Posts Tagged ‘Iran’

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Michael Ledeen article on Iranian timelines and counter-protest at the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC tomorrow

by Delectable ( 44 Comments › )
Filed under Uncategorized at March 8th, 2010 - 4:00 pm

This is a must-read by Michael Ledeen about Iranian clicks and the nuclear timeline.

Click here to read.

However, before you click there, please read this below about a counter-protest by the Waldorf Astoria tomorrow. I hope you can make it!

NCYI JOINS OTHERS IN URGENT CALL TO MOBILIZE IN MANHATTAN MARCH 9:

URGENT COUNTER-PROTEST ,
TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 5-7 P.M.
TO ALL THOSE WHO CARE ABOUT ISRAEL –
IT IS URGENT THAT YOU ATTEND THE COUNTER-PROTEST RALLY.

from Americans for a Safe Israel
Across from the WALDORF ASTORIA – PARK AVENUE, between 49th & 50th , NYC

On Tuesday, March 9, The Friends of the IDF is having their annual dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in NYC. We have learned that there will be an Arab demonstration outside the hotel, defaming the IDF and Gabi Ashkenazi, the Chief of the IDF General Staff.

We will be handing out information, holding signs, Israeli and American flags, and alerting the public as to the true nature of Fatah, Hamas and the PA. The Hamas terrorist acts against Christians and Fatah, the use of women and children as human shields, the firing of rockets from mosques, homes, and schools in order to deter IDF retaliation, the misinformation and hatred being fed to Arab children in their classrooms and through PA media, will all be detailed.

We’ll be highlighting the IDF and Israeli assistance to the Arabs in the fields of medical care, education, and providing a standard of living for Arab Israelis that is the highest in the Middle East. In addition, in opposition to the recent “apartheid” claims against Israel, the Israeli Arabs enjoy full democratic rights in the Knesset , in their religious observances, and in the media.

A number of grass roots activist groups have come together to counter-protest on that evening. They include Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI, Get Out The Facts, Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam, National Council of Young Israel, Shalom International, Stand With Us, World Committee for the Land of Israel, Zionist Organization of America/ZOA . Individuals such as Assemblyman Dov Hikind, Lori Lowenthal Marcus, and Andy Upton are also working with us. Others continue to join. PLEASE BE THERE WITH US – MARCH 9, 5-7 P.M.

————————-

As far as the Ledeen goes, please click through and read his whole article, which is very well-written. But here is the choice “money quote”:

As for the other clock, the one ticking off the lifespan of the Islamic Republic, the mullahs continue their murderous and sadistic campaign against the citizens of Iran, and the citizens search for new ways to show their contempt.  The regime relentlessly arrests dissidents and accuses them of actions that only a fanatical regime in crisis could concoct.  For example, they went after Mohammed Maliki, 76 yrs old, the first chancellor of Tehran U after the Revolution, and arrested him during treatment for prostate cancer.  Maliki said to his captors [3], “I was afraid you would let me die in my bed,” and has refused to “repent” or confess.  He’s accused of being a Mohareb, one who fights against God.  They execute such men in Iran nowadays for criticizing the regime.  I honor them, and wish my leaders would do the same, instead of pretending to have a serious Iran policy.

While we’re at it, let’s honor Omid Montazeri [4].  His father was one of the victims of the mass murder of political prisoners in 1988.  Omid is a blogger, journalist and a final year law student at Allameh University.  His articles on cultural issues have been published by many official newspapers.  His mother was arrested shortly after Christmas, and Omid went to the Intelligence Ministry to inquire about her, whereupon he was thrown into the hellhole, “tried” without access to a lawyer, and condemned to six years.

And let’s honor the Kurds, victims of mass brutality [5] in which the Turks and the Syrians are surely complicit, and about which the usual Western accomplices to evil are typically silent.

Some of those pious people who bleed oceans of ink for the sweet “victims of Guantanamo” would be more convincing if they could spare a few harsh words for the monsters who govern Iran, and who seek our death and destruction.

Indeed. There are so many “outrage monkeys” out there, but where is the outrage at the real horrors going on around the world? Sadly, it is lacking. Why is it that ‘feminists’ and ‘gay activists’ have been so silent vis a vis Iran? Why, the ‘Columbia Queer Alliance’ [at Columbia University] even claimed that Ahmadinejad’s claim that there are ‘no gays in Iran’ was an excuse to ‘reelevaluate sexuality!’

We live in a topsy turvy world, where the good is demonized. Please come out tomorrow and support the good, outside the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 44 Comments »

Iran Hostage Crisis, 2010

by Eliana ( 77 Comments › )
Filed under Ahmadinejad, Iran, Islamic Supremacism, Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism at February 3rd, 2010 - 5:00 am

Here we go again, although Iran is demanding the release of Iranian prisoners in exchange for the hostages this time.

The arrests of three American hikers who apparently wandered over a border into Iranian territory has turned into a full blown hostage crisis. Iran claimed today that they were negotiating with the American government for the release of Iranian prisoners for the three hostages who have been accused of spying (which carries the death penalty in Iran).

Although we may agree that the young progressives who wandered into Iranian territory were foolish beyond all measure to take such a risk, Iran is prepared to take full advantage of the situation.

According to Iran, some of the Iranian “prisoners” that they are demanding are people whose whereabouts aren’t actually known. They simply disappeared. This means that they could be in hiding or that they’ve defected to the west. They could be imprisoned by the west in unknown locations. They could be dead.

Fox News reports:

TEHRAN — Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday proposed a swap of Iranians in U.S. prisons for three American hikers being held in Tehran.

Ahmadinejad said in interview with state TV that there were ongoing negotiations about exchanging the hikers for several Iranians jailed for years in the United States.

