Posted on 08/07/2006 3:43:15 PM PDT by DAVEY CROCKETT
Tehran & Damascus Move to Lebanon Lebanon-born Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Author of the recent book Future Jihad, he was also one of the architects of 2004’s United Nations resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah. NRO editor Kathryn Lopez recently talked to Phares about what’s going on in the Mideast, what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and this war we’re all in.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: What is “Future Jihad”? Are we seeing it in the Mideast now?
Walid Phares: “Future Jihad,” which has already begun, refers to a new and potent form of Islamic terrorism, characterized by a Khumeinist-Baathist axis. These are the two trees of jihadism, so to speak — the Salafism and Wahabism embodied in al Qaeda and the sort of jihadism led by Iran and also including Syria, Hezbollah, and their allies in Lebanon.
The alliance has not been in entire agreement as to strategy. The al Qaeda branch began its “Future Jihad” in the 1990s; its efforts culminated on 9/11 and have continued explosively since then. The international “Salafists” aimed at the U.S. in the past decade in order to strengthen their jihads on various battlefields (Chechnya, India, Sudan, Algeria, Indonesia, Palestine, etc.). “Weaken the resolve of America,” their ideologues said, “and the jihadists would overwhelm all the regional battlefields.”
As I argue in Future Jihad, bin Laden and his colleagues miscalculated on the timing of the massive attack against the U.S. in 2001. While they wounded America, they didn’t kill its will to fight (as was the case, for instance, in the Madrid 3/11 attacks). I have heard many jihadi cadres online, and have seen al Jazeera commentators on television, offering hints of criticism about the timing. They were blaming al Qaeda for shooting its imagined “silver bullet” before insuring a strategic follow up. But bin Laden and Zawahiri believe 9/11 served them well, and has put a global mobilization into motion. Perhaps it has, but the U.S. counter strategy in the Middle East, chaotic as the region currently appears, has unleashed counter jihadi forces. The jury is still out as to the time factor: when these forces will begin to weaken the jihadists depends on our perseverance and the public understanding of the whole conflict.
The other “tree” of jihadism, with its roots in Iran, withheld fire after 9/11. They were content to watch the Salafists fight it out with the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention within the West, as terror cells were hunted down. Ahmedinejad, Assad, and Nasrallah were analyzing how far the US would go, and how far the Sunnis and Salafis would go as well.
The fall of the Taliban and of the Baath in Iraq, however, changed Iran and Syria’s patient plans. The political changes in the neighborhood, regardless of their immediate instability, were strongly felt in Tehran and Damascus (but unfortunately not in the U.S., judging from the political debate here), and pushed the Khumeinists and the Syrian Baathists to enter the dance, but carefully. Assad opened his borders to the jihadists in an attempt to crumble the U.S. role in Iraq, while Iran articulated al Sadr’s ideology for Iraq’s Shiia majority.
A U.S.-led response came swiftly in 2004 with the voting of UNSCR 1559, smashing Syria’s role in Lebanon and forcing Assad to withdraw his troops by April 2005. In response, the “axis” prepared for a counter attack on the Lebanese battlefield by assassinating a number of the Cedar Revolution leaders, including MP Jebran Tueni. In short, the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah and the kidnappings of soldiers were the tip of an offensive aimed at drawing attention away from Iran’s nuclear weapons programs and Syria’s assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Hezbollah was awaiting its moment for revenge against the Cedar Revolution too.
What we see now is 1) a Syro-Iranian sponsored offensive aimed at all democracies in the region and fought in Lebanon; 2) Israel’s counter offensive (which it seems to have prepared earlier); and 3) an attempt by Hezbollah to take over or crumble the Lebanese government.
Lopez: So…did the Cedar Revolution fail?
Phares: Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the Cedar Revolution was failed. The masses in Lebanon responded courageously in March 2005 by putting 1.5 million people on the streets of Beirut. They did it without “no-fly-zones,” expeditionary forces, or any weapons at all, for that matter, and against the power of three regimes, Iran, Syria, and pro-Syrian Lebanon, in addition to Hezbollah terror. The “revolution” was for a time astoundingly successful; since then it has been horribly failed, and first of all by Lebanon’s politicians themselves. One of their leaders, General Michel Aoun, shifted his allegiances to Syria and signed a document with Hezbollah. Other politicians from the “March 14 Movement” then stopped the demonstrations, leaving them with the support of God knows what. They failed in removing the pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and brought back a pro-Syrian politician to serve as a speaker of the house, Nabih Berri. Meanwhile, even as they were elected by the faithful Cedar Revolution masses, they engaged in a round table dialogue with Hezbollah, a clear trap set by Hassan Nasrallah: “Let’s talk about the future,” he said — with the implication, of course, that they forget about the Cedar Revolution and the militia’s disarming. While political leaders sat for months, enjoying the photo ops with Hassan Nasrallah, he was preparing his counter offensive, which he unleashed just a few days before the Security Council would discuss the future of Iran’s nuclear programs.
The Lebanese government of Prime Minister Seniora also abandoned the Cedar Revolution. His cabinet neither disarmed Hezbollah nor called on the U.N. to help in implementing UNSCR 1559. This omission is baffling. The government was given so much support by the international community and, more importantly, overwhelming popular support inside Lebanon: 80 percent of the people were hoping the Cedar Revolution-backed government would be the one to resume the liberation of the country. Now Hezbollah has an upper hand and the government is on the defensive.
The U.S. and its allies can be accused of certain shortcomings as well. While the speeches by the U.S. president, congressional leaders from both parties, Tony Blair, and Jacques Chirac were right on target regarding Lebanon, and while the U.S. and its counterparts on the Security Council were diligent in their follow up on the Hariri assassination and on implementing UNSCR 1559, there was no policy or plan to support the popular movement in Lebanon. Incredibly, while billions were spent on the war of ideas in the region, Lebanese NGOs that wanted to resume the struggle of the Cedar Revolution and fighting alone for this purpose were not taken seriously at various levels. Policy planners thought they were dealing with the “Cedar Revolution” when they were meeting Lebanon’s government and Lebanese politicians. The difference between the high level speeches on Lebanon and the laissez-faire approach from lower levels is amazing. Simply put, there was no policy on supporting the Cedar Revolution against the three regimes opposing it and the $400 million received by Hezbollah from Iran.
