[CTRL] Fwd: Iran Watch 09-05-07
-Caveat Lector- Begin forwarded message: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: September 6, 2007 11:05:26 AM PDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Iran Watch 09-05-07 http://coverthistory.blogspot.com/ Wednesday, September 05, 2007 The Air Force announced that all flights of fighters and bombers in the United States will be halted on September 14 to allow for a review of procedures. A Sept. rollout for Iran war WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card once famously said of the administration’s 2002 campaign to get support for the invasion of Iraq, ''From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August.'' Now August is behind us, and -- right on schedule -- marketers both in the White House and among their supporters outside are rolling out their newest product, a public relations blitz urging a U.S. military adventure in Iran. William Kristol: Terrorist Training Camps in Iran: Should they be safe havens? Why are terror training camps in Iran, camps that are directly training terrorists to attack U.S. troops, off limits? After all, if Khameini (to whom the IRGC reports) has already established the principle of cross-border attacks against accelerators of violence, who are we to disagree with the wisdom of the Supreme Leader? ADL Campaign Says 'No' to Nuclear Iran New York, NY, September 5, 2007 … Over the next few weeks and months, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) will roll out a public awareness and advocacy campaign aimed at focusing attention on the gathering threat of a nuclear-armed Iran to Israel, the Middle East and the world. With the slogan, No Nuclear Iran, the campaign focuses on Iran's clear and present threat to Israel, America and the global community through high-profile eye-catching posters, advertisements in national and community newspapers, and other awareness initiatives using e-mail and the Internet to spread the word. The League's efforts to raise awareness of the threat come as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has recently intensified his calls for the destruction of Jews and the State of Israel. Kenneth Timmerman: Call It War, Mr. President So now it’s official. Republicans are the Party of Victory, and Democrats the Party of Surrender. Mr. President: it’s time to stop pandering to the Party of Surrender, unless it’s your own rendition you are seeking to negotiate. We are at war, and Americans are not quitters, despite what Nancy Pelosi believes. So let’s roll. Fox News: IAEA: Hoodwinked by the Ayatollahs The fact of the matter is that in spite of talks and sanctions, the regime continues to militarize its nuclear program, dig new tunnels for its underground facilities, enrich uranium and make continuous progress at the heavy water nuclear reactor in Arak. Reuel Marc Gerecht (American Enterprise Institute) in Newsweek: Deadly Persian Provocations Iran's bloody role in Iraq has yet to be widely acknowledged. But the clerical regime is killing U.S. soldiers there. Barnett R. Rubin: Iran War Roll Out Starts On the morning of Thursday, August 30, someone who is a professional in handling information called me to recount a conversation from the previous Thursday or Friday (August 23 or 24). In this conversation, someone whose proximity to knowledge of such things is so great that I cannot identify him in any other way, told my interlocutor that President Bush would be inclined to accept suggestions for withdrawing some troops from Iraq and moving as many as possible into more secure bases, as a safeguard against reprisals in the event of a U.S. attack on Iran. Meanwhile: Iran warns US over risks of military action TEHRAN: Iran on Tuesday issued a stark warning to the United States over the danger of launching a military attack, saying Washington could never foresee the size of its response against US troops in the region. The US will face three problems if it attacks Iran. Firstly it does not know the volume of our response, said General Rahim Yahya Safavi, the new special military advisor to supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Also it can not evaluate the vulnerability of its 200,000 troops in the region since we have accurately identified all of their camps, added Safavi, who stepped down last week as head of the elite Revolutionary Guards. Secondly, it does not know what will happen to Israel and thirdly, the United States does not know what will happen to the oil flow, he was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying. Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com. www.ctrl.org DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran watch
-Caveat Lector- Begin forwarded message: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: September 4, 2007 9:30:36 PM PDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Iran watch Tuesday, September 04, 2007 http://coverthistory.blogspot.com/ Michael Ledeen on Hannity Colmes I just heard Michael Ledeen's interview tonight on Hannity Colmes. Ledeen has in the past falsely claimed that he had been against the Iraq War. Colmes called him on it, quoting a column he wrote in August of 2002, in which he said: One can only hope that we turn the region into a cauldron, and faster, please. If ever there were a region that richly deserved being cauldronized, it is the Middle East today. Ledeen claimed that he was referring to political change in the region. He was lying. In the same column he referred to the desperately-needed and long overdue war against Saddam Hussein and the rest of the terror masters. Ledeen is plugging his new book, The Iranian Time Bomb: The Mullah Zealots' Quest for Destruction -- out just in time for the kick- off to the marketing campaign for the Iran War. http://www.amazon.com/Iranian-Time-Bomb-Zealots-Destruction/dp/ 0312376553/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-8844801-4456418? ie=UTF8s=booksamp;amp;amp;qid=1188957308sr=8-1 Arnaud de Borchgrave: The Next War? http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Emerging_Threats/Analysis/ 2007/08/29/commentary_the_next_war/2493/ After a brief interruption of his New Hampshire vacation to meet President Bush in the family compound at Kennebunkport, Maine, French President Nicolas Sarkozy came away convinced his U.S. counterpart is serious about bombing Iran's secret nuclear facilities. That's the reading as it filtered back to Europe's foreign ministries. Bill Kristol starts off the post-Labor Day drive to Iran http://www.newshounds.us/2007/09/04/ bill_kristol_starts_off_the_postlabor_day_drive_to_iran_rhetorically_o f_course.php#more FOX and Friends led the charge this morning, with Weekly Standard Editor and PNAC Chairman Bill Kristol telling Steve Doocy that the US will probably have to take action against Iran, less for their nuclear program a difficult sell, now that the IAEA reports Iran is cooperating with inspectors than for their aggressive support of Iraqi insurgents. Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com. www.ctrl.org DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substanceânot soap-boxingâplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'âwith its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsâis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/ A HREF=http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran, Massed on Iraq's Northeast Border, Shoot It Out with Kurds
-Caveat Lector- Begin forwarded message: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: August 21, 2007 12:22:52 AM PDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Iran, Massed on Iraq's Northeast Border, Shoot It Out with Kurds Kurds flee homes as Iran shells villages in Iraq · Guerrillas in clashes with Revolutionary Guards · Conflict threatens stability of Kurdistan region Michael Howard in Irbil The Guardian (UK), August 20, 2007 http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2152324,00.html Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards participate in military training at an undisclosed location near the Gulf. Photograph: AFP/ Getty Iraqi Kurdish officials expressed deepening concern yesterday at an upsurge in fierce clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian forces in the remote border area of north-east Iraq, where Tehran has recently deployed thousands of Revolutionary Guards. Jabar Yawar, a deputy minister in the Kurdistan regional government, said four days of intermittent shelling by Iranian forces had hit mountain villages high up on the Iraqi side of the border, wounding two women, destroying livestock and property, and displacing about 1,000 people from their homes. Mr Yawer said there had also been intense fighting on the Iraqi border between Iranian forces and guerrillas of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an armed Iranian Kurdish group that is stepping up its campaign for Kurdish rights against the theocratic regime in Tehran. On Saturday the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed killing six Republican Guard members had been engaged in a military operation against PJAK. Iranian officials said the helicopter had crashed into the side of a mountain during bad weather in northern Iraq. PJAK sources said the helicopter had been destroyed after it attempted to land in a clearing mined by guerrillas. The PJAK sources claimed its guerrillas had also killed at least five other Iranian soldiers, and a local pro-regime chief, Hussein Bapir. If this escalates it could pose a real threat to the Kurdistan region, which is Iraq's most stable area, said Mr Yawar, who said he expected the Iraqi government and US officials in Iraq to make a formal protest to Tehran about the blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty. The escalation of tensions in northern Iraq came as a senior US army officer renewed allegations of Iranian support for Shia militias in the south. Major-General Rick Lynch told reporters in the capital that up to 50 members of the elite Revolutionary Guard corps had crossed into Iraq and were training Shia militia members. Analysts believe PJAK is the fastest growing armed resistance group in Iran. As well as the 3,000 or so members under arms in the mountains, it also claims tens of thousands of followers in secret cells in Iranian Kurdistan. Its campaigning on women's rights has struck a chord with young Iranian Kurdish women. The group says 45% of its fighters are female. Iranian authorities regard the group as a terrorist outfit being sponsored and armed by the US to increase pressure on Iran. On a recent visit to PJAK camps in the Qandil mountains the Guardian saw no evidence of American weaponry. The majority of its fighters toted Soviet-era Kalashnikovs. In an interview Biryar Gabar, a member of the leadership committee, said the group had no relations with the Americans, but was open to any group that shares our ideals of a free federal democratic and secular Iran. 'No Saigon moment' The forces chief who planned Britain's part in the invasion of Iraq has rejected claims that Britain's withdrawal will be ugly, embarrassing and akin to America's Saigon moment in 1975. I don't think it's sensible to draw any parallels between Saigon and Basra, Lord Boyce, who served as Chief of the Defence Staff between 2001 and 2003, said yesterday. The British are not facing what the Americans were facing in Saigon, which was a well-equipped army as opposed to disparate murderers and terrorists. He was responding to claims by Bush adviser Stephen Biddle, who warned the British would have to fight their way out in an ugly and embarrassing retreat. US hawks have been expressing concern over British plans to cut forces in Iraq and hope to press Gordon Brown not to withdraw completely. Jonathan Steele Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com. www.ctrl.org DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran Steps Up Petro-dollar War With U.S.
