward, West was confronted with another incursion. This time, local law enforcement officials videotaped the event and went public with it.
'We had video and photographs,' West said. 'We went to Congress and testified before them with the evidence in hand. And we were told by Congressman (Silvestre) Reyes (D-El Paso) that we were either lying or mistaken.'
Reyes, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, and U.S. and Mexican government officials tried to play down the documents and the incident in Hudspeth County . They stated publicly that the cartels were dressing like Mexican military to damage relations between the U.S. and Mexico .
Reyes, who recently was appointed chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
'The bureaucrats don't understand what a dangerous game they are playing with American lives if they don't do something to fix the situation at the border,' said Michael Cutler, a former special agent with Immigration and Naturalization Services, who testified before the 9-11 Commission.
According to Border Patrol agents in Texas and Arizona , the Department of Homeland Security has stopped agents from filing full-disclosure incident reports if they see Mexican military involved in an alleged smuggling operation.
In some parts of Texas , if Mexican military personnel are suspected of assisting narcotics traffickers or smuggling humans, they are not processed, but instead are taken to a port of entry and released into Mexico .
An unnamed Border Patrol agent in Arizona said he witnessed a Mexican military helicopter shooting at a fellow agent in pursuit of a vehicle along the Arizona border with Mexico .
The supervisors would not let the agent put the Mexican military's involvement in the incident report, the agent said.
Michael Friel, a spokesman for the Border Patrol, said he had no knowledge of such an incident.
It's not just the cartels' connections to Mexican government officials and military that have U.S. intelligence officials and law enforcement worried. It's also the growing evidence that terrorist organizations have become increasingly dependent on narcotics and weapons sales to support their activities, and that they see the Southwest border as an incubator for their activities.
'Intelligence indicates that terrorist organizations are increasingly probing the U.S.-Mexico border,' El Paso County Sheriff Leo Samaniego told the House Judiciary Committee in August, during hearings about border security.
'The large international border creates tremendous smuggling opportunities for terrorists and is fertile ground for recruitment and development of support networks for terrorist organizations,' Samaniego said. 'The Mexican drug trafficking and human smuggling organizations use their knowledge of the border to assist terrorist cell members in their attempts to exploit the United States .
'The multicultural aspect of the border area also appeals to the terrorists. There are many nationalities, many of them transients, who live and interact in the border setting. This provides the terrorists the opportunity to blend into the community.
'The Southwest border may not be a priority target for a terrorist attack, but it is prime territory for the cultivation, recruitment, transportation and stashing of terrorist cell members,' Samaniego concluded.
Samaniego and his colleagues aren't the only ones with such beliefs.
A DEA official said terrorist incidents such as the Madrid train bombings in March 2004 would be easy to duplicate in the United States , with the Southwest border as the best place to smuggle in those who would carry out such a plot.
In the train bombings, 10 synchronized explosions killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,700. An Islamic extremist group that funded the operation with narcotics sales was pinpointed as the perpetrator of the bombings.
'A former DEA director explained the problem best. During the cold war the threat was ABC: atomic, biological and chemical,' said an intelligence official with the DEA, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'If you apply that formula now to post 9/11 ... it becomes ABCD: atomic, biological, chemical and drugs. The drugs provide the funding for terrorism.'
TERRORIST CULTURE
Additionally troubling to U.S. authorities are the growing cultural similarities between Mexican drug cartels and established terrorist groups.
Like Islamic extremists and other terrorist organizations that use suicide bombings or decapitations to strike fear into their enemies, drug-trafficking organizations have developed cultural associations with death over the past several years.
The Sinaloa Cartel, headed by Joaqu n 'El Chapo' Guzm n, is now known by federal law enforcement officials as the 'Federation' or 'Golden Triangle.' The long-running war between the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels for control of the Nuevo Laredo border forced Sinaloa to build alliances with numerous other drug trafficking organizations throughout Mexico , making the Sinaloa Cartel one of the most powerful in the country.
The Sinaloa Cartel, along with the help of Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, head of the Juarez Cartel, moves the majority of its narcotics through Ciudad Ju rez, which borders El Paso , Texas .
Along the streets of Ciudad Ju rez, Mexico , statues of La Santa Muerte - the saint of death - can be found at almost any local shop. The robed skeleton with a sickle clutched in its bony fingers is worshiped by many drug runners in Mexico and the United States .
The empty-eyed deity is particularly haunting in a city known for the brutal murders of nearly 500 women since 1995. Many Mexican and U.S. law enforcement officials have attributed the murders to drug traffickers, some of whom have been arrested. But the murders continue, and women still live in fear.
'Women shouldn't be on the street after dark,' said Lalo, 81, who sat with his wife at their empty shop in downtown Ciudad Ju rez.
Danger signs are everywhere. Billboards follow passers-by like shadows, warning women to be vigilant. Every man begins to look like a predator.
'There is so much death,' Lalo sighed. 'I'm beginning to think the saint is real.'
The attitudes and actions represented by worship of La Santa Muerte culturally connect Mexico 's drug cartels to terrorist groups, according to DEA officials.
Like Hezbollah and al-Qaida, which promise martyrs that their family members will be provided for after suicide bombings, Mexican drug trafficking organizations promise high-level members that if they die in the name of the cartel, their families will be provided for. Other similarities include the growing number of beheadings of Mexican police officials by the cartels to instill terror.
In cities all along the U.S.-Mexico border, the popularity of the death deity is growing. From Tijuana to Laredo 's violent sister city Nuevo Laredo , La Santa Muerte is found in statues, stickers and trinkets.
'Widespread and unchecked violence creates a palpable sense of fear and tears at the social, cultural, and economic fabric of Nuevo Laredo,' stated a June 2006 report, 'State of Siege: Drug-Related Violence and Corruption in Mexico,' written by the Washington Office on Latin America, a nonprofit organization promoting human rights.
'As the war between cartels rages, no one - not police, not journalists, not ordinary citizens - knows whom they can trust, so they trust no one.'
In Nuevo Laredo , the saint haunts cemeteries where worshippers have left offerings of food. The deity also is seen on the back of bulletproof SUVs driven by narco-traffickers who cruise through the city, and even in graffiti along the city's walls.
Now the saint is gaining popularity in Laredo . Eerie evidence of ritualistic ceremonies performed by illegal immigrants in stash houses was discovered by Webb County sheriff's deputies after one raid. Pictures of members of a Mexican military unit lay in a bowl of blood, sprinkled with herbs and roots.
