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
Correct addresses for Struwwelpeter's post in #285, for the Nord Ost murders.
Sveta: Ne za chto ;-)
Kinoxi: FYI, svni has a lot of 'Nord-Ost' info on her FR homepage http://www.freerepublic.com/~svni, including many articles by the murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
Also, the link to the book in English quoted in the article is incorrect, it should be http://pravdabeslana.ru/nordost/dokleng.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1756652/posts?page=18
North Korea activities show preparations for second nuclear weapons test
AFP via translation | December 20, 2006
Posted on 12/20/2006 9:20:06 PM PST by HAL9000
The North Korea could prepare a new nuclear test
SEOUL - suspect activities were detected in North Korea, suggesting preparations for a new nuclear test after the explosion of the first atomic bomb North-Korean on October 9, indicated to Thursday a South Korean deputy.
Since the beginning of this month, there were many activities in a tunnel close to the Mantap Mount, in Punggyeri, 350 km in the North-East of Pyongyang, where the first test took place, indicated Chung Hyung-keun, deputy of the opposition member of a parliamentary commitee on the information.
Of important building work are in hand over there. The services of Western information regard (this tunnel) as a possible site for a second nuclear test, it added, quoted by the South Korean agency Yonhap.
The deputy did not quote his sources.
These declarations intervene while continue, in Beijing, of the multi-party talks aiming at convincing the North Korea to give up its atomic arsenal.
The Stalinist mode exploded on October 9 its first bomb atomic. Since then, information multiplied on the possibility of a new underground nuclear test.
Friday, the South Korean Minister for Defense, Kim Jang-soo, had evoked this possibility. According to services' of information, the North Korea could carry out a second nuclear test on a large scale if the negotiations (in Beijing) do not advance, it had indicated.
The minister had specified that Pyongyang had ensured its Chinese ally which it did not plan to carry out a second test after that of October 9 but threatened of adapted measurements, not specified, in the event of increased pressure on behalf of the international community.
The talks must continue until Friday in Beijing, in spite of the absence of progress. These negotiations join together both Corées, China, the United States, Japan and Russia. They in vain try since August 2003 to convince the communist dictatorship to give up the atomic weapon.
We need some British attitude here in the USA. Sadly they have also borrowed some of our liberal judiciary and congressionl democrat type ones.
http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/12/islamic-terrorism-britain.html
A bit long for a complete post of the full text or would this have been OK?
Are you trying to force me to learn Russian?
Sorry, too late in this life.
When do you start your own book?
All these stories lurking out there and you are not telling them.
The sites look interesting.
I hope you are right about the ladies safety, but I am not so sure, things all over the world are roiling up.
Under UK law, terrorism is regarded as a criminal act, with investigation and prevention falling on the shoulders of the police, while the security services focus on intelligence gathering and the investigation of covert, organized threats.
<<<
This is what Clinton attempted and it backfired on him.
Terrorism is not a police action, it needs its own force that understands what terrorism is. [My opinion]
You were correct, it was a little long for posting here, but well worth reading.
Somehow, we need to inform people who have forgotten that there is a war going on.
The last few days, there are so many reports on death and now the new tape to think about.
Is Allan going to do a column on the last Zawahiri tape?
To me it was a full call out to war, for all jihadis.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23379159-details/Virulent+form+of+e.coli+comes+from+British+farm+produce/article.do
Virulent form of e.coli comes from British farm produce
21.12.06
A deadly new superbug responsible for scores of deaths may be linked to British farms and food, it has emerged.
A virulent form of e.coli has killed at least 57 people in two separate outbreaks in the UK.
But the true scale of infection and death caused by the bug, which is linked to blood poisoning and urinary tract infections, is thought to be much higher.
The original source of the "super e.coli" has been a mystery.
However, the Daily Mail has learned that Government experts are investigating a possible link to bugs found in farm animals.
There are concerns the infection may be spread to humans through meat and milk which is either produced in this country or imported.
