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Posted on 04/01/2006 5:00:12 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
[a post for study and research, you will make strange sounds while reading this 1994 Israel Gov. report...clinton at end....]
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1994/7/THE+IRANIAN+HAND+ON+THE+PLUNGER+-+29-Jul-94.htm
THE IRANIAN HAND ON THE PLUNGER - 29-Jul-94
29 Jul 1994
THE IRANIAN HAND ON THE PLUNGER
(Article by Ron Ben-Yishai, 'Yediot Ahronot', July 29, 1994, pp.6-7, 26)
INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS ARE CONVINCED: ONE HAND, FROM TEHRAN, DIRECTED THE ATTACK IN ARGENTINA, THE HIZBULLAH ATTACK IN SOUTH LEBANON AND THE EXPLOSIONS IN LONDON. THE METHOD: IRANIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS, WITH DIPLOMATIC PASSPORTS, OPERATE IN IRANIAN EMBASSIES AROUND THE WORLD AND RECRUIT LOCAL MUSLIMS. THE COUNTER-RESPONSE SHOULD INCLUDE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AND SEVERING OF RELATIONS, AND HITTING THOSE RESPONSIBLE.
'The show of force by the Iranian terrorist apparatuses in the past two weeks, could cost Tehran dearly,' a veteran senior Israeli intelligence official said a few days ago.
'The world now understands the problem better. Whoever is capable today of organizing such a world-wide cluster of murderous attacks, in perfect timing from his standpoint, be successful in all of them, and then withdraw all of his personnel safely, will tomorrow be able to overthrow governments,' added the senior intelligence official, who specializes in foiling terrorism. 'It is clear to us, the Americans and even Hussein that there was one hand directing and assisting the car bomb in Buenos Aires, the Hizbullah attack in southern Lebanon (which began the moment that Rabin and Hussein shook hands in Washington), and the two car bombs, which blew up the next day in central London. We also know that, compared to the Iranian hand, the old, known international terrorism is becoming child's play.'
The attacks in London this week are very similar in their operational characteristics to other attacks perpetrated by Islamic terrorists linked to Iran. These were carried out by a uniform method: a car bomb, driven by a lone driver to the vicinity of the target and exploded near it.
It can be assumed that both attacks were planned not only to spoil the atmosphere at the Rabin-Hussein meeting in London, but that they also stemmed from other motives: Iranian revenge, on behalf of Hizbullah, over the Dirani abduction and the Israeli Air Force's bombing of the Hizbullah training base in Lebanon's Bek'a Valley.
Up till now, the State of Israel has tried with all its power to refrain from direct conflict with the Iranians. The policy was to use all available means to fight Hizbullah in Lebanon, but not to provoke Iran, which supports Hizbullah; to do everything possible so that Iran itself would not enter into an active terrorist war against Israel. True, Israel did verbally attack the Tehran rulers, accusing them of holding Ron Arad and of aiding fundamentalist terrorism. At the same time, however, it sought ways to engage them in dialogue, and refrained from physically acting against the Iranians' terrorist apparatuses.
What happened in the past two weeks raised serious doubts in Jerusalem regarding the efficacy of this restrained approach. More and more politicians (including the Prime Minister) and senior defense establishment officials believe that the policy should be changed and that 'we should use full force in dealing with them, as we dealt with the international terrorism of the PLO and Black September.'
In fact, there are clear signs that the Israeli Government's 'Iranian' policy is about to change. It will not be an easy war, the anti-terrorism experts believe, and Israel is not capable of conducting it by itself. If it tries to do so, it will suffer greatly. 'The monster has grown and developed into larger proportions which, alone, we are currently incapable of handling. We will need active cooperation and not just intelligence from the Americans and any other source which we can harness to the effort,' says one of the experts.
The 'monster' began to take shape in 1983. The Iran-Iraq War was then at its height. The West, as well as most of the rulers in the Arab world, fearing Khomeinism more than they feared Saddam Hussein, aided Iraq. Thousands opposed to the ayatollahs' regime, who had fled Iran, moved throughout Europe and the U.S., harming the Iranian war effort.
At the order of the Imam Khomeini, who was then at the height of his physical power and controlled Iran unfettered, the 'Supreme National Defense Council of Iran' convened and decided to begin a 'nonconventional war to the end on the enemy's territory.' This was a nice name for an active war of terrorism in the international arena. This war had two goals: attacking enemies of the Islamic revolution wherever they were and toppling secular Muslim regimes, in order to impose 'true' Islam, of the Khomeini school, across the Muslim world.
Members of that same council, which set up the Iranian terrorist empire, then included Khomeini himself, his son Ahmad, Speaker of Parliament Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ayatollah Khamenei, and several other ayatollahs and senior officials, such as Mohtashemi Pur and Ali Akhbar Velayati. It was also decided, at those same meetings of the Supreme National Defense Council, to establish a number of organizations which would conduct the terrorism war, the modus operandi was laid out and strategic goals were determined.
After a short time, the results began to be seen on the ground. Revolutionary Guards personnel, who left for Lebanon, set up Hizbullah to act as a bridgehead for exporting the Islamic revolution. They were the ones who sent terrorists to carry out impressive suicide car bomb attacks against the the Embassy of the United States (the 'Great Satan') and the Marine barracks in Beirut, and against Israel (the 'Little Satan'). In Europe, former supporters of the late Shah were eliminated one by one, as were exiled leaders of the Mujahiddin Khalq underground and prominent officials of the Kurdish-Iranian underground, who had fought against the ayatollahs' regime.
These facts did not go unnoticed by members of the American intelligence community. Satellite photographs analyzed in the U.S. after the bombing of the American Embassy in Beirut, clearly showed a model of the building in the Sheikh Abdallah camp in Lebanon's Bek'a Valley. This model, which had been built in the Revolutionary Guards' training camp, was undoubtedly use b been built in the Revolutionary Guards' training camp, was undoubtedly used by the Hizbullah personnel who carried out the attack.
At a meeting convened at the Pentagon at the time, the possibility that the U.S. 'repay' the Iranians directly for the painful attacks was considered. Several participants suggested using cruise missiles and planes to bomb the camp. However, Pentagon officials rejected the proposal, saying that 'it is inhuman to indiscriminately bomb a camp in which the families of Revolutionary Guards members also live.' The proposal was shelved.
Even Israel, which at the time still hoped to turn a new leaf in relations with Khomeini's Iran, meticulously refrained from attacking Revolutionary Guards personnel. France released Iranian terrorists which it had captured one by one (and continues to do today). Many among us, and also in the U.S., are now embarrassed over that appeasement, which enabled Iranian terrorism to set up proxies and to build an extensive international infrastructure, unhindered. In the 10 years since then, many things have happened in Iran: Khomeini died; Khamenei succeeded him as Iran's spiritual leader, Rafsanjani is now president and the country's strong-man, and Ali Akbar Velayati is foreign minister. The extremist Ahmad Khomeini was moved aside in the struggles over succession, and the extremist Mohtashemi Pur, currently a parliamentarian, is not particularly important. The Supreme National Defense Council also changed its name to the Supreme National Security Council.
Western intelligence services, including the CIA, German intelligence and, of course, the French, saw these changes as a sign of the victory of the pragmatists in Iran, who seek closer ties with the West. The assumption was that Iran, which is beset by economic distress, was about to change its ways.
The Iranians, under the leadership of Rafsanjani, a pistachio dealer, have tried to bolster this impression, and to this end helped, in the early 1990's, to effect the wholesale release of western hostages in Lebanon. However, at the same time, they continued to develop and expand their sophisticated terrorism apparatuses unhindered, and to deploy them all over the globe.
