World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #6 Disinformation, Inc.

A bloc to stabilise Middle East
http://archive.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10104007.html

02/13/2007 11:48 PM | By Amir Taheri, Special to Gulf News

A few weeks ago when British Prime Minister Tony Blair evoked the idea of a bloc of moderate Arab states to help stabilise the Middle East, most pundits dismissed it as a pie in the sky.

How could Arabs, notorious for internecine feuds, develop a common strategy, the pundits wondered.

Nevertheless, it looks as if such a bloc is taking shape with Saudi Arabia in the lead. The latest sign came last week when the rival Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah reached an accord to share power and stop their burgeoning civil war. Brokered by Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, the accord was signed in Makkah, in view of the Ka'aba, thus enjoying special solemnity.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader and President of the Palestinian National Authority, and Khalid Al Mesha'al, Hamas's "Supreme Guide", vowed to implement the accord in full. With the prospect of Palestinian harmony, the revival of the peace process now looks possible for the first time in six years.

As yet, the new bloc of moderate Arab states does not have any official name or structure. Some refer to it as the 6+2 group, because it is made up of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council plus Jordan and Egypt.

As always in the case of alliances, this new bloc has come into being in response to a clear and present danger.

The perceived threat comes from Iran, which, suffering from political schizophrenia, cannot decide whether it is a nation-state or a revolutionary cause.

The biggest loser from the Makkah accord is the regime in Tehran that had invested in Hamas and its sister organisation Islamic Jihad, in the hope of overthrowing Abbas and extinguishing hopes of talks with Israel.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had designated the Palestinian territories as part of Iran's glacis in an eventual war with Israel and the United States. With the Makkah accord, Tehran loses that part of its imaginary glacis.

From 2004, with the United Sates apparently bogged down in Iraq, the "revolutionary cause" advocates in Tehran moved onto the offensive.

They argued that the US would run away, first from Iraq and then from the whole region, burying dreams of a Pax Americana. Then, Tehran would impose a regional Pax Khomeinista as a first step towards claiming the leadership of Islam.

Tehran's first move was to turn Syria into a client state, before triggering last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah. The perception that Israel was humiliated, enhanced the Islamic Republic's prestige as a power capable of, one day, wiping "the Zionist enemy" off the map.

Then, Tehran overplayed its hand by ordering Hezbollah to try to seize power in Beirut. The spectre of a "Shiite Crescent", first evoked by Jordan's King Abdullah II and dismissed by many as hyperbole, suddenly appeared real. After some initial hesitation, the 6+2 group decided to draw a line in the sand, as far as Lebanon was concerned: Tehran would not be allowed to seize power in Beirut.

The 6+2's determination made it possible for the broader international community to also rally behind the government of Prime Minister Faoud Siniora. By the end of January it had become clear that Tehran's bid in Beirut, although causing damage to Lebanon, had no chance of sweeping Hezbollah into power.

Tehran's second mistake was to play a game of smoke-and-mirrors over its alleged nuclear ambitions. The leaders of the 6+2 bloc believe that the Islamic Republic has not told only the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth on this issue.

Suspicions about the Tehran's agenda rose further when Khomeinist emissaries appeared in Arab capitals to demand the use of oil as a political weapon in case the US took military action against Iran. This showed that the Khomeinist leadership was prepared to risk war in defence of a nuclear programme that it claimed is entirely peaceful.

The 6+2 bloc's response came in the form of a supposedly technical statement by Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al Nuaimi who reiterated the kingdom's 34-year-old policy of never playing politics with oil. This meant that if Iran provoked a war it would find itself as alone as Saddam Hussain was in 2003.

Tehran's third mistake was to renew contacts with dissident Arab Shiite groups in the Gulf. Tehran had stopped supporting such groups in 1993.

Tehran's fourth mistake was to set up a network of direct influence in Iraq. To do so, Tehran bypassed its traditional Shiite allies, including Abdul Aziz Al Hakim's Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), relying instead on clients such as Moqtada Al Sadr and his Mehdi Army.

In response to the Khomeinist take-over bid, Hakim, and the Da'awah Party of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, had to tone down their Shiitism and emphasise their Arabness.

That offered the 6+2 new opportunities to develop a positive policy on Iraq. The Baker-Hamilton Iraq report, issued last December, created a moment of confusion with its recommendation that the US ignore the 6+2 and, instead, seek a deal with Iran and Syria. President George W. Bush, however, rejected the advice and decided to involve its 6+2 allies in plans to de-stabilise Iraq.

Plans are under way for the next initiative of the 6+2 bloc that will concern Iraq. Contact has already been established with key Sunni and Shiite leaders in Iraq, and a national reconciliation conference, to be held in Makkah, could be organised within months.

The expected improvement of the security situation in Baghdad under the new "surge" plan, led by General David Petraeus, could help the process.

The 6+2 is emerging as a real force. It has much scope for expansion by including other moderate Arab states. Iraq, too, will join, adding its considerable weight to what is an Arab initiative to prevent the imposition of Pax Khomeinista on the region.

Both Afghanistan and Pakistan are also undeclared allies of the 6+2 as is Turkey, a full-member of Nato. (The 6+2 states have negotiated a special relationship with Nato). Iran, however, has no allies outside Syria and no prospect of attracting any.

The 6+2 message is clear, even if the Americans run away, once the Bush presidency ends, they are not prepared to submit to a Pax Khomeinista dictated by Tehran.

Amir Taheri is an Iranian journalist based in Europe.

[This pleases me very much.]

signandsight.com: Give the Peace Prize to Politkovskaya

2007-02-13

Give the Peace Prize to Politkovskaya

Gerd Koenen and Norbert Schreiber call for the 2007 Peace Prize of the
German Book Trade to be awarded to murdered Russian journalist Anna
Politkovskaya

As an extraordinary gesture, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade
for the year 2007 should be awarded posthumously to Anna Stepanova
Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist and author who was assassinated
last year. She was not only a model of boldness, engagement and civil
courage in the struggle for peace, justice and truth. Her articles,
books and journals, written in the hurly-burly of everyday political
life, evinced a promising literary talent. Her cold-blooded, planned
"liquidation" was designed to silence not only a voice critical of
arbitrary government power and a fearless fighter for a civil society,
but also an important author.

>From her own distinct vantage point, Anna Politkovskaya tirelessly
documented and attacked the further trampling of Russia's already
endangered freedom of the press, the corruption of its social and
political life, the destruction of its nascent rule of law, the
instigation of racist rioting inside Russia itself, as well as the
nearly commonplace use of torture and murder in the war in Chechnya. In
so doing, she repeatedly put her life and health at risk in the face of
ongoing threats.

In her books and articles, she by no means restricted herself to
exposing the methods and mechanisms of the Kremlin's "controlled
democracy" and the day-to-day abuses of power by Russia's bureaucrats,
justice system and security services. She also fearlessly underscored
the outrageous indifference, or even support, of the majority of
Russians for this renewed muzzling of their country's government,
economy and society, describing it as a self-deprivation of
decision-making power born of fear and hysteria.

