Iran the Next Battlefield - Thread Renamed

[American Patriot]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/w...bsite-ban.html

1:58 a.m. September 24, 2007

TEHRAN – Iran's judiciary has sealed off the offices of a popular news Web site critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's policies after journalists continued to update it despite official filtering, the Web site said.

Rights groups and diplomats say there is a broad crackdown on dissenting voices in the Islamic state, which is under growing Western pressure over its disputed nuclear programme. The authorities deny such moves, saying they allow free speech.

[American Patriot]

France does not believe Iran nuclear claims: presidency
AFP ^ | September 27, 2007

France does not believe claims by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that his country's nuclear activities are peaceful, President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said Thursday.

"Ahmadinejad says that the programme is peaceful. Ultimately, we do not believe him. Everyone knows that the programme has military goals," spokesman David Martinon told a press conference.

[American Patriot]

Iran, Osama and 9/11

By Jamie Glazov
FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, September 28, 2007


Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Thomas Joscelyn, an expert on the international terrorist network. He has written extensively on al Qaeda and its allies, including Iran. He is the author, most recently, of Iran’s Proxy War Against America, a booklet published by the Claremont Institute and available for download at its web site. (Click here to download the booklet.)


FP: Thomas Joscelyn, welcome to Frontpage Interview.


Joscleyn: Good to be here Jamie.


FP: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Columbia has sparked great controversy. Yesterday, Ahmadinejad announced in front of the U.N. General Assembly that Iran will defy U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding that his regime suspend its uranium enrichment.
What should the American people know about Ahmadinejad and the regime he represents?


Joscelyn: Ahmadinejad is a puppet for the Ayatollah and his attending mullahs, who have the real power in Iran. This clerical regime, which rose to power in 1979, is intrinsically opposed to America and her allies throughout the world. When they chant “Death to America,” they mean it. The Iranian regime is also dedicated to revolution. That is, they want to export the Iranian revolution throughout the Middle East and the world. And they have often done so on the backs of terrorists.


Iran has provided vital assistance to terrorist organizations in at least all of the following nations/areas: the Palestinian territories (Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad), Lebanon (Hezbollah), Egypt (the Islamic Group and Egyptian Islamic Jihad), Sudan (a variety of terrorist groups), Somalia (Sunni terrorists), Algeria (an al Qaeda affiliate), Saudi Arabia (Saudi Hezbollah), Southeast Asia (various terrorist groups, including affiliates of al Qaeda), Iraq (both Sunni and Shiite terrorist groups), Afghanistan (Iran now even arms the Taliban, its one-time enemy), the Gulf States, and elsewhere.


So, Iran is the fountainhead of terrorism.


Much of the public outrage over Ahmadinejad’s visit has focused on Iran’s ongoing support for our terrorist enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as his nation’s burgeoning nuclear program. These are, of course, legitimate and grave concerns. Unfortunately, however, there has been little focus on the relationship between Iran and al Qaeda, despite the fact that the relationship reportedly dates back to 1990.


FP: What evidence ties Iran to al Qaeda as early as 1990?


Joscelyn: According to Lawrence Wright in his book The Looming Tower, a top al Qaeda operative named Ali Mohamed told the FBI that Ayman al Zawahiri and the Iranians agreed to cooperate on a coup attempt in Egypt in 1990. The Iranians have long targeted Hosni Mubarak’s regime and so they were very willing to assist Zawahiri’s Egyptian Islamic Jihad (“EIJ”) in a coup attempt. According to Mohamed, the Iranians gave Zawahiri $2 million and trained his EIJ operatives for the coup attempt, which was ultimately aborted.


Coming from Ali Mohamed, this is especially damning testimony. Mohamed was one of the U.S. Government’s star witnesses during the trial of some of the al Qaeda terrorists responsible for the August 7, 1998, embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Mohamed himself admitted to his involvement in the embassy bombings – he did the surveillance that was used to plan the operation. He also looms large in al Qaeda’s early history: he compiled al Qaeda’s first training manual, trained bin Laden’s security guards, helped organize al Qaeda’s move from Afghanistan to the Sudan in the early 1990’s, and was trusted by Zawahiri to penetrate America’s intelligence and military establishments (he even feigned cooperation with the CIA as an informant and went on to become a sergeant in the U.S. Army).


So, Mohamed’s testimony is good evidence that the Iranians and al Qaeda were cooperating all the way back in 1990.


FP: Andthe cooperation didn’t end there, did it?


Joscelyn: No, it did not end there. There is evidence of cooperation between Iran, Hezbollah and al Qaeda from 1990 through the present. I go into more detail about this evidence in Iran’s Proxy War Against America, but let me provide some of the highlights here.


According to the 9/11 Commission, the Iranians and al Qaeda held discussions in the early 1990’s. During the embassy bombings trial we learned that one of these meetings involved a sit down between Imad Mugniyah, who is Iran’s master terrorist as well as Hezbollah’s chief of terrorist operations, and Osama bin Laden. As a result of these meetings, Iran and al Qaeda agreed to cooperate on attacks against America and Israel. Al Qaeda terrorists were then trained in Iranian and Hezbollah training camps in Lebanon, Sudan and Iran.


Mugniyah had a profound impact on al Qaeda’s transition from an Afghani-based insurgency group into an international terrorist empire. As a result of the cooperation between Mugniyah and bin Laden, al Qaeda consciously modeled itself after Hezbollah in many ways. As Lawrence Wright notes in The Looming Tower, there are good reasons to suspect that al Qaeda even adopted the use of suicide bombers because of Hezbollah’s influence. I think that prior to 1993 (there may be an isolated incident or two prior to then), suicide attacks were an anathema to Sunni Islam. They were strictly prohibited. The Shiite Hezbollah, however, had used suicide bombers since as early 1983, when Mugniyah’s suicide truck bombers destroyed the U.S. embassy and the U.S. Marine Barracks in Lebanon. Zawahiri and al Qaeda adopted suicide attacks as their modus operandi only in the early 1990’s, after Hezbollah had shown them the utility of such operations.