“There are some talks under way to have an exchange, if it is possible,” he said. “Recently they (the U.S.) have sent messages, we answered to bring them (the Iranians), to bring these people (the hikers). We are hopeful that all prisoners will be released.”

Ahmadinejad did not mention any specifics but in December Iran released a list of 11 Iranians it says are being held in the U.S. — including a nuclear scientist who disappeared in Saudi Arabia and a former Defense Ministry official who vanished in Turkey. The list also includes an Iranian arrested in Canada on charges of trying to obtain nuclear technology.

“I had said I would help in releasing them, but the attitude of some of U.S. officials damages the job,” said Ahmadinejad. “There are a large number of Iranians in prison in the U.S. They have abducted some of our citizens in other countries.”

U.S. officials are denying that such negotiations are taking place:

“We have made clear that we would like the cases of all our missing and detained Americans citizens to be resolved,” National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said, naming the three hikers and three other Americans in Iran. “If President Ahmadinejad’s comments suggest that they are prepared to resolve these cases, we would welcome that step. But we have not entered into any discussion with Iran about an exchange.”

Iran’s foreign minister said in late December that the three would be tried in court, but he did not say when a trial would begin or what the three would be charged with other than to say they had “suspicious aims.” Earlier, the country’s chief prosecutor said they were accused of spying.

U.S. officials are, of course, dealing with Hamas’ and Hezbollah’s Iranian supervisors:

When the list of 11 Iranians came out State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said it appeared the Iranian government was trying to suggest some kind of equivalence between the hikers and Iranians that had left Iran.

“There really is no equivalence at all,” he said at the time.

Three of the Iranians on the list have been convicted or charged in public court proceedings in the United States. The circumstances surrounding some of the others are more mysterious.

Ahmadinejad Open to Exchange for Detained American Hikers

If any of the missing Iranians have actually defected to the west, their release to Iran would mean their deaths. If Iran sticks to their demands regardless of the unknown fates of the missing Iranians, the three hikers could be put to death.

Just to keep things mildly entertaining for the Iranian side, the Iranians are also stalling for time again in their nuclear ambitions by claiming that they are willing to soften their position on the matter of enriched uranium:

Iran also said it was ready to send its uranium abroad for further enrichment as requested by the UN.

Ahmadinejad said Iran would have no “problem” giving the West its low enriched uranium and taking it back several months later when it is enriched by 20%. The decision is a major shift in the Iranian position on the issue.

As Ahmadinejad suggests in state TV interview exchange for three US hikers jailed in Iran, indicates softened position on uranium deal

All this is happening mere days after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad strongly hinted in a speech that Iran controls the world:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a Tehran conference Saturday that whoever controls the Middle East controls the world, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

In a speech during a conference marking 30 years to the Islamic Revolution, Ahamdinejad reportedly implied that Iran is the top power in the Middle East. “Now the question is who has the last say in the Middle East? Well, of course, the answer is clear to every one,” Ahamdinejad said.

Ahmadinejad: Whoever controls the Mideast controls the world

As Carl in Jerusalem often says, “What could go wrong?”

(Don’t forget to vote in the Blogmocracy Awards! One vote per award, per day~ Voting ends Feb. 5)

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Posted in Ahmadinejad, Iran, Islamic Supremacism, Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism | 77 Comments »

Female Suicide Bombers…

by coldwarrior ( 153 Comments › )
Filed under Islamic Terrorism, Multiculturalism, Terrorism at February 2nd, 2010 - 10:00 am

This background was taken from wiki, it is accurate and is a good place to start this post.

Sunni Muslims, often referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h or Ahl as-Sunnah, are the largest denomination of Islam.

The word Sunni comes from the word sunnah, which means the teachings and actions or examples of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Therefore, the term “Sunni” refers to those who follow or maintain the sunnah of the prophet Muhammad. Another etymology proposed by some[who?] is that the word “sunni” comes from a movement “Am-ul-sunnah” started by Mu’awiya.

The Sunni believe that Muhammad did not specifically appoint a successor to lead the Muslim ummah (community) before his death, and after an initial period of confusion, a group of his most prominent companions gathered and elected Abu Bakr Siddique—Muhammad’s close friend and a father-in-law—as the first caliph of Islam. Sunni Muslims regard the first four caliphs—Abu Bakr, `Umar ibn al-Khattāb, Uthman Ibn Affan and Ali ibn Abu Talib—as “al-Khulafā’ur-Rāshidūn” or “The Rightly Guided Caliphs.” Sunnis also believe that the position of caliph may be democratically-chosen, but after the Rashidun, the position turned into a hereditary dynastic rule. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, there has never been another as widely-recognized caliph in the Muslim world.

Shia Islam (Arabic: شيعة‎ Shī‘ah, sometimes Shi’a or Shi’ite), is the second-largest denomination of Islam. Shia Muslims—though a minority in the Muslim world—constitute the majority of the populations in Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Iran, as well as a plurality in Iraq, Kuwait, and Lebanon.

In addition to believing in the authority of the Qur’an and teachings of the Muhammad, Shia believe that his family—the Ahl al-Bayt (the People of the House), including his descendants known as Imams—have special spiritual and political rule over the community[3] and believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, was the first of these Imams and was the rightful successor to Muhammad, and thus reject the legitimacy of the first three Rashidun caliphs.[4]

The use of a female suicide bomber in Iraq by the Sunni against the majority Shia (backed by Iran) during a high religious pilgrimage is not unique, the press is covering this as if this was the first time a female suicide bomber has been used. Females have been used over the past 20 years, the first was in Lebanon by secular members of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party in Southern Lebanon. It is impossible to pretend that Hezbollah had nothing to do with this given their operational control over that area in the 1980’s. They have occurred also in India, the Tamil Tigers used female suicide bombers to murder Prime Minister Ghandi. They have been used in Chechnya, Turkey (by the PPK), in Israel by the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s al Qaeda in Iraq. I do see a pattern here, the Iranian funding and training of these groups; that makes this aspect of suicide bombing primarily a Shia operation.

