tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23514940775741556272024-03-13T23:17:02.327-07:00CommonSenseThere can be no liberty when deception is the governing tool. CommonSense aims to expose misinformation.Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.comBlogger229125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-77112055126177440222024-01-25T08:07:00.000-08:002024-01-25T08:07:21.977-08:00UN, US complicit in Zionists’ crimes in Gaza<p> A 2014 interview - If only it had been heeded at the time. </p><p><a href="https://en.mehrnews.com/news/103532/UN-US-complicit-in-Zionists-crimes-in-Gaza">https://en.mehrnews.com/news/103532/UN-US-complicit-in-Zionists-crimes-in-Gaza</a><br /></p><div class="item-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: Arial; font-size: 0.7rem;"><div class="item-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px;"><h1 class="title" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-size: 1.5rem; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0.4rem 0px 1rem;">UN, US complicit in Zionists’ crimes in Gaza</h1></div></div><div class="item-summary" style="background: rgb(248, 249, 250); box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.8px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><p class="summary introtext" itemprop="description" style="background: transparent; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; border-top: 1px solid transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 0.8rem; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 20px; text-align: justify;">TEHRAN, Aug. 04 (MNA) – A political analysts believes the UN and the US have been complicit in Zionists’ crimes in Gaza through inaction and indecision.</p></div><div class="item-body" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 1.7; text-align: justify;"><div class="item-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">In an exclusive interview with Ms Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich, MNA asked questions on the recent Israel atrocities and also recent develpments in the Middle East. The following is the text of the interview.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Gaza has been under siege since 2007 and it is a densely populated strip with 1.8 million people. In rare cases Rafah Crossing Border is open to transfer some vital daily needs including food and medicine to the Gazans.</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Israel, for some reasons, has launched air and land strikes upon people in the Gaza Strip with no serious reactions from the human rights activists or international community, western countries and politicians.</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">What do you think Israel seeks in bombing and shelling Gaza?</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">The Gazans are being bombed and shelled simply for being Palestinian, for living on their ancestral land. The creation of an Israeli state in Palestinian land was never intended to accommodate Arabs. This thinking became more apparent when in 1967; Moshe Dayan compared and justified the continued expansion into Palestinian Land by saying: "Take the American declaration of Independence. It contains no mention of territorial limits. We are not obliged to fix the limits of the State." (Jerusalem Post, 08/10/1967). In this line of thinking, Yitzhak Rabin said in the 1980s that “Israel will create in the course of the next 10 or 20 years, conditions which would attract natural and voluntary migration of the refugees from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to Jordan.” True to their actions and ideology, in 1997, Yitzak Shamir claimed: ‘The settlement of the Land of Israel is the essence of Zionism. Without settlement, we will not fulfill Zionism. It's that simple.’(Maariv, 02/21/1997.)</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">The ideology of driving Palestinians from their land and giving it all to Israelis has been passed down throughout the years. As recently as 2006, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that: “I believed, and to this day still believe, in our people’s eternal and historic right to this entire land.” And of course, Netanyahu, like all others, believes in Greater Israel and increasing the number of Jews in occupied territories. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">The actions taken to fulfill this ideology have been going on for decades under the watchful and indifferent international community with only a few nations raising their voices. In recent years, greed has added to the impetus for the speedy execution of these plans to the point where we witness blockade, and incremental genocide.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">The reason behind the greed is the billions of cubic meters of gas were discovered off the coast of Gaza in 1999. In 2001, Ariel Sharon said “Israel would never buy gas from Palestine”, prohibiting its development by the British. In May, a month prior to the alleged kidnapping of the Israelis, a deal was concluded whereby the gas would be liquefied in Egypt and sent out to the world market – making Egypt a partner in crime as well as complicit in the current genocide.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Why do Israelis usually start wars in Gaza in this time of the year? </span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">It is not restricted to spring and summer. In 2008-2009, the onslaught started in December. But it would be a fair assessment to say that the Israelis act with impunity close to mid-term elections and or around Presidential elections in the United States.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">How would you interpret the international human rights institutions silence and why they would not condemn Israel atrocities in Gaza Strip?</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">International organizations such United Nations Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and all other UN agencies fall under the jurisdiction of the United Nations<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">. </span>The top <a href="http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=ST/ADM/SER.B/889" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #004adf; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">financier of the United Nations</a> is America with a whopping 22.00% in direct funds (followed by Japan 10.83%, Germany 7.14%, France 5.59%, and GB 5.18%). If any of these UN organizations called out the atrocities in Gaza, the genocide, its top financier would have to be punished for its complicity. So although they condemn Israel, they do little else that would prevent the ongoing atrocities and punish the crimes of genocide.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Recent reports say that US and UK have advocated supplying Israel with ammunition as “a part of a routine foreign military sales delivery,” according to Reuters and the Independent as “two UK companies supplying components for the Hermes drone, described by the Israeli air force as the ‘backbone’ of its targeting and reconnaissance missions.”