The super e.coli strain produces enzymes called extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) which stop many drugs working. Consequently, vulnerable people who become infected are very difficult to treat.
Some 28 people died and another 200 were infected with this ESBL e.coli in Shropshire between in the 12 months to March 2004.
Another 29 deaths were revealed in Southampton last year. Other cases have been found across the country.
The government's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, has raised concerns about the bug amid fears it could become as serious as MRSA. The majority of the outbreaks and deaths have ocurred in hospitals, however it is believed the bug has been picked up in the community.
Humans can carry the bug in their gut. It is a particular risk to the elderly and others whose immune systems are not functioning properly because of illness.
Dr Georgina Duckworth, a superbug expert at the government's Health Protection Agency(HPA) has compiled a report on the emergence of the ESBL e.coli.
She concluded: "The findings in our report show evidence of people carrying these bacteria in their gut. If this is found to be commonplace in the general population this may point towards the food chain being a potential source."
Last year, British scientists found strains of the ESBL e.coli among sick and dying calves for the first time on a dairy farm in Wales. Twenty-seven of 48 calves examined - 56 per cent - carried the bug.
Since then, government vets have found similar strains of the bug on nine farms across the country, including Cheshire, Wiltshire and Somerset.
They do not know how long the bug has been present on farms in this country.
The problem is not restricted to UK farms. Similar strains of the ESBL e.coli have also been found in France, Spain, Denmark and Japan. Experts at the government's HPA and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency(VLA) are investigating whether the use of certain types of antibiotics on factory farms triggered the creation of the superbug.
Heavy use of drugs on farms is designed to kill e.coli and other bugs in animals such as dairy cattle and pigs. However, one side-effect is that resistant strains can develop.
It is these resistant strains which are believed to be getting into the human population.
A report from these experts warned: "Spread of this form of resistance in bacteria affecting the animal population could have serious implications for animal health, rendering many therapeutic options redundant.
"Spread is also undesirable from the public health perspective, in that the livestock population might provide a reservoir of resistant strains and genes that could be transferred to the human population."
The Soil Association, which promotes organic farming, believes the heavy use of certain antibiotics is responsible for the creation of ESBL e.coli.
It has written to farming minister, Ben Bradshaw, both highlighting an increase in antibiotic use and calling for new controls.
The Association is particularly worried about the increased use of antibiotics called cephalosporins. In 2005, some four tonnes of active ingredient was used on British farms, which was up by 23 per cent on 2004 and 58 per cent on 2002.
Association expert, Richard Young said: "Government scientists are unsure exactly how this type of super e.coli started and why it is spreading so quickly, but many of them accept that the infection is sometimes carried on food and that the farm use of antibiotics, in particular a group of antibiotics known as 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins, may be a reason for the growing problem."
He said: "This is yet another problem associated with intensive livestock farming. It's time the Government showed leadership and got a grip of the situation.
"The Government has sat back and allowed the farm use of implicated drugs to rise during the precise period when this new superbug emerged and started spreading." The Association is calling for a ban on the advertising of the suspect drugs to farmers and the provision of advice to vets and all livestock farmers on how to reduce reliance on them. Even some organic farmers use these antibiotics, however use is more strictly controlled than on other farms.
The government's food and farming department DEFRA has refused to identify those farms where the ESBL e.coli has been found.
It has also decided not to stop meat and milk from the infected animals from going into the human food chain. It is claimed that the heat treatment of milk during pasteurisation would kill off any harmful bugs. However, this policy is under review.
To date, the evidence is that the strains of the disease found in the animals is not identical to that found in the majority of human cases.
However, the Soil Association says this may be because there has been a mutation.
DEFRA said there could be a different reason, other than the use of drugs in farm animals, for the development of the ESBL e.coli.
It said that farm animals may have caught the bugs from humans, by coming into contact with sewage, or from their food. The HPA said some 950 cases of standard e.coli infection were reported in 2005. The numbers have been around this level for a decade, however they were much lower in the 1980s, with less than 100 a year.
