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.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1680773/posts
NY police targeted with 'anthrax'
Herald Sun ^ | 10 August 2006
Posted on 08/09/2006 4:09:35 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
TWO police officers were taken to a hospital today after opening an envelope that contained a suspicious white powder, the New York Police Department said.
The two police officers worked in the mail screening facility at police headquarters in downtown Manhattan and opened an envelope that contained an "undetermined white powder," said police department spokesman Paul Browne.
They underwent decontamination before being taken to hospital as a precautionary measure in case the powder turned out to be anthrax, Mr Browne said.
The powder was not accompanied with a note.
On July 14 and August 2, The New York Times said it had received an envelope with a suspicious white powder, raising fears on of an anthrax attack.
In both incidents the powder was found to be non-hazardous.
The incidents raised fears of a repeat of a series of anthrax attacks in the United States, which started one week after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Letters with a Trenton, New Jersey, postmark and containing anthrax bacteria were mailed to several media offices and two US senators, killing five people and sickening 17 others.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1680667/posts
Transportation Department Laptop Stolen (Florida Pilot and Driver Data including Truck Drivers)
The Washington Post ^ | August 9, 2006 | Christopher Lee and Del Quentin Wilber
Posted on 08/09/2006 1:06:50 PM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
A laptop computer belonging to the federal Department of Transportation inspector general's office was stolen last month, putting the sensitive personal information of nearly 133,000 Florida residents at risk, Acting Inspector General Todd J. Zinser said today.
The laptop, assigned to a special agent in the Miami office, was stolen from a government vehicle on July 27 in Doral, Fla., Zinser told Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) today in a letter obtained by The Washington Post.
The computer contains the names, Social Security numbers, birthdates and addresses of 42,792 Florida residents who hold a pilot's license; 80,667 people in the Miami-Dade County area who hold commercial driver's licenses; 9,496 people who took personal driver's license tests or obtained their license from an examining facility near Tampa, the letter said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1680871/posts
Tenth Northwest Indiana Sniper Shooting Reported
CBS2CHICAGO ^ | 09 AUGUST 2006 | CBS2CHICAGO
Posted on 08/09/2006 6:44:19 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
(CBS) Northwest Indiana police have received a report of a tenth sniper shooting.
At 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, George Simonich, 28, of Channanon, and Kevin Reisner, 28, were traveling in the southbound lanes of Cline Avenue and reported their back window had been shattered.
Reisner, who was driving the pickup truck, said he heard a “very loud pop” and thought they had blown a tire, only to find the window shattered.
The incident took place in the far right lane just west of Riley Road. The victims pulled into a gas station to call police.
No one was injured.
Authorities photographed the vehicle and collected evidence at the scene.
Meanwhile, the FBI is working on a profile of a possible suspect. Authorities also closed down a stretch of Cline Avenue in Hammond Tuesday so officers could search the roadway for evidence.
Federal, state, county and local police collected numerous items from the pavement and shoulder, at several points along the way, but won't say exactly what.
"Whether the evidence is related to the incidents has yet to be determined," Higgins said.
One of the locations tagged was near the area where police found an ottoman and other items that might have been used by a shooter.
No one has been injured in the apparently random attacks on motorists that began shortly after a sniper killed a driver on Interstate 65 in downstate Indiana last month.
Lake County Sheriff Roy Dominguez announced the creation of a task force Monday after nine motorists reported damaged vehicles from some sort of projectile.
Hammond, East Chicago and Gary police have added patrols on Cline Avenue, while task force members in unmarked cars continually cruise the stretch where the shootings occurred.
Police have not identified the sniper's weapon, noting it could be a pellet or BB gun or even a slingshot.
Unless they recovered shell casings or bullets Tuesday, investigators have not obtained evidence linking the attacks to a gun.
Investigators are also asking for help from the public. Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter says the person responsible has probably told someone about it.
Police set up a task force hot line for anyone with information about the shootings to call anonymously. The hot line is (877) 324-4748. Police said anyone who hears shots or is struck should dial 911 immediately.
Ah....read this line a few times:
No one has been injured in the apparently random attacks on motorists that began shortly after a sniper killed a driver on Interstate 65 in downstate Indiana last month.
>>>>We have a BOLO out in the Kingman area for a man 20 to 30 years old, white, with a shaved head
Lock your doors!
Look at what amgoindojahad said, he is going to be on 60 Minutes Sunday night....