</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">On the other hand, the Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stated on Edi al-Fitr [July 28] that “US president issued an edict to disarm Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in order to prevent the minimum strike by some rockets – possessed by Palestine’s popular resistance – against so many crimes of Israel but entire world especially Muslim world, all are responsible to arm Palestine as much as they can." </span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">What do you think about arming Hamas so that it could resist Israeli offensives, do you think it would bring some balance to the war between the two sides and push the Israelis back for probable future attacks?</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">I either have to give voice to my core belief of non-violence, or I have to address the realities and practicalities on the ground. As a pacifist, I am not prepared to do either.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">On recent developments in the Middle East, do you think there is any link between Takfirists and Zionists’ actions?</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">Without a doubt. I don’t believe in coincidences in politics. In the same month that Hamas and PLO talked about unity, the vicious, gruesome images of terrorists, specifically ISIL, was introduced to the world via twitter. I firmly believe that these tweets and videos were intended to paint a barbaric and savage picture of Moslems and Arabs and underscore the Israeli propaganda that they are threatened by Arabs/Moslems, and justify (wrongly) their genocide of the Palestinians. Much of the public discourse here in America reflects this mindset.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">How would you predict the future of Syria, Iraq and Palestine with actions taken by Takfirists and Zionists?</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">I believe that justice will prevail. I have no doubt that not only those in the region, but the whole global community will wake up to the plight of the innocent people in the region, and the horrors they face, and there will be far more cooperation coming soon to defeat these enemies of humanity. Unfortunately, a great deal more lives will be lost before this happens. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich</span> has a Master's in Public Diplomacy from USC Annenberg for Communication. She is an independent researcher and writer with a focus on U.S. foreign policy and the role of the lobby. Her articles have been published by several online publications and she is a public speaker.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Interview: Zahra Karimy</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.9; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">ZK/SH<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />MNA<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />END</span></span></p></div><div class="item-code" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #6c757d; font-size: 0.7rem; margin-top: 20px;">News Code <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">103532</span></div></div>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-23375159205853337102023-10-10T15:13:00.002-07:002023-10-17T08:10:53.548-07:00A Note on Hamas<p> Some well-meaning people are saying HAMAS is the creation of Israel. Or the US. Here is a brief history and a cursory look at facts that matter. The reader should bear in mind that the following article was written in 2004. Tragically, the only update is that Israel has once again played the same game with regard to the recent 'war' with Gaza. The only beneficiary of this recent, ongoing 'war' is Israel. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;">Hamas-an acronym
for the Islamic Resistance Movement-was born with the first Palestinian uprising
in December 1987. Hamas's goals-a
nationalist position couched in religious discourse-are articulated in Hamas's
key documents: a charter, political memoranda, and communiques. They have since moderated their stance and in
recent statements by key Hamas officials maintain that their goals are Israel's
withdrawal from lands occupied in the 1967 war, the end of Israeli occupation,
the establishment of a Palestinian state, and a solution to the refugee issue
(Roy, 2003, 2)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> . <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;">With the end of
the Intifada and the initiation of the Oslo peace process, the resistance
component of the Palestinian struggle - so critical to Hamas's political thinking
and action - was undermined. For Hamas,
social and political action is inextricably linked. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">However, the retreat from the
political sphere was pragmatic and accompanied by a need to rediscover Islam
and its relevance to society. This enabled Hamas to spread itself among the
Palestinian people and organize itself. In
the two- to three-year period before the second Intifada in 2000, Hamas was no
longer prominently or consistently calling for political or military action
against the occupation, but was instead shifting its attention to social works and the propagation of Islamic values and religious practice (Roy,
2003, 3)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"> The
start of the second Palestinian Intifada on September 28, 2000, coupled<br />
with the impact of September 11, dramatically changed the environment in the
West Bank and Gaza(Rabbani & Roy, 2002,
1).<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Preexisting political arrangements had been severely disrupted, economic
conditions deteriorated, and key social structures and mediatory
institutions had weakened. Within this context of desperation and hopelessness,
the Islamist opposition, notably Hamas, had reasserted itself. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;">Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon continued the Israeli land expansions through land
expropriations and economic dispossession.
It is unlikely that his agenda included a Palestinian state. The United States uneven handling of the
conflict encouraged Sharon’s plans. With a weak Palestinian leadership in place,
and the increasing significance of Hamas influence, the U.S. opens dialogue
with a senior Hamas leader in early September of 2002. Judging by the Israeli reaction, it seems
that Israel did not want to have any Palestinian engaged in dialogue with the
U.S. for fear that there may be a political solution to the Israel-Palestine
conflict. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;">United
States-Hamas contacts, of which Israel was fully aware, ended when<br />
the Israeli army arrested a politically moderate Hamas official in Ramallah on
September 9, which Hamas interpreted as a deliberate attempt by the Sharon
government to undermine its exchange with the Americans. A few days later, Israel
launched an attack in Rafah that killed nine Palestinians, including civilians.
