text:
Saudi-India Ties: "A New Era of Strategic Partnership"
March 4, 2010 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Nilofar Suhrawardy, MMNS India Correspondent
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (R) stands next to his wife Gursharan Kaur as he is given a King Saud University sash during a visit to the university in Riyadh March 1, 2010. REUTERS/Stringer |
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described his three-day visit to Saudi Arabia as "very productive and fruitful" (February 27 to March 1). The highlight of his visit was inking of "Riyadh Declaration: A New Era of Strategic Partnership," by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Indian Prime Minister. The declaration signed on February 28, states that the two leaders held "in depth discussions on a wide range of issues in an atmosphere of utmost warmth, cordiality, friendship and transparency." They agreed that Saudi King's India-visit in 2006, during which the Delhi Declaration was signed (January 27, 2006), and Singh's "current" visit "heralded a new era in Saudi-India relations" "in keeping with changing realities and unfolding opportunities of the 21st century."
In addition to laying stress on strengthening of bilateral ties between India and Saudi Arabia, the declaration highlights the crucial global issues discussed by the two leaders. They "noted that tolerance, religious harmony and brotherhood, irrespective of faith or ethnic background, were part of the principles and values of both countries." Condemning terrorism, extremism and violence, they affirmed that "it is global and threatens all societies and is not linked to any race, color or belief." "The international community must," according to the declaration, "resolutely combat terrorism."
With the peace process in Middle East high on their agenda, the two leaders "expressed hope for early resumption of the peace process," "within a definite timeframe leading to establishment of a sovereign, independent, united and viable Palestinian State in accordance with the two-state solution." They "emphasized" in the declaration that "continued building of settlements by Israel constitutes a fundamental stumbling block for the peace process."
The declaration strongly signals their being against nuclear weapons while they favor peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The two leaders "emphasized the importance of regional and international efforts" directed towards making "Middle East and Gulf Region free of all nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction," according to the declaration. They "reiterated their support" to "resolve issues relating to Iran's nuclear program peacefully through dialogue and called for continuation of these efforts." They "encouraged Iran to respond" to these efforts to "remove doubts about its nuclear program, especially as these ensure the right of Iran and other countries to peaceful uses if nuclear energy" in keeping with procedures of International Atomic Energy Agency, the declaration states.
The situation in Afghanistan and Iraq also figured in their discussions. They called for "preservation of Afghanistan's sovereignty and independence." They "expressed hope" that forthcoming elections will help people of Iraq "realize their aspirations" by ensuring them security, stability, territorial integrity and national unity.
Though Indo-Pak relations are not mentioned in the Declaration, they figured prominently in discussions held between the two sides. While addressing the Saudi Parliament, Majlis-Al-Shura at Riyadh (March 1), Singh said: "India wishes to live in peace and friendship with its neighbors." "We seek cooperative relations with Pakistan. Our objective is a permanent peace because we recognize that we are bound together by a shared future. If there is cooperation between India and Pakistan, vast opportunities will open up for trade, travel and development that will create prosperity in both countries and in South Asia as a whole. But to realize this vision, Pakistan must act decisively against terrorism. If Pakistan cooperates with India, there is no problem that we cannot solve and we can walk the extra mile to open a new chapter in relations between our two countries," Singh stated.
During his interaction with media persons, to a question on whether Saudi Arabia can be "credible interlocutor" on some issues between India and Pakistan, Singh replied: "Well I know Saudi Arabia has close relations with Pakistan. I did discuss the Indo-Pak relations with His Majesty on a one-to-one basis. I explained to him the role that terrorism, aided, abetted and inspired by Pakistan is playing in our country. And I did not ask for him to do anything other than to use his good offices to persuade Pakistan to desist from this path."
While addressing the Saudi Parliament, Singh highlighted importance Islam has for India. Describing Saudi Arabia as "the cradle of Islam and the land of the revelation of the Holy Quran," Singh said: "Islam qualitatively changed the character and personality of the people in Arabia as it enriched the lives of millions of Indians who embraced this new faith." Tracing their historical ties, he said: "It is said that during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, Indian pilgrims constituted the largest movement of people by sea. Indian Muslim scholars went to Mecca in order to learn Islamic theology. Arab Muslim scholars came to India to learn mathematics, science, astronomy and philosophy. These exchanges led to the widespread diffusion of knowledge in the sciences, arts, religion and philosophy."
"Today, Islam is an integral part of India's nationhood and ethos and of the rich tapestry of its culture. India has made significant contributions to all aspects of Islamic civilization. Centers of Islamic learning in India have made a seminal contribution to Islamic and Arabic studies. Our 160 million Muslims are contributing to our nation building efforts and have excelled in all walks of life. We are proud of our composite culture and of our tradition of different faiths and communities living together in harmony," Singh said.
Undeniably, the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Saudi Arabia symbolizes the two countries' desire to strengthen their ties, "upgrade the quality" of their "relationship to that of a strategic partnership," as stated by Singh. During his visit, Singh also paid special attention to highlight importance of Islam from the Indian perspective. Besides, the Riyadh declaration specifically condemns terrorism and states that it cannot be linked with any "belief." In addition to strengthening ties with Saudi Arabia, Singh's words suggest that he is hopeful of it setting the stage for improving relations with other Muslim countries; it will enhance his government's image at home among the business community eyeing for more trade opportunities with the Arab world and gain his party greater support from Indian Muslims.
Iran, Syria Leaders Brush Aside US Call to Weaken Ties
Two countries scrap visa requirements
By Roueida Mabardi, Agence France Presse (AFP)
DAMASCUS: The presidents of Syria and Iran signed a visa-scrapping accord on Thursday, signaling even closer ties and brushing aside United States efforts to drive a wedge between the two allies.
"I am surprised by their call to keep a distance between the countries … when they raise the issue of stability and peace in the Middle East, and all the other beautiful principles," Syrian President Bashar Assad told a news conference in Damascus with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"We need to further reinforce relations if the true objective is stability. We do not want others to give us lessons on our region, our history," the Syrian president said.
Ahmadinejad, who flew in to Damascus earlier in the day and later met exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, stressed that ties between the two Muslim states, both outspoken critics of US ally Israel, were as "solid" as ever. "Nothing can damage these relations," he said.
On the same day in occupied Jerusalem, the United States and Israel resumed an annual "strategic dialogue" for the first time since US President Barack Obama assumed office in 2009, with Iran prominent on the agenda.
US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg met Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon.
Assad said his country was always on the alert against Israel.
"We are always preparing ourselves for an Israeli aggression whether it is small or big scale," he said.
Afterward, Ahmadinejad met Meshaal, Ahmed Jibril – leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – and other Palestinian leaders critical of the peace process for talks focused on "the Israeli threats made against Syria, Iran, the Palestinians and Lebanon," a participant in the meeting said.
Ahmadinejad told the Palestinian leaders that "Iran places itself solidly beside the Palestinian people, until their land is liberated," the participant said, and that resistance was the "likeliest path to liberation."
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington has been pressing Damascus to move away from Iran
Questioned on Clinton, Assad adopted an ironic tone.
"We met today to sign a 'separation accord' between Syria and Iran, but because of a bad translation we ended up signing an accord on scrapping visas," he quipped.
Assad said the agreement would serve "to further reinforce relations in all fields and at all levels" between the two countries, which have been close allies for the past three decades.
In the face of US-led efforts to slap new sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its controversial nuclear program, he also defended Iran's right to pursue uranium enrichment.
"To forbid an independent state the right to enrichment amounts to a new colonialist process in the region," he said.
The visit came after Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said Syria was determined to help Iran and the West engage in a "constructive" dialogue over Tehran's nuclear program.
Western governments suspect that the program in Iran is cover for a drive to produce a bomb.
Tehran vehemently denies the allegation.
On the eve of Ahmadinejad's visit, Clinton was blunter than ever about the bid to drive a wedge between Syria and Iran.
Testifying in the Senate, she said William Burns, the third-ranking US diplomat, "had very intense, substantive talks in Damascus" last week on what was the highest-level US mission to the Syrian capital in five years.
Syria is being asked "generally to begin to move away from the relationship with Iran, which is so deeply troubling to the region as well as to the United States," Clinton said.
A New Battle Begins in Pakistan
February 28, 2010 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
ISLAMABAD – Despite serious reservations, Pakistan's military at the weekend began an all-out offensive against the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda in the tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan.
The deployment of about 30,000 troops in South Waziristan, backed by the air force, shifts the main theater of the South Asian battlefield from Afghanistan to Pakistan.
That Pakistan has become a focal point was underscored on Sunday when six Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps commanders were killed, as well as 37 other people, in an attack in Iran's restive Sistan-Balochistan province.
Iranian state television said the Foreign Ministry summoned a senior Pakistani diplomat in Tehran, saying there was evidence
"the perpetrators of this attack came to Iran from Pakistan". The Pakistani government was asked not to delay "in the apprehension of the main elements in this terrorist attack".
The attack has been blamed on the group Jundallah, which is believed to operate from Pakistan's Balochistan province and which recently established a link with al-Qaeda. (See Al-Qaeda seeks a new alliance Asia Times Online, May 21, 2009.)
On Monday, clashes between the Pakistan military and the militants continued for the third day in South Waziristan. Islamabad says that 60 militants have been killed, with 11 soldiers dead.
The army had serious reservations about sending ground troops into South Waziristan, firstly for fear of a strong militant backlash in other parts of the country and secondly because there is no guarantee of success. However, under pressure from the United States, and with the carrot of US$1.5 billion a year for the next fives years in additional non-military aid, Pakistan's political government has bitten the bullet. The timing might have been influenced by a string of militant attacks in the country over the past few days.