The Cedar Revolution was basically betrayed by its own politicians and is now essentially without a head. Nevertheless, as long as the international support remains, the Revolution will find its way and will face the dangers. The one and a half million ordinary citizens who braved all the dangers didn’t change their minds about Hezbollah’s terror. The resistance and counter-attack was to be expected. Unfortunately, thus far Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah have outmaneuvered the West and are at the throats of the Cedar Revolution. The international community must revise its plans, and, if it is strongly backed by the U.S. and its allies, including France, the situation can be salvaged. The good seeds are still inside the country.
More at link...
Map at link...
dont miss this middle of page..."Smiling, he told me: “Yes, I’ve met bin Laden in the past. People say he’s here but I say he’s in US.”
{News to me.....And a thought, if they want to hide the crime, or cannot deal with it in the liberal courts, it gets "mentally ill" label, and goes to a mental hospital..........granny]
http://www.thereporteronline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17182572&BRD=2275&PAG=461&dept_id=466404&rfi=6
09/12/2006
Shooter claims mental illness
CARL HESSLER Jr. , For The Reporter
NORRISTOWN – A Hatfield man claimed in court he was mentally ill when he fired a rifle into unoccupied cars at the North Penn Mosque last year.
Robert Blackburn‚ 54‚ of the 100 block of West Vine Street‚ pleaded guilty but mentally ill to charges of ethnic intimidation and possession of an instrument of crime in connection with the Nov. 8‚ 2005‚ incident outside the mosque on Maple Avenue in Lansdale.
Montgomery County Judge William R. Carpenter‚ who accepted the plea agreement in the case‚ sentenced Blackburn on Monday to nine to 23 months in the county jail and five years’ probation.
The judge also ordered Blackburn to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and to comply with any recommended treatment.
“This man was acting out of some apparent anger he had about the situation in Iraq at the time. He said his son was serving his third tour there‚” Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Flannery argued.
Under state law‚ someone commits ethnic intimidation when‚ with malicious intention toward the race‚ color‚ religion or national origin of an individual or group‚ they commit an offense against the individual‚ the group or their property.
Flannery said the punishment took into consideration Blackburn’s “horrible act of violence” and his mental health at the time of the incident.
A person determined to be guilty but mentally ill lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the law as a result of a mental infirmity‚ according to state law.
Prosecutors believe Blackburn did not intend to harm individuals who attend the mosque.
“I think he was just acting out his frustration about the situation in Iraq‚” Flannery said. “I think he was looking at the building and the establishment there as a symbol of what he viewed his son to be fighting against in Iraq and he twisted it in his mind to justify it to himself that he should somehow cause damage to that property.”
No bullets struck the mosque and no one was injured during the incident‚ authorities said.
Defense lawyer Joseph J. Hylan said the disposition of the case was “appropriate” and consistent with state sentencing guidelines.
“I think it’s fair to say Mr. Blackburn regrets the incident‚” said Hylan‚ adding Blackburn never intended to harm anyone. “The danger to persons was simply nonexistent. This happened in the early morning hours on an isolated parking lot.”
Other charges of recklessly endangering another person‚ disorderly conduct and criminal mischief were dismissed against Blackburn as part of the plea agreement.
Blackburn‚ according to a criminal complaint filed by Lansdale police‚ used a .22-caliber rifle to fire at least 52 bullets into two cars‚ which were parked at the mosque in the 600 block of Maple Avenue‚ shortly before 3:45 a.m. Nov. 8.
At a previous hearing‚ two victims of the shooting‚ a mosque member and an imam – or Islamic priest – testified their cars were riddled by the bullets. One car sustained 37 bullet holes while the other had 15 bullet holes‚ according to court papers.
Blackburn‚ who allegedly was wearing hunting gear‚ was seen in the vicinity of the mosque in a blue Ford Escort a short time after the shots were fired. During a stop of Blackburn’s car‚ police seized a loaded .22-caliber rifle along with numerous spent bullet casings and live ammunition‚ according to the arrest affidavit.
Police also noticed a fresh odor of gunpowder inside the car‚ court papers indicate.
The judge ordered Blackburn to pay $6‚677 in restitution to the owners of the two vehicles to cover damages to the vehicles.
Crossfire War - Tehran Plans Nuclear Terror Attack Inside US - Ramadan 9-24
By Willard Payne
Crossfire War - TEHRAN WATCH - North America Theatre: Tehran/Washington - New York - San Francisco; al-Qaeda (Tehran) Planning Nuclear Terror Attack During Month of Ramadan Beginning Sept. 24
Night Watch: TEHRAN - AKI reports that Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir, when interviewed over al-Arabiya televison, stated that during his recent trip to Afghanistan he met with Taliban fighters and al-Qaeda (Tehran) members who spoke of a nuclear terror attack inside the United States during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan which begins on September 24. That the attack is being planned by Adnan Al-Shukri Juma, an al-Qaeda agent who had been trained in nuclear technology along with other al-Qaeda members. [AKI]
Juma's role seems to be similar to the role of Mohammad Atta who lead the first hijacked plane into the World Trade Center on 9/11. The Pentagon was also attacked and it is possible Washington - New York are being targeted again. But I suspect Tehran could also direct al-Qaeda to hit San Francisco in order to destroy the engineering services headquarted there, who were invited to Iran the day after the Gulf War ended, and prevent them from serving the Allied war effort.
According to the Pakistani journalist, explosives and nuclear material have been smuggled into the U. S. through the Mexican border. In September 1997 the CBS program 60 Minutes interviewed former Russian General Alexander Lebed who stated that when the Soviet Union broke up, a lot of suitcase size nuclear bombs were unaccounted for, nearly 200 of them. There was no speculation as to were they went but everyone knew, before the interview, that a lot of what the Soviet Union had did indeed go south including Russian scientists who are no strangers to nuclear material and eager to serve anyone who could pay them more than Moscow, in this case Tehran.