The advantages of using females is that they do not fit into the terrorist ‘profile’ and are often overlooked by security professionals. Modesty is also a factor, women are not searched, or even looked at in Muslim countries as thoroughly as men; women are often allowed to pass freely through the checkpoints. Combine this with a hajib, burqa, and the niqab and what you have is a concealed, invisible smart bomb.  ABC reported “last week alleged that American law-enforcement officials have been told to be on the lookout for female suicide bombers who may attempt to enter the United States. The network quoted one official saying that at least two such women are believed to be connected to Al Qaeda in Yemen and may have a non-Arab appearance and be traveling on Western passports.” The terrorists will never stop, they will continue to find ways to attack us.  Be prepared, In my opinion the next attack will have nothing to do with airplanes. All of the airport/airplane probes are a ruse to keep our attention away from other, now much easier to hit, targets. We can’t watch all of the malls, restaurants, schools, or other soft targets.

If women are used more frequently this means that the masculine chauvinistic Muslim ideals of jihad, martyrdom, and free pass to paradise and its rewards is not holding in the face of increased anti-terrorism efforts and more aggressive searches and profiles. The next step for the terrorists is that once the women are searched and countered, children will be used as suicide bombers next.

(Don’t forget to vote in the Blogmocracy Awards! One vote per award, per day~ Voting ends Feb. 5)

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Posted in Islamic Terrorism, Multiculturalism, Terrorism | 153 Comments »

Iran, J Street, and Obama

by Delectable ( 147 Comments › )
Filed under Ahmadinejad, Barack Obama, Iran, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Progressives, Tranzis at December 28th, 2009 - 3:00 pm

Firstly, I want to again write about Love and Licenses, playing at 45 Bleecker Street Theatre, New York, NY on January 6 at 8 pm! I know I am a hound, but I really believe in this production, and I would like to see it a success! Contact me at florenced2000 at gmail dot com for discounted tickets and to let me know if you are coming. We can have a Netizen party after the production!

Now onto the reason I am writing this post. I have been disturbed, for quite some time, about Trita Parsi. I have covered him and his connection to J Street, the Iranian regime, and Obama, numerous times. Just check out post one and two, for starters.

Trita Parsi is linked to both J Street and Obama. As I have previously shown, he spoke at J Street’s “Annual Gala.” In addition, NIAC, the organization Parsi is the president of (and which is considered a lobbying arm of the Iranian regime – which I documented in the two above articles), has a board member, John Limbert, who now is the “chief negotiator” with Iran, in Obama’s State Department. I also just found this well-researched article, in the Washington Times, which gives a background on the NIAC, and the extent to which it is a lobbying group of the Iranian regime. It is a must-read about the power-politics behind Trita Parsi and NIAC’s backroom diplomacy. It seems they actually modeled themselves after the very AIPAC they condemn!

Now that I have refreshed your recollection of what Parsi and NIAC is about, I have a new whopper for you, courtesy of Planet Iran, and which I previously missed somehow.

Parsi

Please read the whole article. Here is an excerpt.

Mr. Parsi, head of NIAC, stated that the policy of engagement was meant to further cooperation between the U.S. and Iran and further human rights as well as resolve the nuclear issue. Mr. Parsi specifically addressed the nuclear issue and claimed that there is a bright line between nuclear use of energy for civilian use and the issue of nuclear weapons. In addition, he asserted that the policy of the Obama administration to engage with Iran, even though it has failed for the past 8 weeks, needs more time.

When a student in the class pressured Mr. Parsi to explain this approach, she stated the following: “When it comes to the nuclear issue, there is not a bright line between nuclear weapons and civilian nuclear use. These two issues are parallel as the fissile waste gained from peaceful nuclear sites can be used to make a dirty bomb. Additionally, the steps to enrich uranium from which it is able to be used for civilian use to that which can be used for weapons is very small. So given that the civilian use of nuclear weapons grants a de facto eventual use of military capabilities, we (as in the United States and the International community) don’t have the luxury of time. In addition, Iran has been behaving in a North Korea style of agreeing to certain conditions and then later retreating, threatening to remove themselves from the NPT while buying the time needed to go ahead and eventually create a nuclear weapon anyway. So, the policy of engagement with the regime is a futile one given Iran’s present actions and past dealings. Essentially, the U.S. and the World doesn’t have the luxury of time when dealing with Iran and is risking delegitimizing the freedom movement in Iran by engaging with Ahmadeinjad, whom the people of Iran count as illegitimate. The Green Movement for democracy has spoken out against Ahmadenijad and by the United States engaging with the Iranian regime, it is legitimizing the government in power in complete disregard of the will of the Iranian people while gaining nothing in regards to the nuclear issue. The Iranian people themselves called out to Obama in the November 4thdemonstrations when they said “Obama ya ba mah ya ba una” <Obama either you’re with us or against us>. It is a failing policy that will gain nothing for the U.S. in terms of the nuclear issue and will only end up hurting the Iranian people and Green Movement.”

Then here is the juicy part:

At this point, the student noted that there will be a panel in which Mr. Akbar Atri [Delectable note: Atri is a true Iranian freedom fighter] himself will be speaking on a panel at Georgetown on Sunday and if Mr. Parsi would like to defend his position, which is in complete opposition to that of those who lead the Green Movement, that Mr. Parsi was more than welcome to come put his position forward. Mr. Parsi said he would be unable to attend and had no further comment on the issue.

In other words, Parsi essentially conceded that he is wrong!