The offensive is concentrated in the areas of the Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan, which is also the headquarters of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
In preparation for the assault, the army made ceasefire deals with several influential Taliban warlords who run large networks against coalition troops in Afghanistan. They include Mullah Nazir, the chief of the Taliban in Wana, South Waziristan, who operates the largest Taliban network in the Afghan province of Paktika. Mullah Nazir is neutral in this Pakistani conflict and agreed to allow passage to the army to enter Mehsud territory.
In North Waziristan, two top Taliban commanders, Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Moulvi Sadiq Noor, also agreed to remain neutral. They are members of the Shura of the Mujahideen and a main component of the Taliban's insurgency in the Afghan province of Khost.
This leaves a few thousand Mehsud tribal fighters along with their Uzbek and Punjabi militant allies to fight against the military. Thousands of civilians have fled the area.
However, Hakimullah Mehsud of the TTP, according to Asia Times Online contacts, has apparently adopted a strategy that will not expend too many resources on protecting the Mehsud area. Instead, he aims to spread chaos by attacking security personnel in the cities. Hakimullah was the architect of successful attacks on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's supply lines in the Khyber Agency, which began in 2007.
The same contacts say that when thousands of people left South Waziristan last week under the military's directives, a majority of the militants melted away to the Shawal region, situated at the crossroads of South Waziristan, Afghanistan and North Waziristan, besides going to Pakistani cities.
A very limited force is entrenched in the Mehsud tribal area, and by all accounts it is putting up fierce resistance.
In the cities, the TTP will be assisted by Punjabis, who will aim to replicate the audacious and well-planned attack on the Pakistani military headquarters in Rawalpindi on October 10.
This attack and subsequent siege in which a number of hostages were held exposed loopholes in the security mechanisms of the armed forces as well as the deep penetration of militants in the security forces.
A transcript of the militants' calls, intercepted by the security forces and read by Asia Times Online, shows that the militants had noticed a damaged wall at General Headquarters Rawalpindi. They therefore engaged security personnel at the main gate, while at the same time sending about 10 men through the breach in the wall. These militants were given support by insiders.
The attackers made directly for the barracks of Military Intelligence and took several senior officials hostage, including the director general of Military Intelligence. They then presented a list of demands. According to some reports which have not been authenticated by independent sources, six prisoners were released on the militants' demands before the hostages were released after a commando operation on October 11.
Washington has been keen to extend the war into Pakistan since early 2008. To reflect this, this year it coined "AfPak", and even appointed a special representative, Richard Holbrooke, to handle this portfolio. The focus in Pakistan was to be the militant bases in the tribal areas which feed directly into the insurgency across the border.
The aim was to create breathing space for coalition troops in Afghanistan and eventually pave the way for an honorable exit strategy after initiating talks with sections of the Taliban.
This year, the US also stepped up its presence in Pakistan by acquiring new bases and the Americans developed a joint intelligence mechanism with Pakistan to hit al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistan with Predator drones. These missile attacks have proved particularly successful in taking out key targets, including Baitullah Mehsud, the TTP leader.
The US also coordinated ground military operations such as Lion Heart, which saw coalition troops on the Afghan side working with Pakistani troops on the other side to squeeze militants. (Asia Times Online documented this last year – see US forces the terror issue with Pakistan September 16, 2008.)
There are parallels in what the US is doing with Pakistan to what happened during the Vietnam War, when that war was extended into Laos and Cambodia.
Beyond the South Waziristan operation
Washington is watching developments in Waziristan with keen interest. Both General Stanley A McChrystal, the top US general in Afghanistan, and US Central Command chief, General David Petraeus, are currently in Pakistan.
They will be pleased that Pakistan has committed its biggest-ever force for such an operation – 30,000 troops with another 30,000 in reserve. Yet the chances of a decisive military victory remain remote.
Given the nature of the opposition and the tough territory, there is a high probability of extensive casualties in the army, with resultant desertions and dissent. There is also no guarantee that if the conflict drags on, the warlords with whom ceasefires have been agreed will not go back on their deals.
At the same time, there are signals that the Taliban in the Swat area in North-West Frontier Province are regrouping after being pushed back by the army this year. It is likely that by the time the snow chokes major supply routes, the Taliban will have seized all lost ground in the Swat Valley. By marching into South Waziristan, the military has taken something of a gamble as it is highly unlikely to eliminate the militant threat. Indeed, the past seven or so years have shown that after any operation against militants, the militants have always gained from the situation. By the same token, the militants don't have the capacity to permanently control ground beyond their areas in South Waziristan and North Waziristan.
In this situation, in which the militants and the military can't defeat one another, and if the fighting continues, a political crisis could be provoked. This would weaken the state of Pakistan and its institutions. Alternatively, the authorities could accept the fact that Pakistan is a tribal society which always operates through bargains and deals, and move quickly to contain this conflict.
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief.
DIA Opens Islamic Art Section
February 28, 2010 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Adil James, MMNS
As Muslims we always have great appreciation when our religion and the various expressions of our religion garner positive recognition and interest from respected non-Muslim institutions—sometimes in fact we take more pleasure from their taking notice than we do from recognition from our own Muslim institutions. And so we Muslims take great pleasure in the recent exhibition at the Detroit Institute of the Arts (DIA), called the "Gallery of Islamic Art," which was opened in a very exclusive event this past Saturday at the DIA at 5200 Woodward Ave. in Detroit. This event was by invitation, with valet parking and a $250 fee for dinner, a black tie event attended by ambassadors and museum officials, and important and well-connected people from Detroit's Muslim community.
The Islamic gallery itself is very interesting, and important as an expression of respect for Islam, however it is somewhat small, with about 1,000 square feet devoted to Islamic art—another slight detraction is that it seems to be a smorgasbord of Islamic art rather than an exhaustive or even organized look at Islamic art. There is one large Persian rug, many examples of pottery and ceramics, several copies of Qur`an, and some collections of ahadith, but surprisingly without translations, and a video demonstrating the art of Islamic calligraphy. There is perhaps as much space given to Christian and Jewish scripture (included as examples of Muslim tolerance, since they were made by Arabic speaking Jews and Christians living under Muslim rule) as there is to Muslim scripture in the exhibit.
There was some modern art which focused on Muslim themes, for example one painting by a modern Iranian painter on Sayyidinal Khadr (as)—who is mentioned in Qur`an. Modern art on Muslim themes, however, is not strictly Islamic art.
There is nothing in the exhibit on Qur`anic recitation, which is a vital Islamic art. There was to my noticing nothing from east Asia, or from central Asia, or from Africa. There were no modern devotional musical forms represented. There was to my noticing no poetry—one page of Rumi's poetry in the original text would have been beautiful. There was not clothing either—the entire exhibit could have been on Muslim turbans of various kinds and their meaning. Or on kufis from around the world. Or on any of many rich and different clothing traditions from around the Muslim world.
There is very minimal calligraphy, which by itself could fill the entire museum with many different and beautiful forms of expression, from Chinese to Arabic to Turkish and even Japanese forms. In fact, likely 1,000 square feet would not be enough space to do a thorough exhibit of any one of several Islamic art forms, such as calligraphy, carpets, architecture, or pottery.
But on the positive side, as a general approach the exhibit does show a long range of historical works up to the present, covering the past 600 years (including a Qur`an from the 1400s). And the exhibit does show materials from several countries, although perhaps it centers on Iran a little bit more heavily than elsewhere.
The striking thing about this exhibit is first that Islamic art is in reality something that is in use in daily life, not something that Muslims hide from daily view, from the prayer carpets Muslims use, to the recitation they perform at specified intervals, to the buildings they live in and gardens they nurture, and the clothing they create. And the natural and intrinsic beauty of this is different at a fundamental level from the concept of art as an icon that is produced and then ensconced in a museum for occasional admiration.
And, perhaps, another lesson from the exhibit is that Islamic art is something best demonstrated by Muslims themselves. Still, the DIA has done something very gracious and important by devoting a substantial and expensive portion of its real estate to opening the world of Islamic art to museum visitors.
The DIA also opened itself to Muslims from around Detroit, including TMO, which is a very important gesture–when we as Muslims still face tremendous pressure from prejudice and ignorance–it is an enlightened act to show an Islamic art exhibit in this time.
The Iranian Greens and the West: A Dangerous Liaison
February 28, 2010 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Sasan Fayazmanesh
In the 1979 Revolution in Iran the liberal forces made a fatal mistake: they adopted the old dictum of the enemy of my enemy is my friend and allied themselves with just about every force that opposed the tyrannical rule of the shah. The result was helping to replace one form of despotism for another: monarchy for theocracy. A similar mistake seems to be made today. Many liberal elements are once again allying themselves with anyone who opposes the current regime in Iran, including the same Western countries that nourished the despotic rule of the shah in the first place.
For decades these countries, particularly the US and Israel, helped the shah to deprive Iranians of their most basic rights and freedoms. With the assistance of these countries, the demented despot silenced all opposition to his rule, built and expanded his notorious secret police, made his opponents disappear, and filled Irans dungeons, particularly the infamous Evin prison that is still in use, with political prisoners. He had them tortured, mutilated, and executed. The US, Israel and their allies, had no problem with these violations of basic human rights in Iran as long as the son of a bitch was their son of a bitch and made them a partner in the plunder of the wealth of the nation.
Afterward, these same countries gave us the dual containment policy that helped Saddam Hussein start one of the longest wars in the 20th century, the Iran-Iraq War. They closed their eyes to Saddams crimes and even assisted him in his criminal acts. With their help, the butcher of Baghdad killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of people by deploying chemical agents in the war, bombing civilians and laying cities to waste. The West had no problem with Saddam Hussein as long as he was their son of a bitch. But once the Iraq-Iran War ended and Saddam tried to become a free agent, the US, Israel and their allies gave us the first invasion of Iraq and the subsequent inhumane sanctions against the country, which resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Then they brought about the second invasion of Iraq, the shock and awe, indiscriminate bombing of the civilians, sadistic and horrendous treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, the savagery in Fallujah, more death, destruction, and mayhem. Then Israel, that only democracy in the Middle East, and its Western allies, gave us the brutal war against the helpless Lebanese and the massacre in Gaza.
