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...
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/19/011.html
Tuesday, September 19, 2006. Page 3.
Court Keeps Cult Leader in Custody
By David Nowak
Staff Writer
Yury Mashkov / Itar-Tass
Cult leader Grigory Grabovoi being led out of the Tagansky District Court after a hearing into his case on Monday.
The Tagansky District Court ruled Monday that cult leader Grigory Grabovoi would remain in custody until his trial and scheduled a preliminary hearing in his case for next week.
Grabovoi, who promised to resurrect the children who died in the 2004 Beslan school siege in exchange for cash, was arrested in April on charges of large-scale fraud. He has been held in a pretrial detention facility since his arrest.
Grabovoi, 43, will remain in custody at least until the Sept. 25 preliminary hearing. The court ruled that he could be held for as long as six months, however. Defense lawyers said they would appeal Monday's ruling.
"Nothing about this procedure has been lawful," said defense lawyer Nikolai Khobnya outside the court. Khobnya said the defense team had only been given access to documents submitted to the court at the last minute.
"I have never, in all my years as a lawyer, seen so many violations of court procedure," he said. Khobnya speculated that the hearing had been held at the Tagansky District Court because the judge was more loyal to the authorities.
Khobnya said his client faced up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 1 million rubles ($37,500) if found guilty.
Some 20 supporters, including members of the Grigory Grabovoi Foundation, gathered outside the court on Monday to support their leader, who attended the hearing but was unavailable for comment.
"He will become our president, and that's what the authorities are afraid of," said Lyudmila Vladimirovna, 60, a member of the foundation.
None of Grabovoi's supporters would disclose the amount they had spent studying his teachings, but national media reported that an audience with the cult leader cost 40,000 rubles ($1,500). Group meetings cost 1,000 rubles per person.
"No one actually paid money to Grabovoi personally, nor did anyone pay him to resurrect the dead," Khobnya said. Instead, Khobnya said, people -- including relatives of Beslan victims -- paid money into his Sberbank company account.
They could then meet with Grabovoi one-on-one or attend lectures on how to use the power of the mind to treat illnesses, prolong their lives indefinitely and resurrect deceased family members.
Last September, 11 mothers of children who died during the Beslan hostage-taking turned to the cult for help in bringing their children back to life.
"Of course I understand the people who don't believe that he can cure AIDS or use telekinesis," said Valentin Agarkov, a scientist supporting Grabovoi who specializes in what he calls the physics of consciousness.
"Those who don't understand Grigory Petrovich are like the people who didn't understand Einstein," he said.
Other resources were available at extra cost, according to his supporters, such as a 39,000 ruble accessory kit that included a DVD and stickers that could be attached to buildings in order to prevent a terrorist attack in the vicinity. Grabovoi claimed to have predicted the terrorist attack on Beslan as well as the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
© Copyright 2006 The Moscow Times. All rights reserved.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/19/015.html
Tuesday, September 19, 2006. Page 3.
55 Kazakh Children Contract HIV
The Associated Press
ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- Fifty-five small children in a southern Kazakh city contracted HIV through doctors' negligence, Kazakh Health Minister Erbolat Dosayev said Monday.
All the children were infected while receiving treatment at a hospital in Shymkent, Dosayev said.
Nearly 5,000 children under the age of 3 who were treated at the hospital have been tested since the first cases of HIV among young children were reported in Shymkent this summer, Dosayev said. More than 4,000 children are still to be examined.
Authorities are looking for 17 donors who are suspected of being HIV-positive. Prosecutors are carrying out an investigation and any medical staff found responsible for the infections will face criminal charges.
© Copyright 2006 The Moscow Times. All rights reserved.
Mir, the reporter who is talking about a nuclear attack in America, is on C to Coast.
Can strike anytime.
Listen to OBL's tapes.
Shukrijamah is already in America, has crossed the Mexican border.
Muslims in America are like a human shield for the Americans, so the muslims must leave.
this time they have American names and do not have muslim passports.
Thinks mastermind is OBL, Mir is talking to a leader who gave him the info.
This is pretty much the article that Davey posted earlier.