The American government, sir, it is very clear to me they have to change their behavior and everything will be resolved. (George W. Bush) believes that his power emanates from his nuclear warhead arsenals. The time of the bomb is in the past, it's behind us. Today is the era of thoughts, dialogue and cultural exchanges."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/09/60minutes/main1879867.shtml
TerroristWarning.com Terrorism Headlines 08/09/2006 # 1
National:
[Marietta Times] OHIO / MICHIGAN / GLOBAL - Arrests tied to terrorism
"TracFones being bought in bulk at area retail stores are suspected of being shipped overseas and used to detonate roadside bombs"
http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/new22_89200683934.asp
[WNBC/AP] NEW YORK - Suspicious White Powder Found At NYPD Headquarters
http://www.wnbc.com/news/9652727/detail.html
[Washington Post] USA - Report of Package Closes Rail Section [For more transporation terrorism and security items please sign up at www.TransitSecurityReport.com ]
"report of a suspicious package at the Brentwood rail yard prompted the shutdown of Metrorail service between the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood and Gallery Place stations this morning"
"Also this morning, D.C. police were investigating a report of two suspicious packages near Scott Circle"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/09/AR2006080900510.html?nav=rss_metro
[CBC] CANADA - Quebec anti-terror squad probes oil exec's car blast
"news media around the world started receiving e-mails from a group called the Initiative de résistance internationaliste (IRI), claiming it had firebombed the car"
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2006/08/08/car-firebombed.html
[WFAA] TEXAS - Suspicious package examined in Plano
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/tv/stories/wfaa060808_wz_suspiciouspkg.4c2cf45.html
[AP] WASHINGTON - Six arrested, three jailed for protest at Navy submarine base
http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8JCAS600.html
[KDKA] PENNSYLVANIA - Packages Sent To Area Synagogues Were Harmless
http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_220120135.html
[Public CIO] ILLINOIS - Illinois Holds Major Exercise to Test Response to Simulated Nuclear Power Plant Accident
http://www.public-cio.com/newsStory.php?id=2006.08.08-100493
[El Dorado Times] KANSAS - Health department trains for bioterrorism
http://www.eldoradotimes.com/articles/2006/08/08/news/news2.txt
[NCR] USA - Peace group under FBI surveillance
http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2006c/081106/081106o.php
[NBC2 NEWS] FLORIDA - Security breach: Driver cruises airport runway
"racing down the runway next to a plane that was taking off"
http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=8281&z=3&p=
[Chicago Sun-Times] INDIANA - FBI Joins Hunt For Sniper
http://www.nbc5.com/news/9645093/detail.html
[Tuscaloosa News] ALABAMA - More troopers will be trained to arrest illegal immigrants
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060807/NEWS/608070339/1007/NEWS03
[American Thinker] USA / IRAQ/ WMD - AP Writer Ignores Evidence of Iraq WMD
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5745
[CP] CANADA - Ten more Saskatchewan farms quarantined due to anthrax outbreak
"brings the total number of quarantined farms to 123, and the total number of dead animals — mostly cattle and bison — to 615"
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060809.wanthrax0808/BNStory/National/home
[Star Tribune] USA - FBI remains 'optimistic' for arrest in anthrax case [Amerithrax]
http://www.startribune.com/484/story/603304.html
[McClatchy News Service] USA - Anthrax fears getting filtered out, but threat of bioterrorism remains
http://www.startribune.com/484/story/603282.html
[Yakima Herald-Republic] NEW YORK - Officials prepare for a pandemic [TW Editor: Is your state doing this? It should be.]
"forum will explain health and government officials' plans and offer instructions on how individuals, families, businesses, schools and health facilities can prepare for a pandemic or other public health emergency"
http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/286739189765809
[The Reality Check/ Jim Kouri] USA - Emergency Management: Can America Respond to a Bird Flu Pandemic?
"The Chiefs of Police Association is concerned with the possibility of the intentional spread of the Avian Influenza by terrorist organizations"
http://www.therealitycheck.org/GuestColumnist/jkouri110905.htm
[Pentagon] USA - INFORMATIONAL - Watch the Pentagon Channel [TW Editor: As per our disclaimer, inclusion of a link to the Pentagon Channel means only that we think you may find it of interest, and does not infer or indicate any endorsement of our service]
http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/
[Navy Times] USA - Video Alleges Security Problems With Converted U.S. Coast Guard Cutters [TW Editor: Video author suggests incompetence at Lockheed, various government agencies, and indicates multiple national security vulnerabilities. We support those serving in the USCG and all military branches, and if some are unnecessarily being put in danger, the story needs to be told.]