It was unable to give figures for ESBL e.coli. Earlier this week it emerged that a strain of the hospital superbug, MRSA, which attacks healthy young people, has caused deaths in British hospitals for the first time.
Seven people were infected in an outbreak at a West Midlands hospital. Two - a hospital worker and a patient - died.
It would have been just fine to post, but I think you were correct to only use the link. A possiblity would be to post a paragraph or two and a link.
In any event, good post. Keep bringing them to everyone's attention.
I do think Britain is sinking much more quickly than the US.
Gunbattles broke out between Hamas, Fatah
GAZA CITY - A fierce gunbattle broke out between Hamas and Fatah militants in Gaza City early Friday, underscoring the fragility of a two-day old truce that had largely ended factional violence there.
The street battle erupted when Hamas militiamen tried to free two kidnapped militants, including a senior member of the Islamic group.
It died down after 20 minutes as Muslim clerics and other mediators worked to restore the cease-fire. Nobody was hurt despite the battle's intensity, health officials said.
Hamas said its fighters exchanged fire with Fatah-affiliated militants behind the abductions.
The fight quickly spread, drawing in guards outside the residence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, and Hamas militiamen guarding the home of Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas Zahar. Abbas was not in Gaza at the time.
Meanwhile, Palestinians stepped up rocket attacks on Israel, including one that veered off course and hit a Gaza home, injuring a 2-year-old Palestinian boy sleeping in his bedroom, officials aid.
Six other rockets landed in Israel, but nobody was hurt. The barrage threatened a separate cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians that ended months of Israeli military activity in the Gaza strip.
A minister in Olmert's Cabinet said it was time to call off the cease-fire.
"Enough restraint," Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel Radio. "Israel is many things, but a suicidal state isn't one of them."
A week of factional violence in Gaza has killed 16 people and left dozens injured across Gaza before the truce took effect Tuesday night.
Hamas blamed the Thursday night kidnappings on a clan affiliated with Fatah that was trying to avenge the deaths of two its members in an earlier round of fighting.
In Friday's battle, gunmen on rooftops fired at others in the streets. The presidential guard took up defensive positions behind newly built walls of sandbags and barriers of cement blocs outside Abbas' residence.
Hamas officials said the Fatah gunmen shot at Zahar's home.
One witness said several rocket-propelled grenades were also launched.
Residents said they put their children in bathtubs for protection against stray bullets. Others tucked themselves in corners for safety.
The militant group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for some of the rockets that landed in Israel, including one that hit a community center the southern town of Sderot. The army said the rocket caused some damage but nobody was hurt.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack that struck the Gaza home. In the past, similar cases of Palestinians being hurt by Palestinian rockets have led to backlashes against militant groups, whose attacks against Israel are generally supported by the public.
The boy, Samir al-Masri, suffered two broken legs, said Dr. Said Judeh of Kamal Adwan hospital. The boy's 4-year-old sister and 3-year-old brother were lightly wounded by shrapnel, said their uncle, Jad al-Masri.
Abbas, a moderate, has repeatedly called for an end to rocket fire, saying they only invite harsh Israeli retaliation.
In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Abbas said he hoped to hold a long-awaited summit with Olmert by the end of the year.
"We always showed our willingness to hold this meeting with Olmert, and it's no secret that we hope it will take place before the end of this year," Abbas said at a news conference with the visiting Italian foreign minister, Massimo D'Alema. "There is progress in preparations for this meeting."
The two leaders have repeatedly expressed readiness to meet for what would be their first summit. But preparations have bogged down amid disagreements over the agenda.
Abbas wants Israel to promise to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Olmert has ruled out a prisoner release until Hamas-linked militants free an Israeli soldier they captured last June. Olmert's spokesman, Jacob Galanti, said he was not aware of firm plans for a meeting.
http://www.keralanext.com/news/?id=928483
COVERT ACTION AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION, 1969-1970 (FRUS)
The Nixon Administration gave high priority to covert action
against the Soviet Union and its interests around the world,
according to newly published declassified records.