-Caveat Lector- Begin forwarded message: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: August 3, 2007 3:44:28 PM PDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Fwd: Iran Steps Up Petro-dollar War With U.S. Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com. From: Jim S. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: August 3, 2007 2:48:03 PM PDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Iran Steps Up Petro-dollar War With U.S. Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] America is a nation founded on the principle that all human life is sacred... Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical.-- G.W. Bush on the occasion of vetoing Congressional bill on stem cell research. June 20, 2007 http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56965 WND Exclusive: *Iran Steps Up Petro-dollar War With U.S.* Pressures falling greenback by demanding Japan buy oil in yen Posted: August 2, 2007 / 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Jerome R. Corsi © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com Iran has intensified pressure on the falling U.S. dollar by demanding that Japan begin paying for Iranian oil in yen, instead of dollars. Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company, or N.I.O.C., has confirmed the company has asked Japan to open letters of credit in yen in preparation for N.O.I.C. issuing oil invoices in Japanese currency. In April, WND reported Iran successfully pressured China to begin paying for Iranian oil in euros, not dollars. To date, Iran has not followed up on the announcement that Iran would create an Iranian oil bourse to quote oil in euros, instead of dollars. Still, according to Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, 70 percent of Iran's oil income is now paid in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Iran also has announced that the country will not participate in any O.P.E.C. move to increase oil production to counter rising oil prices. Yesterday, crude oil prices rose to a record high $78 a barrel on international markets. Iran's continued switch from the dollar reflects its concern with the currency's falling value along with a desire to counter the U.S.-backed sanctions imposed by the U.N. on Tehran for transparency violations in its nuclear program. In July, the euro hit a historic low against the dollar. As WND repeatedly has reported, Iran has frustrated the Bush administration's strategy, resisting diplomatic approaches the U.S. has used with European nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency to induce Iran to quit enriching uranium. Recent disclosures indicate Iran has made progress solving the technological problems of installing an estimated 3,500 centrifuges at its uranium enhancement nuclear facility in Isfahan. Iran produces approximately 2.3 million barrels of crude oil per day, with approximately 65 percent of that volume headed for Asia, largely to China and Japan. ~~~ [Jerome R. Corsi is a staff reporter for WND. He received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in political science in 1972 and has written many books and articles, including his latest best-seller, The Late Great U.S.A. Corsi co- authored with John O'Neill the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry. Other books include Showdown with Nuclear Iran, Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil, which he co-authored with WND columnist Craig. R. Smith, and Atomic Iran.] Related offers: Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians Whistleblower magazine: 'MOST DANGEROUS NATION ON EARTH: Why America must wake up now and deal with Iran's imminent threat Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) Msg sent via CWNet - http://www.cwnet.com/ www.ctrl.org DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substanceânot soap-boxingâplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'âwith its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsâis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/ A HREF=http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL]
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran = Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda = Militants in Gaza West Bank, Lebanon Syria
-Caveat Lector- Begin forwarded message: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: June 23, 2007 6:41:08 PM PDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Iran = Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda = Militants in Gaza West Bank, Lebanon Syria New Iran Arms Claim Reveals Cheney-Military Rift by Gareth Porter http://www.antiwar.com/porter/?articleid=11168 In a development that underlines the tensions between the anti-Iran agenda of the George W. Bush administration and the preoccupation of its military command in Afghanistan with militant [anti-Iran] Sunni activism, a State Department official publicly accused Iran for the first time of arming the Taliban forces last week, but the US commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan rejected that charge for the second time in less than two weeks. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns declared in Paris June 12 that Iran was transferring arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan, putting it in the context of a larger alleged Iranian role of funding extremists in the Palestinian territories, Syria and Lebanon all of Israel's opponents as well as Iraq. The following day he asserted there was irrefutable evidence of such Iranian arms supply to the Taliban. The use of the phrase irrefutable evidence suggested that the Burns statement was scripted by the office of Vice President Dick Cheney. The same phrase had been used by Cheney himself on Sep. 20, 2002, in referring to the administration's accusation that Al Qaeda and Iraq were conspiring together and Saddam Hussein had a program to enrich uranium as the basis for a nuclear weapon. But the NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Dan McNeill, pointed to other possible explanations, particularly the link between drug smuggling and weapons smuggling between Iran and Afghanistan. Gen. McNeill repeated in an interview with US News and World Report last week a previous statement to Reuters that he did not agree with the charge. McNeill minimized the scope of the arms coming from Iran, saying: What we've found so far hasn't been militarily significant on the battlefield. He speculated that the arms could have come from black market dealers, drug traffickers, or al-Qaeda backers and could have been sold by low-level Iranian military personnel. McNeill's remarks underlined the US command's knowledge of the link between the heroin trade and trafficking in arms between southeastern Iran and southern Afghanistan. The main entry point for opium and heroin smuggling between Afghanistan and Iran runs through the Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan to the capital of Zahedan. The two convoys of arms which were intercepted by NATO forces last spring had evidently come through that Iranian province. According to a report by Robert Tait of the Guardian Feb. 17, Sistan-Baluchistan province has also been the setting for frequent violent incidents involving militant Sunni groups and drug traffickers. Tait reported that more than 3,000 Iranian security personnel had been killed in armed clashes with drug traffickers since the 1979 Islamic revolution. McNeill further appeared to suggest in the interview with US News that not all the arms coming from the Iranian side of the border were necessarily Iranian-made. Munitions in one convoy, he said, were without a whole lot of doubt in my mind Iranian made, implying that the origins of the arms was not clear in other cases. McNeill's rejection of Burns' accusation reflected the views of Afghanistan's Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, who told Associated Press on Jun. 14 that it was difficult to link the arms traffic to the Iranian government. Wardak said the arms might be from al-Qaeda, from the drug mafia or from other sources. The clash between key civilian officials and the command in Afghanistan over the explanation for the arms entering Afghanistan from Iran followed a series of news stories in late May and early June quoting an anonymous administration official as claiming proof of a change in Iranian policy to one of military support for the Taliban. These anonymous statements of certainty about such a policy shift, for which no intelligence has ever been claimed, pointed to Cheney's office as the orchestrater of the campaign. Given the very small scale of the arms in question, Cheney's interest in the issue appears to have much less to do with Afghanistan than his aim of ensuring that President Bush goes along with the neoconservative desire to attack Iran before the end of his term. The US military command in Afghanistan, on the other hand, sees the external threat in Afghanistan coming from Pakistan rather than from Iran. US commanders there are very concerned about the increase in Taliban attacks launched from Pakistan's North Waziristan and South Waziristan following Pakistani Prime Minister Pervez Musharraf's truce
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran Arming BOTH Sides of Iraqi Civil War That U.S. Must Win, Says General
-Caveat Lector- Begin forwarded message: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: April 11, 2007 10:28:28 PM PDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Iran Arming BOTH Sides of Iraqi Civil War That U.S. Must Win, Says General Iran Giving Arms To Iraq's Sunnis, U.S. Military Says Such Aid Would Mark Shift by Tehran By Sudarsan Raghavan Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, April 12, 2007; A22 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/11/ AR2007041102121.html BAGHDAD, April 11 -- The chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq asserted Wednesday that Iranian-made arms, manufactured as recently as last year, have reached Sunni insurgents here, which if true would mark a new development in the four-year-old conflict. Citing testimony from detainees in U.S. custody, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell said Iranian intelligence operatives were backing the Sunni militants inside Iraq while at the same time training Shiite extremists in Iran. We have, in fact, found some cases recently where Iranian intelligence services have provided to some Sunni insurgent groups some support, Caldwell told reporters, adding that he was aware of only Shiite extremists being trained inside Iran. Caldwell cited a collection of munitions on a nearby table that he said were made in Iran and found two days ago in a majority-Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad. Khalil Sadati, media adviser for the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, denied his government was backing militant groups inside Iraq. There's no such thing. Sadati said. Why don't you ask the Americans why they continue to make accusations without any evidence? For months, U.S. officials have alleged that Iranian entities have provided Shiite militias with weapons, including potent roadside bombs the military calls EFPs, or explosively formed penetrators, that have killed dozens of U.S. soldiers. Wednesday marked the first time that U.S. officials have asserted that Sunni insurgents were also receiving arms from Iran. It was unclear what motivation Iran, a Shiite theocracy, would have for backing Sunni insurgents, many of whom are staunchly anti- Iranian and fear the rise of Shiite power in the region. Critics have dismissed the U.S. assertions, saying that evidence provided so far gives no solid proof that Iran has supplied weapons to Iraqi militants. Wednesday's allegations arrive at a particularly tense period for U.S-Iranian relations. The U.S. military has in custody five Iranian nationals -- Iran calls them diplomats -- who U.S. officials say entered Iraq to foment violence against U.S. soldiers and Iraqis. And an Iranian diplomat who was released from captivity inside Iraq last week asserts that he was tortured by the Central Intelligence Agency. He was abducted by unknown gunmen Feb. 4 on a downtown Baghdad street. The CIA had no role in this individual's release or capture. And allegations that he was tortured by the agency are ludicrous, spokesman Mark Mansfield said Wednesday from CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. Caldwell also painted a mixed picture of the violence in Iraq eight weeks into a security plan intended to quell turmoil in the capital. From January to March, civilian deaths dropped 26 percent in Baghdad, he said. But violence surged in many areas outside the capital, resulting in a rise in civilian deaths across Iraq over the same period. Most of the victims were killed by car bombs or suicide bombers, he said. From February, when the security plan was launched, to March, the total number of deaths -- civilians, Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops -- rose by 10 percent, he said. What does this mean? It means that we still have a lot of work to do, Caldwell said. The goal of these murderers is to ignite a cycle of violence. They want to murder people of one sect to try to provoke revenge killings, so that this country will be divided and weak, he added. Also Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross called for urgent action to better protect Iraqi civilians from the violence. The call came as the group released a report on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Iraq. Regarding the weapons attributed to Iran, Caldwell said an Iraqi man turned up two days ago at a security outpost in the predominantly Sunni al-Jihad neighborhood and tipped off soldiers to the munitions. He directed the soldiers to a house, where they spotted a black Mercedes sedan, Caldwell said. The arms, including mortars and rockets, were inside the car and its trunk, as well as buried on the property. The house was empty, he said. Several mortar rounds on display at the news conference had markings that read 2006, suggesting they had been manufactured -- and arrived in Iraq -- after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The markings on all the munitions were in English. Maj.