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2006677&C=landwar
See also Link to Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd3VV8Za04g
"This situation leaves the boats and the crew in a position where someone could access the boat without being seen"
International:
[The Journal] UNITED KINGDOM - Nuclear fear as arsonists attack
"Arsonists started a blaze at a building containing radioactive material on Newcastle Quayside"
http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/thejournal/regional/tm_objectid=17532129%26method=full%26siteid=50081%26headline=nuclear%2dfear%2das%2darsonists%2dattack-name_page.html
[Reuters] PAKISTAN - Gas pipeline blown up in southwestern Pakistan
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL92670.htm
[Interfax] RUSSIA - Eighty-four Chechen militants surrender after Patrushev's call
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?menu=1&id_issue=11568330
[AFP] AFGHANISTAN - Rebels must be tackled before Bin Laden: US
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?sectionfiltered=World_News&subsectionfiltered=Pakistan+%26+Sub-Continent&month=August2006&file=World_News2006080922510.xml
[MosCom] AFRICA - Forces on Terrorism-Bin Laden has Africa on his mind
http://www.observer.gm/enews/index.php?optionfiltered=com_content&task=view&id=5402&Itemid=42
[PakTribune.com ] PAKISTAN - Pakistan Consulate in Jeddah denies rumors of missing passports
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?151966
[MakFax] RUSSIA - Putin orders pull out from Chechnya
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/agencija/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublicationfiltered=2&NrArticle=32676&NrIssue=104&NrSectionfiltered=30
[Reuters] USA / NORTH KOREA - US, North Korea may be on collision course: group
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-08-08T150447Z_01_SEO6257_RTRUKOC_0_US-KOREA-NORTH-REPORT.xml
[Scotsman] NORTH KOREA - North Korea's leader 'in hiding'
"has not made any known public appearances since his country test-fired a barrage of missiles that drew international condemnation, leading to speculation of a possible sense of crisis inside the reclusive nation"
"Some North Korea watchers have speculated that Mr Kim might be in a bunker, since the communist country is believed to have gone on a quasi-war footing after the UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning the missile tests"
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1153522006
[DefenseNews.com] MOROCCO - Morocco Arrests Stoke Fears of Militant Threat
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2009403&C=mideast
[AP] BRAZIL - Gang Violence Continues in Sao Paulo
"Suspected gang members exchanged gunfire with police, hurled Molotov cocktails at banks and burned buses in and around Sao Paulo for a second day Tuesday"
http://www.forbes.com/business/energy/feeds/ap/2006/08/08/ap2936157.html
[Reuters] BRAZIL - Brazilian dies opening grenade with sledgehammer
"investigating a possible link to Rio's heavily armed drug gangs who often raid military bases"
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N08275921.htm
[UPI] ISRAEL - The 1973 Syndrome - What’s wrong with Israel?
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OWFkZDUxMjYxM2I1OWIxZjJmNDFmMTk3MTlhNjg5NzM
[New Anatolian] TURKEY - Suspicious person detained outside General Staff HQ
"with two rifles and a pistol"
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-12444.html
[IANS (Appearing on IndiaMuslims.info)] INDIA - Mobile phones pose new security threat in Kashmir
"mobile phone cameras can be used for spying by taking photos of sensitive areas and, worse, a mobile can be used for tapping conversations"
"groups could use mobile phones to cause improvised explosive device (IED) blasts through remote control"
http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2006/august/08/india_news/mobile_phones_pose_new_security_threat_in_kashmir.html
[INQ7.net] PHILIPPINES - 4 slain, 6 hurt in clashes, rebel attacks
http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnews/metroregions/view_article.php?article_id=14307
[ynet News] ISRAEL - 2 Islamic Jihad operatives killed in Jenin
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3288567,00.html
[Reuters] NORTH KOREA - N.Korea atomic test seen harming NE Asia economies
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-08-08T213944Z_01_N08179832_RTRUKOC_0_US-KOREA-NORTH-ECONOMY.xml&archived=False
[sluggerotoole.com] NORTHERN IRELAND - Micro organisations fire-bomb stores in Newry
"Incendiary devices believed to have been used in attacks on stores in Newry last night, completely destroying two stores and severely damaging others, have been attributed to “republican micro organisations” by Sinn Féin, according to the BBC"
http://www.sluggerotoole.com/index.php/weblog/micro_organisations_fire_bomb_stores_in_newry/
[Reuters] IRAQ - Security incidents in Iraq, Aug 9
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KAM921430.htm
[Bloomberg] AFGHANISTAN - Afghanistan Coalition Forces Kill 15 Rebels in East, U.S. Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=abDU7IBh.Kok&refer=canada
[Reuters] NIGERIA - Four expats kidnapped from oil ship off Nigeria
"kidnappings coincide with an upsurge in militant attacks against the oil industry which has crippled a quarter of oil production in the world's eighth largest exporter"
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-08-09T134804Z_01_L09654030_RTRUKOC_0_US-NIGERIA-KIDNAPPINGS.xml&archived=False
plane crashes
Passenger plane crashes in eastern Congo, killing at least 12
Canada.com - Hamilton,Ontario,Canada
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - A Ukrainian-built passenger plane crashed into a mountain and then tumbled into a valley in eastern Congo, killing at least a dozen of ...