The bombs look like a suitcase and they can also fit inside one. They only weigh 60-100 lbs and if you see a man carrying one it will look like he is carrying a suitcase. I believe it was mentioned than in terms of nuclear energy, the bombs were 1 kiloton. They were initially designed to destroy a large enemy military base but if they are detonated in an urban center it could kill 50,000-100,000 people.
Night Watch Information Service
http://newsblaze.com/story/20060912182202payn.nb/newsblaze/OPINIONS/Opinions.html
Syrian Threat, Rocket Threats
By Hillel Fendel
Tensions with Syria continue, while Israel Air Force officer says short-range rockets are the main threat.
Syria's Information Minister Muhsin Bilal says the "Syrian nation will not wait much longer for the return of the Golan Heights." He told the Egyptian Al-Ahram newspaper that though Syria has waited patiently for 16 years hoping the "peace for land" formula would be implemented, "nothing has happened."
In the meanwhile, an Israel Air Force officer said today that the main threat against Israel today stems from short-range rockets from Gaza, Lebanon and possibly Judea and Samaria.
"If the IDF had had full intelligence on everything going on in southern Lebanon near Israel, we could have prepared better for a better solution, both from the air and on the ground, to the short-range Katyusha missiles," he said.
The officer said that the maps used by the Air Force were more up-to-date than those used by the ground forces.
Two Kassam rockets were fired by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza Monday morning. The rockets landed just short of the northern Gaza border fence, causing no damage.
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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17187542&BRD=1671&PAG=461&dept_id=17782&rfi=15
09/13/2006
Man shot in East Fallowfield
Andrew Cannarsa , Staff Writer
EAST FALLOWFIELD -- A 35-year-old man was shot several times in his upper arm and shoulder as he drove on Strasburg Road near Route 82 early Tuesday morning, police said.
East Fallowfield Police Chief Peter Mango said police responded to gunshots fired in the area of Strasburg Road at Route 82 at about 12:20 a.m. on Tuesday.
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While in the area, police were dispatched to a report of a shooting victim on Crossing Boulevard in the Brook Crossing Development. Police found the victim, who was treated at the scene and taken to Lancaster General Hospital for additional treatment.
The victim, of East Fallowfield, was later released from the hospital, Mango said.
"There is no reason to feel that there is a threat to the public," Mango said in a statement. "This incident was a focused attack on a specific individual who was targeted by the suspect(s)."
Chester County District Attorney Joseph Carroll agreed with Mango’s conclusion.
"This was not a random act," Carroll said. "There was likely a reason why they targeted this individual."
Mango said the investigation revealed that the victim was shot as he was driving on Strasburg Road at Route 82 by unknown persons in an unknown vehicle.
Police said the victim’s car was struck several times by large-caliber pistol rounds.
The persons then pursued the victim north on Route 82 and again confronted the victim in the East Fallowfield police station parking lot.
Carroll did not say whether the victim was able to identify the shooter or any others.
"Things like this are always scary in any neighborhood and any section of the county," Carroll said. "I do feel that this is not a random act, and because of that, I’m confident we’ll be able to solve this."
Police officers from throughout western Chester County responded to the scene on Tuesday and helped with securing the crime scene. Local fire police closed Buck Run Road, Route 82 and Strasburg Road while the scene was secured.
Chester County Detectives are assisting East Fallowfield with the investigation.
Anyone with information regarding the incident can contact East Fallowfield police at 610-384-9163 or Chester County Detectives at 610-344-6866.
"This is violence like you thought of in the old west," Carroll said, "and it’s frightening to think that it’s going on in Chester County."
To contact staff writer Andrew Cannarsa, send an e-mail to acannarsa@dailylocal.com.
Al Qaeda
Iraq al-Qaeda: Pope, West are doomed
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An al-Qaeda-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters returned to the streets across the ...
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Al Qaeda vows jihad over Pope remarks
Melbourne Herald Sun - Australia
AL-QAEDA in Iraq has said in response to remarks by Pope Benedict XVI linking Islam with violence that it will wage jihad until the West is defeated, in a ...
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Afghanistan is the New Iraq: Al-Qaeda and Taliban back in Action
BuzzFlash - Chicago,IL,USA
... Bush let Osama bin Laden get away. Both the Taliban and al-Qaeda are alive and well in Afghanistan, and they are growing stronger. ...
Al-Qaeda resilient and in control, counter-terrorism chief warns
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
AL-QAEDA'S senior leadership is still directing terrorist operations around the world, and camps for prospective jihadists are flourishing in and around ...
Al-Qaeda reacts to Pope's comments
Times Now.tv - Mumbai,Maharashtra,India
In a new twist to the controversy raked up by the Pope’s comments on Islam, the Al-Qaeda wing in Iraq has vowed a war against the "worshippers of the cross.". ...
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Al-Qaeda says it killed senior security official in Gaza
Monsters and Critics.com - Glasgow,UK
Gaza - An statement distributed in the Gaza Strip Monday claimed that al-Qaeda was behind the assassination of a senior Palestinian intelligence official and ...
Declare War on Al Qaeda, Not Terror, Says Duke Military Historian
Duke University - Durham,NC,USA
... has taught both there and at the US Army War College. “Tomorrow we should mobilize and declare war on Al Qaeda, not terror.”. ...
expert provides al-qaeda's timeline
Ottawa Citizen (subscription) - Ontario, Canada
In an article published in the current International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, Carleton University security expert Martin Rudner ...
This is a little dated but I missed it before...
Al Qaeda has Nuclear Weapons
1 June 2006
A month after September 11, senior Bush administration officials were told that an al Qaeda terrorist cell had control of a 10-kiloton atomic bomb from Russia and were plotting to detonate it in New York City. CIA director George Tenet told President Bush that the source, code-named "Dragonfire," had said the nuclear device was already on American soil. The briefing sent President Bush “though the roof” causing him to order his national security team to give nuclear terrorism priority over every other threat to America. Six months earlier the CIA’s Counterterrorism Centre had picked up chatter in Al Qaeda channels about an “American Hiroshima”.