Anti-terrorism experts claim that the Iranian terrorism empire is several times more dangerous than what was called 'international terrorism' in the 1970's. That earlier period witnessed a shaky coalition of terrorist organizations, most with some sort of Marxist ideology. Others, like the IRA, were filled with a religious-nationalist fervor. They had no ideological common denominator, despite the fact that most of them were connected in some way to the Eastern Bloc. They received aid from Moscow, East Berlin or Bulgaria, but their patrons did not give them instructions on how and where to carry out attacks.
Though there were several exceptions, in general the Soviet Union and its satellites merely supplied aid for subversive activity, which was supposed to shake the foundations of colonialist, capitalist society. The Soviet Union kept well away from direct involvement in terrorist activity, among other things for fear that terrorism is a double-edged sword, which could be directed against it.
It is different with the Iranians. For them, terrorism is used as an active tool for carrying out policy and for fulfilling their fundamentalist world-view. It is employed to achieve four objectives:
* The elimination of those opponents to the regime, which is usually carried out directly by Iranian intelligence agents, with logistical support from local collaborators.
* The defense of Islamic holy places, such as those in Saudi Arabia, where the Iranians tried to undermine the 'corrupt' hold of the Saudi royal house; the war against Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses,' a primarily heretical book; and the war against Israel, which captured the holy places in Jerusalem from the Muslims.
* Spreading the Islamic revolution, through terrorism, aided and carried out by fundamentalist movements, such as Hizbullah in Lebanon, Hamas in Israel and the territories, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad factions, the Jama al-Islamiyah in Egypt, and others.
* War against the Western infidels, the various 'messengers of Satan,' who spread their heresy, corrupt the Muslims through an unbridled, hedonistic, worthless culture of consumerism, and prevent them from maintaining a pure way of life according to the Koran's precepts, [as in] the United States, for example.
Despite the secrecy surrounding what goes on in Iran in general, and the terrorist organizations in particular, it is already clear to western intelligence services that the central organization currently running Iranian terrorism is the Supreme National Security Council, controlled by President Rafsanjani. This is the same Rafsanjani who poses as a moderate and pragmatist, trying to enjoy the best of all worlds.
The National Security Council makes decisions about terrorist attacks or liquidations. After the decision is made in principle to carry out an attack, it is sent to one of the operational apparatuses for an opinion. There are four such apparatuses:
* The Quds (Jerusalem) apparatus, in the framework of the Revolutionary Guard. It is usually responsible for attacks by the Lebanese Hizbullah, the Turkish Hizbullah and other Islamic terrorist organizations. The person generally responsible for this apparatus is the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Muhsein Rafiq Duset.
* The Iranian intelligence apparatus, the SAVAMA and the VAK (the successor to the SAVAK, which operated in the days of the Shah and was trained, according to foreign sources, by Israel). They are headed by Ali Falahian, and are primarily responsible for liquidating opponents of the regime abroad. The U.S. State Department's report on international terrorism states that members of these apparatuses carry out widespread intelligence gathering on foreign embassies, primarily those of the United States and Israel. They were also apparently responsible for collecting the operational intelligence on the Jewish institutions and the embassies which were attacked in Argentina, London, Bangkok, Istanbul and other places.
* Another apparatus, which apparently functions within the framework of the 'Islamic Leadership Ministry,' struggles primarily to protect everything holy to Islam.
Iranian government ministries extend assistance to these apparatuses as required. Thus, for example, Iranian deputy foreign minister Hussein Shekih al-Aslam a former University of California student is responsible for positioning intelligence agents and Revolutionary Guards in diplomatic posts at Iranian embassies around the world. He also supervises the transfer of funds and weapons for carrying out attacks.
Recruitment within Iran is mostly done at Imam Ali University in the holy city of Qom. Foreign Muslim students, who volunteer or are volunteered for such work, receive their training at secret camps in western Iran (between Qom and Tehran). Other training camps were constructed, by the Revolutionary Guards, in Sudan and Lebanon (the Sheikh Abdallah camp).
The approach to building an international terrorist infrastructure, which has become more extensive over the years, was grounded in a basic principle the integration of a small number of intelligence officers and trained Iranian terrorists, together with incited Muslim citizens of Europe, the United States, South Africa and Asia. Most of the intelligence officers and the Iranian terrorism experts were posted as diplomats at Iranian embassies in the target countries. Others, also carrying diplomatic passports, were sent to staff the 'Islamic Cultural Centers' which Iran has established world-wide.
These 'diplomats' made contact with Muslim population centers in the countries where they operated. They located the devout, the disgruntled, the motivated and slowly recruited them into tight groups and squads, ready to act and take risks in the name of Islam. The contact, the meetings and sometimes the training were mainly effected in mosques and within the confines of local Muslim charitable/aid associations.
The creation of the Iranian terror infrastructure received a serious push with the 1989 publication of Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses.' Muslims the world over without any connection to Iran viewed the book as a direct assault and a secular Western plot against everything held holy by Muslims.
The 'fatwa' (religious ruling) issued by Khomeini, which calls on all Muslims able to do so, to kill Rushdie, fell on attentive ears. Thousands of Muslims around the world joined the Iranian terrorist corps, enthusiastic to carry out the mission. Afterward, the 'fatwa' was expanded to include those circulating Rushdie's book, and even those who did not disclaim it. At least four journalists and publishers were murdered in Turkey as a direct result of the local response to this ruling a further proof of the capability gained, in the interim, by the Iranian terror machine.
It is very possible that the terrorist infrastructure established in England by the Iranians, with the intent of assaulting Rushdie, was exploited this week to attack the Israeli embassy and the Jewish Agency offices in London. Still, most of the groups recruited by the Iranian terrorist and intelligence agents did not operate immediately. The diplomats who activate the groups prefer to keep them dormant until the appropriate time for them act.
The Iranians view attacks on their emissaries around the world as part of the war that the heretics have waged against the Islamic revolution of which they are the spearhead. Accordingly, attacks against Hizbullah (in Lebanon, for instance) are compensated by activating one of the dormant terror networks, in Turkey or South America. The perpetrators are not necessarily Hizbullah members, but are locals activated by Iranian diplomats.
This is the fate of the reconciliation process between Israel and the Arabs. Whoever assists or is party to this process, anywhere in the world, can expect an attack. The Iranian modus operandi prefers to utilize simple means which require more proximity that sophistication. Car-bombs are a hit. Explosives can be made at home, and their installation in a vehicle - - with a detonator is simple. At the same time, the Iranians take pains to ensure that their emissaries are not apprehended, and that no direct Iranian link to the attack can be proven.
Thus, the activation and recruitment are not always simple. The Iranians frequently avail themselves of intermediaries mainly 'graduates' of the war in Afghanistan who, from the Iranian perspective, possess three golden qualities: they are full of religious fervor, and enjoy prestige and hero status among Muslim zealots; they have experience in battle, and know how to manufacture home-made weapons, and; they are unemployed.
These 'graduates of Afghanistan,' citizens of the target countries, are the ones who maintain contact with the Iranian controllers who send them funds, and sometimes weapons, from Europe or the Middle East. Therefore, for example, the network that blew up New York's Twin Towers in 1993 was activated by the blind Egyptian sheikh Abdul Rahman, who had filled a key role in recruiting and dispatching fighters to the Afghanistan war.
'Afghanistan graduates' also head the Islamic rescue movement in Algeria today, where they maintain contact with their Iranian operators in Europe. And a zealous Muslim network, whose members planned acts of terror against the king and the kingdom, is now on trial in Jordan. All of these network members fought in Afghanistan and were in contact with Iran.