Has all this been forgotten? Have the liberal Iranian forces lost their memory? Are they suffering from historical amnesia? Indeed, the behavior of some of the supporters of the Iranian Greens leaves one with no choice but to conclude that they are either experiencing a memory loss or are amazingly ignorant. For example, according to The Washington Post, on November 2, 2009, Ataollah Mohajerani, who has been a spokesman in Europe for presidential candidate-turned-dissident Mehdi Karroubi, came to Washington to address the annual conference of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. True, according to the report, Mr. Mohajeranis talk, which included such things as a rehashing of U.S. involvement in the 1953 coup in Tehran, did not exactly please his audience. But why would a supporter of the Iranian Greens appear before the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) crowd in the first place? Doesnt he know what WINEP represents? Has he no idea that this institute is a think tank affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)? Is he not aware that AIPAC is the Israeli fifth column in the US, which, in spite of formulating US foreign policy in the Middle East, is caught every few years in the act of espionage? Is he ignorant of the fact that AIPAC-WINEP has been underwriting every sanction act against Iran since the early 1990s? Is he unaware that AIPAC-WINEP gave us Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and associates, the Bush era architects of the genocidal war in Iraq? Does he not know that AIPAC-WINEP has brought us Dennis Ross and associates, the architects of the Obama era policy of tough diplomacy, a policy that was intended to bring nothing but more sanctions against Iran and, possibly, a war? Is he not aware that AIPAC-WINEPs interest in Iran stops at the doorstep of Eretz Israel and has nothing to do with democracy or human rights in Iran? How forgetful or ignorant can a supporter of the cleric Karroubi be?
Many supporters of Mir Hussein Mossavi have also shown either memory lapses or complete ignorance. . . .
Dubai Now Seeking 26 Suspects in Hamas Killing
February 28, 2010 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Raissa Kasolowsky and Cynthia Johnston
DUBAI (Reuters) – Dubai is hunting for at least 26 people over the killing of a Hamas commander in a Dubai hotel in a suspected Israeli operation that has caused a diplomatic furor.
Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed last month in his hotel room in what Dubai police say they are near certain was a hit by Israel's Mossad spy agency.
Dubai police added 15 new names on Wednesday to a list of suspects wanted over the killing. Six carried British passports, three held Irish documents, three were Australian, and three French, the Dubai government said in a statement.
Israeli media reported on Wednesday the new list could involve further cases of identity theft.
Dubai authorities had earlier named 11 suspects, who they said travelled on fraudulent British, Irish, French and German passports to kill Mabhouh. Six were Britons living in Israel who deny involvement and say their identities were stolen.
"Dubai investigators are not ruling out the possibility of involvement of other people in the murder," the statement said.
The suspected killers' use of passports from countries including Britain and France has drawn criticism from the European Union. Some of the governments involved have summoned their Israeli ambassadors.
"We will not be silent on this matter. It is a matter of deep concern. It really goes to the integrity and fabric of the use of state documents, which passports are, for other purposes," Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said, as his government summoned Israel's ambassador.
The Dubai statement said: "Friendly governments (which) have been assisting in this investigation have indicated to the police in Dubai that the passports were issued in an illegal and fraudulent manner."
It said pictures on the passports did not correspond to their original owners.
In a statement on Monday that European diplomats said was intended as a rebuke to Israel, EU foreign ministers said that the assassination was "profoundly disturbing."
Israel has not denied or confirmed it played any role but its foreign minister said there was nothing to link it to the killing. The United States, Israel's main ally, has kept silent about the affair.
Mabhouh, born in the Gaza Strip, had lived in Syria since 1989 and Israeli and Palestinian sources have said he played a key role in smuggling Iranian-funded arms to militants in Gaza.
A Hamas official and Israel have also said he masterminded the capture and killing of two Israeli soldiers during a Palestinian uprising in the 1980s.
Like last week, Dubai police released passport photos and closed-circuit television footage of the new suspects, who police said arrived from cities including Zurich, Paris, Rome, Milan and Hong Kong.
"This was to take the camouflage and deception to its utmost level and to guarantee the avoidance of any security supervision or observation of their movements," the statement said.
Once their part in the operation was completed, the suspects again dispersed to different parts of the world, with two suspects leaving Dubai by boat for Iran, it said.
Dubai police also released credit card details of some of the suspects. At least 13 credit cards used to book hotel rooms and pay for air travel were issued by the same small U.S. lender, MetaBank. The bank declined comment.
"MetaBank is declining comment pending a factual review of this matter," it said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
Israel's Ynet news website said it had tracked down a person with the same name as one of the suspects living in Tel Aviv.
"I am in shock from what I just heard. This is an identity theft. I cannot believe it," Adam Marcus Korman, an Australian-born Israeli, told the website.
Several other names listed as suspects by Dubai police were similar to those of people listed in the Israeli telephone directory, including two named as British passport holders. Reuters was not immediately able to contact any of those people.
Two Palestinians suspected of providing logistical support were in detention and Dubai's police chief has said he believes the operation could not have been carried out without information from inside Hamas on Mabhouh's travel details.
An official from the movement was quoted as saying last week that Hamas had launched an investigation to try to discover "how the Mossad was able to carry out the operation.
Mossad is believed to have stepped up covert missions against Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia as well as Iran's nuclear project.
Mabhouh's killing was the third high profile murder in less than two years in trade and tourism hub Dubai, one of seven emirates in the UAE federation, where violent crime is rare.
(Additional reporting by Rania Oteify in Dubai, Allyn Fisher-Ilan and Alastair Macdonald in Jerusalem, Daniel Wilchins in New York and Rob Taylor in Canberra, Writing by Raissa Kasolowsky; Editing by Matthew Jones)
Is Iran Running a Bluff?
February 18, 2010 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Did Robert Gibbs let the cat out of the bag?
Last week, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the world that Iran, unable to get fuel rods from the West for its U.S.-built reactor, which makes medical isotopes, had begun to enrich its own uranium to 20 percent.
From his perch in the West Wing, Gibbs scoffed: He [Ahmadinejad] says many things, and many of them turn out to be untrue. We do not believe they have the capability to enrich to the degree to which they now say they are enriching.
But wait a minute. If Iran does not have the capability to enrich to 20 percent for fuel rods, how can Iran enrich to 90 percent for a bomb?
What was Gibbs implying?
Is he confirming reports that Irans centrifuges are breaking down or have been sabotaged? Is he saying that impurities, such as molybdenum, in the feed stock of Irans centrifuges at Natanz are damaging the centrifuges and contaminating the uranium?
What explains Gibbs confidence? Perhaps this.
According to a report last week by David Albright and Christina Walrond of the Institute for Science and International Security, Irans problems in its centrifuge program are greater than expected. Iran is unlikely to deploy enough gas centrifuges to make enriched uranium for commercial nuclear power reactors [Iran's stated nuclear goal] for a long time, if ever, particularly if [UN] sanctions remain in force.
Thus, ISIS is saying Iran cannot make usable fuel for the nuclear power plant it is building, and Gibbs is saying Iran lacks the capability to make fuel rods for its research reactor.
Which suggests Iran's vaunted nuclear program is a busted flush.
ISIS insists, however, that Iran may still be able to build a bomb. Yet, to do that, Iran would have to divert nearly all of its low-enriched uranium at Natanz, now under UN watch, to a new cascade of centrifuges, enrich that to 90 percent, then explode a nuclear device.
Should Iran do that, however, it would have burned up all its bomb-grade uranium and lack enough low-enriched uranium for a second test. And Tehran would be facing a stunned and shaken Israel with hundreds of nukes and an America with thousands, without a single nuke of its own.
Is Iran running a bluff? And if Gibbs and Albright are right, how long can Iran keep up this pretense of rapid nuclear progress?
Which brings us to the declaration by Ahmadinejad on the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which produced this headline in the New York Times: Iran Boasts of Capacity to Make Bomb Fuel.
Accurate as far as it went, this headline was so incomplete as to mislead. For here is what Ahmadinejad said in full:
When we say that we dont build nuclear bombs, it means that we wont do so because we dont believe in having it. The Iranian nation is brave enough that if one day we wanted to build nuclear bombs, we would announce it publicly without being afraid of you.
Right now in Natanz we have the capability to enrich to more than 20 percent and to more than 80 percent, but because we dont need to, we wont do so.
On Friday, Ahmadinejad sounded like Ronald Reagan: We believe that not only the Middle East but the whole world should be free of nuclear weapons, because we see such weapons as inhumane.
Now, if as Albright suggests, Tehran cannot produce fuel for nuclear power plants, and if, as Gibbs suggests, Iran is not capable of enriching to 20 percent for fuel for its research reactor, is Ahmadinejad, in renouncing the bomb, making a virtue of necessity?
After all, if you cant build them, denounce them as inhumane.
Last December, however, the Times of London reported it had a secret document, which intelligence agencies dated to early 2007, proving that Iran was working on the final component of a neutron initiator, the trigger for an atom bomb.
If true, this would leave egg all over the faces of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies whose December 2007 consensus was that Iran stopped seeking a bomb in 2003.
The Times credited an Asian intelligence service for having ably assisted with its story.
U.S. intelligence, however, has not confirmed the authenticity of the document, and Iran calls it a transparent forgery. When former CIA man Phil Giraldi sounded out ex-colleagues still in the trade, they, too, called the Times document a forgery.
Shades of Saddam seeking yellowcake from Niger.
Are the folks who lied us into war on Iraq, to strip it of weapons it did not have, now trying to lie us into war on Iran, to strip it of weapons it does not have?