On top of all that, Anna Politkovskaya also accused Western governments
and societies of ignoring the daily massacres and human rights
violations in Chechnya, whether from indifference or out of
self-interested economic and political motives, especially with regard
to the struggle against Islamist terrorism. They had not, she insisted,
grasped that this war is a disaster for Russia, the Russian Federation,
and all of the so-called "post-Soviet region."

Few individuals have so selflessly and uncompromisingly invested all
their literary and investigative abilities, as well as their entire
professional career, in the service of an incorruptible sense of
justice, a passionate advocacy of human rights and the rights of
minorities, of peace and understanding, as Anna Politkovskaya did.

The awarding of the Peace Prize would be a visible sign that the works
and the example emanating from a person like her cannot simply be
silenced by a contract killing, no matter how coldly and
"professionally" it is executed, but rather that her voice will
continue
to be heard beyond her death. The granting of this prize to
Politkovskaya would by no means be a gesture of "hostile criticism"
directed at Russia as a whole, but on the contrary, a sign of hopeful
expectations for this country, its people and its culture. And finally,
author and human rights advocate Anna Politkovskaya would be one more
radiant figure in the ranks of those who have received this award.

*

The appeal originally appeared in German in the Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung on February 10, 2007.

Gerd Koenen is a journalist and historian. Norbert Schreiber's "Anna
Politowskaja - Chronik eines angekündigten Mordes" (Anna Politkovskaya
-
chronicle of an announced murder) will be published in 2007 by Wieser
Verlag.

Translation: Myron Gubitz.

http://www.signandsight.com/features/1200.html

Two Germans missing in Iraq, Foreign Ministry says

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12877650.htm
Two Germans missing in Iraq, Foreign Ministry says
12 Feb 2007 15:38:14 GMT
Source: Reuters

BRUSSELS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Two Germans are missing in Iraq and may
have been kidnapped, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
said on Monday.

"We cannot rule out that they have been forcibly abducted," he told
reporters on arrival at an EU foreign ministers meeting.

"Of course we are doing everything so that the two German nationals
return safe and sound to their families," he added, without naming the
two.

A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said they were "taking
all the necessary steps" but declined to elaborate.

Germany's Der Tagesspiegel newspaper reported in an advance copy of an
article to appear on Tuesday that the missing Germans were the
60-year-old wife of an Iraqi doctor and her son, in his mid 20s.
German state broadcaster ARD said the mother and son had dual
Iraqi-German citizenship.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman declined to offer any information about
their dual citizenship. "I can confirm that these are two German
citizens and for us it doesn't matter what their address is," he said.

He added the German government believed there were about 100 people
with German citizenship in Iraq, including embassy staff.

Others with German citizenship have family ties in Iraq and live there
permanently, while some others ignored German government warnings and
were in Iraq on short stays.

Last year two German engineers were captured in Iraq and held for 99
days before they were freed. It is not clear if ransom was paid.

Before that, German archaeologist Susanne Osthoff, who was permanently
living in Iraq, was kidnapped by an Islamist group. She sparked
controversy after her release when she vowed to return.

Iraqis use internet to survive war

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6357129.stm
Last Updated: Tuesday, 13 February 2007, 12:24 GMT
Iraqis use internet to survive war
By Andrew North
BBC News, Baghdad

Baghdad ariel view - Google Earth
Consulting Google Earth can help people work out routes to avoid
Google is playing an unlikely role in the Iraq war. Its online satellite map of the world, Google Earth, is being used to help people survive sectarian violence in Baghdad.

As the communal bloodshed has worsened, some Iraqis have set up advice websites to help others avoid the death squads.

One tip - on the Iraq League site, one of the best known - is for people to draw up maps of their local area using Google Earth's detailed imagery of Baghdad so they can work out escape routes and routes to block.

It's another example of the central role technology plays in the conflict - with the widespread use of mobile phones, satellite television as well as the internet - by all sides and for many purposes.

For some time now, vigilante-style guard forces have been operating in many neighbourhoods, especially in Sunni areas targeted by Shia militias.

Many Sunnis see the Shia-dominated police forces as just as much of a threat, because of evidence of their involvement in kidnappings.

So part of the job of the local guards is keeping them out.

With Google Earth, the Iraq League website suggests, people can also work out the most likely approach of their attackers.

It's thought that insurgents have also used the map site, examining the detailed images to pick out potential targets.

'Killed or tortured'

The advice on the Iraq League site - which is actually run from the UK - begins with a warning to avoid being taken in the first place.

"If they arrest you, you will be killed or tortured."

Iraqi army soldier searches a motorist in Baghdad
The key thing is not to fall into the wrong hands
The Iraq League says it is aimed at all Iraqis caught up in the violence, but it is slanted towards the Sunni community.

"If they tell you we just have a few questions and you will be back in an hour, don't believe them. You will be dead in an hour or disappear for months," the warning continues.

Who "they" are is rarely spelt out, apart from the occasional mention of Ministry of Interior patrols.

To avoid arrest, people should give security training to relatives, says the site. If they see any suspicious activity, they should ring the local guard force.

How to blend in

People must change their routes all the time. "You must get another ID," the site continues, with non-Sunni names.

Certain names, such as Abu Bakr or Omar are common among Sunnis - but can spell instant death in the hands of Shia death squads.

Anything to distinguish sectarian affiliation should be masked.

Long beards, traditionally associated with devout Sunnis, are out. Shia men keep beards much shorter.

Sunnis wanting to blend in should do the same, says the survival guide.

Other sites tell Sunnis how they can make people think they are Shia.

They are advised to hang images of well-known Shia figures in their homes and shops, such as Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's most senior Shia cleric, or Imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet Muhammad, whose death at Karbala in the 7th Century Shias mourn every year.

Appeals for help

The Iraq League website has another section displaying calls from relatives for information on missing loved ones.

This is used by both Sunnis and Shias. "Please help me to find my husband who was kidnapped travelling from Baghdad to Amman," says one message. "Gunmen seized him because he is a Shia, but they left my brother and his family because they are Sunni. Please help me."

But it happened more than six months ago.

There was also an offer of help to a girl injured in the eye by a mortar attack on her school in Baghdad in late January, an incident widely covered by the media.

"We can provide medical treatment outside Iraq," the writer said.

Perhaps initiatives like this could also begin the process of restoring peace. But right now, these sites are focused on survival.

6 Taliban, 5 Policemen Killed In Southern Afghanistan (back)

February 12, 2007

Six suspected Taliban and five policemen were killed in separate clashes in southern Afghanistan while the US military claimed its forces killed several insurgents in an attack against a senior Taliban leader, officials said Monday.

Afghan and NATO-led forces attacked a hideout of the Taliban in Trinkot district of southern Uruzgan province on Sunday night, killing six Taliban militants and arresting another twelve of them, Zemarai Bashary, an Interior Ministry spokesman, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Bashary said three policemen were also killed in the fight that lasted for more than five hours in the Marabad area of the district. Dozens of rocket-propelled grenade launchers and guns were recovered from the militants, he added.

Meanwhile, two policemen were killed and another one was slightly wounded when their patrolling vehicle was ambushed by suspected insurgents in neighboring Zabul province late Sunday, Gholum Jalali, a police commander, told dpa.

Jalali said that the police also inflicted casualties on the Taliban side but could not provide the exact number.

Fighting in the southern regions of the country seems to have resumed after a traditional lull during the Afghan winter amid growing concerns that the militants will step up attacks after the weather becomes warmer.

