[osint] Horowitz: The McGovern syndrome: A surrender is not a peace
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/davidhorowitz/dh20041227.shtml The McGovern syndrome: A surrender is not a peace David Horowitz December 27, 2004 On Christmas Day, former U.S. senator and Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern wrote a letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Times (and probably many other papers) calling for an American surrender in Iraq. George McGovern has not been in the headlines for three decades, and his name consequently may be unfamiliar to many. But no one has had a greater or more baleful impact on the Democratic Party and its electoral fortunes than this progressive product of the South Dakota plains. The leftward slide of the Democratic Party, which has made it an uncertain trumpet in matters of war and peace, may be said to have begun with the McGovern presidential campaign of 1972, whose slogan was American come home - as though America was the problem and not the aggression of the Communist bloc. The McGovern campaign drew in the rank and file of the anti-Vietnam Left, much like the anti-Cold War Henry Wallace Progressive Party campaign of 1948 and the Howard Dean anti-Iraq campaign of 2004. McGovern himself was a veteran of the Wallace campaign and, virtually all the leaders of the anti-Iraq movement, including most of the Democratic Party leaders who supported it, are veterans of the anti-Vietnam campaign. I have lived this history as both spectator and actor. My parents were Communists, and my first political march was a Communist Party May Day parade in 1948 supporting the presidential campaign of Henry Wallace and the Progressive Party against the Cold War - which meant against America's effort to contain Communism and prevent Stalin's regime from expanding its empire into Western Europe. Our chant was this: One, two, three, four, we don't want another war/Five, six, seven, eight, win with Wallace in '48. This campaign was the seed of the antiwar movement of Vietnam, and thus of the political Left's influence over the post-Vietnam foreign policy of the Democratic Party. The Wallace campaign marked an exodus of the anti-American Left from the Democratic Party; the movement that opposed America's war in Vietnam marked its return. As a post-graduate student at Berkeley in the early Sixties, I was one of the organizers of the first demonstration against the war in Vietnam. It was 1962, and the organizers of this demonstration as of all the major anti-Vietnam demonstrations (and those against the Iraq war as well) were a Marxist and a leftist, respectively. The organizers of the movement against the war in Vietnam were activists who thought the Communists were liberating Vietnam in the same way Michael Moore thinks Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is liberating Iraq. In 1968, Tom Hayden and the antiwar Left incited a riot at the Democratic Party convention which effectively ended the presidential hopes of the Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey. (Humphrey, who was Lyndon Johnson's vice president, was a supporter of the war.) This paved the way for George McGovern's failed presidential run against the war in 1972. The following year, President Nixon signed a truce in Vietnam and withdrew American troops. His goal was peace with honor, which meant denying a Communist victory in South Vietnam. The truce was an uneasy one depending on a credible American threat to resume hostilities if the Communists violated the truce. Three years earlier, Nixon had signaled an end to the draft, and the massive national antiwar demonstrations had drawn to a halt. But a vanguard of activists continued the war against America's support for the anti-Communist war effort in Vietnam. Among them were John Kerry, Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden. They held a war crimes tribunal, condemning America's role in Vietnam, and conducted a campaign to persuade the Democrats in Congress to cut all aid to South Vietnam and Cambodia, thus opening the door for a Communist conquest. When Nixon was forced to resign after Watergate, the Democratic congress cut the aid as their first legislative act. They did this in January 1975. In April, the Cambodian and South Vietnamese regimes fell. The events that followed this retreat in Indochina have been all but forgotten by the Left, which has never learned the lessons of Vietnam, but instead has invoked the retreat itself as an inspiration and guide for its political opposition to the war in Iraq. Along with leading Democrats like Democratic Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe, George McGovern called for an American retreat from Iraq even before a government could be established to assure the country will not fall prey to the Saddamist remnants and Islamic terrorists: I did not want any Americans to risk their lives in Iraq. We should bring home those who are there. Explained McGovern: Once we left Vietnam and quit bombing its people they became friends and trading partners.[1] Actually, that is not what happened. Four months after the Democrats cut off aid
[osint] Gun control doesn't reduce crime, violence, say studies
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42167 WEAPONS OF CHOICE Gun control doesn't reduce crime, violence, say studies National Academy of Sciences, Justice Dept. reports find no benefits to restricting ownership of firearms Posted: December 30, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern C 2004 WorldNetDaily.com WASHINGTON - While it is an article of faith among gun-control proponents that government restrictions on firearms reduces violence and crime, two new U.S. studies could find no evidence to support such a conclusion. The National Academy of Sciences issued a 328-page report based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, a survey of 80 different gun-control laws and some of its own independent study. In short, the panel could find no link between restrictions on gun ownership and lower rates of crime, firearms violence or even accidents with guns. The panel was established during the Clinton administration and all but one of its members were known to favor gun control. Policy questions related to gun ownership and proposals for gun control touch on some of the most contentious issues in American politics: Should regulations restrict who may possess firearms? Should there be restrictions on the number or types of guns that can be purchased? Should safety locks be required? These and many related policy questions cannot be answered definitively because of large gaps in the existing science base, said Charles F. Wellford, professor in the department of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Maryland and chairman of the committee that wrote the report. However, the National Research Council http://www.nrc.edu/ decided even more thorough research on the topic is needed. Many studies linking guns to suicide and criminal violence produce conflicting conclusions, have statistical flaws and often do not show whether gun ownership results in certain outcomes, the report said. A serious limit in such analyses is the lack of good data on who owns firearms and on individual encounters with violence, according to the study. The report noted that many schools have programs intended to prevent gun violence. However, it added, some studies suggest that children's curiosity and teenagers' attraction to risk make them resistant to the programs or that the projects actually increase the appeal of guns. Few of these programs, the report concludes, have been adequately evaluated. The report calls for the development of a National Violent Death Reporting System and a National Incident-Based Reporting System to begin collecting data. The study by the Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy of Science, was sponsored by the National Institute of Justice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Joyce Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. While more research is always helpful, the notion that we have learned nothing flies in the face of common sense, said John Lott, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a critic of gun-control laws. The NAS panel should have concluded as the existing research has: Gun control doesn't help. Meanwhile, a study released by the Justice Department suggesting background checks at gun shows would do little to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals. The study noted the number of criminals who obtained guns from retail outlets was dwarfed by the number of those who picked up their arms through means other than legal purchases. The report was the result of interviews with more than 18,000 state and federal inmates conducted nationwide. It found that nearly 80 percent of those interviewed got their guns from friends or family members, or on the street through illegal purchases. Less than 9 percent were bought at retail outlets and only seven- tenths of 1 percent came from gun shows. The Justice Department's interviews also showed so-called assault weapons are not a major cause of gun violence. Only about 8 percent of the inmates used one of the models covered in the now-expired assault weapons ban, signed into law by the Clinton administration in 1994. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it
[osint] Terrorist Arrested in Jeddah After Shootout
Terrorist Arrested in Jeddah After Shootout Rasheed Abou-Alsamh, Arab News - Arab News (Jedda) Thursday, 30, December, 2004 (19, Dhul Qa`dah, 1425) JEDDAH, 30 December 2004 - Security forces arrested a suspected member of a deviant group here yesterday, the Interior Ministry said. It was referring to suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists who have killed more than 100 people and wounded hundreds more since launching a wave of bombing and shooting attacks in May 2003. The man arrested in Jeddah was wounded while resisting security forces and attempting to flee, the ministry said. Eyewitnesses who were passing the scene of the shootout yesterday at 9:30 a.m. told Arab News that they saw the clearly wounded militant lying on the ground in the parking lot of a shop on the northbound lane of Madinah Road near the Radisson Plaza Hotel. A plainclothes security agent was seen standing over him with a rifle, while another agent stood nearby in a bloodstained thobe. A uniformed policeman was also seen approaching the scene. It was frightening to see such a sight on my way to work, said one Saudi eyewitness, who asked for anonymity. At first I thought it was an accident, but when I saw the guns I knew it was something else. The dramatic shootout was apparently over in minutes, with shopkeepers in the area saying they didn't notice anything taking place. But the fact that it occurred during rush hour in such a densely populated central business district could frighten residents. It seems that we are at risk from being swept-up in a shootout between fleeing militants and security forces at any time now and at any place, said the Saudi eyewitness. It's really frightening. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1section=0article=56765d=30m=12y=2004 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] The Mythic Foundations of Radical Islam
The Mythic Foundations of Radical Islam by John Calvert Orbis, Winter 2004 John Calvert is assistant professor of history at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Mankind today is on the brink of a precipice, not because of the danger of complete annihilation which is hanging over its head- this being just a symptom and not the real disease- but because humanity is devoid of those vital values for its healthy development and real progress. Even Western scholars realize that their civilization is unable to present healthy values for the guidance of mankind and does not possess anything to satisfy its own conscience or justify its existence.1 These are the words of the Egyptian Islamist ideologue Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966), taken from his 1964 treatise Maalim fi al-Tariq (Milestones), which is to the Islamist movement what Lenin's What is to be Done? was to Marxism. In this passage Qutb expresses one of the most enduring themes in radical Islamist discourse: that the Western-dominated world order is in the grip of spiritual decline and decadence. He goes on to explain why only Islam, properly understood, is in a position to remedy this. According to Qutb, the crass materialism and selfish individualism of the current age are features not only of Western secular societies, but also of ostensibly Muslim nations such as Egypt. True Muslims, he writes, have an obligation to challenge this global decadence and restore the full sovereignty of God over every area of life. Qutb argued for a vanguard of believers to spearhead a revolt against the powers that be, thus releasing man from servitude so that he could serve God alone.2 Beyond vague references to the imperative use of power, Qutb was not precise as to the form this jihad should take. His execution at the hands of Egypt's Abd al-Nasir regime in 1966 precluded his elaborating on this point. But there was no doubt in the minds of many who were inspired by his vision of the Islamic imperative3 that it required immediate and violent confrontation with the forces of state. Throughout the 1980s and '90s, underground organizations such as Egypt's Jamaa Islamiyya and Islamic Jihad, of which Al Qaeda lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahiri was a member, drew upon Qutb's radical thought to justify attacks against leading members of the Egyptian political establishment. Islamic Jihad assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981, and in 1995 militants made an attempt on the life of President Hosni Mubarak. Over those same years, radical Islamist groups with Qutbian-style maximal agendas emerged in other countries, including Algeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia. These and other manifestations of radical Islam were equally influenced by local conditions and a variety of religious traditions (for instance, Saudi Arabian Wahhabism), but all responded to Qutb's exhortation to challenge forcefully the Western hegemonic order in the name of true Islam. Qutb had provided the ideological template of contemporary radical Islam, which would be taken up by Al Qaeda's al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden, as well as Abdallah Azzam, bin Laden's Palestinian mentor. The core concepts of radical Islamist dissent constitute a political myth of Islam's rebirth as a vital force in world affairs, to be attained by confrontation with the West. Composed of simplistic images that speak to the despair and alienation felt by many Muslims, as well as to their hope for the future, the myth addresses the fundamental malaise of modern Islam, the sense that something has gone wrong with Islamic history.4 Not only does this myth function to mobilize activists in support of Islamic resurgence, it can also provide the necessary justification for acts of terror. As British journalist Fergal Keane observes: To be capable of sustaining a savage war against the enemy, to be able to subject him and his loved ones to a relentless campaign of terror- a war in which the normal rules, the concept of a 'warrior's honour' are abandoned- it is necessary to narrow the mind, make it subject to a very limited range of ideas and influences.5 At this mythic level, radical Islam shares points of similarity with political opposition movements of other times and places, including most notably the secular nationalist movements, which likewise call for collective reassertion. Keane cites the IRA gunmen of the 1920s, whose political consciousness and willingness to adopt political violence were shaped by the vision of a reborn Ireland, but other examples could equally be cited, including the Revisionist Zionist movement in British-mandate Palestine and the various articulations of Arab nationalism, such as Baathism. These movements differ on a multitude of points, including their commitment to direct action, but all share the underlying premise of community regeneration through struggle. To be sure, radical Islam differs from secular nationalism in its affirmation of the metaphysical
[osint] Rethinking American History, Completely
http://mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1706 Rethinking American History, Completely by David Gordon [Posted December 29, 2004] The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. By Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Regnery Publishing, 2004. Xv + 270 pgs. Thomas Woods' superb new book has already achieved fame as the first Austrian-inspired book to be on the New York Times bestseller list in many years. It also delivers much more than it promises. Woods offers his book as a guide to those who find the standard narrative or the typical textbook unpersuasive or ideologically biased (p. xiv). This suggests that Woods has principally students in mind as his audience; but many others will benefit from reading the book. Woods displays a remarkably broad knowledge of the latest specialized research on various episodes of American history. This permits him, again and again, to raise illuminating points that will instruct even knowledgeable readers. The book is no mere compilation of surprising facts. Woods has rather organized his account around a central theme. Americans have, from the colonial period to the present, flourished so long as they lived in a free economy, accompanied by a government strictly limited in powers. But throughout much of our history, the efforts of Americans to live freely have confronted a formidable enemy: the Leviathan state. Woods shows that the federal government, far from being the protector of the rights of minorities, has been the main obstacle on the path to liberty. But, one might object to this account, was not the American settlement conceived in sin? How can one say that Americans always sought to live freely when the earliest Puritan settlers began their free society by theft of Indian lands? Woods meets this initial challenge head on. The Puritans did not steal from the Indians: they bought land from various tribes, in willing and beneficial exchange. [W]hile the king had issued colonial land grants, the Puritan consensus . . . was that the king's charter conferred political and not propertyrights to the land, which Puritan settlers sought by means of voluntary cession from the Indians. The colonial government actually punished individuals who made unauthorized acquisitions of Indian lands ( p. 8, emphasis in original). The American colonists, as they developed a free society, realized that a strong central government threatened their achievements. Once they gained independence, they were not about to surrender the freedom that they had won from the British to a new despotism. Woods ably brings out that although the supporters of the Constitution were the centralizing party, as opposed to the more prescient Antifederalists who warned of the possible dangers of the new regime, even they sought to restrain national authority. In this connection, Woods emphasizes the Tenth Amendment, which guaranteed the states' rights to self-government . . . Since the states existed prior to federal government, they were the source of whatever power the federal government had (p. 26). All well and good in theory: but how could the federal government be kept within strict limits? To rely on checks and balances, Woods insightfully comments, does not suffice: to think otherwise is to rely on the federal government to police itself. Jefferson and his followers argued that the states had the right to nullify laws they deemed unconstitutional. If a state resisted in this way, the operation of the disputed law would be suspended in the state, pending a resolution of the matter by a conference of the states. By no means was this theory an invention of Southern firebrands, anxious at all costs to cement slavery in place. Though the nullifications of 1798 did not find favor with the Northern states at the time, they used the unmistakable language of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 when nullifying the fugitive slave laws (p. 39). The politically correct historians who are the objects of Woods' assault would here interpose an objection. Were not states' rights the key to the defense of slavery? How without a strong central government could slavery have been ended? Woods easily turns aside this counterargument. The Civil War-as he points out, not a genuine civil war since the South did not wish to replace the national government-was not fought to end slavery: Lincoln rather aimed to consolidate national power. In opposing Lincoln's dictatorship, the South defended the cause of liberty, a fact that was not lost on the great classical liberal Lord Acton. In a letter of 1866 to Robert E. Lee, Acton said that he saw in States' rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction but as the redemption of Democracy (p. 74). In the pursuit of their centralizing mission, the Northern armies shocked European historians by their assaults on civilians. Woods, illustrating his excellent command of the historical literature,
