[Archive]: 'CIA: Mossad is the least friendly spy service to US interests!'

Via WarInContext;

The CIA took an internal poll not long ago about friendly foreign intelligence agencies.

The question, mostly directed to employees of the clandestine service branch, was: Which are the best allies among friendly spy services, in terms of liaison with the CIA, and which are the worst? In other words, who acts like, well, friends?

“Israel came in dead last,” a recently retired CIA official told me the other day.

Not only that, he added, throwing up his hands and rising from his chair, “the Israelis are number three, with China number one and Russia number two,” in terms of how aggressive they are in their operations on U.S. soil.

Israel’s undercover operations here, including missions to steal U.S. secrets, are hardly a secret at the FBI, CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies. From time to time, in fact, the FBI has called Israeli officials on the carpet to complain about a particularly brazen effort to collect classified or other sensitive information, in particular U.S. technical and industrial secrets.

The most notorious operation employed Jonathan Pollard, the naval intelligence analyst convicted in 1987 and sentenced to life in prison for stealing tens of thousands of classified documents for Israel.

One of Israel’s major interests, of course, is keeping track of Muslims who might be allied with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, or Iran-backed Hezbollah, based in Lebanon.... “There have been a number of cases reported to the FBI about Mossad officers who have approached leaders in Arab-American communities and have falsely represented themselves as ‘U.S. intelligence,’ ” Giraldi wrote recently in American Conservative magazine.

“Because few Muslims would assist an Israeli, this is done to increase the likelihood that the target will cooperate. It’s referred to as a ‘false flag’ operation.”

Giraldi’s piece continued, “Mossad officers sought to recruit Arab-Americans as sources willing to inform on their associates and neighbors. The approaches, which took place in New York and New Jersey, were reportedly handled clumsily, making the targets of the operation suspicious.”

“These Arab-Americans turned down the requests for cooperation,” Giraldi added,”and some of the contacts were eventually reported to the FBI, which has determined that at least two of the Mossad officers are, ironically, Israeli Arabs operating out of Israel’s mission to the United Nations in New York under cover as consular assistants.”

“Oh, sure, they do that,” the other former CIA official said, waving a dismissing hand, when I asked about Giraldi’s story. “They’re all over the place.”

The FBI did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

But a retired senior FBI counterintelligence official told SpyTalk, "They have always been extremely aggressive, and seem to feel they can operate whenever and wherever they want, in spite of being called on the carpet more than any other country by probably a factor of three times as often."

NSC Official: “We do not want to be dragged involuntarily up an escalation ladder. We have made this clear to the Israelis.”

"Tensions continue to mount over Iran. The Administration finds itself in an awkward dilemma. The increasingly harsh anti-Tehran rhetoric from the Republican presidential candidates limits its diplomatic options. At the same time, US officials want to give the tougher sanctions regime, especially directed against the Iranian central bank and oil revenues, time to work. US naval assets are gathering in the Gulf region to be ready to counter any Iranian attempt to interfere with international shipping. They remain, however, under orders not to provoke local ‘incidents’ that might escalate uncontrollably. The Administration is not looking for a casus belli. To date, electronic and signals intelligence available to the US does not suggest any significant mobilization by Iranian forces. As always, Israel remains the wild card. This explains the swift US condemnation of the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist. As an NSC official put it to us: “We do not want to be dragged involuntarily up an escalation ladder. We have made this clear to the Israelis.” From our conversations with well-placed contacts, we still expect that war is not inevitable – albeit our confidence in that judgment is less than at any time during the past two years.As one Pentagon source confided: “absent a substantial change in Iranian behavior, the Israelis are moving inexorably closer to taking action.” In a similar action to contain a volatile situation, the US ‘end game’ in Afghanistan has taken a step forward with the opening of a Taliban office in Qatar. Here, US officials hope to participate in some form of dialogue that will allow for internal reconciliation when coalition forces depart in two years time. The Administration has more room for maneuver on Afghanistan than on Iran, given that the drawdown there is less controversial in domestic politics......”

The US is worried BUT adds more firepower for an Iranian 'first strike'?

An 'Iranian first strike'! What bull! 

"... President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top officials have delivered a string of private messages to Israeli leaders warning about the dire consequences of a strike. The U.S. wants Israel to give more time for the effects of sanctions and other measures intended to force Iran to abandon its perceived efforts to build nuclear weapons.
Stepping up the pressure, Mr. Obama spoke by telephone on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet with Israeli military officials in Tel Aviv next week... ...
The U.S. and Iran, however, have taken steps in recent days apparently designed to ease tensions. Iran has agreed to host a delegation of United Nations nuclear inspectors this month. The U.S., meanwhile, has twice this month rescued Iranian sailors in the region's seas.
Covert efforts by Israel's intelligence service to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons have been credited with slowing the program ...
The U.S. military is preparing for a number of possible responses to an Israeli strike, including assaults by pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Iraq against the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, according to U.S. officials.
The U.S. believes its embassy and other diplomatic outposts in Iraq are more vulnerable following the withdrawal of U.S. forces last month. Up to 15,000 U.S. diplomats, federal employees and contractors are expected to remain in Iraq.
In large measure to deter Iran, the U.S. has 15,000 troops in Kuwait, and has moved a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf area.
It has also been pre-positioning aircraft and other military equipment, officials say..."