Iranian intelligence agents take advantage of every spot where there are Muslim populations, and where the authorities only enforce perfunctory security measures. Not long ago, during a visit to South America, I was told by an Israeli living in the area that there is an active center of radical Muslims who operate with the assistance and inspiration of Iran at the point where the Brazilian, Argentine and Paraguayan borders meet. In that same area, around the Iguacu Falls which attract millions of tourists from around the world, there also lives a population of German descent (many of whom are members of neo-Nazi organizations) which cooperates with the Muslim groups. It is suspected that the squad whose members detonated the car-bomb near the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires two years ago set out from this area.
I travelled to the area and indeed encountered devout, thick-bearded Muslims and blond, blue-eyed youths who did not conceal their neo- Nazi views. During my trip around the Falls, I noted that it is possible to pass between the three countries without difficulty or inspection. Only once was my passport inspected. It is therefore no wonder that such 'hot' areas for illegal activity are exploited by Iranian terrorist operators.
The question now is how can Iranian terror be fought under the current conditions?
First, with a pin-pointed assault against terror operators and their collaborators. The difficulty mainly involves the political and moral problem of using fighters to combat terrorism in third countries.
Second, via deterrence. A massive presence by local security forces at sites which are prone to attack, like Jewish institutions and embassies, acts as a deterrent and complicates carrying out attacks. But there must also be vigilance at our embassies in those same countries and a constant requirement that security measures be maintained, and remain effective.
Third, Embassy and Jewish organization buildings (and their environs) must be properly protected and reinforced to prevent the infiltration or collapse of the structures in the event of an explosion. It must be ensured that vehicles cannot approach vulnerable building.
Fourth, there must be active international cooperation in the intelligence area including information exchanges and operations to penetrate the populations from among which the perpetrators of attacks are liable to come.
Fifth, international sanctions against Iran should be imposed, including the severing of diplomatic ties and the deportation of Iranian ambassadors. Spain did this a number of years ago, Venezuela did this a couple of days ago, and Argentina has just declared its intention to do so. This is difficult, because Iranian terrorism functions on the principle that it is almost always impossible to directly connect the terrorists with the Iranians who control them. This is in addition to the difficulty in persuading countries, like Germany and France, to give up their profitable trade with Iran. Even in the United States, which frequently condemns Iran, the administration in Washington has not demonstrated a great willingness to sever economic relations.
[a post for study and research, more 1994 Iran attacks]
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1994/11/THE+ORDERS+TO+MURDER+ARRIVE+BY+FAX+FROM+DAMASCUS+-.htm
THE ORDERS TO MURDER ARRIVE BY FAX FROM DAMASCUS - 18-Nov-94
18 Nov 1994
THE ORDERS TO MURDER ARRIVE BY FAX FROM DAMASCUS
(Article by Ronni Shaked, "Yediot Ahronot", Nov 18, 1994, p. B6)
ISLAMIC JIHAD HAS APPROXIMATELY 30 SUICIDE ATTACKERS AT ITS DISPOSAL 20 IN THE GAZA STRIP AND ANOTHER 10 ON THE WEST BANK. THEY RECEIVE THEIR ORDERS FROM A SECRET COUNCIL WHICH IS IN CONTINUOUS CONTACT WITH THE ORGANIZATION'S COMMANDER IN DAMASCUS, DR. FATHI SHAKAKI. UNLIKE HAMAS, ISLAMIC JIHAD IS A MILITARY ORGANIZATION ONLY, FREE OF POLITICAL PRETENSIONS.
The name of Dr. Fathi Shakaki, a pediatrician from Rafiah who resides in Damascus, appears prominently in the Israeli intelligence lists regarding Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. Just as Rabin spoke about a war of destruction and the elimination of the leaders of Islamic terrorism, he apparently also means the 'Doctor' from Damascus the founder, ideologue, political leader, and military commander of Islamic Jihad in the territories.
In the course of a day, the fax at his home spews out letters from Gaza, the West Bank, or eastern Jerusalem. Some of them are reports on security incidents.
From his Damascus home and headquarters, Dr. Shakaki manages to operate the Jihad organization in the territories by remote control. He is the one who issues the orders to carry out attacks and murders. The orders that come from his desk go to Islamic Jihad's secondary headquarters in Britain, Germany, Cyprus, and the United States. From there via fax, telephone, or courier these orders reach the 'Shura Council', a secret, ten-member body which is responsible for Islamic Jihad's military apparatus. From it, orders go out to the Jihad murderers in Khan Yunis, Sheikh Radwan, and the Jelazoun refugee camp.
It was in this way, apparently, that the order reached Khan Yunis ten days ago, for the 'al-Kassam' gangs Islamic Jihad's military arm to carry out an attack in revenge for the elimination of Hani Abed, who had been one of the Jihad's senior officials in Gaza.
The word 'al-Kassam' is an acronym for 'forces of the Islamic Jihad' (kuwa Islamiya Mujahidah) and also has its own meaning: 'the oath'.
'Al-Kassam' is a murder apparatus, comparable to HAMAS' Iz a-Din el-Kassam battalions. In the Gaza Strip, 'al-Kassam' numbers no more than 20 people, perhaps less. Approximately 10 other 'al-Kassam' fugitives are circulating on the West Bank. Those who belong to this group are devout youth, enthusiastic, brutal, fanatics. Most, if not all, of them are ready to follow the path of Hisham Hammed, who was the human bomb at Netzarim Junction, killing the officers Captains Hazi Sapir and Dror Elad, and Lt. Yotam Rahat.
The head of the organization, Dr. Shakaki, was born in Rafiah. In his youth, he was a member of Islamic Brotherhood movement. He studied mathematics at Bir Zeit University. In 1974, he began to study medicine at El-Zakzik University in Egypt. There, under the influence of Egyptian fundamentalists, he began to develop his ideas for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
After completing his studies, he began to work as a pediatrician at a hospital in eastern Jerusalem. Simultaneously, he engaged in mobilizing underground cells for his new organization. The Khomeinist revolution in Iran gave impetus to his organization. Under its influence, he wrote his book Khomeini The Islamic Alternative and Solution, which became a hit among the youth in the territories.
The Islamic Jihad organization's guiding ideology is simply formulated: 'Our clear and strategic goal is the mobilization of the Muslim public on our occupied soil and its direction towards a war of jihad against the thieving Zionist entity. The armed struggle is the only way to defeat the Jewish entity on the soil of Palestine.'
In August 1988, Dr. Shakaki was expelled to Lebanon. Since then, he has dedicated his time and energy to nurturing his organization mainly with the generous financial and logistical assistance of Iran and the clerics of Hizballah.
Only a few of the fugitives, members of 'al-Kassam', are known to the security forces. On the list of West Bank fugitives found in the pocket of every soldier who serves in the territories there are none from the Jihad. 'This does not mean that there are no fugitives and no Jihad operations. Even while we are talking, Islamic Jihad could carry out an attack,' an officer serving in Judea and Samaria told me.
When Israel evacuated Gaza, it left behind an inheritance of approximately 20 Jihad fugitives. The security establishment estimates that the list has not changed very much since then. This list, like the list of HAMAS fugitives, was given to the Palestinian GSS. Until the attack at Netzarim, Arafat's people had not made any effort to fight 'al-Kassam'. At the beginning of the week, Arafat ordered the arrest of Jihad personnel. Too quickly, it has since become clear, because most, if not all, of the detainees are Jihad political activists, not members of the murder gangs. It seems that the Palestinian GSS as well, is finding it difficult to arrest members of its military arm.