[osint] Police blamed for intelligence failures
http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:4kG1g2RpHTIJ:www.thejakartapost.com/det ailnational.asp%3Ffileid%3D20041223.C04%26irec%3D3+Police+Blamed+for+Intelli gence+Failures http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:4kG1g2RpHTIJ:www.thejakartapost.com/de tailnational.asp%3Ffileid%3D20041223.C04%26irec%3D3+Police+Blamed+for+Intell igence+Failureshl=en hl=en Police blamed for intelligence failures Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post Public enemy No. 1 and bombing fugitive Azahari bin Husin had worked undetected in a building near the Australian Embassy to plan the Sept. 9 attack, a top police officer said on Wednesday. Speaking at a round table seminar on police intelligence, National Police detective chief Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung said that police investigations had found the Malaysian bomb expert had been working for a company in the area as part of his plot to attack the embassy. Azahari, who was already on the police wanted list at the time, was working in the building after the Bali bombings but before the JW Marriott Hotel attack in 2003. However, Suyitno would not reveal exactly when Azahari started work at the company. He also declined to identify the company. Police Watch chairman Rashid Lubis blamed the police's intelligence failure on its overconfidence following its separation from the military in 2000. The police should have obtained this information before the Embassy bombing, Rashid said. Their inability to capture Malaysian fugitives Azahari and Noordin Moh. Top after more than two years of hunting was partly attributable to the poor performance of the police intelligence unit, he said. After the separation, there has been less communication and coordination between the intelligence units in the police and the military, Rashid said. Azahari and Noordin have been top on the list of the police's most-wanted since the Bali bombings that claimed 202 lives on Oct. 12, 2002. The search for the two Malaysian bomb-makers intensified after the JW Marriott Hotel blast in Jakarta last year. The police were on their tail, narrowly missing them in house searches in Bandung earlier this year but investigations after the Australian Embassy blast indicated both were still active. The attack came just after the police antiterror unit had sought help from a convicted Bali bomber in their efforts to locate the pair. The police have put up a Rp 1 billion (US$111,111) reward for information that leads to the capture of either man. Police had earlier found that Azahari had been regularly visiting Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta to give lectures in physics between 1998 and 2000. He was entitled to give lecture in UGM because he graduated from a top university in England, majoring in physics, Suyitno said. Rashid suggested that the police boost cooperation with the military intelligence to trace materials used to make bombs that exploded outside the Australian Embassy. Basically, it is a matter of lack of coordination and cooperation between state intelligence agencies, Rashid said. He also called on the police to improve internal communication to avoid unnecessary mistakes as happened when a police officer later realized he had mistakenly stopped and let free Azahari for traffic violations the afternoon after the morning attack. On top of these problems, the police lacked quality human resources and technology to capture the suspects, Rashid said. Military intelligence received better education and operate better equipment than the police intelligence, Rashid said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in
[osint] Terror: 'Low-level but chronic'
http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20041229-122750-5620r ANALYSIS: Terror: 'Low-level but chronic' By Richard Sale UPI Terrorism Correspondent Published December 29, 2004 WASHINGTON -- With the arrest of high-profile al-Qaida leaders, the terror organization has become more loosely decentralized and its capabilities have been somewhat degraded, according to half a dozen serving and former U.S. intelligence officials. That's the good news. The bad news is that with so many al-Qaida and other like-minded jihadi cells embedded in so many countries, Western intelligence services face a new problem: a growing al-Qaida membership which will mount attacks on soft targets that can come with no advance warning, conducted by terrorists not currently being tracked by Western intelligence services, these sources said. What this means is that the attacks are now being conducted by cells whose members are below everyone's radar, said former CIA counterterrorism chief, Vince Cannistraro. We don't know they're there until they hit us. His conclusion? Terror will be low level but chronic. A good example is the Dec. 7 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, according to these sources. A heavily fortified, hard target, al-Qaida-associated terrorists managed to enter the compound and kill five Saudi security guards and all four attackers were killed. Two Americans were slightly wounded according to a former senior CIA official. Rachel Bronson, Middle East expert on the Council on Foreign Relations saw the attack as a threat to the stability of Saudi Arabia, and further evidence of U.S. vulnerability. Noting that the attack was brazen and in daylight, she said: It's incredible, that in spite of all the Saudi crackdowns on militant groups, al-Qaida was able to do careful planning and keep the consulate under surveillance without being detected. What does that tell other terrorists? But Stephen Franke, a former U.S. Army terrorism expert and UNSCOM weapons inspector, said that the attack essentially failed: The target was Americans, but none of them were killed. Franke found the terrorist face to face shoot out with security force, macho but dumb. If the attackers had wanted to succeed, they would have used improvised stand-off weapons like improvised bazookas to blast down walls, he said. But a former senior CIA Middle East operative agreed with Bronson: As the Arab world sees it -- Islamic warriors went and attacked the American nest of vipers on the Red Sea. In other words, don't underestimate the encouraging impact of the attack on the Arab world. According to several veteran U.S. intelligence analysts, American relations with the Arab world could not be worse. Former senior CIA analyst Stan Bedlington said, This administration simply doesn't understand the impression its policies make on the Muslim world. An al-Qaida expert, Rohan Gunaratna, said, Ordinary Muslims view the West through the prism of anti-Americanism. He said that 61 percent of Muslims polled in nine countries, including Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, and Pakistan, among others, denied Arabs were involved in the Sept. 11 attacks. Only 7 percent said that Western countries are fair in their perceptions of Muslim countries, he said. Last year in Iraq, a series of major U.S. blunders managed to revitalize a disheveled a -Qaida because of policies that emphasized hunting down insurgents rather then protecting the population and gaining its allegiance, according to Pat Lang, former DIA chief of Mideast operations. The security situation in Iraq is a disaster, and it's of our own creating, former senior CIA Mideast analyst Stan Bedlington said. We should never have gone in -- anti-Americanism is the galvanizing cry for almost all the ethnic and political groups in Ira-Q. We are seen as an occupier. He added: When the British tried to democratize the Iraqis in the 1920s, the British bombed the tribes, and everything turned to failure. No Arab country is democratic, period. Alexis Debat, a former official of the French Ministry of Defense, said in The National Interest said: The Iraq war has not up to now constituted a step forward in the War on Terror. Quite the contrary, it has complicated efforts the global efforts begun well before 9/11 to disrupt and destroy jihadi networks throughout the Middle East and beyond, and he condemned the Pentagon's blind ambition. He also said: Not only has al-Qaida taken terrorism beyond its initial function as a vehicle for resistance, it has turned it into a global instrument by which to challenge not only Western influence in the Muslim world but the West itself. A former very senior CIA official said there has been a strict division of labor between the Iraqi resistance and foreign jiadhi fighters, the latter
[osint] Former Russian Security Officer Jailed for Spying for Estonia
http://mosnews.com/news/2004/12/14/estoniaspy.shtml Former Russian Security Officer Jailed for Spying for Estonia Created: 14.12.2004 03:54 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 11:14 MSK http://mosnews.com/files/5902/spy.jpg MosNews The Moscow District Military Court sentenced a former official of the Federal Security Service (FSB) on Tuesday to 10 years in prison for spying for Estonia. Igor Vyalkov was found guilty of high treason. The court also ruled to strip him of his rank of lieutenant-colonel, ITAR-TASS news agency reported. The former FSB official had also been charged with illegally crossing the border, but was not found guilty of the charge because of the termination of the limitation statute (five years). The investigation found that Vyalkov had delivered secret information to Estonian intelligence for financial gain in 2001-2002. He was detained at the end of 2002. Vyalkov's case was considered by a military judge. Former FSB offical Mikhail Trepashkin was convicted this year of revealing state secrets and sentenced to four years in prison. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Terrorism Goes to Sea
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/previews/4437/20041101faessay83606/gal-luft-an %20ne-korin/terrorism-goes-to-sea.html?mode=print Foreign Affairs Article Terrorism Goes to Sea By Anne Korin, Gal Luft Foreign Affairs ( November/December 2004 ) Summary: The number of pirate attacks worldwide has tripled in the past decade, and new evidence suggests that piracy is becoming a key tactic of terrorist groups. In light of al Qaeda's professed aim of targeting weak links in the global economy, this new nexus is a serious threat: most of the world's oil and gas is shipped through pirate-infested waters. Gal Luft is Executive Director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS). Anne Korin is Director of Policy and Strategic Planning at IAGS and Editor of Energy Security. A NEW NEXUS Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, security experts have frequently invoked a 200-year-old model to guide leaders contending with the threat of Islamist terrorism: the war on piracy. In the first years of the nineteenth century, Mediterranean pirates, with the support of the Barbary states of northern Africa, would capture merchant ships and hold their crews for ransom. In response, the United States launched the Barbary wars, the first successful effort by the young republic to protect its citizens from a ruthless, unconventional enemy by fighting a protracted struggle overseas. Such experts, however, fail to realize that the popular perception that the international community has eliminated sea piracy is far from true. Not only has piracy never been eradicated, but the number of pirate attacks on ships has also tripled in the past decade-putting piracy at its highest level in modern history. And contrary to the stereotype, today's pirates are often trained fighters aboard speedboats equipped with satellite phones and global positioning systems and armed with automatic weapons, antitank missiles, and grenades. Most disturbingly, the scourges of piracy and terrorism are increasingly intertwined: piracy on the high seas is becoming a key tactic of terrorist groups. Unlike the pirates of old, whose sole objective was quick commercial gain, many of today's pirates are maritime terrorists with an ideological bent and a broad political agenda. This nexus of piracy and terrorism is especially dangerous for energy markets: most of the world's oil and gas is shipped through the world's most piracy-infested waters. ROUGH WATERS Water covers almost three-quarters of the globe and is home to roughly 50,000 large ships, which carry 80 percent of the world's traded cargo. The sea has always been an anarchic domain. Unlike land and air, it is barely policed, even today. Since many shipping companies do not report incidents of piracy, for fear of raising their insurance premiums and prompting protracted, time-consuming investigations, the precise extent of piracy is unknown. But statistics from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), a piracy watchdog, suggest that both the frequency and the violence of acts of piracy have increased in recent years. In 2003, ship owners reported 445 attacks, in which 92 seafarers were killed or reported missing and 359 were assaulted and taken hostage. (Ships were hijacked in 19 of these cases and boarded in 311.) From 2002 to 2003, the number of those killed and taken hostage in attacks nearly doubled. Pirates have also increased their tactical sophistication, often surrounding a target ship with several boats and firing machine guns and antitank missiles to force it to stop. As Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan recently warned, piracy is entering a new phase; recent attacks have been conducted with almost military precision. The perpetrators are well-trained, have well laid out plans. The total damage caused by piracy-due to losses of ships and cargo and to rising insurance costs-now amounts to $16 billion per year. Many pirates, especially those in eastern Asia, belong to organized crime syndicates comprising corrupt officials, port workers, hired thugs, and businessmen who dispose of the booty. Grossly underpaid maritime security personnel have also begun to enter the business; many are complicit, and some are actively involved, in attacks. Pirates and Islamist terrorist groups have long operated in the same areas, including the Arabian Sea, the South China Sea, and in waters off the coast of western Africa. Now, in the face of massive international efforts to freeze their finances, terrorist groups have come to view piracy as a potentially rich source of funding. This appeal is particularly apparent in the Strait of Malacca, the 500-mile corridor separating Indonesia and Malaysia, where 42 percent of pirate attacks took place in 2003. According to Indonesia's state intelligence agency, detained senior members of Jemaah Islamiyah, the al Qaeda-linked Indonesian terrorist group, have
[osint] Radical Islam and LNG in Trinidad and Tobago