According to Bob Baer in See No Evil, the CIA uncovered evidence that Mugniyah helped facilitate the travel of an al Qaeda terrorist en route to an attack on the Egyptian embassy in Pakistan in 1995. In June 1996, according to Gerald Posner in Why America Slept, the CIA obtained reports from a terrorist summit in Tehran. The reports indicated that al Qaeda, Iran and Hezbollah had agreed to step up their attacks on American targets throughout the Middle East. A few days later, on June 25, 1996, Hezbollah – under direct orders from Tehran – bombed the Khobar Towers complex in Saudi Arabia.


The 9/11 Commission found that in addition to strong evidence of Iran’s involvement, there were also signs that al Qaeda played a role in the Khobar Towers bombing. Al Qaeda had reportedly been planning a similar operation in the months prior to the attack and intelligence officials found that bin Laden was congratulated by senior al Qaeda members, such as Ayman al Zawahiri, shortly thereafter. Contemporaneous reports by the CIA and the State Department noted that Iran and al Qaeda were both suspects. Therefore, although we don’t know for sure, there is, at the very least, a strong possibility that the Khobar Towers operation was a joint operation between Iran, Hezbollah and al Qaeda.


The 9/11 Commission found that the al Qaeda cell in Kenya, which was responsible for bombing the embassy there on August 7, 1998, was trained by Hezbollah for the operation. The 9/11 Commission also found that there is evidence that Iran and Hezbollah facilitated the travels of 8 to 10 of the hijackers responsible for the September 11 attacks.


There is strong evidence that Iran helped al Qaeda and Taliban members escape from Afghanistan in late 2001 and, therefore, evade American justice. Finally, Iran harbors senior al Qaeda leaders such as Saif al Adel (al Qaeda’s military chief) and Saad bin Laden (Osama’s son and heir) to this day.


This is just some of the evidence of Iran’s involvement in al Qaeda’s terror.


FP: So in your opinion, what is the strongest evidence of Iran’s support for al Qaeda?


Joscelyn: The simultaneous suicide bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998. As I explain in Iran’s Proxy War Against America, there is strong evidence that: (1) Bin Laden and al Qaeda deliberately modeled the attack after Hezbollah’s simultaneous suicide bombings of the U.S. Marine barracks and a headquarters for French paratroopers in Lebanon in 1983. (2) According to the 9/11 Commission, Iran and Hezbollah trained at least one of the cells responsible for the attack. They showed them how to execute this type of operation. (3) There is evidence that Iran supplied al Qaeda with a large amount of explosives used in the attack. (4) Iran gives safe haven to the senior al Qaeda terrorist wanted for his involvement in the bombings, Saif al Adel, to this day.


Therefore, we have Iran and Hezbollah inspiring, training, arming and giving safe haven to the al Qaeda terrorists responsible for the embassy bombings. And this was al Qaeda’s most successful operation prior to 9/11. If this isn’t support for al Qaeda, then I don’t know what is.


FP: So wait a minute then, could it be fairly said thatIran was, to one extent or another, behind 9/11?


Joscelyn: I do not think that Iran was “behind 9/11.” I think that, just as the 9/11 Commission found, there are open questions about Iran’s and Hezbollah’s involvement in the September 11 attacks. If you read pages 240 and 241 of the 9/11 Commission’s final report very carefully you realize there are a lot of dots connecting Iran and Hezbollah to the travels of 8 to 10 of the 9/11 hijackers. However, the 9/11 Commission sort of kicked the can down the road, so to speak, on this issue. The commissioners called for further investigation into this matter in 2004, but more than three years later no such investigation has been launched. That’s one of the reasons I wrote this booklet.


I would also point out that the 9/11 Commission did not cover all of the threads potentially tying Iran and Hezbollah to 9/11. As Newsweek first reported, Ramzi Binalshibh – al Qaeda’s point man for 9/11 – made a very suspicious trip to Iran during the planning stages of the operation. And shortly before the attack he left Germany on a flight that landed at Tehran International Airport. Thus, one of the main al Qaeda conspirators involved in 9/11 found it convenient (or something more?) to travel to Iran during the key stages of the 9/11 plot. Binalshibh reportedly told his CIA interrogators that there was nothing to any of this, but one has to wonder if he wasn’t simply lying. And certainly we shouldn’t take his disavowal at face value.


FP: Some on the left will no doubt accuse you of trying to bolster the case for a war with Iran. How would you respond to this allegation?


Joscelyn: I think this hits on a big problem we face right now as a nation. The discourse has become too politicized. The focus in this nation is largely on our own domestic political situation and the Bush administration. I think we would be better served by asking more of the tough questions about al Qaeda that need answering.


In the booklet, I explicitly argue that an invasion of Iran would be disastrous. I do not think that military strikes should be taken off the table entirely, but I have doubts about their efficacy. And force may be required to stop Iran’s sponsorship of terrorists who are killing American servicemen inside Iraq. But the point of the booklet is not to advocate for a particular course of action. The reason I wrote it was to stir debate about what I think are a significant body of facts and evidence tying Iran to al Qaeda. I don’t think the public interest is served by pretending that none of this evidence exists.


FP: Why is there such reticence to engage the evidence of Iran’s involvement with al Qaeda?


Joscelyn: It seems to me that al Qaeda is an enemy we have never really understood. Ignorance is widespread. We face a large network of terrorists, but many prefer not to get into the nuts and bolts of how they actually work. For example, we often hear that the Sunnis of al Qaeda and the Shiites of Iran and Hezbollah are incapable of cooperation due to their theological differences. A cursory examination of Iran’s and al Qaeda’s behavior reveals, however, that this is nonsense. When it comes to facing their common enemies the two have been more than willing to set aside their differences. In fact, Iran has long supported Sunni terrorists, including groups such as Hamas, which is the ideological cousin of al Qaeda. The 9/11 Commission also explicitly found that ideological or theological differences did not prevent Iran and Hezbollah from cooperating with al Qaeda.