The GSS intelligence arm in the Gaza Strip was limited after the withdrawal. There are difficulties in gathering timely intelligence. And if there is intelligence, it is hard to translate it into action. When the intelligence has been given to the Palestinians, they, for the most part, have not bothered to use it to make arrests. For example, it is still not at all clear if the Palestinian Authority has in fact arrested the Sheikh Abdallah Shami, one of the Jihad's spokesmen who, apparently, does not belong to the Jihad's military apparatus, but who heads the logistical network of collaborators who deal with hideouts, money, vehicles, and weapons for the 'al-Kassam' apparatus. This week, even Shimon Peres said that the IDF will act inside Gaza if there is no choice.
Given the restrictions presented by Gaza, the IDF is trying all possible methods. For example, at the Kfar Darom Junction checkpoint inside Gush Katif, on the road linking Gaza and Khan Yunis on October 7, Rami Barbah, a resident of Khan Yunis and member of the Democratic Front organization, who murdered Yossi Zindi at Moshav Bnei Ayash on March 31, 1994, was captured. Khan Yunis is one of Islamic Jihad's strongholds, and its activists apparently must also reach Gaza City.
Islamic Jihad, unlike HAMAS, has no pretensions of proposing an idealistic socio-economic platform, and does not seek to become either a mass movement or a political movement. The Jihad is, first and foremost, a military organization. Even so, it also has ideological leaders; Jihad people control approximately two dozen mosques in the Gaza Strip. Through the sheikhs and imams of these mosques, the movement carries out 'hadawa' religious preaching to give religious inspiration for the Jihad's activities.
Said Cana'an head of the Palestinian Research Center in Nablus, which edits a monthly public opinion survey says that, 'The support for the Islamic Jihad movement in the territories is minimal. On the West Bank, it does not pass 3%, and in Gaza, it is 5% at most.'
The peace process with the Palestinians suffered a tough blow over the last few days, not just as a result of the attack in Netzarim, but also because of HAMAS' joining the ruling institutions in the Autonomy areas. Arafat, who always avoided reaching an understanding with HAMAS, was happy to award them positions in the Authority. In the meantime, Sheikh Hamed Bitawi, head of the Council of Palestine Religious Leaders, the group which is supposed to grant religious legitimacy to HAMAS actions, was appointed Vice-President of the sharia courts in the West Bank.
This week, it became known that Arafat intends to appoint several more HAMAS members to positions in the Palestinian Authority among the candidates slated to receive positions are several fugitives, including Abd Rabu Abu Husa from the gang which murdered soldiers Avi Sassportas and Ilan Sa'adon. 'There is going to be a problem here. We will need to confront them,' security establishment officials are saying.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1650026/posts
Shanghai group's power play
theaustralian.news.com.au ^ | June 16, 2006 | Rowan Callick
Posted on 06/15/2006 11:54:59 AM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
THE Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, whose members and observers represent half the world's population, signalled at its annual summit yesterday its determination to play a central role in global energy politics. Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the formation of "an SCO energy club" - because it involves some of the biggest energy exporters and importers.
The leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan also moved at the Shanghai meeting to develop the group into a powerful military and economic force.
They did not consider new members - instead asking the foreign ministers to draft new membership rules later - but expanded the role usually taken by observers.
Those observers included Iran's controversial President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who invited the energy ministers of the SCO to meet in Iran "to explore more effective ways of co-operating in the exploration, exploitation, transport and conversion of energy".
The invitation is likely to be taken up, not least because Iran has become the third-biggest supplier of oil to China.
India, an SCO observer like Iran, Pakistan and Mongolia, has recently been a major competitor with China for energy.
It indicated a change in tack by sending its Petroleum and Gas Minister, Murli Deora, to the summit, and has decided to join China in bidding $2.7 billion together to develop oilfields in SCO member Kazakhstan.
In his address to the summit, Mr Ahmadinejad commended steps "to turn the SCO into a strong, influential institution" with the capacity to "throw out the threats of domineering powers to interfere in the affairs of other states" - an apparent reference to the US. He called for more educational and cultural exchanges within the region.
Yesterday's meeting involving the leaders of Iran, Russia and China at the SCO underlines perceptions of a growing division within the UN Security Council - of which Russia and China are members - over US and European efforts to pressure Iran over its nuclear ambitions.
Mr Putin told his Iranian counterpart after the summit that he wanted to discuss a European proposal for Iran to relinquish its nuclear fuel enrichment program, while also stressing Russia's long-standing diplomatic support for Iran.
"Russia has always been a reliable partner," he told Mr Ahmadinejad, who responded by saying: "Our positions are clear and very close to one another."
China's President Hu Jintao celebrated the growth in reach of the SCO in its five years' existence, which he attributed to the "Shanghai spirit" - which involves developing a "new silk road" encompassing Confucian, Islamic, Slavic and Hindu cultures, while protecting the leaders' capacity to rule their way without outside interference.
Illustrating this spirit, the presidents appeared at a press conference, giving speeches but not allowing questions.
The leaders signed 10 agreements that sought to institutionalise growing collaboration, ranging from banking to education to economic collaboration, with China offering $1.2 billion soft loans to buy Chinese goods.
Mr Hu urged the members to "strengthen strategic co-operation" against the "three evils" - separatism, terrorism and extremism - including through intelligence exchange and communication.
He proposed a non-aggression treaty between SCO members and said he hoped the international community would "respect the social systems independently chosen by our members and observers and the foreign policy chosen by them".
And he urged "an even broader future for the SCO".
Mr Putin described the organisation's establishment as "timely and visionary", stressing the need to bring young people from the region together.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1650027/posts
Tacoma church offers itself as "sanctuary" to soldiers
KING 5 News ^ | 6/15/06 | AP
Posted on 06/15/2006 11:55:55 AM PDT by hoagy62
TACOMA, Wash. - The 300-member congregation's administrative council of the First United Methodist Church of Tacoma has declared itself to be a sanctuary for servicemen and servicewomen who don't want to go to Iraq.
The council voted last weekend to open its doors to those service people beginning Saturday, church officials said Wednesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at king5.com ...
Thanks, Ruth.
I think the SCO is a group that bears watching.
Senate rejects U.S. troop pullout in Iraq
By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The Senate rejected a call for the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from
Iraq by year's end on Thursday as Congress erupted in impassioned, election-year debate over a conflict that now has claimed the lives of 2,500 American troops.
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The vote was 93-6 to shelve the proposal, which would have allowed "only forces that are critical to completing the mission of standing up Iraqi security forces" to remain in 2007.
The vote came alongside a daylong debate in the House, where Republicans defended the war as key to winning the global struggle against terrorism while Democrats excoriated
President Bush and his policies.
"We must stand firm in our commitment to fight terrorism and the evil it inflicts throughout the world. We must renew our resolve that the actions of evildoers will not dictate American policy," House Speaker
Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said in remarks laden with references to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
continued...........
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060615/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq
Papers show 'gloomy' state of insurgency
By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer 16 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A blueprint for trying to start a war between the United States and
Iran was among a "huge treasure" of documents found in the hideout of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraqi officials said Thursday. The document, purporting to reflect al-Qaida policy and its cooperation with groups loyal to ousted President
Saddam Hussein, also appear to show that the insurgency in
Iraq was weakening.
The al-Qaida in Iraq document was translated and released by Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie. There was no way to independently confirm the authenticity of the information attributed to al-Qaida.
continued.........
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060615/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_terror_blueprint
U.S. identifies al-Zarqawi's successor
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer 32 minutes ago
The U.S. military said Thursday the man claiming to be the new al-Qaida in Iraq leader succeeding Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is Abu Ayyub al-Masri, an Egyptian with ties to Osama bin Laden's deputy.
U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said al-Masri apparently is the same person that the terrorist group identified in a Web posting last week as its new leader — Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, a nom de guerre.