Afghanistan experienced the most violent year in militancy in 2006 since the ouster of the strict Taliban regime five years ago.

Meanwhile, an unknown number of Taliban militants were killed in an attack in southern Afghanistan Monday against a senior Taliban leader with close ties to Taliban leader Mullah Omar, the US military said in an statement.

It was not known if the targeted leader was killed in the attack, which took place on Monday morning near the town of Gershk in the Nahr Surkh District of volatile Helmand province after the militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at joint Afghan and US-led coalition forces, said the statement.

'Forces then engaged and killed the Taliban fighters; a battle damage assessment had not yet determined the exact number of terrorists killed,' the statement said.

The assault was conducted based on 'substantial information' provided about a Taliban senior leader operating in the neighboring province of Kandahar , the statement said, adding, 'The targeted individual has ties to Mullah Mohammad Osmani and Mullah Mohammad Omar.'

One Afghan National Army soldier received a non-life-threatening wound during the assault when their vehicle overturned in a ravine. The vehicle was later destroyed at the site of the clash.

There were no other reported casualties to Afghan or Coalition forces during this operation, the statement added.

There are around 25,000 US troops stationed in Afghanistan , with 14,000 of them serving under the banner of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Another 11,000 are independently conducting anti-terrorism operations.

Source: http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_13674-ROUNDUP-6- Taliban-5-Policemen-Killed-In-Southern-Afghanistan.html

Bombs Kill at Least 80 People in Iraq (back)

February 12, 2007

by Bushra Juhi

Thunderous explosions and dense black smoke swirled through central Baghdad on Monday when two car bombs tore threw a crowded marketplace, setting off secondary blasts and killing at least 71 people, police said. Another bombing nearby killed at least nine.

The violence came on the first anniversary, according to the Muslim lunar calendar, of the bombing of the important Shiite Golden Dome shrine in Samarra , north of the capital. That attack by al-Qaida in Iraq militants set off the torrent of sectarian bloodletting that has turned Baghdad and much of central Iraq into a battleground.

A column of smoke hundreds of feet wide billowed 1,000 feet above the market near the east bank of the Tigris River and the Central Bank.

Ambulances and pickup trucks rushed many of the nearly 165 wounded to nearby al-Kindi hospital in the largely Shiite region that has been hit by a series of deadly bombings since Jan. 1.

The worst carnage occurred about 12:25 p.m. when two parked car bombs exploded shortly after the government called for a 15-minute period of commemoration for the Feb. 22 Samarra bombing.

The bombs struck within a minute of each other, targeting two buildings about 200 yards apart. One of the cars was parked near the entrance to a parking garage under one of the buildings.

Shops and stalls were obliterated and billowing smoke blackened the entire area on a sunny day in Baghdad .

Debris and clothing mannequins were scattered in thick pools of blood on the floor of the warehouse-type building while men tossed plastic chairs onto piles. Two men carried a limp body, while small fires burned in rubble outside the building.

Shop owner Mohammed Najaim, whose business was set ablaze, said one of the cars was parked in a garage under a two-story market called Al-Arabi, next to the Iraqi central bank. Najaim said flames were coming out of the garage, which holds hundreds of cars.

About a half-hour earlier, a bomb hidden in a bag exploded in a crowded area near a popular falafel takeout restaurant in the Bab al-Sharqi area, not far from Shorja, police said, adding that 19 people also were wounded in that blast.

The attacks, which occurred in busy market districts on the east side of the Tigris River, came despite stepped up security in the capital as U.S. and Iraqi forces have launched a new operation aimed at stopping the sectarian violence that has been on the rise since the Samarra bombing.

The anniversary fell on Monday according to the Islamic lunar calendar. The lunar month is never longer than 30 days or shorter than 29. The beginning of each lunar month is set by religious authorities.

One 38-year-old Shiite man said the blasts were clearly timed to coincide with the commemoration of the Samarra bombing. Other people in the area screamed, 'Where is the government?' 'Where is the security plan?' and 'We have had enough!'

Some storekeepers were trying to salvage merchandise. Police and soldiers were deployed in force, and armed men in civilian clothes were searching and questioning people coming to the scene.

Elsewhere in Baghdad , some roads and bridges were cordoned off after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called for the 15-minute commemoration of the bombing in Samarra , 60 miles north of Baghdad .

Al-Maliki called on government offices and all citizens to 'chant `God is great' in all the mosques, and to ring bells in all the churches' for the Samarra anniversary.

'The explosion of the holy shrine pushed the country into blind violence, in which tens of thousands of innocents were killed. No one knows but Allah when this tragedy will be over,' Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq 's top Shiite cleric, said in a statement issued before the bombings.

Al-Sistani urged the government to rebuild the shrine, whose golden dome was partially damaged. The compound has since been locked and guarded by police.

He also called for restraint among those observing the anniversary.

'We call on the believers to express their emotions but to be cautious and act disciplined, and not to do anything to hurt our brothers the Sunnis, as they are not responsible for this awful crime,' he said.

About 16,000 demonstrators flooded the main street of Karbala , 50 miles south of Baghdad , marching toward two Shiite shrines there. Participants rallied with placards reading, 'No to terrorism' and 'Iraqis are one people, whether Shiite or Sunni.'

Hundreds of policemen guarded the area, and no violence was reported.

Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric who commands one of Iraq 's most notorious Shiite militias, the Mahdi Army, was scheduled to speak to supporters in the holy city of Najaf later Monday.

The United Nations reported that 34,452 civilians were killed in 2006 alone in violence that has left Iraq battered and divided along sectarian lines.

On Monday, President Jalal Talabani called the shrine bombing 'a crime against humanity and Islam together.'

'This horrible crime drives us to toward more solidarity and brotherhood,' Talabani said in a speech in Baghdad . 'We will stay with you until we accomplish a secured, democratic, federal and stable Iraq away from the darkness of terrorism, dictatorship.'

Source: http://www.comcast.net/news/international/index.jsp?cat= INTERNATIONAL&fn=/2007/02/12/584946.html&cvqh=itn_iraq

700 Foreign Fighters in South Afghanistan (back)

February 11, 2007

An estimated 700 foreign fighters are operating in a key southern Afghan province where Taliban fighters took control of a town earlier this month, the provincial governor said Sunday.

The foreign fighters — from Chechnya , Uzbekistan and Pakistan — are operating in three volatile areas of Helmand province, including Musa Qala, which fighters overran and have controlled since Feb. 1, Gov. Asadullah Wafa said.

He said the government was conducting negotiations with tribal elders to resolve the dispute.

'We are trying our best to solve this issue in a peaceful way,' Wafa told The Associated Press. 'We don't want innocent people to die in the fighting. If the negotiations with the elders fail, then the government will conduct an operation against the Taliban.'

Wafa said some 1,500 families had fled Musa Qala out of fear of coming clashes.

Lt. Col. Angela Billings, a spokeswoman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said the Afghan government was leading the negotiations in Musa Qala and that didn't know how long they would take. She said NATO is 'always postured' for potential military action.

'We're here as a military force and we'll strike when the situation warrants it,' she said.

Billings said foreign fighters are operating in Helmand but that the estimate of 700 sounded high.