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran to Try British Sailors for Espionage
-Caveat Lector- Begin forwarded message: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: March 25, 2007 9:06:59 PM PDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Iran to Try British Sailors for Espionage Iran ‘to try Britons for espionage’ Uzi Mahnaimi, Michael Smith and David Cracknell Times Online (UK), March 25, 2007 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/ article1563877.ece Fifteen British sailors and marines arrested by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards off the coast of Iraq may be charged with spying. A website run by associates of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, reported last night that the Britons would be put before a court and indicted. Referring to them as “insurgents”, the site concluded: “If it is proven that they deliberately entered Iranian territory, they will be charged with espionage. If that is proven, they can expect a very serious penalty since according to Iranian law, espionage is one of the most serious offences.” The warning followed claims by Iranian officials that the British navy personnel had been taken to Tehran, the capital, to explain their “aggressive action” in entering Iranian waters. British officials insist the servicemen were in Iraqi waters when they were held. The penalty for espionage in Iran is death. However, similar accusations of spying were made when eight British servicemen were detained in the same area in 2004. They were paraded blindfolded on television but did not appear in court and were freed after three nights in detention. Iranian student groups called yesterday for the 15 detainees to be held until US forces released five Revolutionary Guards captured in Iraq earlier this year. Al-Sharq al-Awsat, a Saudi-owned newspaper based in London, quoted an Iranian military source as saying that the aim was to trade the Royal Marines and sailors for these Guards. The claim was backed by other sources in Tehran. “As soon as the corps’s five members are released, the Britons can go home,” said one source close to the Guards. He said the tactic had been approved by Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, who warned last week that Tehran would take “illegal actions” if necessary to maintain its right to develop a nuclear programme. Iran denounced a tightening of sanctions which the United Nations security council was expected to agree last night in protest at Tehran’s insistence on enriching uranium that could be used for nuclear weapons. Lord Triesman, the Foreign Office minister, met the Iranian ambassador in London yesterday to demand that consular staff be allowed access to the Britons, one of whom is a woman. His intervention came as a senior Iranian general alleged that the Britons had confessed under interrogation to “aggression into Iran’s waters”. Intelligence sources said any advance order for the arrests was likely to have come from Major-General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards. Subhi Sadek, the Guards’ weekly newspaper, warned last weekend that the force had “the ability to capture a bunch of blue-eyed blond- haired officers and feed them to our fighting cocks”. Safavi is known to be furious about the recent defections to the West of three senior Guards officers, including a general, and the effect of UN sanctions on his own finances. A senior Iraqi officer appeared to back Tehran’s claim that the British had entered Iranian waters. “We were informed by Iraqi fishermen after they had returned from sea that there were British gunboats in an area that is out of Iraqi control,” said Brigadier- General Hakim Jassim, who is in charge of Iraq’s territorial waters. “We don’t know why they were there.” Admiral Sir Alan West, the former head of the Royal Navy, dismissed suggestions that the British boats might have been in Iranian waters. West, who was first sea lord when the previous arrests took place in June 2004, said satellite tracking systems had shown then that the Iranians were lying and the same was certain to be true now. 15 Britons Taken to Tehran As Iran Dispute Intensifies Recordings made by the seized British vessels attest to the fact that the sailors were fully aware they were trespassing on Iranian waters. By Kevin Sullivan Washington Post, March 25, 2007; A12 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/24/ AR2007032400095.html LONDON, March 24 -- Fifteen British sailors and marines seized by Iranian naval forces have been taken to Tehran for questioning as a diplomatic dispute between Iran and the West intensified Saturday. The Iranian Fars news agency reported that the British personnel were being asked to explain what Iran calls their aggressive trespass into Iranian territorial waters on Friday. The agency quoted a senior Iranian military official, Alireza
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran -- The Whole World Is Watching America Except Americans
-Caveat Lector- Begin forwarded message: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: January 28, 2007 11:43:58 PM PST To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Iran -- The Whole World Is Watching America Except Americans Preventive war is like committing suicide because you're afraid to die. – Otto von Bismarck, German Chancellor Bush Is About to Attack Iran. Why Can't Americans See it? by Paul Craig Roberts Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration. He has been an Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal and a Contributing Editor of the National Review. http://www.antiwar.com/roberts/?articleid=10411 The American public and the US Congress are getting their backs up about the Bush Regime's determination to escalate the war in Iraq. A massive protest demonstration is occurring in Washington DC today, and Congress is expressing its disagreement with Bush's decision to intensify the war in Iraq. This is all to the good. However, it misses the real issue – the Bush Regime's looming attack on Iran. Rather than winding down one war, Bush is starting another. The entire world knows this and is discussing Bush's planned attack on Iran in many forums. It is only Americans who haven't caught on. A few senators have said that Bush must not attack Iran without the approval of Congress, and postings on the Internet demonstrate world wide awareness that Iran is in the Bush Regime's cross hairs. But Congress and the Media – and the demonstration in Washington – are focused on Iraq. What can be done to bring American awareness up to the standard of the rest of the world? In Davos, Switzerland, the meeting of the World Economic Forum, a conference where economic globalism issues are discussed, opened January 24 with a discussion of Bush's planned attack on Iran. The Secretary General of the League of Arab States and bankers and businessmen from such US allies as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates all warned of the coming attack and its catastrophic consequences for the Middle East and the world. Writing for Global Research, General Leonid Ivashov, vice president of the Academy on Geopolitical Affairs and former Joint Chief of Staff of the Russian Armies, forecasts an American nuclear attack on Iran by the end of April. General Ivashov presented the neoconservative reasoning that is the basis for the attack and concluded that the world's protests cannot stop the US attack on Iran. There will be shock and indignation, General Ivashov concludes, but the US will get away with it. He writes: Within weeks from now, we will see the informational warfare machine start working. The public opinion is already under pressure. There will be a growing anti-Iranian militaristic hysteria, new information leaks, disinformation, etc The probability of a US aggression against Iran is extremely high. It does remain unclear, though, whether the US Congress is going to authorize the war. It may take a provocation to eliminate this obstacle (an attack on Israel or the US targets including military bases). The scale of the provocation may be comparable to the 9/11 attack in NY. Then the Congress will certainly say 'Yes' to the US president. The Bush Regime has made it clear that it is convinced that Bush already has the authority to attack Iran. The Regime argues that the authority is part of Bush's commander-in-chief powers. Congress has authorized the war in Iraq, and Bush's recent public statements have shifted the responsibility for the Iraqi insurgency from al- Qaeda to Iran. Iran, Bush has declared, is killing US troops in Iraq. Thus, Iran is covered under the authorization for the war in Iraq. Both Bush and Cheney have made it clear in public statements that they will ignore any congressional opposition to their war plans. For example, CBS News reported (Jan. 25) that Cheney said that a congressional resolution against escalating the war in Iraq won't stop us. According to the Associated Press, Bush dismissed congressional disapproval with his statement, I'm the decision- maker. Everything is in place for an attack on Iran. Two aircraft carrier attack forces are deployed to the Persian Gulf, US attack aircraft have been moved to Turkey and other countries on Iran's borders, Patriot anti-missile defense systems are being moved to the Middle East to protect oil facilities and US bases from retaliation from Iranian missiles, and growing reams of disinformation alleging Iran's responsibility for the insurgency in Iraq are being fed to the gullible US media. Russian General Ivashof and everyone in the Middle East and at the Davos globalization conference in Europe understands the Bush Regime's agenda. Why can't Americans understand? Why hasn't Congress told Bush and Cheney that they will
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran undeterred by 'psychological war'
-Caveat Lector- Begin forwarded message: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: January 25, 2007 8:38:13 PM PST To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Iran undeterred by 'psychological war' http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/070120/2007012021.html Iran undeterred by psychological war: officials Iran-USA, Politics, 1/20/2007 Iran's Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani yesterday played down what was described as the psychological warfare aimed at deterring Iran from its principle stand on gaining peaceful nuclear energy. They never have such a power. Any plan to invade Iran and its nuclear facilities are rumors and mere psycho war, he said in Qom after meeting senior religious scholars and dignitaries. Our armed forces are ready to counter any potential threat of adversaries, Larijani told reporters. Saying that the European states will not win in the coalition to pressure Iran, Larijani maintained, We plan to pass through the transitional stage with prudence and patience. Referring to Iran's voluntary suspension of its enrichment activities, he added that European countries had failed to keep their promises at the time. They are concerned of their mistakes committed in dealing with Iran's nuclear project. Larijani also lashed out at US policy in Middle East saying that results of the mid term election proved it had backfired. They want to settle the problems through use of force. They talk of democracy but have other intentions in their mind. Iran's Prosecutor General Ghorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi said yesterday the US President George W. Bush should take to grave his wish for Iran's abandoning of its peaceful nuclear program. Hojjatoleslam Najafabadi made the comment as Friday Prayer leader of Shahr-e-Ray, adding, The