'This really spooked us,' said Webb County sheriff's spokesman Tom Sanchez as he sifted through the photographs taken by the deputies who conducted the raid. 'I mean, there was an altar filled with everything you can imagine to this Santisima Muerte. It's a culture of death.'
And it's something U.S lawmakers should pay attention to, DEA and Border Patrol field agents said: Drug traffickers accepting death as a glorious end to their violent lives.
'We pray for a good death,' said Jose, 21, a young worshiper of La Santa Muerte in Tijuana . He stood stoic by his white-boned statue of the death saint, and pointed to his charm necklace, where a smaller version of the saint hung.
'I pray that I will die in a hail of bullets or fighting for my last breath against my enemy. I'm not afraid to die. I welcome death.'
Staff writer Sara A. Carter can be reached by e-mail at sara.carter@dailybulletin.com, or by phone at (909) 483-8552.
Source: http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_4917114
UK Anti-terror Cops Inspect Nuclear University (back)
December 28, 2006
Anti-terror cops have visited a leading UK university amid fears that extremists may steal steal radioactive materials to make dirty bombs.
Investigators from Scotland Yard's Counterterrorism Command toured London 's Imperial College to inspect its science facilities.
Detectives fear the university - which attracts large numbers of overseas students - is being targeted by extremists.
It boasts some of the best nuclear research facilities in the world, including its own nuclear reactor.
The SO13 officers joined inspectors from the Environment Agency (EA) and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) at the university's campus in Kensington, west London .
They examined equipment such as Irradiators and did an urgent 'stock take' of potentially dangerous materials such as radioactive isotopes.
Among the equipment the police are concentrating on is the Irradiator facility in the Sir Alexander Fleming building where students involved in a range of activities can subject materials to the effects of radiation.
The university has also agreed to change the security system which allows access to the facility.
Anti terror officers and EA and HPA officers have also visited the Harefield Heart Sciences Centre at the world famous Harefield Hospital in west London .
The Hospital , where a number of heart transplant operations have been carried out , recently combined its research facilities with those at Imperial College .
A police source said :'There is a concern that universities and hospitals are being infiltrated by students sympathetic to radical extremists.
'Obviously radioactive material could be used in what's commonly called a dirty bomb, so we cannot afford to take any chances.
'We basically want to make sure that there is sufficient security and that there is no material or equipment missing.'
Imperial college has a world wide reputation for being among the elite universities for studying the sciences.
It has over 2000 students and the greater number of them are from overseas.
Earlier this year Dhiren Barot, a fanatical British Al-Qaeda recruit was jailed for 40 years after admitting plotting to build a 'dirty' bomb designed to kill thousands by blasting radio active material over London.
Terrorist plotters world wide are known to be seeking nuclear materials.
The initiative to tighten security in Britain 's scientific universities began in October when the Home office urged police and University authorities to work together to try and persuade Muslim students not to get involved in radical religion or terrorism.
Several British people involved in world terrorism have studied sciences at British universities.
Ramzi Youssef, jailed for life for the first plot to bomb the World Trade Centre in 1993 studied electronics at Swansea University .
Muslim advisers to the Home Office recently identified four universities they say have been penetrated by radical Islamic groups. They are Manchester Metropolitan, Brunel in London , Sheffield Hallam, and the University of Bedfordshire in Luton .
Rashid Taha, in charge of Saddam Hussein's biological weapons programme earned her degree at the University of East Anglia and Asif Hanif, who went to Israel as a suicide bomber in 2003 and blew himself up killing three people went to the University of Kingston on Thames .
Source: http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=CH2732480Y&news_ headline=anti-terror_cops_inspect_nuclear_university
Iran Uses Haj for Political Gain (back)
December 29, 2006
As the eyes of Muslims worldwide are directed toward Mecca - where ceremonies of the haj are held prior to Id al-Adha - Saudi authorities are busy working to maintain the safety of the worshipers on every stage of the pilgrimage to avoid repetition of accidents that occurred in past years due to excessive crowds.
However, this year the caretakers in Saudi Arabia are concerned more about a different kind of threat - specifically attempts by Iran to cause disturbances.
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz said this week that the kingdom has completed preparations against acts of violence.
'We will not allow any damage to the pilgrims and confront firmly and decisively any attempt to hinder the atmosphere of the haj,'Abdulaziz said.
On Thursday, nearly three million Muslims from around the world, chanting 'I am here, Lord' and raising their hands to heaven, marched through a desert valley outside Mecca in the first day of the haj.
Dressed in seamless white robes symbolizing the equality of mankind under God, the pilgrims hiked through the 13-kilometer valley to Mina, starting a series of rituals in which they cleanse themselves of sin.
Prominent Saudi columnist Abdelrahman Alrashed, in his column entitled 'Watch the Pilgrimage' published in the respected Alsharq Alawsat newspaper, expressed fear of disturbances initiated by Iran and its supporters during the ceremonies, 'as Teheran did in 1987 and 1989, when demonstrations and acts of violence took place in Mecca under Iranian inspiration.'
Alrashed, a close associate of the Saudi royal family, warns of another Iranian attempt to use the religious ceremonies for political gain and concludes the article that 'we stand on the verge of confrontation in a place crowded by two million people that could happen if the Muslim world does not take a firm stand to warn Iran and her supporters not to perpetuate a stupid act that will be considered an act of violence against a large army of Muslims.'
These words shed a new light on the surprising declaration by Saudi King Abdullah at the recent opening ceremony of the Gulf summit hosted in Riyadh.
The Saudi monarch referred to the situation in Iraq, Lebanon and the PA and warned that the Middle East is about to explode.
Observers say that since his swearing in on August 2005, Abdullah has been conducting a foreign policy with a close eye on the frequent changes in the region.
Saudi Arabia has identified the increased role played by Iran in the region, led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The king does not react to the developments slowly, observers say.
Saudi Arabia is concerned by Iran's growing influence in the Gulf, its involvement in Iraq and Lebanon, and above all the Iranian nuclear program.
Saudi Arabia is increasingly involved in Iraq in support and coordination with the US. The king's adviser for national security Prince Bandar Bin Sultan plays an important role in coordinating between Riyadh and Washington on the Iranian issue, say Arab diplomats in the Gulf.
The same sources emphasize that Bandar took the place of the recently retired Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki Alfaysal, and visits the American capital constantly to express his country's concern of the increased Iranian influence in the region that might lead to a possible change in the balance of power between Shi'ites and Sunnis in the region.