Wafa said the clerics' council in Musa Qala issued a fatwa, or religious edict, forbidding 'jihad' and suicide attacks because the international community was in Afghanistan at the invitation of the government.

A Taliban commander in the Helmand region, Mullah Qassim, said Musa Qala and the areas of Kajaki and Sangin in Helmand were under Taliban control.

'There are thousands of Taliban there,' he said by satellite phone from an unknown location. 'If NATO and the government launch an attack, we are ready.'

Wali Mohammad, a resident of Musa Qala, said NATO forces had moved into an area about 90 minutes away by vehicle three or four days earlier. He said that two days ago the forces exchanged gunfire with Taliban militants.

Billings said she had no immediate information on troop movement near Musa Qala.

Mohammad said a lot of villagers had fled to other areas of Helmand . The town bazaar remained closed.

'We have to find a solution,' he said. 'Either they start the operation against the Taliban or they make a peace deal.'

From June until September Musa Qala witnessed intense battles between Taliban fighters and British troops based in the fortified center. The fighting caused widespread damage to the surrounding town of around 10,000 inhabitants, most of whom fled.

British forces left Musa Qala in October after a peace agreement was signed between elders and the Helmand governor, with the support of British forces. According to the deal, security was turned over to local leaders, while NATO and Taliban forces were prevented from entering the town.

Taliban militants overran it on Feb. 1, destroying the government compound. Fighters claimed an airstrike last month that killed a Taliban leader broke the accord.

Wafa, who was appointed Helmand governor only recently, said he had never been happy with the peace deal because it allowed the government no influence in Musa Qala. He said he recently asked tribal elders to give the taxes they were collecting to the provincial government and had appointed a new district police chief. He said the Taliban attack was in response to those changes.

Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/11/asia/AS-GEN- Afghan-Town-Captured.php

Iran Sends Iraq Bomb Parts (back)

February 11, 2007

by Steven R. Hurst

High-tech roadside bombs that have proved particularly deadly to American soldiers are manufactured in Iran and delivered to Iraq on orders from the 'highest levels' of the Iranian government, a senior intelligence officer said Sunday.

The officer, briefing reporters on condition he not be further identified, said that between June 2004 and last week, more than 170 Americans had been killed by the bombs, which the military calls 'explosively formed projectiles.'

Those weapons are capable of destroying an Abrams tank.

The officer said American intelligence analysts believe the EFPs are manufactured in Iran and smuggled into Iraq on orders from the top of the Iranian government. He did not elaborate.

U.S. officials have alleged for years that weapons were entering the country from Iran but had stopped short of alleging involvement by top Iranian leaders.

The U.S. officer said Iran was working through surrogates _ mainly 'rogue elements' of the Shiite Mahdi Army _ to smuggle the EFPs into Iraq . He said most of the components are entering Iraq near Amarah, the Iranian border city of Meran , and the Basra area of southern Iraq .

The U.S. officer said American authorities had briefed Iraq 's Shiite-led government on Iran 's involvement and Iraqi officials had asked the Iranians to stop. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, has said he told both the U.S. and Iran that he does not want his country turned into a proxy battlefield.

Al-Maliki, who has been reluctant to crack down on the Mahdi Army, largely because he does not want to lose the support of its leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, said Iraqi security forces would deploy in force this week as part of a U.S.-backed security sweep aimed at stopping the violence in Baghdad.

'The new security plan will not start from a specific area, but it will start from all areas and at the same time and those who will take part in it are from all formations of the army and police,' he said earlier in the day. The Iraqi leader has faced criticism that delays in starting the operation have allowed attacks that have killed hundreds over the past few weeks.

In Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad , a suicide truck bomber slammed into a crowd of police lining up for duty Sunday near Tikrit, collapsing the station and killing at least 30 people and wounding 50, police said.

Minutes later, a roadside bomb struck a car on a highway on Tikrit's western outskirts, killing two civilians and wounding two others, police said.

Residents who rushed to the scene of the first bombing tried to help with rescue efforts before civil defense squads arrived with shovels to remove the debris and pull out the dead and those injured. U.S. and Iraqi forces later surrounded the area.

Bashir Masour, a 46-year-old laborer, said the explosion blew out the windows of his house, about 500 yards away.

'I ran to help and I saw destruction everywhere, along with charred bodies and body parts. Blood was spilled across a big area,' he said. 'I carried six people who I thought were still alive but then realized they had died after being torn apart by shrapnel.'

Adwar, about 12 miles southeast of Tikrit, is where former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was captured on Dec. 13, 2003.

Insurgents frequently target Iraqi security forces, accusing them of collaborating with the U.S.

A U.S. soldier also was killed Saturday after coming under small-arms fire northeast of Baghdad , the military said, raising the number of American troops who have died this month to 37.

U.S. and Iraqi troops found 14 weapons caches and detained 140 suspects in a week, focusing on mainly Shiite eastern Baghdad in the initial phase of the security sweep, said U.S. Brig. Gen. John Campbell, the deputy commander of American forces in Baghdad .

'With the cache finds this week, the detentions we've made and creating a larger presence on Baghdad streets with the establishment of another combat outpost, we are making headway with the Baghdad security plan,' Campbell said. 'This is only the beginning.'

The chief military spokesman, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, said Wednesday that the much-anticipated Baghdad security operation was under way. His remarks came about a month after President Bush announced he was dispatching 21,500 more troops to curb sectarian bloodletting. The latest plan is the third effort to secure the capital since al-Maliki took office on May 20.

As the Baghdad operation begins, U.S. officials have been stepping up allegations that Iran is assisting Shiite militias that pose a major threat in the capital and surrounding areas.

Last week, U.S. officials said they were investigating allegations that the Shiite lawmaker Jamal Jaafar Mohammed, a member of the bloc that brought al-Maliki to power, was a main conduit for Iranian weapons. Mohammed has believed to have fled to Iran .

The allegations against Iran were made briefing which had been set for last week. But U.S. defense officials said it was postponed so that the Pentagon could review the information.

That appeared aimed at avoiding the embarrassment suffered when evidence of Iraqi unconventional weapons presented by Secretary Colin Powell at the United Nations in 2003 proved to be wrong.

During the briefing, the officer said that one of six Iranians detained in January in a raid on an office in the northern city of Irbil was the operational commander of the Quds Brigade, a unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that trains and equips Shiite militants abroad.

He was identified as Mohsin Chizari, who was apprehended after slipping back into Iraq after a 10-month absence, the officer said.

The Iranians were caught trying to flush documents down the toilet, he said. Bags of their hair were found during the raid, indicating they had tried to change their appearance, he added.

He said the dates of manufacture on weapons found so far indicate they were made after fall of Saddam Hussein _ mostly in 2006. He said the 'machining' on the components was traceable to Iran but did not elaborate.

In a separate briefing Maj. Gen. Jim Simmons, deputy commander of Multinational Corps-Iraq, told reporters there was no indication Iranian weapons were behind the latest spate of helicopter crashes.

Source: http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/ 2007/02/11/584347.html

Pentagon Blames Iran for 170 US Deaths (back)

February 11, 2007

by David Blair

NOTE:

Obviously this does not include all of the Iranian sponsored terrorism from the blowing up of the USMC barracks and US Embassy in Beirut to Pan Am 103, or the Khobar Towers .