Concerned that Al Qaeda could have smuggled a nuclear weapon into Washington as well, the president ordered Vice President Dick Cheney to leave the capital for an “undisclosed location,” where he would remain for many weeks to follow. This was standard procedure to ensure “continuity of government” in case of a decapitation strike against the U.S. political leadership. Several hundred federal employees from more than a dozen government agencies joined the vice president at this secret site. The president also immediately dispatched NEST specialists (Nuclear Emergency Support Teams of scientists and engineers) to New York to search for the weapon.
After anxious weeks of investigation, including surreptitious tests for radioactive material in New York and other major cities, Dragonfire's report was found to be false. New York's mayor and police chief would not learn of the threat for another year. However the incident brought home to the American administration how volatile and potentially destructive this “war on terror” could be.
To date, the only confirmed case of attempted nuclear terrorism occurred in Russia on November 23, 1995, when Chechen separatists put a crude bomb containing 70 pounds of a mixture of cesium-137 and dynamite in Moscow’s Ismailovsky Park. The rebels decided not to detonate this “dirty bomb,” but instead informed a national television station to its location. This demonstration of the Chechen insurgents’ capability to commit ruthless terror underscored their long-standing interest in all things nuclear. As early as 1992, Chechnya’s first rebel president, Dzhokhar Dudayev, began planning for nuclear terrorism, including a specific initiative to hijack a Russian nuclear submarine from the Pacific Fleet in the Far East. The plan called for seven Slavic-looking Chechens to seize a submarine from the naval base near Vladivostok, attach explosive devices to the nuclear reactor section and to one of the nuclear-tipped missiles on board, and then demand withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya. After the plot was discovered, Russian authorities disparaged it, and yet it is ominous to note that the former chief of staff of the Chechen rebel army, Islam Khasukhanov, had once served as second-in-command of a Pacific Fleet nuclear submarine.
For Movsar Barayev, the leader of the rebel unit that took 800 hostages only a few blocks from the Kremlin, the Dubrovka Theater was his second-choice target. Initially, Barayev planned to seize the Kurchatov Institute, one of Russia’s leading nuclear design centers, with 26 operating nuclear reactors and enough HEU to make thousands of nuclear weapons. Though far from optimal, the security at Kurchatov proved formidable enough for Barayev to pass up the nuclear facility for a softer target.
Chechen separatists have had a long-standing interest in acquiring nuclear weapons and material to use in their campaign against Russia. In addition to surveying Kurchatov, Chechen militants have conducted surveillance of the railway system and special trains designed for shipping nuclear weapons across Russia. They also succeeded in acquiring radioactive materials from a Grozny nuclear waste plant in January 2000 and stealing radioactive metals – possibly including some plutonium – from the Volgodonskaya nuclear power station the southern region of Rostov between July 2001 and July 2002.
Al Qaeda and other Islamic extremist organizations are among Chechen militants’ major sources of financial support. Al Qaeda operatives were alleged to have negotiated with Chechen separatists in Russia to buy a nuclear warhead, which the Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev claimed to have acquired from Russian arsenals. While the Chechens’ target of choice for their first nuclear terrorist attack will surely be Moscow, if the Chechens are successful in acquiring several nuclear bombs, their Al Qaeda brethren would be likely consumers.
The collapse of the Soviet Union presented an enormous threat to nuclear security with the Soviet’s ominous arsenal spread across four separate states. Efforts to transport weapons from Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Ukraine to Russia required significant speed and diplomatic muscle during a period of extreme political and economic chaos. The Soviet Ministry of Defense had to move 22,000 tactical nuclear weapons to Russia as the country was coming apart at the seams. Inflation had jumped over 2,000 percent, which fueled corruption and criminality throughout Russian society. In the slogan of that era, “Everything was for sale.” In light of these realities, is it conceivable that all nuclear weapons were recovered without a single loss? In 1991, then U.S. Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney observed, “If the Soviets do an excellent job at retaining control over their stockpile of nuclear weapons— let's assume they've got 25,000 to 30,000; that's a ballpark figure—and they are 99 percent successful, that would mean you could still have as many as 250 that they were not able to control.” The bottom line today is summarized best by an American intelligence officer who spent many years tracking this issue. In his words: “We don’t know with any confidence what has gone missing, and neither do they.”
These bombs included suitcase nuclear devices; suitcase backpacks (yadernyi ranets), such as the Army’s RA-155 and Navy’s RA-115-01 (to be used underwater), which weighed as little as 65 pounds and could be detonated by one solider in ten minutes, producing a yield of between 0.5 and 2 kilotons.
Reports of Bin Laden having obtained nuclear suitcases, first surfaced in 1998, in various international papers and magazines. In 1996 members of the Chechen Mafia purportedly sold twenty of these nuclear suitcases in Grozny to representatives of Osama bin Laden and the mujahadeen. For the weapons, bin Laden paid $30 million in cash and two tons of heroin that had been refined in his laboratories in Afghanistan. The street value of the heroin was in excess of $700 million.
In 1997, Boris Yeltsin’s Assistant for National Security Affairs, General Alexander Lebed, acknowledged that 84 of some 132 such weapons were not accounted for in Russia. These weapons are miniature nuclear devices (0.1 to 1kilotons), small enough to fit into a suitcase carried by a single individual. The Russian government reacted to Lebed’s claim in classic Soviet style, combining wholesale denial with efforts to discredit the messenger. U.S. government sources have never succeeded in getting to the bottom of this matter.
It has not only been the various intelligence agencies of America, UK, Israel, Egypt and Pakistan finding this alarming intel, it also has come straight from Al Qaeda:
In an interview with Time magazine in December 1998, Bin Laden asserts that acquiring weapons of any type, including chemical and nuclear, is a Muslim "religious duty.”