The killing of Iraqi pilgrims continues

Blast kills Iraqi Shia pilgrims in Basra - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Emir of Qatar: 'We need to send troops to Syria!'

"The emir of Qatar has said he is in favor of sending Arab troops to Syria to "stop the killing" that has claimed more than 5,000 lives over the course of a 10-month revolt there.Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani's interview with CBS news program "60 Minutes," which airs Sunday, is the first public call by an Arab leader for Arab troops to deploy to Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad's regime has mounted a brutal crackdown..."

Mossad 'disguised' as CIA to recruit terrorists & saboteurs!

'Buried deep in the archives of America's intelligence services are a series of memos, written during the last years of President George W. Bush's administration, that describe how Israeli Mossad officers recruited operatives belonging to the terrorist group Jundallah by passing themselves off as American agents. According to two U.S. intelligence officials, the Israelis, flush with American dollars and toting U.S. passports, posed as CIA officers in recruiting Jundallah operatives -- what is commonly referred to as a "false flag" operation.

The memos, as described by the sources, one of whom has read them and another who is intimately familiar with the case, investigated and debunked reports from 2007 and 2008 accusing the CIA, at the direction of the White House, of covertly supporting Jundallah -- a Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organization. Jundallah, according to the U.S. government and published reports, is responsible for assassinating Iranian government officials and killing Iranian women and children.

But while the memos show that the United States had barred even the most incidental contact with Jundallah, according to both intelligence officers, the same was not true for Israel's Mossad. The memos also detail CIA field reports saying that Israel's recruiting activities occurred under the nose of U.S. intelligence officers, most notably in London, the capital of one of Israel's ostensible allies, where Mossad officers posing as CIA operatives met with Jundallah officials.

The officials did not know whether the Israeli program to recruit and use Jundallah is ongoing. Nevertheless, they were stunned by the brazenness of the Mossad's efforts.

"It's amazing what the Israelis thought they could get away with," the intelligence officer said. "Their recruitment activities were nearly in the open. They apparently didn't give a damn what we thought."... 

There is no denying that there is a covert, bloody, and ongoing campaign aimed at stopping Iran's nuclear program, though no evidence has emerged connecting recent acts of sabotage and killings inside Iran to Jundallah. Many reports have cited Israel as the architect of this covert campaign, which claimed its latest victim on Jan. 11 when a motorcyclist in Tehran slipped a magnetic explosive device under the car of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a young Iranian nuclear scientist. The explosion killed Roshan, making him the fourth scientist assassinated in the past two years. The United States adamantly denies it is behind these killings.

According to one retired CIA officer, information about the false-flag operation was reported up the U.S. intelligence chain of command. It reached CIA Director of Operations Stephen Kappes, his deputy Michael Sulick, and the head of the Counterintelligence Center. All three of these officials are now retired. The Counterintelligence Center, according to its website, is tasked with investigating "threats posed by foreign intelligence services."

The report then made its way to the White House, according to the currently serving U.S. intelligence officer. The officer said that Bush "went absolutely ballistic" when briefed on its contents.

"The report sparked White House concerns that Israel's program was putting Americans at risk," the intelligence officer told me. "There's no question that the U.S. has cooperated with Israel in intelligence-gathering operations against the Iranians, but this was different. No matter what anyone thinks, we're not in the business of assassinating Iranian officials or killing Iranian civilians." (Continue, here)

For Israel: "Global Economic Confusion"

"... opinions within the Japanese government regarding the latest U.S. sanction are divided.

In the past, Japan gradually reduced the percentage of crude oil imports in accordance with the U.S. government's hard-line stance against iran. Japan also withdrew from a project to develop an Azadegan oil field in southwestern Iran in autumn 2010, even though the project was seen as a symbol of "Hinomaru oil wells"--Japanese-developed oil fields overseas.

Should Japan further reduce crude oil imports from Iran, one of the world's largest oil producers, it may become difficult to reestablish ties in the future.

If Japan increases imports from another oil-producing country, it also runs the risk that country may try to take advantage of the situation and demand higher prices.

However, the Japanese government had no choice other than to take concerted steps with Washington.

The European Union's 27 member nations basically agreed to ban crude oil imports from Iran. South Korea is also expected to follow suit.

"As Europe and many other countries have shown they will cooperate with the United States, we don't want to isolate Japan [in the international community]," a senior Japanese government official said.

But Japan will surely have to increase crude oil imports given that many of its nuclear power reactors are now idle.

One estimate shows that the crude oil used for thermal power plants in fiscal 2012 will be triple the amount in fiscal 2010.