The Iranian regime lobbyist cannot even defend what he is paid to defend!

This is all very important background, in light of Speranza’s coverage of the Iranian protests ongoing. It appears Iran is exploding again, and journalist Heather Robinson reports that Iran could go nuclear within a few weeks. Read this yourself.

Iraqi parliamentarian Mithal al-Alusi is warning that Iran is much closer to attaining nuclear capability than most sources, including the International Atomic Energy Agency and the US State Department, believe. In fact, he predicts the Iranians could have a nuclear capability – and may announce that they have it – as soon as next month.

“We are receiving information which says Iran is so close to producing an atom bomb,” Alusi said in an interview earlier this month, the latest in a series of interviews conducted since September. “All the international community, they don’t realize how close [the Iranians] are to the goal… The Iranians will surprise us one day [soon] and say, ‘We have it.’”

Conclusion: time is of the essence, and “sanctions,” which Obama (and J Street) have tried to block until recently, will thus have no effect. They will be too little, too late.

Obama just today issued a “statement” that “strongly condemned” the brutality ongoing in Iran. But this is far too little and far too late.

It certainly appears that the Trita Parsis and J Streets of the world have won, even as they cannot support their arguments in public. They have succeeded at inculcating themselves inside the Obama administration (including the “Antisemitism Czar” who is a J Street stoogie), and pushing back any serious talk of sanctions until it is too late. And now, the Iranian people are dying in the streets and no longer believe the USA supports them.

Assuming Heather Robinson’s source is right, Iran will be nuclear in a few months, as the USA dithers.

It is very dispiriting to live in these troubling times, but alas, I have not given up all hope. I still believe that a long-term change in culture is possible, and our only hope. And that is why I am so actively promoting Love and Licenses.

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Posted in Ahmadinejad, Barack Obama, Iran, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Progressives, Tranzis | 147 Comments »

Has Iran’s Supreme Leader Disappeared?

by Bob in Breckenridge ( 160 Comments › )
Filed under Democratic Party, Iran, Islamists, Leftists, Nuclear Weapons, Progressives, Racism at December 8th, 2009 - 2:00 pm

(Israelnationalnews.com) An underground Iranian activist has told Israel National News that the country’s highest official — Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei — was spirited to a “secret place” for his own safety and that the nation’s religious leaders are “scared.” The source – an activist in the global Iranian pro-democracy movement who is involved in assisting a group of some 30,000 students located in Tehran and several other major cities – said Khamenei has disappeared. It is the Supreme Leader who controls Iran’s foreign policy, and specifically its decisions regarding its nuclear development activities.

“I am told that Khamenei was taken to a secret place to monitor the situation and perhaps for his safety, and a helicopter was ready with a pilot in it to perhaps fly him out to Russia if the situation got out of hand,” the source told Israel National News on Tuesday. “I am also told that prominent clergy went to meet with him hoping to force him to show leniency…. [Our consensus] is that [the] mullahs are scared.”

Foreign journalists were once again banned, phone networks cut and Internet connections spotty at best as government forces tried to put the lid back on the growing unrest that again broke out during special observances on Monday.

The demonstrations, planned months in advance, were held on the nation’s annual observance of the deaths of three students during anti-American riots in 1953, a day known in Iran as “16 Azar” — December 7 on the secular calendar. It is a day that has “bitter memories for Iranians,” according to the activist, who explained that the Shah’s army had opened fire and killed students on that day.

Basij militia and police officers wielded batons and fired tear gas at demonstrators in Tehran who continue to protest what they contend was the rigged re-election in June of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They also accuse the government of silencing academic freedom.

“16 Azar” ceremonies were held in all universities across Kurdestan and the suburbs, according to an Iranian blogger who reported that some 700 protesters gathered at Kurdestan University alone, singing anti-government songs, waving signs (“Death to dictator”) and chanting slogans. At least 400 demonstrators did the same at Payam eh Noor University, as did a similar number at Sanandaj Azad University.

“Demonstrators’ spirits were high,” said the activist. “Frankly, I was nervous, since all communications systems were down, and [I was] afraid of a bloody massacre. But the turnout was great when [the] cities of Kerman, Shahr Kord and especially Esfahan came out en masse and confronted the Basij,” he related.

Basij ‘Very Very Sorry’ — or Not?
“Students and most people participating were emboldened since there was confusion among the military, secret service and Basij,” said the source. “Many Basij called [Persian-language] radio stations [outside Iran] over the phone and apologized to the people of Iran, crying for having beaten demonstrators under Khamenei’s orders,” he said. “They said that they were told demonstrators were anti-Islam and Western-paid troublemakers, but now they — the Basij — are finding out that they have been told a lie by the mullahs and were very, very sorry for beating their own countrymen.

Read the rest here

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Posted in Democratic Party, Iran, Islamists, Leftists, Nuclear Weapons, Progressives, Racism | 160 Comments »

What’s happening?

by m ( 252 Comments › )
Filed under Links, Open thread at December 5th, 2009 - 10:28 am

Iran warns Switzerland over minaret ban

Iran warned Switzerland on Saturday of “consequences” over a referendum banning the building of new mosque minarets and urged Bern not to enforce the ban, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The vote went “against the prestige of a country which claims to be an advocate of democracy and human rights,” Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told Swiss counterpart Micheline Calmy-Rey in a telephone call, quoted by IRNA.
[...]

IRNA said Switzerland’s ambassador in Tehran was summoned on Saturday before the foreign ministry, which protested against the minaret ban which was backed by more than 57% of voters who cast their ballot on November 29.

Calmy-Rey said the referendum was carried out against the will of the Swiss government, which would “use all its means to support Muslims rights,” the IRNA report added.