Plane crashes at Bellefonte airport
Penn State Digital Collegian - University Park,PA,USA
... Benner Township. The plane, a Piper Malibu, which seats six passengers, was filled to capacity when the crash occurred. The State ...
Crop-duster plane crashes, killing Fresno pilot
Merced Sun-Star - Merced,CA,USA
... with him. The plane's spray tank was carrying the chemical Lannate, an insecticide, which broke open when it crashed. It dissipated ...
Plane crashes in eastern Congo, killing all 17 people on board
Canada.com - Hamilton,Ontario,Canada
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - A small passenger plane crashed into a mountain and then tumbled into a valley in eastern Congo, killing all 17 passengers and crew ...
Small plane crashes
Centre Daily Times - Centre County,PA,USA
By Dena Pauling. Firefighters at the scene of a plane crash after takeoff from the Bellefonte Airport along Raymonds Lane on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2006. ...
See all stories on this topic
train derails
Freight train derails
Adirondack Daily Enterprise - Saranac Lake,NY,USA
SARANAC LAKE — A northbound 107-car freight train derailed in Essex County this weekend, shutting down the railway between Saratoga Springs and Montreal. ...
Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin - Aug. 9, 2006
View this bulletin online here
http://pmw.org.il/bulletins_aug2006.htm#b090806
PA celebrates Hezbollah attacks
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
Palestinian Authority TV this week started to openly celebrate Israeli civilian casualties, and broadcast a video clip entitled, "Where will you run?” The clip shows Hezbollah terrorists launching rockets towards Israeli cities, followed by images of the Israeli civilian and military destruction and casualties.
One line in the Palestinian video is, "We are all South (Lebanon). We are all revolutionaries!"
This celebrating of attacks on Israeli civilians by the PA corresponds to a poll released yesterday, which found that "97% of Palestinians support Hezbollah's position towards Israel." [Near East Consulting, Ramallah]
To see the Palestinian video "Where will you run" CLICK HERE.
PATV
This figure of 97% support for Hezbollah attacks is even higher than the approximately 70% of Palestinians who consistently supported suicide terror against Israeli civilians during the four-year terror war. (This year, Palestinian support for suicide terror has stood around 55%.)
The higher support for Hezbollah attacks on civilians than for PA suicide terror may seem surprising, but there is a simple explanation. Those Palestinians who opposed suicide terror argued that it was "damaging to the Palestinians,” not that it was wrong. Even such so-called moderates as Mahmoud Abbas, Hanan Ashrawi and Sari Nusseibah called for a halt in PA suicide terror because of the damage to the Palestinian people, not because it was morally wrong.
This professed opposition to terror for tactical reasons meant that the actual proportion of Palestinians who considered Israeli civilians legitimate targets was always higher than the 70% mark. In this case, since Hezbollah attacks are not damaging the "Palestinian people," 97% of Palestinians support these attacks.
With this video clip, Palestinian TV follows Hezbollah TV station Al Manar, which has been celebrating civilian casualties daily in their clips.
To see Al Manar video CLICK HERE.
Please feel free to forward this bulletin, crediting Palestinian Media Watch
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Philippine police put Israeli Embassy in Manila under heightened alert
http://english.people.com.cn/200608/08/eng20060808_290677.html
Philippine, U.S. Navies To Conduct Joint Exercises Against Terrorism
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004463312
plane crashes
Plane crashes in Bennington, killing pilot
Boston Herald - United States
By Associated Press. POWNAL, Vt. - A small cargo plane crashed in a remote area on Friday, killing the pilot, the only one on board. ...
Plane crashes in Pownal, killing pilot
Boston Globe - United States
POWNAL, Vt. --Federal aviation and transportation officials are investigating a plane crash that killed the pilot. William Smith ...
See all stories on this topic
Small plane crashes in water of Cape Cod beach
Boston Herald - United States
BARNSTABLE, Mass. - A small plane has crashed in the water near a beach in Hyannis. Officials say the pilot was the only person aboard and was not injured. ...
From Monsters and Critics.com
Europe News
Serbia military to seal $1.3B deals
By UPI
Aug 9, 2006, 19:00 GMT
BELGRADE, Serbia (UPI) -- Serbia`s military is planning to sell some $1.3 billion in real estate once used by the Yugoslav armed forces to the Belgrade government.