A government source said the U.S. government had sent a behind-the-scenes signal that Washington "would not demand a total ban on imports" from iran. Ahead of the finance ministers' meeting Thursday, the two sides agreed to make a compromise to reduce crude oil imports in an "organized manner."

===

Observers warned that a shutout of Iranian crude oil may result in global economic confusion. ..."

Iran Oil Embargo to Be Delayed Six Months!

"...A European Union embargo on imports of Iranian (OPCRIRAN) oil will probably be delayed for six months to let countries such as Greece,Italy and Spain find alternative supplies, two EU officials with knowledge of the talks said.The embargo, which would need to be accepted by the 27- nation bloc’s foreign ministers on Jan. 23, is also likely to include an exemption for Italy, so crude can be sold to pay off debts to Rome-based Eni SpA (ENI), Italy’s largest oil company, according to the officials ..."

Pro-Israel, Neocon: "The SNC [Syrian National Council] launched its official Web site [which], drawing on a blueprint I prepared!"

What it Will Take to Intervene in Syria: More and more outsiders are calling for a humanitarian intervention in Syria to stop Bashar al-Assad's killing sprees. But for this to work, Syria's various opposition groups will have to first coalesce into a single, unified political and military force.

Carter: 'All Islamists "eager" to uphold Camp David peace deal!'

Egypt Islamists to honour peace deal with Israel: Carter - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

Amr Moussa denies receiving Saudi money for presidential campaign

"...“I call on those who say and write such things to comply with God, because this is not true,” he said. “Riyadh stands at an equal distance from all the presidential candidates and political forces in Egypt.”... 

Saudi Arabia was one of the primary supporters of the ousted regime of former President Hosni Mubarak, with which Moussa is often accused of being affiliated. The kingdom announced its full support for Mubarak during the 25 January uprising last year that eventually brought down the regime.

News reports surfacing in April said that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were threatening to fire Egyptian laborers and withdraw their investments from Egypt if Mubarak were put on trial. ..."

'The US & Iran should have direct contact through a back channel to communicate urgent messages!'

Steps to Defuse a Crisis

'The US chooses Qassem Suleimani'

"Things that happen to Iran unnaturally."

"... The Israeli military leader told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday that "2012 is expected to be a critical year for Iran." He cited "the confluence of efforts to advance the nuclear program, internal leadership changes, continued international pressure and things that happen to it unnaturally."

Gantz's testimony was leaked by a meeting participant who spoke on condition of anonymity because the testimony was closed.

Israeli officials in the past have spoken somewhat giddily of the "unnatural" setbacks that have plagued Iran's nuclear program. The timing of Gantz's testimony, just hours before Wednesday's assassination, was perhaps the strongest hint yet of Israeli involvement..."

'Israeli Mossad training Iranian exiles in Kurdistan'

"... A leading French newspaper has claimed that Israeli intelligence agents are recruiting and training Iranian dissidents in clandestine bases located in Iraq’s Kurdish region. Paris-based daily Le Figaro, France’s second-largest national newspaper, cited a “security source in Baghdad”, who alleged that members of Israeli intelligence are currently operating in Iraq’s autonomous northern Kurdish region. According to the anonymous source, the Israelis, who are members of the Mossad, Israel’s foremost external intelligence agency, are actively recruiting Iranian exiles in Kurdistan. Many of these Iranian assets, who are members of Iran’s Kurdish minority and opposed to the Iranian regime, are allegedly being trained by the Mossad in spy-craft and sabotage. The article in Le Figaro claims that the Iranian assets are being prepared for conducting operations inside the energy-rich country, as part of Israel’s undercover intelligence war against Iran’s nuclear energy program. The Baghdad source told the French daily that part of Israel’s sabotage program against sensitive Iranian nuclear facilities, which includes targeted assassinations of Iranian nuclear experts, is directed out of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, “where [Mossad] agents have stepped up their penetration”. For this, “the Israelis are using Kurdish oppositionists to the regime in Iran, who are living are refugees in the Kurdish regions of Iraq”, the source told Le Figaro. Although the article makes no mention of official or unofficial sanction of the Israeli operations by the Iraqi Kurdish authorities, it implies that the alleged Mossad activities are an open secret in Iraqi Kurdistan....."

"But the missing ingredient, so far, is Afghan outrage..."

"... But the missing ingredient, so far, is Afghan outrage. There have yet to be protests, let alone violence — although it’s possible that will take time to build. Yet just this past spring, Afghans rioted in response to a preacher who burned Korans in Florida, which occurred shortly after photos surfaced of a rogue U.S. “kill team” posing with their gruesome trophies. Twenty people died in those riots after protesters in Mazar-e-Sharif stormed a United Nations compound.

The U.S. isn’t taking any chances. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called the video “utterly deplorable.”... 

Attempts to derail a country's nuclear programme by killing its scientists "are products of desperation"

".... The Doomsday Clock – the famous gauge of the world's risk of nuclear annihilation, run by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) – moved a minute closer to midnight on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, another nuclear physicist was assassinated in Iran. Both events reveal a global nuclear situation that seems to be worsening fast.... 