http://www.iags.org/n1115045.htm Radical Islam and LNG in Trinidad and Tobago Over the past several years, maritime attacks have become more violent, more frequent and clearly more organized. It is believed that militant groups, particularly in South East Asia, are practicing hijacking ships for their possible use as weapons. Of all types of vessels oil and chemical tankers are perhaps the most attractive targets for terrorists. These vessels are manned by smaller crews and loaded with volatile substances that could potentially cause significant damage. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) attacks against tankers are growing at an alarming rate. While all eyes are placed on the area surrounding the Malacca Straits, the world oil bottleneck, and on the Indonesian coast off Aceh, very little attention is placed on the U.S. underbelly of the Caribbean and the softer targets in the region closest to America's back yard: Trinidad, Venezuela and the Bahamas. These Caribbean countries are among the short list of natural gas producing countries and liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) exporters. Trinidad and Tobago alone account for 80% (1st quarter 2004) of all U.S. LNG imports, up from 68% in 2002. Therefore, any incident involving an LNG tanker along the Caribbean routes could harm not only U.S. energy security but also the economies of the Caribbean islands, affecting tourism and other industries. LNG and Tanker Terrorism U.S. Department of Energy figures paint a bleak picture for U.S. dependence on imported energy in the coming decades. Existing well heads in the U.S. are being depleted while demand for natural gas is expected to rise 2% a year. Imports from Canada, whose own energy demand is increasing, are projected to pick up some of the burden. But Canada's gas demand is growing faster than expected, also due to the gas intensive process of converting tar sands to crude oil, and thus its ability to export gas to the U.S. is being diminished. The U.S. will therefore be required to import more of its gas in LNG form from Nigeria, Sao Tome, Trinidad, Venezuela and the Persian Gulf. Today 2% of total gas usage in the U.S. is derived from LNG. By 2010 this figure is likely to grow to 10%. LNG terminals and tankers present potential targets for terrorists. In the pre-9/11 world LNG tankers were considered among the safest ships at sea. These tankers are still as safe as is possible for a vessel of this nature today. But this statement is only valid if one pre-supposes that terrorists do not want an easily attainable weapon of mass destruction. The potential for mass casualty maritime suicide terrorism has changed our perceptions of safety at sea especially when it comes to lean crewed LNG tankers and other PCG (Petro/chemical/gas) and ships. With maritime terrorists currently combing the world for ways to make their message reach as wide an audience as possible, LNG tankers could be their perfect mass casualty weapon. Islamic fundamentalism in Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago is a beautiful country in the Southern part of the Caribbean. It is in fact the southernmost of the Caribbean islands and the last island before Venezuela. It is one of the most affluent of the Caribbean islands with, for several years, the highest foreign direct investment per capita in the entire western hemisphere except for Canada. The home of tourism, steel band, calypso and carnival is unfortunately also the home of one of the first attempts at violently establishing a modern Islamic extremist state in the region after the attempted Islamic coup in July 1990. 15% of the island's population is Muslim. The group responsible, Jama'at al Muslimeen under the control of Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, is alive and thriving in Trinidad. Congressional testimony of Major General Gary D. Speer, Acting Commander in Chief U.S. Southern Command to the House Appropriations Committee on International Relations, Subcommittee on Foreign Operations in April 2002 stated: The recent bombing outside the U.S Embassy in Peru preceding President Bush's visit is indicative that other domestic terrorist groups pose threats to the United States elsewhere in the hemisphere. These include, but are not limited to, the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) and Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) in Peru and the Jama'at al Muslimeen (JAM) in Trinidad and Tobago. Other groups active on the island are Waajihatul Islaamiyyah (The Islamic Front) and the Jamaat al Murabiteen. The Waajihatul Islaamiyyah group openly supports Osama Bin Laden, al Qaeda and Jemmah Islamiyyah, the organization behind the Bali beachfront bombing that killed close to 200 people. It has issued statements that it intends to set up an Islamic state and described itself as a revolutionary ideological movement. Their press releases include the following statements: With our weapons we are going reach you. We will reach you where you sleep, we
[osint] OBSERVATIONS ON EUROPE, 2004
OBSERVATIONS ON EUROPE, 2004 Dr. Sam Holliday (Draft of 5 Dec 04) During 2004 I observed some disturbing changed in the Europe I remember from when I first lived in Germany and Italy during the 1950s. During the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s the changes I observed in Western Europe were mostly economic; there were only minor attitudinal differences between Americans and Europeans that would impact foreign policy considerations. Probably this was because Cold War threats made collective security appealing. However, while living for six weeks in Prague, Budapest, Zurich, the Netherlands, Belgium, and England during 2004 I observed significant attitudinal difference between Americans and Europeans on foreign policy issues. My observations are not based on polls or studies, and they lack the documentation of political science. They are my opinions. They are generalizations that have many exceptions, but they describe the current situation in Europe-as I saw it. Also, I am not alone. Jacques Barzum, Samuel Huntington, Francis Fukuyama, and Bernard Lewis have all noted similar trends and patterns. Attitudes That Shape Foreign Policy Europeans like Americans, American pop culture, and American things. They do not like American foreign policy. They consider it imperialistic. They claim President Bush is a cowboy that does not understand the nuances of international relations. He puts them off by his confident style. They believe the United States is prone to action and the use of force, rather than to negotiation and the use of diplomacy-because Americans lack historical perspective and have not suffered from war. They believe America has exaggerated the threat from Islamists. However, many of the Europeans political and intellectual elites reject American foreign policy because of envy and arrogance. They envy the military power of the U.S, and think they are more civilized. However, they are not willing to do what is necessary to regain their former glory and power. And, partially the rejection is a reflection of the cynicism, hedonism and lack of will of the European people. In some respects the attitudes noted are those of Hawks and Doves. The Hawk sees an enduring struggle between good and evil. The Hawk considers power and force essential to the achievement of stability, and stability a prerequisite for peace. The Hawk is a risk taker. The European elites consider President Bush a Hawk. On the other hand, the Dove believes that power and force are evil and should not be used to resolve disagreements. The Dove believes that all disputes should be resolved through dialogue, compromise, and the rule of law-and this is the only way to achieve peace. The Dove is a risk avoider. Many Americans consider European leaders Doves. That there will be debates between Hawks and Doves on the use of force is to be expected-such debates are eternal. Nevertheless, such debates tell much about a country. The Hawks prevail during the building stages of any polity, when national interests determine foreign policy decisions. Decline begins when there is a shift to an emphasis on comprise, caution, delay, collective security, and supranational organizations. In the final stage of decline the Doves shape foreign policy decisions. European Union Europeans are undecided about an ever-closer union under the European Union. Much of the current power of the EU is the result of what the elites have called technical changes that were done without the approval of the people. If popular consensus had been required these changes would not have been possible. Conformity to directives from Brussels is at odds with the growing diversity of views of the people. They increasingly long for their traditional national convictions. The states of old Europe (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia, etc.) are in decline. The nation-states that were built in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries are now either in the contentment or decay stages in the life cycle of political entities. They are no longer nations, which could have been symbolized by different loaves of bread (many ingredients blended into something unique-with a crust). They have become multicultural countries of individuals and factions seeking and enjoying the good life. Today they can be symbolized by antipastos (separate ingredients together, but not one). The states of the new Europe (Ireland, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, etc.) are still in the building stages of the historically inevitable cycle, yet their elites share many of the views of the elites of old Europe. Therefore, it is unlikely that these countries will survive as strong, purposeful nation-states. The political and intellectual elites in Europe are no longer interested in building nation-states. They want either a united Europe or world government. Some want the European Union to become a counterbalance to the U.S. in world affairs. Others want the United Nations to replace national sovereignty.
[osint] Remember Kosovo?
http://www.aim.org/media_monitor/2393_0_2_0_C/ Remember Kosovo? By Cliff Kincaid | December 28, 2004 Clinton's policy was not to bomb those terrorists but to support them and bomb the Christian Serbs. AIM put together a list of the most underreported or buried stories of 2004, and one of them was the resurgence of anti-Serb, anti-Christian violence in Kosovo. Dozens were killed and more Christian churches were destroyed there. Kosovo got some attention near the end of the year when newspapers covered the fact that a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the KLA, became prime minister in a new Kosovo-based government. A story in the Washington Post, back on page 18, noted that he has been accused of war atrocities and may be indicted. Here's the rest of the story. Clinton's 1999 NATO war in Kosovo was illegal under U.S. and international law. The U.S. Congress never voted for it and the U.N. never endorsed it. There was no claim that Yugoslavia had weapons of mass destruction or had ties to terrorist groups. Instead, Clinton had the U.S. intervene on behalf of the terrorists, operating in Kosovo under the banner of the KLA. They had links to Osama bin Laden. In fact, it is reported that the KLA's head of elite forces, Muhammed al-Zawahiri, was the brother of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the military commander for bin Laden's Al Qaeda. After the war, the KLA was transformed into the police force for Kosovo. Clinton's policy was not to bomb those terrorists but to support them and bomb the Christian Serbs. It should be no surprise that the anti-Serb and anti-Christian violence has continued. If this is the first time that you have heard the Clinton policy described in these terms, it is because you believed all of the propaganda about how the Serbs were supposedly engaging in the mass slaughter of the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, and how NATO and the U.S. intervened to stop it. In fact, this was a civil war in Yugoslavia that cost a couple thousand lives. It was a bloody conflict but nothing of such a magnitude that it affected U.S. national security. What was depicted as ethnic cleansing by the Serbs was a reaction to the infiltration of Kosovo by Albanians who are mostly Muslims and want to make the province into an independent state. There was violence on both sides. Europe, which would rather appease than confront the Muslim grab for political power, had a problem. Their solution was to have Clinton accommodate the Europeans by using U.S. and NATO military power to intervene on behalf of the Muslims in Kosovo. It was done. Clinton complied with the European demands. Now we are on the verge of helping create a Muslim state in the heart of Europe. This new Kosovo Prime Minister has been indicted in Serbia on 108 counts of war crimes committed by his troops against Serb civilians, as well as other offenses. Columnist Nebojsa Malic said those additional offenses include child rape, torture, multiple murders, abduction and terrorism. But he is also facing a possible indictment from the U.N. itself. The U.N.'s war crime tribunal, created in the aftermath of the Kosovo war, has already questioned him as part of an investigation into war crimes. What a mess. But don't expect the media to blame Clinton for it, even though in this case in the war against global Islamic terrorism, Clinton had the U.S. intervene on the wrong side. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your
[osint] Islamic Africans fatten their daughters
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0%2C%2CSB110428585970011783-IJjgoNnlaF3m 52mbXmIb66Jm4%2C00.html Eating Disorder New Obesity Boom In Arab Countries Has Old Ancestry Western Habits Fueled Weight Of Women Prized for Size; Some Girls Are Force-Fed Ms. Mohammed Tries a Diet By GAUTAM NAIK Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL December 29, 2004; Page A1 NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania -- Jidat Mint Ethmane grew up in a nomad family in this impoverished nation in the western Sahara. When she was 8, she says, her mother began to force-feed her. Ms. Ethmane says she was required to consume a gallon of milk in the morning, plus couscous. She ate milk and porridge for lunch. She was awoken at midnight and given several more pints of milk, followed by a pre-breakfast feeding at 6 a.m. If she threw up, she says, her mother forced her to eat the vomit. Stretch marks appeared on her body and the skin on her upper arms and thighs tore under the pressure. If she balked at the feedings, her mother would squeeze her toes between two wooden sticks until the pain was unbearable. I would devour as much as possible, says Ms. Ethmane. I resembled a mattress. Today, Ms. Ethmane, 38 years old, is slender because her family ran out of money to continue the force-feeding technique, known as gavage. The term stems from the French word for the process used to force-feed geese to make foie gras. Yet in a recent interview in her family's one-room house, Ms. Ethmane says she still believes in the practice. Beauty is more important than health, she says. Her husband, Brahim, agrees: It is thin women who are not healthy. The belief that rotund women are more desirable as wives helps explain why much of the Arab world -- which stretches from the Persian Gulf in the east to Mauritania in North Africa -- is experiencing an explosion of obesity. About half of women in the Middle East are overweight or obese, according to the United Nations' World Health Organization. In some communities, many of which were nomadic until a few decades ago, oil wealth has dramatically improved living standards. The resulting urbanization has introduced some Western habits: high consumption of sugar, fat and processed foods and more sedentary lifestyles. In Bahrain, 83% of women are obese or overweight, according to International Obesity Task Force, a London-based think tank that tries to persuade countries to tackle the problem. In the United Arab Emirates the figure is 74%; in Lebanon it is 75%, the groups says. By comparison, about 62% of American women are overweight or obese. The prevalence of childhood obesity in the Middle East has risen rapidly in recent years and diabetes is spreading across the region, according to WHO. Even predominantly Arab North African countries without oil wealth are wrestling with the challenge, in part because of a traditional preference for larger women. Half of all women in Tunisia and Morocco are overweight or obese -- two standard measures of a person's weight -- according to a 2001 study published in the U.S.-based Journal of Nutrition. We thought obesity was restricted to resource-rich countries, but it's also being reported in poor stratas, says Kunal Bagchi, a Cairo-based nutrition expert for WHO. Mauritania is the only nation today where force-feeding of girls is systematically practiced, mostly in rural areas. Efforts by women's groups and the government to stamp it out have largely been ignored. In a land that suffers from a constant shortage of food, plump women are assumed to be both wealthy and more likely to bear healthy children. It has long been totally acceptable for women to be not just rotund, but voluminous, says Philip James, chairman of the International Obesity Task Force. After years of not acknowledging the health problems associated with obesity, Arab governments are now growing concerned about their financial impact. Obesity and associated illnesses, such as diabetes, account for an increasingly large share of the Middle East's total health costs, according to the International Obesity Task Force. In early December, representatives from WHO, the U.N.'s Food and Agricultural Organization and about 20 Middle Eastern and North African states met in Cairo for the first time to develop dietary guidelines that take into consideration local eating habits. One nutritionist noted than an anti-obesity plan would have to take into account the region's preference for rotund women, according to Jaffar Hussain, a Cairo-based WHO medical officer, who attended the meeting. He says country representatives decided to study the issue and report back in at least six months. In few places is the clash between culture and health more pressing than in Mauritania, a predominantly Arab nation of three million people. Mauritania borders Algeria, Mali, Senegal and Western Sahara and is roughly the size of France, from which it won independence in
[osint] Riyadh Attack Was First Al Qaeda Attempt on Life of Saudi Royal - Prince Mohammed bin Nayef