Predictably, a suicide bomber staged an attack on a bus in Tel Aviv on
September 19, killing six people.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;">Other Hamas-Palestinian
Authority (PA) cease-fires had been undermined by Israeli attacks. Alex Fishman,
the security commentator for the right-of-center Yediot Achronot, Israel's
largest mass-circulation newspaper, detailed in the November 25, 2001 issue of
the newspaper how the assassination that November of Mahmud Abu Hanud, a key
Hamas figure, shattered a Hamas promise not to carry out suicide bombings
inside Israel: "Whoever gave the green light to this act of liquidation
knew full well that he was thereby shattering in one blow the gentleman's
agreement between Hamas and the PA; under that agreement, Hamas was to avoid in
the near future suicide bombings inside the Green Line [Israel's pre-1967
borders] of the kind perpetrated at the Dolphinarium [a discotheque in Tel
Aviv].( Perry, 2004, 7) <a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;">In effect,
Israel’s actions led Hamas to play into their hands. Having already marginalized the PLO and Yasir
Arafat, by instigating Hamas suicide bombings Sharon would ensure that
negotiations for a Palestinian state would not take place, no matter what the
cost. Although seemingly agreeing to
the “road map” initiated by the U.S., Sharon’s underlying intentions were
otherwise. The Israeli prime minister actions led to a
period of suicide bombings by Hamas, followed by negotiations while Israel
expanded in to the West Bank, having found the perfect excuse to deal heavy
handedly with Hamas and PLO and to build a barrier which it claimed was to stop
the suicide bombings. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;">On Aug 8, 2003
more than 40 protestors were arrested by the Israeli government<br />
for attempting to interfere with construction of the security barrier
separating Israel and the West Bank. In a raid by Israeli troops, one Israeli
Defense Forces (IDF) soldier and two suspected Hamas bomb-makers were shot and killed. The raid took place in
the “Askar” refugee camp next to the West Bank city of Nabilus. On August
12<sup>th</sup> Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade and Hamas claimed responsibility for
separate suicide bombings near Rosh Haayin in Israel. Although the attacks were
uncoordinated, they occurred a few miles, and less than an hour, apart (Middle
East Journal, 2003 ).<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;">With the
escalation of suicide bombings, the European Union imposed a sanction on Hamas
and their assets were frozen. Sharon
started targeting top Hamas personnel, and in 2004 Israel’s extra judicial assassination
of Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin was supported by the United States. This gave Sharon the green light and he gave
the orders to kill the man who replaced Yassin – Abdel Aziz Rantisi. Again, without being reprimanded from
Washington, and finding that Hamas is
being crushed, having found that the Middle East Peace Plan is moving in
accordance to Sharon’s wishes, that is unilaterally and unacceptable not only
to Palestinians, but to the whole Arab world, Sharon has now declared that he
will target Arafat. This will buy him
the excuse to eliminate anyone to negotiate with for an independent Palestinian
state.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;">The suicide
bombing tactics served to advance Sharon’s goals and that of Israel. They came across as the aggressors that
created fear and mistrust who had to be dealt with brutally. With the world super power backing every
action of your opponent, it is hard to devise a plan to counter their
aggression. Even the United Nations and
Europe is impotent vis-à-vis U.S. and Israel.
It would have been fruitless for Hamas to have protested at the onset of
the Israeli master plan. It would have
no doubt fallen on deaf ears. It is
clear that their unity with PLO and Arafat would have served Palestine. As it stands, suicide bombings gave Sharon a
carte blanche, did not further the cause of the Palestinian people, and
depleted Hamas of funds, to say the least. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;"><br /></p><p>
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 11pt;">Roy, Sara. “Hamas and the transformation(s) of
political Islam in Palestine”. <i>Current
History</i>. Jan 2003<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Roy, Sara. “Hamas and the transformation(s) of
political Islam in Palestine”. <i>Current
History</i>. Jan 2003<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Rabbani, M & Roy, S. "Palestinian Politics and September
11th: Critical Changes in Policy and Structure," <i>Middle East Policy</i>, December 2002
<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
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<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Perry, M. "Israeli Offensive Disrupts US-Hamas
Contacts," <i>Palestine Report</i>,
October 9, 2002 Downloaded April 23, 2004 from <httpJ/www.jmcc.org/
media/report/02/Oct/2b <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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</div><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-16268235328653115222022-07-26T10:38:00.002-07:002022-07-28T10:51:29.659-07:00Iran & the JCPOA; The Traitors Among Us<p> As chances of the Iranian nuclear 'Deal' being revived are diminishing, a Deal which was for the sole purpose of regime change - the regime changers are once again speaking out. So blatantly obvious that you wonder why they don't bother to hide any more.</p><p>The latest is Mohammad Sahimi. He is well known among Iranians but what he is less known for is that he was the man behind the post 2009 elections which led to unrest, and even death. He is the man that came up with the lies about the Fatwa alleging that a clergy had instructed Iranians to commit fraud.</p><p>Writing for the George Soros & Koch established foundation, with NIAC/NED's boy Trita Parsi at its head, seems he is giving a kind of 'fatwa' of his own to revive the JCPOA and to restore a Washington-friendly regime in Tehran.