Maybe the Senate should find out before voting sanctions that will put us on the road to such a war, which would fill up all the empty beds at Walter Reed.
Alleged Assassins Caught on Dubai Surveillance Tape
February 18, 2010 by TMO · Leave a Comment
Dubai authorities have released extensive footage from surveillance cameras that allegedly shows the movements of a professional 11-person assassination team in the hours before and after a top Hamas leader was killed last month in a hotel room.
The footage, taken from cameras at the Dubai airport and several luxury hotels, follows the activities of 10 men and one woman as they arrived in Dubai on various European passports and moved among hotels and a shopping center, changing into disguises at one point, during the hours before Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed.
Al-Mabhouh, 48, was a founder of Hamas' military wing. He was believed to be behind the abduction of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 and said to be a liaison for smuggling weapons from Iran to Gaza. He had survived several assassination attempts.
He was found dead in room 230 at the Al-Bustan Rotana hotel on January 20. The door on al-Mabhouh's room was latched and chained from the inside, and there was no blood evidence. An initial report indicated that he died from sudden high blood pressure in the brain. Subsequent reports have suggested he was electrocuted or strangled.
An investigation into hotel records and surveillance tapes uncovered the suspicious activities of a group of Westerners, most of them wearing baseball caps. They staked out al-Mabhouh's room on the hotel's second floor, met clandestinely in various locations, disguised themselves and left the hotel briskly after the deed was done. Investigators believe the assassins may have reprogrammed the electronic lock on al-Mabhouh's door to gain entry.
Hamas has accused the Mossad, Israel's secretive intelligence service, of masterminding the assassination.
In the 27-minute video, released by Gulf News TV, some of the suspected assassins arrive on separate flights to Dubai early the morning the murder took place. The footage shows some of them meeting up briefly in a shopping mall and checking into and out of hotels during the setup stage. One of the suspects, a bald male, enters a hotel and exits wearing a brown wig and glasses. Later, a woman identified as an Irish national named Gail Folliard, is shown checking into her hotel wearing glasses and a ponytail, then entering the same location where the male suspect changed his appearance. She exits that location wearing a brunette wig.
When al-Mabhouh arrives at his hotel around 3 p.m. on the 19th, the footage captures two of the suspects, dressed in tennis gear, getting into the same elevator with him to follow him to his hotel room. The two suspects later checked into the room across the hall from him, according to Dubai police.
Around 8 p.m., the cameras catch some of the team members in the elevator lobby of al-Mabhouh's floor while he is out of the hotel for a bit. While they're standing there keeping watch, another team is apparently trying to gain entry to the victim's room. During this time, a tourist steps off the elevator, putting the operation in jeopardy, until one of the team members distracts the tourist. A note on the video indicates that, according to the hotel's computer logs, someone tried to reprogram al-Mabhouh's electronic door lock during this time.
Al-Mabhouh returned to the hotel around 8:25 p.m and passed the female suspect, Folliard, in the hallway on the way to his room. The killing itself took only 10 minutes around 8:30 p.m., Dubai Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim told the Israeli newspaper Ha'Aretz. Four assassins allegedly entered the victim's hotel room while he was out, using an electronic device to unlock his door, and waited for him to return. Hotel staff discovered his body around 1:30 p.m. on the 20th after failing to reach him on the phone. By then, he'd been dead about 17 hours, and the alleged assassins were long gone.
Oddly, although there is surveillance tape showing the closed doors of some of the rooms near al-Mahbouh's hotel room when he first checked in, there is no tape showing the assassins entering or leaving the room or walking down that hallway at the time of the assassination. A map of the hotel shown in the video, indicates that the only surveillance camera in that hallway was located one door down from the victim's room and pointed away from his door toward what appears to be a stairwell.
Following the assassination, the suspects left the hotel quickly and were tracked scattering to different parts of the globe, including Hong Kong, France, Switzerland, Germany and South Africa.
Authorities say the suspects paid for everything in cash and used special communication devices to avoid surveillance. They never made direct calls to one another, as far as authorities could determine. They did, however, make a number of calls to Austria, which authorities believe may have been the location of their command-and-control center.
Within 24 hours after the murder, Dubai investigators reportedly identified the aliases the alleged assassins used on their forged passports. The nationalities on the documents indicated that six of them are British, three are Irish, one is French and one is German. Although the videos show a second woman identified as part of the surveillance team, only one woman — Folliard — is listed among the suspects.
British, Irish and French authorities have indicated that the passports used by the alleged assassins showed obvious signs of forgery. The Irish passport numbers used by suspects Gail Folliard, Evan Dennings and Kevin Daveron, for example, contain no letters and have the wrong number of digits.
At least five Israelis share the same names used by the alleged assassins. One of the names matches a man living near Jerusalem named Melvyn Adam Mildiner. Mildiner, a British national, says his identity was stolen and that he had nothing to do with the assassination. The picture of him that was released by Dubai authorities does not completely match him, Reuters reports.
"I woke up this morning to a world of fun," he told Reuters after Israeli newspapers published the names and photos of the suspects identified by Dubai authorities. "I am obviously angry, upset and scared — any number of things. And I'm looking into what I can do to try to sort things out and clear my name. I don't know how this happened or who chose my name or why, but hopefully we'll find out soon."
The Mossad is noted for its stealth assassinations. The intelligence service was responsible for tracking down and killing Palestinian militants who murdered Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, as depicted in the Steven Spielberg movie Munich.
The Mossad was also responsible in 1986 for capturing Mordechai Vanunu, a worker at Israel's Dimona nuclear plant who had planned to disclose information about Israel's secret nuclear weapons program to the Sunday Times newspaper in the United Kingdom. A female Mossad agent posing as a tourist in the UK lured the shy Vanunu out of London to Rome, where he was drugged and kidnapped and returned to Israel for a secret trial. He spent 18 years in prison and was released in 2004.
Hat tip: New York Times Lede blog
Indo-Iran Diplomacy: Women As "Cultural Ambassadors"
February 15, 2010 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Nilofar Suhrawardy, MMNS India Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding all the noise being made against Iran over its nuclear program, Indo-Iranian ties have not backtracked. What is more amazing is the definite impact made by women in this field. This month began with Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao visiting Iran, during which she held extensive discussions with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, Economy and Finance Minister Seyed Shamseddin Hosseini and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili. It was Rao's first visit to Iran as Foreign Secretary. During her visit, both sides emphasized the need for expansion of economic ties. Besides, Rao laid stress that both countries should also give more importance to tourism in keeping with their rich history and tourist attractions.
Rao's visit is, however, just a minor indicator of the importance India and Iran are giving to strengthen their ties. This point is supported by cultural diplomacy playing a crucial role in bringing the two countries closer. The ministry of cultural diplomacy in the present Indian cabinet setup is one of the few ministries exclusively headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It has not been allocated specifically to any cabinet minister. This also implies that diplomatic steps being taken forward in the cultural field have the direct consent of the Indian Prime Minister.
Interestingly, Iranian women are playing a crucial role regarding cultural diplomacy. The Iranian puppetry troupe- Apple Tree- performed a traditional puppet show, The Bald Hero in New Delhi, Mumbai and Gurgaon. The all-women troupe was invited to the annual Ishara International Festival, which began in New Delhi on January 27 to continue till February 15 in Mumbai. Majid Giahchi, head of Apple Tree group, said: "The group includes four sisters who have been awarded for their brilliant performance of the puppet show throughout the world." "The traditional play has been forgotten for years, but the Apple Tree troupe was able to revive the art form after carrying out research on it in 2005," Giahchi said.
Giahchi adds a diplomatic importance to such puppet shows as well expects them to help promote these arts financially. "When a troupe attends an international event, it acts as an ambassador of the art and culture of Iran, so it needs to be supported financially," Giahchi said.
Against the backdrop of a largely negative image projected about status of women in Iran, The Bald Hero prompts Indians to naturally think otherwise. By visiting India to participate in the puppet show and also other countries of the world, the Iranian women have not simply played the role of diplomatic ambassadors. They have also conveyed the message that Iranian women should not be presumed to be as suppressed as presented largely by the international media.
In an attempt to change this impression, a silent movement has begun. Though there is no denying that women in Iran still face considerable discrimination and are yearning for more rights as well as greater equality, several facts cannot be ignored. Women across the world, including in the so-called liberal, democratic countries, have not gained much prominence in the political arena and similar areas, which continue to be dominated by men. However, their numerical position in Muslim countries such as Iran is tended to be projected negatively as a sign of their being kept backwards by religious extremists. Yet, if facts and statistics released by reliable sources are studied, they convey a totally different picture.
Of these, perhaps the most significant is that the health minister in Iran's cabinet is a woman, Marziya Vahid Dastjerdi. Besides, Iranian women acquired the right to vote and started becoming members of the Parliament more than fifty years ago. Since then, even though their representation is fairly small, they have managed to secure entry into the Parliament defeating all the speculations raised about the command of fundamentalists in Iranian society. The same point is also proved by women's population in Iranian universities being 52 percent, more than that of men's 48 percent.
Several figures also defy the impression that Iranian women's role – behind the veil- is restricted to being home-makers. The number of women employed by the government in 2006 was 788488, which was 14.53 percent more than in 1997. In addition to Iranian women being employed in government departments, they have moved forward in other areas also. There has been in 2007, 80 percent increase in the number of books published by Iranian women writers in around a decade's time. During the same period, there has been a 58 percent increase in number of women film makers whose work has been recognized in international film festivals outside Iran. Similarly, the number of women athletes has increased by 47 percent. The last point is further supported by the formation of women's football team in 2006. The team visited India to participate in Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the first team in October 2007.