Riyadh Attack Was First Al Qaeda Attempt on Life of Saudi Royal - Prince Mohammed bin Nayef DEBKAfile Exclusive Report 30 December, 2004: The night in Riyadh was torn Wednesday, December 29, by three huge explosions not just the two officially confirmed. They were followed by long bursts of gunfire in northern and eastern Riyadh. DEBKAfiles exclusive counter-terror sources reveal that the blasts from three remote-controlled car bombs were part of an al Qaeda attempt on the life of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdelaziz, son of the Saudi interior minister, who is also his deputy and director of the ministrys security unit which runs the war on terror. This was the first attempt by Osama bin Ladens organization to assassinate a member of the Saudi royal family. It is a pivotal event in that it sharply escalates the terrorist offensive besetting the kingdom and raises the stakes on both sides. By targeting interior minister Prince Nayefs son, the terrorists declared open warfare on the minister who had been trying for the past year to maintain a dialogue with the Saudi cell through his connections in the clergy. According to our sources, Saudi cell leader Saud bin Hamoud al-Uteibi marked out the Nayef family after concluding that the interchanges the minister initiated were not on the level but an effort to plant his agents inside the terror cell and break it up from within. Had the assassination plot against Prince Mohammed succeeded, a major upheaval would have ensued destabilizing not only in the oil kingdom but sending tremors around the Arab and Muslim Middle East as well. The balance of Americas war on Qaeda would have been affected and the ceiling lifted on oil prices. The sharp 4% rise in oil prices in response to first news flash on the attempted murder was but an augury of the upsets to come. According to DEBKAfiles counter terror sources, the first of the three blasts occurred at 20:35 local time in a traffic tunnel in the town center through which Prince Mohammeds convoy drove to his office. Al Qaeda operatives had spied on him and detonated the bomb car in the opposite lane as the princes car drove past. Because of the heavy Saudi news blackout, it cannot be established for sure if his five bodyguards were killed or injured. Mohammed was on his way to a nocturnal conference with Saudi security and intelligence chiefs on the next stage of the crackdown on terrorists. Al Qaeda was in possession of the highly classified information on the time and place of the conference, the fact that Mohammed would be there to preside, and the route he would take to get there. This information also enabled the planners of the attack to prepare back-up plans in case Mohammed survived the tunnel blast. The second bomb car was therefore detonated, again by remote control, at the reinforced gates of the high-rise interior ministry building, while raining automatic fire on the entrance and parking lot. They hoped this second attempt would nail the prince as he stepped out of his car. It was this blast that rocked the interior ministry building in the Murabaa district, shattered windows in the nearby post office, shops and post office and damaged cars. But again their victim escaped. Half an hour later and 8 km away, a third car blew up at the Saudi special forces recruiting center, the royal houses primary armed force fighting al Qaeda terror. This time, two suicide bombers with bomb belts began hurling their explosives-laden car towards the gates, only to be repulsed by fierce fire from the guards. Although the car blew up short of the gates, it carried enough explosives to kill or injure a dozen Saudi officers inside the building. The third failed attempt to murder Prince Mohammed drew likewise on information on the most secret contingency plans to send senior royals and their families to secure shelters if their lives were threatened. Mohammeds protected hideout was to be the special forces recruiting center. Al Qaeda knew enough to waylay him there. But again, their prey, suspecting his security plans had been blown, eluded his assassins. Later, Saudi security forces pursued the terrorists through the city. They killed seven in gunfights and sustained an unspecified number of casualties themselves. http://debka.com/ _ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/taglines/security/*http:/promotions.yahoo.co m/new_mail/static/protection.html Mail - You care about security. So do we. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor
[osint] French ex-hostage says Iraq kidnappers linked to Al Qaeda
This falls into the Well, dh Category! Bruce French ex-hostage says Iraq kidnappers linked to Al Qaeda (Reuters) 30 December 2004 DUBAI - A French hostage who was released last week after four months in Iraq said his kidnappers grouped militants linked to Al Qaeda and former members of ousted president Saddam Hussein's ruling party. Journalist Christian Chesnot told Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in an interview published on Thursday the men who were guarding him and fellow French journalist Georges Malbrunot included fundamentalists and former Baath officials. The two were kidnapped by a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq. They returned home on December 21. The group, as far as we understood, was made up of former Baathists, including the body guard of the personal secretary of Saddam Hussein, Chesnot was quoted as saying. In addition, there are also youths who told us they had been trained in Afghanistan on making explosives and who referred to (Al Qaeda leader) Osama bin Laden as Sheikh Osama. Sunni Muslim militants such as the Islamic Army in Iraq have staged several suicide bombings in Iraq and taken many Westerners hostage. The most violent group has been that of Al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi acknowledged by bin Laden as the network's leader in Iraq. The United States, whose army led the 2003 war that toppled Saddam, has repeatedly said ex-members of the largely secular Baath Party members were involved in the insurgency in Iraq and that they are working with militant groups -- their former foes. Chesnot said their guards had told him that the Islamic Army in Iraq had between 15,000 to 17,000 fighters. Where is the truth, where is the publicity, I don't know, he added. Chesnot, 37, works for Radio France Internationale while Malbrunot, 41, is a Le Figaro reporter. They said they were not mistreated during their captivity. Both journalists are Arabic speakers who have long worked in the Middle East. Last year, they published a book on Saddam's rule entitled L'Irak de Saddam Hussein: portrait total (Saddam Hussein's Iraq, A Complete Portrait). The men were kidnapped along with their Syrian driver on Aug. 20 as they drove to Najaf from Baghdad. Their kidnappers demanded France repeal a ban on Muslim headscarves in state schools, but Paris rejected the demand. Their captors have taken other Westerners hostage, including Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni, who was killed on Aug. 26. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2004/D ecember/focusoniraq_December245.xmlsection=focusoniraqcol= Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Crimes of the KLA: Command responsibility of Ramush Haradinaj
http://www.kosovo.com/ramush.html Crimes of the KLA: Command responsibility of Ramush Haradinaj Massacre in the village of his birth The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo was the commander of the district where several dozens of non-Albanians were killed in 1998 By Jelena BJELICA The village of Glodjane is located in Metohija, approximately seven kilometers from Decani and about 20 kilometers from the border with Albania. Glodjane is a purely ethnic Albanian village. In its immediate proximity in the village of Dubrava, at the beginning of which is a house belonging to the only non-Albanian family in the ten or so surrounding villages, some 100 meters from the last house in Glodjane, belonging to Eljmija Haradinaj. The Haradinaj family has been quite involved in crimes against Serbs. The commander The local Albanians say that everything began when a police patrol leaving from Glodjane tried to stop and obtain the identification cards two young men, Rasim Selmanaj, an activist of the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo, and another young man whose name is not mentioned. According to another version of the story, the police opened fire on Rasim and the other young man when they refused to stop. According to the official report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) of Serbia, on March 24, 1998 at 10:45 a.m., an armed terrorist attack was carried out against a police patrol in the village of Dubrava, Decani municipality, Kosovo and Metohija., it is stated in the report of the Humanitarian Rights Foundation (Fond za humanitarna prava - FHP) from May 1998. On that day, as confirmed by a KLA statement from May 1998, during a successful operation against the occupier near Glodjane, fighters Gazmend and Agron Mehmetaj and Him Haradinaj were killed. The police withdrew from the village at about 8:00 o'clock in the evening. After these clashes, the Kosovo Liberation Army established control points at the entrance and exit from the village and took control of it. At the beginning of the same year, Ramush Haradinaj returned permanently from Switzerland to Kosovo and joined this Albanian paramilitary formation. His brother Daut was one of the key people of the KLA, responsible for its organization in the Metohija district. Daut was one of three members of the KLA who appeared for the first time in public in the village of Drenica at the funeral of a teacher killed by the Serbian police. At that funeral, he gave a speech in which he stated that the KLA officially exists. At the beginning of April, the command headquarters of the KLA, under the command of Hashim Thaci, appointed Ramush Haradinaj commander of the Metohija region. Haradinaj's headquarters was located in Glodjane, where he was born, according to the book Stories of War and Freedom by Bardah Hamzaj, the deputy editor-in-chief of the Pristina daily Zeri, prepared in the format of a dialog with Ramush Haradinaj. The crimes Not knowing that his father had been taken from his house, on the morning of April 22, 1998, Novak Stijovic headed for the village of Pozar with the intent of accompanying his father to Decani. Stanisa Radosevic and his mother Rosa went with him in search of Slobodan Radosevic (the father) who one day earlier had decided to remain in the village of Dasinovac with Milica and Milos Radunovic and look after his property after the KLA took control of the village. In the village of Pozar, they were stopped by a group of armed Albanians. In a statement made for FHP, Novak said: There were about 30 of them; we recognized them. They pointed guns at us. They searched us and said that they had to take us to the headquarters in Glodjane. One of them held a gun pointed at my head. On the road to Rznici, there were 50-60 armed civilians every 50 meters; from Rznici to Glodjane, everyone was in uniform. All three were released later that same day but they were not allowed to go to Dasinovac to get Slobodan. Almost all citizens who were stopped on any of the local roads in spring of 1998 were taken to the headquarters in Glodjane. In the headquarters in Glodjane, members of the KLA applied well-known methods. They took us to the headquarters in the house of Nasim Haradinaj, abandoned back in 1990; we had heard that the owners were living in Sweden, said Mijat Stojanovic in a statement for FHP. Stojanovic is the owner of the only non-Albanian house in Dubrava; on April 18 he was arrested in his house, together with his brother Dragoslav and cousin Veselin Stijovic, and they were taken to the headquarters. We were forced to lie down on concrete. First they took Dragoslav into a small room where there were two chairs. There were two soldiers there and a third who interrogated him. Nemonaj Zici, whom I knew from before, ordered me to remove my clothes. Two of them beat me with clubs and rifle butts. This lasted approximately 40 minutes. The lake In the general area of the village of Glodjane in the first half of September 1998 at
[osint] The story of Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen--from the KGB's point of view.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110006088 OpinionJournal WSJ Online BOOKSHELF The Man Who Stole the Secrets The story of Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen--from the KGB's point of view. BY EDWARD JAY EPSTEIN Thursday, December 30, 2004 12:01 a.m. EST Recently a number of former CIA officers received an invitation from the Spy Museum in Washington to attend a luncheon for former KGB Col. Victor Cherkashin. The event, as the invitation said, would afford a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dine and dish with an extraordinary spymaster. In the heyday of the Cold War, such an offer, delivered with slightly more discretion, might have been the prelude to a KGB recruitment operation. Now it's merely the notice for a book party celebrating yet another memoir by a former KGB officer recounting how the KGB duped the CIA. In this case, there is a great deal to tell. Victor Cherkashin served in the KGB from 1952, when Stalin was still in power, until the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991. During most of that time his mission was to organize KGB operations aimed at undermining the integrity, confidence and morale of the CIA. He seems to have been good at his job. His big opportunity came when he was the deputy KGB chief at the Soviet Embassy in Washington between 1979 and 1985. Those years were the height of a ferocious spy war within the Cold War. In Spy Handler, Mr. Cherkashin describes in detail how he helped convert two American counterintelligence officers--one well-placed in the CIA's Soviet Russia Division, the other in the FBI--into moles. Their names are notorious now, but over the course of a decade Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen operated with anonymous stealth, compromising most of the CIA's and FBI's espionage efforts in the Soviet Union. But that wasn't the end of Mr. Cherkashin's glory. Returning to Moscow, he helped run dangle operations in which KGB-controlled diplomats feigned a willingness to be recruited by their American counterparts, only to hand over disinformation when they were finally recruited. Thus when the CIA came around to investigating why its agents were being compromised in Russia, the KGB sent the CIA a disinformation agent, for example, to paint false tracks away from its moles. This agent--Mr. X--offered to betray the Soviet Union for $5,000. When the CIA snapped up the bait, Mr. X pointed it to its own secret communication center in Warrenton, Va., falsely claiming that the KGB was electronically intercepting data from its computers. The purpose, of course, was to divert the agency away from the mole, who continued betraying CIA secrets for eight more years. Told from the KGB's vantage point, Mr. Cherkashin's story provides a gripping account of its successes in the spy war. He shows Mr. Hanssen to have been an easily managed and highly productive penetration who operated via the unusual tradecraft of dead drops, leaving material at designated locations where it could be transferred without spy and handler ever meeting. (Indeed, the KGB never knew Mr. Hanssen's identity.) Mr. Ames, for his part, was a more complex case, since he had come under suspicion and the KGB had to concern itself with throwing the CIA off his trail. That America's counterespionage apparatus allowed both men to operate as long as they did is a testament to its complacency as much as to the KGB's cleverness. And indeed, Mr. Cherkashin skillfully torments his former adversary, the CIA, by attributing a large part of the KGB's success to the incompetence of the CIA leadership, or its madness. He asserts, in particular, that the CIA had been all but paralyzed by the paranoia of James Jesus Angleton, the CIA's longtime counterintelligence chief, who suspected that the KGB had planted a mole in the CIA's Soviet Russia division. Mr. Cherkashin is right that Mr. Angleton's concern retarded, if not paralyzed, CIA operations in Russia. After all, if the CIA was indeed vulnerable to KGB penetration, as Mr. Angleton believed, it had to assume that its agents in Russia would be compromised and used for disinformation. This suspicion would recommend a certain caution or tentativeness, to say the least. Mr. Cherkashin's taunt about Mr. Angleton's paranoia echoed what was said by Mr. Angleton's critics in the CIA, who resented his influence, believing that polygraph tests and other security measures immunized the CIA against such long-term penetration. But of course Mr. Angleton was right, too. On Feb. 21, 1994, Mr. Ames, the CIA officer who had served in the Soviet Russia division, was arrested by the FBI. He confessed that he had been a KGB mole for almost a decade and had provided the KGB with secrets that compromised more than 100 CIA operations in Russia. Mr. Hanssen was caught seven years later. Since Mr. Cherkashin had managed the recruitment of Mr. Ames and helped with that of Mr. Hanssen, his accusation that Mr. Angleton was paranoid for suspecting the possibility of a mole has the
[osint] Soros foundation charged in Kazakhstan with tax evasion
Soros, of course, spent $12.8 million in the United States in the past year to get Kerry elected. The main recipients of Soros's contributions are two liberal 527s, MoveOn.org and America Coming Together (ACT) which campaigned heavily against Bush and for Kerry. Bruce http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=35365 Turkish Press Wednesday, December 29, 2004 Soros foundation charged in Kazakhstan with tax evasion AFP: 12/28/2004 ALMATY, Dec 28 (AFP) - The Open Society Institute of billionaire US financier George Soros has been charged with tax evasion in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, police said here Tuesday. A spokesman for the tax police, Ruslan Tlemisov, said the institute which promotes civil society and good governance throughout the world had not paid 623,000 dollars (458,000 euros) in taxes. He said charges had been laid and the case would be heard in the district court early next year. The court may fine the foundation in addition to the (unpaid taxes) and avoiding the payment may lead to the cancellation of the licence of the foundation, Tlemisov said. Soros has come under attack throughout the former Soviet bloc for his alleged support for the overthrow of post-Soviet Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze last year. The Open Society Institute has been banished from Belarus and Uzbekistan, and its activities were severely curtailed in Russia in November last year over a complicated property dispute. Soros himself was splashed with water and glue by two protesters as he addressed a human rights conference in Ukraine in March. The rat is finally exposed for the opportunistic feeder that he is. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Top Yemeni Al-Qaeda member killed in Riyadh shootout
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/041230/1/3pkfm.html Thursday December 30, 8:41 PM Top Yemeni Al-Qaeda member killed in Riyadh shootout: security source AFP Photo A Yemeni considered to be closely linked to terror chief Osama bin Laden was one of seven militants killed in Wednesday's shootout with Saudi security forces in Riyadh, a security source told AFP. Ibrahim Ahmad Abdel Majeed al-Reemy, a Yemeni national, was among the seven militants killed on Wednesday evening, the source said Reemy, who does not figure on the Saudi kingdom's most-wanted list, is a big shot in Al-Qaeda and is believed to be the link between the organisation in Saudi Arabia and bin Laden himself, the source said. Wednesday's shootout took place after two car bombings in the capital against major security sites that reportedly killed two people. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Russia's Spetsnaz and Islamic Terrorism