However in November 2001, Osama Bin Laden clearly spells it out and states that he is in possession of chemical and nuclear weapons. He states this in a special interview with Hamid Mir, the editor of Dawn newspaper, at an undisclosed location near Kabul. This was the first and up until now the last interview given by Osama to any journalist after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington. The correspondent was taken blindfolded in a jeep from Kabul on the night of November 7 to a place where it was extremely cold and one could hear the sound of anti aircraft guns firing away. After a wait of some time, Osama arrived with about a dozen bodyguards and his number two, Dr Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
In the interview Bin Laden states “I wish to declare that if America used chemical or nuclear weapons against us, then we may retort with chemical and nuclear weapons. We have the weapons as deterrent”. When Hamid Mir asks him he got the weapons, bin Laden tells him to go to the next question.
Mir recalled telling al-Zawahiri it was difficult to believe that Al Qaeda had nuclear weapons when the terror network didn't have the equipment to maintain or use them.
Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri laughed and he said 'Mr. Mir, if you have $30 million, go to the black market in central Asia, contact any disgruntled Soviet scientist, and a lot of ... smart briefcase bombs are available”. "They have contacted us, we sent our people to Moscow, to Tashkent, to other central Asian states and they negotiated, and we purchased some suitcase bombs," Mir quoted al-Zawahiri as saying.
After the 911 attacks on America some Islamic clerics criticized bin Laden for not issuing a warning to America prior to the attacks and an offer of convert to Islam. However, since then bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri have issued various warnings and offers of truces to both the US and it European allies.
Consider the religious fatwa titled “A Treatise on the Legal Status of Using Weapons of Mass Destruction Against Infidels” that Osama bin Laden secured from Shaykh Nasir bin Hamd al-Fahd, a young and prominent Saudi cleric justifying the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against Americans, in May 2003:
“Anyone who considers America’s aggressions against Muslims and their lands during the past decades will conclude that striking her is permissible on the basis of the rule of treating one as one has been treated. No other argument need be mentioned. Some brothers have totaled the number of Muslims killed directly or indirectly by their weapons and come up with a figure of nearly ten million....If a bomb that killed ten million of them and burned as much of their land as they have burned Muslim land was dropped on them, it would be permissible, with no need to mention any other argument. We might need other arguments if we wanted to annihilate more than this number of them”.
Recently in January 2006 in an audio tape, directed to the American population, bin Laden said “: "The new operations of al-Qaeda has not happened not because we could not penetrate the security measures. It is being prepared and you'll see it in your homeland very soon." But the voice on the tape, also offered a truce: "We do not mind establishing a long-term truce between us and you."
In August 2005 Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri issued a video. In it he stated: "O nations of the crusade alliance, we proposed that you at least stop your aggression against the Muslims. The Lion of Islam, mujahid Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may God preserve him, offered you a truce until you leave the Land of Islam. Has Sheikh Osama bin Laden not informed you that you will not dream of security until we live it in reality in Palestine and before all infidel armies leave the land of Muhammad, may peace be upon him [= Saudi Arabia]? You, however, shed rivers of blood in our land so we exploded volcanoes of anger in your land. Our message to you is crystal clear: Your salvation will only come in your withdrawal from our land, in stopping the robbing of our oil and resources, and in stopping your support for the corrupt and corrupting leaders. Those who collaborated with America in Iraq and Afghanistan will, God willing, bear the consequences of this collaboration soon."
Zawahiri put special emphasis on the growing threats to the United States. "What you have seen, O Americans, in New York and Washington and the losses you are having in Afghanistan and Iraq, in spite of all the media blackout, are only the losses of the initial clashes. If you continue the same policy of aggression against Muslims, God willing, you will see the horror what will make you forget what you had seen in Vietnam," he warned.
In April 2006 bin Laden issued a further audio tape. In it the speaker on the tape said that along with their governments, the people of the West bear responsibility for what he called a "Zionist-crusader war against Islam". He seems to be gearing the West for another attack in which civilians will be as much a target as their governments – more so than the 911 attacks.
Bin Laden is quoted as saying: "The war is a responsibility shared between the people and the governments. The war goes on and the people are renewing their allegiance to its rulers and masters," he said. "They send their sons to armies to fight us and they continue their financial and moral support while our countries are burned and our houses are bombed and our people are killed." He said that the decision by some Western powers to cut funding to the Palestinian government since the militant group Hamas won elections there was further proof of this anti-Islamic campaign.
It has being reported that Mir met with an Egyptian engineer recently, who had lost an eye after one of bin Laden's nuclear tests in Kunar, Afganistan. The Pakistani journalist said that the encounter with the engineer greatly disturbed and depressed him since it provided further assurance that a nuclear nightmare for America is about to dawn.
Mir believes that an "American Hiroshima" will occur as soon as the U.S. launches an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. "Al-Qaeda and Iran," he says, "have a long, secret relationship."
That relationship dates back to June 21, 1996, when bin Laden attended a terror summit in Tehran. The gathering attracted terror leaders from various places throughout the world, including Ramadan Shallah (the Palestinian Islamic Jihad), Ahmad Salah (Egyptian Islamic Jihad), Imad al-Alami and Mustafa al-Liddawi (HAMAS), Ahmad Jibril (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine), Abdallah Ocalan (the Kurdish People Party), Muhammad Ali Ahmad (al Qaeda), and Imad Mugniyah (Hezbollah). The summit resulted in the creation of the "Committee of Three" that would meet on a regular basis for the "coordination, planning, and execution of attacks" against the United States and Israel. The committee members were Ahmad Salah, Imad Mugniyah and bin Laden.
Mir's position that al-Qaeda's nuclear weapons may have already been forward deployed to the United States confirms the report of Sharif al-Masri, a key al-Qaida operative who was arrested in Pakistan in November 2000.
Al Masri, an Egyptian national with ties to al-Zawahiri, said that al-Qaeda had made arrangements to smuggle nuclear weapons and supplies to Mexico, From Mexico, he said, the weapons were to be transported across the border and into the United States with the help of a Latino street gang.
Mir also maintains that numerous sleeper agents are in place in major cities throughout the United States to prepare for the nuclear holocaust. Many of these agents, he says, are Algerians and Chechens who obtained European passports and are posing as Christian and Jews.