Saudi Arabia is concerned that Iran aspires to establish a Shi'ite state in Iraq and that the Iranian growing influence in Lebanon and Teheran's activity in the Palestinian arena, would have destructive consequences on the stability of the region, and pose direct threat to the kingdom.
For pilgrims streaming in from all continents, the haj is a crowning moment of faith, a duty for all able-bodied Muslims to carry out at least once. On Thursday morning, as they have for the past few days, hundreds of thousands opened their pilgrimage by circling the Kaaba, the black cubic stone in Mecca, Islam's holiest site.
'For us it is a vacation away from work and daily life to renew yourself spiritually,' said Ahmed Karkoutly, an American doctor from Brownsville, Texas. 'You feel you part of a universe fulfilling God's will. It's a cosmic motion, orbiting the Kaaba.'
Source: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1164882001765& pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
In Black and White (back)
December 29, 2006
You knew the truth. You didn’t need the U.S. government to confirm it, and after all this time just seeing the words in print shouldn’t matter that much – but it does. Click on the link http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/67584.pdf and see if the 1973 State Department Memorandum – declassified this year – doesn’t make you sick inside.
The Khartoum operation was planned and carried out with the full knowledge and personal approval of Yasir Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and head of Fatah…The terrorists extended their deadline three times, but when they became convinced that their demands would not be met and after they reportedly received orders from Fatah headquarters in Beirut, they killed the two United States officials and the Belgian Charge.
Machine gunned to death, to be precise. There’s more in the memo, of course, but that is the part that matters. Cleo Noel, George Curtis Moore and Guy Eid, diplomats in service to the American and Belgian governments, were murdered with the “full knowledge and personal approval” of the man with whom Colin Powell, as National Security Advisor to President Reagan, opened formal American relations in the waning days of the Reagan Administration. The man who was entertained in the White House by President Clinton more often than any other foreign person. The man on whom countless American diplomats – traitors to their compatriots Ambassador Noel and Mr. Moore – relied as a “partner for peace” in the Middle East.
That’s where the sick feeling comes from.
The bubbling disgust and anger many Israelis Jews felt having people treat Arafat as if he was just another diplomat from just another country, was about the betrayal of the dead. Watching people – including Jews and Israeli government officials – talk to and negotiate with Arafat, knowing he had the blood of their children, grandparents, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers on his hands was wrenchingly hard, even if they believed it was in the name of a better future. And all the while, the American State Department promoted and protected Arafat knowing he had the blood of THEIR brothers on his hands and not even bothering to pretend to be disgusted.
Imagine what our world might look like today had the U.S. mustered its righteous anger with Arafat after the murders in 1973 - if we had avenged their deaths and held Arafat to account. We might have short-circuited airplane hijackings, the Coastal Road and Maalot massacres in Israel, and the death of U.S. Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem. Instead, we got intifadas, bus bombings, the Passover Seder bombing, and the cowardly murder of the infant Shalhevet Pass. We got Palestinian veneration of violence and bloodshed that ruined the next generation of their children. We got refinement of the techniques of terror that gave us al-Qaeda, the U.S. embassy bombings, New York, Iraq, Afghanistan and Bali - and almost brought us a massacre in shopping malls in Illinois in the days before Christmas.
There is a straight line from 1973 to 2006, and it runs through the State Department. There is scant, but still comfort in President Bush’s unwavering refusal to meet with Arafat – he knew better even without having read the memo.
Source: http://www.jinsa.org/articles/view.html?documentid=3635
Norwegian State Funds Tamil Hate Campaigns (back)
December 29, 2006
The Norwegians Against Terrorism (NAT) – an independent research organization based in Oslo – has pin-pointed some of the underworld activities of the LTTE in the South East Asian region. After the latest survey of the terrorist activities of the LTTE Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand NAT has highlighted the following:
* The LTTE has difficulties buying sophisticated weapons in South East Asia.
* The LTTE is active in Cambodia and utilize their Cambodian network for purchase of small arms and explosives. Cambodia is a country struggling with corruption and this attracts organizations like the LTTE
* Despite of the terrorist listing the fundraising continues as usual in Europe.
* In Norway the LTTE organizations receive both Governmental and Municipal support. Most of the funds collected from the users of the organizations end in the pockets of LTTE.
* Some of the teachings in the LTTE-controlled educational organizations can only be described as promotion of hate against the Sinhalese and the Tamil dissidents. Needless to say LTTE is not teaching the SL history, but a falsified LTTE version of the SL history.
* As Norwegian taxpayers it is sad to see our tax money is used to promote hate, racism and poison the minds of small children with lies. If any other group of immigrants or Norwegians had similar organizational activities there is no doubt they would be banned an all financial support removed. For some reason the LTTE is a 'holy cow' that do not need to comply with Norwegian rules and regulations.
* Norwegians Against Terrorism has started an international project where they would focus on reducing the LTTE fundraising and create obstacles for LTTE arms dealers.
Here is an edited version of the NAT report:
Summary
The International fight against the LTTE is of vital importance. A substantial part of LTTE funding for its regional terrorism come from extortion of the Tamil Diaspora and from criminal activities.
Terrorism experts estimate 70-90% of LTTE funds comes from outside Sri Lanka. The LTTE is depended on international supply of arms in order to continue its terrorism and prepare for war. Norwegians Against Terrorism has started an international project where we try to reduce the LTTE fundraising and create obstacles for LTTE arms dealers.
The LTTE research project
In 2006 our organization made several trips to S-E Asia in order to evaluate the current terrorism risk in the region and to investigate LTTE activities.
Countries visited are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.
We have had meetings with the Sri Lankan Diaspora in several European countries and in Australia in order to get information about the LTTE activities and the SL Diaspora struggle to stop the LTTE.
In this report we disclose some of our unclassified findings, analysis and recommendations for future projects. Some findings has been classified in order to protect our sources and not to reveal ongoing actions.
We have also added information related to LTTE and their attempts to get the rights to Sri Lankan territorial sea rights.
Summary
The LTTE has difficulties buying sophisticated weapons in South East Asia. The LTTE is facing an increasingly hostile environment. There are obstacles even in their arms purchases of small arms and explosives. Thailand has done an impressive job in closing the Thai borders for the LTTE arms dealers and smugglers.