Russia's Spetsnaz and Islamic Terrorism http://globalpolitician.com/articles.asp?ID=270t=Russia%92s+Spetsnaz+an d+Islamic+Terrorism 12/30/2004 By Ryan Mauro There is no doubt that the Soviet Union played a tremendous role in the expansion and evolution of Islamic terrorism. Many of the people responsible for the policy of promoting fundamentalist miliancy still hold key positions in Russia. People can accept the fact that there are anti-Bush cliques inside the CIA and State Department, and the fact that there are pro-Bin Laden cliques in the Pakistani military ISI. Yet, for some strange reason, they cannot accept the fact that there are still pro-Marxist cliques inside Russia. I believe that the Russian Mafia operates in unison with these rogue elements, almost as a separate intelligence directorate. To help our readers understand how this clique works, and what it means today, I am posting a series of important quotes from the book, Spetsnaz by the defector, Viktor Suvorov. I believe that readers will have a better understanding of the role Russia's Spetsnaz (elite special unit of the GRU) played in terrorism and how it continues to support terrorism by operating through the mafia or in the security services themselves. Quotes From Spetsnaz by Viktor Suvorov ...Soviet secret police, the KGB, carries out different functions (than the Spetsnaz) and has other priorities. It has its own terrorist apparatus, which includes an organization very similar to spetsnaz, known as osnaz. The KGB uses osnaz for carrying out a range of tasks not dissimilar to those performed by the GRU's spetsnaz. But the Soviet leaders consider that it is best not to have any monopolies in the field of secret warfare. Competition, they feel, gives far better results than ration. ...Osnaz apparently came into being practically at the same time as the Communist dictatorship. In the very first moments of the existence of the Soviet regime, we find references to detachments osobogo nazhacheniya-special purpose detachments. Osnaz means military-terrorist units, which came into being as shock troops of the Communist Party whose job was to defend the party. Osnaz was later handed over to the secret police, which changed its own name from time to time as easily as a snake changes its skins: Cheka-Vcheka-OGPU-NKVD-NKGB-MGB-MVD-KGB. Once a snake, however, always a snake. It is the fact that Spetsnaz belongs to the army, and Osnaz to the secret police, that accounts for all the differences between them. Spetsnaz operates mainly against external enemies; Osnaz does the same but mainly in its own territory and against its own citizens. Even if both Spetsnaz and Osnaz are faced with carrying out one and the same operation, the Soviet leadership is not inclined to rely so much on co-operation between the army and the secret police as on the strong competitive instincts between them. ...Thus if it is relatively easy to recruit a man to act as a 'sleeper', what about recruiting a foreigner to act as a real terrorist, prepared to commit murder, use explosives and fire buildings? Surely that is much more difficult? The answer is that, surprisingly, it is not. A Spetsnaz officer out to recruit agents for direct terrorist action has a wonderful base for his work in the West. There are a tremendous number of people who are discontented and ready to protest against absolutely anything. And while millions protest peacefully, some individuals will resort to any means to make their protest. The spetsnaz officer has only to find the malcontent who is ready to go to extremes. On another occasion a group of animal rights activists in the UK injected bars of chocolate with poison. If spetsnaz were able to contact that group, and there is every chance it might, it would be extremely keen (without, of course, mentioning its name) to suggest to them a number of even more effective ways of protesting. Activists, radicals, peace campaigners, green party members: as far as the leaders of the GRU are concerned, these are like ripe water-melons, green on the outside, but red on the inside-and mouth-watering. So there is a good base for recruiting. The spetsnaz network of agents has much in common with international terrorism, a common center, for example-yet they are different things and must not be confused. It would be foolhardy to claim that international terrorism came into being on orders from Moscow. But to claim that, without Moscow's support, international terrorism would never have assumed the scale it has would not be rash. Terrorism has been born in a variety of situations, in various circumstances and in different kinds of soil. Local nationalism has always been a potent source, and the Soviet Union supports it in any form, just as it offers concrete support to extremist groups operating within nationalist movements. Exceptions are made, of course, of the nationalist groups within the Soviet Union and the countries under its influence. If
[osint] Puerto Rico: Wake Up Silent Majority
http://www.puertorico-herald.org/LiveEd/52-CBWakeUp.shtml Wake Up Silent Majority By Manuel A. Casiano December 23, 2004 Copyright © 2004 CARIBBEAN BUSINESS. All Rights Reserved. You are being taken on a joyride to independence from the U.S. and you dont realize it. The 8% or 9% of the people who actually believe Puerto Rico should be an independent country know they can never obtain independence in the voting booth. Theyve realized that every year there are fewer people who believe in independence for the island. More than 40 years ago, the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) received about 20% of the votes. Today, the PIP receives at most 5% of the votes in each election and has a hard time maintaining its electoral franchise as a registered political party. Although theres actually another 3% to 4% true independentistas, years ago they started to vote for the Popular Democratic Party (PDP). However, out of the political leadership of the three main parties, PIP leaders are the cleverest. Over the past eight years, they have been able to effectively take over the PDP leadership simply because the PDP wouldnt be able to win an election without the independentistas. The PIP received less than 3% of the vote in this past election. Where has the other 5% or 6% gone over the past years? To the PDP. And, even with most of the pro-independence voters now voting for the PDP, if that party ends up winning the elections this year it will be by a margin of less than two-tenths of 1%, out of 2 million votes, over the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (PNP). The days of the PDP winning an election with just commonwealth sympathizers votes ended years ago. The PDP now owes a big debt to the independentistas. One they are obligated to pay. In 2000, Gov. Sila Calderon couldnt have won the election without thousands of independentistas abandoning the PIP and voting with the PDP. That PIP crossover to the PDP was even more obvious this year. If PDP gubernatorial candidate Anibal Acevedo Vila becomes governor, there is no question it will have happened because the independentistas saved the PDP again. And what does that mean for the PDP? Simply that the small minority of hard-core independentistas who truly believe Puerto Rico should be an independent republic have the PDP in their grip. What happened when Sila Calderon won the governorship in 2000? For the first few weeks all the meetings at La Fortaleza, the governors mansion, were with independence leaders. The result was that many of the government agencies heads and top agency officials were named from suggestions submitted by PIP leaders. The top echelon of todays PDP-controlled government and the party itself is heavily staffed with hard-core independence sympathizers. Not the commonwealthers or enhanced commonwealthers of Luis Muñoz Marins or Rafael Hernandez Colons days. Witness the events at the Womens Advocate Office where the director Maria Dolores Fernos removed the American flag from the lobby where for years both the Puerto Rican and American flags had stood together. Never mind that almost 30% of the funds of that agency are U.S. federal funds. Witness the efforts by PDP leader and Senate president Antonio Fas Alzamora who has wanted and attempted throughout the past four years to eliminate English as one of Puerto Ricos two official languages. Witness the destruction of federal property in Vieques the day the Navy left during Sila Calderons administration. That day, American flags were burned and U.S. government property destroyed amid violent demonstrations right in front of Gov. Calderon, with no action being taken against the perpetrators by the local police, which she controlled. It was U.S. military police under a barrage of rocks and bottles from the aggressors that had to stop the destruction and arrest the perpetrators. And then it was the federal court here that had to prosecute the terrorists. Some of them are still serving time in federal jails. The higher echelon of the PDP leadership is now riddled with fully pledged independentistas. They are a small minority, but they control the party. Since the PDP wouldnt be able to win an election without this minority, they have to treat the independentistas with kid gloves. The PDP now has become a coalition of commonwealth and independence supporters. While most of the rank-and-file populares are happy to be Americans, they are part of the silent majority that is being taken to independence without realizing it. How is that happening? Through a very simple and very clever strategy of the independentista minority in Puerto Rico. Since they cant achieve independence in the voting booths, their strategy for years has been to antagonize, insult, and spit at Americans, burn American flags, and do everything possible to give the impression to national and international media that Puerto Ricans want independence. Extreme independence supporters have done a lot over
[osint] Bush 'Undermining UN with Aid Coalition' / UN response more than a week away
From the second story below, quoting Kofi Annan at today's press conference: The European Union will have the ministers' meeting on 7 January, the day after we [the UN] launch the flash appeal [for support for the tsunami victims]... === That's more than a week away! === Meanwhile... get a load of the following. Now, both Bush and Annan were on vacation when the disaster hit. Bush came back days ago amid cries of outrage that he'd dared be on vacation when a natural disaster struck; he quickly marshalled a rapid multinational response that is already delivering critical aid. By comparison, Annan just waltzed back today (from Jackson Hole, no less) and is limply cheerleading for perhaps the most languid emergency response I've ever witnessed. And yet: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3944374 Bush 'Undermining UN with Aid Coalition' By Jamie Lyons, PA Political Correspondent United States President George Bush was tonight accused of trying to undermine the United Nations by setting up a rival coalition to coordinate relief following the Asian tsunami disaster. The president has announced that the US, Japan, India and Australia would coordinate the world's response. But former International Development Secretary Clare Short said that role should be left to the UN. I think this initiative from America to set up four countries claiming to coordinate sounds like yet another attempt to undermine the UN when it is the best system we have got and the one that needs building up, she said. Only really the UN can do that job, she told BBC Radio Four's PM programme. It is the only body that has the moral authority. But it can only do it well if it is backed up by the authority of the great powers. Ms Short said the coalition countries did not have good records on responding to international disasters. She said the US was very bad at coordinating with anyone and India had its own problems to deal with. I don't know what that is about but it sounds very much, I am afraid, like the US trying to have a separate operation and not work with the rest of the world through the UN system, she added. http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp New York, 30 December 2004 - Secretary-General Kofi Annan and UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland at press conference on Asian Tsunami disaster SG: Let me thank you for coming. This is a difficult period for all of us. I returned to New York yesterday, to join in this effort, to lead the UN effort on the tsunami disaster. First of all let me say that my thoughts and prayers are with the people of the region, and with those in many other countries who have lost loved ones. As the death toll mounts, and we continue to search for the missing, we should also not forget the survivors, especially the poor, and the many millions of vulnerable in that region. I have also had the chance to speak to all the leaders of the countries affected, not only to offer my condolences, but also to see how the UN and the international community can work with them, and to stress the need for effective coordination of national, regional and international efforts. This is an unprecedented, global catastrophe and it requires an unprecedented, global response. Over the past few days, it has registered deeply in the consciousness and conscience of the world, as we seek to grasp the speed, the force and magnitude with which it happened. But we must also remain committed for the longer term. We know that the impact will be felt for a long time to come. The latest figures speak for themselves: at least one hundred and fifteen thousand are dead in the region; half a million injured; one million displaced; and at least five million in need of immediate assistance. We have had a good response. As of today, a total of half a billion dollars in assistance has been pledged or received, as well as contributions in kind. More than 30 countries have stepped forward to help, as have millions of individuals from around the world. As Jan Egeland has told you over the past few days, and I repeated earlier, coordination of the response is now absolutely essential. How well the international community and the affected countries work together now will determine how well we will deal with all aspects of the disaster -- both in the immediate and the longer term. This morning, I met with the heads of UN agencies and those within the Inter-Agency Standing Committee on humanitarian relief. I also met with the newly formed Core Group, consisting of Australia, India, Japan and the United States; and my last meeting this morning was with the Permanent Representatives of the 12 countries most affected. This afternoon, after I leave you, I will be meeting with the European Union, following up on our efforts to assist. Above all, I would like to assure the people of the region that the entire United Nations family stands ready to assist, and we stand behind them. We will work with them in
[osint] SYRIA: Two Islamists sentenced to death in bomb attack trial
Death term for two in Syrian trial Thursday 30 December 2004, 19:59 Makka Time, 16:59 GMT The blast in April took place in a former UN office in Damascus Two of 22 defendants accused of involvement in a bomb attack and firefight in the Syrian capital in April have been sentenced to death by the state security court. The court, whose judgments cannot be appealed, ordered that Ahmad Shlash Hassan and Ezzo Hussein al-Hussein be hanged, their lawyer said on Thursday. Two other defendants - Azzam al-Nahar and Abd al-Basset Hassida - were sentenced to forced labour for life while the rest of the accused received jail terms of between one and 20 years. One of the two defendants sentenced to death was paraded on state television in May confessing to his involvement in the 27 April blast in Damascus. Hassan, a 26-year-old veterinary student, said the bombing had been a personal act. I was trying to respond to the aggression against Muslims of oppressive states like Israel, the United States and all the other infidel countries, he said. The blast in late April in a vacant building formerly used by the United Nations in Damascus's Mazzeh diplomatic district sparked a firefight with security forces in which two armed men, a police officer and a female passer-by were killed. Attack staged? A previously unknown group claimed respsonsibility, but some US lawmakers suggested the attack was staged by the Syrian intelligence services, a charge vigorously denied by Damascus. The Martyr Adib al-Kilani Group said the attack was to avenge the victims of the 1982 bombing of the northern town of Hama to quell the Muslim Brotherhood. I was trying to respond to the aggression against Muslims of oppressive states like Israel, the United States and all the other infidel countries A vacant basement of the targeted building belonged to Rifaat al-Assad, an exiled uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who was in charge of security forces in 1982. Most political parties have been banned in Syria since 1958. After the Baath party came to power in a coup in 1963, the Muslim Brotherhood continued to function underground, but its members were subject to arrest and imprisonment. From the late 1970s the Muslim Brotherhood was involved in armed clashes with government forces, and in July 1980 membership of the organisation was made punishable by death. In the 1980s, many Syrian Muslim Brotherhood detainees were extrajudicially executed in custody, according to rights group Amnesty International. Aljazeera + Agencies http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2B0501AD-F8A9-4761-98A2-24E686704CC4. htm Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] American Generosity is Underappreciated
