"A MULLAH CONSPIRACY!"

What Are the Mullahs Up To?

May 7, 2009 6:30 AM
Nicholas Guariglia Foreign Policy Analyst and Columnist

Be forewarned: the possibility exists that Ayatollah Khamenei is using Mir-Hossein Mousavi as a sham presidential contestant for Iran’s upcoming presidential “election” June 12th. Supreme Leader Khamenei could use a hypothetical Mousavi presidency as a ploy to fool the world into believing Iran has turned a positive corner — all the while, the mullahs will simply be buying time to ascertain nuclear weaponry. It would be far easier, far likelier, and much more politically expedient for President Obama to invite a fresh face like Mousavi to the White House Rose Garden, than to be seen shaking hands with the inflammatory Ahmadinejad. Likewise, it would be much harder for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convince Europe to increase international pressure on Iran’s nuclear program with a new, smiling, “reformist” Iranian president, juxtaposed to his rabble-rousing predecessor.

By theoretically deceiving the West with Mousavi, Iran’s mullahs would make Israel’s warnings seem hollow and unfounded — or at least, less founded than during Ahmadinejad’s presidency. This would constitute a huge geopolitical victory for the mullahs.

This “democratic process” is anything but democratic, of course, as the nominees for the office must be pre-approved by the unelected clergymen who truly rule the country — which is what makes the list of presidential nominees all the more intriguing.

President Ahmadinejad will be facing reelection. Since his unexpected rise in 2005, Ahmadinejad has cast himself as a firebrand, with a flare for the rhetorically incendiary. He has famously denied the Holocaust, called for the elimination of Israel countless times, and has held international conferences to discuss the possibility of a “world without America.” As Iranian dissident Amir Abbas Fakhravar once told me, “Ahmadinejad is the true face of the Iranian regime.” In other words, what Ahmadinejad says publicly is precisely what Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and his clerical inner-circle think privately.

Therefore, it should not come as a surprise to the world should Ahmadinejad — a man who has violated nearly all of his economic promises — “magically” be granted another four-year term. The mullahs sense weakness on the part of the West and might not feel inclined to alter course. After all, President Obama has already promised to meet with Ahmadinejad, which will legitimize Ahmadinejad’s rule and give the regime more time to pursue nuclear weapons. Additionally, the United States government is in full carrot-and-stick mode — with a special emphasis on the carrots. The mullahs might be thinking: “If it is not broken, why fix it?”

But alas, the mullahs have a second option: trumpeting up another “reformer” as a domestic savior — to placate the righteous rage of the oppressed Iranian citizenry — and as a temporary international redeemer of Iran’s reputation. In 1997, Mohammad Khatami was such a “reformer.” The Iranian people voted Khatami into power with hopes of a Persian-version of glasnost and perestroika.

Needless to say, those hopes were misplaced. Khatami oversaw some of the most brutal crackdowns on dissent in all of Iran’s history. In July 1999, Khatami’s henchmen violently suppressed peaceful student protestors, who were calling for democracy. The Basij, a violent paramilitary group that answers to the regime, viciously killed Iranian civilians and threw thousands of innocents in prison (many were never heard from again).

This time around, Khatami is smart enough not to run. The Iranian people have been down that road before, and to paraphrase The Who, they won’t get fooled again. This does not mean, however, that the regime will refrain from putting forth another “con candidate,” offering Iranians the supposed choice to opt out of their current conundrum.

Mr. Mir-Hossein Mousavi seems to be such a candidate. On the surface, Mousavi casts himself as a moderate reformist who will reintroduce Iran to the world. This appeals to Iranians, who find it a source of shame when their leadership makes Iran an international pariah-state.

But is Mousavi the real deal? Jon Lee Anderson from The New Yorker tries to answer that question, with a telling piece that all Iran-watchers should read with a skeptical eye. The article asks a question many officials have long asked — “Can Iran Change?” — but the silver lining to Anderson’s premise should not be overlooked. Dishearteningly, Anderson seems to buy into the bogus supposition — hook line and sinker — that a “gap” exists between Iran’s “conservative hard-liners” and Iran’s “reformists.” This is a lie.

Students of international relations, if they take only one thing away from their studies, should resist this false narrative, and emancipate themselves from the superstition that suggests Iranian “reformists” truly have reform on their agenda. Iranian history has proven that they do not.

Mousavi’s life, in fact, suggests he is knee-deep in violent government activity. Mousavi is a 67-year-old former prime minister who has risen in regime ranks while being entrenched to the apparatus of the Islamic state. He was Khomeini’s premier during the Iran-Iraq war, and is a former minister of foreign affairs, as well as a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, which helps appoint the Supreme Leader of Iran. While he is offering Iranians change in word, in deed that is another story altogether.

There is no telling who will win Iran’s undemocratic election next month. But if it is Mir-Hossein Mousavi, officials in the State Department should ignore the conventional wisdom and remember the lessons of Khatami. For whatever “happy” image Mousavi may exude in public, in reality, the man behind the curtain will be up to his usual tricks.
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U.S. SRIKE ON SYRIAN COMPOUND KILLS AL-QAIDA COMMANDER

Posted on Mon, Oct. 27, 2008

Syria raid killed terrorist leader

By JONATHAN S. LANDAY AND NANCY A. YOUSSEFA

CIA-led raid on a compound in eastern Syria killed an al-Qaida in Iraq commander who oversaw the smuggling into Iraq of foreign fighters whose attacks claimed thousands of Iraqi and American lives, three U.S. officials said Monday.The body of Badran Turki Hishan al-Mazidih, an Iraqi national who used the nom de guerre Abu Ghadiya, was flown out of Syria on a U.S. helicopter at the end of the operation Sunday by CIA paramilitary officers and special forces, one U.S. official said.
"It was a successful operation," a second U.S. official told McClatchy Newspapers. "The bottom line: This was a significant blow to the foreign fighter pipeline between Syria and Iraq."
A senior U.S. military officer said the raid was launched after human and technical intelligence confirmed that al-Mazidih was present at the compound close to Syria's border with Iraq. "The situation finally presented itself," he said.
The three U.S. officials, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity because the operation was classified, declined to reveal other details of the raid. A CIA spokesman declined to comment.
The senior military officer said that U.S. intelligence had been tracking al-Mazidih for some time, and that "the more we learned about him and how he works" the higher he rose on the U.S. most-wanted list.
"He is the guy who produced the most prolific of the foreign fighters networks," said the first U.S. official, adding that the extremists he smuggled into Iraq were responsible for attacks that "killed thousands of Iraqis and our own U.S. forces."
On Feb. 28, the Treasury Department announced a freeze on any U.S. assets belonging to al-Mazidih and three of his associates, charging that they were smuggling "money, weapons, terrorists, and other resources through Syria to al Qaida in Iraq, including to (al-Qaida) commanders."
The Treasury Department announcement identified al-Mazidih as a Sunni Muslim who was born in the late 1970s in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and was a lieutenant of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in 2006. He was believed to be living in the Syrian town of Zabadani.
"Former al Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi appointed Badran (al-Mazidih) as the group's Syrian commander for logistics in 2004," the Treasury said. "After Zarqawi's death, Badran began working for the new AQI leader, Abu Ayyub al Masri. As of late-September 2006, Badran took orders directly from Masri, or through a deputy.
"Badran obtained false passports for foreign terrorists, provided passports, weapons, guides, safe houses, and allowances to foreign terrorists in Syria and those preparing to cross the border into Iraq," it said. "As of the spring of 2007, Badran facilitated the movement of AQI operatives into Iraq via the Syrian border. Badran also directed another Syria-based AQI facilitator to provide safe haven and supplies to foreign fighters," the Treasury said. "This AQI facilitator, working directly for Badran, facilitated the movement of foreign fighters primarily from Gulf countries, through Syria into Iraq."
The Bush administration, which for years has expressed frustration over what it charges have been Syria's lackluster efforts to stop foreign Islamic fighters from crossing into Iraq, refused to publicly acknowledge the operation.
It wasn't immediately clear whether an order that President Bush signed in July allowing U.S. commandos from Afghanistan to attack a suspected terrorist base in Pakistan also authorized cross-border operations in other countries.
Pentagon officials were tight-lipped about the operation. But they were quick to defend the decision to cross the border, with one saying that if nations that sponsor terrorist networks won't go after them, "we will."
The raid into Syria on Sunday has ignited a major diplomatic storm, with Iran joining in Syria's condemnation of the United States.
The Syrian government charged that eight civilians, including four children, died in what it described as a daylight attack on an al-Sukkari farm in eastern Syria by U.S. forces that flew across the border from Iraq in four helicopters.
"The Americans do it in the daylight. This means it was not a mistake. It is by blunt determination," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem charged Monday at a news conference in London. "For that, we consider this criminal and terrorist aggression."
Maura Connelly, the ranking U.S. diplomat in Damascus, was summoned to receive an official protest, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
The Iraqi government defended the raid. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that Syria had refused to hand over foreign fighters who'd taken refuge there after killing 13 Iraqi border guards.
However, al-Dabbagh said, a proposed accord governing the status of U.S. forces in Iraq "will limit this type of operation. It will limit the United States from using Iraqi land to attack others."
MORE FROM MCCLATCHY
U.S. threatens to halt services to Iraq without troop accord: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/100/story/54795.html

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Is Hizballah worming its way into the Lebanese army, or is the army now a part of Hizballah?