The LTTE fundraising in the Tamil Diaspora continues despite of the organization terrorist listing in most countries in the world. It is of utmost importance the LTTE fundraising is reduced to a minimum and governments has to be pressured to take action against the illegal fundraising.
The Sri Lankan Diaspora has done an impressive work to stop the LTTE and won significant victories. Lately we have seen the Sri Lankan diplomatic force engage in the public debate in order to correct the distorted picture the LTTE propaganda apparatus has painted of Sri Lanka.
The LTTE fundraising
Despite of the terrorist listing the fundraising continues as usual in Europe. There is a need for educating the police force about the LTTE and their front organizations in order to get an efficient crack down on the fundraising for the LTTE terrorism. To stop the LTTE fundraising the Tamil dissidents in the Sri Lankan Diaspora can play an important role exposing LTTE. There should be made a manual on how the LTTE network raise funds, the organizations and tools used. This manual should be distributed to law enforcement and terrorism research personnel in all countries where the LTTE is listed as a terrorist organization.
The fundraising climate
The Tamil Diaspora has been LTTE’s cash cow. The Tamil Diaspora is showing signs of fatigue after numerous extortions for funds for special weapons and 'the final war. Most of the Tamils in the Diaspora becomes victims of the LTTE fundraising. They are either threatened, afraid for what can happened to family members in Sri Lanka or do not want to be frozen out of the Tamil organizational community (who is held hostage by LTTE).
Corruption in the LTTE
We have received reports of corruption in the LTTE in two European countries. This news is most welcomed and it documents the internal moral in the LTTE organization is at a all time low. We assume one of many reasons the morale is low is because the LTTE has been exposed as a terrorist organization that are fighting only for the lavish lifestyle for a handful of LTTE leaders (a.k.a The Fat Cats).
The LTTE in S-E Asia
The LTTE has acquired arms in SE Asia for two decades. Tharmalingam (KP) and his assistants know every rotten apple in the barrel and have good relations with local arms dealers.
Interpol Red Corner Notice on K.P. - Tharmalingham
There have been reports of a chilled climate between KP and the Vanni leadership, but that differences have been resolved two years ago. KP has allegedly been accused to have taken hefty commissions for his services and thereby angered the LTTE leadership.
We have seen a number of independent LTTE ventures by inexperienced cadre’s attempting to buy sophisticated weapons. Some of these ventures have fail miserably in Laos and USA.
Small arms and explosives is available in South East Asia. Even for a tourist there is no problem to locate vendors that sell small arms. The LTTE however needs to buy wholesale in large quantities and then there are more obstacles involved. There is no doubt the LTTE has the funds, network and logistical means to pass these obstacles.
Terrorism in S-E Asia
Sri Lanka is not the only nation struggling with terrorism. Nations where LTTE previously used for arms procurement has become terrorism victims. We will in this report focus on the countries we have visited during our survey.
It is important to point out that all of these countries are friends of Sri Lanka and as far as we know all LTTE arms deals have been done without the knowledge of the respective government.
Thailand
The last two years more than 1300 hundred people have died in terrorist attacks in Thailand. The Thai terrorism problem is increasing and the number of terrorist supporters has escalated when we compare the terrorism expert’s estimates. The acts of terrorism have been limited to the Southern provinces of Thailand, where three different terrorist groups is fighting for independence from Thailand. The terrorist strategy is to ethnically cleanse the provinces by terrorizing the Buddhist population. Prime targets have been school teachers and police officers.
The terrorist has been able to pull of sophisticated simultaneous attacks against more than twenty targets. Banks, car dealers and shopping malls has been targeted in 2006.
There is a fear among intelligence agencies the terror will spread to the tourist areas. Australia has issued travel warning for Phuket, Pattaya, Bangkok and even Chang Mai. The generals in Bangkok are calling the travel warnings unsubstantiated, but they admit they have severe problems with handling the terrorist problem in the South.
Thailand has made several attempts to make peace with the Thai terrorist. They have apologized for mistakes made in the past, offered to make the five southern provinces an economical zone attracting business and investments to the south, even sharia laws would be allowed! The terrorist turned down the offers 24 November 2006. More misery and terror can be expected.
Our organization is not afraid traveling to Thailand’s tourist resorts even though we believe the Australian travel warning to be well founded. During our travel in Thailand we see improved security, so it is obvious, at least unofficially, the Thai authorities is not ignoring the potential risk for attacks against Thailand’s tourist industry.
Thailand problems with terrorism has improved their security and thereby made it more difficult for the LTTE to abuse the Thai hospitality for arms trafficking. The arrest of several LTTE cadres is an indication Thailand is playing an active role in cracking down on the LTTE. Thai police played an important role in revealing the organized sale of Norwegian passports to terrorist organizations when they found evidence that lead to the arrests of the Norwegian LTTE cadre Mike Daniel Jeya and the Norwegian police officer Herman Olav Nyhusmoen.
Cambodia
The LTTE is active in Cambodia and utilize their Cambodian network for purchase of small arms and explosives. Cambodia is a country struggling with corruption and this attracts organizations like the LTTE. Since it is much money involved, and the risk limited, it seems the LTTE has no problem finding partners in Cambodia.
Philippines
Philippines have the same problems as Thailand with Muslim extremist in the South. The links between the Philippines terrorist and the links to LTTE is established long time ago, when the Abu Sayaf terrorist sold surface to air missiles to the LTTE in 1995. The Philippine Government has been fighting vigorously against the terrorist and foreign intelligence assistance combined with improved skills make it more difficult for the LTTE to continue their cooperation with terrorist groups in the Philippines.
Indonesia
Indonesia has had several different terror problems. Some has been resolved others is still posing a problem. Once again it is Muslim extremist that pose a problem. Bali has been a multiple victim of terrorist attacks. Improved intelligence has enabled Indonesia to crack down on many of the people behind the Bali bombings, but several is still at large. Fear for new attack is holding back tourism and investment in Indonesia.
We have seen LTTE active in Indonesia and they have successfully been able to recruit former military officers and utilized their international network in attempts to buy sophisticated arms. One example on this is the arrest of two Indonesians in Maine, USA. The Indonesians attempted to buy sophisticated arms for the LTTE.
Laos
In Laos the LTTE tried to buy SAM’s from the Russian sources. This attempt failed and copies of the LTTE cadre’s passports have been forwarded to Sri Lankan authorities.
Sri Lanka’s Black Gold
The Superpowers are hunting high and low for supply of raw materials and oil, key elements to sustain growth in a booming economy.