http://www.heritage.org/Research/TradeandForeignAid/wm630.cfm?renderforprint=1 www.heritage.org [back to web version] American Generosity is Underappreciated by Brett D. Schaefer WebMemo #630 December 30, 2004 | printer-friendly format | The tragic loss of life from the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean now exceeds 100,000 and may eventually double that, due to disease, civil unrest, and other factors. In response, the United States and other nations have pledged millions of dollars in humanitarian assistance to aid the survivors and assist affected nations in recovering from the disaster. Unfortunately, some in the international aid business cannot seem to shake their reflexive criticism of America despite ample evidence of its generosity. The U.S. government initially announced that it would provide $15 million in humanitarian aid and send experts to help affected nations recover. Jan Egeland, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, criticized the U.S. commitment as stingy despite the fact that the U.S. pledge far exceeded those of all European nations. He quickly apologized and said that he did not mean to single out the United States, but the transcript of his comments clearly identifies the U.S. as the primary target. Rhetoric vs. Reality Mr. Egelund's criticism was based on his belief that America is not providing enough development assistance-specifically, aid as a percentage of its gross national income (GNI). According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the U.S. is dead last in aid as a percent of GNI at 0.15 percent.[1] Mr. Egelund's native country of Norway has a ratio of 0.92 percent. There are several problems with this approach: Actual dollar contributions reveal that the U.S. is the world's largest donor. The OECD calculates U.S. development assistance (based on bilateral assistance, humanitarian assistance, and contributions to multilateral institutions like the International Development Association of the World Bank) in 2003 at $16.2 billion-more than double the amount given by France, Germany, or any other European nation.[2] Japan is second at $8.9 billion. * Private aid is ignored. These numbers do not include private assistance. This is not a major factor for most other nations because private charity is not large in most countries. It is a gigantic oversight when calculating America's aid ratio, however, because the U.S. Agency for International Development estimated that private assistance was $33.6 billion in 2000.[3] Therefore, the calculations upon which Egelund based his criticism severely shortchange the generosity of the United States. * It demonstrates an inappropriate focus on inputs rather than outputs. Development assistance should help recipients develop, but the evidence demonstrates that many recipient nations are actually becoming poorer. This is particularly true for sub-Saharan Africa, which is the region of the world most desperately in need of development. Despite hundreds of billions in development assistance, sub-Saharan Africa has performed dismally. Of the 45 sub-Saharan African countries for which per capita GDP data are available from 1980 to 2002, most experienced zero or negative compound annual growth in real per capita GDP (constant 1995 U.S. dollars).[4] Sub-Saharan Africa as a region saw a decline in per capita GDP from $660 in 1980 to $577 in 2002 (in constant terms).[5] Instead of focusing on the amount of assistance, donors should focus on maximizing results through economic freedom, bolstering the rule of law, and adopting strong institutions. Foreign aid cannot replace domestic will to adopt good policies, without which long-term development is impossible. * America's central role in humanitarian efforts is ignored. Egelund's criticism becomes patently ridiculous after an examination of U.S. assistance for disaster and humanitarian relief-the type of aid needed in the Indian Ocean. Data from the OECD reveal that the U.S. gave nearly $2.5 billion in emergency and distress relief in 2003.[6] All other countries combined gave $3.4 billion, including $475 million from France and $350 million from Norway. Moreover, the U.S. contributed nearly 70 percent of all food assistance. * America is a key donor to U.N. relief organizations. The United States is a major donor to international relief organizations, including the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which Egelund oversees, to which the U.S. is second largest donor (nearly 14 percent in 2003).[7] America is the largest contributor to the U.N. budget at 22 percent, or $317 million, in 2004. It gives over 56 percent of the World Food Program budget and $72 million and $94 million to the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, respectively.[8] Conclusion The United States
[osint] Too Hot to Handle
http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=4013 Too Hot to Handle By LINDSAY MORAN Published: December 19, 2004 When I finally broke cover, A.'s respect for me, even though I was a woman, increased exponentially. We were sitting in his Mercedes next to what appeared to be a city dump near Skopje, Macedonia's capital. I love C.I.A.! he exclaimed loudly. A., a jovial and dapper businessman I had been developing for the autumn months of 2000, was an Albanian well connected to a number of significant Kosovars. The agency was interested in Kosovo, the contentious region bordering Macedonia to the north, and so far, A. had given me solid information. Weeks earlier, I cautioned A. that it was too risky to meet publicly. We can use my friend's apartment! he suggested. Your car will do, I replied. How would you like to work for the C.I.A., too? I had written up a careful pitch proposal and sent it back to headquarters, outlining how I thought the recruitment meeting would play out. C/O Hadley anticipates little risk of blowback in executing the pitch, I'd written, referring to myself by my alias in the third person as is characteristic of C.I.A. case officers and also, I often considered, insane people. C/O Hadley doubts that Subject ever would report the pitch or C/O's true affiliation to the local police or security services. After a nanosecond of consideration about the implications of committing espionage, A. shrugged and said, O.K. The C.I.A. never said recruiting an agent could be this easy. You cannot tell anyone, I told him. Not even your wife. I never tell my wife anything, he answered with a wink. And if anyone catches us together, or asks how you know me... I braced myself. Tell them we're having an affair. A. was nearly beside himself with enthusiasm. If we must do it, then we will make sex. We don't actually have an affair, I told him. That's only our cover story -- for if we get caught. I give you money, and you give me information. Just like you've been doing. No holding hands? he asked. It's business. Serious business, O.K.? Because if you get caught, you could go to jail. Bah! A. waved his hand. We will not get caught. I will tell everyone we are making sex. I pictured A. bragging about his young American concubine to a rapt audience at the Albanian pizzeria. Don't tell anyone anything, I said. O.K., O.K. A. rolled his eyes as if I were a huge bore. I pulled out a secrecy agreement for A. to sign, as well as 10 crisp $100 bills. I sensed that he couldn't pass up this chance to prove to himself that he wasn't a small fry. While he had been relatively easy to recruit, he continued to be difficult to handle. Why can we not have relations? A. again pleaded, as we drove along a mountainous southern Macedonian thoroughfare. I don't get paid nearly enough to deal with this, I thought. He looked beseechingly at me from behind the steering wheel. Keep your eyes on the road, I said. Do I have to remind you? You're married. Ach! he groaned. Here, it is normal to be married and have some other girlfriends too. I was less concerned about his amorous intentions than I was about his getting caught. He didn't pay much attention to the security measures in which I had diligently trained him. Never call me on the phone, I had said countless times. We'll just meet at the time and place we agreed upon, and if one of us doesn't show up, we go to Plan B. Of course! He appeared offended that I reminded him. Inevitably, I was on the way to one of our prearranged meeting sites when my mobile phone would ring. From the caller ID, I could see that A. was not even using a pay phone, as I had instructed him to do in an emergency. Often, I just let it ring. But occasionally, anxious that something had happened to A., I would answer, hoping that my voice conveyed my exasperation. Lisssa! he would shout, no matter how many times I had instructed him not to use my name, even though it was an alias. I am on my way to . . . the place . . . now. Sometimes I arrived at the designated meeting spot, where he was supposed to be skulking imperceptibly among the shadows, to find him in the middle of the road, chatting on his mobile phone. Once he even had a bouquet of vibrant flowers that he used to flag me down, like an aircraft router guiding a plane to its gate. I always worried for A., but in the end he remained blinded by the allure of the C.I.A. What never got easier for me was having to feed his ego while making it clear that I'd never sleep with him. Lindsay Moran is the author of a memoir, Blowing My Cover: My Life as a C.I.A. Spy and Other Misadventures, to be published next month by G.P. Putnam's Sons and from which this article was adapted. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM
[osint] Oil refinery blaze contained (Iraq)
_http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11818494%255E1702,00.html_ (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11818494%5E1702,00.html) Oil refinery blaze contained From correspondents in Baghdad, Iraq December 31, 2004 A MORTAR or rocket strike set fire to Baghdad's Dura oil refinery today, an Iraqi interior ministry official and US military said. After an initial blaze, the fire was contained, a US military spokesperson said. Two civilians were treated for smoke inhalation in what the US military called a probable rocket attack. Earlier, an interior ministry official said Baghdad firemen were struggling to douse the fire. The Dura refinery is also home to Baghdad's main power plant. The refinery provides fuel for the plant, which provides electricity for most of Baghdad and outlying areas. It was not immediately clear if the fire had affected the power plant. In Baghdad and much of Iraq, electricity is erratic, with households enjoying power sometimes for as little as three hours per day. Agence France-Presse [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Armenia: The Crush of Global Pressures
http://www.stratfor.biz/Story.neo?storyId=241589 Armenia: The Crush of Global Pressures December 28, 2004 1815 GMT Summary The former Soviet republic of Armenia, located at the crushing center of a series of geopolitical tectonic plates, is on the cusp of a massive change. But unlike many of the other former Soviet republics that are choosing between Russia and the West, Armenia's choice is not nearly as clear-cut -- and its future will be free of the decisive paths that may be available to other states. Analysis Armenia is a former Soviet republic in trouble. Its economy holds little prospect, its people are leaving in droves and its geopolitical space is under siege. The one factor that has helped it keep its head above water to date is Russian sponsorship. But, as Russia racks up geopolitical defeats, that too could soon give way. The South Caucasus that Armenians call home is where the Russian, Turkish and Iranian geopolitical plates converge, putting the small states there under enormous -- and continuous -- pressure. Georgia and Azerbaijan have opted to look not just to Turkey next door, but also to Europe and the United States. Such connections make Iran -- clerical regime or not -- hostile to both states, a factor that is only enflamed when one considers that nearly a quarter of Iran's population is actually of Azerbaijani ethnicity. Armenia, for reasons of war, history, and the 1915 Armenian Genocide by the Turks, naturally looks to Iran, and especially similarly Orthodox Christian Russia to counterbalance itself against its hostile eastern and western neighbors. Under the Soviet system, Armenia received its oil from Azerbaijan and traded (as part of the Soviet Union) with Turkey. As the Soviet era ended, however, Armenia became embroiled in a war with Azerbaijan over the fate of Nogorno-Karabakh, a majority Armenian enclave within Azerbaijani territory. Armenia -- or if you believe Yerevan's public relations, Armenian volunteers supporting the Karabakh Armenians -- won the war and continues to control a large western slice of Azerbaijani territory contingent to it. But Turks, who consider Azerbaijanis their ethnic kin based on historical, ethnic and linguistic grounds, slapped on a near-total embargo, limiting Armenia's trade options to only Georgia to the north and Iran to the south. Armenia has refused to negotiate down from this untenable geopolitical position. After winning the Nogorno-Karabakh war, Armenian leaders -- backed by a fiery nationalism that is quite popular among Armenians within both the country and the diaspora -- have refused to seriously negotiate a peace agreement with Azerbaijan that might end the military standoff. To be fair, the Azerbaijanis have not exactly been extending olive branches either, but Baku believes that ultimately its oil and natural gas revenues will allow it to build up a military force capable of recapturing its lost territory. It likely is correct. Armenia, on the other hand, is an economic basket case dependent upon diaspora support for one-fifth of its gross domestic product. Nearly one-third of Armenians have emigrated abroad to look for better opportunities since independence in 1991, the sharpest population decline anywhere in the world. Only three million remain. There are eight million Azerbaijanis and 69 million Turks. To sustain its political and military positions, Armenia largely is dependent upon Russia, as the source of nearly all of its energy and its de facto security guarantor. Russia's commitment to the Armenian relationship will soon begin to falter, and with it, quite possibly Armenia's chances for survival. The dawning problem is one that Armenian President Robert Kocharian has foreseen. In October 1999 there was a paramilitary attack against the Armenian Parliament that resulted in the deaths of several members of the country's mostly pro-Russian political faction; Russia took advantage of the situation to send special forces troops in and cement its political influence in the small country. The attack and Moscow's reaction to it shook Kocharian's view of the Russians as a dependable ally. After all, if the Russians could not prevent its most ardent supporters from harm, and would take advantage of Armenian instability to strengthen its grip, was Russian protection really worth it? Kocharian, always a moderate on the issue of Russia, began quietly reaching out to other potential power centers in an attempt to balance foreign interests in Yerevan. But the coming crisis has little to do with Armenian desires of balance, and everything to do with a new world being forced upon the small country. In 2005 the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline will activate, and within two years its sister project, the Shah Deniz natural gas pipeline, will most likely also enter operation. The two parallel lines will transport Azerbaijani energy west through Georgia and Turkey and then on to global markets. Azerbaijan and Georgia will
[osint] UN suspends food aid for Darfur
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4133239.stm UN suspends food aid for Darfur Man guards humanitarian aid at Kalma camp in Darfur, Sudan The deteriorating security situation is hampering aid efforts United Nations food convoys to Sudan's western Darfur region have been suspended because of fighting. The World Food Programme stopped its deliveries on Monday when rebels attacked police stations in the neighbouring state of West Kordofan. Road closures prevented 70 trucks carrying rations for some 260,000 people reaching Darfur. Despite an April ceasefire, clashes between rebels, pro-government militias and the army continue. The UN has called Darfur one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with some two million refugees relying on aid handouts since the conflict began nearly two years ago. Truck theft Security on the ground continues to deteriorate and the African Union troops sent to Darfur to protect the ceasefire monitors are having little impact on the fighting. We're talking about a major humanitarian delivery that was stopped, the UN's Radhia Achouri in the capital Khartoum told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. Map of Sudan showing Darfur and West Kordofan The problems of Darfur cannot be solved through military means The UN's Jan Pronk Darfur observer frustration We have decided to not proceed until further notice, until the security situation is reassessed, she said. Both Darfur rebel groups - the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement - have denied responsibility for the attacks in Ghubaysh, she said. The situation was confusing, she added, as reports suggest a new rebel movement is claiming responsibility for the attack on the main road to the towns of Nyala in south Darfur and El-Fashir in the north. In another development, the UN is also concerned about the theft by rebels of 13 trucks carrying food aid over the past two weeks. Ms Achouri said there were worrying reports that rebels were using the WFP lorries to launch their attacks. Jan Pronk - the UN's special representative to Sudan - called for the immediate return of the trucks. The problems of Darfur cannot be solved through military means, Mr Pronk said in a statement. Faltering peace talks between the government and rebels have been adjourned until January. Last week UK charity Save the Children announced it was pulling out of Darfur after some its staff were killed in attacks. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] INFORMATION WARFARE: The Underground Military Email Network
http://www.strategypage.com//fyeo/howtomakewar/default.asp?target=HTIW.HTM INFORMATION WARFARE: The Underground Military Email Network December 30, 2004: The rotation of new units to Iraq and Afghanistan has resulted in a not-unexpected development. The replacement troops get in touch, informally, via the Internet, with the people already there and discuss details of what the new guys can expect. Now this sort of thing has gone on, at a much slower pace, since World War II. Until the Internet came along, the units waiting to go overseas, would either send some people ahead to get an idea of what to expect, or some people already over there would come back and provide details. There were also various reports sent back from the front. Mostly general stuff, somewhat useful. But it's all changed now. People in the armed forces were quick to catch on to the Internet. After all, the Internet was created with Department of Defense money. But it was at the troop level that things got really interesting. The U.S. military is spread all over the planet, and troops are always eager to get an idea of what it's like in various places they might end up. This includes not only actual places, but units and ships. This curiosity has reached life-and-death proportions when it comes to going to Iraq or Afghanistan. So as soon as the soldiers find out they are headed overseas to replace a particular unit, they get in touch with people they are going to replace. And they talk shop. This is all unofficial communication, and it makes the security people nervous. The troops generally use non-military email accounts. It's an open secret that .mil email accounts gets run through a security filter before anything is delivered. While the troops are aware of the importance of OPSEC (operational security, what they do, how they do it and so on), these emails often get into more detail then they ought to. Normally, this is not a problem. For all the talk of how unsecure email is, the vulnerability is more theoretical than practical. Where there have been obvious problems is on public bulletin boards and chat rooms. There have been a few incidents of troops unthinkingly revealing dangerous information, usually about tactics, security at bases or intelligence matters. The few times this has been found out by commanders, nastygrams were sent to the offenders commanding officer. Apparently there have been no court martials over this so far. After all, the troops are acting in good faith, and most of the communication remains via email. Troops are warned to stay out of public venues with these discussions. And the discussions are is getting results. Soldiers and marines arrive with detailed knowledge of what they are getting into. Security and intelligence officers arrive with an ulcer. December 29, 2004: The U.S. Air Force has always seen itself as a high-tech and innovative operation. So it was with some dismay that they viewed the success of the U.S. Army's online game (to help snag new recruits) roll out two years ago. The Americas Army game inspired the air force to do one of their own; USAF: Air Dominance. While the name of the game evokes what the air force sees of itself (controlling the air with high tech warplanes), the game is more practical. Sure, you can fly the hot new F-22 fighter in the game, but you can also fly a Predator UAV, or a C-17 transport. These latter two aircraft are doing far more for national defense these days than the F-22. Moreover, the air force doesn't need much help in the recruiting department. At the moment, the air force is laying off people. Over 90 percent of the people in the air force are in support jobs, and never get near an aircraft during working hours. But the air force wisely decided to not include office work or guard duty in their new game. The air force only spent $250,000 and three months to develop their new game, while the army spent over $5 million and several years to create America's Army. December 23, 2004: The information revolution is being led, not by the Internet (with about 700 million users worldwide), but by cell phones (1.5 billion worldwide.) China is one of the more striking examples of how this works. With over 300 million cell phone users, China is finding that the Internet is easier to control than all those cell phone users. About a quarter of the population has cell phones and they are nearly everywhere. People see something, they immediately start calling people. Rumors were always a problem in communist nations, but the cell phone allows rumors, and real information the government would rather keep to itself, to travel nation wide in minutes. China's Stalinist neighbor, North Korea, is being invaded by Chinese cell phones (many held illegally by North Koreans), and posing a very real threat to government control of the media. Actually, controlling the Internet is more a matter of limiting some information to users. This is much more difficult with