</p><p>Here is his latest published by <i>Responsible Statecraft </i><a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/07/21/want-to-help-irans-reformers-revive-the-nuclear-deal/?utm_source=rss">Want to help Iran’s reformers? — revive the nuclear deal - Responsible Statecraft</a></p><p>Had Sahimi not been complicit and responsible for the 2009 uprisings, the article he recently penned would have been dismissed. But his record should give all pause as to the intentions of the 'Deal'.</p><p>This is a letter I wrote addressed to him and circulated among Iranians in 2009 when he called the elections 'fraudulent'. Some notes have been added at the end. I did not want this letter to be published publicly as my goal was to keep Iranians united. It is now time to share the events publicly.</p><p>It is also super important to read and understand what the JCPOA was really intended to do. Link to the article : <a href="https://countercurrents.org/2020/07/jcpoa-the-deal-that-wasnt/">JCPOA: The Deal That Wasn’t| Countercurrents</a></p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Let us Respect One Another<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">A response to Muhammad Sahimi’s “America’s Misguided Left”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://tehranbureau.com/american-lefts-misguided-support-ahmadinejad/"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Tehran Bureau – July
24, 2009</span></a><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">At this juncture of our history each one of us must practice
discretion. Our private opinions once
posted are no longer about being moral or ethical – they become political. This has kept some of us from publicizing our opinions
that only showcases the division among us as a result of the Iran
elections. This only weakens Iran. However,
I have decided to write this article and communicate it selectively without publicly
publishing it for I have taken great offense at being called a ‘traitor’. The reason for not publishing it is because I
believe that now more than ever, and in spite of our differences, we need to
unite and dedicate ourselves to the Iran we all love. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">*************************************************************************************************************<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Distracted by hate and driven by an arrogance that is attempting to
fit a square peg into a round hole, Mr. Sahimi is dismissing all Iranian
patriots who do not see the last elections in Iran as fraud. Worse still, he considers anyone who supports
Ahmadinejad’s second term guilty of “committing treason”. In short, in Mr. Sahimi’s “democratic” Iran,
there is no choice other than what he considers fit for the nation. Surely one must wonder if he dared call those
who accepted the Bush 2000 presidency as traitors, and encouraged them to rise
up against Bush.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Every argument merits an examination. Given that the ‘left’ has embarrassed Mr.
Sahimi (those of us who believe that the demonstrations in Iran were tainted by
rogue elements and egged on by foreign influences – yet freely admit that the
people on the streets want reform – with many having a different expectation of
‘reform’; personal freedom, freedom of expression, political, oppression,
economy …), and given that unlike “intellectuals” who carry the burden of ego
and demand that the reader unconditionally accept the verdict of “fraud”, I invite
the intelligent reader to help me sort through this mess and read through the
references with me before making up his/her mind. For as Voltaire said: “doubt is not pleasant,
but certainly is absurd”. It is
certainty that divides those with a closed mind from those who have an open
mind. A closed mind is like a closed
fist – one can never place anything in it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Perhaps one should first inquire why allegations of ‘rigged’ are
being made. Several factors contributed
to this mindset. One can start with the
most simple of all explanations – trick of the mind. By following the simple </span><a href="http://alef.ir/1388/content/view/47843/"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">chart</span></a><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> attached it is easy to see why those
supporting ‘Green’ would have no doubt about the presidential elections. It is a simple matter of creating their truth
– every bit free of malice. To
paraphrase one of the greatest American activists, journalists and writers,
Walter Lippmann, 50% of the truth is what you hear, the other 50% is what you
believe. There is no truth – it is a
creation or irrevocable expectation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">However, rumors poisoned this truth. We must all be mindful that one of the most
effective weapons during WWII and the Cold War was rumor. Eisenhower said: ‘<strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">Without doubt, psychological warfare has proved its right to a place of
dignity in our military arsenal.’</span></strong></span><strong><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></strong><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">The spread
of rumor in Iran in its various forms has been going on for some time. The Mousavi or “Green” which had its most
supporters in Tehran showed their solidarity prior to the June 12<sup>th</sup>
elections by forming a human chain that was miles long. [This was historic--and
no doubt worrying for Ahmadinejad. Could
it have prompted his supporters to encourage likely voters to come out? This
would not be hard to do as the manpower was available to him]. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">The “Green” was convinced of a win. Victory was so close at hand that all other
considerations were put aside. Certainly
polls everywhere are not always reliable, but an astute politician would do
well to at least consider if not heed them.