Women must certainly be credited for playing a major role in taking forward Indo-Iranian diplomatic relations, culturally and in other areas, including sports. Indian Foreign Secretary's recent visit to Iran is a symbolic indicator of Indo-Iranian ties being on the upswing.
Will Obama Play the War Card?
February 11, 2010 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Patrick J. Buchanan, Antiwar.com
Republicans already counting the seats they will pick up this fall should keep in mind Obama has a big card yet to play.
Should the president declare he has gone the last mile for a negotiated end to Iran's nuclear program and impose the "crippling" sanctions he promised in 2008, America would be on an escalator to confrontation that could lead straight to war.
And should war come, that would be the end of GOP dreams of adding three-dozen seats in the House and half a dozen in the Senate.
Harry Reid is surely aware a U.S. clash with Iran, with him at the presidents side, could assure his re-election. Last week, Reid whistled through the Senate, by voice vote, a bill to put us on that escalator.
Senate bill 2799 would punish any company exporting gasoline to Iran. Though swimming in oil, Iran has a limited refining capacity and must import 40 percent of the gas to operate its cars and trucks and heat its homes.
And cutting off a country's oil or gas is a proven path to war.
In 1941, the United States froze Japans assets, denying her the funds to pay for the U.S. oil on which she relied, forcing Tokyo either to retreat from her empire or seize the only oil in reach, in the Dutch East Indies.
The only force able to interfere with a Japanese drive into the East Indies? The U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor.
Egypts Gamel Abdel Nasser in 1967 threatened to close the Straits of Tiran between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba to ships going to the Israeli port of Elath. That would have cut off 95 percent of Israel's oil.
Israel response: a pre-emptive war that destroyed Egypt's air force and put Israeli troops at Sharm el-Sheikh on the Straits of Tiran.
Were Reid and colleagues seeking to strengthen Obama's negotiating hand?
The opposite is true. The Senate is trying to force Obama's hand, box him in, restrict his freedom of action, by making him impose sanctions that would cut off the negotiating track and put us on a track to war a war to deny Iran weapons that the U.S. Intelligence community said in December 2007 Iran gave up trying to acquire in 2003.
Sound familiar?
Republican leader Mitch McConnell has made clear the Senate is seizing control of the Iran portfolio. "If the Obama administration will not take action against this regime, then Congress must."
U.S. interests would seem to dictate supporting those elements in Iran who wish to be rid of the regime and re-engage the West. But if that is our goal, the Senate bill, and a House version that passed 412 to 12, seem almost diabolically perverse.
For a cutoff in gas would hammer Irans middle class. The Revolutionary Guard and Basij militia on their motorbikes would get all they need. Thus the leaders of the Green Movement who have stood up to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollah oppose sanctions that inflict suffering on their own people.
Cutting off gas to Iran would cause many deaths. And the families of the sick, the old, the weak, the women and the children who die are unlikely to feel gratitude toward those who killed them.
And despite the hysteria about Iran's imminent testing of a bomb, the U.S. intelligence community still has not changed its finding that Tehran is not seeking a bomb.
The low-enriched uranium at Natanz, enough for one test, has neither been moved nor enriched to weapons grade. Ahmadinejad this week offered to take the Wests deal and trade it for fuel for its reactor. Irans known nuclear facilities are under U.N. watch. The number of centrifuges operating at Natanz has fallen below 4,000. There is speculation they are breaking down or have been sabotaged.
And if Iran is hell-bent on a bomb, why has Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair not revised the 2007 finding and given us the hard evidence?
U.S. anti-missile ships are moving into the Gulf. Anti-missile batteries are being deployed on the Arab shore. Yet, Gen. David Petraeus warned yesterday that a strike on Iran could stir nationalist sentiment behind the regime.
Nevertheless, the war drums have again begun to beat.
Daniel Pipes in a National Review Online piece featured by the Jerusalem Post "How to Save the Obama Presidency: Bomb Iran" urges Obama to make a "dramatic gesture to change the public perception of him as a lightweight, bumbling ideologue" by ordering the U.S. military to attack Irans nuclear facilities.
Citing six polls, Pipes says Americans support an attack today and will "presumably rally around the flag" when the bombs fall.
Will Obama cynically yield to temptation, play the war card and make "conservatives swoon," in Pipes phrase, to save himself and his party? We shall see.
Israel Apologizes to Turkey
January 18, 2010 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Zerin Elci and Allyn Fisher-Ilan
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan arrives at a welcoming ceremony in Ankara January 11, 2010. REUTERS/Umit Bektas |
ANKARA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel apologized to Turkey on Wednesday for publicly dressing down Ankara's ambassador in a dispute that has strained the once good ties between the Jewish state and the Muslim regional power.
Turkey had demanded a formal apology for Ambassador Oguz Celikkol's treatment on Monday and threatened to recall him.
But after receiving the letter of apology on Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan threw a new barb at Israel, saying it should do more for peace in the region.
Turkey, as a Muslim country, is an important ally of Israel and in the past has helped forge contacts between the Jewish state and the Arab world.
But relations have deteriorated following criticism by Erdogan of Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip last year.
The latest row broke out after Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon summoned Celikkol on Monday to protest against a Turkish television drama that portrayed Israeli diplomats as masterminds of a child abduction ring.
Ayalon invited media crews to the beginning of the meeting in Jerusalem and pointed out there was no Turkish flag on the table. He also said he was deliberately avoiding a handshake with the ambassador.
In television images broadcast in Turkey, Celikkol was seen seated on a low couch, accentuating the sense of a slight.
Ayalon later conceded his behavior toward the envoy had been inappropriate. But Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who is scheduled to host Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday, said that was insufficient and demanded a full apology.
Israel sent a formal letter of apology to Celikkol on Thursday.
"I had no intention to humiliate you personally and apologize for the way the demarche was handled and perceived, Ayalon said in the letter, released by the Israeli government.
"Please convey this to the Turkish people for whom we have great respect. I hope that both Israel and Turkey will seek diplomatic and courteous channels to convey messages as two allies should."
In response, Erdogan said the Turkish foreign ministry had received "the expected, desired answer."
But he added more criticism of Israel, telling a news conference: "Israel must put itself in order and it must be more just and more on the side of peace in the region."
Ayalon had said earlier that his protest against the Turkish criticism of Israel remained valid. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamim Netanyahu also said thought the protest was correct but handled badly, according to his office.
As a predominantly Muslim nation, albeit with a secular constitution, as well as a NATO military power, Turkey is a key ally for Israel in the Middle East. As well as providing security cooperation, Ankara has offered Israel diplomatic help in the past, notably mediating with Syria in 2008.
But ties have become frosty since Israel's war in the Palestinian Islamist-ruled Gaza Strip a year ago, which drew frequent public censure from Erdogan, whose AK Party's roots lie in political Islam.
Netanyahu has said Turkey was aligning itself with Muslim countries hostile to Israel like Iran since before the Gaza war.
There was similar outrage last year over a Turkish series which featured Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian children.
On Tuesday in London, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu renewed his country's criticism of Israel over Gaza.
He said its 2008 invasion of the territory had marked the turning point in Turkish-Israeli relations.
Despite the row, a Turkish delegation is currently in Israel to wrap up the purchase of 10 Heron drones in a deal worth $180 million, Turkish defense officials said.
Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Darren Butler in Ankara, and Michele Kambas in Nicosia; Editing by Angus MacSwan
Russia, China, Iran Redraw Energy Map
January 14, 2010 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By M K Bhadrakumar
The inauguration of the Dauletabad-Sarakhs-Khangiran pipeline on Wednesday connecting Iran's northern Caspian region with Turkmenistan's vast gas field may go unnoticed amid the Western media cacophony that it is "apocalypse now" for the Islamic regime in Tehran.
The event sends strong messages for regional security. Within the space of three weeks, Turkmenistan has committed its entire gas exports to China, Russia and Iran. It has no urgent need of the pipelines that the United States and the European Union have been advancing. Are we hearing the faint notes of a Russia-China-Iran symphony?
The 182-kilometer Turkmen-Iranian pipeline starts modestly with the pumping of 8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Turkmen gas. But its annual capacity is 20bcm, and that would meet the energy requirements of Iran's Caspian region and enable Tehran to free its own gas production in the southern fields for export. The mutual interest is perfect: Ashgabat gets an assured market next door; northern Iran can consume without fear of winter shortages; Tehran can generate more surplus for exports; Turkmenistan can seek transportation routes to the world market via Iran; and Iran can aspire to take advantage of its excellent geographical location as a hub for the Turkmen exports.
Iran Blames US Agents for Scientist's Murder
January 14, 2010 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Fredrik Dahl
TEHRAN (Reuters) – A remote-controlled bomb killed a Tehran University scientist on Tuesday, official media reported, in an attack Iran blamed on the United States and Israel.
Iranian officials and state media described professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi as a nuclear scientist, and Iran's cabinet said agents of the United States were behind his murder.
A State Department official in Washington said charges of U.S. involvement were absurd.
Western sources said Ali-Mohammadi, a physics professor, worked closely with Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi and Fereydoun Abbassi-Davani, both subject to U.N. sanctions because of their work on suspected nuclear weapons development.
The U.N. nuclear agency is investigating Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is for generating electricity and not for building nuclear bombs as the West suspects.
Ali Shirzadian, a spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, said Ali-Mohammadi, 50, had not played a role in the activities of the organization, which is at the center of the disputed nuclear program.
Shahram Amiri, a university researcher working for the atomic body, disappeared during a pilgrimage to Mecca in June, three months before Iran disclosed the existence of its second uranium enrichment site near the city of Qom. In December, Tehran accused Saudi Arabia of handing Amiri over to the United States.
"America's spying and intelligence agents from one side abduct some Iranian citizens … and on the other side their treacherous agents kill an Iranian citizen inside the country," an Iranian cabinet statement said, reported by the semi-official Fars news agency.