Serbian Defense Minister Zoran Stankovic would not estimate how much the government, which owns all military real estate across Serbia, might earn but experts predict the sum could reach as much as $1.3 billion for 422 parcels.
The government has already approved the sale of 13 military sites that should bring about $5.8 million, Belgrade`s B92 radio reported Wednesday.
Stankovic said a building used by former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito from 1947-1980 will be sold to Americans. The building, called Marshall Headquarters, is in Belgrade`s Dedinje residential suburb, near the White Palace of the Serbian Karadjordjevic royal family.
'A sale agreement is being worked out and it is in a final stage. We expect about $15 million from that sale,' Stankovic said. No details were immediately available about the buyers.
Stankovic said the military will use the money from the sale to improve housing conditions for officers and for purchasing military equipment.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
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Could the rising gas prices be why we have not had another attack are we being blackmailed????
Saudi Arabia and Oil: Coping with the Challenge of Osama bin Laden
By Simon Henderson
January 28, 2005
On January 26, 2005, Riyadh announced that Prince Nawaf, head of the Saudi General Intelligence Department, had been relieved of his post. The move was not entirely unexpected-the prince has reportedly never fully recovered from a brain hemorrhage he suffered at the 2002 Arab Summit in Beirut. Yet, Riyadh failed to announce an immediate replacement for him. Consequently, a crucial part of the Saudi security apparatus is leaderless at a crucial time-Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda have not only intensified their antigovernment efforts, but also taken aim at a new target in recent months: the kingdom's oil industry.
A New Challenge
In December 2004, al-Qaeda attacked both the U.S. consulate in Jedda and the Saudi interior ministry in Riyadh. At the same time, bin Laden shocked financial markets around the world with his internet pronouncement that oil should be priced at a minimum of $100 per barrel. (The prevailing price, considered abnormally high, is between $45 and $50.) The statement was an ugly reminder of the danger posed by the Saudi-born terrorist leader and the central role of Saudi Arabia in the world oil market.
Although the most persistent aspects of bin Laden's statements are that non-Muslims should be expelled from “the land of the two holy places [Mecca and Medina]” (i.e., the Arabian peninsula) and that the House of Saud should be overthrown, an underlying, often understated, theme is that the oil riches of the region are being stolen by the non-Muslim West. Leaving aside the direct threat that bin Laden's followers pose to the government in Riyadh, the latter allegation is a conundrum for the Saudi authorities, who need the revenues from oil sales to fund development in the kingdom while maintaining good relations with customers across the world. Despite current high prices, Saudi officials like to depict their oil policy as being, in the words of Oil Minister Ali Naimi, “market stability” and “reasonable prices.”
In 2004, al-Qaeda began to act on its rhetoric by deliberately targeting oil-related facilities in Saudi Arabia for the first time. Seven people were killed in a May attack at Yanbu on the Red Sea coast, and thirty died in a similar outrage at al-Khobar on the Persian Gulf coast later the same month. Although production and export facilities are reportedly well guarded, the attacks have accelerated the steady withdrawal of Western expatriates from the kingdom, which may be having an impact on technical expertise in the industry. No U.S. airline currently flies to the kingdom, and British Airways is set to withdraw its own services to both Jedda and Riyadh, citing commercial reasons.
As early as 1996, in one of his first public pronouncements (entitled “Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places”), bin Laden claimed that “[oil] production is restricted or expanded and prices are fixed to suit the American economy.” The first part of this statement is at least partially true: Saudi Arabia acts a swing producer in the international oil market, cutting or expanding production as needed in an attempt to keep prices relatively stable, which benefits the U.S. economy. Such actions benefit Saudi Arabia as well, however, stabilizing its oil revenue and making oil a more economically viable energy source. This in turn encourages the continued widespread use of oil, to the benefit of the kingdom as the world's largest producer. Saudi Arabia is able to play the swing producer role because, unlike other oil exporters, it deliberately keeps a significant amount of spare capacity.
Last month's statement by bin Laden was unusually long, focusing much of its criticism on Saudi Arabia in addition to its anti-American rhetoric. He repeated his frequent refrain that “the enemy” (the United States) wants to “control our land [in order to] steal our oil.” Soon thereafter, the Saudi wing of al-Qaeda issued its own internet statement calling for all mujahedin to “target the oil supplies that do not serve the Islamic nation but the enemies of this nation.”
Riyadh's Response
The official Saudi preference for reacting to such threats is to do so only obliquely. The Saudi authorities claim that the oilfields are well protected-the state oil company Saudi Aramco employs what amounts to its own private army, backed by the paramilitary Saudi National Guard commanded by the de facto head of state, Crown Prince Abdullah.