A jointly commissioned poll by
the </span><a href="http://www.islamicinsights.com/news/international-news/what-actually-happened-in-the-iranian-presidential-elections.html"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">BBC and ABC News</span></a><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><u><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><u><span style="font-size: 10pt;">[1]</span></u></span><!--[endif]--></span></u></span></a><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, and conducted by an independent entity called the Center for Public
Opinion (CPO) of the New America Foundation with a reputation of conducting
accurate opinion polls, not only in Iran, but across the Muslim world since
2005, conducted a poll a few weeks before the elections. It predicted an 89 percent turnout rate and
showed that Ahmadinejad had a nationwide advantage of two to one over Mousavi. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Moreover, i</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">n a June 2009 Foreign Policy
article, a study by Berkman Center for Internet and Society, web users which
indicated the candidates' domestic and international supporters showed Mousavi
had received only about half the search volume as Ahmadinejad over the last 30
days. According to the same article, within Iran, “it is telling that Mousavi
has had a greater share of the English-language search volume in the last 30
days, while Ahmadinejad dominates searches in Persian. This might be because
Mousavi, who has been touted as a reformist candidate, appeals to a demographic
more likely to speak English. Consistent
with this pattern, Mousavi's search-query strongholds are in Tehran and
Shiraz--places where you're more likely to find urban elites. Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad's
appeal is highest among those less likely to have English as their default
Internet browser language. Ahmadinejad remains a big player in all prominent
Iranian cities but only completely dominates the less-cosmopolitan cities of
Qom, Karaj, and Mashhad.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">This information not only sheds some light on the voting pattern,
but also on the aftermath of the elections and the demonstrators. More to the point, it explains the English
signs, the foreign media’s role, and the influence of “intellectuals” in
America – not the ‘left’ who have it wrong.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">But it appears these were ignored – they even ‘created’ another
manifestation of their certain victory prior to the elections -- a front-page image announcement in the
liberal paper </span><i style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Hamshahri </i><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> of a Mousavi win with 24 million votes
standing next to Khatami with the title “Mousavi has become the
President”. What is conspicuously
missing from this ‘creation’ is the picture of Khamenei. It appears that those who wanted a ‘Green’ victory
had also wanted Khamenei out even before the elections. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Regrettably, the “left” is expected to accept what is presented to
them as fact or be called traitors, which includes an alleged fatwa that has
found its way from an unnamed “highly reliable source”. In conjunction with the fatwa, there were
reports of “pens provided at polling stations were filled with disappearing
ink, and partisans of Mousavi and reformist cleric Mahdi Karroubi urged one
another to bring their own writing instruments. In Iran, voters write in the
names of their candidates of choice.” </span><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="font-size: 10pt;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">
One can only surmise that the reformist candidates expected Ahmadinejad’s votes
would not disappear given his religiosity.
Perhaps my confusion over the fatwa and disbelief of it stems from here:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">It is alleged that a fatwa
was issued allowing votes to be rigged in favor Ahmadinejad.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Given the fatwa, why was it
necessary to go through the expense and trouble of buying ‘invisible ink’ when
one could simply do a “fuzzy math” as in the U.S.?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">How would the ink distinguish
between the Ahmadinejad voters and Mousavi/Karroubi voters?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">I was troubled. It was not the election results that undermined the
people, but the rumors that led up to the elections and the behavior of all
concerned during and after. The ‘Green’
readily accepted a win for Mousavi before the voting booths were even closed
and votes counted, yet they rejected a win for Ahmadinejad the following day on
the basis that “how could they have counted it so quickly” – with Mousavi
calling it a fraud since he had already planned his victory party. Instead, he called for protests.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Mr. Sahimi
dismisses all foreign hand claiming NED does not have a partner in Iran to work
with. Therefore absent NED, absent
mischief. It is worthwhile mentioning Haleh
Esfandiari , who was Deputy Secretary General of the Women's Organization of
Iran, a royal-patronage society established in 1966 by Ashraf Pahlavi. She is
known to have been close to Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, a daughter of Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani, according to The New York Times. She was the first Iranian-American fellow at
NED (1995). She was arrested in 2007. Of course NIAC has been a NED recipient. It is important to look to history and the effects
of propaganda. One of the most notable
men of history who helped the WWII war efforts was Sefton Delmer (Der Chef<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>). A British agent, Delmer was born in
Berlin. He had the extraordinary ability
to empathize and understand the German mind.