[osint] Advantage: Iran - April 23rd, 2004
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=3503search=Hanson Advantage: Iran April 23rd, 2004 The recent insurgency by the Shia extremist supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr has finally brought to light the operations of Iranian agents of influence in Iraq. For those in the intelligence and operations cells of the Coalition Provisional Authority and Combined Joint Task Force-7, the infiltration into Iraq of Iranian covert operators is not a surprise. As early as July 2003, the Coalition was seeing signs of Iranian agents traversing the porous Iraq-Iran border and moving into safe houses in Southern Iraqi cities and even into certain areas of Baghdad. These operatives are not the only problem; there are also an undetermined number of agents who masqueraded as legitimate religious pilgrims crossing into Iraq ostensibly to visit Shia holy sites in the cities of Najaf and Kerbala. Whether this is part of a Coalition bring `em on strategy in order to conduct battles of annihilation, or is the result of a passive acceptance of Iranian infiltration, cannot be determined as of yet. What can be said is that this regional maneuvering by Iran has been going on for more than a decade, and that the previous administration had largely wished it away with a faulty policy of containment, just as it did with Saddam Hussein and Iraq. Since the collapse of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact it has been somewhat unfashionable to view foreign policy problems in a traditional geopolitical sense. Global and regional maneuver by proxy was thought to be an outmoded concept. There was just one problem with this view: Iran continued to play the game. It saw opportunity in gaining footholds in strategic areas where vacuums existed because of the withdrawal of Western or Soviet advisors and support structures. In particular, Iran focused on those areas that controlled choke points of strategic waterways. The Horn of Africa is just such an area, since it dominates the commerce lanes of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. To Iran, then, Somalia was one of its most obvious strategic objectives. In November 1991, the Somali capital of Mogadishu was the scene of heavy fighting between the clans of General Mohamed Farah Aidid and the interim President Mr. Ali Mohamed Mahdi. In fact, entire sections of the country were run by bandits and warlords, since there was no form of central government. By 1992, the UN estimated that almost 4.5 million people, more than half the total number in the country, were threatened with starvation, severe malnutrition and related diseases. The time was ripe for Iran to extend its reach. Iran's agents quickly allied themselves with General Aidid, and provided materiel, training, and intelligence support. Nevertheless, a UN brokered cease-fire was enacted on March 3, 1992, with the provision to deploy UN combat forces to monitor the cease fire and to protect humanitarian aid convoys. The initial contingent of security forces was found to be insufficient, so an increase to about 4200 personnel was authorized in September of 1992. However, these forces were also hard-pressed to do a satisfactory job, as there were continuing firefights, hijacking of vehicles, and looting of convoys and warehouses. Bush 41 responded on December 4, 1992 to a UN request via UN resolution 794, by starting Operation Restore Hope, under which the US would not only establish a unified command, but would also contribute up to 28,000 troops to the effort. The first elements of US forces came ashore on the beaches of Mogadishu without opposition (but greeted by members of the Western press) on December 9, 1992. On December 13, lead elements had secured the airfield at Baledogle, and by December 16 they had seized Baidoa. It was apparent that the Bush 41 Administration viewed the recent developments in Somalia between Aidid and Iran with their realpolitik glasses on, and had finessed a classic strategic counter-maneuver. Under the auspices of the UN, and under the umbrella of a humanitarian aid mission, they had effectively stymied, at least for the short-term, the Iranian maneuver to control the strategically significant Horn of Africa. Even so, by the time of President Clinton's inauguration in January of 1993, experts on Iran said Aidid's tactics, in what had evolved into an urban guerrilla war with the US and UN, were typically Iranian. The new Clinton Administration, either through naiveté, or an overwhelming desire to avoid confrontation, actually came to believe the prime objective was the humanitarian aid aspect of the mission, rather than a counter to a powerful Iran. The strategic retreat of US forces from Somalia by the Clinton Administration as a result of the Blackhawk Down ambush in October of 1993, allowed Iran to finally secure its influence in Somalia. Almost unnoticed or ignored by the Bush 41 Administration was that, while Iran's left hand was busy in Somalia, the right hand was conducting
[osint] The War in Iraq That Isn't Reported
http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/200412301.asp The War in Iraq That Isn't Reported by James Dunnigan December 30, 2004 Discussion Board on this DLS topic Two al Qaeda leaders (Saleh Arugayan Kahlil and Bassim Mohammad Hazeem) were captured by marines in Anbar province (which contains Fallujah) in late December. These two men led groups that have been killing off duty Iraqi soldiers and smuggling weapons and foreign terrorists across the border from Syria. Their boss, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a Jordanian Islamic radical who had been hiding out in Baghdad, as a guest of Saddam Hussein, when Iraq was invaded in early 2003, is still at large. With the defeat of Saddam, al Zarqawi suddenly found Iraqi Sunni Arabs were eager to join al Qaeda. The Baath Party, which had run the country for four decades, was now willing to do more than offer sanctuary for al Qaeda members. Baath had money and manpower they made available. Al Qaeda and Baath had one thing in common; they wanted the foreigners out of Iraq. Beyond that, they had quite different goals. Al Qaeda wanted the world converted to Islam, and ruled as an Islamic state, according to al Qaedas strict interpretation of Islamic law. Al Qaeda and the Taliban came close to this in Afghanistan. There was another Islamic Republic in Iran, but that was run by Shia Moslems. Shia are considered heretics by the conservative Sunni Moslems that lead al Qaeda. This had not prevented Iran from offering sanctuary to for a small group of Kurdish Islamic radicals, Ansar al Islam. This group operated on the border of northern Iraq and Iran until dispersed by Kurdish troops and American Special Forces in 2003. Survivors of Ansar fled to Iran, then snuck back into Iraq this year and set up shop in mixed Arab-Kurd areas like Mosul. The Baath Party and al Qaeda leaders have put aside the issue of who will rule Iraq once the Americans are driven out. And well they should, because taking control of Iraq appears to be an impossible goal. But al Qaeda has provided a force of young men who are fanatical, and undaunted by American firepower and the Iraqi populations desire for democracy. Baath was impressed by the ability of al Qaeda to get young men to fight for free, and to carry out suicide attacks. Baath's Iraqi manpower was either former secret police and Republican Guard members, who were out of a job and fearful of retribution from the kin of their victims. If Baath provided some of that lost salary, these fellows were willing to carry on as before. Other Iraqis were willing to carry out tasks like planting roadside bombs and collecting information, for a fee. But the Baath Party plan for taking back power depended on uniting the Sunni Arab population behind them, and then somehow regaining control of the Kurdish and Shia Arab population. Baath quickly discovered that many Sunni Arabs wanted no part of the Baath Party, and were joining the new government police force and army. But Baath knew how to deal with this. Over decades, Baath, and especially their former leader, Saddam Hussein developed terror tactics that were very effective in controlling the population of Iraq. The Baath was largely a Sunni Arab party, and using these hard core members, threats were made to Sunni Arabs who were working for the new government. If threats didn't work, kidnapping and murder were used. Kidnap one member of a family, and you get the cooperation of the entire family, and often a ransom as well. Despite these efforts, the Sunni Arab police and army units continued to form. Many of these Sunni Arab police and troops fled when confronted by Baath and al Qaeda gunmen. The al Qaeda suicide bombing attacks on police stations and army bases were particularly terrifying. But still Sunni Arabs continued to resist backing Baath. The government responded by bringing in Kurdish and Shia Arab police, as well as having police and army units operate more closely with American troops. When the soldiers and police could be assured that their families were safe from the Baath and al Qaeda terrorists, they would fight, and not just pick up a paycheck. Providing that safety meant driving out the Baath party thugs town by town, and neighborhood by neighborhood. This had been done in Kurdish areas ten years ago. There was no Baath party terror in Kurdish areas, although occasionally an al Qaeda suicide bomber got in. This didn't terrorize as much as increase Kurdish resolve to crush Baath and al Qaeda. In Shia Arab areas, nearly all the Baath party members fled in early 2003. Those that were slow to leave, were killed by vengeful Shias. But many areas in central Iraq have mixed Shia/Sunni and Kurdish/Sunni populations. Here the Baath Party enforcers can establish bases among the Sunni population, and carry out terror operations against the Kurds and Shia Arabs. This has not been working. The media reports the attacks, but not the reaction of the Kurdish and Shia Arab population. More Kurds
[osint] Navy Seals sue over 'abuse' pictures
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/12/30/wseals30.xmlsSheet=/news/2004/12/30/ixworld.html Navy Seals sue over 'abuse' pictures By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles (Filed: 30/12/2004) Six members of an American special forces unit and two of their wives are suing the Associated Press news agency for invasion of privacy over pictures it published that appeared to show them abusing Iraqi prisoners. The lawsuit claims that the photographs did not depict abuse and that AP endangered the navy Seals' lives when one of its reporters took the pictures from a private website and distributed them worldwide. The agency has defended its actions and those of its reporter, Seth Hettena, who used the pictures in a story on Dec 3 about possible abuse of Iraqi detainees. We believe AP's use of the photos and the manner in which they were obtained were entirely lawful and proper, said Dave Tomlin, the agency's lawyer. The story said the pictures appeared to show Sea Air Land force men sitting on hooded and bound detainees, holding a gun to a detainee's bloodied head, and placing a boot on a prone man's chest. Others showed grinning personnel sitting on hooded prisoners in a pick-up. The lawsuit, in which the plaintiffs are anonymous, says the photos were of regular special operations techniques. It alleges that the pictures were shown on al-Jazeera, television and on anti-US billboards outside Guantanamo Bay, endangering the lives of the troops and their families. It claims the photographs were taken from a navy wife's personal digital photo album without notice or permission, a site she thought was password-protected. AP said the pictures were discovered on a commercial picture-sharing site, Smugmug.com, and were not protected until after the reporter bought copies online and began making inquiries. The story said the navy had launched a formal investigation and the agency later reported the navy's preliminary findings that most of the 15 photos transmitted were taken for legitimate intelligence-gathering purposes. The navy did, however, extend its investigation into additional photos. There was no need for AP to publish the faces of the Seals, said James W Huston, the plaintiffs' lawyer. The Seals showed more respect for the insurgents and terrorists they were apprehending by obscuring their faces than the AP did for the navy Seals who were in Iraq risking their lives. The US navy is not involved in the legal action. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] UK Says No Plans for Emergency G8 Summit
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36677-2004Dec30.html?nav=headlines UK Says No Plans for Emergency G8 Summit Reuters Thursday, December 30, 2004; 3:11 PM LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Thursday there were no plans for an emergency meeting of the Group of Eight rich countries to discuss relief aid for nations hit by tsunamis, pouring cold water on an Italian proposal. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had called for such a G8 meeting, and said he would discuss the proposal with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who takes over leadership of the group on Jan. 1. A British official said Blair had spoken to Berlusconi, but there were no plans as yet for a summit. In his discussions with Mr Berlusconi this evening the prime minister (Blair) said that we will contact the other G8 members about assistance that they may be able to give to the U.N., a spokesman for Blair's office said. But we are confident that G8 members will agree that it's right that the U.N. should continue to take the lead in coordinating the relief effort. Some in Britain have suggested that an effort to have other international organizations coordinate relief aid could undermine the main U.N.-led effort. Britain pledged 50 million pounds to the aid effort on Thursday and said this made it the single largest bilateral donor in the world. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Explosion in house kills 28 in Baghdad