Nevertheless, concern about Riyadh's ability to handle al-Qaeda seems likely to persist. In December, Abdullah spoke of countering the threat of “deviants” (the government's term for al-Qaeda terrorists) for as long as necessary, whether that be “twenty, thirty, or fifty years.” Yet, the two car bombs that went off outside the interior ministry in Riyadh in late December were aimed at the very agency charged with countering al-Qaeda. Although the attackers were reportedly killed in subsequent clashes, they had reportedly been targeting a senior official-and appeared to have enough inside information to nearly succeed.
The Saudi Oil Role
A week after bin Laden's December statement, the Saudi oil minister announced that the kingdom's reserves were probably significantly larger-by 200 billion barrels-than the currently claimed figure of 261 billion barrels. The declaration served as a bid to reinforce Saudi Arabia's image as the world's indispensable oil producer-and to counter persistent arguments against that indispensability voiced by some Western experts.
The announcement did in fact drive home the kingdom's central role in the world oil market. Whenever potential problems seem to emerge in Saudi Arabia, the markets get nervous. Oil supply is tight even under normal circumstances, but the international price has remained high due to a built-in risk premium (estimated to be at least $10 per barrel), partly because of concern about Saudi Arabia but also because of unrest in Iraq and labor problems in Nigeria, two other key producers. Any disruption in Saudi oil supplies would seriously affect the global economy.
Within the next twenty to thirty years, alternative technologies might substantially reduce the role of oil in the world economy. In the short term, however, the global community is perilously vulnerable to any drastic changes in Saudi oil policy (e.g., if the kingdom is no longer willing or able to play its current role). Hence, bin Laden's threats should serve as a wake-up call to policymakers, spurring them to institute mechanisms now that reduce Saudi Arabia's pivotal and threatened role (e.g., increasing stockpiles, investing in gasoline alternatives, improving efficiency).
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2246
From Monsters and Critics.com
Europe Features
Outside View: Is the CIS getting divorced?
By Pyotr Goncharov
Aug 9, 2006, 19:00 GMT
MOSCOW, Russia (UPI) -- The Commonwealth of Independent States is undergoing several processes, but essentially they boil down to a regulated disintegration of a once enormous country.
December 8, 1991 was not so much the CIS`s date of birth as a prelude to its formal disappearance.
This conclusion may sound depressing to some people, but it is most probably true. Credit for this verdict goes to the president of the Kyrgyz Institute of Social Policy, Kyrgyz former foreign minister and member of the RIA Novosti Expert Council Muratbek Imanaliyev. There is little to add to it except for the fact that as an international entity, the CIS has devised a record number of paper projects. It has implemented only 10 percent of the 1,600 documents drawn up over the 15 years of its existence; 90 percent were 'good intentions.'
The CIS has all the formal attributes of an international organization: charter documents, executive bodies, etc., but its decisions are not binding on its members, and this is the main problem. It is understandable why Nursultan Nazarbayev, president of Kazakhstan, the most dynamic CIS nation, made a 'demarche' at the recent Commonwealth summit: 'We should make decisions which meet everyone`s interests and we should not make a decision if any country disagrees.' He suggested five areas for resuscitating the CIS which would be good for all: migration policy, transportation, education, dealing with today`s challenges, and the humanitarian problem. Now the only thing to do is to find common ground and secure a consensus among all members of the CIS club.
Migration and education are definitely the most important questions. All members have a stake in resolving this problem on CIS territory. The widespread opinion that guest workers are exclusively bound for Russia is wrong in many respects. It is true that more of them come to Russia than to any other CIS country. But in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan the lack of proper conditions for the migration of workers is no less urgent than it is in Russia. The governments of the three republics should deal with this problem, which is sensitive in many respects. They should agree on how to resolve it. The situation in other parts of the CIS is much the same. To sum up, it is high time to adopt a law on migration in the CIS.
Education is a more appealing subject if it means the formation of unified standards for educational systems throughout the CIS. Resolution of this problem will streamline migration and even out the educational levels (at least on a regional scale in the beginning). It is indispensable for making the economies more equal, achieving EURASEC integration and developing cooperation in the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
The Kazakh president`s other proposals are also topical. He spoke about a 'united approach to international policy' and a 'common defense space.' But consensus on these questions will not be easy to reach. What is to be done? The CIS members should start working, and solutions may come in the process.
If the CIS implements the proposed reform on consensus and binding decisions, it will be making an effort to undo the divorce and restore cooperative relations. But is consensus always possible? There are some painful problems which can only be resolved with the passage of time. Is compromise possible at all in such cases?
Some CIS members are interested in the reform for geopolitical, economic, and historic reasons. But once it has been completed, the CIS may have fewer members, which is both predictable and natural.