More than six years have passed since 9/11. I think it is about time we got rid of some of our more shallow assumptions about our terrorist enemies.
And perhaps we should start asking President Ahmadinejad why it is that his nation harbors scores of al Qaeda terrorists to this day.


FP: Thomas Joscelyn, thank you for joining Frontpage Interview.



Joscelyn: Thank you Jamie.

[American Patriot]

http://www.claremont.org/publication...pub_detail.asp

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http://www.claremont.org/repository/...nstAmerica.pdf

[American Patriot]

Iran 'building bomb-proof nuclear site'
Australian ^ | September 29, 2007

"Information we have from inside the regime indicates the site is destined for military nuclear activity, mainly for the further enrichment of uranium," Mehdi Abrichamtchi, of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said in Paris.

The new site in central Iran consists of a "vast underground area beneath the Karkass mountains linked to the surface by two tunnels and connecting with a third tunnel" to the Natanz nuclear complex 5km away, Mr Abrichamtchi said.

"The site is protected against aerial attack. If Natanz is bombed, it won't be touched," he said. "To maintain secrecy, the area has been declared a military zone, and the regime has bought up all the local land."

The NCRI is the political arm of the People's Mujahideen of Iran, which has been declared a terrorist organisation by the US and the EU.

(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...

[American Patriot]

Accusations from Paris that Iran is building a military nuclear plant south of Natanz [Debka]
Debka | September 28, 2007 | Debka

The latest round of the international campaign against Iran’s covert nuclear activities is coming out of Paris, DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources report. A statement by President Nicolas Sarkozy Thursday, Sept. 27 that he does not believe Iran’s program is peaceful was followed by a press conference at which the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s chairman, Mehdi Abrishamchi, reported Iran was constructing a new site for a secret military project 5 km south of the Natanz nuclear complex.

Sarkozy’s spokesman David Martinon said: “Ahmadinejad claims his country’s nuclear activities are peaceful. Ultimately, we do not believe him. Everyone knows that the program has military goals. We have a string of clues leading us to that conclusion. The question is not settled.” DEBKAfile notes that, five years ago, the Americans used the same roundabout technique for making their first disclosures of Iran’s nuclear violations.

They fed the revelation that uranium enrichment was taking place at Natanz to the same resistance group, NCRI (Mujahideen Qalq), which then called a press conference in Washington and laid it before the public. Surprisingly, this time, Tehran made its own contribution to the disclosures. The local newspaper Kayhan stated on Sept. 25: “The intelligence that the West currently has on Iran’s nuclear program is limited to sites accessible to IAEA inspectors – and more than that they do not know.”

Two days later, the NCRI went before the press in Paris with the little information he had, which nonetheless substantiated Tehran’s admission. Iran is apparently bracing for a fresh spate of international allegations and disclosures from intelligence sources about its most secret nuclear activities for military purposes.

Abrishamchi’s seeming first installment did not specify what was going on at the new site or the nature of its contribution to Iran’s weapons program.

He located it near the small village of Abbas-Abad 5 km south of Natanz in the Siah mountain. The site, he said, consisted of a sprawling underground area with two tunnels which run under two mountains connected to Natanz. The tunnel entrance is six meters wide. Building began in 2006 and is scheduled to end in March 2008. Revolutionary Guards Brig. Gen. Tabatabi monitors progress of the work every week; it is overseen by his deputy Brig. Gen. Daneshjo.

To preserve the project’s secrecy, the NCRI chairman reported, its various sections were assigned to different agencies and units of the defense ministry and Revolutionary Guards, none of which has the whole picture. DEBKAfile’s sources believe that just enough data were rationed out to Abrishamchi to let the Iranians know that US and French intelligence has a lot more. How much more is released will depend on Tehran’s reaction. If the clerical rulers continue to maintain like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that their program is purely for peaceful purposes and the issue is closed, more solid information on Iranian illicit undertakings is likely to be laid bare.

[American Patriot]

UN agrees to delay vote on further Iran sanctions
International Herald Tribune ^ | September 28, 2007

The world's six major powers agreed Friday to delay until November a new United Nations resolution that would toughen sanctions against Iran to see whether Tehran answered questions about its nuclear program.

A joint statement from the six nations - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - said they would finalize the new resolution and bring it to a vote unless reports in November from the chief UN nuclear official and the European Union's foreign policy chief showed "a positive outcome of their efforts."

(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...

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[American Patriot]

Will the 12th Imam cause war with Iran?
Telegraph UK ^ | 9/28/07 | Con Couglin

Posted on 09/28/2007 1:15:42 PM MDT by freedom44

Not since the prime minister of the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada presented an address claiming that UFOs posed a mortal threat to the future of mankind has the United Nations been treated to such a bizarre spectacle.

Many people believe the greatest threat to world peace concerns Iran's nuclear programme, so there was understandably great interest at this week's general assembly in New York when the country's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, took the platform.

But instead of seeking to reassure delegates that Iran's nuclear intentions were purely benign, Mr Ahmadinejad took advantage of his official visit to a country deemed – in the lexicon of the Iranian Revolution – "the Great Satan" to embark on a discourse about the wonders of the 12th Imam.

For those unacquainted with the more obscure tenets of Islamic theology, the 12th Imam is held by devout Shi'ite Muslims to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed who went into "occlusion" in the ninth century at the age of five and hasn't been seen since.

The Hidden Imam, as he is also known by his followers, will only return after a period of cosmic chaos, war and bloodshed – what Christians call the Apocalypse – and then lead the world into an era of universal peace.