China is making alliances with Africa to ensure supply of raw materials and oil. India has done deals in order to secure their future oil supplies.
Norway is not a Superpower, but a key player in the oil business. Norway does oil exploration on all continents and constantly looking for new opportunities. Norway is famous for its dirty deals with dubious regimes and bribes of officials. By buying corrupt people the Norwegian oil business has been able to strike lucrative oil deals worldwide.
Cooperation with rebels and insurgency groups has been one method used to get hold of oil. The Norwegian Oil Company (DNO) is currently making a windfall of money in Northern Iraq through cooperation with the Kurdish rebels. DNO is also active in Yemen. Norway largest oil company, Statoil, is busy exploiting the resources of Nigeria, Angola and numerous other countries. In 2006 Statoil was fined 10,5 Million dollars by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for bribing Iranian government officials.
Could Norway be interested in Sri Lanka’s black gold, and is the LTTE co-operation a part of this strategy?
Our organization has limited knowledge of the Norwegian oil business. However we have noticed the increased Norwegian interest for the oil fields around Sri Lanka.
Norway has made eight oil deals and oil ventures with India. In Sri Lanka it looks like Norway has spoiled their chances for participating in exploration ventures.
Norway’s only hope for oil deals in Sri Lanka could be their strong ties with the LTTE if Sri Lanka gets divided.
During the latest so-called 'peace-negotiations' in Oslo, Norway paid for the LTTE delegation and their experts to come to Oslo to meet the GOSL delegation.
We all knew LTTE refused to talk with the GOSL delegation, so what did the LTTE do instead in Oslo?
The not so far-seeing, Erik Solheim, was allegedly both surprised and disappointed the LTTE refused to talk with the GOSL delegations. Erik Solheim said the LTTE did know in beforehand the people they should meet representing the GOSL, so he did not understand their excuse.
However the LTTE organizations in Oslo had anticipated Thamilchelvan’s surprising announcement and already booked meeting facilities at the SAS Radisson Hotel where the LTTE delegation meet legal experts flown in from USA and Australia on the Norwegian Foreign Ministry expense.
At the meeting at the SAS Radisson Hotel the LTTE made strategies on how they could claim rights to the Sri Lankan waters and thereby get the economical rights to oil and fish resources. The LTTE made no secret of their intentions to get hold of the territorial sea rights.
The LTTE does not only want the rights to the sea for military purposes, but these rights could be the same as money in the bank if there is found oil.
Fortunately LTTE today has no rights to the sea and thereby it is impossible to get cash advances or utilize these rights commercially.
Why is the International fight against LTTE important?
In order to answer this question we have to point out two important facts.
First of all LTTE main source of income comes from extortion of the Tamil Diaspora, businesses and criminal activities. Experts estimates of 70-90% of LTTE revenues comes from abroad.
Secondly we know LTTE is depended of international arms supply.
Elementary military theory tells us the importance of cutting of the enemies supply lines. In the case of the LTTE terrorist organization most of this work can be done internationally
without any casualties.
The cost of battling the LTTE in Sri Lanka is huge. Thousands has died and the Sri Lanka economy is drained due to the defense spending needed to fight the LTTE terrorism. The cost of battling the LTTE internationally is a fraction of the cost of battling LTTE when LTTE funds has been converted to arms and shipped to Sri Lanka.
It is important to counter attack LTTE attempts to portray themselves as statesmen. With Norway deep pockets LTTE has been traveling around the world explaining they are the sole representatives of the Tamils and victims of GOSL politics. Nothing can be further from the truth. LTTE is the worst terrorist organization known to mankind. They are not the sole representative of the Tamils, they are a undemocratic fascist organization with a horrible human rights record. The LTTE kills both their political enemies and people within their own organization who is seen as a threat for the LTTE leaders.
The international work must include a strong media offensive. The public most get to know the truth about the LTTE. One of the main goals of the media offensive must be to inform the Tamil Diaspora about the truth about the LTTE.
The Tamil Diaspora must get information what kind of 'Tamil homeland' the LTTE intends to create. The lavish lifestyle of the LTTE leaders with their kids studying abroad, while other children are kidnapped in order to fight the madman Prabhakaran’s war. It should be obvious to everyone who have studied the LTTE, Prabakaran ambitions far exceeds the borders of Sri Lanka. A continued support of the LTTE only assures more misery.
Further more the legal aspects most be pointed out. By supporting a terrorist organization they commit a felony crime punishable by the law. In our point of view anyone who supports a terrorist organization is a security risk and appropriate measures, such as deportation should be considered.
By providing information to the Tamil Diaspora and offer alternative organizations for them to participate in, we reduce the economical fundament for the LTTE.
The law enforcement must be tipped of on all LTTE attempts on fundraising.
The time has also come to go after the terrorists and war criminals that live abroad. In Norway it is safe to assume there are dozens of the 600-900 LTTE cadres living in Norway that fits into the category terrorist or war criminal.
Sri Lanka should seek extradition of terrorist and war criminals. This will be a uphill struggle but it will create publicity and discourage the Tamil Diaspora to be associated with or support the LTTE.
Recommendations
Support the Tamil Dissidents media
The LTTE has an efficient propaganda apparatus. This apparatus is of vital importance for their brainwashing of the Tamil Diaspora, local politicians and supporters.
The LTTE media is important for the fundraising for terrorism in Sri Lanka. In Norway we have the newspaper UTROP who is running ads for funding of the LTTE front organization TRO.
To counter attack this propaganda it is important to support the free Tamil media organizations.
We are convinced the Tamil dissident’s media is of vital importance to expose the LTTE and to reduce the support for the LTTE in the Tamil Diaspora.
The LTTE support in the Tamil Diaspora must be reduced. This is important not only to speed up the downfall of the LTTE in Sri Lanka, but also to avoid the LTTE continues to thrive internationally after the LTTE has been defeated in Sri Lanka.
Co-operate with the police
It is important to provide local police and law enforcement personnel with information so they efficiently can enforce the ban on the LTTE. The LTTE extortion of the Tamil Diaspora is illegal even in countries where the LTTE is not listed as a terrorist organization, so even in Norway the LTTE can get into trouble.
Stop LTTE front organizations
LTTE has both commercial and non-commercial organizations. Their purpose is to raise funds for terrorism and/or serve as propaganda tools.