He is the fifth such victim in Iran, according to William Tobey of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. Two nuclear scientists were killed in similar bombings in 2010, an electronics student was shot dead last year, and another physicist is thought to have been killed in 2007. Another 2010 bombing target, Fereydoon Abbasi, survived and was made head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. No one has claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.

Losing hope

In January 2010 things seemed more hopeful. US president Barack Obama's renewed commitment to nuclear disarmament led the BAS to set its clock back to 6 minutes to midnight, from the 5 it had moved to previously, as the US seemed to retreat from arms control. The clock started at 7 minutes to midnight in 1947, in the wake of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.

This week security experts moved it to 5 minutes to midnight again, citing failure by the US and others to follow through on arms control promises – and also Iran's nuclear power programme. Iran's two uranium enrichment plants are busily making uranium that could be used to fuel a reactor that makes medical isotopes, but could also be used to quickly produce weapons-grade uranium, in which the uranium-235 (235U) isotope is present at 90 per cent.

This week the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran has begun enriching uranium to 20 per cent 235U at its underground plant at Fordow. That level of enrichment is closer than it seems to the 90 per cent needed for a typical nuclear bomb.

Break out

Olli Heinonen of Harvard University calculates that it would take Iran six months to make a bomb starting from the fuel-grade 3.5-per-cent 235U made under UN inspection at the Natanz plant, but only a month starting from 20-per-cent 235U. Such a stockpile means Iran could "break out" and build a bomb "very quickly should it decide to do so", he says.

This possibility is especially problematic for Israel, which has hinted that it will attempt the military destruction of Iran's nuclear infrastructure at any sign that it is making nuclear weapons. The underground plant at Fordow, however, is virtually bomb-proof.

And so to the dead Iranian scientists. Attempts to derail a country's nuclear programme by killing its scientists "are products of desperation", says Tobey – citing a US effort to kill legendary physicist Werner Heisenberg during the second world war, abandoned at the last minute only when the would-be assassin decided Heisenberg was not involved in a Nazi nuclear effort after all...."

'But the Captain assured us he wouldn't...'

"A Russian-owned ship reportedly carrying weapons to Syria docked in Tartus on Thursday despite assurances it would change destination, Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reported.
“The Turkish navy has learned that the Russian ship MV Chariot docked at the Syrian port today,” the paper said, citing Turkish Foreign Ministry official Selcuk Unal..."

AIPAC/ WINEP: 'Iran will not escalate! We Should!'

For you Israel, no American treasure and blood is too dear! 

"... Recognizing that Iran is neither able nor likely to try to close the Strait, the U.S. could simply sit back, confident in our superior firepower. This would be a mistake. The real danger in the Gulf is lower-level activity by Iran to harass ... ...
Rather than waiting for one of these gambits to succeed and force our hand in response, the U.S. should actively seek to discourage Iran from further testing of U.S. limits through a stronger deterrence effort.
First, the U.S. should resume a more active program of military exercises and signaling activities in the Gulf, in order to demonstrate U.S. capabilities and make Iran reconsider its actions in the area.
Second, the U.S. should signal our enduring commitment to the Gulf after our withdrawal from Iraq and continue to bolster the littoral, air, and missile defense capacity of our GCC allies and integrate their forces into the aforementioned exercises.
Finally, the U.S. should indicate clearly to Iran that we are prepared to use selective military force in response to further provocations such as those discussed above. Such limited force -- whether against Iran's navy in the late 1980s, or against the Revolutionary Guards' Qods Force in Iraq in recent years -- has proven effective in compelling Iran to draw back.
It is frequently observed that the consequences of military action are unpredictable, and rightly so; it should only ever be used with caution (hahaha) ..."

"It is a sad commentary on Western "freedom of the press" if we in Europe must rely on newspapers published elsewhere..."

"Sir, Let me commend you for publishing, in your January 5 edition, the excellent report by Aisling Byrne entitled A mistaken case for Syrian regime change [Jan 5, 2012]. 

While Western mainstream media tirelessly expound, in unison, a surreal narrative of events in Syria - in which regime troops ruthlessly massacre unarmed civilian protesters representing the entire population (yet even opposition forces admit, in their blogs, increasing casualties among the regime troops and large pro-regime demonstrations in the streets of Damascus!) - your report clearly exposes what is going on behind the scenes : Western skullduggery in exploiting the divisions in Syrian society and fomenting (and arming) one side against the other, in the hope of creating a pretext for Libyan-like foreign military intervention. 

It is a sad commentary on Western "freedom of the press" if we in Europe must rely on newspapers published elsewhere to get at least a glimpse of what our own governments are doing abroad. 

But such, apparently, is the case regarding events in Syria and I therefore thank you for enabling Ms Byrne's report to come to my attention.