A list of Ali-Mohammadi's publications on Tehran University's website suggested his specialism was theoretical particle physics, not nuclear energy, a Western physics professor said.
The bombing — a rare attack in the Iranian capital — occurred at a time of heightened tension in the Islamic Republic seven months after a disputed presidential election plunged the oil producer into turmoil.
It also coincided with a sensitive juncture in Iran's row with the West over its nuclear ambitions, with global powers expected to meet in New York on Saturday to discuss possible new sanctions on Tehran over its refusal to halt its atomic work.
Earlier, Iran's Foreign Ministry blamed Israel and the United States.
"Signs of the triangle of wickedness by the Zionist regime (Israel), America and their hired agents, are visible in the terrorist act," it said.
"Such terrorist acts and the apparent elimination of the country's nuclear scientists will definitely not obstruct scientific and technological processes," it said.
White House spokesman Bill Burton said the accusations were absurd. A senior Israeli official said Ali-Mohammadi was not known to have been a significant figure in any military nuclear program.
English-language Press TV said Ali-Mohammadi was killed in a northern part of the capital by a booby-trapped motorcycle as he was leaving his home. It showed footage of blood stains, broken glass and other debris at the scene, with what appeared to be the dead man in a body bag taken away on a stretcher.
Fars said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had ordered the intelligence and security services to use all their capabilities to find those behind the killing.
State broadcaster IRIB described al-Mohammadi as a "committed and revolutionary" professor, suggesting he backed Ahmadinejad's government. Fars quoted one of his students as saying he had worked with the elite Revolutionary Guards until 2003.
But an opposition website, Jaras, said he was an opposition supporter whose name was among hundreds of academics who issued a statement in favor of moderate candidate Mirhossein Mousavi during the campaign for last June's election.
Even if he had worked on Iran's nuclear program, analysts doubted his death could set back Tehran's aspirations.
"I have no reason to think that this is part of an Israeli or American strategy to deprive Iran of the brains of the enrichment process," said Mark Fitzpatrick, chief proliferation analyst at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies. "There are by now too many scientists and engineers with the requisite expertise".
STRATFOR, a global intelligence firm, said Ali-Mohammadi was unlikely to have been a key figure in nuclear activities since his publishing record pointed to purely academic research.
"The relatively high visibility and volume of work in academia suggests that Ali-Mohammadi's role, if any, in the nuclear program was not very significant," STRATFOR said in an analysis. "Critical scientists involved in nuclear weapons programs usually are sequestered carefully and provided more security than Ali-Mohammadi was given."
Fars quoted a foreign-based group, the Iran Monarchy Association, as claiming responsibility for Tuesday's bombing. It did not say how it obtained the statement.
Iran has been convulsed by its most serious domestic unrest since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 as protests by opposition supporters against the election result have turned violent. Authorities deny opposition allegations that voting was rigged.
(Additional reporting by Mark Heinrich in Vienna; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Mark Trevelyan)
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
By Geoffrey Cook, MMNS
Berkeley–Your author takes his title from John LeClare; a popular British spy novel by that new title above for the subject today is a former Central Intelligence (CIA) operative, Robert Baer, who had come in from the "Cold" for the purpose of promoting his book The Devil We Know. Baer was an operative in the Middle East with an expertise with Iran shortly before the Iranian Embassy crisis had begun. His career with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) spanned twenty-five years before he began to have second thoughts. He had come to the University of California, one of his alumna maters, campus to talk about his book, and to comment on the Obama's Administration's intensely controversial policy relationship with Tehran.
Early in his career he was part of the team to determine who was responsible for the Embassy take over. During this period, Lebanon was to become part of Persia's sphere of influence. "Iran is not so much an opponent to the States than with Israel." After the 2006 War with Hezbollah, both the United States and Israel's influence was driven out of Beirut's territory. Iran, thus, has become hegemonic in the eastern reaches of the Middle East. Essentially, Iran had beaten Israel through proxy (Hezbollah). Effectively, Tel Aviv did not know what "hit it!" They were unable to comprehend their own intelligence — which they had been fundamentally at War which they lost.
Baer considers the Anti-Zionist Shia much more discipled than the Sunni. Robert Baer has a great deal of respect geopolitically for the Iranians. "We need Iran…for a peaceful Middle East!" To come to blows with their million man army, would be suicidal. According to Bob Baer, their armed forces consume up to 2% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Further, culturally, they are a more culturally sophisticated than us, for Islam is more flexible than the Occident.
As Iran backs Hamas, "Al-Qaida is an ideanot an org" as R. Baer, also, stated on the BBC today (January 5th)." For peace we require Iran! We have to treat them as a power, hegemonic within their region. "We can't use the Bush [Utopian] Doctrine." For one thing, "Tehran is in competition with Saudi Arabia." Further, "Khomeini isn't a true Ayatollah." His support is in the army. Washington respects the Iranians as a dynamic power for a peace between us.
"The greatest threat [to Persia] is demographic." That is, the imbalance between the growth of the younger generations and the middle and senior age groups. We should be looking as a partner with them within the Gulf instead of being competitors. "Iran can become troublesome." Therefore, we should "…talk to our opponents…or fail."
The Next Step: A Stealth Drone
January 4, 2010 by TMO · 2 Comments
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Air Force on Tuesday confirmed for the first time that it is flying a stealth unmanned aircraft known as the "Beast of Kandahar," a drone spotted in photos and shrouded in secrecy. The RQ-170 Sentinel is being developed by Lockheed Martin and is designed "to provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward deployed combat forces," the air force said in a brief statement.
The "RQ" prefix for the aircraft indicates an unarmed drone, unlike the "MQ" designation used for Predator and Reaper aircraft equipped with missiles and precision-guided bombs. Aviation experts dubbed the drone the "Beast of Kandahar" after photographs emerged earlier this year showing the mysterious aircraft in southern Afghanistan in 2007.
The image suggested a drone with a radar-evading stealth-like design, resembling a smaller version of a B-2 bomber.
A blog in the French newspaper Liberation published another photo this week, feeding speculation among aviation watchers about the classified drone. The air force said the aircraft came out of Lockheed Martin's "Skunk Works," also known as Advanced Development Programs, in California — the home of sophisticated and often secret defense projects including the U-2 spy plane, the F-22 fighter jet and the F-117 Nighthawk.
The photo of the drone in Afghanistan has raised questions about why the United States would be operating a stealth unmanned aircraft in a country where insurgents have no radar systems, prompting speculation Washington was using the drones for possible spying missions in neighboring Iran or Pakistan.
The Sentinel was believed to have a flying wing design with no tail and with sensors built into the top side of each wing, according to published photos.
The RQ-170 is in line with Defense Secretary Robert Gates' request for more intelligence and surveillance resources and with the Air Force chief of staff's plans to expand the fleet of unmanned aircraft, the air force said.
The new drone is flown by the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron out of Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, which is under Air Combat Command's 432nd Wing at Creech Air Base, also in Nevada. The United States has carried out an extensive bombing campaign against Al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan using the Predator and larger Reaper drones.
Robots or "unmanned systems" in the air and on the ground are now deployed by the thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan.
No-Fault Espionage
December 31, 2009 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Philip Giraldi
It is interesting to note what happens to espionage cases in the United States. If you spy for China, or Cuba, or Iran you will be exposed, excoriated in the media, locked up and denied bail, convicted, and sentenced to many years in a federal prison. Spying is serious business and the harsh punishment most often fits the crime because when spies steal highly sensitive defense and policy information they are not only betraying their fellow citizens, they are also making all Americans less secure. And the spying is only slightly less serious when American technology is being targeted. When spies acting for a foreign country steal sensitive technology with commercial applications that is developed at great cost either by the US government or private companies, their betrayal is also taking away the livelihoods of thousands of American workers who rely on the competitive edge of US technology to keep their jobs.
Spies are traitors in every sense of the word, unless, of course, if one is spying for Israel. Israel aggressively spies on the US both to influence policy and steal high technology, but getting caught only very rarely has any consequences. Leading neoconservatives like Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, and Stephen Bryen have all been detected in flagrante providing classified information to Israel but the investigations were halted and their security clearances were godfathered so they could continue to hold high office. FBI counter intelligence officer John Cole has reported on the frustration of his colleagues over the many cases of Israeli espionage that are dropped under orders from the Justice Department. He provides a "conservative estimate" of 125 worthwhile investigations into Israeli espionage in the US involving both American citizens and Israelis stopped due to political pressure from above. Israeli citizens and diplomats who are caught in the act spying are routinely freed without criminal charges and allowed to return home.
If you are an American who spies for Israel, a separate and unequal criminal justice system kicks in and the media quickly excuses your actions and then makes the story go away just as fast as it can. Most readers of Antiwar.com are familiar with the recent case of AIPAC officials Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman. The two men were given information that they knew to be classified by Pentagon employee Larry Franklin, who perhaps not coincidentally worked for Doug Feith. They passed the information on to an intelligence officer at the Israeli Embassy with whom they were also in contact. The FBI set up a sting using Franklin and arrested all three of the men under the Espionage Act of 1917. The arrest was followed by a nearly three year long trial in which the AIPAC duo finally escaped any punishment after presiding Judge Thomas Ellis obligingly set conditions that made it impossible for the prosecution to proceed. Franklin, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 151 months in prison, was subsequently freed of his obligation to do any jail time by the same Judge Ellis. While the trial was going on, it was conspicuously underreported by the media.
Predictably, many in the media and in the neocon establishment criticized the arrests of Rosen and Weissman, commenting that exchanges of classified "information" were routine in Washington and that Israel is a good friend requiring the classified intelligence for its own security. The argument might not have convinced the American public, but it certainly convinced the barking dogs in the media and Judge Ellis, particularly as there might have been a little nudging from important politicians taking place. Congresswoman Jane Harman, who was caught on the phone trading favors with an agent working for Israeli intelligence promised to use her influence in the Rosen-Weissman case in return for Israel helping her obtain the position of chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, a devil's bargain if there ever was one.