He undermined the Germans like no other. No doubt there are many who
understand the Iranian mind -- of course they need not be foreign born to
betray Iran. Iran’s tragic history is
full of such people. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #000099;"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">"The
primary sponsor of the United for Iran protests, the<b> </b></span><a href="http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/International_Campaign_for_Human_Rights_in_Iran" title="http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/International_Campaign_for_Human_Rights_in_Iran"><strong><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-line: none;">International
Campaign for Human Rights in Iran</span></strong></a><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">,</span></b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> is a project of the Dutch </span><a href="http://www.bridgingthegulf.org/menu-main/bridgingthegulf/boardmembers/" title="http://www.bridgingthegulf.org/menu-main/bridgingthegulf/boardmembers/"><strong><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-line: none;">Foundation
for Human Security in the Middle East</span></strong></a><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">. </span></b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">The Netherlands and the U.S. openly budget funds to promote
‘political change’ in Iran. Gozaar is
the result of the Hague’s contribution to the Freedom House in 2003 which was
part of a larger project to promote “media pluralism” in Iran – thanks for MEK
member, Farah Karimi. </span><a href="http://www.nrc.nl/buitenland/article1724177.ece/Haagse_subsidie_tegen_regime_Iran" title="http://www.nrc.nl/buitenland/article1724177.ece/Haagse_subsidie_tegen_regime_Iran"><strong><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-line: none;">"Haagse subsidie tegen regime
Iran,"</span></i></strong></a><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> <em>NRC
Handelsblad</em>, first published on 16 September 2006, updated on 22
August 2008, Trans. </span><a href="http://montages.blogspot.com/" title="http://montages.blogspot.com/"><strong><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-line: none;">Yoshie Furuhash</span></i></strong><strong><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">i</span></strong></a><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">). MEK
member Karimi<b> </b>is also a member ‘Foundation for Human Security
in the Middle East.’ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Needless to
mention the daily – illegal -- 24/7 VOA with its usual propaganda which these
days has the added Iranian “Americans” protesting for Americans here as well as
satellite broadcasting to Iran. Contrary
to Mr. Sahimi’s outrageous allegations, proof of such people is not in their
vote for Ahmadinejad or remaining silent.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">The ‘misguided left’ cannot
be altogether blamed for not wanting division in Iran – or for not accepting
rumors since they have not forgotten the bombings in Iran, the terror prior to
the elections – not only in Ahwaz, but the bombings in Ahmadinejad’s campaign
headquarters. Was chaos not
intended? How is it possible to overlook
the braggings of the monarchists on CNN – the post-election network of choice when
they openly declared they had prepared for the “protests”. “In 2006, Mr. Bush poured $75 million into
“promoting democracy” in Iran, in part by funding satellite broadcasts. But
Homayoun said his station does not take any money from the U.S. government,
relying instead on constant televised appeals for funds, even during his high-voltage,
excited coverage of street protests. Officials with Channel One said that their
station operates on a budget of nearly $2 million a year.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2009/06/19/twitter-revolution-in-iran-aided-by-old-media-tv-radio/" title="http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2009/06/19/twitter-revolution-in-iran-aided-by-old-media-tv-radio/
blocked::http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2009/06/19/twitter-revolution-in-iran-aided-by-old-media-tv-radio/"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2009/06/19/twitter-revolution-in-iran-aided-by-old-media-tv-radio/</span></a><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">
"A year ago we distributed these things that look like a pen, but it's
actually a video camera. People use it to record the events in Iran and
then they take the video and send it back to us."<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">On CNN, these
same people contended that three months prior to the elections they had been
handing out the Iranian flag with the lion, sun, and sword – prepared, ready
not for a Mousavi win, or an Ahmadinejad, but for illegitimacy and chaos by all
indications.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">In a
Newsweek article (June 17, 2009) titled “Who’s behind the violence in Iran”,
protesters expressed their fear at “</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">they were also
wary of hijacking of their movement by the more violent elements in the opposition.”<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> This writer, among others, and not to be the
first, has written many articles connecting the MEK to Israel. Currently, many of the political leaders in
America who support the MEK are backing the protests. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">In addition
to the above, a same day report by “Wired Magazine” aptly called “Iran: Before
You Have That Twitter-Gasm…” reveals that the</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="color: navy;">“U.S. media is
projecting its own image of Iran into what is going here on the ground.”</span></span><span style="color: navy;"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Mr. Obama’s
request to keep Twitter up and running and not shut down for the annual
maintenance, especially given that much of the mischief behind the ‘newsfeed’
from Iran was traced back to Israel, is telling and worthwhile reading<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">While the ‘left’ were committing ‘treason’ by refusing to become
gladiators of sorts, and depriving the enemies of Iran of a spectacle, the
deposed Shah’s son and the MEK continue to compete for power. How can one not argue that the protests are
not tainted, even if the intentions of the people are pure?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Mr. Sahimi writes that Ahmadinejad is an Islamic fundamentalist and
as such not a nationalist. I am not in Ahmadinejad’s
head to know what his national
aspirations are, but I do dislike his extreme religiosity. Does this translate into his disregard for
Iran? I do not believe so. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Mr. Sahimi blames the sending of Iran’s nuclear dossier to the UNSC
on Ahmadinejad. This untruth is contrary
to the ideals of someone who ‘believes in a progressive and enlightened
interpretation of Islamic and Shia teachings’.