"With respect to black operations, the President enjoined me to hit
the Soviets, and hit them hard, any place we can in the world,"
wrote CIA director Richard Helms in a March 25, 1970 memorandum
for the record.
"He said to 'just go ahead,' to keep Henry Kissinger informed, and
to be as imaginative as we could. He was as emphatic on this as I
have ever heard him on anything," Mr. Helms wrote.
The Helms memorandum and other records on U.S. covert action
against the Soviet Union were published this week in a new volume
of Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS).
"The total cost of this program is $766,000," one document noted, in
a departure from previous CIA practice of redacting almost all
intelligence budget expenditures.
The newly published documents on covert action against the Soviet Union are collected and posted here:
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/frus1969.pdf
The full text of the source volume of Foreign Relations of the
United States, 1969-1976, volume XII (Soviet Union, January
1969-October 1970), may be found here:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/xii/index.htm
A companion volume FRUS volume, volume XIV (Soviet Union, October
1971-May 1972), also newly published, is here:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/xiv/index.htm
KEY FOREIGN AFFAIRS ISSUES FOR THE 110TH CONGRESS (CRS)
A new report from the Congressional Research Service presents a
comprehensive 80-page survey of foreign policy and national
security issues that will face the next Congress.
See "Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade: Key Issues for the 110th
Congress," December 20, 2006:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33760.pdf
Also newish from CRS is "Bioterrorism Countermeasure Development:
Issues in Patents and Homeland Security," updated November 27,
2006:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/terror/RL32917.pdf
Russias Putin Praises Spies Work at Secret Police Anniversary
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/12/21/spypraise.shtml
Vladimir Putin / Photo: AP
Vladimir Putin / Photo: AP
Russias Putin Praises Spies Work at Secret Police Anniversary
Created: 21.12.2006 09:40 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 17:39 MSK ,
MosNews
Russias President Vladimir Putin has saluted Russias resurgent secret services for their role in guarding national interests.
The personnel of the security services firmly stand guard for Russias national interests, Putin said in a statement released as he threw a lavish party to mark the anniversary of the founding of the Soviet secret police.
Putin, who served as a KGB spy in East Germany, has promoted former security officers to high posts in the Kremlin, where they have formed one of the most powerful clans under the leadership of deputy chief-of-staff Igor Sechin, analysts say.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin split up the KGB to sap the power of the secret services. But Putin has brought spying back into fashion at the very highest levels in the Kremlin.
Spy chiefs, top politicians and former agents were shown on state television sitting in a packed hall in the Kremlin as Putin sang their praises.
State television showed a lavish party with an orchestra playing classical music and large buffet with champagne and vodka, said to be Russian spies favourite tipples.
Spy scares are back in vogue in Moscow with Kremlin controlled television showing romantic serials about the exploits of Russias domestic and foreign security agents.
Their best workers have always shown patriotism, competency, a high degree of personal and professional decency, and an understanding of the importance of their work for the good of their fatherland, Putin said.
First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov, both tipped as possible Putin successors, attended the Kremlin reception.
Putin, who has tried to restore prestige to the secret services, saluted the glorious pages in the history of Russias secret services, the successors of the Soviet-era KGB.
There are many glorious pages, bright examples of true heroism and courage in the history of national state security organisations, Putin said in the statement, which was posted on the Kremlins web page, www.kremlin.ru.
Historians still argue about how many tens of millions of people died at the hands of the Soviet secret service under the rule of Josef Stalin. Millions were executed or sent to perish in labour camps run by Stalins secret police.
Stalins death in 1953 ended massive purges, but left intact a system of blanket control over the population exercised by the KGB. Political dissidents were imprisoned on criminal charges or locked up in mental hospitals.
On December 20, Russian agents celebrate Chekist day, the date the Soviet secret police, the Cheka, was founded.