Rumours abound of Mr Ahmadinejad's devotion to the 12th Imam, and last year it was reported that he had persuaded his cabinet to sign a "contract" pledging themselves to work for his return.

Another example of his messianic tendencies surfaced after 108 people were killed in an aircraft crash in Teheran. Mr Ahmadinejad praised the victims, saying: "What is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we must follow."

For many of the hundreds of delegates who attended Mr Ahmadinejad's speech to the UN this week, his discourse on the merits of the 12th Imam finally brought home the reality of the danger his regime poses to world peace.

Rather than allaying concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions, Mr Ahmadinejad spoke at length about how a Muslim saviour would relieve the world's suffering.

The era of Western predominance was drawing to a close, he said, and would soon be replaced by a "bright future" ushered in by the 12th Imam's return. "Without any doubt, the Promised One, who is the ultimate Saviour, will come. The pleasing aroma of justice will permeate the whole world."

The really alarming aspect is that – if the world's leading intelligence agencies are to be believed – he is seriously attempting to acquire a nuclear weapons arsenal.

Only yesterday, the opposition group that first revealed the existence of Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz claimed that Iran was building a new bomb-proof underground site for developing nuclear weapons.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said the regime was near to completing a vast underground chamber that was linked by two tunnels to the existing complex at Natanz, and was protected against aerial attack.

As with so many of the allegations relating to Iran's nuclear activities, the NCRI's claims are impossible to verify, not least because Iran continues to impede UN nuclear inspectors.

And even if, as Mr Ahmadinejad claimed in New York, Iran has no interest in developing nuclear weapons, there is every indication that Teheran is preparing itself for war, not least because the clash with Western civilisation that the Iranian president so obviously desires will hasten, or so he believes, the arrival of the 12th Imam.

Before flying to the US, Mr Ahmadinejad addressed a military parade in Teheran at which he said Iran would retaliate with missile strikes against Western targets in the event of the West launching air strikes to neutralise Iran's nuclear aspirations.

Recent changes to the regime's hierarchy also suggest that the country is now being put on a war footing in anticipation of Western military action. The most significant appointment is that of Mohammed Ali Jaafari as the new head of the Revolutionary Guards.

Mr Ahmadinejad – a former Revolutionary Guards commander – regards the 200,000-strong organisation as the storm troops of the Islamic Revolution and, by appointing Mr Jaafari its new commander this month, he is giving the guards primary responsibility for protecting the country against attack.

Major-General Rahim Safavi, the previous commander, was hardly a soft touch, having masterminded the capture and subsequent release of 15 British service personnel this year.

Mr Safavi, who commanded the guards for 10 years, is understood to have fallen out with Mr Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's spiritual leader, after he argued that the guards were too weak to repel an attack from abroad.

Mr Safavi was also criticised within the regime for failing to establish effective supply lines between Teheran and Hizbollah, the Iranian-funded militia in southern Lebanon. A train carrying vital military supplies for Hizbollah from Iran to Syria blew up in mysterious circumstances last May in northern Turkey, severely disrupting Iran's attempts to re-arm Hizbollah following last year's war with Israel.

Mr Jaafari, by contrast, has a proven track record as an effective Revolutionary Guards commander. Regarded in Iranian circles as an ultra-conservative, Mr Jaafari was, until recently, in charge of Iran's anti-American activities in Iraq, and narrowly escaped capture by US forces in January when the Americans seized five guards belonging to the secretive Quds force.

And, unlike his predecessor, Mr Jaafari is bullish about the Revolutionary Guards' capacity to defend Iran from attack. He attracted international attention this year when he boasted that more than 50,000 volunteers were being trained in Iran to carry out "martyrdom-seeking operations" against the West.

Just the kind of carnage Mr Ahmadinejad believes will hasten the arrival of the 12th Imam.

[American Patriot]

Did A'jad predict Armageddon at the UN?
American Thinker ^ | 10-01-07 | James Lewis

This will sound alarming. A literal reading of Ahmadi-Nejad's UN address suggests that he is predicting a total war coming soon.

The key is in his invocation and his conclusion. Normal official communications by Muslims start with, "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful." A'jad followed that formula immediately with:

"Oh God, hasten the arrival of Imam Al-Mahdi and grant him good health and victory and make us his followers and those who attend to his rightfulness." [italics in the official Iranian version]

Sounds like a pretty standard invocation, but it's not. It is a specific call for the Shiite Messiah, who will bring a final holy war, the final jihad, which in the Khomeini cult implies all-out war with the infidels to bring about the Millenarian Age of Paradise on Earth. (For Khomeini, the term "infidels" includes Sunni Muslims, who do not recognize the Mahdi). That is why Khomeini started the nuclear program twenty years ago, and why it has been pushed consistently by all the major cult leaders.

A'jad put the message explicitly in his peroration, i.e., his summary and conclusion.

"I officially declare that the age of relations arising from the Second World War as well as materialistic thought based on arrogance and domination is now over." (italics added)

Translation: The West, and particularly the United States, emerged dominant after World War Two. Israel declared independence in 1948. The dominance of the West is now over.

A'jad's use of the phrase "I officially declare" indicates how he views himself as Allah's representative on earth; a very common paranoid fantasy, but one that is taught by the Khomeini cult as part of its explicit doctrine. Cult members who are otherwise quite sane can believe such things (as in the Rev. Jim Jones' suicide cult following.)

This declaration is followed by A'jad's messianic prediction.

"Humanity has passed a perilous precipice and the age of monotheism (i.e., Khomeini Shiism), purity, affinity, respecting others, justice and peace-loving has now commenced." (I.e., the End of Times is at hand; italics added).

"It is the divine promise that the truth will be victorious and the earth will be inherited by the righteous." Translation: We will win the coming war.

"The era of darkness will end, prisoners will return home, the occupied lands will be freed, Palestine and Iraq will be liberated from the domination of the occupiers, and the people of America and Europe will be free from the pressures exerted by the Zionists." (That's clear enough.)