October 23, 2008

Former CIA Ops Officer on Hizballah

Maj. W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

Maj. W. Thomas Smith Jr. is director of the Counterterrorism Research Center of the Family Security Foundation. A former U.S. Marine infantry leader and shipboard counterterrorism instructor, Smith writes about military/defense issues and has covered conflict in the Balkans, on the West Bank, in Iraq and Lebanon. He is the author of six books, and his articles have appeared in USA Today, George, U.S. News & World Report, BusinessWeek, National Review Online, CBS News, Townhall.com, The Washington Times, and others.

Among my sources for a recent piece, “Are We Funding the Lebanese Army or Hizballah?” (Human Events, Oct. 20, 2008), was my friend and colleague, Clare M. Lopez, who – when I mentioned to her my concerns regarding Hizballah’s having wormed its way into the legitimate Lebanese Defense apparatus as an official component of the army – said to me, “It’s actually the other way around. The army now appears to be part of Hizballah.”

Lopez – a former operations officer with the Central Intelligence Agency who is today a widely sought expert in the interconnected realms of strategic policy, counterintelligence, and counterterrorism – clearly understands the dynamics of Lebanon, its strategic importance in the war on terror, and its increasingly dominant kingdom within the state, Hizballah.

While pulling together information for the piece from additional sources, I spoke with Lopez a couple of times by phone and email. And her analysis for me was so informationally rich that – though I was unable to include all of it in our Human Events piece – I am including it here now.

I’m doing so on the 25th anniversary of the terrorist bombing of the U.S. Marine Barracks in Beirut. The suicide attack – carried out by fledgling Hizballah on Oct. 23, 1983 – killed 241 American Marines, sailors, and soldiers.

Following is Lopez’s unedited, exclusive analysis regarding Hizballah:

“Tom, yes, since May 2008, when Hizballah swiftly and brutally demonstrated its ability to impose military control throughout Lebanon, literally at will, and then with the July formation of the government of national unity (wherein Hizballah wields cabinet veto power), it is clear that Hizballah – and by extension, Iran – owns Lebanon. This means that a radical, revolutionary, and expansionist Shi'a jihad force occupies a foothold on the southeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

“The Lebanese Army stood aside when Hizballah made its move in May: no big surprise to anyone who understands what has been happening demographically in Lebanon these last years: as a Shi'a majority force, the Army's sympathies are obviously with Hizballah. Other militias and political groups within Lebanon – from Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, to Druze leader Walid Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party, to Amal leader Nabi Berri, and now even a clutch of Sunni parties – are lining up to ally themselves with Hizballah.

“Some say that even Saad Hariri's revered father, Rafiq, may have been killed with Saudi involvement because of his close relationship with [Hizballah Secretary General Hassan] Nasrallah – who can be seen on YouTube, by the way, waxing eloquent about Rafiq in front of millions of cheering Lebanese. The lead UN investigator has also spoken publicly about Saudi involvement in the assassination.

“U.S. Middle East policy is woefully misguided, in my opinion. How could it be otherwise? Thirty-five years of graduates from Saudi-Wahhabi-Salafi-funded Ivy League Middle East Studies programs now occupy top positions throughout our Dept. of State, Intelligence Community, think tanks, media, and academia itself.

“There seems to be little to no comprehension or willingness on the part of the Bush administration to recognize current hard realities in the Levant, primary of which is the massive and nefarious influence of Iran. I don't know exactly why there is such fear and reluctance to confront Iran, but my own personal suspicions lie with the status of its nuclear warhead development program – and where those warheads may now already be deployed. Iran's threats, and Hizballah's ability, to field scores, if not hundreds of suicide bombers to Iraq, Israel, and our own cities in the West may also be a reason why our national leadership seems paralyzed with fear about Iran.

“Thing is, this is not going to improve with time if we don't do something to confront it....we'll simply be forced into a position of total submission – dhimmitude–vis-a-vis Iran and the forces of jihad. What this means in the first instance is abandonment of Israel, our foremost ally in the Middle East and the only reliable outpost of liberal democracy in the region. Obama already has promised his support to Muslims and Palestinians, and has indicated he will end the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel – in truth, not a big change from the policies of the Condi Rice State Dept., but now it will be official policy, if he wins the presidency.

“It is Iran that guided and funded and armed the formation of Hizballah in 1982 – and continues to do so. It is Iran that advises, arms, funds, and guides the Palestinian terror organizations sworn to the destruction of the State of Israel: Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Fatah militias (Tanzim, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade). It is Iran that reportedly has provided Hizballah with something on the order of $3 billion for reconstruction in Lebanon since the summer 2006 war. Not the Lebanese government, not the French or Americans or Europeans or the international community: Iran – which means Nasrallah gets to take credit among [many of] the Lebanese people, who obviously adore the guy. Nasrallah is known as the ‘man who never lies,’ because the promises he makes, he keeps.

“Most dangerous for Israel, it is Iran that has rearmed Hizballah in the aftermath of that war with Fajr 3 and Fajr 5 surface-to-surface missiles, Chinese-made shore-to-sea C-802 missiles, Zelzal-2 and Zelzal-3 missiles (which are capable of delivering CBW munitions a distance of 250 km.), wire-guided TOW missiles, and AT-3 Sagger antitank missiles, antiaircraft cannons, SA-7 anti-aircraft missiles, shoulder-fired Strela-7 and mobile Rapier 2 ground-to-air missiles, Katyusha artillery rockets, sophisticated explosive charges, and small arms.

“Hizballah's command-and-control system is fully integrated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran. Its military telecommunications system -- the one the Fuad Siniora government made a weak (and ultimately futile) move to bring under central Lebanese government control in May, is world-class and now demonstrably untouchable by the Lebanese government. Its broadcast network – TV, radio, Internet – is modern, sophisticated, and very large.

“Since taking control of Lebanon in May, Hizballah forces have occupied all the key high ground and established layered defenses north of the Litani River, in the southern and central Bekaa Valley, and reinforced their presence in southern Beirut.

“UNIFIL's 15,000 ground forces in Lebanon have failed utterly to enforce UN Resolution 1701 and instead of preventing Hizballah's massive rearmament following the summer 2006 war, they have engaged in liaison and pay-off operations with Hizballah for the purpose of force protection.

“So, the U.S. government decision to grant the Lebanese Army millions of dollars worth of military assistance, in full knowledge that those weapons will never be used to confront Hizballah, and more than likely will only add to their arsenal, is foolish in the extreme, in my opinion. After the events of May and July, there can simply be no doubt in any sane person's mind about who controls Lebanon: it is not the Fuad Siniora government! Hassan Nasrallah controls Lebanon.

“I am not one who believes Hassan Nasrallah dances on a puppeteer's strings manipulated out of Tehran – I think he uses Iranian and Syrian assistance for his own ends in Lebanon (although he may be more willing to do their bidding abroad) – but their common purpose surely is the destruction of the State of Israel.

“All I can think is that our national security policy is in the hands of those who do not really believe in the defense of liberal democracy – and most especially if that liberal democracy is embodied in a Jewish State of Israel. There is a terrible strain of anti-Semitism that has taken root and grown in the ranks of our State Dept. and CIA in particular – again, perhaps the result of all those years of Saudi-Wahhabi indoctrination in our top universities. But the result is clear: Condi's readiness to throw Israel under a bus at Annapolis last November [2007]; the Bush administration's refusal to deal with Iran, despite a lot of soaring rhetoric, and now, a real and perceptible diminishment in the bilateral commitment.