OK, I admit that i was impressed with Mir and his voice, he did not hesitate, he knew the answers, either well practised or because they were true. He is Hawmid Mir.
Now Paul Williams is coming on.
9-24-2006 says the defense has not contacted Mir, who also says on 9-24 there will be a massive attack in Afghanistan.
Noory, just conecked the missing crop duster at Tecate, Calif, that the feds looked for and still are, to shukrijumah.
Said they were togather, ?, no proof.
Paul says, that Mir says OBL is in Pakistan.
This is a non-related link to photos of the early CIA agents:
http://cryptome.org/csp/spy005/spy005.htm
Total of 9 pages of photos:
http://cryptome.org/
On line book about/by a M-16 spy, looks interesting. free.
http://tomlinsonvmi6.blogspot.com/
[goes with my last post, a quick look, appears that it has the falcon hunting camp story in it, when clinton did not take out obl]
The Register » Internet and Law »
Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/18/tomlinson_mi6_novel/
Banned spy novel published on net
By Kieren McCarthy
Published Monday 18th September 2006 08:55 GMT
Sacked spy Richard Tomlinson has defied the UK's secret services by posting the first chapter of his spy novel online.
The ex-MI6 officer was fired in 1995 after four years in the foreign arm of British secret intelligence and spent a year in a maximum security prison for publishing a book about his time in the organisation. But he has fought back against what he claims is intimidation by his old employees with the publication of chapter one of The Golden Chain on his blog.
Tomlinson had his house and boat in France raided earlier this year after MI6 claimed he was responsible for releasing a list of alleged active MI6 agents on the internet. Even though Tomlinson now links to the list from his blog, he swears he wasn't behind the list. Since the raid, he has fought with the UK government, including MI6 and Special Branch, for the return of his possessions, publishing copies of emails and letters sent to him over the matter online.
Recently, the UK authorities confirmed that they were retaining ownership of his possessions because he had "made a number of references to writing a novel or book to be based in whole or in part on information falling within the terms of the Order". That order was the terms of Tomlinson's release and he was effectively accused of breaking the Official Secrets Act a second time. Tomlinson's response has been to publish the first chapter of his book on his blog, presumably with the threat of releasing further chapters until his possessions are returned.
The online battle has been going on since March this year, when Tomlinson discovered blogging and set about trying to force MI6 to respond to his endless requests for his sacking to be reviewed by a tribunal.
He soon gained the ire of MI6 chief John Scarlett by accusing him of having blood on his hands thanks to his part in the production of the now-discredited Iraq war dossiers. Tomlinson also threatened to expose what he knew, including the names of MI6 agents, online. His house was raided and in August his Typepad blog was shut down at the request of Special Branch. Tomlinson opened up a Blogger account immediately afterwards with the title " Tomlinson v MI6 (it's back!)".
Tomlinson gained some notoriety in 1998 when he published The Big Breach, an account of his time with MI6. He made the book available online from a server in Russia, and then used the defence created by another famous SIS book, Spycatcher by Peter Wright, to argue that the book should be published in the UK since all the harm that could be done by its publication had already happened. The book is now readily available. Tomlinson also found notoriety, if not credibility, in his claim that MI6 may have been behind the death of Princess Diana.®
Related links
Chapter One of The Golden Chain (http://tomlinsonvmi6.blogspot.com/2006/09/golden-chain-chapter-1.html)
Tomlinson's blog (http://tomlinsonvmi6.blogspot.com/)
Tomlinson's old blog (http://richardtomlinson.6x.to/)
The Big Breach (http://cryptome.org/bigbreach-posts.htm)
Related stories
MI6 spy Tomlinson duped by the Russians? (19 June 2001)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06/19/mi6_spy_tomlinson_duped_by/
Amazon.co.uk denies existence of MI6 book (30 January 2001)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/01/30/amazon_co_uk_denies_existence/
MI6 spy secrets posted on Web (24 January 2001)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/01/24/mi6_spy_secrets_posted/
© Copyright 2006
[LOL, it gets better as you go backwards]
The Register » Internet and Law »
Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06/19/mi6_spy_tomlinson_duped_by/
MI6 spy Tomlinson duped by the Russians?