Patrick Boylan

Chair of English

School of Humanities

University of Rome III

Rome, Italy 

Zardari Flees to Dubai Again Under Cover of “One Day” Trip: Is He Finished?

Zardari Flees to Dubai Again Under Cover of “One Day” Trip: Is He Finished?

'We don't agree!"

"... The National Intelligence Estimate presented to President Barack Obama last month also concluded that security gains won since last year's 30,000-strong U.S. troop surge may be unsustainable, a finding that top U.S. commanders and the White House dispute, according to U.S. officials and people familiar with the report's findings."We have heard that the report offers a very dire assessment. We don't agree,"..."

For a good laugh!

FLC wants its readers to take time out & have a good laugh!

"... Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah, wants out. Things have gotten so tense for Hezbollah, says Lokman Slim (a nobody), an independent Lebanese Shiite activist, that according to well-sourced accounts of a meeting two weeks ago, Nasrallah “complained he no longer wanted the job.”..."

"Russia will do everything to stop this scenario from happening..."

'With a little help from our friends' 

“We are receiving information that NATO members and some Persian Gulf states, working under the ‘Libyan scenario’, intend to move from indirect intervention in Syria to direct military intervention,” the Russian security chief said... ...
“This time, it won’t be France, the U.K. and Italy that will provide the main strike forces, but perhaps neighboring Turkey, which was until recently on good terms with Syria and is a rival of Iran with immense ambitions, ... Our fear is that Syria could collapse and extremist Islamic forces will seize control that no one will be pleased about, ... This could destabilize the entire region.”
While Russia would block any effort to seek UN approval for a no-fly zone in Syria thanks to its veto-wielding power as a permanent member of the Security Council, Western nations and their allies may form a coalition like they did for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, said the analyst... ...
Russia may have obtained intelligence about Western military plans in Syria or may be sending a signal that it will actively oppose any such efforts, said Fyodor Lukyanov, an analyst at the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy in Moscow.
“After the Libyan experience, Russia will do everything to stop this scenario from happening,” he said in a phone interview. “Syria is much more important than Libya from Russia’s point of view.”

Algerian FM on the 'fraudulent' Arab League observer: "Other Algerians didn't speak, they might have different opinions!"

"... But most press questions directed to him concerned Syria, including about Anwar Malik, the Algerian member of the Arab League observer mission who left the mission in disgust, calling it a farce. "Other Algerians didn't speak,"Medelci responded, saying that "they might have different opinions."

   And Medelci is seemingly among them, emphasizing that the violence in Syria does not only come from the government, calling the claims and counterclaims "intriguing." He said Algeria is opposed to strong cuts of Syria air flights, says it punishes civilians, not the government and its officials...."

Free Syrian Army commander: 'I'll name my son Juppé if West intervenes'

... and I will name mine 'Juppe Courte' if West does! You got 'solid' journalism like that when a fellow from the Lebanon Renaissance org. a right wing Lebanese outfit founded by Elie Khoury of 'I love Life' fame, interviews a dimwit like that 'officer'!

"... When commander Al Arabi (out of all names!) got up to leave, he picked up his Kalashnikov and made me a promise. “If they [the West] come to help, I will name my son Juppé,” after the outspoken French foreign minister who has led calls for a humanitarian intervention. He then disappeared into the dark cold hills from which he came. His plan was to be across the border in Homs the next morning...."

Pro-Assad civilans' civilian rally target of mortar attacks: 8 Killed including a foreign journalist

If it wasn't for a dead foreign journalist, pro-government Syrian civilians would have continued dying without any mention in mainstream media! (Wounded France2 caméraman Christophe Kenck said by phone that the pro-government rally was targeted by 4 mortar attacks one of which was aimed at an empty school)

"(CNN) -- A French journalist died Wednesday in a mortar strike on a pro-government rally in Homs, ....The violence comes as international journalists and Arab League monitors viewed the tumult rippling across restive cities. A journalist who witnessed the incident told CNN that a civilian also died in the strike. A Dutch journalist and nine civilians were injured.The dead journalist is Gilles Jacquier of the France 2 TV network, the network confirmed. There are different casualty figures filtering out of Homs. France 2 also said seven people died in the same place. Jacquier's cameraman was lightly injured, France 2 said. It said they were there as part of a trip authorized by the government. ..."

The Algerian Arab League 'observer' is a fraudulent former member of the 'Armed Islamic Group' (GIA)

Member of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA, al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah al-Musallaha

As per 'Syria Truth'& dissident Nizar Nayouf:
"Nayouf drew our attention to the need to return to the archives of said Arab League team member Anwar Malek, who made a new name for himself when he called the AL' mission in Syria a "farce." First, Anwar Malek is not his real name, but "Nawar Abdul-Malik" (born in 1972)... an expelled (for theft) member of the Algerian Armed forces and more seriously, "a member of the Armed Islamic Group," (GIA) modeled after Al Qaeda and led by the criminal Zawabri Antar,... According to testimonies received from Algerian journalists, Nayouf, including audio/video materials,... Anwar was also impersonating the title "Doctor" although he "does not know how to type a sentence" and was known to conduct fictional interviews with himself and published them in the Algerian press as the works of "a researcher and analyst" ...