“The naiveté of our government’s dealings with Syria, as well as this military deal with the Lebanese Army, seems incomprehensible to me. The ability to distinguish between friend and foe in the Middle East seems lost and will have disastrous consequences for our own national security objectives in the region and ultimately, at home.” — Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. at uswriter.com.

Hezbollah In Control of Strategic Areas in Lebanon

Hezbollah Completes Take-Over of Lebanese Mountains

September 6, 2008 //RPS Staff// -

In coordination with the Assad regime, in particular Mohammed Nassif Kheir Bek (Abou Wael), in addition to Iranian agents working directly within Hezbollah’s rank and file, the renegade Hezbollah militia has quietly established positions in Kobayat and Founaydek mountain tops in Northern Lebanon in anticipation of an internal Lebanese war Assad of Syria has been preparing for using his own homegrown terrorists.

Hezbollah has also occupied the Sanneen mountain top, the highest in Lebanon and the Barook mountain top surrounding the Beirut-Damascus Highway and normally a Druze enclave right after the Doha agreement.

Kobayat and Founaydek are known to be Christian enclaves in the north. Their strategic value, besides connecting Hezbollah’s communications infrastructure, lies in their military commanding heights over Tripoli and surrounding areas. Yesterday, the March 14 coalition, warned against the drum beat of war sparked by what Assad said during his press conference with President Sarkozy of France to the effect that extremism in the north may force Syria to re-enter Lebanon. About two months ago, sectarian incidents erupted in Tripoli, which killed some 20 Lebanese when Sunni and Alawites clashed.

Analysts believe that the somewhat inexperienced administration of Sarkozy’s new government believes the intelligence provided by its staff in Lebanon, which is mostly influenced by Syrian agents playing a double game. In the past, March 14 has accused Assad of stationing Fatah al-Islam in the North of Lebanon in order to create justification for Syrian forces to re-enter the country under the auspices of saving the international community from Islamic extremism. According to reliable sources, Syria continues developing and arming Fatah al-Islam the same way it continues coordinating with the remnants of al-Qaeda in Iraq by sending Syrian military intelligence officers to fill the void left by their defeat by the US troops and the Iraqis.

The speed by which the international community is allowing Assad free reign of terror in Lebanon and Iraq is quite disturbing. Years of isolating the Assad regime with success is being dismantled by renegade policy makers within the Bush administration by taking advantage of noticeable absence in the White House and the distractions caused by US elections.

ACCIDENTS?.... Not by a long shot!!!

Nothing is Accidental…
by Steven Shamrak

…in portrayal of the Jews in Bible and attitude of the Church toward Jews during Christian discourses. From the acceptance of Christianity by the Roman empire Jews have been used to having to hide the fact that the Roman occupiers of Judea and Samaria were responsible for the death of the Christian saviour. Later, Rome could not allow itself to be blamed for his death after adopting the religious ideas of a Jewish sect. Therefore, Judaism had been chosen as a convenient patsy.

One would think that this attitude is ancient history, but even during the recent celebration of World Youth Day in Sydney, which was portrayed as a positive and joyful occasion with some attempts of religious reconciliation, this anti-Jewish bias attitude of the officialdom of the Catholic Church was still in play. For example, during the re-enactment of the Last Supper, which was apparently a Pesach (Passover) Seder meal, an actor who was playing the character of the Jewish man, Jesus, shared with other 12 Jews, Apostles, not the traditional Jewish Pesach bread Matzos, but a Lebanese pitas. Even after lip service by the current Pope about reconciliation with Jews, the Lebanese pita is more acceptable to the taste of the official Catholic anti-Semites than Jewish Matzos.

It is the deed not empty, deceitful and convoluted words and apologies that is important and make sense! Anything else is just a smoke screen to cover up and hide the ugly past and present behavior of the Catholic Church toward Jews!

A 5 year old girl and four militants (terrorists), members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades - the armed wing of Hamas, were killed on Friday in an explosion in a car outside Gaza City. – Why was a child taken for a ride in the car with terrorists? According to international law, using civilians as a human shield is illegal, but anti-Israel international hypocrisy does not care!

Hurting Helping Hand. Arab relatives of the sick man at the western Galilee village of Kabul threw rocks at a Magen David Adom ambulance which had been called to help him.
Food for Thought. by Steven Shamrak

The PA and Hamas, with the support of many international 'Jew-lovers', cry poor and demand that Israel open her borders and allow so-called Palestinians to work in Israel. In return, they have been consistently showing their appreciation by killing Jews including their Jewish employers. Hypocrisy must end. Let them depart and live happily in Sinai, far away from Jews, where they will not be able to blame us for their own made ugly 'misfortune'!

Rail Inspector Savagely Beaten by Arabs. An Israel Railways employee was beaten last Thursday by a group of Arab youths. A group of young Arabs confronted him at his guard post at a railway crossing near Atlit, demanded his weapon, and savagely beat him when they discovered he was unarmed.

When Bad Politic Overrides Common Sense. Shin Bet chief tells Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Hamas has been taking advantage of the truce in order to plant mines in wide areas in the Gaza Strip: "Hamas today has missiles which can reach Kiryat Gat and maybe even Ashdod… This is one of the reasons I objected to the ceasefire," he said. "I'm not saying how we should do thing, but in order to fight terror we have no choice but to be present in the area." (…and remove the source of terror!)
Hamas Praises Attack as "Natural Reaction". Eleven people are being treated for physical injuries and shock after an Arab tractor driver smashed a bus and at least two cars and tried to run over pedestrians. The terrorist, from Eastern Jerusalem, drove his tractor from a work site in the Yemin Moshe neighbourhood and turned on to King David street before he was killed. Hamas praised Tuesday's bulldozer attack, saying that it was a "natural reaction". (Isn't it time for Israel to make a decisive 'Reaction' against enemy terror and them 'react somewhere else? I wonder how would Americans or Europeans feel if an Arab tractor driver attack them in the centre of Washington, London or Paris?)
Deterrent will not Work.

Since January 1, the IDF, Israel Police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) have arrested close to 80 Arabs from East Jerusalem on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. Jerusalem has seen random terror stabbings and attacks over many years. Security officials said a daily presence of security forces is needed inside East Jerusalem and Arab towns. It would add to Israel's deterrence and cause a potential terrorist to rethink his plans. (Only the transfer of these enemies from the Jewish land will end this terror. Anything else is just a short-term 'patch job'!)

Ugly Face of Enemy. Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah has suggested another deal with Israel, this time offering details on missing soldiers in return for Israel's freeing PA terrorists.

Milestone in a Battle for Jewish Rights. The Supreme Court has ordered yet another eviction of Arab squatters and the return of a home to its Jewish owners. The home in question is located in the renewed ancient Jewish neighborhood built around the 2,000-year-old gravesite and tomb of the Tannaitic Sage Shimon HaTzaddik, half a mile north of Damascus Gate. (When Jewish Rights are concerned the Israeli 'politicly correct' justice system takes its time!)

Quote of the Week:
"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty" - Thomas Jefferson – It is time for "Timid" Jews, and not only Jews, to become self-respectful and take our liberty back!

Another Delusional Politician. Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain said in interview that international sanctions against Iran can stop it from developing the ability to produce nuclear weapons. He added that a military option does not have to be considered at this point. (While Chinese are buying oil at any cost and Russia is supplying military technology for cash, why would sanctions work? Strangely, Sen. McCain is considered to be more knowledgeable than Sen. Obama on foreign affairs!)

Israeli Arabs in Al-Qaeda Plot. Six young Arabs from Israel and Eastern Jerusalem were arrested by Shin Bet in June and July this year for allegedly setting up an al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist network and plotting to shoot down US President George W. Bush's helicopter earlier this year. Some of the Arabs arrested were students at Hebrew University.

Hizballah: War not Over. Sheikh Naim Kassem, deputy secretary-general of Hizballah, said on Saturday, July 19, that abductions of more Israeli soldiers may not be ruled out. He declared that his pro-Iranian Shiite terror group remained at war with Israel. (I wonder when Israeli politicians will realise that!)

Stupid Idea from Israeli Left Again. Meretz MK Yossi Beilin called on European countries to declare how many Palestinian refugees and their descendants they would be willing to absorb as part of any future peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. (Why must the EU, but not the 60 Muslim countries, including 22 Arab ones, absorb a terror-infested population of a fake Palestinian nation? Europe has its own problem with the millions of Muslims it has allowed in!)