As Imanaliyev points out, the CIS is not simply going through a divorce. It is also helping the former members of a once united country to develop two kinds of relations: between Russia and the rest and between newly independent states. All these processes are far from being completed; empires do not disappear overnight.
(Pyotr Goncharov is a political commentator for RIA Novosti. This article was reprinted with permission from the news agency.)
(United Press International`s 'Outside View' commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
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http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/article_1188693.php/Budapest_university_blaze_kills_3_hurts_7
From Monsters and Critics.com
Europe News
Budapest university blaze kills 3, hurts 7
By UPI
Aug 9, 2006, 19:00 GMT
BUDAPEST, Hungary (UPI) -- Three firefighters were killed and seven were injured in a blaze in a Budapest University building, a fire brigade spokesman said Wednesday.
A fire broke out Tuesday night in a cellar of the Technology university, which includes an underground shooting range whose walls are coated with rubber, the Hungarian MTI news agency reported.
The seven firefighters were hospitalized with smoke inhalation, with two of them in serious condition.
The three men who died lost their way in dense smoke while rushing downstairs to the cellar.
Some 90 firefighters took part in extinguishing the fire.
An investigation into the accident was under way, said Atilla Tatar, head of national disaster management.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southamerica/article_1188456.php/Brazil_passenger_plane_loses_door_midair
From Monsters and Critics.com
Americas News
Brazil: passenger plane loses door midair
By DPA
Aug 9, 2006, 19:00 GMT
Rio de Janeiro - A passenger plane in Brazil lost its door midair on Tuesday, sending the 79 passengers on board into panic, according to media reports.
The incident happened late in the afternoon in a Fokker-100 operated by TAM, civil air authorities said. The door ripped off about 20 minutes after takeoff from Sao Paulo.
There were no injuries.
Eyewitnesses said however that a cabin steward narrowly avoided death.
'She was immediately next to the door and had to react quickly to avoid falling out of the plane,' a passenger - student Camila Silva, 24 - said.
An older woman said she thought she was going to die.
'I'll never get it out of my head,' she said. 'I don't know if I'll ever fly again.'
The Brazilian airport authority Ifraero said the pilot reported technical difficulties shortly after takeoff and before the door fell off. A door had not closed properly, he said.
The door then fell to the ground near a super market and a museum in a suburb of Sao Paulo, but did not hit anyone.
The incident is being investigated, TAM, Brazil's largest airline, said.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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[Is this the next war?]
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southamerica/article_1187729.php/Analysis_Chavez_is_Latin_Americas_heir-apparent_to_aging_Castro
From Monsters and Critics.com
Americas Features
Analysis: Chavez is Latin America's heir-apparent to aging Castro
By Veronica Sardon
Aug 7, 2006, 19:00 GMT
Buenos Aires - Fidel Castro turns 80 on Sunday. He has for decades been a natural leader in Latin America, with charisma that more than made up for Cuba's limited resources and gave the small country an oversize position in the continent's politics.
Today, as Castro grows inevitably older and the first clear signs appear of deterioration in his health, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is at his side, ready to take on the mantle as champion of Latin America's identity.
'I listen to you like to a pupil,' Fidel Castro told the Venezuelan president only last month, at a regional summit meeting in Argentina. The leaders were inseparable in Cordoba, one of the last public appearances of the Cuban president before handing power to his brother Raul on July 31 due to illness.
Chavez and Castro, wearing suits, spoke at the summit of the Mercosur trade alliance, which Venezuela recently joined. Then they shed their dress clothes for an alternative People's summit, giving their anti-imperialist rhetoric free rein in front of a cheering crowd of 50,000. Castro, who spoke three hours, wore his trademark military fatigues. Chavez donned a red scarf.
The next day, the ideological comrades visited Alta Gracia, paying tribute to Cuba's revolutionary hero Ernesto 'Che' Guevara who was born in Argentina, stopping at his childhood home and talking to some of his childhood friends.
At age 52, Chavez is keen to show that he has the nod from the continent's most significant living historical figure, a feather in the cap of a leader who already casts a large shadow through Venezuela's huge oil reserves.
After the Cuban revolution ended in 1959, and with Soviet backing, Castro transformed the small, poor Caribbean island into a communist country of crucial symbolic significance only 150 kilometres off shore of the world's largest declared foe of communism, the United States.
Castro's regime, for decades the symbolic Cold-War launching pad for hypothetical foreign attacks on the US, may now have been reduced to little more than a pebble in Washington's shoe since the end of the Cold War in 1990.
But Castro still commands high political clout in a Latin America whose economy suffered greatly in the 1990s under governments that enjoyed US approval. Castro is a presence at most important Latin American gatherings, and leaders like Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pay homage with visits to him.