America today blamed Iran for the deaths of 170 US troops inside Iraq , accusing Teheran of supplying insurgents with increasingly sophisticated bombs.

Senior defence officials in Baghdad said that Iranian-supplied 'explosively formed projectiles' were frequently being used against coalition forces.

They said the 'highest levels' of Iran ’s regime were responsible for giving them to Shia militias in Iraq .

These bombs are specially designed to penetrate heavily armoured military vehicles and are capable of crippling the US army’s main battle tank, the Abrams M1.

They have killed 170 US troops since June 2004, according to the American officials. They added that some weapons have been captured and they bore the hallmarks of having been manufactured in Iran .

Many were made as recently as last year – ruling out the possibility that they could have been left over from the many arms caches scattered across Iraq by Saddam Hussein’s regime.

The 'machining' on the weapons could only have been completed in Iran , the officials added. They said that only the 'highest levels' of Teheran’s regime would have authorised the transfer of these arms into Iraq .

A US helicopter was lost north of Baghdad today – the sixth to be shot down in the last three weeks.

The Apache attack helicopter was reportedly struck by a surface-to-air missile. There is no evidence that Iran has supplied weapons of this kind.

The latest allegations against Iran came as the Teheran regime delivered mixed messages about the future of its nuclear programme.

Speaking at a rally to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Teheran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed to press ahead with enriching uranium, a process which could produce the material needed to make a nuclear bomb.

'If you are willing to negotiate why do you insist on a suspension [of enrichment]? If we suspend our activities then what are we going to talk about?' asked Mr Ahmadinejad.

'If your nuclear plants are working 24 hours a day, why must Iran be pressured to shut ours down? We are ready to negotiate but under fair and even conditions.'

Last July, the United Nations passed Resolution 1696, giving Iran 30 days to 'suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development'.

Teheran ignored this deadline and continued enriching uranium at Natanz nuclear plant.

Western governments say that Iran must abide by the UN’s demand before any deal can be reached.

But Ali Larijani, Iran ’s chief nuclear negotiator, told a security conference in Munich that he was willing to settle every issue by negotiation within weeks.

'The political will of Iran is aimed at a negotiated settlement of the case. We don’t want to aggravate the situation in the region,' he said.

Mr Larijani, whose official title is secretary of the supreme national security council, added that he wanted a rapid agreement with Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

'I have written to Mr ElBaradei to say we are ready within three weeks to have the modality to solve all the outstanding issues with you,' he said.

Mr Larijani said Iran ’s nuclear programme was solely for civilian purposes. But the IAEA has declined to endorse this claim and western governments believe Teheran is pursuing a nuclear capability.

Mr Larijani, 48, is a conservative figure who ran for president in 2005. A former western diplomat who served in Iran described him as an 'apparatchik' and a 'dedicated servant of the Islamic Republic'.

But Mr Larijani is also a pragmatic figure, 'willing to explore what might work'.

The key question, said the former diplomat, was whether Mr Larijani was only a 'Yes man - or is he willing to stand up to the powerful?'

Iran ’s nuclear policy will be finally decided by its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini.

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, repeated the West’s demand that Iran must stop enriching uranium 'without ifs and buts and without tricks'.

She added: 'What we are talking about here is a very, very sensitive technology and so we need a high degree of transparency, which Iran has failed to provide. If Iran does not do this it risks falling deeper into isolation.'

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/200 7/02/11/wiran511.xml

al-Qaeda May Target France Ahead of Elections (back)

Febraury 11, 2007

It seems to have gotten them what they wanted in Spain . An update on jihadist threats to France , from al-Qaeda and other groups. ' France targeted by al-Qaeda,' by Roee Nahmias for YNet News:

===>

A French intelligence report says that France is being targeted by al-Qaeda, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat reported Friday. The report warned decision makers of a series of scenarios, including a terror attack which will take place ahead of the presidential elections in a bid to influence their results.

The report was recently submitted to the French authorities and was titled 'Situation report on the radical Islamic terror threat in France .' The report was composed by various intelligence and security organizations in the country for three months.

The writers of report fear a terror attack similar to the one which took place in Madrid in March 2004. In order to illustrate the concrete threat, the newspaper published for the first time a letter handwritten and signed by Osama bin Laden, which instructed a radical Islamic organization in Algeria to 'attack in eastern and southern France .'

According to the report, al-Qaeda affiliated websites contain 'threatening messages by the organization, which include pictures from the French presidential campaign.'

The report added that 'what contributes to the severity of the threats is that senior al-Qaeda members need to prove that they can still exert their influence in Europe and not only in the traditional jihad countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.'

The report detailed four 'threat centers' from which the activists would emerge. The first is 'the Iraqi networks': Hundreds of Muslims with a European citizenship who volunteered to fight in Iraq against the US army and returned last summer to Europe . Since their return, they have been working on building secret cells or preparing terror attacks.

Intelligence information received by France points to the fact that one of the close assistants of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, confessed during an interrogation by the Iraqi intelligence that about 30 radical Islamic

Moroccans carrying a European passport have secretly infiltrated France and several French-speaking countries in Africa in a bid to prepare terror attacks.

It appears that this information has been taken seriously by France , as several suspects have already been arrested in Canada .

Immediate threat: An Algerian group The second source of threat mentioned by the report was 'the Afghan-Pakistan networks.' Contrary to the prevailing belief that these networks completely disintegrated after September 11, 2001 and the war in Afghanistan , these organizations' training camps have reappeared near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The report warned that volunteers carrying a European passport were recently seen in two camps, one in Pakistan run by Taliban members and the other in Afghanistan run by one of bin Laden's former bodyguards.

The report stated that the counterterrorism organizations in France have been increasingly concerned by these networks, particularly after activists who left the camps were recently exposed in terror cells uncovered in Britain , Belgium , France and Morocco .

These terrorists were carrying the 'Guide for Jihad' written by al-Qaeda member Abu Musab al-Suri, in which he preaches to attack France as it is 'A legitimate target for jihad.'

Intelligence information received by France reveals that for the first time, women were among the terrorists who left the camps and settled in Europe in order to prepare terror attacks.

A third source of concern for the French intelligence is 'the Caucasian terror networks.' According to the information, these networks are supervised by the al-Qaeda representative in Central Asia and include graduates of secret training camps in different places in Asia, including Kashmir , China , Uzbekistan , Georgia and Chechnya .

According to the report, graduates of the Kashmir camp with a British and Dutch citizenship were recently arrested. Another cell was uncovered in France .

A fourth source of concern for France , and perhaps the most severe, is the organizations in North Africa, mainly those affiliated with a radical Islamic organization in Algeria . The leader of this organization has threatened France several times in the past two years.

The same organization was recently blessed by bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, as the group which will lead the jihad in Europe and North Africa . The organization changed its name and officially became part of al-Qaeda after receiving bin Laden's blessing.

<===

This group was formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, or GSPC.

===>

This organization was the one which received the letter from bin Laden ordering an attack on France .

'The Algerian organization now constitutes the greatest source of threat on France and on all of Europe . Due to its organizational ability and its long-terms relations with al-Qaeda and especially with Osama bin Laden in person, the organizations has turned into al-Qaeda's key representative in Europe,' the report warned.