Tell Me Who is Your Friend… The Arab League has attacked International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo's request to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on charges of genocide in Darfur.

Rats are the Best Weapon Against 'Rats'. The Palestinian Authority's official news agency Wafa accused Israel of using rats to drive Arab families out of their homes in the Old City of Jerusalem. In the past the news agency, which is controlled and funded by PA President Mahmoud Abbas's office, has accused Israel of using wild pigs to drive Palestinians out of their homes and fields in the West Bank. (Must Jews come to Arabs homes and clean their rubbish to stop rat infestation?)

Corrupt Political System Sustains Corrupt Politicians. Fifty-nine percent of Kadima members do not want Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to run again for the leadership of the Kadima party. Two-thirds of the party's members want the Prime Minister to suspend himself from office. (In spite of six corruption investigations, a failed war in Lebanon, PR disasters and the consequences of prisoner exchange and lack of public support, Israel's political system does not allow the removal of the 'ill' Prime Minister from the office.)
Another "Symbolic" Road to Nowhere. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has called for the European Union (EU) to display a "European Roadmap" as part of a larger role in trying "to help bring peace to the Middle East." This "will be the moment to propose a form of partnership that will take more account of the symbolic, and real, weight of the European Union…"

Blair Doubts Peace. Israel, as usual, at Fault! A day after he was prevented from visiting Gaza by an assassination threat, Tony Blair raised doubts for the first time that a peace deal could be concluded between Israel and the Palestinians by the end of the year. He said: "The political situation in Israel makes it difficult to continue being optimistic about reaching a peace treaty between the Israelis and Palestinians…" (Is not the unwillingness of Islamic thugs to recognise Israel and stop terrorism the real reason? This is the 'unbiased' position of the international community's envoy to the Middle East!)

Blogmaster’s Opinion: Re: Israel MFA on line..."The return of Israel's abducted soldiers: Statements by Israeli leaders".

The comments of our leaders were entirely predictable. They said all of the right words, as we expected them to. They vowed to punish those responsible for this despicable misrepresentation of the fate of our soldiers, deliberately causing more pain and anguish to the families of our murdered soldiers.

We have heard similar statements before but the promises made to address the terrorist issues have all been forgotten by those who made them. I am simply writing to say that actions speak louder than words. If again we allow our enemies to celebrate the death and torture of our young men, Israel has indeed become a "Paper Tiger" (without the will or fortitude to act) as the Arab world has suggested.

The return of Israel's abducted soldiers: Statements by Israeli leaders

Shlomo Goldwasser, Ehud's father: "If Nasrallah's great achievement was to conceal the fate of our sons, then I pity him and the Lebanese people. If Hizbullah's great achievement is the release of Kuntar, who is nothing but a repulsive murderer, then I pity them."

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi

salutes the coffins (Photo: IDF Spokesperson)

Address to the Nation by President Shimon Peres:

"I am following the events on both sides.

Behind the Headlines: The return of Israel's abducted soldiers

Lebanon is celebrating 'victory'. Heads of state and the leadership of Hizbullah are welcoming the return of Samir Kuntar, a murderer who smashed the skull of a four-year-old girl, Einat, with his bare hands and the butt of his rifle and then shot her father in cold blood and never expressed regret.

In Israel, a whole nation is in tears. A nation that becomes a family - Goldwasser and Regev.

Israel paid a high price to bring back two fallen soldiers, Udi and Eldad. We wanted these brothers-in-arms to rest at home, with us, embraced by an entire nation.

Ostensibly, the media shows where agony and happiness lie. Where does the moral call reside? With those who welcome a terrible murderer? With a nation lighting memorial candles for two of its bravest soldiers, who fell defending their home?

The answer is clear. Justice stands on the side of Israel. Justice is the true form of human triumph.

May murderers rejoice no more. May the spirit of defenders in a just war remain proud.
Lebanon will yet be ashamed; a shame, which will be necessary for it to exist properly. We will bow our heads in memory of the valiant who fell and we will maintain our uprightness in accordance with that of a nation which has morality as its guiding principle.”

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert:

"Today, the entire people of Israel embraces the Regev and Goldwasser families in their grief. The eyes brim with tears and the heart goes out to the family members who struggled without any signs and who never lost hope until the last minute.

This is a day for removing doubts; certainly regarding the fates of Udi and Eldad, may their memories be blessed, but also for the moral and ethical strength of the Israeli people.

By virtue of that strength, we decided to bring the boys home even at the heavy price of releasing a reprehensible murderer. A foreigner will not understand what every Israeli knows full well: Mutual responsibility, the concern for the fate of every one of our soldiers is the glue that joins us together as a society and enables us to survive surrounded by enemies and terrorist organizations. Happy is the people that has these values. Woe to the people that now celebrates the release of a human animal that smashed the skull of a four-year-old girl.

Today, my heart is with the Goldwasser and Regev families. May the boys' memories be blessed."

Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni:

"Today is a difficult day for all of us. It is a difficult day for the families of Eldad and Udi, who returned home today, families which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accompanied in every place in the world - we hoped, for them and for us, we got angry and we persuaded.

Today, the day on which we wanted to rejoice with the families, has turned into a day of pain.

But the Israeli people - the people that feels the lack of every soldier who doesn't come back to it - this people, I hope, feels more complete, more at peace because the doubt has been removed; more at peace with the value system that defines us as a society; more at peace knowing that we are different from other peoples.

This knowledge is the strength of Israeli society and it is not dependent on what the other side says; it depends on us alone.

It doesn't depend on how they are celebrating over there the return of a man whom they call a "hero" because he smashed the skull of a little girl. To me, whatever is said or thought by people whose heroes are skull smashers, who hunt women and children in order to kill them, has no relevance. What is important is our values.

In our eyes, a hero is someone who fights to protect civilians, who fights for existence. Our heroes go to battle equipped, in addition to their weapons, with the willingness to sacrifice, in the reassuring knowledge that they are protecting human beings who share their values and who are also prepared to pay a price in order to realize them.
Today, let there be no mistake - just as Israel is prepared to pay a price for its values, Israel will demand a price, and a high price at that, from its enemies, whenever necessary, in order to protect itself."

Minister of Defense Ehud Barak:

I would like to address the Regev and Goldwasser families – Miki and Shlomo, Zvi, Karnit, Benny, Ofer, Eyal, Yair and Gadi – so dear to us, who are at home immersed in their grief over the deaths of their loved ones.

For you, today marks the end of an agonizing journey of uncertainty. Two years of anxiety and distress, of sleepless nights filled with bad dreams and days in which you got up in the morning and marshaled all your inner strengths in order to fight for the return of your children – those nights and days are over now.

Two years ago, on 12 July 2006, your world was shaken to its foundations and it will never be the same again. An entire nation was with you every moment, sharing your pain, praying with you, in awe of your grace under pressure.

Today this ordeal is over, not the way you prayed for, not the way we all prayed for. As long as the painful certainty was not established fact, the doubts refused to subside; as long as there was a glimmer of hope, the spirit refused to give in.

This journey is over. The uncertainty has turned to mourning, and a new journey is starting that has no end, a journey of grief and longing. The measure of kindness granted to you today – the privilege of mourning for your children – is small comfort.

As deeply as we identify with you, your pain will always be a private, personal thing. We do not pretend to feel its depth. However, at this moment, each one of us is connected to this private pain, the dear faces of Eldad and Udi follow us, many of us are thinking of our own children, and the private pain becomes a collective grief that reminds us of the simple truths of our life here, which sometimes, unfortunately, we tend to forget.

One of these truths is that we are a nation that lives by the sword, although not by choice, constantly clarifying the moral and historical justification for our existence here, with the certain knowledge that the Jewish people has no other country and no other state – a lesson we have learned from ancient and recent history.

We are forced to live by the sword, but we do so while constantly striving for the day in which our swords will be beaten into plow shears and we will live a normal life of work and creativity.

Another truth concerns the strong, inviolable contract between the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli society – the parents, the soldiers.

The Israeli leadership is responsible for actualizing this contract through its decision-making, even when the decisions are difficult and painful, ridden with internal contradictions and exacting a heavy price. I was a combat soldier for decades, I commanded many dangerous missions. As a soldier, as a commander, and as the Minister of Defense, I can state that the IDF will always work to bring its sons home – alive, wounded, or dead.