By Kieren McCarthy
Published Tuesday 19th June 2001 11:11 GMT
Ex-MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson may well have been duped by Russian intelligence in the publication of his book on Britain's secret services, The Big Breach.
Both Web sites that were used to promote his book - bigbreach.com and tomlinson.ru - are now pointing at a Russian music site at Zvuki.ru. The .com is owned by Sokolov-Khodakov in Moscow, the tomlinson.ru site is still registered as being used for the book and is owned by a Valentin K Pirogov.
Tomlinson worked for MI6 from 1991 to 1995. He was upset at being fired and was arrested after a race across continents in 1997 for breaking the Official Secrets Act. He was jailed for one year for giving a synopsis of a book on the secret services to an Australian publisher.
The book eventually came out at the start of this year with a Russian publisher. However, while many enjoyed it as a bit of a romp, large question marks were raised over a number of his assertions. Nelson Mandela was particularly incensed at the suggestion he had close ties with British intelligence.
Other stories in the book bore a striking resemblance to KGB archives - which were released later. Tomlinson did not have access to some material he purported to know about it. Also, the book's publisher Sergei Korovin is actually Russian intelligence agent Kirill Chashchin, according to author of The Mitrokhin Archive Christopher Andrew. Read Andrew's interesting piece for The Times here (http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,7-85253,00.html).
The book's publication was a publicity coup for the Russians and when so many became available in Moscow, the UK government was forced to back down on its gagging order and national newspapers published extracts.
The government got its own back though. Tomlinson claims it tried to set him up by making it look as though he posted a list of MI6 agents on the Internet, but this hasn't been proved either way. What it did do was get an injunction that prevented Tomlinson from ever receiving money from the book.
The Foreign Office claimed Mr Tomlinson signed an agreement in 1997 assigning copyright over "any work written by me and relating to my employment by the Crown in SIS (the Secret Intelligence Service)". His claim he signed the form under duress was rejected.
Tomlinson now lives in Italy. ®
Related Link
Russia's revenge (http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,7-85253,00.html)
Related Story
MI6 spy secrets posted on Web (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/16325.html)
© Copyright 2006
The Register » Internet and Law »
Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/01/24/mi6_spy_secrets_posted/
MI6 spy secrets posted on Web
By Kieren McCarthy
Published Wednesday 24th January 2001 12:36 GMT
Ex-MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson has bypassed the UK's arcane Official Secrets Act by posting extracts of his controversial book on British secret services, The Big Breach, on the Internet.
The book, which charts his career in MI6 from the UK to Bosnia to Russia before being unexpectedly fired, is already freely available in Russia and features as number 20 in Amazon.com's sales rank (in fact, we're going to buy one, and why not?).
The UK government has been hounding Tomlinson and any publishers that he has turned to to publish the book, but he has managed to get it printed in Moscow. Last week, The Sunday Times went to court to get an order overturned which banned it from printing extracts. The judge admitted that the book's content would soon be freely available - quoting the Internet in particular - and as such the banning order was effectively useless and so should be lifted. Bizarrely, he then gave the government time to appeal, so the newspaper was unable to run the extracts last week.
However, as foreseen, there is an official site for the book at www.thebigbreach.com (http://www.thebigbreach.com) (mirrored at Tomlinson's Russian address - www.tomlinson.ru), which provides some hefty extracts and a whole range of other information on the book and the controversy surrounding it. There is even an email address for Tomlinson, although it seems pretty unlikely that you'll ever get a reply.
The book proves to be a more interesting read than the tediously dull Spycatcher book that caused a stink in 1987. The government and secret services don't appear to have learnt their lesson from that saga, but then are you surprised?
We're not going to launch into some literary review at the moment, so visit the site to learn more. ®
Related Link
The Big Breach Web site (http://www.thebigbreach.com)
© Copyright 2006
Such games should be outlawed. That would at least put a dent in their availability. I have played similar murderous games and there is no joy in them! Even when I am massacring usama bin laden or common street thugs, there is no lasting joy. Outlaw all such games!