Iranian nation considers access to nuclear energy as its absolute right and would spare no effort in its campaign to achieve that goal. Considering the United States and Israel as Iran's arch enemies, he said, If the United States keeps on hatching plots aimed at halting Iran's nuclear activities, the Iranian nation, too, resorting to national solidarity, is ready for dismantling global oppression's plots. Meantime, A New York Times report yesterday said Gates played down the possibility of American military action against Iran but said it was not the right time for diplomatic engagement, either, with the report acknowledging that his comments show the US has limited options to compel its leaders to halt their nuclear program. Iranian Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said on Thursday that despite all pressures and threats, Iran's material and spiritual progress will continue. Speaking at a gathering of people in the provincial city of Qaen, the speaker said that Iran has been under sanction since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution. Meanwhile, various threats were hatched against our ruling system and even our assets were frozen. However, the honorable Iranian nation continued resistance against the enemies, he added. Underlining that Iran will continue making progress in all fields, he said that in the domain of science and technology the attempts of Iranian youth has resulted in considerable advancement in recent years. Though we have developed such technology ourselves, the enemies continue threatening us with sanction, he added. President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad had said on Thursday that no resolution or threat would work against the Iranian nation's strong will. We have today passed bottlenecks; and no resolution or threat would have a mere impact on the will of Iranian nation to conquer peaks of progress and honor; and God willing we will celebrate our nuclear victory in February, said President Ahmadi-Nejad in an address to a group of journalists. Ahmadi-Nejad said Iran has been able to master peaceful nuclear energy at the cheapest cost and the least pressure thanks to the endeavors of its experts. The superpowers are objecting and hostile to Iranian nation due to the same reason and want to divide the citizens; there are some who downgrade the great victory of the Iranian nation and advise compromise with the enemies but these gestures are not effective at all. He stressed that Iran will continue to resist the enemy wishes and hostilities. * www.ctrl.org DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substanceânot soap-boxingâplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'âwith its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsâis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran shoots down U.S. spy drone amid growing U.S. military pressure
-Caveat Lector- Begin forwarded message: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: January 17, 2007 1:12:40 PM PST To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Iran shoots down U.S. spy drone amid growing U.S. military pressure http://english.people.com.cn/200701/17/eng20070117_341962.html IRAN SHOOTS DOWN U.S. SPY DRONE AMID GROWING U.S. MILITARY PRESSURE Iranian troops have shot down a U.S. pilotless spy plane recently, an Iranian lawmaker announced on Tuesday as the Islamic Republic was facing increasing military pressure from its arch rival --the United States. The aircraft was brought down when it was trying to cross the borders during the last few days, Seyed Nezam Mola Hoveizeh, a member of the parliament, was quoted by the local Fars News Agency as saying. The lawmaker gave no exact date of the shooting-down or any other details about the incident, but he said that the United States sent such spy drones to the region every now and then. SECOND U.S. AIRCRAFT CARRIER The announcement came amid reports that the United States is increasingly flexing its muscles to counter Iran's growing regional assertiveness and put more pressure on Tehran over its controversial nuclear programs. It was reported Tuesday that a second U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, will arrive in the Middle East in about one month, the first time since the U.S.-led Iraq war in 2003 that the United States will have two carrier battle groups in the region. The USS John C. Stennis, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered carrier that has a capacity for 5,000 sailors, is scheduled to sail Tuesday from its home port of Bremerton, Washington, said Commander Kevin Aandahl of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain. In about one month, the USS John C. Stennis, including an air wing of more than 80 tactical aircraft, will join Fifth Fleet forces that includes aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. This demonstrates our resolve to do what we can to bring security and stability to the region ... (and) dissuade others from acting counter to our national interest, Aandahl said. U.S. President George W. Bush announced earlier this month that the United States was taking other steps to beef up security of Iraq and protect U.S. interests in the Middle East, such as sending an additional aircraft carrier to the Gulf and deploying Patriot air defense systems to the region. HARSH REMARKS AGAINST IRAN The latest move comes just one day after new U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates made harsh remarks against Iran, indicating that Iran's perception of U.S. vulnerability in the region was part of the reason the Pentagon sent the aircraft carrier and the Patriot missiles. The Iranians are acting in a very negative way in many respects, Gates told reporters on Monday after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in Brussels. The Iranians clearly believe that we are tied down in Iraq, that they have the initiative, that they are in a position to press us in many ways, Gates said. Gates also said that the deployment of Patriot air defense systems and the second aircraft carrier in the Gulf region indicated the Bush administration's reaffirmation of the importance of the region, adding that stability in the region is in long-term, strategic, vital interests of the United States. The United States accuses Iran of using its influence to meddle in the region, especially in Lebanon and Shiite-majority Iraq, besides seeking a nuclear weapon, which has been rejected by Iran. In an interview with Fox News earlier the month, Vice President Dick Cheney said that Iran was fishing in troubled waters in Iraq, adding we think it's very important that they keep their folks at home. Meanwhile, U.S. forces are still holding five Iranians arrested in northern Iraq last week, who the United States says have been connected to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard faction that arms insurgents but Tehran says are merely consular staff. In a show of defiance, an Iranian government spokesman said on Monday that the country was pushing ahead with its plan to install at least 3,000 centrifuges for nuclear fuel production. WAR ON IRAN BEFORE APRIL? The Kuwait-based Arab Times reported on Sunday that the United States might launch a military strike against Iran before April 2007. The report, written by the daily's editor-in-chief Ahmed al- Jarallah citing a reliable source, said that the attack would be launched from the sea, while Patriot missiles would guard all Arab countries in the Gulf. The unidentified source claimed that Bush had recently held a meeting with Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other aides in the White House, where they discussed the plan to attack Iran in minute detail. He indicated that participants of the meeting
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran -- Counterpoint
-Caveat Lector- www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substanceânot soap-boxingâplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'âwith its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsâis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/ A HREF=""ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om ---BeginMessage--- -Caveat Lector- Diplomacy,” the smokescreen for savagery By Ghali HassanOnline Journal,Apr 27, 2006 http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_742.shtml Open any Western newspaper and you are struck by the abundant use of the word “diplomacy." It is the second most used word after “democracy." However, careful analysis shows that U.S. version of diplomacy has become the favourite smokescreen of U.S. wars of aggression. Iraq and Iran provide the best cases. In relation to Iran, the Bush administration alleged that it is using “diplomacy” to convince Iran to give up her rights to nuclear technology. President Bush frequently says that “we are working with European allies” to use diplomacy to avert a nuclear impasse with Iran. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that a “diplomatic solution” will be found to the Iranian nuclear crisis. The reality is the opposite. By accusing Iran of intending to manufacture nuclear weapons, the U.S. and its European vassals are using the so-called “diplomacy” to coerce as many nations as possible to report Iran to the UN Security Council and pave the way for sanctions and most likely war of aggression against Iran. The U.S. version of diplomacy is accompanied by a vicious propaganda campaign to demonise and portray the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, in a very unfavourable way. Western mainstream media, led by the New York Times, the BBC and the Washington-based neo-fascist organisation, Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), have fabricated allegations against President Ahmedinejad. They alleged that President Ahmedinejad denied the Jewish holocaust took place and threatened to “wipe Israel off the map." Of course, it was a fabricated lie -- President Ahmedinejad did not say anything like this. In fact, none of President Ahmedinejad’ speeches (in Farsi) contain anything close to what has been magnified. However, without any proof, Western leaders, led by Bush and Blair, Western journalists and the intellectual elites were quick to take advantage of the lie and unashamedly use it to justify their attacks on the Iranian president. The cliché of “anti-Semitism” provided the perfect bullying tool not only for Israeli Zionists but also for those who follow in their footsteps. (See Fikentscher Neumann). President Ahmedinejad is now threatened with assassination by Israeli-sponsored state terrorists. The threat against a democratically elected head of state passed without condemnation in Western capitals. Butif, say,Communist Chinalabeled President Busha threat to world peace andcalled for hisassassination, THAT would be a cause for outrage. President Ahmedinejad was democratically elected and, contrary to Bush and Blair's allegations, Ahmedinejad is not a Western-imposed “tyrant” or a “dictator." By comparison with the U.S. election in which Bush was appointed president by the Supreme Court, the Iranian election wasmore legitimate than that inthe U.S. In addition, Iran had a democracy from 1951-1953 before the U.S.-staged a coup d’etat against Prime Minister Mossadeq and imposed the vicious dictatorship of the Shah on Iran. The U.S. version of “democracy” is a colonial dictatorship masked with fraudulent elections. For its part, Iran tried very hard to discuss all issues diplomatically, however the U.S. and its vassals continue with the language of bullying. While accusing Iran of aspiring to produce nuclear weapons, the U.S. turns a blind eye to Israel’s violence against the Palestinian people, Israeli threats in the region and to Israeli’s huge arsenal of nuclear weapons. Other countries such as Brazil and Japan, all have advanced nuclear programs ready to produce nuclear weapons within short notice. It seems, the U.S. has become obsessed with Muslims' independent development, and prefers to keep