That is the meaning of the contract between the IDF and its soldiers, and Israeli society. This has always been, and will always be, our way – deep, total commitment to return our boys. A soldier is forever a soldier, and we will not stray from this basic value of the IDF and of Israeli society.

We are facing a bitter, despicable and cynical enemy, an enemy who sees human life as a commodity. Against this moral depravity is pitted our view of human life as a supreme value and our deep sorrow over every loss; this is the source of our strength and our vitality.

We have had our fill of war. In the two years that have passed since the last war, much has been said about the lessons that the political leadership should learn. But not enough has been said about the bravery of the young soldiers in that war. About their determination, their dedication; that they didn't hesitate to risk their lives and, sometimes, to sacrifice them. They understood the meaning of the words friendship, responsibility, willingness to sacrifice, and bravery.

It is that same solidarity, that same mutual responsibility which is the soul of the State of Israel that the regular and reserve soldiers understood so well in that war. In the name of that same solidarity, that contract, we bow our heads and bid farewell to Ehud and Eldad.

We have not forgotten our commitment to Ron Arad and his noble family, or our commitment to the MIAs of Sultan Yaakub – Zachary Baumel, Yehuda Katz and Zvi Feldman – and the missing soldiers Guy Hever and Majdi Halabi.

And to Aviva and Noam Schalit, I tell you that the State of Israel will do everything – everything that is possible and appropriate – in order to bring Gilad home, safe and sound, to you, his mother and father.

Jimmy Carter's Mission a Success (in his own mind)

Former President Jimmy Carter Accomplishes His Mission!

Jimmy Carter, the President who wasn’t…

By Velvel ben Moshe

Jimmy Carter (I shudder to address this ignorant peanut farmer as “Former President Carter”) has brought not only shame on every American, he has cost Israeli lives… just how many will be discovered in the days and weeks to come.

Arrogantly acting against the sage advice of the most intelligent and informed career diplomats, the highest ranking officials in his own Government, domestic and foreign intelligence agencies, and many leaders in the free world, Carter has accomplished his mission.

Just what mission was that? Well, it isn’t rocket science to be able to positively affirm that Mr. Carter is a blatant anti-Semite and outspoken enemy of Israel. Under the thinly veiled guise of a “peace mission” he intended to, and has succeeded in giveing international credibility and recognition to one of the most despicable and vile terrorist organizations in the world today. He has publicly met with leaders of Hamas, and has dialogued with Hezbollah in the process. The substance of the conversations held is of no consequence whatsoever. What matters is the meeting itself – a former President of the United States breaking bread and sipping coffee with international terrorists. Such conduct is beyond mere condemnation.

It has been Mr. Carter’s intention all along to not only humiliate and embarrass Israel, but to aid in Israel’s destruction. Mr. Carter’s embracing of Hamas, his photo-op with him and his Wife mourning and laying a wreath on the grave of Arafat and his public statements which support and suborn terrorism and the murder of Israelis have been effective in destroying whatever progress has been made in the peace process to date.

Mr. Jimmy Carter has coldly calculated to embolden Israel’s enemies with a new sense of power and legitimacy by his recognizing their organizations as powerful enough to have a decided effect on the future of the Middle-East.

Mr. Carter has taken the terrorist from the sewers, alleys and rooftops into the council chambers and board rooms of international politics. In short, he has willingly played into the hands of the murderers who have, and will continue to use him to gain prestige on the world stage at the expense of the lives of Israelis and Jews everywhere.

If it were in my hands to do so, Carter would be charged and prosecuted for violating the United States Code which forbids a private citizen from conducting or attempting to influence foreign policy by directly negotiating with foreign governments, let alone entities which are internationally listed and recognized as terrorist organizations. Of course, no one in the U.S. Government has the fortitude to enforce that law where Carter is concerned.

This I do believe… that Carter is a scoundrel and a traitor of the worst measure. I applaud Mr. Olmert for his unofficial branding of Carter as persona non grata in Israel, and for refusing to admit him into Gaza or the West Bank to meet with palestinian terrorists. I believe that Carter’s trip has cost the lives of the young Israeli soldiers who were ambushed pursuing terrorists in Gaza. I believe that Carter’s trip has emboldened palestinian terrorists to commit more devastating and brazen acts of murder against Israelis.

I believe that Carter’s trip has given Syria’s dictator and supporter of terrorism more respect in the Arab world and recognition as an important player in Israel’s future. I believe that Carter’s trip has provided valuable propaganda which will be used effectively by Hezbullah and Syria as they move towards an attempt to forcibly retake the Golan.

I believe, that Carter believes, that Israel should not exist. I hope that Mr. Carter lives long enough to see Israel prevail over all who seek Israel’s destruction. Am Yisroel Chai.

HEZBOLLAH & HAMAS WILL ATTACK ISRAEL THIS SUMMER!

Beyond the DropZone

W. Thomas Smith Jr.

Jihadism's dangerous liaisons

Analysts with MI6, Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, believe an elite force of Hamas fighters in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon will launch a coordinated attack against Israel within a few months, says author and espionage expert Gordon Thomas.
According to Thomas's report published at World Net Daily's G2 Bulletin:
"Iran's Revolutionary Guards are training hundreds of Hamas fighters to prepare for an all-out war this summer against Israel.
"The Gaza-based organization's elite Izzedine al-Qassam Brigade will form the southern front of an attack against the Jewish state while Hezbollah will launch its simultaneous assault from southern Lebanon, according to MI6."
Thomas contends the attacks would come at a time when the Bush White House is all but "spent," and the Democrat and Republican parties are "looking inward to their conventions."
No surprise there: Jihadists are patient opportunists. And terrorist allies like the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, and the Lebanon-based terrorist army, Hezbollah; as well as marginally – perhaps unlikely – connected terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and Hezbollah are increasingly coordinating their efforts in campaigns against the West.
Few Americans are talking about any this: Most understand the danger of international terrorism, but few grasp the exponentially increasing danger associated with terror alliances. Problem is it's not politically correct to discuss Islam's house of war. The two Democrat presidential contenders seem to be more concerned about who is calling whom names, or who is best able to answer a telephone at 3:00 a.m. And the mainstream media is too busy soft-soaping or completely ignoring the facts about Islamic terrorism. Either that, or MSM reporters are too busy cheering some distorted revelation they have confusingly gleaned in a recent Pentagon report that – the MSM contends – shows no Saddam-Al Qaeda link in pre-war Iraq, when in fact the report reveals stark evidence there was.
But that was then. This is now, and the connections today must be our focus.
Two weeks ago, a Jihadist gunman brutally murdered eight Israeli children at a Jerusalem seminary. Israel's Haaretz newspaper has since reported the gunman was "acting on instructions" from Hamas, with instructional dots connecting Gaza operatives to bosses in the Syrian capital, all "in coordination with Hezbollah."
Daniel Doron, writing for the Wall Street Journal, says, Hamas has been massively rearmed with "Iranian weapons, bought with Saudi money and transported into Gaza with the connivance of Egypt."
The mass killing in Jerusalem comes on the heels of the assassination of Hezbollah terrorist-mastermind Imad Mughniyeh, of which columnist Caroline Glick writes:
"Every Palestinian terror group - from Fatah to Hamas to Islamic Jihad, to the Popular Resistance Committees, the PFLP and DFLP - mourned Mughniyeh as a hero and martyr and called for revenge against Israel and the U.S."
True, and it wasn't just the Palestinians. Others mourning Mughniyeh's death and calling for revenge include likely and unlikely sorts from Somalia to Argentina to Indonesia all with common goals against the West. After all, Mughniyeh was respected by both the Iranian mullahs and Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants. Both Iraq's Shiia militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr and Sunni Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi (Al Sadr's "supposed arch-foe," as Glick says) called for revenge killings. Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moualem publicly referred to Mughniyeh as "a backbone of the Islamic resistance." And ranting in the wake of Mughniyeh's death, Hezbollah's secretary general Hassan Nasrallah declared that a state of "open war" exists with Israel.
There's more.
In January, French counterterrorist commandos – Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure – raided a terrorist safe-house in Paris and nabbed six men, including two Lebanese and one Syrian. In doing so, the commandos disrupted a major Hezbollah plot to kill or kidnap international leaders in several European cities. A plan of this magnitude – to be carried out far beyond Lebanese borders – could never have been executed without the assistance of other Islamic fundamentalist groups and Jihadist sympathizers, not necessarily Hezbollah, operating in the region.
In a recent conversation with Human Events editor Jed Babbin, Gen. David Petraeus – commander of Multi-National Force—Iraq, who currently has his hands full fighting both Shiia insurgents and Al Qaeda in Iraq – said:
"We do, with a pretty high degree of confidence, we know that the Iranians continued to train militia extremists, the so-called ‘special groups' that are supported by the Iranian Qods Force, that are literally funded, trained, equipped, and directed by the Qods Force with help from Lebanese Hezbollah. And you may recall, we captured the deputy commander of Lebanese Hezbollah Department 2800. We captured the head of the special groups. We've captured other very senior leaders in those organizations in recent weeks."
Then there is the previously mentioned coordination between Al Qaeda and Hezbollah: Despite their differences, these two have been cooperating in varying degrees since at least the 1990's. They were discovered to be working together again last month when a 35-man terrorist sleeper cell was discovered and shut down in Morocco. The members of the cell had received tactical training by Al Qaeda operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They had received weapons and explosives training by Hezbollah based in Lebanon. Hezbollah, financed by Iran, also helped fund the North African cell. The cell-members – businessmen, politicians, a police official, a journalist, and others – were planning to assassinate senior civilian and military leaders, as well as Jewish Moroccans.
Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, their sponsors and subsidiaries (to include their allies, apologists, and sympathizers) are increasingly working together throughout the Middle and Far East, in Africa, in Europe, and, yes, even the Americas to recruit foot soldiers, probe Western defenses, and attack us at any weak point in those defenses.
"Different groups will coalesce and align against conventional wisdom," Dr. J. Peter Pham, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told me during a recent interview for Human Events. "What most analysts view as the Shiia-Sunni divide is papered over as militants and extremists will take money from anyone, and build alliances of convenience against their common enemy."
The most disturbing particular in all of this is that almost no one – not the MSM, nor Barack or Hillary, nor anyone hoping to gain or retain a Congressional seat – is talking about the threat, except to downplay the danger, or say that the threat is nothing more than a handful of bad apples who have hijacked the "noble religion" of Islam.
Most Americans I've spoken too say either the threat is not as great as counterterrorism experts say it is – that the threat is based on the so-called "politics of fear" – or that the threat is too complex and unwieldy to begin to understand.
The threat of Jihadist terrorism is huge and growing. The Jihadist groups – no matter what side of the Islamic ideological divide they hail from – are increasingly working together. And for the sake of our own existence we had best try to sever the lines that connect the dots, as we crush the dots.
— W. Thomas Smith Jr. – a former U.S. Marine rifle-squad leader, parachutist, and shipboard counterterrorism instructor – writes about military/defense issues and has covered conflict in the Balkans, on the West Bank, in Iraq and Lebanon. He has written six books, and his articles have appeared in USA Today, George, U.S. News & World Report, BusinessWeek, National Review Online, CBS News, The Washington Times, and many others.
W. Thomas Smith Jr. can be reached at wthomassmithjr@yahoo.com.
© 2008 W. Thomas Smith Jr.
W. Thomas Smith Jr. story archive