Bashar & Asma Assad with their children stand with the public

"Pourquoi être aussi en pointe contre la Syrie? On n'aurait jamais imaginé cela de la France!"

"... Que pensez-vous de l'opposition  à l'étranger?

Je l'aurais soutenue si ses responsables n'avaient pas approuvé une intervention étrangère contre mon pays. Mais depuis le début de la révolte, ils refusent tout dialogue. Ils ont le droit de critiquer, mais sans aller jusqu'à vouloir détruire la Syrie. D'autre part, leur représentativité auprès du peuple est faible. Nous n'avions jamais entendu parler de Buhran Ghalioun ou de Bassma Kodmani avant ces événements. Les seuls dont on connaissait le nom sont ceux liés aux Frères musulmans, qui avaient des relais anciens en Syrie.

Que pensez-vous de la position française dans le conflit?

Je ne vous cache pas qu'il y a une équivoque que je ne comprends pas. La position française ne va ni dans le sens de votre pensée républicaine, ni dans le sens de ses intérêts. Jamais la France n'a eu autant de faveurs en Syrie que ces dernières années. À Alep, j'ai réussi par exemple à ouvrir quatre écoles en partenariat avec la France. Pourquoi être aussi en pointe contre la Syrie? On n'aurait jamais imaginé cela de la France, en particulier nous autres les chrétiens...."

US Deputy Sec. of State Burns meets Brotherhood & SCAF's Tantawi

"... US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns "will meet leaders of the (Brotherhood's) Freedom and Justice Party at their headquarters in Cairo," FJP spokesman Ahmed Sobea told AFP."It will be the highest-level meeting with any official from the United States," Sobea said.
Burns, who arrived in Cairo late on Tuesday, met with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) which took power when Mubarak was ousted....FJP deputy head Essam al-Erian held talks with Jeffrey Feltman, US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, during a recent visit to Cairo, Sobea said."

While they 'meet in Amman': Israel subsidizes new settlements!

Israel subsidizes West Bank housing, breaking promise to U.S. - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

You got to Love this piece of 'News': "I promise!"

"... Customs officials boarded the ship to examine its cargo, but couldn't open and inspect the four containers because of "the confined space" they were stored in, the Cypriot Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Nevertheless, the officials determined they were holding a "dangerous cargo." State radio in Cyprus went further, saying the vessel was carrying "tens of tons of munitions."

Cypriot authorities then consulted with the ship's Russian owners who promised to change the ship's route, and the vessel was allowed to leave Cyprus on Wednesday, the statement said. The statement didn't say where the vessel is now headed...."

'Christmas is No Time for an Iranian Revolution'

"...If you live in Iran it is hard to imagine what the West, particularly the United States, is trying to accomplish. No one doubts that Israeli and Western operators are behind recent assassinations of nuclear scientists on the streets of Tehran. And the sudden frequency of "accidents" at various factories and Revolutionary Guards bases (which a majority -- their government's denial notwithstanding -- also believe are the work of foreign agencies) has done nothing to change the minds of either government officials or the general public about the nuclear program.Few in Iran believe that the nuclear program is a quest for a Shia bomb to obliterate Israel once and for all. No, the Iranian people, from my greengrocer to college students who resent their government, still consider the nuclear question in generally nationalistic terms. The particular regime in power is of passing relevance. So sanctioning Iran's central bank and embargoing Iranian oil, tactics the White House may be using as a way to avoid having to make a decision for war, will neither change minds in Tehran nor do much of anything besides bring more pain to ordinary Iranians. And making life difficult for them has not, so far, resulted in their rising up to overthrow the autocratic regime, as some might have hoped in Washington or London. ..."

Lies from Israel: 'Ready to receive Syrian Alawites refugees' (All of whom lalready live under Israeli occupation & have Israeli citizenship!)

The IDF officer thinks he is cute when he describes the ONLY Alawites community in Southern Syria & the Golan heights, namely, the villagers of Ghajar, most of whom live in the Israeli occupied section of the village, and ALL of whom have de-facto Israeli citizenship. The illeterate israeli officer believes that this will falsely give an impression of doom in Syria.

'Neocon Israel Mouthpiece Writes Syrian Opposition Intervention Paper'

"... The paper was written for the Strategic Research & Communication Centre, a somewhat mysterious organization in Britain that claims to offer "Informed insight on Syria", founded in 2010 and run by the Syrian expat Ausama Monajed who "previously served as the director of Barada Television". As is known from Wikileaks cables:

Barada TV is closely affiliated with the Movement for Justice and Development, a London-based network of Syrian exiles. Classified U.S. diplomatic cables show that the State Department has funneled as much as $6 million to the group since 2006 to operate the satellite channel and finance other activities inside Syria.