The referendum on a constitutional ban on minarets was proposed by a rightwing Swiss party and had not been expected to succeed.

Obama approval rating below 50 percent
ON A CNN POLL

Forty-eight percent of Americans questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. national survey released Friday said they approve of the job Obama is doing as president — a drop of 7 percentage points from a survey last month.

Obama Ignores ‘Climate-Gate’ in Revising Copenhagen Plans

The scandal has prompted calls for Obama from global warming skeptics to skip this month’s climate summit in Copenhagen — instead, the White House is doubling down on its commitment.

Russia turns to Israel for help in investigation into train bombing

And in case you missed it:

The Illegal-Settlements Myth – (link from Wrath-of-God)

NYT’s op-ed – The 9/11 of 1859 – (hattip to snork)

Few if any Americans today would question the justness of John Brown’s cause: the abolition of human bondage. But as the nation prepares to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who calls himself the architect of the 9/11 attacks, it may be worth pondering the parallels between John Brown’s raid in 1859 and Al Qaeda’s assault in 2001.

Yes, he said that. And it seems Bernadine Dohrn thinks she’s the 60’s equivilent:

Pro-violence abolitionist John Brown studied in NY

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — John Brown, the 19th-century abolitionist who advocated armed violence, is drawing a diverse crowd this week to study how his fight against slavery continues to play in America.
[...]

Organizers say the symposium, on Friday and Saturday, will examine the impact of Brown’s fight against slavery on America then and how it reverberates today. Speakers include Bernardine Dohrn, one of the best-known leaders of the 1960s radical group the Weather Underground; Maria Suarez, a Mexican immigrant who was virtually enslaved by a Southern California man after being lured to work for him in 1976; Russell Banks, author of the fictional Brown biography “Cloudsplitter”; and Alice Keesey Mecoy, a Brown descendant.
[...]

“We’re trying to get people to take a look at the use of violence in our country — why American culture uses violence to achieve an end,” Wikoff said.

Dohrn would be an expert at that.

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Posted in Links, Open thread | 252 Comments »

Feds move to seize 4 mosques, tower linked to Iran

by tqcincinnatus ( 223 Comments › )
Filed under Iran, Islamic Finance, Islamic Terrorism, Islamists at November 13th, 2009 - 5:00 am

The only question I have is, “What took them so long?”,

Federal prosecutors took steps Thursday to seize four U.S. mosques and a Fifth Avenue skyscraper owned by a nonprofit Muslim organization long suspected of being secretly controlled by the Iranian government.

In what could prove to be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, prosecutors filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets.

The assets include bank accounts; Islamic centers consisting of schools and mosques in New York City, Maryland, California and Houston; more than 100 acres in Virginia; and a 36-story glass office tower in New York.

Confiscating the properties would be a sharp blow against Iran, which has been accused by the U.S. government of bankrolling terrorism and trying to build a nuclear bomb.

A telephone call and e-mail to Iran’s U.N. Mission seeking comment were not immediately answered. Nor was a call to the Alavi Foundation.

It is extremely rare for U.S. law enforcement authorities to seize a house of worship, a step fraught with questions about the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

I know that this is news to many, but the First Amendment freedom of religion doesn’t protect funneling money to hostile foreign powers that are currently developing nuclear weapons.  Oh, and just so that we won’t forget what’s really important about this story, AP lays it out for us with….wait for it,

The action against the Shiite Muslim mosques is sure to inflame relations between the U.S. government and American Muslims, many of whom are fearful of a backlash after last week’s Fort Hood shooting rampage, blamed on a Muslim American major.

Sniffle. 

Oh, and did anyone else catch the “last week’s Fort Hood shooting rampage, blamed on a Muslim American major”?  Yeah, because Hasan could have just been walking to his car minding his own business when, by some silly freak accident, some invisible wacko shoots up a bunch of people, and happens to drop his gun directly into the major’s hands, thereby causing him to be blamed for the shooting rampage.   

I guess eyewitnesses and stuff don’t count for anything anymore.

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Posted in Iran, Islamic Finance, Islamic Terrorism, Islamists | 223 Comments »

Obama hires Iranian regime lobbyist for key State Department position

by Delectable ( 173 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Iran, Islamists, Jihad, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Progressives, Tranzis at November 10th, 2009 - 2:45 pm

This is simply unbelievable!

Dennis Ross used to have this position, until he left to go to the National Security Council. In any case, John Limbert will be the head Iran official in the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Limbert

And who is Mr. Limbert? Laura Rozen at Politico has some insights:

A former ambassador to Mauritania who speaks fluent Farsi, Limbert retired from a 33-year career with the Foreign Service in 2006 with the rank of Minister-Counselor. He is the recipient of the Department’s highest award, the Distinguished Service Award, as well as an Award for Valor for his more than a year as a hostage in Iran, months of it spent in solitary confinement. He has been teaching at the U.S. Naval Academy since 2006, and also served as president of the American Foreign Service Assocation (2003-2005). This year, he published a book through the US Institute of Peace, Negotiating with Tehran: Wrestling with the Ghosts of History — a subject that will come in handy in his new role in the Obama administration. (Here’s the Cliff Notes version.)

He spoke Wednesday at an event at the National Iranian American Council, of which he is on the advisory board, on the thirtieth anniversary of the hostage crisis, and was said to have had an unpublicized ceremony marking his new appointment at State on Thursday.

“He’s a wonderful choice, one of the most decent people I know and someone who has the best interests of the United States and Iran in mind,” said the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Karim Sadjadpour.

Let me break more of this down for you all, because it might be a bit hard to fully understand…

What we know thus far is this:

  1. Mr. Limbert spoke at and is on the board of the National Iranian American Council.
  2. Mr. Limbert was published by and affiliated with the US Institute of Peace.
  3. Mr. Limbert is being praised by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Karim Sadjadpour.
  4. Mr. Sadjadpour apparently believes that Mr. Limbert has the best interests “of the United States and Iran in mind.”