The case of Ben-Ami Kadish is in some ways even more intriguing than that of the two AIPAC staffers. Kadish was arrested in New Jersey in December 2008 for "conspiracy to disclose to the government of Israel documents related to the national defense of the United States and… that he participated in a conspiracy to act as an agent of the government of Israel." Kadish gave the same Israeli intelligence officer who ran convicted spy Jonathan Pollard classified documents that he had obtained while working at the US Army Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal in Dover, New Jersey. Some of the documents were related to nuclear weapons development while others described highly classified aspects of the Patriot anti-missile defense system. Israel subsequently developed its own Arrow anti-missile system, possibly using classified information relating to the Patriot, thereby reducing its own costs and enabling it to market the Arrow internationally at a lower price than its US competitors, eliminating American jobs.
Ben-Ami Kadish was arrested in December but released on bail. He was supposed to reappear before Judge Douglas Eaton at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan two months later in February, but did not actually reappear until June. He was fined and given a suspended sentence, a slap on the wrist considerably less painful than a local businessman cheating on his income tax might have received in the same courtroom.
And there is a current spy case involving Israel which clearly is being swept under the rug. Stewart Nozette, a scientist working for the US government, was arrested on October 19th and charged with conspiring to commit espionage. Nozette was caught in an FBI sting operation in which the Bureau officer pretended to be an Israeli Mossad spy. Nozette enthusiastically embraced the offer to cooperate, demanding in return an Israeli passport and money for the information that he would provide. The US media quickly went into damage mode, the New York Times headlining its coverage "The Scientist Who Mistook Himself for a Spy." Many in the media quickly noted that the FBI agent was not actually Mossad, meaning that Israel was not directly involved. The convenient spin ignored the fact the Nozette told the agent that he had already "communicated classified information" to Israel for many years through contacts in the Israel Aerospace Industries, for which he received $225,000. Nozette stated that he believed he had already been spying for Israel, telling the pretend Mossad but really FBI officer "I thought I was working for you already."
So what has happened to Nozette, who, according to the court papers, "had regular, frequent access to classified information and documents related to the US national defense"? Well, as in the case of Ben-Ami Kadish, he seems to have disappeared. The media has dropped the story and Nozette did not appear again in court on November 10th as scheduled. He may have been consigned to that limbo where those who spy for Israel seem to wind up prior to being released. The Federal District Court for the District of Columbia's website is giving nothing away. Nozette's name does not appear anywhere and if one calls the court clerk and requests information on his status, the call will not be returned.
The point is that if Congress and the Justice Department think that when Americans are caught spying for Israel it is constitutionally protected activity, like free speech, perhaps they should say so publicly. A two-tier system relating to national security issues and rule of law is just not in the US national interest, no matter how one twists the facts. If you spy for Israel the consequences should be the same as if you spy for China or Cuba – arrest, conviction, and hard jail time. No exceptions, no excuses.
U.S., Turkey Launch New Trade, Investment Forum
December 24, 2009 by TMO · Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and NATO ally Turkey launched an initiative Monday aimed at boosting trade and investment ties, but said there were no plans for the two countries to negotiate a free trade agreement.
"We can … build on what is a good trade and commercial relationship and make it a much more robust one," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said at a press conference with Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan.
The initiative creates a new Cabinet-level forum to discuss ways to expand bilateral trade and investment flows and to try to resolve disputes when they arise, similar to one the United States has with China.
"This framework … will be an important vehicle for expanding trade and investment and creating new jobs for the workers and the people" of both countries, said U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
The announcement followed a White House meeting between President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to discuss Iran's nuclear program and U.S. plans to send more troops to Afghanistan.
Obama told reporters he believed Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country and long-time U.S. ally, could be an 'important player' in moving Iran toward resolving its dispute with the West over its nuclear program.
Erdogan said Turkey stands ready to do whatever it can to achieve a diplomatic solution on the nuclear issue.
Turkey, which has applied for membership of the European Union, is the United States' fourth-largest trading partner in the Muslim world and 27th overall.
U.S-Turkey trade has dropped from a record of nearly $15 billion in 2008, but there is every reason to expect the two countries can surpass that "when the world economy gets back on its feet,'' Locke said.
Babacan said the two countries would seek suggestions from business on how to increase trade in areas ranging from energy to agriculture to military equipment.
He downplayed the chances of Ankara using the forum to press Washington to reduce high U.S. tariffs that Turkey faces on textiles and some other exports.
Kirk said the initiative was not intended as a stepping stone to talks with Turkey on a free trade agreement. (Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Chris Wilson)
Students Report on Islam in Unique Course
December 24, 2009 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Alexandra Carter, UPIU.com
Left: Students speak with Professor Geri Alumit Zeldes after the "Reporting on Islam" class at Michigan State University; Right: Professor Zeldes distributes graded story revisions for the "Reporting on Islam" course.
Photos by Alexandra Carter
EAST LANSING, Mich., Dec. 11 (UPI) — A new course at Michigan State University teaches students how to deal with the complexities of reporting on Islam in a post-Sept. 11 world.
This semester, students wrote about holiday celebrations and about how Muslim students feel about American university life. They also analyzed news reports on Islam from around the world in the new, "Reporting on Islam" course at Michigan State University.
"[The course] definitely made me uncomfortable at times, but honestly, that is how I know it was worthwhile," said Dan Redford, a student. "It helped me experience a part of the world and this country that I never had before."
Students uploaded the stories they wrote and the photos they took to UPIU.com, a service of United Press International for university students. Professor Geri Alumit Zeldes said that she wanted the class to submit its stories to UPIU to "have an outlet, other than me, to share their stories."
Of the 14 registered students in the course, half had at least one of their stories published online through UPIU. Student Andrew Norman's story on Islamic punk music was featured in blog in The San Francisco Sentinel and Wall Street Journal.
Student Brian J. Bowe said that using Web tools such as Skype to talk to people in other countries helped "shrink the world," an exciting aspect of the course.
"Those classroom interactions with people in places like Iraq, Iran and India enriched the experience for me," Bowe said. "One of the problems in media portrayals of Islam is that we're frequently talking about Muslims, but not to Muslims. Using technology, we were able to bridge cultures and have very profound dialogues."
Students also talked to Muslims who live in Michigan as sources for some articles.
"I found our visit to [the Islamic Center of East Lansing] highly beneficial. I would have been timid about going there alone," said student Jennifer Hoewe. "Since I was joined by my classmates and welcomed by those who attended the mosque, I felt comfortable enough to go again by myself later in the semester as part of an article I wrote."
The new class comes as students across the United States are showing more interest in Islam and in academic topics affiliated with the faith. Three of the students in "Reporting on Islam" studied Arabic, two of them through the university's Arabic department, which had roughly 150 students enrolled in classes this fall.
Several of the students in "Reporting on Islam" also are in the Muslim Studies specialization program, which was created by Professor Mohammed Ayoob after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The reporting course was just one of many offered this semester under this specialization, along with classes in arts and humanities, public affairs, religion, political science, anthropology and sociology.
"Reporting on Islam" is a good first step for many students to continue learning about the topic, said Zahkia Smith, a student.
"I think what's most important coming out of this class is that the very best way to know how to report on Islam is to get involved and actually step into the Muslim community," Smith said. "The class gives you the right tools. The completion of the class is the signal to dig further."
"Reporting on Islam" is a pilot course offered jointly through Michigan State's School of Journalism and its Muslim Studies program. It was started with a grant from the Social Science Research Council, a national non-profit group. In addition, the course is part of the Islam, Muslims, and Journalism Education program, a project on the Internet funded by the same grant that has a goal to generate accurate and balanced reporting.
Similar courses have been taught at other American university campuses, Zeldes said. For example, Marda Dunsky, instructor of Islamic World Studies at DePaul University, teaches the "Reporting the Arab and Muslim World" course.
Insurgents Intercept Drone Video in King-Size Security Breach
December 17, 2009 by TMO · Leave a Comment
By Noah Schachtman, Wired Magazine
In Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military depends on an array of drones to snoop on and stalk insurgents. Now it looks as if insurgents are tapping into those same drones' broadcasts, to see what the flying robot spies see. If true — and widespread — it's potentially one of the most serious military security breaches in years.
"U.S. military personnel in Iraq discovered the problem late last year when they apprehended a Shiite militant whose laptop contained files of intercepted drone video feeds," Wall Street Journal reports. "In July, the U.S. military found pirated drone video feeds on other militant laptops, leading some officials to conclude that militant groups trained and funded by Iran were regularly intercepting feeds."
How'd the militants manage to get access to such secret data? Basically by pointing satellite dishes up, and waiting for the drone feeds to pour in. According to the Journal, militants have exploited a weakness: The data links between the drone and the ground control station were never encrypted. Which meant that pretty much anyone could tap into the overhead surveillance that many commanders feel is America's most important advantage in its two wars. Pretty much anyone could intercept the feeds of the drones that are the focal point for the secret U.S. war in Pakistan.
Using cheap, downloadable programs like SkyGrabber, militants were apparently able to watch and record the video feed — and potentially be tipped off when U.S. and coalition forces are stalking them. The $26 software was originally designed to let users download movies and songs off of the internet. Turns out, the program lets you nab Predator drone feeds just as easily as pirated copies of The Hangover.
And here's the real scandal: Military officials have known about this potential vulnerability since the Bosnia campaign. That was over 10 years ago. And, as Declan McCullagh observes, there have been a series of government reports warning of the problem since then. But the Pentagon assumed that their adversaries in the Middle East and Central Asia wouldn't have the smarts to tap into the communications link. That's despite presentations like this 1996 doozy from Air Combat Command, which noted that that "the Predator UAV is designed to operate with unencrypted data links."