Terrorists Train to Manufacture Anthrax

Jihadi Website Supplies

Instructions for Anthrax Production

By Abdul Hameed Bakier

Much has been said about al-Qaeda’s quest to acquire weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as a means of striking at the heart of their number one enemy, the United States. The latest example of these ongoing efforts to acquire WMD capabilities is a recent posting in a jihadi internet forum entitled: “Good News – Anthrax Production Technique” (al-ekhlaas.net, March 3).

A forum participant, nicknamed al-Faz, posted a detailed description of anthrax production techniques dedicated to jihadis everywhere: “Long awaited good news for you, God’s soldiers. It’s time to use biological weapons against God’s enemies.” Al-Faz commences his posting with an introduction to anthrax and the pathology of the disease, including symptoms, parts of human body infected when exposed to anthrax and fatality percentages. Al-Faz notes that anthrax bacteria can be found in Africa, Asia and in some parts of Europe where the soil contains 10 anthrax bacteria per gram.

According to the jihadi forum, the following factors make anthrax the weapon of choice:

• Anthrax is powerful, lethal, cheap and easy to prepare.
• 50 grams of anthrax, when dispersed in a 2-kilometer line, forms a deadly cloud that can cover 20 kilometers.
• One kilogram of anthrax can be produced in a small laboratory in 96 hours.
• Anthrax bacteria spores are available worldwide and can be easily extracted.
• Production costs are low; one kilogram of anthrax bacteria costs about $50 even though a lethal dose can be as little as one millionth of a gram. • Colorless and odorless anthrax is easily concealed.
• Anthrax is a stable and dry substance that can be easily transported and used.

Before proceeding to anthrax production, al-Faz includes in his posting a picture of one of the anthrax-contaminated letters used in the 2001 U.S. anthrax attacks that killed five and infected 17 others. Undoubtedly included in an effort to encourage jihadis to try anthrax as a weapon, the letter reads: “You cannot stop us. We have this anthrax. You die now. Are you afraid? Death to America. Death to Israel. Allah is great.” The photo of the letter in no way establishes a jihadi connection to the still unsolved anthrax attacks—it is one of several released by the FBI and is easily available on the internet. Nevertheless, anthrax continues to be a feared weapon—only last week an Albany, Oregon courthouse was closed and the National Guard called in to deal with threats of anthrax contamination, which later proved to be a hoax (Albany Democrat Herald, March 4).

The second part of al-Faz’s posting elaborates on two methods of anthrax production. Photos are included of the microscopic phases of the process, including the extraction of anthrax bacteria from a sample of dirt that contains the infected remains of dead goats or other grazing animals’ remnants. A sample of a dead animal’s blood or tissue can also be used by cultivating it in a blood agar substance containing 0.7% sodium bicarbonate.

The attached pictures illustrate bacilli bacteria, spirochetes and bacteria clusters. The posting further includes precautionary instructions for the different phases of production. “Agar is a nutrient environment for cultivation that can be bought without drawing any suspicions from research centers for 70 Riyals or $20 per one kilogram,” says al-Faz.

The second method of producing anthrax involves cultivating the anthrax in horse blood and bentonite clay for five hours. Bentonite clay, an absorbent form of clay with multiple industrial uses, can be found in Iraq and two other countries in the region.

In conclusion, al-Faz says, “I wanted to contribute in the preparations against enemies of God. Consider me the servant of the mujahideen. I closely follow your news. May God reward you for your sacrifices. It would make me very happy to see you use biological weapons against God’s enemies. Wait for my next detailed posting on how to build a Cessna 128 aircraft,” which is an easily maintained agricultural aircraft designed to carry and spread a chemical load of 200 to 280 gallons.

Although there is no tangible evidence to confirm that jihadis have produced or procured mass quantities of biological weapons, the use of anthrax spores in bioterrorism has been discussed by jihadis for some time now. In theory, at least, cultivating anthrax spores can be achieved with minimum know-how and equipment, suggesting it is only a matter of time until jihadis succeed in producing some kind of biological weapon. There are, however, many dangers involved in the process and the development of a weaponized aerosol version of the bacterium requires scientific skills and equipment unavailable to most jihadis.

Israel's Government Response to the Yeshiva Massacre

Blogmaster's Comment: My heart breaks for the Son's of Israel who were senselessly cut down in their youth... but the Government's response is too little, too late. The terror must stop and a two-state solution is not the answer!

Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Response

to the palestinian Yeshiva Massacre

8 students killed in Jerusalem yeshiva terror attack
Thursday, 6 March 2008

MFA Spokesman: Tonight's murder of yeshiva students during a religious event expresses at its most deplorable the fundamentalist-extremist foundations, in the name of which Palestinian terrorism operates. Israel will never allow terrorism to achieve its goals. Such abominable terrorist attacks must strengthen the free world's understanding of the nature of the terrorist threat. A clear, decisive and uncompromising stand is necessary against such terrorism.
Israel is at the forefront of the struggle against terrorism and will continue to defend its citizens, who are exposed to this threat on a daily basis. Israel expects the nations of the world to support it in its war against those who murder students, women and children, by any means and with respect for neither place nor target.

Terror in yeshiva library
A Palestinian terrorist infiltrated the Mercaz Harav yeshiva (rabbinical seminary) on Thursday evening and opened fire on a crowded library and study hall, killing eight people and wounding 11 others. The yeshiva, located in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood near the entrance to Jerusalem, is home to several hundred students, most aged 18-30.