Al-Muhajer, Arabic for "immigrant," claimed to have succeeded al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a June 7 U.S. airstrike, and vowed to avenge him in a threatening Web statement Tuesday.
The military showed a picture of al-Masri — who was named in a most-wanted list issued in February 2005 by the U.S. command and has a $50,000 bounty on his head — wearing a traditional white Arab headdress.
"We think they are one in the same at this point. We'll continue to do further analysis," Caldwell said.
The Afghanistan-trained explosives expert is a key figure in the al-Qaida in Iraq network with responsibility for facilitating the movement of foreign fighters from Syria into Baghdad, Caldwell said.
continued.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060615/ap_on_re_mi_ea/al_zarqawi_s_successor&printer=1;_ylt=AvFLA6r71m32seA.uGG1C.4UewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-
Al-Zarqawi's alleged playbook
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie provided this English translation of a document discovered in terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's hide-out:
The situation and conditions of the resistance in Iraq have reached a point that requires a review of the events and of the work being done inside Iraq.
Such a study is needed in order to show the best means to accomplish the required goals, especially that the forces of the National Guard have succeeded in forming an enormous shield protecting the American forces and have reduced substantially the losses that were solely suffered by the American forces.
This is in addition to the role, played by the Shiites (the leadership and masses) by supporting the occupation, working to defeat the resistance and by informing on its elements.
As an overall picture, time has been an element in affecting negatively the forces of the occupying countries, due to the losses they sustain economically in human lives, which are increasing with time.
However, here in Iraq, time is now beginning to be of service to the American forces and harmful to the resistance for the following reasons:
continued...........
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/15/zarqawi.document.ap/index.html
WELCOME TO IWPR'S IRAQI CRISIS REPORT, No. 181, June 15, 2006
RAMADI: MASS EXODUS AMID RISING VIOLENCE
City's population flees ahead of expected onslaught by United States
forces.
By Yasin al-Dulaimi in Haditha and Daud Salman in Baghdad
BOMBINGS SHAKE KIRKUK
Officials blame al-Qaeda for attacks that leave dozens dead and
injured.
By Samah Samad in Kirkuk
I have a half eye on them and think they are changing.
Now they are not the China group, but taking in Iran, etc.
We see more and more muslim/communist bonding out in the open and we sit back and allow them to surround us.
[a post to study and research]
Eurasia Insight:
WASHINGTON PONDERS WAYS TO COUNTER THE RISE OF THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATOIN
Ariel Cohen: 6/15/06
A EurasiaNet Commentary
Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization during a June 15 summit forcefully asserted their right to regulate affairs in Central Asia. A declaration signed by the heads of state of all six member states, including Russia and China, is widely viewed as placing the group in direct opposition to the United States in the regional geopolitical contest.
SCO leaders gathered in Shanghai, site of the group’s founding five years ago. In the June 15 declaration, the SCO professed to be operating according to “principles of openness, non-alliance and not targeting at any third party.” However, the text’s language left little doubt that the group rejects the US democratization agenda, and hinted that member states would consider acting in concert in an effort to reduce the United States’ geopolitical presence in Central Asia.
“The SCO will make a constructive contribution to the establishment of a new global security architecture of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and mutual respect,” the declaration asserted. “Threats and challenges can be effectively met only when there is broad cooperation among all countries and international organizations concerned. What specific means and mechanisms should be adopted to safeguard security of the region is the right and responsibility of countries in the region.”
The statement went on to indicate that Central Asian states would follow their own development paths. “Diversity of civilization and the model of development must be respected and upheld. Differences in cultural traditions, political and social systems, values and model of development formed in the course of history should not be taken as pretexts to interfere in other countries' internal affairs.”
Also at the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for Iran’s right to engage in peaceful nuclear research. Following a side meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who attended the summit as an observer, Putin stated that “all countries in the world, including Iran, have the right to fulfill their plans in the use of high technologies for the benefit of their development,” the Moscow News web site reported. The Russian leader, however, added a caveat that nuclear research should be conducted “in a way to fully eliminate” international concerns that Iran was striving to build a nuclear weapon. Putin also announced that Iran was ready to negotiate on an international package designed to prompt Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment activities in return for economic benefits. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. He indicated that Iran would soon makes its views clear on a possible timeline for talks, the official RIA Novosti news agency reported.
In a speech at the summit, Ahmadinejad called on regional states to tighten cooperation. “We need a strong powerful organization [SCO] to protect us from unreasonable outside interference,” the Iranian leader said, plainly referring to the United States.
Washington now confronts the likelihood the SCO states will try to put the squeeze on the US geopolitical position in Central Asia. American policymakers are currently working to develop a strategy to blunt the SCO’s ability to influence regional developments.
Kazakhstan, an SCO member, figures prominently in the US strategic calculus. Energy-rich Kazakhstan is Central Asia’s economic engine, and thus wields considerable influence in any regional grouping of which it is a member. Top Bush administration officials have courted the country’s president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. For example, during an early May visit to Kazakhstan, US Vice President Dick Cheney expressed admiration for the country’s economic and political development. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav050806.shtml
The United States is also believed to be supportive of Kazakhstan’s efforts to join the World Trade Organization. The hope in Washington is that stronger US-Kazakhstani ties will encourage Astana to act as a force for moderation within the SCO vis a vis the United States.
The United States, however, will have to show patience toward Astana. Understandably, Nazarbayev is engaged in a balancing act between the Bear, the Dragon, and the far-away American Eagle. He recently sent a letter to Ahmadinejad calling attention to Kazakhstan’s decision to voluntarily give up its nuclear stockpile after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a gesture appreciated by the Bush Administration. At the same time, Kazakhstani officials have expressed a desire to forge closer economic relations with Iran.
So, what else can the United States do to counter the rise of the SCO? For one, Washington should recognize that the SCO’s leading powers – China and Russia – are extremely sensitive to the US presence in what has traditionally been their sphere of influence. Washington should develop a nuanced policy, using both words and actions, designed to reassure Moscow and Beijing that the geopolitical competition in Central Asia is not a zero-sum game.
American diplomats should also strive to convince Chinese officials that Russia is trying to drag Beijing into the anti-American bloc, an action that runs contrary to China’s long-term economic interests. In addition, US officials should remind Beijing that unless Tehran is restrained, Iran is likely to drive up world oil prices through pursuit of its aggressive policies, especially its nuclear research program. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. China is experiencing a tremendous rise in energy consumption, driven by the country’s rapid economic development. As a UN Security Council member, China could play a key role in the possible imposition of sanctions against Iran, if Tehran continues to defy the international community on the nuclear issue.
The oil price issue represents a wedge that the United States can use to divide Russia and China. With its abundant yet hard-to-extract energy reserves, Russia is a high-cost oil producer, and is thus interested in the Middle East instability to keep oil prices high and its budget revenues higher. À senior Putin foreign policy advisor told me that Russia will quietly cheer more Middle East instability as oil prices may climb to $90 a barrel or higher. China, on the other hand, has an almost insatiable demand for energy so that it can maintain its present economic growth pace. Thus, Beijing is interested in keeping the price of Middle East oil as low as possible.
There are few levers available to Washington to influence Russian behavior. Perhaps the best Washington can do is to remind the Kremlin of the likely geopolitical repercussions of an aggressive, nuclear armed Iran. Russia’s present support for Tehran could easily boomerang in the coming years, and Moscow could come to see Tehran posing a geopolitical threat to the Russian Federation’s southern flank. Iranian influence is already making inroads into Azerbaijan, and Tehran is likely to intensify its competition with Moscow for influence throughout the Caucasus and Central Asia.