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran
-Caveat Lector- www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substanceânot soap-boxingâplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'âwith its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsâis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/ A HREF=""ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om ---BeginMessage--- -Caveat Lector- April 09, 2006 http://talkleft.com/new_archives/014509.html Seymour Hersh on CNN: Bush is "Messianic"about Iran Seymour Hersh, whose new article on Bush formulating a plan to attack Iran I wrote about yesterday, was on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer this morning. Crooks and Liars has the video. Check out these transcript highlights (received by e-mail from the show): Why Hersh believes Bush feels compelled to attack Iran HERSH: The word I hear is messianic. He thinks, as I wrote, that he's the only one now who will have the courage to do it. He's politically free. I don't think he's overwhelmingly concerned about the '06 elections, congressional elections. I think he really thinks he has a chance, and this is going to be his mission. Is the U.S. capable of attacking Iran now? BLITZER: Well, what do you think? Given the enormous military headaches the United States now has in Iraq, does the U.S. military have the wherewithal to launch another preemptive strike, this time against Iran? HERSH: Oh, sure. We have plenty of air power. We can do it. We have great precision bombings. There's been a lot of planning going on. It's more than planning, it's operational planning. It's beyond contingency planning. There's serious, specific plans. Nobody's made a decision yet. There hasn't been a warning order or an execute order. But the planning's gotten much more intense and much more focused. Some members of Bush's Administration may resign over Iran plans: BLITZER: And you're saying that some senior military officers are prepared to resign? HERSH: I'm saying that, if this isn't walked back and if the president isn't told that you cannot do it -- and once the chairman of the joint chiefs or some senior members of the military say to the president, let's get this nuclear option off the table, it will be taken off. He will not defy the military in a formal report. Unless something specific is told to the White House that you've got to drop this dream of a nuclear option -- and that's exactly the issue I'm talking about -- people have said to me that they would resign. When pressed for names, Hersh refused: HERSH: You know why? Because this is a punitive government right now. This is a government that pretty much has its back against the wall, as you've been saying all morning, in Iraq. And in the military -- you know, one thing about our military is they're very loyal to the president, but they're getting to the edge. They're getting to the edge with not only Rumsfeld but also with Cheney and the president. What we should be doing instead: HERSH: The critical point, it seems to me, is that we're not talking. This president is not talking to the Iranians. They are trying very hard to make contact, I can assure you of that, in many different forms. And there's no public pressure on the White House to start bilateral talks. And that's what amazes everybody. When I was in Vienna, seeing officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the one thing they all said is everybody knows Iran is trying to do something. They're cheating. They're not near. There's plenty of time. And instead of talking about bombing, let's talk about talking. Update: Here's a briefing paper on the consequences of war in Iraq .http://www.iranbodycount.org/ The conclusion: A US military attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure would be the start of a protracted military confrontation that would probably involve Iraq, Israel and Lebanon as well as the United States and Iran, with the possibility of west Gulf states being involved as well. An attack by Israel, although initially on a smaller scale, would almost certainly escalate to involve the United States, and would also mark the start of a protracted conflict. Although an attack by either state could
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran and OIL
-Caveat Lector- www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substanceânot soap-boxingâplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'âwith its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsâis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/ A HREF=""ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om ---BeginMessage--- -Caveat Lector- "No doubt the major U.S. energy companies would love to be working with Iran today in developing its vast oil and gas supplies. "At present, however, they are prohibited from doing so by Executive Order (EO) 12959, signed by President Clinton in 1995 and renewed by President Bush in March 2004. The United States has also threatened to punish foreign firms that do business in Iran (under the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act of 1996). "India is also keen to obtain oil and gas from Iran. In January, the Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) signed a 30-year deal with the National Iranian Gas Export Corp. for the transfer of as much as 7.5 million tons of LNG to India per year. The deal, worth an estimated $50 billion, will also entail Indian involvement in the development of Iranian gas fields. Even more noteworthy, Indian and Pakistani officials are discussing the construction of a $3 billion natural gas pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan-- an extraordinary step for two long-term adversaries. If completed, the pipeline would provide both countries with a substantial supply of gas and allow Pakistan to reap $200-$500 million per year in transit fees. "Despite the pipeline's obvious attractiveness as an incentive for reconciliation between India and Pakistan -- nuclear powers that have fought three wars over Kashmir since 1947 and remain deadlocked over the future status of that troubled territory -- the project was condemned by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a recent trip to India. "We have communicated to the Indian government our concerns about the gas pipeline cooperation between Iran and India," she said on March 16 after meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh in New Delhi. The administration has, in fact, proved unwilling to back any project that offers an economic benefit to Iran. This has not, however, deterred India from proceeding with the pipeline. "When considering Iran's role in the global energy equation, therefore, Bush administration officials have two key strategic aims: a desire to open up Iranian oil and gas fields to exploitation by American firms, and concern over Iran's growing ties to America's competitors in the global energy market. "Under U.S. law, the first of these aims can only be achieved after the President lifts EO 12959, and this is not likely to occur as long as Iran is controlled by anti-American mullahs and refuses to abandon its uranium enrichment activities with potential bomb-making applications. Likewise, the ban on U.S. involvement in Iranian energy production and export gives Tehran no choice but to pursue ties with other consuming nations. "From the Bush administration's point of view, there is only one obvious and immediate way to alter this unappetizing landscape -- by inducing "regime change" in Iran,replacing the existing leadership with one far friendlier to U.S. strategic interests." -- Bush U-turn on Iranian pipeline President George W Bush has indicated the US has dropped its staunch opposition to a proposed gas pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan. BBC, March 4, 2006 Mr Bush said on his visit to Pakistan he understood the need for natural gas in the region and that the US argument with Iran was over nuclear weapons. The $6bn project for the 2,600km (1,625 mile) pipeline will bring Iran revenue, Pakistan transit fees and India energy. The nations hope to start construction in 2007, with key talks due this month. The US had previously stated it was "absolutely opposed" to the gas pipeline, even indicating Pakistan and India could face sanctions if the project got under way. But in Islamabad, Mr Bush said: "Our beef with Iran is not the pipeline, our beef with Iran is... they want to develop a nuclear weapon and I believe a nuclear
[CTRL] (Fwd) IRAN TESTS TAEPO DONG MISSILE
-Caveat Lector- --- Forwarded message follows --- Iran has tested North Korea's Taepo Dong missile engine and plans to soon launch the missile in its first test flight. -- Middle East Newsline [ http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2003/january/01_28_1.html ] IRAN TESTS TAEPO DONG MISSILE ENGINE TEL AVIV [MENL] -- Iran has tested North Korea's Taepo Dong missile engine and plans to soon launch the missile in its first test flight. U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies are said to have concluded that the missile engine test took place last year. They assessed that Iran obtained the Taepo Dong engine around 2000. Ephraim Kam, deputy director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, said Israeli and U.S. intelligence agencies have determined that Iran has been testing the Taepo Dong engine as part of development of the Shihab-4 intermediate-range missile program. Iran has obtained from North Korea the missile engine for the Taepo Dong-1, Kam told a recent news conference in presenting the center's Middle East military balance. Iran has tested the engine and Israel and U.S. intelligence expect the first launch of the Shihab-4. NOTE: The above is not the full item. This service contains only a small portion of the information produced daily by Middle East Newsline. For a subscription to the full service, please contact Middle East Newsline at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] for further details. Last Updated: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 19:39:44 GMT --- End of forwarded message --- -- Outgoing mail is certified virus free Scanned by Norton AntiVirus A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran-Contra Connections to the Oklahoma City Bombing
There is a concerted attempt by Vincent Cannistraro and other CIA propagandists to pin ultimate responsibility for the Alfred P. Murrah FB bombing on Osama Bin Laden's mystery terorists. Cannistraro himself originally blamed the destruction on environmentalists out to destroy all human life on earth. He now claims (see the June 11, 2001 issue of The New American, published by the ultra-right Birch Society) that he had intelligence information BEFORE the blast concerning Middle Eastern terrorists. If this claim has any substance, and if he knew what he now says he knew, WHY did he tell reporters before McVeigh was captured that GREENS were behind the bombing? In The Boston Globe, on May 16, 1995, another Iran-contra connection, anti-terrorism expert (read: mil. psyop specialist with long-standing ties to Israeli intelligence and the fascist Popular Alliance Party of Spain, not to mention the CIA) Neil Livingstone, also diverted attention from the Octopus: There is a remarkable similarity between the methods used by Islamic terrorists in the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, the attack on the World Trade Center, and the bombing in Oklahoma. The truckload of explosives is almost a signature or calling card and it is the weapon of choice among these groups. Livingstone, the author of several books on terrorism, continued: Very typically, these terrorists have found homegrown radicals to use as dupes in the actual bombings. They have supplied the money and the technical expertise and highly skilled operatives to guide a project and then get out of town before they can be apprehended. I've long held that there was indeed a Middle Eastern connection - but like McVeigh and Nichols, the terrorists involved are linked to the Iran-contra players, particularly Gen. Schweitzer, John Singlaub and other ranking Pentagonians who remained in the background of the 1987-88 congressional investigation (which focused on Ollie North's civilain supply network almost exclusively and bent over backwards to skirt any discussion of the core DoD ties). Alex Constantine