If you think militants are going to be content to just observe spy drone feeds, it's time to reconsider. "Folks are not merely going to listen/watch what we do when they intercept the feeds, but also start to conduct 'battles of persuasion'; that is, hacking with the intent to disrupt or change the content, or even 'persuade' the system to do their own bidding," Peter Singer, author of Wired for War, tells Danger Room.
This has long been the nightmare scenario within Pentagon cybersecurity circles: a hacker not looking to take down the military grid, but to exploit it for his own purposes. How does a soldier trust an order, if he doesn't know who else is listening — or who gave the order, in the first place? "For a sophisticated adversary, it's to his advantage to keep your network up and running. He can learn what you know. He can cause confusion, delay your response times — and shape your actions," one Defense Department cybersecurity official tells Danger Room.
Despite this rather massive vulnerability, drone operations show no signs of letting up. According to the Associated Press, "two suspected U.S. missile strikes, one using multiple drones, killed 17 people in a Pakistani tribal region."
Meanwhile, military officials assure are scrambling to plug the hole. "The difficulty, officials said, is that adding encryption to a network that is more than a decade old involves more than placing a new piece of equipment on individual drones," the Journal notes. "Instead, many components of the network linking the drones to their operators in the U.S., Afghanistan or Pakistan have to be upgraded to handle the changes."
So it may be quite some time before this enormous security breach is filled.
– Nathan Hodge and Noah Shachtman
American Hikers in Iran Are Too Useful to Release
December 17, 2009 by TMO · Leave a Comment
William O. Beeman, Commentary, New America Media
NAM Editor's Note: American hikers Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd are a precious catch for Iran, which is hoping to get some political mileage from their detention, observes NAM contributor William Beeman. Bauer freelanced for NAM.
Three Americans, journalist Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd, have been detained in Iran since July 31, 2009 for entering the Islamic Republic from Iraq at a remote mountain border without visas. Now, Iran's Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki has announced that they will be tried in Iranian courts. It is likely they will be charged with espionage.
The three Americans appear to have strayed innocently into Iranian territory, but they have provided an unusually strong opportunity for the Iranian government to continue to engage the United States in tit-for-tat attacks.
Superficially, the detention and eventual trial of these three individuals resembles the earlier detention of a number of Iranian Americans traveling in Iran, the most recent being journalist Roxana Saberi, who was released last summer after having been charged with espionage. Iranian-American academic Kian Tajbakhsh remains in custody facing a 12-year jail sentence after his espionage conviction.
The case against Bauer and his friends provides many political advantages to the Iranian government.
First, there can be no question that people who stray over international borders without proper documentation are subject to scrutiny and legal action. Here, the Iranians have an open and shut justification for holding the three hikers, and can claim indisputable high legal ground for their actions.
Second, Iran wants to make the point that foreign spies are operating in its sovereign territory. The United States has admitted to maintaining operatives in Iran, as has Israel. Israel has even bragged about assassinating an Iranian nuclear scientist. Thus, although the three Americans are probably not spies, they serve as reminders to the Iranian public and to the international community of the real spies that Iranian authorities have not caught.
Third, Iran has reportedly linked the American detainees to 11 Iranians that have been held by U.S. federal officials, as reported by Laura Rozen in the blog, Politico . These individuals are charged with violating export laws — essentially by supplying arms and military equipment to Iran. They were arrested in several European countries, and have been held incognito and incommunicado for more than a year in some cases. The Iranians certainly hope to see movement on releasing these detainees.
Iran also charges the United States with engineering the disappearance of nuclear researcher Shahram Amiri during his pilgrimage to Mecca last spring.
Finally, the Iranian government is desperate for a distraction from the unprecedented opposition disturbances in protest of the June 12 presidential elections. December 18 marks the beginning of the month of Muharram, when Shi'a Muslims commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hossein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammad (s), murdered in 680 C.E. There will be street processions, religious demonstrations and ritual mourning for 10 days. This is the perfect smokescreen for anti-government demonstrations.
To add to the government consternation, sections of the regular Iranian military have threatened to emerge from their barracks to protect "the people" from the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and Basij units that have been attacking the anti-government opposition. A big show trial against "foreign spies" will reinforce the Iranian government claims to its own citizenry that all the troubles in the Islamic Republic today are being fomented by foreign agents.
It is clear that both the United States and Iran have a lot of human traffic to account for on each others' soil. The real impediment to sorting out these matters is that the United States and Iran still have no comprehensive way to talk to each other. Moreover, there is too much to be gained in both nations by mutual demonization to move forward toward rational discussion. Iran's non-existent nuclear weapons program remains a red herring, preventing any real progress in reaching an accord between the two nations.
For the hapless hikers, the worst-case scenario is one where they get caught up in the maelstrom of events that have nothing to do with their meager crime, and end up as object lessons in the mutual hostilities between Iran and the West.
William O. Beeman is Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, and is past president of the Middle East Section of the American Anthropological Association. He has lived and worked in the Middle East for more than 30 years. His most recent book is "'The Great Satan' vs. the 'Mad Mullahs': How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other." (Chicago, 2008).


text:
I usually get stuck in the part with the smell of burning rome. It smells so strong too!
Actually, why do my shoes smell like burning rome?
I usually get stuck in the part with the smell of burning rome. It smells so strong too!
Actually, why do my shoes smell like burning rome?
Same here! We always get stuck in Rome, and CHOKE from the smell! Also one time we got stuck while we're going backwards. I fell asleep(which sometimes if we woke up earl, I do) lol
~ElyseGO KNIGHTS!I'm a baby Knight! UCF '13
Is it just me (off topic, I apologize) or does the burning of Rome smell like really acidic bacon burning?
LOL!!!!!I like the smell from Spaceship Earth too!That smell is from all the old electronics on the ride.
~Welcome Foolish Mortals!~-Haunted Mansion
/\ Thats not true!! Everyone knows that part of the ride is above the ultra secret CM only BBQ & Steakhouse restaurant.
Back on topic,I always seem to get stuck on the backwards part,in fact,I've gotten used to going backwards.Now I know where to bet!
If you can dream it, you can do it!
haha. Same goes for me except most of the time I get stuck in the part when we are circling around the earth. (right before we turn backwards)
Love, Kerri
I always seem to get stuck when I am going backwards, underneath the TV screen where all the news reporters from different countries are talking. It used to be really nice because they had mist falling from the ceiling...it hasn't had that the last couple times I have been, though.
I hate the Rome smell! I hold my breath every time we go through it, haha! It's not really that terrible, but it's habit because I've been doing it since I was a kid. The only smell in all of the parks that has ever made me really sick was Stitch's burp on Stitch's Great Escape...I will never ride that ride again! Anyway, I love Spaceship Earth and I'm devistated that it'll be closed when I go in October!
My sister and i got stuck at the caveman scene for 45 min and at first the caveman grunting was funny, and we took stupid pictures, but then, it got really old, and i swear we learned to speak caveman. then it moved on and it didn't stop again. This year, i was on a chorus trip, and my best friend and i were riding through the machine room, shouting so he could hear saying "HOW BAD WOULD IT **** TO GET STUCK IN HERE?!" "I KNOW! HA HA HA!" aaand the ride stopped dead for 5 minutes. Irony. gotta love it. haha
Isn't WDW just a people trap operated by a mouse?
D23 Charter Member

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Girls basketball: Lani Edmonds takes the helm at Roosevelt, academics and basketball
By Ryan Haskell Post-Tribune correspondent October 22, 2012 11:26PM
Roosevelt head coach Lani Edmonds directs players during practice Monday afternoon at the school in Gary. | Jeffrey D. Nicholls~Sun-Times Media
Updated: November 24, 2012 6:19AM
GARY — The first day of practice always brings plenty of excitement and optimism.
It's no different at Roosevelt, where former East Chicago standout Lani Edmonds takes the reins.
But she's preaching a new concept as the players run their first drills of the season.
"My No. 1 expectation for my team is their grades," said Edmonds, who played basketball at Wabash Valley College in Mount Carmel, Ill., and Ashland University in Ohio. "That is first and foremost. When I was in school, I didn't like (school work) but you have to make the grade in order to play.
"I think if you are a true competitor you want to get the best grade you can. I didn't always get 'A's but as long as you are working hard and you are not a problem for your teachers, you can graduate and make something for yourself."
Winning at the game of life isn't always preached on the basketball courts in Northwest Indiana. It's a fresh approach Edmonds hopes transpires in the classroom and on the hardwood floors in the region.
The first-year coach will be in for quite a challenge with two returning players from last year's 11-7 campaign. The Panthers graduated more than 90 percent of their offense from a year ago.
"Everybody is fresh," Edmonds said. "They are almost all pretty much new."
Fortunately, she'll get help from former Cardinals teammates, Rayna Hare and Ebony Campbell, and from her old high school coach and father, Ron Edmonds.
"My coaches and I are passing down what he taught us," Edmonds said. "And he continues to help us out which I'm grateful for.
"I don't know what he wants to do, if he wants to be on my staff, but I will welcome him with open arms. Right now, they call him Coach Edmonds No. 1 and I am coach Edmonds No. 2."
For a young program, that will be very important. The elder Edmonds rebuilt the East Chicago program from its hey days in the mid-1990s. He guided the Cardinals to a 19-0 regular season during the 2002-03 year and won a sectional title in the '05-06 season.
Edmonds said her team still needs to get down some of the fundamentals but her girls are quick learners.
"It is a little challenging with me growing up in the sport," Edmonds said. "The things I'm teaching now I knew in fifth grade but the great thing is these girls are open-minded and receptive to learning something new and that makes it less challenging."
Edmonds finished 9-4 coaching the East Chicago freshman team in '09-10.