He further says that many of these agents have been in the United States since bin Laden's issuance of his "Declaration of War on Americans Occupying the Country of the Two Holy Places." That fatwa was issued Aug. 23, 1996
AC
http://www.crusade-media.com/news1.html
Baby formula brings millions on black market
Theft rings raise concerns about connection to terrorism
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Amanda Garrett and Mark Rollenhagen
Plain Dealer Reporters
The Cleveland grocer rolled into Akron with $100,000 in cash and a mission.
Hasana Abdalla planned to buy a truckload of stolen baby formula, something he had done more than a dozen times before, a police report said.
But this was a setup.
Local and federal officials swooped in, seized Abdalla's money, impounded his red 2006 Mercedes and arrested him as part of a nationwide crackdown on the lucrative black-market trade in baby formula.
In all, court records indicate six men now face charges in Summit County, including Abdalla and Ramzi Shalash, an Akron convenience store owner who has relatives who have been convicted of dealing in stolen baby formula. Shalash's uncle and two cousins once sold $44 million of formula in just 15 months, according to federal court records and newspaper reports.
Much of the Akron case - including what Shalash and three others are charged with - is a mystery because only a portion of the Aug. 24 indictment is publicly available. It also charges Ahmed Ateyat, 39, of Hickory Hills, Ill., with attempting to receive stolen property.
Since 9/11, federal officials from North Carolina to Texas have broken apart theft rings dealing in massive quantities of baby formula and health and beauty products such as diabetes test strips and contact lens solution.
Most of the theft ringleaders arrested have been of Middle Eastern descent. Federal officials have repeatedly said they worry the black-market profits may be funding terror, but none of the 11 baby-formula cases reviewed by The Plain Dealer involved terror-related charges.
Before 9/11, many local police dismissed formula thefts as routine shoplifting - desperate people stealing to feed their children or drug addicts looking to make a fast buck.
But court documents in some of the cases reveal something else.
The Middle Eastern men running these organized crime schemes don't necessarily do the stealing.
They hire others to hijack tractor-trailers of baby formula. They also pay organized groups of shoplifters who blanket the country, picking up only what sells on the black market.
In houses, in warehouses, even in motel rooms, the groups stockpile the loot. A second team is then paid to "clean" the items, a tedious job, peeling off labels and security tags with a hair dryer and adhesive removers, according to government documents.
Other teams then relabel the items - sometimes with false expiration dates - and sell them by the case. Convenience stores in poor city neighborhoods often buy the stolen goods, but records show that major chains such as Wal-Mart and Target also unwittingly have purchased pallets of pilfered baby formula, razors and other items that were stolen from their own stores.
FBI Director Robert Mueller last year singled out Middle Eastern crime rings dealing in baby formula, telling the Senate Committee on Intelligence that the groups not only pose a potential health risk - selling expired baby formula - but also are a potential source of funding for terrorist groups abroad.
Some of the Middle Eastern men who run these black-market operations send money to the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Lebanon. Whether any of it has funded terror is unclear. Investigators say they lose the trail once the cash hits the Middle East.
FBI counterterrorism officials have told Congress they remain troubled because some sympathizers of groups like Hamas and Hezbollah have been involved in the black-market trade.
In Akron, there's no indication that Abdalla or others involved in the case have any ties to terror. The Summit County prosecutor's office declined to comment on the case.
Through his attorney, Abdalla also declined last week to comment. Ateyat's attorney did not return telephone calls seeking comment. Shalash apparently was not arrested and said he didn't even know he had been indicted. His and three others' names appear only on the Summit County clerk of courts Web site, listed as co-defendants, but not in documents relating to the others' arrests.
Shalash - standing behind security glass at Gas and Save, his gas station and convenience store on West Exchange Street in Akron - suggested someone may have used his name to buy stolen formula.
"I've never been involved in anything like that," he said.
His store sells baby formula from behind the counter.
Shalash acknowledged that he is related to residents of Lexington, Ky., who have been convicted of dealing in stolen baby formula. Shalash, who once lived in Lexington, said he doesn't see them anymore, adding that he has lived in Akron 21 years and doesn't know anything about their business.
Federal agents have been hounding Shalash's family in Kentucky with search warrants, indictments and prison time for more than a decade.
Shalash's uncle - Mohammed "Big Man" Shalash - appears to have founded a baby formula empire years ago at a Lexington warehouse. After federal officials raided the business in the mid-1990s, the uncle fled to the Palestinian territories before being indicted on racketeering and conspiracy charges. His family said he later died there.
One of the Big Man's sons, convicted of racketeering, is a fugitive. He was sentenced to five years in prison but fled before his sentence began. Another is serving a four-year sentence for dealing in stolen goods.
Last year, two other members of the Shalash family were convicted in a baby-formula scheme. In that case, the FBI set up a sting operation, with an agent posing in 2004 as a professional thief who specialized in boosting tractor-trailers.
It appears a similar sting happened in Akron, but police will not discuss the investigation. They referred questions to a U.S. Department of Agriculture agent, who did not return calls.
Hasana Abdalla, the Cleveland grocer, was arrested about 1 p.m. Aug. 11 in a warehouse area near Interstate 76 in south Akron.
About 12 hours later, the Illinois man, Ahmed Ateyat, was arrested in the same area when, according to police, he showed up with $50,000 in cash and a Chevy cargo van.
To reach these Plain Dealer reporters:
agarrett@plaind.com, 216-999-4814
mrollenhagen@plaind.com, 216-999-6326
© 2006 The Plain Dealer
© 2006 cleveland.com All Rights Reserved.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1157273010255570.xml&coll=2
plane crashes
Nigeria: Air Force Plane Crashes
AllAfrica.com - Washington,USA
A Nigerian Air Force Donier 228 plane with about five army generals and 13 other personnel on board, yesterday, crashed at Titambaertera, near Vandekiya, Benue ...
Addison Plane Crashes In Colorado
CBS 11 - Dallas/Fort Worth,TX,USA
Rescuers Sunday recovered the bodies of three people who were aboard a small plane that crashed on Wilson Peak, about 10 miles southwest of Telluride ...
See all stories on this topic
No one injured when plane crashes in yard
Chicago Daily Herald (subscription) - Chicago,IL,USA
A small plane made an emergency landing Sunday morning in the back yard of a Prospect Heights home, and the two men inside walked away without major injuries. ...