Here I cite Mr. Sahimi’s own paper: “Rafsanjani's government first
approached Kraftwerk Union to complete the Bushehr project. However, under the
US pressure, Kraftwerk Union refused. Iran then asked Germany to allow
Kraftwerk to ship the reactor components and technical documentation that it
had paid for, citing a 1982 International Commerce Commission (ICC) ruling
under which Siemens was obligated to deliver all plant materials and components
stored outside Iran, but the German government still refused to do so. In response,
Iran filed a lawsuit in August 1996 with the ICC, asking for $5.4 billion in
compensation for Germany's failure to comply with the 1982 ruling. The issue is
still unsettled.”</span></p><p><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">The
continued pressure from the United States at the behest of Israel forced Iran
to seek its civilian nuclear program in secret – although in itself not
illegal, this was later used as a weapon against Iran. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Rafsanjani who is praised highly by Mr. Sahimi was later implicated
in the 1994 AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. Martin Indyk, the National Security Council's
Senior Director for the Near East and South Asia, portrayed Iran to be the world's foremost sponsor of
terrorism and assassinations, and claimed Iran was allegedly attempting to
build weapons of mass destruction. It
was at this time that the “dual containment” was proposed – underwritten by
AIPAC! Executive Order 12957 given by
Clinton specifically banned any "contract for the financing of the
development of petroleum resources located in Iran." This had an immediate effect on Iran’s
economy (Fairbanks 2001, p447-465</span>)<span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">In 1999, while the moderate Khatami was president, in a student
protest, the dormitories were raided and students brutally attacked. These students were waving Khatami’s picture
hoping for change. But Khatami denounced
them and said that ‘his entire reform movement may be jeopardized by the
chaos’.<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The Knight Ridder <i><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-transform: uppercase;">[</span></i></span><a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002112520_iran08.html" target="_blank"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-decoration-line: none; text-transform: uppercase;">Knight Ridder,
12/8/2004]</span></i></a><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">reported that in 2004 (during the Khatami presidency), the United States used the MEK and other
dissident groups to effect regime change with ‘human rights’ as its weapon of
choice. It stated</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy;"> “</span><i><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: purple; font-size: 10pt;">Pentagon and White House officials “are developing plans to
increase public criticism of Iran’s human-rights record, offer stronger backing
to exiles and other opponents of Iran’s repressive theocratic government and
collect better intelligence on Iran.””</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Mr. Sahimi makes outlandish allegations against Ahmadinejad without
a shred of evidence such as helping his interior minister “illicitly get rich
in the oil swaps with the Republic of Azerbaijian”, yet amazingly, he writes
that Ahmadinejad had exposed corruption among the elite without ‘concrete
evidence’. Without wishing to label this
as hypocrisy, I would like to point out that maybe Ahmadinejad who was mayor of
Tehran, and later President of Iran, is likely to know a bit about what is
happening in Iran – while Mr. Sahimi’s sources are unknown – hearsay at best. Even Hooman Majd who is pro-Mousavi/Khatami
has something positive to say on this account in his book “The Ayatollah Begs
to Differ”. In his view, with all his shortcomings, Ahmadinejad tries hard to
stamp out corruption. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">We hear in great detail what is wrong with Ahmadinejad – this is
not the point. What is relevant is that 45
million people voted. At the time of voting, they knew that all four candidates
were qualified by the Guardian Council, that they all were from inner circles
of IRI and the system, that all would have followed basically the same policy
and on that basis, the people made their choice. It seems that some are reluctant to accept it
and wish to push a case for “rigged”, “fraud”, and continue to campaign against
Ahmadinejad bringing in reinforcements from the outside – that is, Tehran
Bureau, CNN, and any other site that will post their grievance or views. Millions have participated in these
elections, and yes millions have voted for Ahmadinejad. Some who live in America, for reasons of their
own, voted for Ahmadinejad. To be intolerant
of their vote and voice reflects political immaturity and a clear indication
that we must re-examine our readiness to embrace ‘democracy’.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">We all would like a change in our country. Some wish a more extreme
change than others. But first we must ensure there is a country to be had. Over the past month and half, the minds in
this country have been battling each other while others have been planning to
take over the Iran that we feign to be protecting. We have neglected our duty to protect her
because we each think we are in the right. Our love is an assault at this moment in her
history. There are dangerous decision
makers in Washington deciding her fate while we are fighting with our pen –
each other. I have not written publicly because the aftermath of the elections
has been a heartbreak. I cannot call it
a ‘fraud’ if I am not convinced of it – and I cannot tolerate the ill-treatment
of the protestors. Worse still, I have
no patience for the vultures outside Iran who are waiting to pick the bones of
the mentally defeated Iranians who have fought so hard for independence.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">I am simply at an impasse as how to move forward. All I know is that as before I must fight the
foreign elements. The internal battle is
beyond my comprehension. I am open to
dialogue but not to insults.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: navy; font-size: 10pt;">Los Angeles, California<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://www.islamicinsights.com/news/international-news/what-actually-happened-in-the-iranian-presidential-elections.html">http://www.islamicinsights.com/news/international-news/what-actually-happened-in-the-iranian-presidential-elections.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://www.seftondelmer.co.uk/">http://www.seftondelmer.co.uk/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/202475?from=rss">http://www.newsweek.com/id/202475?from=rss</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn4">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://www.chartingstocks.net/2009/06/proof-israeli-effort-to-destabilize-iran-via-twitter/">http://www.chartingstocks.net/2009/06/proof-israeli-effort-to-destabilize-iran-via-twitter/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn5">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec99/iran_7-13.html">http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec99/iran_7-13.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</div><p>
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/69991.html" title="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/69991.html"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/69991.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Desktop/sahimi%20elections.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""></a><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span> This writer
does not believe accusations against Rafsanjani in Argentina are not believed
to be valid and has written published opinion piece on it. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText">Very important to include this link and the polls
before el2ctios<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/based-on-terror-free-tomo_b_215423.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/based-on-terror-free-tomo_b_215423.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif; mso-highlight: yellow;">I also want to point to the fact that a
day before the Iran elections, neoconservative papers such as the Weekly
Standard paints a picture of a radical, fanatic Mousavi:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif; mso-highlight: yellow;">http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/06/who_is_mir_hossein_mousavi_kha_1.asp<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif; mso-highlight: yellow;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif; mso-highlight: yellow;">They also call him "Butcher of
Lebanon".<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif; mso-highlight: yellow;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif; mso-highlight: yellow;">In March 2006, The Weekly Standard
(Kristol) wrote</span><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;">:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;">http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/011/909rqgza.asp?pg=2<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;">The
whole aim has been to create chaos in Iran. Had Mousavi won, an unlikely
scenario, the neocons would have gone after him. Odd that he should be so
supported now. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif; mso-highlight: yellow;">The pro-Israeli think tank, the Saban
Center at the Brookings Institute, released a publication in June 2009 penned
by neocons Martin Indyk, Kenneth Pollack, et al, titled: "Which Path to
Persia? Options for a New American Strategy Towards Iran".</span><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"> Chapter 6 appears to be a
strong indication of their motivation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;">“<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">The United States could play
multiple roles in facilitating a revolution. By funding and helping organize
domestic rivals of the regime, the United States could create an alternative
leadership to seize power. As Raymond Tanter of the Iran Policy Committee
argues, students and other groups “need covert backing for their demonstrations</span>.