On Thursday evening, the yeshiva students - mostly teenagers - had returned from prayers at the Western Wall. They were about to begin a party celebrating the beginning of the month of Adar - a month of joy marked by the Purim holiday. Many of the students had gathered in the yeshiva library before the party when the terrorist opened fire.

"God picks the most beautiful flowers for his garden," said the mother of 16-year-old Avraham David Moses, killed in the attack.

Avraham David Moses, 16, was a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen; Segev Peniel Avihai, 15, was a French citizen; and Doron Meherete, 26, held dual Ethiopian-Israeli citizenship.

Among those listed in serious condition from the attack were Naftali Sheetrit, a U.S. citizen and Nadav Eliahu Samuels, a Canadian citizen.

The terrorist was identified as Alaa Abu Dhein of the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood in East Jerusalem. His family set up a mourning tent and hung Hamas and Hizbullah flags outside their home - ordered removed by the Israel police.
* * *
Celebrations in Gaza

Gaza's streets filled with joyous crowds of thousands on Thursday evening following the terror attack at a Jerusalem rabbinical seminary in which eight people were killed. In mosques in Gaza City and northern Gaza, many residents went to perform the prayers of thanksgiving. Armed men fired in the air in celebration and others passed out sweets to passersby.

Hamas issued a statement saying the group "blesses the (Jerusalem) operation.

It will not be the last."

Hamas radio broadcast Friday a statement, in which the organization claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was a "jolting response to the violence in Gaza in which more than 120 Palestinians were killed," and calling on all Hamas supporters to "celebrate this victory against the brutal enemy."

Reuters reported that "the Hamas movement announces its full responsibility for the Jerusalem operation."

Palestinian defense sources said that the gunman was acting on instructions from Hamas leaders in Damascus, in coordination with Hizbullah. ** *

The victims:

• Segev Peniel Avihail, 15, of Neve Daniel

Segev Pniel Avichail, the oldest of four children, was the son of Rabbi Elyashiv Avihail, rabbi of Telem and Ad-Olam, and the grandson of two well-known rabbis: Rabbi Eliahu Avichail, instrumental in locating and bringing to Israel "lost Jewish tribes" such as the Bnei Menashe from India; and Rabbi Yehoshua Zuckerman, the founder of the El Ami movement and teacher at Har Hamor Yeshiva. Segev Avihail also holds French citizenship.

A few years ago, Segev was wounded in a shooting attack on the Telem road while driving with his father.
"Segev was a gift that was given to me and to the entire family for 15 years. He had a pure heart, was a good son and exceptionally diligent in his studies. He loved his brothers and was close to his father," Avihail's uncle Yair Tzukerman said, describing him as a "serious student, a pure soul with a good heart."

"Segev was a person who helped everybody constantly. He was always searching for a way to make things better. He loved to study Gemara and was very good at it. When he was informed that he had gotten into the yeshiva he was the happiest person, he proudly ran and told everyone he was accepted," said Ya'akov Tzukerman (no relation), Segev's friend.

Segev Peniel Avihail was buried in the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem. He is survived by his parents, Elyashiv and Moriah, and three siblings - twins Yifeh and Shahak, and younger sister Liat.

• Neria Cohen, 15, of Jerusalem

Neria Cohen grew up in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, one of 12 children born to Ayala and Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen. His father is a rabbi at the Esh HaTorah hesder yeshiva in the Jewish Quarter, and was for many years among the heads of the Ateret Cohanim yeshiva in the Muslim Quarter. Many in Neria's extended family are active in programs that combine religious studies with community outreach and education in poor towns. Neria was active in the Bnei Akiva youth movement.
"Neria's most striking quality was boundless joy. Everyone always wanted to be with him," said Eliezer Avni, a ninth-grade counselor at the Mercaz Harav affiliate where Neria studied. "He was a boy who lived all the ideals in the world, who enlisted for every mission, whether it was activity on behalf of Jonathan Pollard, or on behalf of communities, or the needy."
"He is God's light, a perfect soul who connects to God all the time. He was a true son of the Torah and spent every moment with his study companion. When he understood the essence of the Torah, he was filled with happiness and joy," Rabbi Ze'ev Schor, one of Neria's teachers, said over his grave.
Neria Cohen was also buried in the priests' section in the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem. He is survived by his parents, Yitzhak and Ayala, and 11 siblings.

• Yonatan Yitzhak Eldar, 16, of Shilo

Despite the celebration scheduled at the yeshiva later that evening for the start of the new month, Yonatan Eldar didn't want to miss learning his daily page of Talmud and had taken the book with him to the library.
"Usually you think of someone so young who is so deeply involved in Torah study as being square, but Yonatan wasn't at all like that," said Rabbi Uri Bayar, an educator in Shilo and a friend of the Eldar family. "He was full of joie de vivre and had many interests," he added.

Yonatan, the sixth of eight children, had recently started serving as a counselor in the local branch of the Bnei Akiva youth movement. His mother Avital related that her son, a quiet and modest boy, had blossomed in his last year and a half at the yeshiva.

Yonatan Yitzhak Eldar was buried in Shilo with his copy of the Nedarim Tractate of the Babylonian Talmud, soaked in his blood. He is survived by his parents, Dror and Avital, six brothers and one sister.

• Yehonadav Haim Hirschfeld, 19, of Kokhav Hashahar

Yehonadav Haim Hirschfeld was the fifth of 13 children born to one of the oldest families in Kokhav Hashahar, a community in the Mate Binyamin regional council.

Yehonadav attended a high school yeshiva near Mercaz Harav and later continued to study at the yeshiva itself. He was involved with children in the community and had worked as a counselor in the Ariel youth movement. Even after he left the movement he kept up his relationships with the kids. He was a "talented young man with broad horizons, intelligent, and an admired guide in the Ariel youth movement," Haya Meir, a neighbor, said.

Yehonadav was buried in Kokhav Hashahar. He is survived by his parents, Zemah and Elisheva, and 12 siblings.

• Yohai Lifshitz, 18, of Jerusalem

Yohai Livshitz, who lived in the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, was the second of six children.

"His most outstanding quality was his innocence," said Zvi Yehuda Herling, an instructor at the Kotel Yeshiva at the funeral. "He had a constant desire to search for his own truth, whether it was to rise before everyone and go to synagogue to study before morning prayer or practice for his army service."

Thank you for everything you've done and given for 18 years," Yohai's father Tuvia said. His cousin, Jonathan Kelerman, said: "He was a good soul with an extraordinary ability to persist studying the Torah. Even up to his death he was studying Torah in the library."

Yohai Lifshitz was laid to rest in Jerusalem's Givat Shaul cemetery. He is survived by his parents, Tuvia and Tzofia, four brothers and a sister.

• Doron Meherete, 26, of Ashdod

Doron Meherete immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia in 1991 in Operation Solomon, at the age of 8, settling with his family in Ashdod. After attending yeshiva high school in Kfar Haroeh, he came to study at Mercaz Harav at the age of 17. A student there for nine years, he was known for his trenchant mind and kind heart, challenging others intellectually and lending a helping hand whenever needed. Friends related that his face would glow with joy as he studied with them. He also served as a counselor at an after-school program for immigrant Ethiopian children.

Three years ago Doron joined the army, under a special arrangement for advanced yeshiva students, served nine months in the armored corps, and fought as a reservist in the Second Lebanon War. He was preparing to become a rabbi, and had already taken some of his ordination exams.

Doron Meherete was buried in Ashdod. He is survived by his parents, and four siblings, aged 20 to 42.

• Avraham David Moses, 16, of Efrat

Avraham David was the oldest of two boys from Naftali's first marriage, with Rivka, and had two half-sisters from his father's second marriage. From his mother, Rivka, who is married to David Moriah, he has two half-brothers and six stepbrothers.

Avraham, though only in high school, was already skilled at reading the weekly Torah portion in synagogue. "He was a really terrific kid," his stepmother Leah Moses said. "He was very pious and involved in learning, and his identity as an Israeli was very important to him. He was very good with his younger brothers and sisters." Leah continued. "He took very seriously the development of good behavior. He would study about being kind and he would walk into the house and help with the dishes. If we would gossip at the table, he would politely tell us to stop."