The LTTE has been able to take control of most Tamil cultural and educational organizations. These organizations provide good cultural and educational services to the Tamil community. Nothing wrong with these activities, but the organizations functions as fundraisers and places of indoctrination.
In Norway the LTTE organizations receive both Governmental and Municipal support. Most of the funds collected from the users of the organizations end in the pockets of LTTE. Some of the teachings in the educational organizations can only be described as promotion of hate against the Sinhalese and the Tamil dissidents. Needless to say LTTE is not teaching the SL history, but a falsified LTTE version of the SL history.
As Norwegian taxpayers it is sad to see our tax money is used to promote hate, racism and poison the minds of small children with lies. If any other group of immigrants or Norwegians had similar organizational activities there is no doubt they would be banned an all financial support removed. For some reason the LTTE is a 'holy cow' that do not need to comply with Norwegian rules and regulations.
In our point of view these organizations should be allowed to continue their cultural and educational activities, but the LTTE must be thrown out and no fundraising must be allowed other than funds that is used solely for the organizations primary objectives. In the educational organizations the parts of the curriculum that promotes hate, racism and political indoctrination must be removed.
Strengthen the SL Diaspora organizations
The Sri Lankan Diaspora has done an immense effort in fighting the LTTE. While previous SL governments were dragging their feet’s, the Diaspora continued their relentless fight against the LTTE. The SL Diaspora organizations and individuals have counter attacked the LTTE propaganda. They have had campaigns exposing the LTTE and their local supporters. They have arranged meetings, conferences, written articles, participating in radio programs and lobbied politicians.
The organizations we have seen in the forefront have been SPUR in Australia, SLUNA in Canada and the other WAPS organizations.
The SL Diaspora has been the driving force in the fight to get terrorist listing of the LTTE. The Sri Lankan Diaspora succeeded and LTTE is banned in most countries where LTTE had a strong standing.
The Diaspora activism has reduced the LTTE fundraising. The reduced LTTE funding has saved a lot of Sri Lankan’s to become victims of the LTTE terrorism.
What can GOSL do to stop LTTE internationally?
While the SL Diaspora can have the responsibility to assist in the international crack down on the LTTE fundraising, GOSL should encourage the SL diplomatic force to talk about the extortion of the Tamils in the Sri Lankan Diaspora.
Protect the SL Tamil Diaspora
The SL Tamils is exploited and threatened by the LTTE. This is well documented by Human Rights Watch( http://hrw.org/reports/2006/ltte0306/ltte0306webwcover.pdf) and numerous other sources. The SL diplomatic force has an obligation to assist in stopping the exploitation of Sri Lankan expatriates. Meetings with police leaders could be one step to raise awareness of this problem. To request a co-ordination officer to process the complaints could be another method.
International agreements
LTTE has only one friend, Norway. Even Norway must understand by now the LTTE is a brutal terrorist organization. The Norwegian support for LTTE can only be explained by the enormous hunger to get the first success story for the Norwegian peace industry. Sri Lanka is in a very special position. All nations, exempt Norway, support Sri Lanka’s fight against terrorism. Maybe for the first time in history, all Superpowers seem to agree, LTTE is an evil.
GOSL should strive to get an international co-operation with the nations where the LTTE illegally is obtaining arms. All of these nations are friends of Sri Lanka and it is in these nations interest to crack down on criminals, arms dealers and other who assists the LTTE.
There should be in the mutual interest of all nations in Asia to co-operate and share intelligence in the war against terror. LTTE is cooperating with terrorist organizations in several Asian countries so all have an interest in stopping the LTTE.
The SL PM has visited Indonesia in November and discussed the LTTE issues. Indonesia has already signaled they are willing to co-operate with Sri Lanka in these matters and it would surprise us if any country in Asia would not help in these matters.
Nations who have a strong intelligence presence in Asia should be asked to assist Sri Lanka in monitoring telephone, internet traffic and movements of the Sea Penguins vessels in order to stop arms shipments to the LTTE and other terrorist groups who utilize LTTE shipping services.
GOSL should consider to ask for known war criminals and terrorist living abroad to be extradited to Sri Lanka to stand trial for their crimes.
What can SL political parties do?
We are pleased to see JVP and Tamil political parties has started organizations in Europe that actively is working against the LTTE. Several demonstrations have been made and material distributed exposing the LTTE.
It is encouraging to see people with complete different political views is working together to stop the LTTE (In some cases we suspect the fight against the LTTE is the only thing they are able to agree upon).
We hope more organization is founded and more parties involve themselves organizing the SL Diaspora. It is especially important to get the Tamil parties involved in order to provide organizational alternatives to the LTTE for the SL Tamil Diaspora.
SL Political parties should use every opportunity to meet with sister parties in other Asian countries to request assistance to stop the corrupt elements in these countries who provide arms to the LTTE.
NAT future activities
We will continue our research in South East Asia and establish more contacts locally. We feel our activity in SE Asia raises awareness of the problem LTTE poses not only in Sri Lanka, but for the respective nations.
No nation is served by having corrupt elements selling arms to terrorist organizations. A few corrupt individuals is lining their pockets by risking the nations reputation. In some cases we have reason to believe the arms have been stolen from weapon arsenals belonging to the army’s and sold to the LTTE. Offenses punishable with severe penalties in all the countries we have visited.
NAT will visit more European countries and go to Canada to talk with the Sri Lankan Diaspora and ask how we can work together to stop the LTTE.
Source: http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/3901
The Symbiotic Conjoining of Liberalism and Militant Islam (back)
December 29, 2006
We are now five years into our more pronounced focus on the perverse ideology of the global collective that is the waging of jihad and the push to Caliphate. There are facets of this latest bit of evil that are stridently reminiscent of characteristics of evils past, and to paraphrase the old George Santayana saw, we who do not recognize history are condemned to repeat it.
The recidivist similarity that most readily leaps to mind is the anti-Semitism and Holocaustic intent of Nazism then and Islamism now. It is more than difficult to delineate quotes culled from Adolf Hitler and his minions circa World War II from those emanating from a whole panoply of mullahs, sheiks and Muslim thugocracy representatives and publications currently plying their Jew hatred all across the planet today.
The all encompassing oppressiveness of the my-way-or-the-highway brand of Islam that the likes of Sunni al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden or Shiite Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad practice and seek to put into practice makes one wax redolent to the means of Communist implementation of Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong and Pol Pot.
(But, to quote Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, to make an omelet one must crack a few eggs.)