Source: http://www.jihadwatch.org/

Cool War as Russia Muscles-up (back)

February 12, 2007

Concerns are growing over a new bout of East-West confrontation after Russia unveiled a big increase in military spending.

Russia 's move follows the US decision to locate parts of its controversial missile defence system in eastern Europe.

Russia 's hawkish Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, revealed an ambitious plan for new intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines and possibly a fleet of aircraft carriers.

He said Moscow also would revamp its early-warning radar system.

This overhaul of Russia 's military infrastructure would cost around 5000 billion roubles ($A243 billion) over eight years.

The sharp rise in expenditure comes at a time of growing coolness in US-Russian relations.

President Vladimir Putin has been incensed by the Bush Administration's intention to site missile defence systems in Poland and the Czech Republic .

The US says the installations are being built to shoot down possible long-range missiles fired by Iran or North Korea . But Mr Putin says the real target of the missile shield is clearly Russia and its vast nuclear arsenal.

Mr Putin is expected to deliver Russia 's scathing response to the US plans in Munich , where leaders are gathering at the weekend.

Defence and security leaders are to meet in the German city to wrestle with issues such as Kosovo , Afghanistan and Iran . Mr Putin and Mr Ivanov will deliver speeches, as will the new Pentagon chief, Robert Gates, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Ali Larijani, the key Iranian official for Tehran 's suspect nuclear program.

Analysts said Moscow was worried the defence shield in eastern Europe could turn into a Trojan horse.

'This is irritating for Russia ,' said Yevgeny Miasnikov, a senior research scientist at Moscow 's Centre for Arms Control. 'When the Soviet Union collapsed, a vacuum was created in the countries of the former Warsaw bloc. The US has tentatively moved into the vacuum and is creating infrastructure that might threaten Russia .

'The Bush Administration's system is not justified. Iran doesn't have a missile capability yet to hit the US . The logical place to put a defence system would be in Turkey , or in Russia itself.'

In his speech to Russia 's parliament, Mr Ivanov said the military would get 17 ballistic missiles this year, compared with an average of four in recent years.

The plan envisaged the deployment of 34 new silo-based Topol-M missiles and control units, as well as another 50 such missiles mounted on mobile launchers by 2015, he said. Russia has already deployed more than 40 silo-based Topol-Ms.

Writing in a Munich newspaper yesterday, Mr Ivanov said: 'The deployment of American missile defence in Europe has not only a military but also a symbolic significance. Fifteen years after the end of the Cold War, a situation is obviously being created in which the continent again can only manage with American protection and with reinforced American military presence.'

Source: http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/cool-war-as-russia- muscles-up/2007/02/09/1170524298469.html

Defeat of Islam as Important as Defeat of Nazis and Communists (back)

January 22, 2007

Thank you, it's a great honor to share the platform with these individuals and to be asked to be here today, but to tell you the truth, since I spent 22 years as a Washington lawyer and then I spent some time at the CIA I'm actually honored to be invited to any polite company for any purposes whatsoever.

My former State Department colleague, a very able man, Nick Burns, yesterday generally gave the impression that all is reasonably well with the world. There are specific challenges; Israel-Palestine , Lebanon , Iraq (a very serious challenge) and Iran . He added that it was surprising that Iran didn't accept the arrangement for electric power only from nuclear material, that the UN sanctions have been an achievement, but were weakened in the course of being implemented, and that the United States isn't seeking confrontation but a diplomatic solution to the problem with Iran, and that we can hope for Arab support in Iraq. Others yesterday called upon the Palestinians to detach themselves from Iran, suggested that waiting for UN Resolution 1701 to be implemented and Hezbollah to be disarmed was a reasonable approach, discussed the elimination of nuclear weapons as a reasonable objective, and that nationalism and capitalism are the most powerful movements in today's world. While I do not represent an American point of view, for in 2¼ centuries there has been no single American point of view, and I probably don't represent a majority view, still I would say at least that on all of these points I beg to differ.

I wish we had a partnership with Europe but I am afraid it is deteriorating, Bruce Bawer, Mark Steyn and others have pointed to the accommodation increasingly in European countries with Shari'a and the degree to which the demographic trends in Europe are operating decisively to the disadvantage of continued European control, even of their own societies, against encroaching Shari'a from their Muslim populations. The challenges of Iraq , Lebanon , the Palestinians, Israel and Iran are, at least in my view, not distinct. I believe what Eran Lerman said last night in his introduction of Secretary Gordon England, when he called what we face 'Islamist Totalitarianism'.

It is indeed Islamist, rooted in a corner of one of the world's great religions, and it is totalitarian with various manifestations. It constitutes a major set of history-shaking movements, the defeat of which I believe is the great challenge of our age, just as the defeat of Nazism and the defeat of communism were.

I believe the 'Arab support' in Iraq will consist of continued Saudi Imams' encouragement of suicide bombers to cross the Iraqi border and blow up Americans and Iraqis. I believe that it should be no surprise that Iran didn't accept the guarantee of nuclear powered electricity. With its huge oil and gas reserves, Iran is not remotely interested in nuclear power for purposes of electricity.

I believe that the first UN resolution didn't work and was heavily watered down by Russia and China just as other UN resolutions will be heavily watered down by those two states operating in their kleptocracy mode.

I believe that the Vilayat al-Faqih in Iran is a theocratic totalitarian movement for which destruction of Israel and the United States is not a policy but its very essence. It defines itself in that way. Saying that it should change its policy with respect to destroying Israel and the United States is like trying to persuade Hitler to abandon anti-Semitism. It was his essence and it is the essence of the Iranian Vilayat al-Faqih.

I believe that the nuclear weapons program of Iran is an important part of this and as Bernard Lewis said, the recent up-tick in fanaticism, the Hojitia, the End of Time movement, does represent a real and crazed part of Iranians today and the current Iranian Shiite ideology.

If we think of Iran as a chess master and the Persians, after all invented chess and are very good at it, and look at its various pieces I think we might characterize its nuclear weapons program as its Queen; its most lethal and most valued piece. Other pieces on the board under the control of the chess master in Tehran are Syria , which might rise to the level of a Rook since it is in fact a nation state, and various Pawns: Hezbollah, Muqtada al Sadr, Hamas and the others. As one piece gets put into jeopardy, perhaps Muqtada al Sadr a bit today, it's played conservatively. Then others are moved forward, such as Hezbollah last summer, which was part of an effort to protect the Queen. I agree with Dore Gold: we cannot effectively deal with these individual chess pieces.

Negotiating with Syria over the Golan Heights or Hamas and the Palestinian Authority over some political solution, which someday may be possible with the Palestinians, is today, in my judgment, fanciful. Nor do I believe that the current Sunni concern over the Shiite nuclear weapons program in Iran will lead to some sort of covert Saudi, Egyptian, American, Israeli modus vivendi to protect ourselves together against the Shi'a.