"Without any doubt, the Promised One who is the ultimate Savior will come. ... This is the promise of God, and therefore it will be fulfilled." The "Promised One" refers to the messiah, the "occluded Mahdi," who disappeared in the 9th century as a five year old child, and whose return Khomeinists are imminently expecting. This passage is notably blasphemous to the Sunni wing of radical Islam, which admits of no equals to Allah and his Prophet Mohammed. A'jad is saying that the Mahdi will indeed transcend Mohammed, who did not bring about Paradise on Earth. But the Mahdi will not come without actions of the believers.

"Let's play a part in the fulfillment of all this glory and beauty."

"I wish for a bright future for all human beings and the dawn of liberation and freedom for all humans ... A wish which I expect will be fulfilled in the near future." (Italics added)

Don't forget that A'jad already fulfilled his Islamic obligation to send an ultimatum to the leaders of the infidel nations to convert to Islam or die. He sent personal letters to President Bush and German Chancellor Merkel saying exactly that. In his version of Islamic law, he has fulfilled the requirements for starting his holy war against the West.

Or, to put it in his typical threat language, he has said,

"If you would like to have good relations with the Iranian nation in the future... bow down before the greatness of the Iranian nation and surrender. If you don't accept [to do this], the Iranian nation will... force you to surrender and bow down." The Columbia University talk now also falls into place. In A'jad's deeply indoctrinated mind, the students laughing at his absurd claim that there are no homosexuals in Iran simply confirmed how steeped they are in sexual sin. Columbia was Soddom and Gomorrah in this world view, and God destroyed those cities after their inhabitants refused to repent from homosexual activities. In his eyes he gave them their last chance.

The fact that many Jews demonstrated against him in the streets of Manhattan, and that President Bollinger asked some sharp questions, will also confirm his existing beliefs.

The UN talk therefore becomes a final notice to the nations of the world. Khomeini himself set the conditions for total war:

"I say let this land (Iran) burn. I say let this land go up in smoke, provided Islam emerges triumphant in the rest of the world." That is the description of an all-out nuclear war.

How would that war start? Michael Medved claimed on the radio that Israeli intelligence expects an Iranian nuclear device within the next 18 months. The CIA supposedly claims about five years. The IAF air attack on a putative Syrian "agricultural research station" on the Euphrates River may have hit nuclear materials or missiles. It also demonstrated that the vaunted Russian air defense system just purchased by Iran and Syria does not work. A follow-up attack into Iranian airspace may therefore occur soon, before the Iranians change their codes and defense configuration.

In A'jad's world, it is desirable to be attacked first, so he can point the finger of guilt at the attackers. His is a martyrdom tradition, and it is essential for there to be plenty of martyrs on his side. It motivates the cult followers to greater sacrifice -- see the Iran-Iraq War, and repeated statements by A'jad that "martyrdom is powerful." By openly claiming to have 3,000 working centrifuges in Natanz, he is in effect inviting an attack on that facility, putting the US and Israel in a cleft stick. At some point they cannot fail to attack and try to destroy the centrifuges.

Dr. Jack Wheeler of "To the point news" reported that,

"One of India's top generals assigned to liaise with the Iranian military recently returned to New Delhi from several days in Tehran -- in a state of complete amazement." [....]

"Everyone in the government and military can only talk of one thing," he reports. "No matter who I talked to, all they could do was ask me, over and over again, ‘Do you think the Americans will attack us?' ‘When will the Americans attack us?' ‘Will the Americans attack us in a joint operation with the Israelis?' How massive will the attack be?' on and on, endlessly. The Iranians are in a state of total panic."

This is important, because in its public propaganda, the Tehran regime has been telling its people that they are just seeing "psychological warfare" from American and Israel. But internally, the military and government in Iran seem to have a different and more serious interpretation. Wheeler argues that after the IAF attack of September 6, both Syria and Iran were shown to be defenseless against air attack, even with their brand-new Russian Pantsyr anti-air system.

The implication is for a quick attack on Iran. But it is vital to keep in mind the classic joke about the sadist and the masochist, where the masochist yells out, "whip me! whip me!" and the sadist answers, sadistically, "no!" So there is a case for taking the sadist's point of view, and continuing to threaten the Tehran regime without actually striking it. That would upset their expectations, and indeed their psychological need to be provoked into justified rage. For that reason, rather than overt air attacks, under-the-public-radar sabotage operations are always preferable.

It must be said that there is a real possibility that the martyrdom regime has planted retaliatory dirty bombs in various places around the world, to go off if Iranian targets are hit. A'jad has said that

"The anger of Muslims may reach an explosion point soon. If such a day comes [America and the West] should know that the waves of the blast will not remain within the boundaries of our region."

That warning could not be clearer. Retaliatory bombs could exist in small coastal freighters or other delivery vehicles in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf, and in or near the US. The regime has been signing up hundreds of Basiji for martyrdom operations. Those are cheap cannon fodder for them, like the teenagers who were trained to move right into minefields in the Iran-Iraq war, wearing green plastic "keys to paradise" around their necks, to clear the way for assault troops. That is the environment in which A'jad developed his understanding of war.

Sending hundreds of kids to martyrdom on the orders of Ayatollah Khomeini must play havoc with anyone's mind. Ahmadi-Nejad may not have been directly involved in doing that, but he must certainly have known about it during the Iran-Iraq War and approved of it, else he would not be trusted by the Khomeinists who run Iran to become president.

Psychologically, that life experience implies immense personal survival guilt, along with a readiness to commit suicide oneself to bring about the messianic age of the Mahdi. That is an almost inconceivable state of mind for Westerners who have grown up in a generally peaceful world.