Air Force plane crashes
Vanguard - Apapa,Lagos,Nigeria
ABUJA— A Nigerian Air Force Donier 228 plane with about five army generals and 13 other personnel on board, yesterday, crashed at Titambaertera, near ...
See all stories on this topic
Small Plane Crashes In Water, Occupants Swim To Safety
WAVE - Louisville,KY,USA
... Police didn't identify either person. Witnesses told authorities the plane came in for a landing from the west and went straight off the end of the runway. ...
See all stories on this topic
Small Plane Crashes In Prospect Heights
CBS2 Chicago - Chicago,IL,USA
... They survived a plane crash in the Northwest Suburbs. ... The plane landed on a large willow tree, avoiding power lines, vehicle traffic and the houses. ...
See all stories on this topic
Airforce plane crashes, kills top officers
The Tide - Port Harcourt,Niger Delta,Nigeria
An unidentified number of top officers of the Nigerian Airforce died yesterday in a plane crash, throwing the nation into another period of mourning and ...
See all stories on this topic
http://www.cleveland.com/crime/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/iscri/1158414032136710.xml&coll=2
Men arrested in Marietta won't face terror charges
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Associated Press
Marietta, Ohio -- Terrorism charges are unlikely against two Michigan men who pleaded no contest Friday to a lesser charge of giving police misleading accounts of why they were carrying $10,000 and several cell phones when arrested last month, a prosecutor said.
Investigators found no links between the men's practice of buying prepaid cell phones from Wal-Mart and other stores and any terrorist activities, James Schneider, Washington County prosecutor, told the Associated Press Friday.
"At best they were making money on the resale of these cell phones," Schneider said.
Schneider, on vacation in August when the men briefly faced state terrorism charges, said he might have handled the situation differently had he been making the decision. But he didn't blame assistant prosecutors for their actions, saying the preliminary charges reflected "a sign of the times."
The two men, Arab-Americans whose families were originally from Lebanon, were arrested shortly after news of the foiled British airline terrorism plot and during the war between Israel and Hezbollah, Schneider said.
Ali Houssaiky, 20, and Osama Abulhassan, also 20, both of suburban Detroit, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of falsification, Schneider said. They were convicted by Judge Janet Dyar-Welch of Marietta Municipal Court, fined $200 and sentenced to seven days in jail that they served in August after their arrest.
The falsification charges accuse the men of initially giving deputies different names from what appeared on their IDs and giving conflicting accounts of why they had so much money.
Authorities were returning $205 in cash that Abulhassan had when he was arrested and $271 that Houssaiky had, as well as both men's personal cell phones. Schneider said his office would return the $10,361 the two were carrying once investigators figured out who in Michigan it belongs to.
Houssaiky and Abulhassan entered the no contest pleas to finish the episode and move on, said Dennis Sipe, a Marietta lawyer representing Houssaiky. He said it was too bad the terrorism charges were brought to begin with.
"Once you got into the facts, they didn't support any of the guessing," Sipe said. A message was left with Ray Smith, a Marietta attorney representing Abulhassan.
© 2006 The Plain Dealer
© 2006 cleveland.com All Rights Reserved.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1157272945255570.xml&coll=2
Formula rings
Sunday, September 03, 2006
In recent years, federal officials have clamped down on black-market baby formula, breaking up more than a dozen rings, most of them run by men of Middle Eastern descent. Some examples:
Dayton: In March, Amjad Salem was sentenced to 11 years in prison and ordered to repay more than $2.6 million for leading a multistate theft ring dealing in baby formula, nicotine gum and other products. He was one of 20 people arrested in Ohio and Florida.
Columbus: Last year, local and federal officials arrested 31 people, claiming they shut down a national theft ring involving inner-city groceries. Investigators said stolen goods were repackaged in Columbus and sold in Ohio, Los Angeles and Florida. One of those charged, Ahmad S. Almansour of Dublin, faces up to 55 years in prison if convicted.
Dallas: Last year Mohammed Ghali was convicted of leading a criminal ring that dealt in baby formula, Viagra, cigarettes, perfume and lipstick. Prosecutors said the ring hired professional thieves to steal the goods. Ghali and the others made millions, sending some of their profits to Jordan and Egypt.
Tampa, Fla.: In August 2003, authorities said they dismantled a baby formula ring that was raking in $5,000 in profit a week. It operated out of a building owned by Sami Al-Arian, a former University of South Florida professor who pleaded guilty to a single count of providing services to the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Phoenix: Samih Fadl Jamal was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison for running a nationwide ring trafficking stolen baby formula. Jamal was also ordered to forfeit $2.6 million in assets. At his sentencing, Jamal claimed he was unfairly targeted because he is Lebanese.
SOURCES: U.S. Department of Justice; newspaper reports
© 2006 The Plain Dealer
© 2006 cleveland.com All Rights Reserved.
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/9867707/detail.html
2 Injured When Helicopter Flips In Lake Erie
POSTED: 8:04 am EDT September 17, 2006
PORT CLINTON, Ohio -- A low-flying helicopter crashed into Lake Erie on Saturday less than a mile from the Davis-Besse nuclear plant, injuring the two people inside, authorities said.
The pilot told police he was flying about 26 feet above the lake doing a survey when the helicopter's front-mounted instrument boom hit the water and caused it to flip, said dispatcher Diana Faunda of the State Highway Patrol post in Sandusky.
Pilot James Purkis, 50, of Ashland, Ore., and passenger Kristin Judy, 22, of Eugene, Ore., managed to get out of the helicopter after it crashed. A boater let them hang onto the side of the boat until authorities arrived, Faunda said.
The helicopter was completely submerged, said Port Clinton police officer Daniel Laird, who responded to the scene. He said Purkis had cuts on his face from broken glass.
continued...........
[Odd, top of trailer is completely blown open in photo]
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/9874866/detail.html
Tractor-Trailer Catches Fire On I-480
POSTED: 10:59 am EDT September 18, 2006
UPDATED: 12:16 pm EDT September 18, 2006
GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Interstate 480 westbound at Broadway is slow because a tractor-trailer is on fire.