So let’s parse through this information, shall we?

First of all, our old friends, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC)! You may remember them from my posts about J Street, that progressive “pro-Israel, pro-peace” organization (which in reality is an anti-peace and anti-Israel organization). I wrote about Trita Parsi speaking at J Street, and how interesting it was that an Iranian lobbyist was speaking at J Street. Mr. Parsi is in fact in charge of NIAC. Here is a refresher link to re-introduce who Trita Parsi is, and how he is an official lobbyist for the Iranian regime. Yes – just so you did not get whiplash, NIAC and J Street are in fact connected!

So, just so we are fully understanding, that means that Mr. Limbert is on the Board of Directors of an organization, NIAC, that is an official lobbyist for the Iranian regime.

Now let’s go to the second link – the U.S. Institute of Peace. This sounds like a fabulous organization! Who doesn’t like peace? Yet check out this Daniel Pipes link, about how the U.S. Institute of Peace has been linked with Kamran Bohkari, a member of the Al-Muhajiroun (yes, a jihadist), that celebrated the “Magnificent 19″ hijackers. This same “institute” also funds pro-Hamas propaganda. (see IPT story here) This “institute” also was heavily involved in the Iraq Study Group, which called for selling Israel down the river in exchange for “PEACE, peace in our time!”

Mr. Limbert is involved with this “peace institute,” which he publishes his books through.

And now let’s examine the other source mentioned in Laura Rozen’s column, namely, Karim Sadjadpour, who praises Mr. Limbert. Who is Mr. Sadjadpour? Well, I dug up this little gem of a column in Haaretz, where he claims that Khamenei does not mean ill harm to Israel, and that an Israeli attack on Iran would only increase, not decrease, the threat from Iran. He also wrote a column decrying the Congressional vote declaring the Revolutionary Guard “terrorists,” and has repeatedly called for “engagement” with the bloodthirsty Iranian regime.

It thus should be no surprise that Mr. Sadjadpour also believes that Mr. Limbert has the best interests of the USA and Iran in mind. Hmm…very interesting. And how exactly could someone have both the best interests of the USA and Iran in mind? How exactly are American interests aligned with the bloodthirsty thugocracy of Iran?

So then we go full circle and ask…who is Mr. Limbert himself, beyond his associations?

Answer: he is someone who calls for ‘engagement’ with Tehran, even in light of their brutal suppression of democracy, and even calls for the U.S. to negotiate “without preconditions.”

He even called the U.S. the “puppet master” of Iran under the Shah, is married to an Iranian woman (who likely influences his views), and even advocates talks without dealing with the nuclear issue head-on, and with no time tables. Source. He proudly said as much at the NIAC (Iranian lobby in DC) conference, where he also said he was “agnostic” on whether Iran is seeking nukes. (!!!)

This is who Obama sees fit to give the head job at the State Department, in charge of “negotiations” with Tehran. Someone who, as the evidence shows so clearly, is associated with the Iranian regime lobby in Washington D.C., and someone whose friends apparently believe he will be pushing Iranian regime interests.

In case anyone has any doubts, it is quite clear where Obama stands with regards to Iran and so-called “engagement,” now that he has appointed Limbert, a man linked to the Iranian lobby, to such a sensitive position. It is all the more intriguing to see the J Street connection popping up yet again.

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Posted in Barack Obama, Iran, Islamists, Jihad, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Progressives, Tranzis | 173 Comments »

Israeli FM Lieberman: Islamists Use Democracy to Promote Hatred

by WrathofG-d ( 193 Comments › )
Filed under Anti-Jihad, Iran, Islamic Terrorism, Islamists, Israel, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Middle East, Political Correctness, Politics, Religion, Terrorism, World at November 10th, 2009 - 8:20 am

Even before he became the Foreign Minister of Israel, Avigdor Lieberman has been the whipping boy for the Left.  With a insatiable fervor, the MSM and other bastions of the International Left have taken every opportunity possible to slander him nearly constantly with every negative label possible, and otherwise use him to distance Israel from the International community.

I knew then, and I still believe now why that is:

He keeps telling them what they don’t want to hear: the truth!

(IsraelNN.com) Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told his hosts during an official visit to Denmark on Monday that Islamic fundamentalists in Europe are abusing European Union freedoms to promote Islamic supremacy and anti-Semitism.

“Radical Islamic elements are misusing the democratic tools granted to them by the European countries in order to agitate, aggravate and radicalize relations within and among these countries, at the same time increasing and encouraging anti-Semitic phenomena,” Lieberman said during a meeting with the Danish Minister of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs Birthe Rønn Hornbech…

…

While in Denmark, Foreign Minister Lieberman took part in dedicating a new memorial in honor of the country’s Jews who were deported to the Thereisenstadt concentration camp. He laid a wreath in memory of the victims and delivered remarks on behalf of the State of Israel. Lieberman noted that the people of Denmark risked their lives to save Jews who were to be sent to their deaths at the hands of the Nazis. For the nation’s collective resistance to Nazi anti-Semitism, “Denmark will always hold a special place in the history and in the hearts of the Jewish people,” he said.

Turning from the past to the present, Lieberman continued, “We are today again facing elements who threaten to destroy the Jews, not only those living in Israel. The Iranian regime is funding terrorist activity throughout the world and particularly against Jews. The State of Israel is responsible for all Jewish communities in the world, and all Jewish communities are responsible for the State of Israel. This cooperation is essential in order to halt this threat.”

Yet the danger is not to the Jews alone, the Foreign Minister emphasized, “The struggle against the Iranian threat is the greatest challenge that the democratic world faces today.”