What are the implications for the West? First of all, any action against the cult regime should come at a time and place of our choosing, if possible different from the cult predictions. But our hand is being forced by unverified claims by A'jad to possess 3,000 centrifuges. Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other countries may have good intelligence sources in Iran, which are needed to check this astonishingly bizarre, dangerous and secretive regime.

Second, it is critical to neutralize the fanatical leadership which sustains their delusional system in any major attack. That in itself is very difficult, since humans are easier to hide than industrial facilities. But special ops teams must silence the command, communication and control capacity of the regime instantly.

During the Syrian bombing operation, reports suggested that the entire Syrian communications grid was knocked out. Even cell phones connections in neighboring Lebanon were disrupted. Special Forces were believed to be on the ground, laser-designating the target, and supposedly smuggling out samples. They may also have sabotaged the communications grid, including hardened communications between Pantsyr anti-air defenses. It was a successful dress rehearsal.

Thirdly, unlike the one-shot Israeli attack in 1981 on Saddam's Osirak nuclear reactor, any attack on Iran today may trigger extended hostilities, including assaults on civilians far away from the theater of war. Previously the Iranian Guard (including Ahmadi-Nejad) committed attacks on Jewish synagogues in Buenos Aires. The people who did that are in charge today in Tehran. So this time there will surely be a barrage of Hezb'allah missiles directed at civilians in Israel, like last summer, but possibly much more accurate.

As soon as military action starts, pressure will be brought to bear to shut it down prematurely. For once that pressure must be resisted. This gang is too dangerous to leave them with any of their total war capacities intact. A'jad just flew to Venezuela to arrange for added supplies of refined oil products which Iran cannot make at home. He is planning for a long war. He may increase Iranian meddling in Iraq, but a conventional Iranian invasion of Iraq is unlikely, since conventional forces are highly vulnerable from the air, and the US controls the air.

It seems vital for the West not to take military action until the Iranian nuclear plan has become quite clear. As suggested previously, one possibility is for the IAF to attack several established nuclear targets in Iran, with the United States allowing Israeli overflights of the Gulf. If and when Iran attempts to retaliate against Israel, or even Saudi Arabia, using missiles and aircraft, USN Gulf defenses would be automatically triggered, bringing US forces into the fight. The Saudis would not be happy with Iranian military overflights, since Khomeini fanatics believe they must eventually rule the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Iran may try to blockade the Straits of Hormuz, leading to US actions to open the Straits as the guarantor of free shipping through international waterways.

Contrary to the Saddam war, today we have France and Germany in support. Whether that actually means anything, or whether they will bend to domestic opposition, is anybody's guess. They could turn out to be weak sisters. But at least they are not actively sabotaging us, as they did with the overthrow of Saddam.

A very dangerous time is coming up. If we are very lucky, the world will be saved by some brilliant secret raids and naval actions along the lines of the Tanker War of the 1990s. With even greater luck there will be a military coup d'etat, throwing the Khomeinist fanatics out of power. But these are extremely ruthless people. Right now it seems more likely there will be an extended conflict, along the lines that the West and Israel will find most difficult to deal with.

If a major Israeli city is severely hit, Israel may respond with massive retaliation. In the Osirak reactor strike of 1981, Israel managed to kill only one person. The coming battle with Iran may make that impossible.

If this interpretation is correct, we have some very difficult times coming up. Our domestic political dialogue has been utterly immature since 9/11. But the prospect of hanging in a fortnight concentrates the mind wonderfully, and it is possible that some on the Left will wake up.

The Iranians are quite capable of stirring up terrorist retaliation in their war of Armageddon. They are suiciders, like the kamikaze cult of WW Two: Very difficult to deal with indeed. Making adequate civil defense preparations may become a crucial part of everyday life, even in the United States. Our feeling of immunity to direct attack is simply out of date. I wonder whether Democrats will allow us to improve protection against domestic attacks?

In making rational predictions of danger we always hope to be wrong. But we cannot plan based on hope alone.

[American Patriot]

Ahmadinejad's Overlooked Message
Real Clear Politics ^ | 9/29/2007 | Caroline Glick

....IN HIS address at the UN, Ahmadinejad laid out his case for Islamic supremacy. He claimed that all of the world's problems are the consequence of two things. First, by his reading of history, after the Second World War, "The victors of the war drew the road map for global domination and formulated their policies not on the basis of justice but for ensuring the interests of the victors over the vanquished nations."

The second cause for the world's woes is the world powers' rejection of Islam. As he put it, "The second and more important factor is some big powers' disregard of morals, divine values, the teachings of prophets and instructions by the Almighty God... Unfortunately, they have put themselves in the position of God!"

Thankfully for Ahmadinejad, this "corrupted" world order will soon be swept away. Either the "corrupted" powers will "return from the path of arrogance and obedience to Satan to the path of faith in God," or "the same calamities that befell the people of the distant past will befall them as well."

(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...

[American Patriot]

THE ENEMY WITHIN: WHO IS AHMADINEJAD ADDRESSING? COLUMBIA STUDENTS OR THE WORLD?
TFP Forum ^ | 9/27/2007 | Staff

In a controversial decision that is rocking the nation, Columbia University has opened its doors to the President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a declared enemy of the United States, and to a nation that is a state sponsor of terrorism. In doing so, the university is giving him a forum to present his message to its faculty and student body.

Just the fact that our soldiers are being killed by Islamist terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan who receive weapons and munitions from Iran should be enough to deny him this invitation.

Words Will Echo Worldwide

However, there is an even more important reason to oppose his speech. Ahmadinejad’s words will not be confined to the halls of Columbia University. They will echo worldwide.

The world media will take it upon themselves to broadcast his message. The well-oiled propaganda machine of the Iranian regime will likewise make use of this opportunity to show the world that Iran’s President was able to speak at a famous American university. Inside Iran itself, the event will be used efficaciously to demoralize and silence the democratic reaction against the regime.