And outlaw all stupid senseless kill-for-fun movies like Kalifornia and Kill Bill. All they do is invite trouble by the troubled.
Here in the U.S. so much of life is over-regulated but the evil computer games and movies simply get slapped with silly stickers warning of their content. BFD! Doesn't keep them out of the hands and minds of somewhat older kids (and some of the targeted younger ones) anyway. No good can come from this.
I am all for artistic license but evil for the sake of evil is evil! And content creators know the difference between evil for the fun of it and an artistic portrayal of evil inherent in an issue being addressed by a work.
Stepping off my soapbox now. Sorry for the rant. This issue always steams me.
I didn't know that, Ruth.
Well, this particular one appears unrelated to FR. It quotes some writings so I think I know whereabouts it comes from but it was channeled to a certain e-mail address and that is something I'm trying to figure out. Yeesh, is anything private these days?
"People cannot be that stupid or can they?"
Ah, but granny, they can be that stupid...and they are.
Something odd about this one...flying at 26 feet for mapping? Less than a mile from a nuke plant? Company incorporated in 2004, specializes in unexploded ordinances? See my post.
>>>>OK, I admit that i was impressed with Mir and his voice, he did not hesitate, he knew the answers, either well practised or because they were true. He is Hawmid Mir.
I do wonder about him and his access to the terrorists...
Donna, did you report it?
>>>Other links on this page for links on the riots in Hungry:
Thank you!
I'm watching with interest.
>>>It remains to add that supporters of Grabovoi are certain that in September, any minute now, those who have been resurrected will return to our earth...
To prey on the heartache of others like this is beyond despicable.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.netscape:en-US&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=Hamid+Mir+&spell=1
I started reading him, in the papers over there, before I knew of the OBL interview.
A quick look at the google, shows he has interviewed the important of the world.
His mind is good and works clean, he is a good writer.
Those are rare and few.
He may well be a muslim.
And ,LOL, he may be a plant.
I am all for artistic license but evil for the sake of evil is evil! And content creators know the difference between evil for the fun of it and an artistic portrayal of evil inherent in an issue being addressed by a work. <<<
Take your words and put them in my mouth, you are right.
I tried to convince my daughter to not pre-order the famous boy wizard books for her son, her answer "but he will read it".
All this goth crap is off the computer.
But then I am the one who was nuts and did not want my kids watching tv.
Read the communist manifesto 1963 and then think about the evilness in the games and tv.
I am still amazed when I hear a voice on the radio say that they do not think there is a God.
Some stop there, others go on and say other crap out of the manifesto.
There are too many of them out there.
All those chemicals they are playing with, could have been cures and food for earth.
The millions of dollars and hours spent attempting to leaglize the pot, could do wonders if used for good.
I never did pot, but have taken a walk and talked to God many times, get the same high and relaxation.
A good shovel and a row to hoe, are good for making one go to sleep, after a few hours of using them.
Gads, our soapboxes are stacked high today.
LOL, back on the computer/games/groups.
There was a school shooter in N.Dakota, I think, maybe on the indian reservation, a couple years.
He was into nazi and games, I remember going to his nazi site.
I have noticed that those who are often hosts or callers on the talk shows, and are either full commies, or hate America, will talk about the games they play.
Mother Earth, some 30 years ago, published a full book, a chapter a month about brainwashing on the tv.
All those blinking lights that you see, are used in brainwashing, read some of the real texts on it, Russia is more than likely the best at it, their research is far ahead of ours.
When my navy husband, taught me about brainwashing, the example used, right after the Cuba almost war, was that the schools would give the kids a candy bar, if they gave the right answer of "Castro is the greatest leader".
I still hear, older people talk about Castro and candy bars.
I was living out of reach of tv for 10 years, about 85 to 95, and was shocked at the blinking lights and repeating of hate on it, when I did see it again.
I hate all the "men are too stupid" ads that are on.
It is all in the manifesto.
Yeesh, is anything private these days? <<<
No.
Have you put your name and your email address in google?
Run a few searches on yourself.
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