{The Rest of The Article}

Avigdor Lieberman is everything that threatens the International Left’s grip on world affairs.  He is an unapologetic, proud Jew and Zionist, who is unafraid to stick his own neck out to ensure the security of his Country.  Even when it is unpopular and non-politically correct, he will unabashedly state any uncomfortable truth whether it be about the Islamist threat to Democracy in general, or the rampant disloyalty of the Israeli-Arabs/Muslims.

For this the Left has tried to destroy him.

-Previously Re:  Avigdor Lieberman

The Arab-Israel Conflict According To Avigdor Lieberman

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Posted in Anti-Jihad, Iran, Islamic Terrorism, Islamists, Israel, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Middle East, Political Correctness, Politics, Religion, Terrorism, World | 193 Comments »

Israeli Navy Captures Imperialist Vessel

by Rodan ( 124 Comments › )
Filed under Ahmadinejad, Hezballah, Iran, Islamic Invasion, Islamic Supremacism, Islamic Terrorism, Lebanon at November 4th, 2009 - 6:33 pm

In a daring operation backed by great intelligence, the Israeli Navy has captured an Iranian imperialist vessel on its way to Lebanon.  This ship was transporting weapons to the militant radicals:  from Iran.  The Israelis caught this ship and sent the aggressors a message.

Hundreds of tons of weaponry, the largest arms seizure in Israel’s history, were intercepted overnight Tuesday in a daring raid by Israeli naval commandos aboard a cargo ship sailing 100 nautical miles west of Israel.

The arms shipment was 10 times the size of the cache found on the Palestinian arms ship Karine A in 2002.

The cache was hidden inside shipping containers belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) which departed from the Badar Abbas Port in Iran some 10 days ago, were unloaded in the Egyptian port of Damietta and then loaded onto the Francop, a German vessel flying an Antiguan flag.

The operation had been in planning for several days and was dubbed “Four Species,” for the recent Succot holiday.

Read the rest.

I salute the Israelis and their resistance to colonial aggression. Hizb’Allah is a fanatical organization that occupies, and has a choke hold over the once free nation of Lebanon.  Now it is just another colony for the Islamo-Imperialists. Israel is their target, so their seizing of the ship is an act of  survival.

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Posted in Ahmadinejad, Hezballah, Iran, Islamic Invasion, Islamic Supremacism, Islamic Terrorism, Lebanon | 124 Comments »

Monday Links

by m ( 220 Comments › )
Filed under Links, Open thread at October 12th, 2009 - 11:15 am

Kuwaiti women MPs refuse to wear hijab in parliament

In Kuwait, the issue has arisen as part of a campaign by Dr Dashti, one of the country’s leading economists as well as a women’s rights activist and politician, against what she regards as unconstitutional implementation of sharia. As with all four women MPs, she has a doctorate from the United States.

When electoral law was changed in 2005 to allow women in Kuwait to vote and stand for parliament, Islamists inserted a law-minute rider that “women as voters and MPs” would have to follow sharia. It did not specify precisely where or how.

Three Islamist MPs immediately protested when Dr Dashti and a second MP, Aseel Al-Awadhi, turned up at the Assembly without a hijab, the simple head-scarf that covers the hair and is compulsory for women in public in Saudi Arabia and Iran but optional across most Gulf nations.

One MP sought a ruling from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, whose “fatwa department” last week decreed that hijab was an obligation for Muslim women, without referring directly to the electoral law.

Uighurs sentenced to death over China’s deadliest riots which killed 200

Four Sudanese to hang for murder of U.S. official

“Under Islamic sharia and Sudanese law, all religions, nationalities and ethnicities are considered equal,” the judge said.

Defendant Mohaned Osman shouted: “This sentence is not credible,” and said America had murdered Muslims.

Victim’s parents help with Iran execution: report

“There were a lot of efforts put in to bring about reconciliation in this case, but they proved to be ineffective and Behnoud’s retribution verdict was carried out this morning,” Fars News Agency quoted Jaffarzadeh as saying.

ISNA news agency said, without giving a source or details: “The father and mother of Ehsan Nasrollahi acted themselves in implementing the punishment at Evin prison.”

Iran defiant as three more given death penalty over election protests

Gore upbeat on climate bill

In what organizers said was a rarity, Gore took half a dozen questions from journalists, including one from Phelim McAleer, an Irish filmmaker who asked Gore to address nine errors in his film identified by a British court in 2007.

Gore responded that the court ruling supported the showing of his film in British schools. When McAleer tried to debate further, his microphone was cut off by the moderators.

SILENCE! He keeel you. (thanks to Irish Ho for the link)

Actually, goracle…

A judge was asked to adjudicate between Stewart Dimmock and the Department of Children, Schools and Families. Mr Justice Burton ruled that the film could be sent to schools, but only if it was accompanied by new guidlines to balance the former US vice-president’s “one-sided” views

The judge said some of the errors were made in “the context of alarmism and exaggeration” in order to support Mr Gore’s thesis on global warming.

—–

And of course…


kim
N.Korea Test-Fires 5 Short-Range Missiles

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Posted in Links, Open thread | 220 Comments »

Iran to ‘blow up the heart of Israel’ if attacked

by bar ( 171 Comments › )
Filed under Ahmadinejad, Iran, Middle East, Terrorism at October 10th, 2009 - 1:12 pm

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – A top official with Iran’s most powerful military force—the Revolutionary Guard—says Tehran will “blow up the heart of Israel” if the Jewish state or the United States attacked Iran.

Cleric Mojtaba Zolnour, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s representative in the Guard, says that if a single U.S. or Israeli missile lands in Iran, Iranian missiles will hit Israel before the dust settles.