We can safely assume that Ausama Monajed, who's current organization does not reveal its funding sources, is still on that indirect U.S. State Department payroll.
The paper Weiss wrote to argue for military intervention is endorsed as a Special Report by the expat Syrian National Council on its slick new website... ... ...
See, that nasty "cover organization pushing reconciliation" that represents the real protesters in Syria is now simply done away with.
The neocon org's communications director and excecutive director of a "mouthpiece for Israel" Michael Weiss writes a paper to further military intervention in Syria for a U.S. State Department funded expat Syrian think tank which then gets adopted by the expat militant Syrian National Council..."

(Stupid journalism) 'French Lycee in Qatar on high alert because of trouble in Syria. All Syrian Nationals suspect!'

"La sécurité de l’ambassade de France au Qatar a été renforcée, dans la crainte d’attentats qui viseraient les intérêts français dans cet émirat en pointe dans la dénonciation de la répression conduite par le pouvoir syrien contre les manifestants.  La protection du lycée français à Doha a également été revue à la hausse. Depuis le début de la révolte en Syrie .... La communauté syrienne est également sous surveillance étroite."

The strategic thinkers of the SNC: 'Russia will drop Assad very shortly!'

"Live with it!"

"... In documents seen by The Times, Israeli officials have begun preparing scenarios for the day after a nuclear weapons test.The move is a tacit recognition that Israel is backing away from its long-held position that it would do everything in its power - including mounting a military strike - to stop Iran acquiring nuclear capabilities...."

Obama & US Banks ...

Obama Swaps a JP Morgan Chase Chief of Staff for a Citi One

Residents of Haditha, where US marines killed 24 Iraqis in 2005, say they have little hope of achieving justice.

US troops told to 'shoot first' in Iraq - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

More pilgrims deaths in Iraq

"... Monday's attacks include bombings targeting Shia Muslim worshippers en route to a shrine in the city of Karbala, south of Baghdad.... At least seven people were killed when a car parked near a market exploded in the northern al-Shaab district of Baghdad. Three police officers were among those killed, authorities said.

Another car bomb exploded inside the parking lot of a Shia mosque in the al-Mowasalat district of south Baghdad, killing five and injuring at least 32 others.

In Owairij, a town just south of Baghdad, a roadside bomb targeting devotees walking in the direction of Karbala killed one and wounded another nine, according to defence and ministry officials. On the outskirts of the central city of Hilla, a car bomb wounded 15 Afghan pilgrims, three of them seriously, police and medics said...."

Assad claims victory is nigh!

"... The speech "gave no hint of any flexibility that could break the deadlock between his regime and the opposition," but instead suggested the regime believes its brutal crackdown is close to breaking the opposition, reports the Guardian newspaper. "We are nearing the end of the crisis," Mr. Assad said. "We should stand united.… Victory is near because we can be steadfast. We know our enemies."..."

Another War That Nobody Wants

Iran: Another War That Nobody Wants

STOP the PRESSES: "Erekat & Molho meet for the SECOND time in Amman!"

Netanyahu mulls gestures toward Palestinians to keep peace talks going - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Q&A:"It was a mistake for the US & a number of European countries to support Iraq, especially with outlawed chemical weapons

"...Q: Do you think the overall policy of the United States sanctioning Iran has so far been successful?A: From the Iranian perspective, and in fact from a humanitarian perspective, what happened during the Iran-Iraq war was wrong. It was a mistake for the United States and a number of European countries to support Iraq, especially with outlawed chemical weapons. Understandably, Iranians do not want to be so vulnerable again. This is why the Iranian people support the government’s policies to develop Iran’s nuclear capabilities. For sanctions to have a better chance of success, you want the broad citizenry to favor a change in the policy targeted by sanctions. The United States has made a mistake. It picked the wrong policy (to be changed by the regime in Tehran).
The nuclear issue is a popular policy. What the United States should say is we are going to impose sanctions until you hold free elections, respect human rights….This would have much force within Iran and with a change in regime, then the nuclear issue could be better resolved. The issue the US has picked (the nuclear issue) will not rally the people against the regime. Sanctions are aimed at hurting the government and forcing the regime to change its policies, or squeezing the average citizen to turn against the regime. It hurts the average person. This is sad, but inevitable, fallout of sanctions that cannot be helped."

Saudi Arabia's tries Al Qaeda suspects, as thousands remain in jail!

RIYADH (Reuters) - "Saudi Arabia has begun the trial of 16 suspected al Qaeda members accused of killing a policeman and plotting attacks on government officials and military weapons facilities, Saudi media reported on Sunday. The group is also accused of financing "terrorism" in other countries, smuggling weapons and training and sending militants to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper said.
Saudi Arabia faced a militant insurgency from 2003-06 in which al Qaeda members staged attacks on residential compounds for foreign workers and Saudi government facilities, killing dozens.
The authorities ended the assaults after arresting thousands of suspected militants and launching a media campaign to discredit their ideology with the backing of influential clerics and tribal leaders.
Last year the Interior Ministry said nearly 5,700 people had been arrested of whom 5,000 had faced a court, but human rights groups inside Saudi Arabia say more than 12,000 were jailed, including political prisoners who have demanded reforms..."