As US officials engage China and Russia, Washington should concurrently continue building relationships not only with Kazakhstan, but also with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Mongolia. Bush Administration strategists believe that wealth creation, robust education strategies, and ethnic and religious harmony will go a long way to stem the rise of radical Islam, and thus take much of the steam out of the SCO.
As America is pursuing its “long war” on jihadi terrorism and ideology, it can ill-afford a conflict with Russia and China in Eurasia. Thus, Washington must explore ways to establish a dialogue with SCO, or risk yet another humiliation in the hands of Moscow and Beijing.
Editor’s Note: Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., is Senior Research Fellow in Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Security at the Heritage Foundation, and the author of Eurasia in Balance (Ashgate, 2005) and Russia-Kazakhstan Energy Cooperation (GMB Publishing, 2006).
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav061506.shtml
The Quill Pen Ten -
June 8, 2006 - June 14, 2006
Welcome to another edition of the Quill Pen Ten. Veterans of the OpinionEditorials.com community know it as the QPT. The QPT is a collection of the ten most-interesting and most-popular op-eds of the preceding week.
The QPT is brought to you by your friends at Frontiers of Freedom. Frontiers is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy organization dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans and restoring constitutional limits on the extent and power of government.
Presenting the Quill Pen Ten:
George C. Landrith: The ACLU: Anti-Boy Scout and Pro-Child Molester
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – famous (or infamous) for using the legal system to attack the Boy Scouts and Christmas – is now protecting the “right” of convicted child molesters and sexual predators to lurk near playgrounds and other places where children gather. Simply put, the ACLU, once famous for defending the rights of free speech, now attacks the Boy Scouts and argues in favor of giving child sexual predators easy access to our children and grandchildren. To add insult to injury, the ACLU uses our tax dollars to help fund these lawsuits...
Michael M. Bates: A real confidence builder for geezers
The oldest baby boomers are turning 60 this year. Anyone mouthing that twaddle about 50 being the new 30 hasn’t checked out my medicine cabinet. I could regale you with mesmerizing details of assorted aches, pains and maladies, but there isn’t enough space here for that. Besides, I probably couldn’t recollect all of them. Such is life in the slowing down quickly lane...
Randall H. Nunn: Will Congressman Murtha Celebrate the Death of Zarqawi?
Now that it has been announced that the leader of the terrorist vermin in Iraq has been killed, it will be interesting to see the reaction of Congressman John Murtha. Murtha, who previously displayed his ignorance and lack of judgment by stating that the Marines in Haditha, Iraq had “killed innocent civilians in cold blood”, when the investigation was not complete and there was nothing to base that statement on other than a swirling cloud of sensational allegations, now has an opportunity to speak up and commend the U.S. military for destroying one of the most vicious killers in the world today. Let us see if the Congressman who said the Army is “broken,” our military’s ground equipment is “worn out” and that “the U.S. cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily” has the courage and fairness to praise the military for a job well done...
Frank Salvato: Zarqawi…Ragdoll
News out of Iraq heralded the demise of arguably one of the most vicious terrorists the world has ever known, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. It wasn’t so much the number of innocent lives he took, although that number is substantial, instead it was the method by which he took them, beheadings, directed suicide bombings and the use of improvised explosive devices. Zarqawi is dead and the world is a better and perhaps a safer place because of that. Of course you wouldn’t know that by listening to Michael Berg...
Hans Zeiger: Reagan's Children Released
This week my second book is available from Broadman and Holman Publishers of Nashville. It’s called Reagan’s Children: Taking Back the City on the Hill. With it I take a risk. My thesis is controversial; it suggests hope. Some there are among conservatives whose brand of conservatism thrives on pessimism. They feed on rantings about everything from immigration to Ted Kennedy to the character of the rising generation. ..
Joe Bell: Does America Still Believe Evil Is Real?
With the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi a major terrorist has fallen. It will not herald the end of violence in Iraq but it will deal a blow to those who continue to besiege that nation. Violence was Zarqawi’s trade but he and his cohorts failed to prevent any of the recent elections from taking place and most recently the three remaining security ministry cabinet positions – Minister of Defense, Minister of the Interior, and State Minister of National Security – have been filled...
Gordon E. Finley, Ph.D.: The Health of Fatherhood
As we look forward to the quantity and quality of our lives in the 21st century we face an unprecedented challenge. As a nation, it is critical for all men, women, and children to cease denying the silent epidemic of the demise of fathers from the lives of our children and acknowledge the consequences for both children and fathers. Here are the horns of the dilemma we are facing...
Dan Abbett: Ann Coulter’s Godless
The topic of the article I intended to write last week was about the “wishful thinking” of liberals and the way they want things to be. Try as I may however, I just couldn’t connect the dots. Viewing it in the context of Ms. Coulter’s assertion, that to the left, Liberalism is a religion, the pieces fell neatly into place. When the idol you worship is an ideology, no amount of factual evidence will deter your position or belief on the issues. ..
Lee P. Butler: Ann Coulter Makes Liberals Squeal Like A Pig
Columnist for the Miami Herald, Leonard Pitts recently wrote, “When, however, even widows (and orphans?) become fair game for a viperous harridan with an ax to grind and books to sell, maybe decent people should wonder at the lines we have crossed and the type of the nation we have become in the process”...
Carey Roberts: Playing Politics with the Federal Fatherhood Initiative
Last week the Pope issued a wake-up call to persons of all religious persuasions. “Never before in history,” the pontiff warned, has the family “been so threatened as in today’s culture.” As the traditional defender and protector of the family, it’s no surprise that fathers and fatherhood have taken the brunt of the Leftist-feminist onslaught...
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opeds@opeds.com
http://www.opinioneditorials.com/currentqpt.html
[ a post for study and research]
Christian Science Monitor
June 15, 2006 edition
Living at Gaza's edge grows perilous, again
The Israeli town Sderot has been hit by dozens of
Palestinian rockets over the past week.
By Joshua Mitnick | Correspondent of The Christian
Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0615/p07s02-wome.html
SDEROT, ISRAEL – Ask any kid in this sleepy town near
the Gaza Strip what scares them the most, and they're
likely to say shachar adom. When the garbled Hebrew
words meaning red dawn come over Sderot's public
address system, there are about 15 seconds to take
cover before makeshift rockets fired by Palestinian
militants touch down.
"The children are frightened. There are big kids
wetting their beds. Others are taking relaxation
pills," says Sima Hadad, a mother of three who kept
her children home from school and demonstrated against
the Israeli government on Tuesday. Like Ms. Hadad,
many here say the Israeli government hasn't responded
forcefully enough to the uptick of Palestinian rocket
fire since eight Gazans were killed on a beach last
Friday.
Since then, this blue collar community of 24,000 has
absorbed dozens of salvos as the flare-up between
Israel and Hamas grew into near daily attacks from
both sides.
And while the number of victims from the crude rockets
here is dwarfed by the tally on the Palestinian side,
11 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack
Tuesday, the trauma felt by Sderot and nearby Israeli
communities is beginning to recast the policy of
unilateral withdrawal. At stake could be the fate of
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan for a sweeping
pullback in the West Bank.
"The disengagement has blown up in the face of
residents of Sderot," says Alon Davidi, a Sderot
resident who embarked on a hunger strike this week to
pressure the government to respond harshly to the
rocket attacks. "Every unilateral step will ultimately
return as a boomerang without anyone to take
responsibility except for ourselves. Today, the world
is telling us: You disengaged. Don't come with
complaints."
When Israel left Gaza in September, it thought that
redeploying along an internationally recognized border
would earn it more leeway in responding to the
cross-border rocket salvos.
But after the killing of the eight Palestinian
beachgoers invited a wave of international reproach,
Israel is realizing that the international community
will tolerate significantly less force against the
Palestinians than initially expected. That has raised
questions in Sderot about what an effective policy of
deterrence should look like after Israel hands over
land to the Palestinians.