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1380792,00.html Explosion in house kills 28 in Baghdad Mystery over blast that left 10 investigating police officers dead Michael Howard in Sulaimaniya Thursday December 30, 2004 The Guardian At least 28 people - including 10 policemen - died in Baghdad yesterday in a huge explosion at a suspected militant safe-house that may have been booby-trapped. The blast was one of the largest to hit the capital since the US bombing raids during the war to remove Saddam Hussein. US army experts estimated that 1,700lb to 1,800lb of explosives had been detonated. Residents accounted for the majority of the fatalities and US soldiers and Iraqi troops worked through the night to pull potential survivors from the rubble. There were conflicting accounts of the cause of the blast. A spokesman at police headquarters in Baghdad said a police unit had been lured to a booby-trapped house in the Ghazaliya district after a bogus tip-off purporting to come from a neighbour. It seems to have been a trap, the spokesman said. When the police arrived and entered, the house blew up. The explosives were probably detonated by remote control, he said, and appeared to represent a disturbing new tactic by insurgents. But residents and policemen told a different story. They said the house in Ghazaliya, which lies near the main Baghdad-Falluja road, had been rented out to a Sudanese man and a gang of foreign Arabs. They said it was being used to store explosives in preparation for attacks around Baghdad during the election period. One resident, who gave his name only as Jassim, said that a neighbour, known as Abu Taher, had telephoned police to tell them that a terrorist cell was staying at the house. A day earlier Abu Taher had gone over to the house to confront the gang and tell them to leave the area, but he was shot at, Jassim said. The police arrived, surrounded the house and ordered those inside to come out. There was no response, the police went in, and then there was this huge bang, said Jassim, whose own house was flattened by the blast. Another resident, Abu Ammar al-Saadi, who also lost his house, said: These were Arabs, not Iraqis, and they have destroyed my life for what? It was another reminder of the destructive power in the hands of insurgents in their increasingly ferocious battle to derail Iraq's first post-Saddam elections in a month's time. An Iraqi official said last night that the rebels appeared to have recovered sufficiently from the US onslaught on their activities in Falluja in November to be still able to conduct well-planned and large-scale operations. Hussein Ali Kemal, the deputy interior minister, said: They are terrorists and they are murdering our police. They want to stop elections but we won't let that happen. We will destroy every terrorist who thinks they can take the place of the government. Yesterday's explosion came the day after a series of deadly attacks across central Iraq on the police and the national guard. A US military spokesman said a roadside blast wounded a US soldier and five Iraqi police officers in Samarra, where there were clashes yesterday between US forces and insurgents. In Mosul meanwhile, US troops backed by warplanes killed 25 guerrillas after facing a coordinated assault involv ing two suicide bombs and dozens of insurgents, the military said. Witnesses said the fighting began when a suicide bomber detonated a fuel truck outside a house occupied as a combat outpost by the Americans since last month. Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hastings, US military spokesman in Mosul, said a patrol responding to the blast was attacked by a second suicide car bomb, and also had to deal with roadside bombs before reaching the outpost. Around 50 insurgents then attacked with assault rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. Close air support was called in. Initial estimates are 25 enemy killed, Col Hastings said, adding that 15 American soldiers were wounded. In an effort to boost the effectiveness of the country's nascent security capability, the defence ministry said yester day that the Iraqi national guard - which has borne the brunt of the anti-insurgency effort - would be merged with the regular armed forces. But US commanders responsible for training the new Iraqi forces are reported to believe that Iraq will not be ready to assume responsibility for its own security until sometime in 2006. Iraqi authorities and US military commanders in Iraq now believe the insurgency is being coordinated primarily by resurgent Ba'athists in a marriage of convenience with foreign Sunni Islamists. · Additional reporting by Osama Mansour Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM
[osint] Belarus Imprisons Opposition Politician
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36656-2004Dec30.html?nav=headlines Belarus Imprisons Opposition Politician Reuters Thursday, December 30, 2004; 3:05 PM MINSK (Reuters) - A top opposition politician in ex-Soviet Belarus was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday in what he denounced as an attempt to block his drive to make the ex-Soviet state more democratic. Mikhail Marinich, who ran against President Alexander Lukashenko in 1991 elections, was detained in April by the state security service, still known by its communist-era initials KGB. An allegation of illegally owning weapons was dropped for lack of evidence and he was convicted of stealing office equipment given to his liberal think-tank by the U.S. embassy. The embassy earlier said it had no objections to Marinich's actions, although under the court ruling he must return the equipment to the embassy. This process is a politically driven prosecution, brought for my active work in civil society, for seeing Belarus developing on European lines, for putting forward my candidacy in the presidential elections, Marinich, 64, told the court. Some analysts have suggested the prosecution was driven by Lukashenko's desire to remove a potential rival since Marinich has developed close ties in Moscow. Russia is Belarus' closest ally but ties have cooled recently, and some observers have suggested it could support an opposition candidate in elections set for 2006. Lukashenko won an internationally criticized referendum this year allowing him to stand for a third term in the poll. His allies won a simultaneous parliamentary election. The former farm boss, who has run the country along Soviet lines since he came to power in 1994, has pledged to crack down on corruption and last year ordered prosecutors to pay special attention to opposition politicians. The West accuses Lukashenko of stifling the independent press and cracking down on dissent and the European Union has slapped travel bans on top officials. The EU has also frozen high-level contacts with Belarus, a neighbor since the trading bloc expanded earlier this year. Washington also criticized the conduct of elections in the increasingly isolated state. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Iraqi Elections (II): The Launching of the Campaign
http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=IA20104 THE MIDDLE EAST MEDIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 201 December 31, 2004 No.201 Iraqi Elections (II): The Launching of the Campaign By: *Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli Introduction Amidst intensifying acts of violence and many calls to postpone the elections, preparations for the balloting in Iraq scheduled for January 30 have been proceeding unabated. By the deadline of December 15, 107 lists carrying the names of 7200 candidates for the 275 seats in the National Assembly were submitted and approved by the High Commission for Elections. The lists represent 73 single political parties, 25 independent candidates, and 9 lists of various coalitions or combinations of political parties. In addition to the lists for the national assembly, 382 lists with 7850 candidates have been submitted for the election of members of the 18 provincial councils (41 members for each council with the exception of Baghdad, which will elect 51 members). Finally, 499 candidates - submitted either on a joint list of the two major Kurdish parties or on a list of one of the 17 smaller Kurdish parties - will be competing for the 111 seats in the Kurdish National Council (independent Kurdish parliament). [1] A chart illustrating the election process in Iraq is attached as an annex. The U.N. Secretary General's special representative to Iraq, Ashraf Kadi, has declared that the logistical arrangements necessary for conducting credible Iraqi elections on January 30 are in place. However, unlike the cases of Afghanistan and East Timor where the United Nations ran the elections, in Iraq the responsibility for running the elections rests with the country's High Commission for Elections. [2] The Lists of Candidates Under the proportional representation system which was introduced to Iraq by the United Nations, the country will be treated as a single constituency, and each voter will cast one vote either for one of the twenty-five independent candidates or for a list representing one or more parties. While vigorous competition is expected during the elections, realistically only a few lists, in particular the Iraqi National Alliance list brokered by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the two joint Kurdish lists, and the list of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi are expected to win a substantial number of seats in the national assembly. For the others, success, if any, will be limited to the top tier of the list. The following is a review of the major lists: (1) The Iraqi National Alliance By all accounts, the most important list of candidates is the Iraqi National Alliance. The list, primarily representing the Shi'ite majority and fashioned in consultation with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, offers 228 candidates divided equally between representatives of major Shi'ite political parties and independent candidates who are mainly Shi'ite, but include Sunnis, Failis (Kurdish Shi'ites), Turkmen, and Yazdis (another Kurdish splinter group). The political parties represented on the list are the Islamic Da'wa Party, headed by Ibrahim al-Ja'fari, interim Vice President of Iraq; the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), headed by Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim, who also heads the national alliance list; and the Iraqi National Congress, headed by Dr. Ahmad Chalabi. A less significant party is Hizbullah, headed by Abd al-Karim al-Mahmadawi. A significant independent candidate on the list is Dr. Hussein Shahristani, who put the list together in consultation with Sistani. Shahristani, a former nuclear physicist who refused to be co-opted into Saddam's weapons program and was subsequently imprisoned, is considered a likely candidate to be the next prime minister of Iraq, a post he had turned down when it was offered to him by Ambassador Paul Bremer when the interim government was constituted. While the list represents a broad segment of the Iraqi society, there is little that it has offered in terms of its political program and how it might restore stability to the country. Noticed for his absence from the list is Muqtada al-Sadr, who has refused to offer his support for the National Alliance. [3] (2) The Kurdish List The second most significant list is that of the two key Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party headed by Mas'oud Barazani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan headed by Jalal Talabani. This is the first attempt by the two Kurdish parties to campaign jointly both for the National Assembly and for the autonomous parliament of Kurdistan. In launching their joint list, Barazani declared that it was an historic agreement that would protect the rights of the Kurdish people and help to build a united federal democratic Iraq. The Kurds are clearly concerned that the election of a majority Shi'ite members of the national assembly might frustrate their expectations for a federation and, more significantly, their demand for the inclusion of the oil
[osint] Unassailable Putin to stay the course
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=10456 Unassailable Putin to stay the course More than anything, the Russian president's lengthy annual press conference last week highlighted the meekness of domestic and international forces in the face of a tough administration quick to sacrifice civil liberties for fast-track reforms designed to strengthen the federal government. By Nabi Abdullaev for ISN Security Watch (28/12/04) Some 700 journalists attended last Thursday's annual press conference hosted by President Vladimir Putin, and unlike the four previous ones, it was not a general recount of the year's achievements and future goals. Instead, it was a three-hour collective psychotherapy session conducted by the president - an immensely influential figure with whom the Russian people still look to for a better future, even as fatigue and disappointment with the lack of economic progress, the ineptness of security structures, a corrupt officialdom, and collapsing civil liberties begin to overwhelm the nation. Putin's answers to uncomfortable and challenging questions posed by journalists were, without exception, successfully executed attempts to reassure an edgy public. Putin repeatedly stressed that the ongoing political, administrative, and social reforms - such as the state's controversial and surely underhanded takeover of Yuganskneftegaz, the core production unit of the privately owned Yukos oil giant - have been executed in accordance with the law and for the good of the public. Concerning foreign policy, the president chose to focus on contradictions, slamming the West for using double standards to foment velvet revolutions in former Soviet republics - such as Georgia and Ukraine - but with a dose of caution to avoid overtly antagonizing Washington. Surprisingly, not one of the 51 questions posed by journalists at the Kremlin conference related to the September Beslan hostage-taking tragedy or the armed conflict in Chechnya - the most tragic event in Russia this year and the largest threat to Russia's security, respectively. The interference card European observers strongly criticized Moscow's overt intervention in presidential elections in Ukraine, Georgia's separatist republic of Abkhazia, and Chechnya, where the Kremlin made its influence felt in an attempt to ensure that incumbent regimes would stay in power to avoid opposition victories that would likely herald Kremlin-unfriendly regime changes. During the press conference, Putin did not attempt to justify Moscow's intervention in those regions, but focused on criticizing the West, the European Union, and particularly, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who had recently opined Russia without Ukraine is better than Russia with Ukraine. After churning out figures aimed at indicating Poland's poor economic progress during the 1990s, Putin accused the West of pursuing a foreign policy designed to isolate Russia, and of establishing elements [in Chechnya] that would destabilize the Russian Federation. Moscow has long been making overtures that the Chechen conflict is propelled to some degree by forces and institutions abroad, including in the West, though those institutions have never been specifically named. In Ukraine, Putin personally and very publicly voiced his support for Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the hand-picked heir of outgoing Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. Despite his blatant interference in Ukrainian elections, Putin last week denounced what he called dangerous attempts to solve political issues through non-legitimate means, referring to the so-called Orange Revolution in which opposition supporters held mass public protests in Ukraine, and the Rose Revolution in Georgia last year, which brought a pro-Western candidate to power there. Denying the possibility of genuine public protest in Georgia and Ukraine, Putin stressed that the two revolutions were planned somewhere, and particularly noted that US financier and philanthropist George Soros was bankrolling the salaries of the senior Georgian officials. The Russian president unleashed much of his wrath for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for its refusal to recognize the results of the runoff presidential vote in Ukraine in November and to endorse presidential elections in Chechnya in August, while being willing to accept election results in Afghanistan - where a US-backed candidate won - and in Kosovo, and to participate in organizing elections in volatile Iraq. Nonetheless, Putin said he was satisfied with US-Russian relations, in which both partners were driven by national interests, such as energy cooperation and the war on terror - rather than momentous, semi-scandalous tactical issues. Putin also managed a few curt remarks to some foreign journalists, telling a Japanese reporter that Moscow had no plans to give up any of the disputed Kuril islands, and telling a Greek reporter why Russia would vote pro-Turk on UN issues
[osint] Ukraine's opposition reinstates blockade
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/12/30/wukraine30.xml Ukraine's opposition reinstates blockade By Julius Strauss in Kiev (Filed: 30/12/2004) Ukrainian opposition supporters renewed their blockade of Viktor Yanukovich's office after the prime minister continued to defy calls to concede defeat in last weekend's presidential election. In a move that seems set to prolong the nation's crisis, Mr Yanukovich also refused to give up his post although parliament pased a motion this month dictating that he should step down. Viktor Yanukovich and Viktor Yushchenko supporters The stand-off in Kiev continues between Viktor Yanukovich and supporters of Viktor Yushchenko Preliminary election results give his opponent, Viktor Yushchenko, a lead of more than 2.2 million votes. Opposition supporters had planned a victory party in Independence Square, Kiev, but that, and plans by the protesters in the capital's tent city to pack up and go home, are now on hold. Instead, several hundred marched yesterday to the cabinet building where they prevented Mr Yanukovich, an industrial magnate who is backed by Moscow, from chairing a meeting of ministers. It was eventually held elsewhere without him. Mr Yanukovich's officials have filed a dossier of complaints to the central election commission claiming that the opposition carried out thousands of election abuses. Mr Yanukovich's representative on the commission, Nestor Shufrich, said the team had submitted 27 volumes of documents. He said: If there is any consistency, we have no doubt that the result of the election will be overturned. But there were signs yesterday that the election commission was unlikely to rule in Mr Yanukovich's favour. Its head, Yaroslav Davydovich, said: These legal challenges are an attempt to draw the commission out of its impartial stand and into politics. That is impossible. Myron Wasylyk, an analyst who is close to the opposition, said the complaints by the Yanukovich team had been expected. Whatever they file, I believe most of the petitions will be thrown out of court, he said. Preliminary official results give Mr Yushchenko 52 per cent against 44 per cent for Mr Yanukovich. But plans for an early inauguration of Mr Yushchenko have been shelved because of the uncertainty caused by Mr Yanukovich's defiance. Mr Yushchenko has nevertheless begun holding discussions with his allies over plans for their first 100 days in power. They agreed that the main foreign policy aim would be to push for membership of the European Union as early as possible. There has been fervent speculation over who will be prime minister in Mr Yushchenko's cabinet. Yulia Timoshenko, the blonde firebrand who has stood by his side throughout the crisis, has made it known that she expects the post as a reward. But she is unpopular in the pro-Russian south and east and unlikely to garner enough support in parliament. In an apparent attempt to rally support, she was due to fly yesterday to the city of Donetsk, in the industrial heartland of eastern Ukraine, to meet Rinat Ahmetov, the country's richest man. Mr Ahmetov, like the country's other oligarchs, has supported the outgoing president Leonid Kuchma and Mr Yanukovich, but may be seeking an accommodation with the new order. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email
[osint] preventive strikes by Russia
Moscow, 30 December-RIANovosti Russia's Defense Ministry will keep overseas prevention anti-terro operations in secret. Preparing such offences will not be announced as airing this info it is nonsense, stated a Defense Minister, Mr. Sergey Ivanov, on media briefing on Thursday. According to Minister, preventive strikes are not Russian invention and not synonymous to using a military force en masse. Responding to journalists' questions of eventual preventive targets, he have said There are targets always. Source: http://www.rian.ru/rian/intro.cfm?nws_id=775367 30.12.2004, 11:20 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