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran-Contra Connections to the Oklahoma Bombing
Iran-Contra Connections to the Oklahoma Bombing [McVeigh's attorneys] said they believe the FBI still has information that others helped McVeigh They have even suggested that some government authorities might have known about the bombing plot in advance. - Los Angeles Times, 6-7-01 FOREWORD: Despite a certain lack of knowledge, the chortling sages of Fifth Estate punditry consider themselves informed enough to dismiss out of hand the possibility that the government had anything to do with the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. But David Hoffman, a reporter in San Francisco, begged to differ. He wrote a book, The Oklahoma Bombing and the Politics of Terror (Feral House), that found numerous connections to the Secret Team of Iran-contra fame. Unfortunately, the FBI's Oliver Buck Revell sued the publisher when he found a single fact in the book about himself that was unsubstantiated. The book was recalled as a result of Revell's lawsuit, and it is no longer available (although Amazon.Com still has a limited number of copies and scalps them for $100 a copy). Hoffman's investigation led him to conclude that elements of the Octopus, otherwise known as the Secret Team (not, apparently, so coincidentally associated with Buck Revell) were deeply involved in the most destructive act of terrorism on American soul. Another book, Virtual Government: CIA Mind Control Operations in America (Feral House, 1997), by myself, has a chapter on the devastation in Oklahoma City. That book is still on the shelves but no major publication has ever reviewed it and its contents on the bombing have been completely ignored by the press at large. I also came to conclude that the Iran-contra crowd was directly responsible for the bombing and subsequent cover-up. The following test includes complementary segments of both books that deal with figures from Iran-contra. The original Hoffman chapter is featured here in full, and from Virtual Government I've included only the segments that deal with the Octopus. Alex Constantine 1: The Octopus This underground empire is controlled by a handful of people for money that's the only secret of the temple. Investigative reporter Danny Casolaro, prior to his murder by the Octopus The nomenclature of the Lockerbie and World Trade Center bombings provide a unique and unparalleled insight into the dynamics of the Oklahoma City bombing. Each event gives the reader a glimpse of how the Shadow Government operates, utilizing drug dealers, criminals, and terrorists to do its bidding. All three bombings were sting operations that utilized, and were utilized by, terrorists bent on causing destruction. But the question still remained: who was controlling the terrorists? To understand that, one must peer through the doorway of time stretching from WWII to the present. To prepare for the invasion of Sicily during WWII, the OSS (which later became the CIA) collaborated with the Corsican Mafia. The arrangement permitted the Mafia use the port of Marseilles for heroin smuggling in exchange for its assistance in defeating the Nazis.[1117] After WWII, the heroin operation moved to Vietnam and Laos, then to Afghanistan and Pakistan, as the CIA embroiled itself in a covert war against the Soviets. Assistant Secretary of Defense for National Security Affairs Richard Armitage sat on the 208 Committee, which oversaw military aid to the Mujahadeen. Fazoe Haq, the governor of the Northwest Frontier Province (the largest heroin growing province in Afghanistan), who was originally worth $100,000, was suddenly was worth $200 million after the war. Armitage was his main contact.[1118] Vince Cannistraro (Mr. Libya done it) also sat on the 208 Committee, representing National Security Advisor Robert Bud McFarlane, Oliver North's supervisor.[1119] Shortly after the start of the Afghani operation, the CIA began arming the Contras in Nicaragua. Cannistraro himself [along with Duane Dewy Clarridge, then Chief of the CIA's Latin American Division] headed Casey's original operation to arm the Contras, based on Reagan's March, 1981 decision. As former Green Beret Andrew Eiva said, Cannistraro was up to his ears by 1985. This is significant, considering the Boland Amendment, prohibiting aid to the Contras, was passed in 1984.[1120] Some of these are the same players who moved into other Central American countries, setting up security services (death squads) for U.S.-backed dictators, and profiting handsomely from the cocaine trade. If anyone thinks these are outrageous allegations, consider the statements of Mike Levine, one of the DEA's most highly decorated veterans: For decades, the CIA, the Pentagon, and secret organizations like Oliver North's Enterprise have been supporting and protecting the world's biggest drug dealers, including the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan, the Contras in Central America, the DFS in Mexico, the Shan United Army in the Golden Triangle of
Re: [CTRL] Fwd: Iran-Contra Connections to the Oklahoma Bombing
-Caveat Lector- Then again, maybe Janet Reno and Friends had the FBI blow it up because it had incriminating records stored there. Plus it surely made the militia movement look evil, a big objective at the time with the gun-grab in the works. ~Amelia~ A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/;ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran, Libya, Oil Companies Rooting for Bush
Find this difficult to believe - and we are told water costs more than oil? Well, I remember King Faisal before he was murdered, said Americans paid more for a pepsi than they did same amount of oil. Why not? Oil is old hat; big money boys are really getting out of in going into the solar age..someday that water in Holy Land if it is not already, will be worth more than the oil - cannot drink that black stuff. So anyway, if we have peace in the middle east now, what do we do when hey have war, as I sit herre using my new solar operated calculator, new solar powered battery recharger, new solar powered heater in house I see across the street - too bad I just bought a new a/c with gas furnace, and I see now all kinds of things, like toys being used and maintained by solar energy? Americans sick of being gouged to death by thir world countries where the thieves and Clinton and his henchmen have much in common. Smart Money is going into Solar Energy and New Energy...and I also like my batteries being recharged by solar energy New Amtraks go 150 mph now - and this is the re if they can find someone sober enough to drive the things without wrecking. Someday arab leaders will know the value of a good glass of artesian well water.cold, with ice cubesprefer that on a hot day to a drink of that horrible black stuff that causes cancer anway. And we have corn oil, soy oil, and all thdifferent oils and we have wheat..or at least we did have or did Kissinger corner market on that too Viva American Farmers and Solar Power to the People and we will have peace in Holy Land.so now they got to figure out, how to corner market on the sun? Trade water for oil?Hell No...I can always get a a horse Saba ___ __ / |/ / /___/ / /_ //M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S / /|_/ / /_/_ / /\\ Making Sense of the Middle East /_/ /_/ /___/ /_/ \\ http://www.MiddleEast.Org News, Information, Analysis That Governments, Interest Groups, and the Corporate Media Don't Want You To Know! * * * * * * * IF YOU DON'T GET MER, YOU JUST DON'T GET IT! To receive MER regularly email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OIL AND PETRODOLLARS MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 12/12: OIL is the big prize of the Middle East. Petro Dollars flow from it. The American economy floats on what remains an amazingly cheap and huge supply of it. After all, even now, oil that is pumped in the Middle East, shipped around the world, refined, heavily taxed, and trucked to gasoline stations, continues to cost Americans not much more than a gallon of bottled water! No wonder the Western countries prefer to pump Arab and third-world oil for their current needs rather than their own. The Arab people benefit little from their oil; wile the Arab oil families, the Gulf Arab "client regimes" literally bank on it. The lesson of the 70s was learned when shortly after King Feisal attempted an oil embargo he was assassinated. The regimes maintain themselves in power, and in the money, by using the huge wealth provided by the black gold to purchase everything in sight -- a steady supply of whores, both sexual and political; journalists; organizations; politicians; publications. In recent years since the Gulf War the Saudis have in fact been "convinced" to increase the role of Western oil companies, not to mention the American military and CIA, in the affairs of "the Kingdom". And to this mix that it is Western banks that soak up the recycled petro dollars, and Western arms merchants who cash in for their yearly multi-billions. The British recognized the great importance of the coming oil era way back in the days of Lawrence and Allenby. The Americans took control of the region after World War II because of it. Israel was at first a questionable addition to this mix, partly accounting for Secretary of State George Marshall's vehement opposition to U.S. support for its creation, which in fact came very close to bringing about his resignation. But today, thanks to the divisions and weaknesses of the Arab world, caused by the very oil regimes the West created and maintains, Israel is today America's closest partner in perpetuating these "client regimes" and maintaining the status quo. IRAN, LIBYA, OIL COMPANIES HOPE FOR GOP WIN By John K. Cooley A T H E N S, Greece, Dec. 11, ABC News Middle East oil producers Iran and Libya, still under U.S. sanctions, and American oil companies prevented from working there by those sanctions hope fervently for a Bush-Cheney victory in the tortuous U.S. presidential election process. Oil industry and government sources in the Middle
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran, Libya, Oil Companies Rooting for Bush