It is a profession who love our motherland, Putin told agents and senior politicians who attended the Kremlin bash.
Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) chief Sergei Lebedev, Federal Security Service (FSB) head Nikolai Patrushev and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov attended the Kremlin banquet.
Russia: Kremlin Sees More Spies
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/world/europe/21briefs-russiaspies.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Russia: Kremlin Sees More Spies
Article Tools Sponsored By
By C. J. CHIVERS
Published: December 21, 2006
President Vladimir V. Putin said foreign spies in Russia had been
showing heightened interest in classified economic information, the
latest Kremlin expression of its worry that it has been under a growing
threat from outside intelligence services.
http://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=2/a/ix/211220061
Israel Hasbara Committee
Todays Overview of Leading News & Views 21 December 2006
By Anthony David Marks
(IHC News, 21 December 2006)
# Something is going on at Ben Gurion Airport the Israel Airports Authority is doing something right. First, there is a report that the airport ranked first in customer satisfaction compared to other airports in Europe. Now we learn from the Israel Airports Authority that a prayer room will be built for Muslims. It will be like a mini mosque. In addition, a special facility will be established to aid Muslim travelers. It will assist Arabic-speaking persons on a 24/7 basis. In November, the number of tourists coming to Israel was reported down 29% compared to the previous November, so Israel has to pull up its socks.
# With ten Qassam rockets being fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip during the last 24 hours in a so called cease-fire, Israels policy of restraint is wearing thin. It might be that Palestinian extremists are attempting to engineer a diversion from the internal fighting between Hamas and Fatah factions. Perhaps they think an Israeli response will unite the two Palestinian factions in common cause. Then again, Palestinian extremists have been continually firing Qassam rockets at Israeli civilian targets.
# Reports reveal that the US and Britain are sending additional warships and planes to the Persian Gulf to beef up forces already there. This appears connected to British PM Tony Blairs recent visit to Dubai. It also means that the US and Britain have no intention of backing down under Iranian threats. The build-up parallels a similar building up of forces against Iraq before the Allies struck. Saudi Arabia is no doubt the most concerned about a heavily militarized Iran that could unleash an attack against its kingdom.
# As investigations proceed to determine shortcomings in the IDFs marginal performance on the battlefield, proper education of officers appears lax and in some cases non-existent. There is too much bluffing and too many shortcuts are being taken. In other words, there is a widespread attitude problem. Israeli politicians as well as army leaders are to blame. Many are so preoccupied trying to outdo each other for personal advancement that they are neglecting their leadership duties and this state of affairs has been going on for a long time.
# Hizbullah has effectively been re-armed to pre-war levels with Syrian assistance. Hamas Head Office is located in Damascus, Syria. In other words, Assad is assisting in a very determined way the enemies of Israel, so what is all this talk about Syria wanting peace. The facts speak otherwise, unless Syria is being pulled into a situation of which, in truth, it does not really want but that is its problem.
20 December 2006
# Speaking from Dubai at the end of his tour of the Middle East, British Prime Minister Tony Blair crystallizes the facts with the statement that Iran is a strategic challenge. Blair foresees that the challenge of Iran will ultimately lead to a physical confrontation. He called for an "alliance of moderation in the region and outside of it to defeat the extremists."
# The outcome of the violence in Iraq will quite conceivably determine the future of the Middle East. It will also determine the efficiency of US troops there and whether the US army needs some better direction and higher caliber management. War on the ground is not like a war-simulated game on a computer screen. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Baghdad on a fact-finding mission as he takes over the position from Donald Rumsfeld. Violence in Iraq is at an all time high, probably because of published misgivings about the war, in the US. The US lack of inspiration for the war is giving violence a boost as the insurgents in Iraq smell US weakness and opportunity. The US presence in Iraq is hopelessly undermanned and it was from the beginning. More troops, better strategies and better day-to-day management are all required.