Such media posturing is certainly why Ahmadinejad asked to go to Ground Zero and lay a wreath of flowers as a clever and efficacious public opinion ploy aimed, above all, at the world at large.

Academic Freedom?

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger tried to justify the invitation in the name of academic freedom and freedom of speech. He cast the event strictly as an internal affair of the university.

However, the Iranian leader’s speech cannot be seen as a mere academic affair. It has international repercussion affecting public opinion in the U.S. and the world.

Moreover, Columbia University is not an isolated island. It is not an independent nation of its own. Rather, it is a revered American institution, and, as such, must take the nation’s interests into account.

A Nation at War

We are a nation at war, and this war is more than just the armed conflict in which our troops are giving every proof of heroism and bravery. This is also a psychological and Cultural War in which propaganda and psychological warfare play the more important role.

Labelling the propaganda of our nation’s enemy as “freedom of expression” is to stretch the concept of this freedom too far. It evinces a tendency to invest freedom of expression with an absolute privilege to the detriment of the nation’s common good.

Such an attitude is highlighted by the declaration of Dr. John Coatsworth, Dean of Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, who said the university would not hesitate to invite Adolph Hitler, were he to accept a debate. Such a statement suggests that the university does not feel any obligation to our nation at war, but is somehow disconnected and removed from the military and psychological warfare unleashed against us.

Indeed, it is very doubtful that any American university would have provided Hitler with a forum during the Second World War.

* * *

The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) protests against the sophistic criteria behind the decision of one of our most famous universities by which it is made to play the pawn in the psywar being waged against America by a declared enemy.

Our love for America, sense of honor, and the sacrifice and heroism of our soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan demand nothing less than this categorial rejection and protest.

The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property—TFP

[American Patriot]

Iran to show Israel Supporters an “Answer” On October 12
rightpundits.com ^ | 10/01/2007 | milwguy

Posted on 10/01/2007 1:25:50 PM MDT by milwguy

On the day that Condolezza Rice is scheduled to visit the Palestinian Territories, Iran vows to give the “Zionist regime” a “response” on the last Friday ending Ramadan, which this year lands on October 13.

Here’s what the nice (we want nuclear power plants) Iranian government had to say:

Iran-US-Spokesman Supporters of the Zionist regime will receive their response during the world Qods Day’s rallies, government spokesman, Gholam-Hossein Elham, said Wednesday.

The spokesman made the remarks during his weekly press conference while commenting on the current visit to the occupied Palestine of the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Qods Day is held each year on the last Friday of Muslims fasting month of Ramadan after it was nominated by the late Founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, as a day to voice the protest of the Islamic Ummah against the Zionists.

The day falls on October 12 this year.

“The US loses all opportunities to cooperate with regional and other world states by trying to support a regime (the Zionist regime) which is now at its weakest political and social position,” Elham said.

He warned that Washington’s insistence on its wrong policies and arrogant approaches would have no result “but further political disgrace” for itself.

Referring to the approaching World Qods Day, the spokesman stressed, “Supporters of the Zionist regime will definitely receive the final response for their support on that day.”

Keep in mind that the IRanian president is well known amongt the Iranian US population to have taken paert in the US Embassy hostage crisis, despite the pass that both the MSM and the rest of the world seems to have given him. I’m not sure that I am in favor of bombing raids over Tehran right now, but if Israel is attacked by them (the Syrian connection will be posted shortly), I and a lot of other folks (except the UN of course) will probably quickly change their minds.

Fox News story here.

In order to give you a choice not to link inot a news site hosted by a terrorist nation that sponsors terrorists, I chose not to just have the Iranian link. However, I thought some of you might want to hear it from the Ayatolla’s mouth:

Iranian news network here.

( go here: http://www.rightpundits.com/?p=925 for original blog and links)

[Brian Baldwin]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1905422/posts

The Khorramshar News Agency, which is published by the ethnic Arab underground of Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan, reported early Oct. 1 that the entire staff of Russian nuclear engineers and experts employed in building the nuclear reactor at Bushehr had abruptly packed their bags Friday, Sept. 28, and flew back to Russia. The agency’s one-liner offers no source or explanation. DEBKAfile have obtained no corroboration of its report from any other source.
The story appears to have originated with the ethnic Arabs who live near the reactor or who come in contact with its Russian staff. If true, DEBKAfile can offer three hypothetical scenarios to account for the Russians’ precipitate departure:
1. Another crisis has cropped up in the patchy Russian-Iranian dealings over the Bushehr reactor. This is unlikely because Russian president Vladimar Putin is due for a high-profile visit to Tehran on Oct. 16, when he plans to sign a series of nuclear accords with the Islamic Republic. Furthermore, Moscow, like Beijing, stands foursquare behind Iran’s efforts to delay harsher sanctions for its continued uranium enrichment. Only this week, the two powers gained Iran two to three months’ grace by forcing a delay in the UN Security Council session that was to have approved a third round of sanctions. 2. Moscow or Tehran has been tipped off that a US or Israeli attack is imminent on the Bushehr plant and Iran’s other nuclear installations and acted to whip Russian personnel out of harm’s way.

(Excerpt) Read more at debka.com ...

[American Patriot]

Yeah, posted that in the news area a few minutes ago.

[American Patriot]

Iranians chant 'death to Israel' in mass protest
Breitbart ^ | October 5, 2007

Tens of thousands of Iranians marched through Tehran on Friday proclaiming solidarity with Palestinians and chanting "Death to Israel" in the Islamic republic's annual protest against the Jewish state. Iranians of all ages began the march through the centre of the capital to Tehran University to mark Quds Day, calling for Jerusalem and Israel to be handed to the Palestinians.

Coloured bibs were handed out to protestors with the legend "Death to Israel, Death to United States" while "Palestine will only be free with fighting and faith" was the slogan on one banner.

Despite the heavily politicised nature of the demonstration, there was a festive mood with the numerous children present having their faces painted as cats and rabbits in entertainment laid on by the municipality.