In 1979, which I think is probably the key year of the modern explosion in fanaticism in this part of the world, the seizure of the Great Mosque in Mecca and the rise to power of a Shiite theocracy in Iran produced an intense increase of Wahhabi fanaticism as expressed in the madrassahs of the Middle East and Pakistan. These expressions in the sermons, in mosques, and in the United States , are all very heavily funded by the increased price of oil. Little boys are being taught to dream of being suicide bombers in both Pakistani madrassahs and in the West Bank with Wahhabi oil money, and that money is a huge part of our problem.

So I believe that the Wahhabis, Al Qaeda, the Vilayat al-Faqih in Tehran - although often lethally competitive with one another in the way the Nazis and communists, and parties within the communist movement were competitive with each other in the 1920s and 30s - are capable of unified action. Those who say that these movements will never work together because of their ideology are precisely as correct as those who in the 1930s said that the communists and the Nazis will never work together. They didn't, until they did.

So, what do we need in order to move forward today?

First of all we need to take their theocratic totalitarianism authority seriously. We should pay attention to what they say. Hitler meant it when he said he wanted to exterminate the Jews. It was all spelled out in Mein Kampf. We need to take seriously what people like Ahmadinejad and others say to their own followers. They are not lying; they are stating their true objectives.

Secondly, we need clarity. We need to make sure that we call a spade a spade - that when we are accused of being Islamo-phobes I think it's fair to say no - we are not, but we are theocrat-phobes. We should not let our sense of fairness lead to creeping Shari'a. It is beginning in Europe and even a bit here in the United States among the Muslim communities.

People need to all obey the law. You should not get, in Michigan , to be a taxi driver and turn down blind people with seeing eye dogs as passengers because you believe dogs are unclean. The answer to that is Donald Trump's: 'You're fired'! We must not accept totalitarian regimes, we should, as Richard Perle stated yesterday, try, along with some of the tactics Bob Einhorn mentioned, for peaceful regime change in Iran , if possible.

We should not tolerate a nuclear weapons capability for Iran . John McCain has it right: the worst situation we can imagine in that part of the world is the need to use force against Iran in order to stop it from having nuclear weapons - except for one other possibility: letting them have nuclear weapons.

And if we use force, we should use it decisively, not execute some surgical strike on a single or two or three facilities. We need to destroy the power of the Vilayat al-Faqih if we are called upon and forced to use force against Iran .

It is a shame that Israel did not - and the United States did not help and participate in - a move against Syria last summer when Hezbollah gave the opportunity. We should not pass up, if we are forced to use force, the opportunity to use it decisively.

We also need to move decisively away from the use of oil. New developments in batteries and in genetic engineering of bio-catalysts are making that entirely feasible now. Within a very short time hundreds of miles per gallon of petroleum products for vehicles is possible.

Finally, we must not forget who we are. We, as Jews, Christians and others are heirs of the tradition, deriving from Judaism, of the rule of law. This is even more fundamental than democracy, because democracy without the rule of law is a mob just like capitalism without the rule of law is theft.

Elijah had it right in confronting Ahab, and Thomas Jefferson had it right in the one sentence of his that circles your head as you stand in front of his statue in Washington D.C. Of all Jefferson 's writings this was what was picked to symbolize his views. It says: 'I have sworn on the altar of almighty God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man'.

Source: http://www.herzliyaconference.org/Eng/_Articles/ Article.asp?ArticleID=1698&CategoryID=223

How Radical Islam Threatens Your Child's Health (back)

February 12, 2007

by Susan Macallen

Last week, FSM reported on the rising problem posed by fundamentalist Muslims in Western hospitals who violate sanitation protocols, citing requirements of their faith. In addition to the refusal of Muslim health care workers and hospital visitors to disinfect their hands, there are other practices which put Westerners at risk of disease epidemics. FSM Contributing Editor Susan MacAllen explains.

A few months ago, a Dr. Abdul Majid Katme, head of the Islamic Medical Association in the UK, was telling Muslims that it is 'against Islam' to have their children vaccinated. According to Dr. Katme, many vaccines contain 'haram' or 'parts' of animals that are not slaughtered ritualistically. Dr. Katme’s 'parts', in actuality, are either pieces of cells or even proteins removed from cells, and then incubated in a lab. And he also complained that vaccines contain alcohol, which Muslims who adhere strictly to Islam do not consume. This man is a psychiatrist who has worked for 15 years with Britain ’s National Health Service, yet his writings suggest someone with not the most basic grasp of immunology or vaccine science.

Dr. Katme argues that inoculation is worthless in Muslim children, because mothers adhering to Islamic Law nurse them until age 2. They thus acquire 'natural immunity' either from their mothers or from actually catching the diseases. The truth is that breast-feeding passes along a limited immunity, most valuable for a very young infant during the first weeks of life, and generally the protection lasts only for the time the child nurses. This is not lifelong protection from the disease. Also, any immunity passed in breast-milk, in addition to being short-term, covers only a few of the dangerous diseases for which vaccines exist.

As far as 'natural immunity' acquired from exposure and actual illness, before children were commonly vaccinated, these diseases - measles, diphtheria, meningitis, whooping cough, polio – left parents with blood running cold through their veins. Many a child was left mentally or physically disabled after a bout even with a common childhood illness . . . or far too often, dead. Many modern physicians suggest that those parents who nowadays argue that vaccination isn’t necessary, are living in a sort of 'out of sight, out of mind' mentality. But back when people saw children frequently suffer permanent disability or death due to illness, they welcomed the chance to stop these diseases, even with vaccinations that carried a very small risk of other health-related issues. The trouble is, in an age when mass internet information - some of it erroneous - has made everyone an armchair medical expert, many Western parents hold some misguided ideas about the value of immunizing their children.

Given this atmosphere, it is easy for a more fundamental Islamic stance to take hold. The same vaccine resistance in the UK Muslim community has popped up elsewhere in the West. It begins with a mullah’s call to followers to resist vaccinating their children because to do otherwise is un-Islamic. As the fever builds, the argument feeds on paranoia already in place in Western society, and the same mullahs begin to cite health risks in vaccines. This jumping from one argument to the other, exploiting anxiety already present in non-Muslim parents, and the simultaneous rise of these incidents in Western cities in the past decade or so, all point to another concerted effort on the part of Muslim fundamentalists to challenge and disrupt within their host countries, imposing their wills and ideology, rather than to assimilate.

Here are some simple scientific facts, most of which Dr. Katme ignores:

· Babies do not acquire complete immunity through placental transfer or breast-feeding. If they did, thousands would not have died before the advent of antibiotics and vaccines, despite having been breast-fed.

· Immunity acquired through breast-feeding, depending upon specific disease, is not lasting, or as strong as that which is given through a vaccine. Immunity is about degree, not either/or.

· Keeping dangerous disease at bay or eliminating it depends upon 'herd immunity'; that is, a substantial number of the population - at least 95% - must be inoculated, in order for those not inoculated or those with a lesser immunity, to be safe, and for the disease to remain quiet.

· No vaccine is 100% safe to every individual. Adverse reactions occur, but very rarely. The vast overall benefit to the general health of a community far outweighs the risk to a few.

· No vaccine renders 100% immunity to a disease. So let’s say your child has had shots for measles. The Muslim child in daycare has not, and your child is exposed. Because your child is not completely immune, or has a compromised immune system due to another medical condition, your child can contract measles.