# British Holocaust denier David Irving has been released from an Austrian jail where he was serving a prison term of three years. He has been released on a two-year probation. Mr. Irving has stated he has revised his views on the Holocaust. Time will tell and we will all learn shortly about his revised thinking. Some speculated that Mr. Irving was released by a judge who is considered a supporter of Jorg Heider's rightist Austrian Freedom Party, according to the Austrian news agency APA. The basis for all facts on the Holocaust comes from an unimpeachable source meticulous Nazi records. Therefore, all those who deny the Holocaust are criminals under any hate law. Irving is a highly sophisticated con man who can cause endless trouble and discord and be the instigator of both civil and international strife a la mode Ahmadinjad
# As anticipated, one of the members of the Neturei Carta delegation to Teherans Holocaust Conference Rabbi Aharon Cohen is under siege from British Jews who have gathered outside his home and pelted it with eggs. He is under British police protection. Many have labeled him a traitor but he and his colleagues are much more than that as many survivors of the Holocaust who live in Britain well know. They are pained by the actions of Neturei Carta. These survivors are the sole survivors from large extended families that perished in Europe. Cohen might as well have called these survivors a bunch of liars, fakers or phonies. Members of Neturei Carta have sold their souls to the devil. They have caused the utmost disgrace to the Jewish people the biggest chillul Hashem imaginable. Understandably, the lives of every member of this group is probably in danger.
# Opposition leader in the Knesset and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a meeting of foreign ambassadors and diplomats in Israel and stated that Iranian President Ahmadinejad is working on the establishment of a 1,000 year Islamic Reich. He charged that Ahmadinejad is planning to carry out his threatened genocide program against Israel using the nuclear weapon Iranian scientists are now developing.
http://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=4/b/iv/211220061
Jimmy Carter and the Arab Lobby
By Jacob Laksin
IHC Abstract
I have a request in to the Moderators about whether or not I can post with exact quote from the Financial Times, and article "Iran admits sanctions hurting oil investment." It is by Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran and Roula Khalaf in London.
Does anyone know anything about either of these coauthors?
Diplomats Call for Stability After Death of Turkmen Leader
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evu4irIfwf2zzI1
Foreign leaders Thursday called on officials in Turkmenistan to
ensure stability in the gas-rich Central Asian country after the
death of its authoritarian President Saparmurat Niyazov.
Nazi-Era Airport Will Close a Year Later Than Planned
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evu4irIfwf2zzI2
A German court has said Berlin's 'Nazi' airport, Tempelhof, which
was supposed to close on Oct 31, 2007, could stay open for
another year in a compromise deal.
Germany Pulls Away From Quaero Search-Engine Project
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evu4irIfwf2zzI3
Germany has taken a new tack in its plans to develop an Internet
search engine with France. Instead, it will pursue a national
project aimed at tackling US dominance in the information sector.
Germany's Foreign Minister Urges Russia to Solve Murders
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evu4irIfwf2zzI4
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for
Russian authorities to solve the recent killings of Russian
journalist Anna Politkovskaya and former KGB agent Alexander
Litvinenko as quickly as possible.
Aachen Send Bayern Packing in German Cup
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evu4irIfwf2zzI5
Bayern Munich headed to Aachen looking for revenge for a 2004
German Cup elimination but promoted Alemannia repeated history
with a 4-2 win, handing the Bavarians their first Cup loss in
nearly two years.
Romania Beefs Up Security at EU's Eastern Frontier
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evu4irIfwf2zzI6
Romania has prepared for its role as the European Union's new
eastern border by installing a new high-tech security system on
its frontier to keep non-EU citizens from entering the bloc it
joins in January.
Drug Firm Jenapharm Compensates Doped Athletes
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evu4irIfwf2zzI7
Jenapharm pharmaceuticals has signed an agreement to pay
compensation to former East German athletes who were forced
to take steroids under the communist state's doping regime.
Granny one of my coon dogs were run over by a car and didn't make it. I will be back tomorrow night GOD willing!
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