"I come every year because the Palestinians are helpless and they cannot defend themselves. I come here to here to attract the world's attention to their plight," said Somayeh Salim, 27.

She was carrying an Israeli flag in her rucksack: "I am going to burn it."

The protest was due to be echoed in similar demonstrations up and down the country. The Tehran demonstration was due to culminate in a speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the university.

Ahmadinejad provoked an international outcry shortly after his election in 2005 when he called for Israel to be "wiped from the map" and also described the Holocaust as a "myth".

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...

[samizdat]

Reminds me of how my mom described Hitler- I heard him on the radio- who cares what he said- the man started talkin and they all went nuts.

[Jag]

October 12 - Final Response Forthcoming From Iran’s Ahmadinejad?

October 11, 2007


Tomorrow, October 12, 2007 is the last Friday of Ramadan and the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has issued a statement, vowing to liberate “all of Palestine” with some sort of “final response” to Iran’s enemies.

Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said the message would be sent to coincide with Quds Day, held each year on the last Friday of Ramadan.

On September 19th the following article appeared in the Islamic Republic News Agency

Supporters of the Zionist regime will receive their response during the world Quds Day’s rallies, government spokesman, Gholam-Hossein Elham, said Wednesday.
The spokesman made the remarks during his weekly press conference while commenting on the current visit to the occupied Palestine of the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Quds Day is held each year on the last Friday of Muslims fasting month of Ramadan after it was nominated by the late Founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, as a day to voice the protest of the Islamic Ummah against the Zionists.
The day falls on October 12 this year.
“The US loses all opportunities to cooperate with regional and other world states by trying to support a regime (the Zionist regime) which is now at its weakest political and social position,” Elham said.
He warned that Washington’s insistence on its wrong policies and arrogant approaches would have no result “but further political disgrace” for itself. Referring to the approaching World Quds Day, the spokesman stressed, “Supporters of the Zionist regime will definitely receive the final response for their support on that day.”
Source http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/men...9796134418.htm

So what does this mean?
No one really knows. Ahmadinejad has made these types of threats before, most recently leading up to an August 22nd date, in which he indicated by several references that he would be giving his final answer to the U.S. about nuclear development by Aug. 22. This threat was surrounded with a great deal of talk of the return of the 12th Imam.

The 12th Imam
See Pamela’s article at Atlas Shrugs for more on this.
Is Ahmadinejad once again “crying wolf”, or in this case “nukes”. No one really knows for sure, but much has changed in the middle east since August. Tensions have increased along with and Ahmadinejad’s rhetoric and many are beginning to believe some type of confrontation is inevitable.

All of this needs to be viewed within the same context as the Iranian radicals. Ahmadinejad and those in Iran who are aligned with him in his beliefs, believe they are leading Iran into a new “Persian Empire” and that a religious war against Israel and the U.S. will herald the arrival of the Muslim “messiah” known as the “Mahdi”.

Because of their prophetic perspective and their belief that they must prepare the way for the “Mahdi,” many would not be surprised if the Iranians attempt to begin this effort to bring on the Mahdi by launching a military action against the United States and/or Israel in the very near future. Is October 12th, the date they have selected? We will apparently know the answer soon.

A few interesting points about this date in history.
October 12th, 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia (modern day Iran) conquers Babylon (modern day Iraq). Very significant date in history for Iran.

October 12th, 1492 - Christopher Columbus discovers America.

October 12th, 2000 - The USS Cole is badly damaged in Aden, Yemen, by two suicide bombers, killing 17 crew members.

October 12th, 2002 - Terrorists detonate bombs in Kuta, Bali, killing 202 and wounding over 300.
October 12th, 2007 - Al Quds day — also known as “Jerusalem Day”, or the “International Day of Al-Quds”. This day is celebrated in an annual event opposing Israel’s control of Jerusalem, or Al-Quds in Arab
Other items to consider…

The Rhetoric
Ahmadinejad has continued to call for for “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” along with his mantra to “wipe Israel off the map”. Many countries including Israel and the U.S. have made it clear that Iran will not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

Mysterious Strike Inside Syria
Israel is still maintaining silence several weeks after Syria complained that Israeli aircraft invaded its airspace in a mysterious incident that raised tensions and triggered a welter of US media speculation about possible targets for the operation. Explanations for what anonymous US officials have said was a strike inside Syria range from suggesting it was aimed at the shipment of weapons to Hizbollah from Iran, to saying Syria may be building a nuclear facility with North Korean help.

A World Without Israel
Ahmadinejad recently used his speech to the United Nations General Assembly to againa unveil a vision of a world without Israel, in which America and Europe would be freed of what he said was Zionist oppression.

600 Missiles Pointed At Israel
Six hundred Iranian Shihab-3 missiles are pointed at targets throughout Israel, and will be launched if either Iran or Syria are attacked, an Iranian website affiliated with the regime reported. “Iran will shoot at Israel 600 missiles if it is attacked,” the Iranian news website, Assar Iran, reported. “600 missiles will only be the first reaction.”

Russians Evacuated?
there are numerous unconfirmed reports that Russian nuclear technicians have evacuated from their assignment at the Bushehr nuclear reactor facility and returned to Russia without explanation, this according the Khorramshar News Agency.

This action, if true, would suggest the possibility that the Russians were tipped off that some sort of military action was imminent, perhaps October 12, the end of Ramadan.

The New Moon
October 11th is the start of the new moon, which is when the US military, particularly the US Air Force likes to begin any aerial bombing attacks because it is easier to avoid aircraft detection when there is no moon to illuminate attacking planes or ground forces.

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/u...s-ahmadinejad/

Jag

[Jag]

October 12 - Final Response Forthcoming From Iran’s Ahmadinejad?

Forgot the picture of "The EVIL One"....and his mean eyes, would make for a good shot

Jag