___ __ / |/ / /___/ / /_ //M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S / /|_/ / /_/_ / /\\ Making Sense of the Middle East /_/ /_/ /___/ /_/ \\ http://www.MiddleEast.Org News, Information, Analysis That Governments, Interest Groups, and the Corporate Media Don't Want You To Know! * * * * * * * IF YOU DON'T GET MER, YOU JUST DON'T GET IT! To receive MER regularly email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OIL AND PETRODOLLARS MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 12/12: OIL is the big prize of the Middle East. Petro Dollars flow from it. The American economy floats on what remains an amazingly cheap and huge supply of it. After all, even now, oil that is pumped in the Middle East, shipped around the world, refined, heavily taxed, and trucked to gasoline stations, continues to cost Americans not much more than a gallon of bottled water! No wonder the Western countries prefer to pump Arab and third-world oil for their current needs rather than their own. The Arab people benefit little from their oil; wile the Arab oil families, the Gulf Arab "client regimes" literally bank on it. The lesson of the 70s was learned when shortly after King Feisal attempted an oil embargo he was assassinated. The regimes maintain themselves in power, and in the money, by using the huge wealth provided by the black gold to purchase everything in sight -- a steady supply of whores, both sexual and political; journalists; organizations; politicians; publications. In recent years since the Gulf War the Saudis have in fact been "convinced" to increase the role of Western oil companies, not to mention the American military and CIA, in the affairs of "the Kingdom". And to this mix that it is Western banks that soak up the recycled petro dollars, and Western arms merchants who cash in for their yearly multi-billions. The British recognized the great importance of the coming oil era way back in the days of Lawrence and Allenby. The Americans took control of the region after World War II because of it. Israel was at first a questionable addition to this mix, partly accounting for Secretary of State George Marshall's vehement opposition to U.S. support for its creation, which in fact came very close to bringing about his resignation. But today, thanks to the divisions and weaknesses of the Arab world, caused by the very oil regimes the West created and maintains, Israel is today America's closest partner in perpetuating these "client regimes" and maintaining the status quo. IRAN, LIBYA, OIL COMPANIES HOPE FOR GOP WIN By John K. Cooley A T H E N S, Greece, Dec. 11, ABC News Middle East oil producers Iran and Libya, still under U.S. sanctions, and American oil companies prevented from working there by those sanctions hope fervently for a Bush-Cheney victory in the tortuous U.S. presidential election process. Oil industry and government sources in the Middle East believe that an administration headed by Republican George W. Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney, would be able to stabilize world oil prices, and also might end remaining oil sanctions against both Iran and Libya. If Bush wins, Muhammad-Javad Larajani, a former Iranian diplomat, told reporters in Tehran last week, it will be certain that oil companies will have more liberty to conclude contracts with Iran. It is preferable for us, and it is possible that oil sanctions against Iran will be lifted, said Larajani, who has conducted past negotiations with the United States and is close to Irans supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Resumption of Relations? Both Bush and Cheney have worked in the oil industry. Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton Oil Services and has a network of senior contacts in the Middle East. Earlier this year, he called on the Clinton administration to allow American oil companies to resume business in Iran by ending sanctions. Larajani said Bush and Cheney, if sworn in as president and vice president, could bring a small change in U.S. policies in the Middle East because the Democrats are much closer to the Zionist lobby than the Republicans. Larajani said Tehran could re-establish diplomatic relations with
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran/Iraq - oil prices
Stratfor.com's Global Intelligence Update - 8 June 2000 __ Know your world. http://www.stratfor.com _ More on Stratfor.com: Vodka and Centralization, Shaken Not Stirred The Kremlin has taken control of Russia's vodka industry both to chip away at regional leaders' power base and to supplement the national budget. The bold move, however, foreshadows even bolder moves - the Kremlin's future usurpation of other profitable industries. http://www.stratfor.com/CIS/commentary/0006080124.htm _ Why the Price of Oil Will Likely Remain High Summary Iraq will soon increase oil exports by 700,000 barrels per day, reopening the previously damaged Khor al-Omaia oil terminal. However, illegal Iraqi oil exports depend on Iranian cooperation to find their way to the open waters of the Persian Gulf. As a result, Tehran will soon use its newfound leverage to influence decisions on production and prices at the upcoming meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). If Tehran gets its way, the price of oil will hover at the comparatively high price of about $28 per barrel. Analysis Rafid al-Diboni, director general of Iraq's state-run Southern Oil Company, told the Al-Ilam newspaper June 7 that two of four loading quays at Khor al-Omaia oil terminal have been repaired and will resume operations "soon." Located just west of Iraq's main oil terminal at Mina al-Bakr, Khor al-Omaia was virtually destroyed in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war and damaged again in the 1991 Gulf War. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), repairs began in 1993. When the terminal is fixed, its capacity will near 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd). With two of four loading quays reportedly repaired, Khor al-Omaia should be able to boost exports by 600,000 to 700,000 barrels each day. With current Iraqi production around 2.6 million barrels, such an increase would put Iraq's output near 3.2 - 3.3 million bpd - close to pre-Gulf War levels. Iraq clearly timed its announcement in advance of the next OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria, in two weeks. There the cartel will decide whether to raise production and lower prices, now at about $28 per barrel. Baghdad probably made its announcement in the hope of swaying the cartel not to raise production quotas; the Iraqi regime is not subject to quotas because of U.N. sanctions dating back to the Gulf War, and Baghdad favors limiting production and propping up prices. Oil smuggling accounts for nearly all of the country's revenues beyond the ceiling set by the U.N. oil-for-food program. Would you like to see full text? http://www.stratfor.com/SERVICES/giu2000/060800.ASP ___ Iraq is effectively threatening to single-handedly affect the world price of oil. At the June 21 meeting, OPEC members will have to deal with the threat of increased Iraqi oil production. Whether Iraq's claim is true or false, it must be dealt with as a legitimate possibility. A 700,000 bpd increase by Iraq would equal half of the increase - 1.4 million bpd - that OPEC members agreed to in March. But Baghdad is not in control of its own oil shipments. Iraq's archrival, Iran, controls routes to the Persian Gulf. U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Charles Moore, coordinator of the U.S.-led Maritime Interdiction Force, has said that Iran facilitated Iraqi oil smuggling. Two months ago, Tehran suddenly ceased cooperation and began seizing tankers. But on June 1, the Iranian regime apparently resumed its tacit cooperation with smugglers, allowing them to traverse coastal waters. Iran has already demonstrated its willingness to use Iraqi smuggling to its own political benefit, in both relations with OPEC and with the United States. Iran opposed OPEC's March decision to increase production and stabilize prices. Tehran began seizing tankers shortly after the last OPEC meeting, where it withdrew from the cartel's agreement. The cartel's success has depended upon forging a strong political consensus among competing members. Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, along with non-member Mexico, spearheaded the production cuts of March 1999 that, in turn, led to the highest oil prices since the Gulf War. But since Iraq and Iran distanced themselves from the cartel's March decision, OPEC has begun to fracture. The cartel's ability to secure consensus has been severely damaged. ___ For more on the Middle East, see: http://www.stratfor.com/MEAF/default.htm __ Iran will come to Vienna ready to throw its weight around. Iraq wants to export as much oil as possible - that is a given. But Iran effectively controls the level of Iraqi exports. Therefore, the announcement of
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran
___ What's going on in your world? Find Out. Visit Stratfor's Global Intelligence Center http://www.stratfor.com/world/default.htm ___ OTHER FEATURES ON STRATFOR.COM Prince Sultan Raises eyebrows in Washington http://www.stratfor.com/cis/commentary/9907130030.htm Taiwan's State-To-State Comments May Stem From Potential Beijing Fractures http://www.stratfor.com/asia/specialreports/special25.htm Khmer Rouge Redux http://www.stratfor.com/asia/commentary/c9907122000.htm Failed FARC Offensive Could Spark Reversal of Peace Talks http://www.stratfor.com/world/Commentaries/w9907121915.htm Manila Attempts to Address Rebel Problem from the Edges http://www.stratfor.com/asia/commentary/c9907121815.htm __ STRATFOR.COM Global Intelligence Update July 13, 1999 Iranian Student Unrest Threatens to Get Out of Control SUMMARY Iran's students have taken to the streets to protest press restrictions imposed by the country's conservative religious leadership. However, while the demonstrations began as a reflection of the struggle between moderate President Mohammad Khatami and conservative Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, they have taken on a life of their own. As such, both leaders have moved to bring an end to the disruptions. Who brings the demonstrations under control and by what means will have as much impact on Iran's power struggle as the demonstrations themselves. If Khatami can rein in the students, he has a powerful bargaining chip. If he cannot, Khamenei can argue that his reforms have gone too far and threaten the stability of the regime. ANALYSIS Over 10,000 student demonstrators and an unknown number of riot police continued to clash in downtown Tehran on July 12 for the fifth straight day, in what many analysts are calling the worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The demonstrations began as small, peaceful student protests calling for press freedom after the closure of several liberal newspapers on July 8. They later transformed into widespread riots after riot police, sent in to breakup the demonstrations, injured dozens of students and arrested several dozen others. Pledges to allow press freedom and other liberal-minded reforms rallied the student vote behind moderate president Mohammad Khatami and helped to boost him to power in 1997. However, many of his moves since then to institute these reforms have been blocked by the powerful hardline conservative factions under the direction of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Not this time. In the past, the students have dispersed at the site of riot police or Revolutionary Guards, which are both controlled by Khamenei. However, this time the students did not flee. In fact, the student protests grew over the anger of police brutality in breaking up the demonstrations. Ordinary Iranians joined the ranks of the students, and the protests have spread to Tabriz -- where one student was killed by security forces over the weekend -- and to Yazd, Khorramabad, Hamadan and Sharud. In an attempt to rein in the protests, President Khatami appealed to the students to keep the demonstrations peaceful. However, on July 11, the Supreme National Security Council, headed by Khamenei, issued a statement against holding "illegal rallies" and stressed that the police were "trying to avoid clashes and restore calm." Meanwhile, policemen and Revolutionary Guards blocked off access to central Tehran's Val-e-Asr square and arrested at least 20 stone-throwing demonstrators and injured another dozen when policemen moved in to disperse the crowd. The next day, July 12, President Khatami again appealed for calm and warned students to be wary of "provocations" from opponents of reform. "There are those who want to create provocations and clashes," IRNA quoted Khatami as saying. Khatami appealed to students "not to fall into this dangerous trap," saying, "We must be the first to oppose tensions and violence." The students have not complied with Khatami's requests, and have reportedly included him as a target of their demonstrations. Shocked by the students' defiance, Khamenei has moderated his stance and condemned last week's use of force by the police against protestors as "unacceptable." However, his speech, broadcast over loudspeakers at Tehran University, was met with boos from the crowd. Khamenei stressed that those responsible would be dealt with even if they are "in the garb of law enforcement forces." Indeed the two police officers who were deemed responsible for calling in the initial July 8 raid on the students were arrested. The Supreme Leader's remarks, quoted by the official IRNA news agency, are his first public reaction to the pro-democracy protests, and follow allegations by the students that he was complicit in the police action. The student demonstrations began as part of the ongoing struggle between Iran's moderates and
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran/Saudi Arabia/Iraq