Zolnour’s remarks were carried Friday by the state IRNA news agency.

Anti-Israeli stance is common for the hardline Guard, and President Mahmoud Ahmadienjad has often called for Israel’s destruction.

But Zolnour appears to be ratcheting up the rhetoric ahead of the next round of talks with the West this month over Iran’s controversial uranium enrichment.

Via breitbart

Well I guess Israel should not attack them, then.
/

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Posted in Ahmadinejad, Iran, Middle East, Terrorism | 171 Comments »

Iran conducts missile test, Israel prepares to attack.

by bar ( 254 Comments › )
Filed under Ahmadinejad, Iran, Islamists, Israel, Middle East, Military, Nuclear Weapons at September 28th, 2009 - 10:49 am

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran said it successfully completed two days of missile tests that including launching its longest-range missiles on Monday, weapons capable of carrying a warhead and striking Israel, U.S. military bases in the Middle East, and parts of Europe.

State television said the powerful Revolutionary Guard, which controls Iran’s missile program, successfully tested upgraded versions of the medium-range Shahab-3 and Sajjil missiles with can fly up to 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers). It was the third and final round of missile tests in two days of drills by the Guard.

—————————————————

SAUDIS WILL LET ISRAEL BOMB IRAN NUCLEAR SITE

The head of MI6 discussed the issue in London with Mossad chief Meir Dagan and Saudi officials after British intelligence officers helped to uncover the plant, in the side of a mountain near the ancient city of Qom.

The site is seen as a major threat by Tel Aviv and Riyadh. Details of the talks emerged after John Bolton, America’s former UN ambassador, told a meeting of intelligence analysts that “Riyadh certainly approves” of Israel’s use of Saudi airspace.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband acknowledged that the danger of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East was “particularly potent” and refused to rule out military action altogether but he insisted: “We are 100 per cent focused on a diplomatic solution.”

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Posted in Ahmadinejad, Iran, Islamists, Israel, Middle East, Military, Nuclear Weapons | 254 Comments »

Take Action Against Ahmadinejad!

by WrathofG-d ( 109 Comments › )
Filed under Ahmadinejad, Iran, Terrorism, World at September 23rd, 2009 - 7:56 am

Act Now 2
















Only a few days ago Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the imbecile from Iran, denied the Holocaust, and restated his goal to wipe Israel off the map.  Unfortunately, this was only the latest in a long line of disgusting behavior, and calls for genocide.

Now is our time to take to the streets to let him, and the world know that we will not stand for it!  We cannot personally “take him out”, but we can make sure that our Government, and the World know how we feel.  Do your part to stop Iran!  We cannot be silent!

Join a Demonstration in your area and Stand Up For Freedom and Peace

LOS ANGELES:
Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Time: 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Location: The Federal Building on Wilshire and Veteran

NEW YORK:
Date: Thursday, September 24, 2009
Time: 12 p.m. (noon)
Location: Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47th Street and 2nd Avenue, New York, NY

WASHINGTON DC:
Date: Thursday, September 24, 2009
Time: 12 p.m. (noon)
Location: Farragut Square Park, 17th and K Streets

DETROIT:
Date: Thursday, September 24, 2009
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Location: Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus
28123 Orchard Lake Road, Farmington Hills, MI 48334-3738

ST. LOUIS:
Stand for Freedom in Iran Rally
Date: Thursday, September 24, 2009
Time: 12 p.m. (noon)
Location: Jewish Federation, 12 Millstone Campus Dr., St. Louis, MO, 63146

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Posted in Ahmadinejad, Iran, Terrorism, World | 109 Comments »

Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela To Go Nuclear

by WrathofG-d ( 186 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Iran, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, United Nations, Venezuela, World at September 16th, 2009 - 10:07 am

Undoubtedly a result of the fecklessness of the Obama Administration, and the UN in response to Iran’s moving forward toward nuclear weapons, Hugo Chavez has decided to begin working on becoming a nuclear power himself.

The connections between Venezuela and Iran are well documented, and it seems that we are now finally seeing the fruits of our ignoring them.

It is all being underwritten by Russia (of course).

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/chavez_ahmadinejad_iran_hug.jpg http://static.indianexpress.com/m-images/2009-04-18/M_Id_72338_obama_chavez_meet.jpg















CARACAS, Venezuela —  Hugo Chavez wants to join the nuclear energy club and is looking to Russia for help in getting started.

The Venezuelan leader is already dismissing critics’ concerns over his nuclear ambitions, offering assurances his aims are peaceful and that Venezuela will simply be following in the footsteps of other South American nations using nuclear energy.

Yet his project remains in its planning stages and still faces a host of practical hurdles, likely requiring billions of dollars, as well as technology and expertise that Venezuela lacks.

Russia has offered to help bridge that gap, and Chavez has announced that the two countries have created an atomic energy commission.

“I say it before the world: Venezuela is going to start the process of developing nuclear energy, but we’re not going to make an atomic bomb, so don’t be bothering us afterward … (with) something like what they have against Iran,” Chavez said Sunday.

The socialist president is closely allied with Iran and defends its nuclear program while the U.S. and other countries accuse Tehran of having a secret nuclear weapons program.

Does this “we are doing it just for peaceful purposes” sound familiar?

Oh, don’t worry; the Obama Administration responded:

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly on Monday expressed misgivings about Venezuela’s nuclear ambitions. Responding to a reporter’s question about whether the United States would be worried about nuclear transfers between Iran and Venezuela, Kelly said: “The short answer is, to that, yes, we do have concerns.”

Kelly noted that Venezuela is a signatory of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which would restrict any nuclear program to nonmilitary purposes.

{The Article}

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Posted in Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Iran, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, United Nations, Venezuela, World | 186 Comments »

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