"We need to hit them until they raise the white flag
and say, 'We're ready for whatever you want,'" says
Hava Gad, a mother of three who is also a hunger
striker.
Some say this means air attacks razing Palestinian
villages used by rocket launchers. Others have
suggested a ground assault. But analysts say there is
no perfect answer to the Kassam rockets.
"As clichéd as it sounds, there's no military
solution. You can have some short-term gains, you can
destroy some workshops, you can round up people
shooting rockets," says Yossi Alpher, the editor of
Bitterlemons.org online journal on Middle East
Affairs. "You can reoccupy the northern Gaza Strip,
and instead you'll have the military casualties. It
would put a lot of things on ice, like the
disengagement plan and [Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas's] political plan. You wouldn't be able to stay
that long either; you'd be under serious international
pressure from the United States and Europe to
withdraw."
It's a debate that has revealed some unexpected
divisions among Israeli politicians.
The leading proponent for moderation has been Sderot
favorite son and newly minted defense minister, Amir
Peretz. Earlier in the week, he turned down a military
plan to launch what would have been the first major
offensive in Gaza since the pullout.
The bid to give the fighting a chance to subside has
turned many neighbors into bitter critics, and the
hunger strikers have hunkered down in a tent next to
Mr. Peretz's house with signs like "Conquer Gaza."
Supporting Sderot residents' demand for a more
punishing response has been Amram Mitzna, a dovish
former general. Mr. Mitzna, a supporter of evacuating
settlements in the West Bank, said the pullbacks must
be accompanied by an effective deterrent, like
Israel's response to Hizbullah attacks after its
withdrawal from southern Lebanon six years ago. "We
leave the territory [up] until the last centimeter,
and you don't dare fire," says Mr. Mitzna. "If you
dare, we will use all the means so you will stop."
Less than a mile from Gaza, Sderot residents can
easily make out the bucolic fields and houses of Beit
Hanoun, the Palestinian village used by rocket
launchers as cover. Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal told
reporters that since April 2001, some 3,000 rockets
have been fired from Gaza into southern Israel, most
of them at Sderot, killing five residents. The attacks
have ravaged the Sderot's economy - and even started a
small exodus. More would leave if they could afford
it.
In recent months, the town has been averaging 80
rockets a month, an uptick from before the
disengagement. Standing in front of a montage of
pictures of the Kassam victims in the Sderot
municipality's conference room, Mr. Moyal posed
cradling a big piece of piping with four fins
attached, a finish of green paint, and "Qassam 2"
stenciled on the side. "This fell next to my house,"
he said. "We are suffering on a daily basis. The life
in Sderot is not normal."
[Will we live like this someday?]
A tenuous tahadiyeh, Thursday, June 15, 2006
By Robert Rosenberg in Tel Aviv at http://www.ariga.com
Updated exclusively for subscribers at 20:40
[a post for study and research, from the other side...]
Kafirs and munafiqs expect assault on Jokhar?
Sources of Kavkaz Center in Chechnya report about the noticeably increased military presence of invaders and puppets in capital Jokhar.
According to the source, on the eve of the dramatized Kadyrov's sabbath under the name of "100 days" on which some thousand of students, schoolboys and employees of puppet structures have been driven, additional military formations and armored vehicles had been brought in to Chechen capital. All approaches to the city are strengthened by additional units, armored troop-carriers and BMPs. Mobile check point are set out.
Permanent large-scale "cleansing operations" are conducting practically in all areas of the capital before the dramatized sabbath and after it. Retaliatory raids are carried out in near villages and in settlements of Urus-Martan, Achhoy-Martan, Grozny-Selsk, Vedneo, Nojay-Yurt, Shali and Kurchaloy districts of the country.
Native and close ones of puppet militia tell their friends that occupational structures are in expectations of serious troubles. Many high-ranking puppets have taken out their families to Moscow and to other cities of Russia. In private conversations employees of various occupational departments and services say about the possible beginning of large firefights for Jokhar and that ostensibly 5 thousand of Mujahideen have already got into the capital.
Russian mass-media also report about the nervous conditions among invaders and puppets. Russian media do the assumption that as a result of prospective military operation of Mujahideen the control over the Chechen capital can pass to governmental forces of CRI.
Interestingly some puppet heads of pro-Moscow Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Chechen Republic admit that some offers from the Kremlin have really been given to Mujahideen in connection with the forthcoming summit of G-8 in St.-Petersburg, and also some preliminary arrangements in this occasion have been reached (Moscow, ostensibly asked Mujahideen to not conduct large operations for the period of the summit, especially in St.-Petersburg having given in the return some interesting offer).
Besides local puppets and invaders recognize that this spring military activity of Mujahideen is considerably above the previous, and that disturbs and forces to be nervous the occupational command.
Musa Stone,
Kavkaz Center
Publication time: 15 June 2006, 21:22
Permanent address at KAVKAZCENTER.COM: http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2006/06/15/4795.shtml
© Copyright 2001-2006 KavkazCenter.com
[a post for study and research, from the other side]
French Lawyers Condemn «Chechen Cells» Trial in Paris
A court on Wednesday convicted 25 people "for their roles in preparing an attack in France in support of Islamic fighters in Chechnya".
The five top defendants received prison terms of 8 to 10 years, while the others received lesser sentences. Two were acquitted. All but one defendant had been accused of helping Islamic fighters in Chechnya in what prosecutors said underscored the "globalization of the jihad movement.", reported AP fron Paris.
The AP story lacks any explanation how a terrorist attack in Paris would support Islamist fighters in Chechnya. The BBC's radio report on the convictions this morning states that among the intended targets were "Israeli interests," a fact which appears to have dropped out of the AP story. Also missing from the AP story is any of the handwringing on display among Canadians asking what they did to deserve the attention of jihadists bent on destruction. Mark Steyn's review of Melanie Phillips's Londonistan addresses the Canadians' mystification: "You can't believe your lyin' eyes.", comments a US-based Power Line Website.
Meanwhile the Associated Press French-language Service quotes the words of Isabelle Coutant, a lawyer of one of the accused at the Paris trial, Merouane Benhamed. She said: "These are the verdicts for the benefit of the U.S., Algeria and Russia. They are sentenced because they are Moslems. France is charged to convict Moslems who impede the great powers.
Another lawyer, Anne-Guillaume Serre, condemned the torture of the accused Moslems by the police in prison and expressed a regret that the trial approved tortures in its verdict. "They (the judges and the police) aranged everything in advance", told Ms Serre, reports the Swiss Tageblatt newspaper.
Kavkaz Center
Publication time: 15 June 2006, 19:59
Permanent address at KAVKAZCENTER.COM: http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2006/06/15/4793.shtml
© Copyright 2001-2006 KavkazCenter.com
In my opinion, this is a website for muslim/commusnist Americans.....based in America and very anti.
http://dailymuslims.com/
[a post for study and research]
PROTESTS IN CRIMEA, INCITEMENT FROM MOSCOW, PARALYSIS IN KYIV THWART MILITARY EXERCISES
By Vladimir Socor
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Political deadlock in Kyiv derails military cooperation with the West
Kyiv authorities mishandled legal, political, and security aspects of the Sea Breeze and Tight Knot planned exercises, giving the local pro-Russia forces and Moscow an unexpected opportunity to derail this track of Ukraine-U.S. and Ukraine-NATO relations. By starting preparations for the exercises under deadline pressure without parliamentary authorization, official Kyiv allowed the protesters to seize and misuse the legal high ground. Kyiv did not seem to anticipate local resistance in the Crimea, a known stronghold of pro-Russia sentiment; and it failed to cope with the disorders over a two-week period before giving up.