__ Stratfor's FREE Kosovo Crisis Center - http://www.stratfor.com/kosovo/crisis/ The most comprehensive coverage of the Kosovo Crisis anywhere on the Internet __ STRATFOR's Global Intelligence Update May 20, 1999 Plans Debated for Future of Iraq Summary: While the UN debates whether to extend Iraq's "oil for food" program or to replace it with some other plan, Iraq's neighbors are attempting to devise their own plan for containing Iraq without Western interference. The Arab League has called for the U.S. and Britain to stop bombing Iraq, but have not suggested an alternate containment strategy. However, the recent visit of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to Saudi Arabia may have laid the groundwork for an alternative plan. Analysis: The UN mandated "oil for food program," which allows Iraq to sell $5.2 billion worth of crude oil every six months to pay for humanitarian supplies, expires on May 24. The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet on May 21 to discuss extending the program an additional six months, as well as two alternative proposals that have been recently floated. Russia has put forward a plan, backed by China and France, that would suspend sanctions on Iraq for a period of 100 days. The suspension would only be extended if Iraq verifiably cooperated in disarmament efforts. The Russian plan also calls for unfreezing Iraq's overseas assets. A competing proposal put forward by Britain and the Netherlands would maintain the sanctions against Iraq, but would lift the ceiling on Iraqi oil exports and allow foreign companies to invest in Iraq's oil sector if Baghdad allowed UN weapons inspectors to return to Iraq. Russia has said that it will not support any new resolution that does not involve at least a partial lifting of sanctions against Iraq. The U.S., in turn, rejects any plan involving suspension or lifting of the sanctions. Interestingly, however, an anonymous U.S. official told the Associated Press that the U.S. did not rule out the British-Dutch proposal, depending on how it was implemented. While the U.S. reportedly rejects a major overhaul of Iraq's oil industry, U.S. officials are reportedly receptive to a plan in which foreign investment would help Iraq meet its "oil for food" sales quota. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright two weeks ago called on Security Council members to consider and develop an earlier draft of the plan. Iraq has reportedly rejected the British-Dutch plan as nothing more than an excuse to maintain sanctions on Iraq, while simultaneously reducing Iraq to "an entity under the trusteeship of the United Nations." Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Said al- Sahhaf sent a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on May 19, charging that the "oil for food" program had failed and that the humanitarian crisis in Iraq had worsened. Al-Sahhaf said that Iraq was unable to sell enough oil even to reach the UN mandated maximum, due to the deterioration of Iraq's oil infrastructure and low international crude oil prices. Moreover, al-Sahhaf and Iraq's Oil Ministry on May 19 charged that the United States and Britain had blocked 208 contracts Baghdad had signed for repairs of Iraq's oil infrastructure. Under the "oil for food" program, Iraq is allowed to import $300 million worth of spare parts and equipment to repair and maintain its oil infrastructure. Al-Sahhaf concluded that, in the face of U.S. and British hostile interference in the "oil for food" program, the only logical, legal, and moral solution would be for the UN to lift the embargo on Iraq. Al-Sahhaf was echoed by the official Iraqi newspaper Al-Iraq, which on May 19 wrote, "There is no point continuing with this game of oil for food, which amounts to a hemorrhage of Iraqi resources." The newspaper claimed that the program "only serves the imperialist interests of the criminals keeping in place the embargo." As the UN Security Council debates Iraqi sanctions and the possible renewal of the "oil for food" program, Iraq's neighbors may be stepping up efforts to take Iraqi containment into their own hands. On May 19, at the conclusion of a four day visit to Saudi Arabia by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami that marked a major milestone in the two countries' rapprochement, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal declared, "The results of the visit... will have a positive impact on the whole region, with the two countries able to play a key role in resolving conflicts in the region." During the visit, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi announced that he and his Saudi counterpart had "formulated a long-term mechanism for resolving problems in the Muslim world." According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, during a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud, Khatami noted it was "disturbing to imagine that the big regional states and their nations may have to depend on others
[CTRL] Fwd: Iran/Yugoslavia
__ Stratfor's FREE Kosovo Crisis Center - http://www.stratfor.com/kosovo/crisis/ The most comprehensive coverage of the Kosovo Crisis anywhere on the Internet __ STRATFOR's Global Intelligence Update April 9, 1999 Kosovo Crisis Presents Iran with Policy Dilemma Summary: Iran, particularly in its role as the current head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, has taken a great interest in the plight of the Moslem Kosovar Albanians. Tehran is torn, however, between its desire to stop and punish the Serbs and its opposition to U.S. military actions abroad. Analysis: Replying to accusations of Iranian complacency leveled in the Saudi-owned, Beirut-based newspaper Al-Sharq al-Owsat, the Iranian English-language daily Tehran Times on April 8 wrote that "If any Iranian official denounced the NATO strikes, he simply meant that the Western powers had violated the international norms and tarnished the prestige of the world body." The Tehran Times' attempted clarification of Iran's position on Operation Allied Force illustrates the dilemma the conflict in Kosovo has presented Tehran. Iran is caught between its vehement condemnation of Serbian aggression and its opposition to U.S. global power projection. And so, it has attempted to strike a balance that blames the UN Security Council for shirking its responsibility before the crisis erupted, thus making NATO air strikes necessary, while insisting that the strikes should have been launched under a UN mandate. Iran's stand on Belgrade's "ethnic cleansing" of Kosovo is unambiguous, and is shared by Tehran's moderates and conservatives alike. Speaking on April 7 at the conclusion of a foreign ministerial meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Contact Group in Geneva, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi warned the "extremist Serbs" that "the world of Islam cannot tolerate continuation of brutalities against Moslems in Kosovo... The world of Islam cannot witness atrocities against Moslems in Kosovo and not take any measures." The trouble is, Iran can't figure out what effective measures to take. Tehran has sent two plane-loads of humanitarian aid to Kosovar Albanian refugees and has upgraded an Iranian-run clinic in Tirana. It has held consultations independently and in its role as the current head of the OIC with the UN, Bosnia, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, the Vatican, Russia, NATO members, and other countries. It has even offered, with the OIC, to participate in any future internationally-led peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo. But beyond issuing condemnations and continuing to appeal for a peaceful and speedy negotiated settlement of the crisis, Iran has found itself somewhat impotent. Adding to Iran's policy predicament, a number of Arab and Moslem countries have come out in support of NATO's bombing campaign, and among those opposed to the bombing are Iran's perennial enemies Iran and, initially, Israel. Israeli Defense Minster Ariel Sharon has publicly warned against Kosovar Albanian independence, insisting it would create a greater Albanian "fundamentalist Islamic state" in the heart of Europe. Baghdad has claimed that the U.S. is "playing the Kosovo Moslem card" to neutralize Arab and Moslem opposition to NATO attacks on an independent sovereign country. "A country's internal problems should be settled within the country concerned, without any foreign interference," said an Iraqi statement. Both Iraq and Israel have reportedly had military contacts with the Yugoslav government before the current crisis as well. Iran's best hope for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis -- Russia -- has not panned out. Tehran has appealed several times to Moscow to "take advantage of its influence over Belgrade" to intervene on behalf of the Kosovar Albanians, but with no success. Either Russia's influence has not been particularly strong or, as is more likely the case, Russia does not want to pressure Belgrade to accept NATO's ultimatum. In an interview with the English-language Iran Daily printed April 7, Russian Ambassador to Tehran Konstantin Shuvalov went so far as to suggest that the perceived plight of the Kosovar Albanians was in significant part mere NATO propaganda. No matter how eager Iran is to cooperate with Russia rather than NATO, this is not the answer Tehran wanted to hear. And so we come back to NATO's bombing campaign -- not Iran's first choice and not really effective in stopping Serb aggression against Kosovar Albanians, but at least dishing out pain on the Serbs. The English language daily Kayhan International stated the case quite succinctly on April 6, arguing that U.S. attacks on Yugoslavia and Iraq "set a dangerous precedent in international affairs" and "rendered the world a lot more unsafe without ever inflicting heavy blows to the repressive reigns of the rulers in Baghdad and Belgrade." "However," the paper continued,