And anyone taking in the current leftist rush to the defense of the Caliphatists and their machinations no longer need be surprised by their apparent insistence on committing suicide via jihadist proxy.
(The problem—a problem—is that these people are also choosing to end our lives for us, without inquiring as to whether or not we are yet finished with them.)
The rectification of this shock and awe is quite simple, really. The global left and the global Caliphatic movement fulfill a reciprocative symbiotic need; the former is in perpetual search for the next mascot to champion, another shibboleth to shake at a Western culture they revel in but revile. The latter, in search of our ultimate end, is more than happy to be but the latest to fill that bill.
And as in the Soviet days of yore, those on the port side of things could not be more utilitarian in their idiocy.
The left has also long been domestically practicing its victimology craft. To cite but one exemplar, we have our inner cities.
In reality, these rollicking train wrecks are the legacy of the liberal welfare state; as the recently late, tremendously great Milton Friedman noted, when you pay people to be poor, you will get a whole lot more poor people.
But according to the causes with a cause, these tacit war zones have been strip mined as a result of the inherent racism and prejudices of America’s 'Haves,' exploiting their economic and cultural advantages to keep down the ghettoed 'Have Nots.'
That the denizens of these societal backwaters engage in rampant drug use, crime and the full cadre of anti-social behavior on parade therein, and are in actuality remunerated by the government for so doing, has NOTHING to do with their circumstance, apparently. (Nor does the fact that these 'underprivileged' are predominately white undo the ongoing 'America as racist nation' storyline.)
No matter where one turns, no matter how many self-incurred wounds one finds, there will always be one more liberal racing to the fore to dismiss the culpability that should attend the damage done (and thereby again postpone any hope that these tragic talismans will extricate themselves from their concentric hell; why rectify when one can instead justify?).
Fidel Castro murders and tortures his populace, and renders a Caribbean paradise 90 miles to our south a floating jail, but it is all totally dandy with liberals because the islanders have health care and rice steamers.
For they are the excusers, for any and every failing they can find. And the worldwide jihadist network watches, and learns.
How else to explain last month’s Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) dramatic reenactment of the cinematic classic 'Snakes on a Plane'? I am referring, of course, to the six imams bound from Minneapolis who insisted on drawing as much negative attention to themselves as was possible; loudly heaping praise on bin Laden and roundly bad-mouthing the U.S. for ousting Saddam Hussein, all done during and after fanning out in the fuselage 9/11-style.
Inside of 30 seconds of their rightful aeronautical ejection, they had already fully lawyered up, and CAIR was there with press statements and (un)righteous indignation at the ready.
The ACLU could not have executed the play any better. But they have done as much, as well on behalf of a great many militant Islamists 'detained' in places like Guantanamo Bay (for little things like killing some of us, or trying or plotting to do so) and a whole host of other people and causes over the decades that all share the hope of our undoing. The route for CAIR to follow was well traveled and well illuminated.
In fact, jihadists have been playing the 'Poor Me' card back home for at least as long. Yasser Arafat made an inordinately prosperous career of it (think Jesse Jackson in fatigues and a turban). The Israeli 'occupied territories' are but Arab welfare areas (think South Central Los Angeles), identical to and incepted at the same time as was our Great Society, with similar egregious results.
A great many Muslim nations sit atop nearly incalculable reserves of the No. 1 commodity of the 20th and 21st centuries (that would be oil), yet they are almost to the last economic wastelands, rife with poverty and ruled by thugs.
As with any failed state, or state of things, a bogeyman must be named to blame, to avoid the painful and far more accurate look within.
The Jews and Israel will do, and often have, in explaining away the dictatorial overlording done by the Middle East powers that be. But the Great Satan gets a great deal of the 'credit' as well, and it is here that the Islamists and the leftists find common cause.
It is difficult to demarcate daylight betwixt Ahmadinejad promising to 'end Anglo-Saxon civilization' and the 1960s-era Berkeley mantra (alive and in play on campuses today), 'Hey hey, ho ho, Western Civ. has got to go'.
They meant, and mean, from much more than merely the curriculum, and those chanters and fellow travelers of yesterday are the likes of the ACLU doctors of jurisprudence for the Islamist defense today.
They are again from within seeking league with our latest enemy without.
Source: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=18701
Iran`s Supreme Leader Message for Hajj Season (back)
December 29, 2006
Iran`s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei venerated the Hajj season in a statement as millions of devout Muslim pilgrims from all across the world prepare themselves for the grandeur of praying and supplication around Kiblah , the heart of Islam's divinity.
The full text of his message to pilgrims comes as below:
Once again the Hajj season is back with its spiritual tidings, and again it presents a precious opportunity to the Islamic world. While many eager hearts are attracted from all over the world to attend this annual congregation, there are only a fortunate few who actually realize their dream. This is the reason for the perpetuity of this flowing spring.
On the one hand, the annual congress at the House of the beloved reconnects the hearts with the Kiblah of creation on the other hand, the friends who have been detached from one another find an opportunity for the meeting of hearts. It also brings elation and jubilation to the body, spirituality and politics of the Muslim ummah.
Freedom from material contaminations and remembrance of Allah in all our deeds and in all places, although for a few days, is a great souvenir for hajj pilgrims. The acts of worship and rituals of hajj are for the purpose of providing an opportunity to gain a spiritual experience and sense this joyous experience with our souls.
In the area of politics, the cardinal purpose of hajj is to show the united identity of the Muslim ummah. Detachment and separation among the brothers will open the door to those who bear malice toward us and will serve as a breeding ground for the seeds of division among Muslims.
The Muslim ummah embraces various nations, races and followers of different sects in Islam. This diversity and the vast geographical stretch of the ummah in a sensitive and important part of the planet Earth can be a source of strength. Our diversity has enriched and enhanced the ummah's common heritage, culture, history and their effectiveness in the vast part of the globe, and has enabled them to utilize all forms of talents and human and natural potentials.
From the very first days of their entry into The Islamic countries the Western colonialist powers have taken account of this diversity and have consistently attempted to arouse divisive sentiments.
The colonialist politicians knew well that if a united Islamic identity is formed, the door will be closed to their political and economic domination. Therefore, they have planted seeds of division and discord by employing their concentrated and enduring efforts. To succeed in carrying out this nefarious policy and to advance their goal of domination over the Islamic countries, they have taken advantage of the unawareness of the populace and weakness of the political and cultural leaders in Islamic countries.