Some traffic is getting by slowly.
McCracken Road is closed between Lee and Broadway.
No injuries have been reported.
No more information is available at this time. Check back often for updates.
Copyright 2006 by NewsNet5. All rights reserved
Car Stolen With Puppies Inside
Officials Find Car
POSTED: 11:19 am EDT September 18, 2006
UPDATED: 12:11 pm EDT September 18, 2006
CLEVELAND -- A man had his car stolen over the weekend that had his five puppies inside.
NewsChannel5 reported Patrick Houska stopped at a friend's home on East 55th Street in Slavic Village.
He had his 2-week-old puppies with him, so his friend could pick one. His friend noticed the car was moving.
It's unclear what type of dogs they were.
Police found the puppies and the car Sunday night.
Officials continue the search for a suspect.
Copyright 2006 by NewsNet5. All rights reserved.
If you are in an area that will pickup 810 on AM Radio dial, listen to the Gene Burns program, he is tackling the Pope threats and what they really mean.
It can be listened to on the computer at: kgo.com
He is a good middle of the road host, and is taking calls from all sides of the question.
One lady, just explained to Gene, that it was all President Bush's fault, due to the fact that we are in Iraq and Afghanstan.
A few understand that it has been brewing for a long time, fewer still, understand what the Pope said.
The man on now says that a threat to the Pope means nothing to us, as he is not here.
People cannot be that stupid or can they.
"In light of these statements, the Mexican government is evaluating the level of relations it will maintain with the government of Venezuela for the rest of this administration," the e-mail said. Mexican President Vicente Fox hands power to the ruling party's Felipe Calderon on December 1.
<<<
Good, and that lends even more base to the thorught that the President Bush, feels he must do whatever it takes to make a
coalition of Mexico, U.S. and Canada, to fight off what is coming from Venezuela and Cuba.
The pot, she is boiling, about ready to boil over and when it does, someone will be burned.
If there is a nuke out there, this will be a prime time for it, as the fool jihadi are all worked up over the Pope.
This is a good chance, for a crazy one to run amok.
In cleaning out some of my old posts, I have found that every year at this time, or Ramadan, the nuclear threat shows up.
The threat is almost as good as using it.
Oh, yes, I am convinced they have nuclear.
Smiling, he told me: “Yes, I’ve met bin Laden in the past. People say he’s here but I say he’s in US.” <<<
LOL, see I was right, he is in a brig, aboard a U.S. Navy ship.
Still laughing, as I admit I have no proof of above, except it is what I would do with him, if I was the President.
Just think, no lawyers, no ACLU, no liberals..........LOL
Mir also maintains that numerous sleeper agents are in place in major cities throughout the United States to prepare for the nuclear holocaust. Many of these agents, he says, are Algerians and Chechens who obtained European passports and are posing as Christian and Jews. <<<<
Reminds me of the rental trucks, that have been reported all over the country, and the drivers have Israel passports.
I have long thought they were not real Jews.
[a post for study and research]
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060918&Category=NEWS08&ArtNo=609180319&SectionCat=NEWS&Template=printart
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060918/NEWS08/609180319/-1/NEWS Article published September 18, 2006
Utility blasted over Pennsylvania reactor; Davis-Besse operator criticized over fake data, lax oversight
Photo
Regulators express concern about the Beaver Valley nuclear power plant in Shippingport, Pa., run by FirstEnergy.
( BLOCK NEWS ALLIANCE )
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By TOM HENRY
BLADE STAFF WRITER
FirstEnergy Corp. is in hot water with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission again over falsified inspection records, this time with its Beaver Valley nuclear complex near Shippingport, Pa.
The situation has some people wondering if the utility ever learned its lesson from the near-rupture of the Davis-Besse nuclear plant's reactor head in Oak Harbor, Ohio, in 2002, even though the record two-year outage in that case cost the utility more than $605 million and resulted in $33.5 million in fines.
The fines included a record $28 million penalty on Jan. 20, which the U.S. Department of Justice said it imposed for lying to the government.
"FirstEnergy should never have the falsified records issue again. They should have the squeakiest clean process by now," said David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer in Washington for the Union of Concerned Scientists.
"The lessons of Davis-Besse didn't get to Beaver Valley as broadly as they needed to be," he said.
Those sentiments were echoed by another watchdog of the nuclear industry, Jim Riccio, Greenpeace's nuclear policy analyst in Washington.
"Obviously, the corporation as a whole has not incorporated the lessons of one of the worst near-misses in the history of nuclear power," he said. "You've got to question if this is a corporation that should be splitting atoms at all."
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's recent claims that inspections of Beaver Valley Unit 1's reactor head were falsified has almost a surreal Hollywood twist, given the publicity generated by Davis-Besse's old reactor head, Mr. Lochbaum said.
The rust that penetrated the original Davis-Besse lid, caused by years of neglect as reactor acid dripped from nozzles and burned through 6 inches of steel, suddenly made reactor heads one of the highest-profile pieces of nuclear equipment throughout the world.
The regulatory commission has said repeatedly that Davis-Besse's rust was so bad that the plant came within a fraction of an inch of causing America's biggest nuclear accident since the partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor in Pennsylvania in 1979.
After FirstEnergy replaced Davis-Besse's severely corroded head, several other utilities - wary of what could happen to them if they ever ran into the same trouble - followed suit. The case drew so much attention that researchers in Europe studied Davis-Besse's workplace to theorize what kind of an institutional breakdown might have led to the problem.
Now, the NRC accuses FirstEnergy of lax oversight of Beaver Valley Unit 1's new reactor head. FirstEnergy operates two nuclear reactors at the Beaver Valley complex, plus the Davis-Besse and Perry, Ohio nuclear plants in northern Ohio.
A recent probe by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Office of Investigations found that an unidentified employee of Demark Inc., an Illinois firm contracted by FirstEnergy, performed only two or three of 25 inspections required before FirstEnergy began installing the replacement head on the Beaver Valley Unit 1 reactor in February. Yet that employee signed off on all 25 inspections.
continued........................................
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