Saudi lackeys in Lebanon: "No al-Qaeda presence in the country" as long as it concerns Syria!

Wikileaks: US Government, categorically: "Groups such as Al-Qaeda & Jund al- Sham are present in (Lebanon) the country"

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 050327
SUBJECT: TRAVEL WARNING - LEBANON

¶1. This Travel Warning updates information on security threats and ongoing political violence in Lebanon, and informs U.S. citizens of current safety and security
concerns. The Department of State urges that Americans avoid all travel to Lebanon and that American citizens in Lebanon consider carefully the risks of remaining. This supersedes the Travel Warning for Lebanon issued on April 21, 2008....
... In addition to the violence provoked by these incursions, the U.S. remains concerned
about the threat of terrorist attacks against Western interests in Lebanon. Groups such as Al-Qaeda and Jund al- Sham are present in the country and have issued statements calling for attacks against Western interests in the past....
Current options for exit from Lebanon include: Exit by land to Syria. - Overland routes to Syrian border crossings are open intermittently. Those traveling by land to Syria technically need a Syrian visa issued in Washington. Syrian officials have been issuing visas to
Americans at the border..."

"Lets do it! Let's Bomb Iran"

(Satire) ...If there is near unanimity in the Congress to go to war with Iran I say lets go. Lets do it!  They are the duly elected representatives of the people of the United States and they have determined that war with Iran is in the best interests of the country.  We should initiate hostilities as soon as practicable.

Here are some parameters to consider for our war:

1. Iran is 1.6 million square kilometers and has approximately 80 million inhabitants (77-78 million plus).

2. That makes Iran four times the area of Iraq and three times the

    population of Iraq.

3. The Iraq War was completed very quickly, and very easily. But the

    occupation, i.e. the reduction of resistance lasted ten years and has

    produced a relatively weak state.

4.  In order to do things right this time, we need sufficient ground

    forces to secure a mountainous multiethnic country with more than two thousand years of national history. We may be welcomed as liberators but coalition forces ultimately met with armed resistance from numerous  groups many of whom practiced deadly suicide attacks.

5. We need a long term occupational force for Iran.  I think an effective occupation of 80 million people spread over 1.6 million square kilometers should require well over 1 million well trained troops for at least 5 years maybe 10 years if things go badly.

6. The only way we can provide this level of forces is through a return to the Draft. The Selective Service system needs to activated immediately. All military reserves needed to be recalled to active duty while we  begin the process of training millions of young male and female    draftees for service in Iran.  A five year occupation should require,    ballpark, 5 million draftees.  Of course, we have the manpower.    According to the CIA, the U.S. has 120 million males and females    between the ages of 18 and 49 who are fit for military service.

7. The direct financial cost of the war should be a multiple of the Iraq

    War which was 800 billion from 2003 through 2011.  The cost of

    deploying troops to Afghanistan averages about one million dollars per  troop.  If we plan on 1 million troops for five years that would mean   5 trillion in direct costs financed by the U.S. Treasury through    2016-2017 and then undetermined costs thereafter.

8. The economic benefits of this exercise in military Keynesian economics     should be huge. Unemployment should disappear.  War related    manufacturing should be a virtual renaissance for domestic industry.    The financing of the war will significantly increase the public debt, anathema to     Republicans, but they are spoilsports. They reject military Keynesianism, which worked wonders for Japan and Germany in the 1930s and 1940s as well as the United States and the Soviet Union.

9. No whining about casualties. The U.S. could sustain hundreds of    thousands or more total casualties, including deaths from combat,    disabling wounds, and huge numbers of psychiatric losses related to    combat and the effect of concussive injuries to the brain.

"That's a red line for us!"

"...SECRETARY LEON PANETTA: I think the international strategy here, and this really has been an international strategy to apply sanctions, to apply diplomatic pressure on them, to try to convince Iran that if, you know, they want to do what's right, they need to join the international family of nations and act in a responsible way. I think the pressure of the sanctions, I think the pressure of diplomatic pressures from everywhere -- Europe, United States, elsewhere-- is working to put pressure on them, to make them understand that they cannot continue to do what they're doing. Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No. But we know that they're trying to develop a nuclear capability. And that's what concerns us. And our red line to Iran is do not develop a nuclear weapon. That's a red line for us.BOB SCHIEFFER: Rick Santorum says we should already be making it known to them and the rest of the world that we're planning an attack to take out their nuclear facilities. And that we should let them know about that right now. What about a military reaction right now?SECRETARY LEON PANETTA: Well, you don't take any option off the table. I think that's extremely important. Don't take any option off the table. But the responsible thing to do right now is to keep putting diplomatic and economic pressure on them to force them to do the right thing. And to make sure that they do not make the decision to proceed with the development of a nuclear weapon...."