· Before vaccines were introduced in the U.S. , there were over 175,000 cases of diphtheria annually (1920-22), over 147,000 cases of whooping cough (1922-25), and over 4 million cases of measles (1951-54). German measles (rubella) rendered up to 20,000 infants born with mental defects and physical deformities in a year, and polio paralyzed 10,000 children.

· Across web sites, it is becoming fashionable for Muslims to cite the more aggressive claims of anti-vaccine advocates through the years, such as the idea that vaccines CAUSE the disease they are designed to prevent, or that vaccines cause autism or SIDS. According to the Center for Disease Control, the weight of currently available scientific evidence does not support the hypothesis that MMR vaccine causes autism. And as for vaccines causing the disease they are meant to prevent, this is scientifically impossible. Vaccines most often consist of a 'killed' form of the virus - it can’t replicate, but simply stimulates the host to produce immunity.)

The biggest problem is that this reluctance to vaccinate poses a health risk outside the Muslim community. There are children who aren’t vaccinated because of pre-existing medical conditions, say a heart issue, HIV or cancer - these children would be at greater risk of infection from another unvaccinated child who is a carrier. Also at risk are children so young that they haven’t received a particular vaccine, or who haven’t yet received adequate boosters. The elderly are also at risk, as is anyone with a severely compromised immune system, such as those undergoing cancer treatments or suffering from AIDS. Once these people begin to contract a disease in numbers, it spreads. The 'herd immunity' requirement is violated; if a large enough minority carries the disease, an epidemic can begin. And, if the disease begins to mutate into forms not covered under the vaccines that have already been given, everyone is in danger.

The science is complicated: suffice it to say that the reluctance of a minority within the general population to inoculate can endanger everyone, and in fact can result in an epidemic. In India , Nigeria , Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent years, large outbreaks have been seen as a direct result of the refusal of local populations to be inoculated. In Nigeria in 2004, a mass protest against polio vaccination was led by Muslims who railed that the vaccines were part of a U.S. plot to render Muslims sterile. Despite the assurances of the World Health Organization, the protest continued for months, and several children came down with polio. Some months later, as a direct result of this single Nigerian states’s refusal to vaccinate, a polio resurgence was seen across 10 nations, all of whom were previously polio-free!

In the U.S. , the states set the vaccination legal mandates for daycare and schools. Currently, only 2 states do not allow 'religious exemptions'. Of the 48 who do, 20 also allow 'philosophical exemptions'. If the mandate exemptions in your schools allow religion to dictate your child’s safety - and thus that of your community - it could be a big problem.

Source: http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/homeland.php?id=725123

Chertoff's 'Islam PC' Rankles (back)

February 12, 2007

DHS chief warns against describing terror as 'Muslim,' emphasizes 'religion of peace'

Citing recent internal memos, Department of Homeland Security employees complain their boss Michael Chertoff is hamstringing counter-terror operations with pro-Islamic political correctness.

They say headquarters has cautioned officials not to describe Islamic terrorism as Islamic and to respect Islam as a 'religion of peace.'

'It's constantly drilled into us that Islam is not the enemy, and that the terrorists are merely a minority of 'extremists' distorting Islam,' said one official who wished to go unnamed.

DHS Secretary Chertoff set the tone in a staffwide memo last year, when he described as 'extremists' the two dozen Muslim terrorists who plotted to blow up 10 airliners over the Atlantic . Unlike British authorities, Chertoff did not mention the religious motivation of the terrorists. Nowhere in the one-page memo were the terms 'Muslim' or 'Islamic' used.

WND has obtained a copy of the internal alert from Chertoff, which was distributed to staff at 7:57 a.m. Aug. 10 – within hours, it says, of the arrests of 'a significant number of extremists engaged in a substantial plot to destroy multiple aircraft flying from the United Kingdom to the United States.'

'It's ridiculous. 'Extremists' could mean anyone. Who are we talking about here? Neo-Nazi extremists? Environmental extremists?' another DHS official said. 'It's so politically correct. If the head of Homeland Security can't say it, who can?'

He noted that as a Jew, Chertoff is especially sensitive to charges of bigotry leveled by Muslim-rights groups.

In a press conference on the sky-terror plot, President Bush called the British terrorists and their ilk 'Islamic fascists' but quickly backed off the remark after the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other Muslim groups complained.

Longtime Bush confidante Karen Hughes warned the blunt phrase was hurting her efforts at the State Department to improve the U.S. image in the Muslim world. The president has not used the term again, opting instead for the generic 'extremists.'

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also has toned down her war rhetoric.

Last month she referred to the terrorist group Hamas as a 'resistance movement,' even though the group has been on her department's official terror blacklist for a dozen years.

A former senior CIA analyst says America is losing the war on Islamic terror because of such political correctness.

'We are losing in Iraq and Afghanistan because the political leaders in both parties – and their politically correct acolytes in the media, the academy and the general officer corps – refuse to square with the American people about the enemy's motivation,' said Michael F. Scheuer, who headed the CIA's bin Laden unit.

He says the enemy is motivated by faith in Islam and is carrying out a jihad, or holy war, against the West.

Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes says it's strategically important for the U.S. and its war allies to accurately identify the enemy.

'You cannot diagnose and treat a disease without first identifying and naming it,' he said. 'So, a strategist cannot defeat an enemy without first identifying it and naming it.'

Still, in a report issued last month, the Homeland Security's Advisory Council recommended DHS continue to soften its language when referring to the enemy.

'The Department should work with subject matter experts to ensure that the lexicon used within public statements is clear, precise and does not play into the hands of the extremists,' the advisory report said.

The report, released by the DHS Advisory Council's Task Force on Future Terrorism, also recommended implementing more 'Muslim outreach programs.'

'Broader avenues of dialogue with the Muslim community should be identified and pursued by the department to foster mutual respect and understanding, and ultimately trust,' the report urged.

Chertoff said he welcomed the reports findings.

Headquarters has already engaged in such outreach programs. For example, it recently dispatched a senior DHS official to personally take CAIR officials on a VIP tour of the department's anti-terror-screening operations at Chicago 's O'Hare International Airport, the nation's busiest airport.

CAIR, a Washington-based group that's been tied to terrorists and terror groups, had complained Muslim travelers were being unfairly delayed by Customs and Border Protection agents at inspection stations.

'CAIR had a special inside tour of airport security,' an outraged American Airlines official at O'Hare told WND. 'I work here. There's no way any of us would qualify for that tour.'

CAIR has been invited by DHS headquarters to train Customs and Border Protection agents manning inspections booths at international airports to be more sensitive to Muslims and Muslim customs.

During the recent Hajj pilgrimage, DHS ordered customs officials to respect the rituals of Muslim travelers returning from Mecca , including public praying in the airport.

DHS stresses to field agents that the majority of Muslims don't believe in violence and to avoid profiling them as terrorists. CBP agents are told in daily musters that 'violence is against the teachings of the Quran,' according to official briefing documents obtained by WND that train inspectors in proper techniques for interviewing potential foreign terrorists entering the U.S.

'Key points: Not all violent true believers are Muslim. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols are considered to be violent true believers,' emphasizes a January 2004 briefing document marked 'For Official Use Only.'

'The majority of Muslims are not terrorists,' it adds, 'and believe violence is against the teachings of the Quran.'

Source: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54164

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.