At NATO headquarters in Brussels on June 8, Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko said that the two exercises were being postponed, not canceled. But the National Security and Defense Council's newly appointed Acting Secretary, Volodymyr Horbulin, implied in his June 9 briefing in Kyiv that postponement amounted to cancellation. Anti-Western, mainly Russian protesters were interdicting the movement of U.S. military personnel and equipment in Crimea's Feodosiya area, supported by deputies from the Party of Regions and egged on by television broadcasts from Moscow and Russian Duma deputies. The holding of Sea Breeze-2006 had become politically impossible, and the situation in the Crimea was radicalizing the actions of the Party of Regions in eastern Ukraine and in Kyiv.
Some 250 U.S. Marine reservists, who had landed on May 27-28 to prepare the Sea Breeze exercise, left aboard two U.S. military transport planes from Simferopol on June 11 and 12. Originally tasked to upgrade the Staryy Krym training range near Feodosiya, the American group was stopped en route by protesters, was then denied hotel accommodation, and had to spend two weeks under military protection in a Ukrainian naval hostel. They faced vociferous round-the-clock pickets recruited from the usual mix of Sovietophile pensioners and young Russian nationalists, with a sprinkling of pseudo-Cossacks (this organization is not indigenous to the Crimea), all mobilized by local chapters of pro-Russian parties in Ukraine. Similar groups blocked the U.S. military equipment in the port of Feodosiya's customs area after the ship that had unloaded it, the Advantage, left Ukraine's territorial waters. Official Kyiv's attempts to deny that that the equipment included weapons and that the landing necessitated parliamentary approval sounded unconvincing and added grist to the protesters' mill (Interfax-Ukraine, UNIAN, BBC-monitored Ukrainian television broadcasts, June 1-11).
A few locals did display a friendly attitude toward the Americans, but the well-orchestrated anti-U.S. spectacle captured the airwaves and defined the events. The Ukrainian authorities' disarray prompted a Kyiv editorialist to observe that the area had become not only "NATO-free" by the Crimean legislature's resolution, but also "government-free" through the Kyiv government's ineffectiveness (Zerkalo Nedeli, June 3-9).
When the U.S. group left, the heads of Crimea's legislature and government showed up at Simferopol airport to tell the senior Marine officers that official Kyiv had inflamed the local situation by trying to hold Sea Breeze without legal approval, instead of working with the parliament and informing the local public in advance about the exercise. These Crimean leaders expressed hope that lessons would be drawn and military cooperation would continue, based on the law and on open information (Channel Five TV [Kyiv], June 11). This message -- somewhat paralleling that sent by Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych to NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer four days earlier -- seems to imply that radicals had exploited the situation to outflank the established leaders and that the latter might still be open to a deal after a cooling-off period.
Sea Breeze, held almost every year since 1997 in the Crimea, is a bilateral Ukraine-U.S. exercise, in which other countries participate in the framework of NATO's Partnership for Peace program. Fifteen countries had accepted invitations to send troops or observers this year. Tight Knot, a bilateral Ukrainian-British tactical aviation exercise, was to be held for the first time. Its start had been scheduled for June 14 in the Mykolayiv oblast, where Ukrainian-British ground force exercises had been held in previous years. The city of Mykolayiv also became the scene of anti-"NATO" pickets last week, though on a relatively small scale; the city council proclaimed Mykolayiv a "NATO-free zone" as well, advising the British personnel to stay out of sight; and radical-leftist protesters were pitching a tent camp outside the gate to the Kulbakine airfield (Interfax-Ukraine, Channel Five TV [Kyiv], June 3, 10).
These and other joint exercises held or planned in Ukraine are not NATO undertakings, but they involve troops from key NATO countries. These exercises are crucial to Ukraine for achieving interoperability with allied forces and validating Ukraine's membership aspirations. Failure to hold those long-planned exercises -- particularly when such failure stems from a breakdown of governance -- jeopardizes Kyiv's and its Western supporters' goal to obtain a NATO Membership Action Plan for Ukraine this year.
http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2371180
[for study and research. April 2006]
Shanghaied in Shanghai
China-Russia-Iran Axis Takes Concrete Form as Iran is Welcomed into Shanghai Cooperation Organization
By Steve Schippert
Last Friday, we noted that Iran was to meet up with their partners, China and Russia, in Moscow.
China (‘Concerned’ China) has sent an envoy to Iran, Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai, for stopover talks before both proceed to Moscow to join up with the other Iranian enabler within the UN Security Council. A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said, “The visit aims at stepping up exchanges with all parties concerned in a bid to help resolve the nuclear issue.” He added that China is “worried about the way in which things are developing.” That could mean a lot of things, but likely refers more to the American debate over strikes hitting a crescendo.
The extent of that partnership is taking even more concrete form. From Regime Change Iran, we learn of an Asia Times article reporting that China and Russia are welcoming Iran into the SCO. Also noteworthy and troubling is that “Mongolia, India and Pakistan, which previously had observer status, will become full members” along with Iran. If the SCO were an economic organization it would be one thing. But it is clearly a security organization (even a military confederacy?) under the thin guise of an economic cooperative.
Consider that the “SCO’s decision to welcome Iran into its fold constitutes a political statement. Conceivably, SCO would now proceed to adopt a common position on the Iran nuclear issue at its summit meeting June 15.”
What position might Russia and China dictate that the SCO adopt? That it will include a critical and indispensable American ally in the War on Terror, Pakistan, and India, finally assuming ally status and newly declared American nuclear partner is troubling.
If this proceeds as envisioned by China and Russia, the impact it will have on relationships with the two American allies, both new and fragile, could be destructive.
The timing is quite deliberate.
By the end of April the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to report to the United Nations Security Council in New York regarding Iran’s compliance with the IAEA resolutions and the Security Council’s presidential statement, which stresses the importance of Iran “reestablishing full, sustained suspension of uranium-enrichment activities”.
The SCO membership is therefore a lifeline for Iran in political and economic terms. The SCO is not a military bloc but is nonetheless a security organization committed to countering terrorism, religious extremism and separatism. SCO membership would debunk the US propaganda about Iran being part of an “axis of evil”.
The article also quotes Gennady Yefstafiyev, a former general in Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, who wrote a commentary in China’s People’s Daily on April 13 decrying US actions and attempts to halt the Iranian nuclear program through the UN.
“The real intention behind the US fueling the Iran issue is to prompt the UN to impose sanctions against Iran, and to pave the way for a regime change in that country. The US’s global strategy and its Iran policy emanate out of its decision to use various means, including military means, to change the Iranian regime. This is the US’s set target and is at the root of the Iran nuclear issue.”
He went on to state that the root intent is American hegemony in the region and control over gas and oil, which is patently false (see Iraq). But to the above statement of the intent to create the conditions for a regime change in Iran, he is absolutely correct and there should be no hesitance in official US acknowledgement.
Clearly, via the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the lines are being overtly drawn in the sand, and on which side Russia and China are resting their shoes has never been more clear.
That it potentially includes now both Pakistan and India joining the Sino-Russo stance on the Iranian sprint toward nuclear arms is cause for alarm.
It may be time for President Bush (and more importantly, the American public) to revisit and re-state with post 9/11 clarity, “You are either with us, or you are with the terrorists.” Nuance on this issue is more than dangerous. It may be destructive.
The stakes with a potentially nuclear premier State Sponsor of Terrorism cannot be overstated, and the lines are being drawn for us to either recognize and address…or ignore.
April 19, 2006 08:54 AM | Permalink
http://inbrief.threatswatch.org/2006/04/shanghaied-in-shanghai/
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