At his funeral, Avraham David's father recounted that his son had visited him at home last Saturday. "I blessed you, put my hand on your head and suddenly grasped how much you had grown in spirit. You were not a fighter but a loving person - you loved the Torah and studying the Torah. You ended your life studying the Torah." Avraham David's stepfather, David Moriah, said the boy was "like an angel. He had amazing integrity." His mother, Rivka, said thanks for "the 16 years we had the privilege of raising him, 16 years of purity of heart and honesty."

Avraham David Moses was buried in the Kfar Etzion cemetery. He is survived by his parents, step-parents, brother Elisha-Dan, 11, half-sisters Ora-Dina, 6, and Ayelet, 4, and half-brothers Noam, 4, and Hai, 2.

• Ro'i Roth, 18, of Elkana

Born in Kfar Sava, Ro'is, the second of five children, grew up in Elkana to which the family had moved several years later. Ro'i's decision to study at Mercaz Harav, with its high demands, was part of a spiritual journey that began while a student at a yeshiva high school in Ramat Gan. In 11th grade Ro'i stopped studying Jujitsu, in which he already had a brown belt, because he felt it was cutting into his study time.

Ro'i's friends described him as very spiritual. "He felt very close to God, and about every problem he would say, 'That, too, is from God' and tried to understand what God wanted from him," Eyal, his roommate and friend from home, related. "He prayed long and loud and everyone in the study hall could hear his 'Amen,'" another friend from Elkana and fellow student at Mercaz Harav, Menashe Zimmerman, said. He often came late to meals, after his prayers.

Ro'i Roth was buried was the son of Orly and Yaakov Roth. In addition to his parents, he is survived by three brothers - Aryeh, Dvir and Daniel, 10 - and a sister, Maayan, 16.

Imad Mougniyeh - Death of a Terrorist

Blogmaster Comment: If Israel did not do it, we should have. Yasher Koach to those responsible!

Imad Mougniyeh - Death of a Terrorist

13.02. 2008 http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/archives/00000492.html
Original content copyright by the author Zionism & Israel Center http://zionism-israel.com
Note - portions of this are plagiarized from my article at Israel News: Death of a terrorist: Top Hezbullah terrorist Imad Mughniyeh killed in Damascus blast


Death of a "militant!"

According to Wikipedia,
Imad Fayez Mugniyah (also spelt Moughnieh) (... born December 7, 1962, killed Feb 12, 2008 was a senior member of the Hezbollah militant organization. He is alternatively described as the head of its security section, a senior intelligence official and as a founder of the organization.
So it seems that Mr. Mughnieh was a "militant" - like sufragettes and the Salvation Army. Moughniyeh believed in blowing people up and kidnapping them - that was his religion and his ideology.
Imad Mughniyeh (pronounced Mourrniyeh, spelled Moughnieh, Mugnieh...) was one of the worst "militants" (as Wikipedia calls them) to walk the face of the earth. He was responsible for involuntarilty shortening the lifespans of numerous people, including Jews in Argentina and US marines and embassy personnel in Lebanon. Israelis believe he was responsible, under the direction of Iran, for the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers that ignited the Second Lebanon war. He was perhaps involved in some way in the murder of Rafiq Hariri and other internal Lebanese political efforts.
Israeli covert operations teams have refrained from hurting Moughnieh because of his esulivesness and the fear that Hezbollah teams based in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, and elsewhere in Argentina, or Hezbollah in Lebanon, would take revenge as they took revenge for the killing of another senior Hezbollah terrorist (sorry - MILITANT) when they hit the Jewish center in Argentina.
Moughnieh has a distinguished record as a terrorist (ooops - MILITANT) He is known to have been the mastermind behind the attacks against Jewish centers in Buenos Aires in1994, as well as the kidnapping of a TWA airplane in Lebanon in 1985 and the abduction of westerners in the country during the 1980s. Moughnieh was also most likely the man behind the bombing at the American embassy in Beirut in and the attack against the Marine headquarters in Lebanon in 1983, which killed over 200 Americans, as well as kidnappings of Americans in the 80s, and more recently, the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers that ignited the Lebanese war. He had a rich career as a "militant." The earlier "militant" activities were apparently directed by Ali Akbar Mohstashemi Pour, who was Iranian ambassador to Syria in the 80s.
Today Moughniyeh has died, or perhaps it was yesterday. It appears that someone has decided to send Moughnieh to his reward. His career was terminated in a car bomb blast, a characteristic tool of Syrian army intelligence, though others have used it. Israeli PM Ehud Olmert denied involvement in the killing of Moughiyeh. It is unlikely to have been Israel, though Hezbollah automatically blamed Israel of course. It is stretches the imagination to believe that Israel has covert operations abilities of that kind in Damascus, under the watchful eyes of the Syrian Mukhabarat (secret police) and Syrian army intelligence. If they did, they would focus on other more urgent targets such as Khaled Meshal who heads the Hamas, or Ramadan Shelah who heads the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Another report about the demise of Moughniyeh is here.
Is Israel really trying to send a message, or did the Syrian Army Intelligence decide that Moughnieh had outlived his usefulness? Perhaps he knew too much about the murder of Rafiq Hariri?
Terror groupies and humanitarians who mourn this "militant" should understant precisely who he was. From Ronen Bergman's book, "Point of No Return", 2007, pages 159 ff. in Hebrew:
"In another time and another place and with a different childhood. Imad Moughiyeh would have set up a start up," smiles "The Major." "We are talking about one of the most creative and brilliant minds I have encountered. A man of deep understanding, excellent technical grasp and leadership abilities. Unfortunately, the mix of personal and geopolitical circumstances led him to channel these excellent talents to the path of destruction and blood and to turn him into a very dangerous enemy." During a part of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s Major David Barrkai ("The Major" as Lebanese call him), who later became a senior partner in a start up, headed the the large northern base of Unit 504, the Israel Army Intelligence (AMAN) base that operated agents of AMAN, and he was in charge, inter alia, of the Moughniyeh file. Many in Israel and the world have since been involved in understanding the image of the man called "the Iranian Carlos," the most serious competitor of Osama Bin Laden for the title of most dangerous terrorist in the world. Numberless hours were spent by Barkai and his men on Moughnieh. That was, and remains, a fascinating battle of the minds, extremely sly and cruel. Despite localized victories in data collection and terror prevention by Barkai and his colleagues, Moughnieh won the war. He is still out there, working and kicking, and Israel and the United States have been unable to stop his inspired and bloody activities. On the 12 of July 2006 he began a war in the Middle East, when he stood behind the kidnapping of Israeli reserve soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Moughnieh wis a stealth bomber. At any given time Israel had several conflicting reports about his whereabouts and activities. In London, a person connected to British intelligence admitted embarrassment, over the fact that despite the great interest that the United Kingdom has in "Mr Moughnieh," they have no idea where he is and what exactly he is planning. "The use of the terror weapon against Israel is rare and informed by consciousness of the severe political damage that could be done to Iran if its involvement is exposed," according to a secret intelligence report of the AMAN research division. "Therefore Iran generally refrains from carrying out direct terror attacks, and its involvement in carrying out these attacks is expressed in a roundabout way." That "roundabout way," according to the intelligence report, passes through Imad Moughnieh. Imad Moughnieh was born on the 12 of July 1962 in the village of Tir Daba in South Lebanon, 15 KM from Tyre.... At the end of the 70s, after dropping out of high school, Moughnieh joined the Fatah and underwent a series of trainings in guerrilla warfare. Later he joined Unit 17, the Fatah security unit, and was among the bodyguards of Salah Khalef (Abu Iyyad). In that period he conducted a totally secular lifestyle. In 1982, when the PLO was planning to evacuate Beirut, Moughniyeh and many other Shi'a, including his brothers Fuad and Jihad, to stay in Lebanon. They joined the Al Dawah organization, one of many little groups that were somewhat later sucked in to the Hezbollah. In 1983, during a wave of suicide bombings against American, French and Israeli targets that was planned by Moughnieh, he found time to marry his cousin, Saada Badr A-din. Their daughter, Fatima, was born on August 2, 1984, and their son, Mustapha, was born on January 7, 1987. As opposed to other young Hezbollah leaders like Abbas Mousawi, Subhi Toufeili or Hassan Nassrallah, Moughnieh was not a religious authority or a man with political influence. He was always though of as the operations man, the single mind behind the daring exploits of the organization. At the beginning of its road, the young organization was very much in need of the terror leadership of this man.
Ami Isseroff
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