Suppression of liberation movements in the Islamic countries over the past century, the success of colonialist powers in consolidating their domination over these countries, creation or strengthening of authoritarian regimes, plundering of their natural wealth and destruction of their human resources and consequently keeping Muslim nations behind the caravan of progress in science and technology, have all been made possible under the shadow of disunity that in some cases reached the levels of internecine and fratricidal conflicts.
With the commencement of Islamic awakening which reached its peak with the emergence of the Islamic republic in Iran, the Western camp faced a formidable threat. The failure of political schools of thoughts of East and West, the recognition of the falsehood and the collapse of the values that were represented by the colonialists as the only road to humanity's happiness helped self-awareness among Muslim masses to take root, and successive frustrations of the arrogant powers in covering and extinguishing this divine radiance have sprung up the seedlings of hope in the hearts of Muslim nations.
A glance at today's Palestine which has a government that has come to power committed to the unchangeable principle of 'liberation from Zionist occupation', and comparison of the present situation with the seclusion, isolation and weakness of Palestinian people in the past;
A glance at Lebanon in which the Muslims put their lives on the line to defeat the equipped Israeli army with the all the help that it received from the U.S., the West and other hypocritical powers, and its comparison with the Lebanon that the Zionists could easily encroach upon and move forward without any real obstacles;
A glimpse at Iraq, in which its proud people humiliated the pompous America, and bogged down the army and politicians that boasted of having a free hand in Iraq, in a quagmire of political, military and economic problems, and its comparison with previous Iraq in which its bloodthirsty leader brutalized its people with the encouragement of the United States;
A glance at today's Afghanistan in which all the promises of the U.S. and the West have turned out to be lies and the unprecedented military expedition of the united front of Western countries have produced nothing, except destruction, poverty, killings and the growing power of the narcotics mafia;
And finally, a glance at the youthful populations of the Islamic countries and the generation with growing tendency toward Islamic values and the rising sentiments against the U.S. and the West;
Looking at all these developments provide us with a clear and true picture of the falling fortunes and the failed policies of the arrogant powers, especially the United States, and augur well for the emergence of the united Islamic identity.
The American government, the domineering capitalism of the West and the corrupt Zionist political lobbyists have begun to sense the living truth of the Islamic awakening, and by admitting that their military might is useless against this truth, they are using all their power to employ political ploys and tactics.
The entire Muslim ummah, whether the political, cultural and religious elite, or the masses of people, must remain vigilant more than ever before, and try to identify and foil the conniving schemes of the enemy.
One of the most effective schemes of the enemy is to incite the flames of discord and division. By spending money and rushing to put to use whatever they have in their power, they try to keep Muslims engaged in feuding and quarreling over their differences and once again to set us against one another by exploiting our negligence, narrow-mindedness and prejudices.
Today any divisive action in the Islamic world is a historical sin. Those who maliciously use takfir to declare large groups of Muslims as unbelievers, those who insult the sanctities of various divisions of Islam, those who betray and put a dagger in the back of the Lebanese youth who are a source of honour for the Muslim ummah, those who speak of the fabricated threat of a Shiite crescent in order to please the Americans and the Zionists, those who incite fratricidal hostilities and lawlessness in Iraq to defeat its Islamic and popular government, and those who put pressure on the elected HAMAS government in Palestine, whether intentionally or unintentionally, will be regarded as culprits, detested by history and future generations and looked upon as mercenaries of the brutal enemy.
Muslims all over the world must know that the era of humiliation and backwardness of the Islamic world has come to an end. We are all witnessing the coming of a new era. The flawed frame of mind that Muslim countries will remain enthralled in the cultural and political claws of the West and will continue to emulate them in their individual and collective behaviours have been eradicated from the minds of Muslim masses by the hands of the Westerners themselves, and as the result of their excessive arrogance and conceit.
The concept of the west especially after being lad by the US, through its flagrant acts of oppression and endlessly arrogant and illogical behaviour, is now clearly seen as an anti-value in the Islamic world. Their treatment of the Palestinian people compared to their treatment of the bloodthirsty Zionist regime, their position with respect to the admission of the Zionist regime on possession of nuclear weapons, against their position on civilian use of nuclear energy by Iran, their support for military aggression against Lebanon and their defense for the aggressor, their hostility toward the defenders of Lebanon, who were prepared to sacrifice their lives, relentlessly blackmailing the western governments and constant surrender of the western governments to the demands of the Zionist regime, supporting insulters of sanctities of Islam and even open defamation of Islam by high-ranking authorities in the West, including the Pope, while making any inquiry into and questioning of Holocaust or the formation of the Zionist regime a punishable offence, military attacks against Iraq and Afghanistan and killing of civilian population under the name of democracy, while conspiring against democratic governments in Palestine, Iraq and in Latin America and in fact anywhere that their stooges do no come to power, all the hullabaloo on the war on terror while clandestinely talking with and supporting brutal terrorists in Iraq.
These irrational and malicious behaviours have provided clear proof to Muslim nations and have helped strengthen the Islamic awakening. Whether they like it or not, today a profound and deep-rooted movement has begun in the Islamic world. This movement will lead to the independence, dignity and rejuvenation of the Muslim ummah.
This is a decisive juncture in history. The elite and the intellectuals have a huge responsibility on their shoulders. Any weakness, wavering, misguided actions and negligence on their part will lead to disaster. Ulema should not remain silent in the face of divisive actions, the intellectuals should not shirk their responsibility to impart spirit of hope in our youth, and politicians and leaders should not distance themselves from the people and must rely on them. And the Islamic governments should strengthen their ranks and solidarity and use the power of the people to overcome the threats of the domineering powers.
Today the intelligence services of the U.S. and Britain in Iraq, Lebanon and in countries of North Africa, and wherever they can, are spreading the virus of religious division and discord. The congregation of hajj keeps us immune from this deadly virus and places this sacred verse of Koran in our full view: And obey Allah and His Apostle and do not quarrel for then you will be weak in hearts and your power will depart, and be patient; surely Allah is with the patient. Surah VIII: 46
Today distancing ourselves from moshrekin is the heartfelt desire and the call of all Muslim nations. The season of hajj is the only opportunity when this desire can be expressed with full force.
Let us seize this opportunity to pray for Allah's grace and favour on all hajj pilgrims and pray for the earliest coming of the Promised Mahdi(A.S.) Cleanse yourselves in this vast ocean. I pray for your success and happiness and for the acceptance of your hajj.
Source: http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-852597&Lang=E
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