Even Colombia's right-wing President Alvaro Uribe claims that Castro is the head-of-state he can reach fastest on the phone, and the Cuban leader has played an important part in peace negotiations with Colombia's left-wing guerrillas.
Relations between Cuba and its traditional ally Mexico - the country where an exiled Castro prepared his definitive 1956 assault - have deteriorated in recent years. But Cuba remains a 'must' destination for Mexico's left-wing politicians.
Thus it is hardly surprising that Chavez likes to be seen with Castro. He has a similarly fiery anti-US rhetoric and his left-wing, authoritarian ways are criticised from Washington in much the same way that the Cuban regime is vilified.
Many analysts say Venezuela is stepping in to replace the lost Soviet backing. Castro's regime receives up to 90,000 barrels of crude oil daily from Caracas, and pays below-market prices in kind by sending its highly trained health, education and security professionals to Venezuela.
Venezuela, as the world's fifth largest crude oil exporter, certainly has the economic power to play this role. Unlike Cuba, which has been under US economic blockade for 44 years, Venezuela sent 50 per cent of its exports to the US in 2005, trading 44 billion dollars with the nation whose 'imperialist' practices Chavez so roundly criticizes.
In fact, Chavez is looking to surpass his master who, despite surviving hundreds of assassination plots, some of them publicly sponsored by the US, and ten presidents in the White House, never never managed to translate his undeniable relevance into power at the regional level.
In sheer numbers, Venezuela far outstrips the Caribbean island, with 25 million people and a gross domestic product (GDP) of 164.1 billion dollars. Cuba has only 11 million people and a 33.9 billion- dollar economy.
But beyond that, Chavez can use trade for leverage. Just last month, the state-owned oil company narrowed the flow of petroleum to the US, which gets 11 per cent of its supplies from Venezuela, shutting down distribution through its wholly owned Citgo stations. US President George W Bush responded with a call for more energy independence for the US.
Conversely, Chavez is trying to diversify trade, looking for partners beyond the region in Asia to reduce Venezuela's dependence on the US.
Following Castro's rhetorical example, Chavez has called Bush a 'drunkard' and 'murderer,' flaunted visits to Iran, which has promised to fund Venezuela's nuclear development programme, and threatened to visit North Korea.
He also recently returned triumphant from a huge weapons shopping trip to Russia. Chavez can afford it. The country has huge foreign exchange reserves from soaring oil prices, and they give Chavez a shot at squaring Castro's circle - by leading a revival of fast- spreading regional leftist nationalism to erode Washington's traditional influence on Latin America.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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From Monsters and Critics.com
Americas News
Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo held hostage to violence with 17 dead
By DPA
Aug 9, 2006, 19:00 GMT
Sao Paulo - The Brazilian states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro remained hostages to new violence Wednesday as a crime wave has left 17 people dead in four days.
In Sao Paulo, a series of attacks by criminal gangs on buses, bank branches and public buildings continued in the early hours of Wednesday, although with less intensity than during the previous two nights.
According to official figures made public Wednesday, a total of 11 attacks were carried out in the state of Sao Paulo, bringing the total number to 144 since Sunday.
Five alleged criminals have died since Monday in that state in clashes with police and more than 20 suspects arrested as 40 buses have been set on fire.
On Tuesday night a bomb alert that turned out to be false unleashed panic on Paulista Avenue, in the financial centre of the city of Sao Paulo. Police stopped traffic until it was confirmed that a suitcase left unattended did not contain explosives.
The city of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest in Brazil after Sao Paulo, endured another night of battles between rival drug gangs, which control a large part of the city's slums, known as 'favelas.'
Police raided the favela Vidigal Tuesday night, located in the middle of the elegant neighbourhood of Sao Conrado, killing seven alleged drug dealers and confiscating seven rifles and ammunition. Two police agents were injured in the clashes.
This police operation was a reaction to a gang war started in Vidigal on Saturday, which had already left five people dead and five injured.
The attacks in Sao Paulo have been blamed on the organized crime group First Commando of the Capital (PCC), allegedly led by bosses held in Sao Paulo state prisons. The gang has been blamed for two previous waves of violence earlier this year in which more than 160 people were slain.
In May, the prison-led gang was blamed for 229 attacks and 82 simultaneous jail uprisings, while another wave of attacks in July targeted buses, banks, shops and public buildings.
Sao Paulo is the largest metropolis in South America, with 10.9 million inhabitants and 19 million people in its metropolitan area. The state of Sao Paulo, with close to 37 million people - or 22 per cent of Brazil's population of 188 million - produces 35 per cent of the country's GDP.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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