They need fax machines. They need Internet access, funds to duplicate
materials, and funds to keep vigilantes from beating them up.” Beyond this,
US-backed media outlets could highlight regime shortcomings and make otherwise
obscure critics more prominent. The United States already supports Persian
language satellite television (Voice of America Persian) and radio (Radio
Farda) that bring unfiltered news to Iranians (in recent years, these have
taken the lion’s share of overt US funding for promoting democracy in Iran). US
economic pressure (and perhaps military pressure as well) can discredit the regime,
making the population hungry for a rival leadership......”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;">Curiously,
a few short months before the elections, "Tehran Bureau" was
established giving exclusive right to Mohammad Sahimi to post his claim that a
'fatwa' had been issued by a mullah to falsify the election results. He
could not reveal his source!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;">As
Jeremy Hammond, Editor of Foreign Policy Journal meticulously connects the
dots, Jason Rezaian was behind Tehran Bureau.
</span><a href="http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2009/07/21/the-case-of-the-fatwa-to-rig-irans-election/"><span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;">http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2009/07/21/the-case-of-the-fatwa-to-rig-irans-election/</span></a><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;">And
Iran released him in the era of Rohani. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-74753073044350544362022-04-04T12:09:00.000-07:002022-04-04T12:09:20.297-07:00US's History of Suppling BioWeapons<p> <a href="https://irp.fas.org/congress/2002_cr/s092002.html">Did the U.S. Help Saddam Acquire Biological Weapons (fas.org)</a></p><pre style="background-color: white;">Congressional Record: September 20, 2002 (Senate)
Page S8987-S8998</pre><pre style="background-color: white;">"It is hard to believe that, during most of the 1980s, </pre><pre style="background-color: white;"> America knowingly permitted the Iraq Atomic Energy Commission
to import bacterial cultures that might be used to build
biological weapons. But it happened."</pre><pre style="background-color: white;">File downloaded on April 4, 2022</pre><pre style="background-color: white;"><blockquote style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: normal;"><pre>Congressional Record: September 20, 2002 (Senate)
Page S8987-S8998
HOW SADDAM HAPPENED
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, yesterday, at a hearing of the Senate Armed
Services Committee, I asked a question of the Secretary of Defense. I
referred to a Newsweek article that will appear in the September 23,
2002, edition. That article reads as follows. It is not overly lengthy.
I shall read it. Beginning on page 35 of Newsweek, here is what the
article says:
America helped make a monster. What to do with him--and
what happens after he is gone--has haunted us for a quarter
century.
The article is written by Christopher Dickey and Evan Thomas. It
reads as follows:
The last time Donald Rumsfeld saw Saddam Hussein, he gave
him a cordial handshake. The date was almost 20 years ago,
Dec. 20, 1983; an official Iraqi television crew recorded the
historic moment.
The once and future Defense secretary, at the time a
private citizen, had been sent by President Ronald Reagan to
Baghdad as a special envoy. Saddam Hussein, armed with a
pistol on his hip, seemed "vigorous and confident,"
according to a now declassified State Department cable
obtained by Newsweek. Rumsfeld "conveyed the President's
greetings and expressed his pleasure at being in Baghdad,"
wrote the notetaker. Then the two men got down to business,
talking about the need to improve relations between their two
countries.
Like most foreign-policy insiders, Rumsfeld was aware that
Saddam was a murderous thug who supported terrorists and was
trying to build a nuclear weapon. (The Israelis had already
bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor at Osirak.) But at the time,
America's big worry was Iran, not Iraq. The Reagan
administration feared that the Iranian revolutionaries who
had overthrown the shah (and taken hostage American diplomats
for 444 days in 1979-81) would overrun the Middle East and
its vital oilfields. On the--theory that the enemy of my
enemy is my friend, the Reaganites were seeking to support
Iraq in a long and bloody war against Iran. The meeting
between Rumsfeld and Saddam was consequential: for the next
five years, until Iran finally capitulated, the United States
backed Saddam's armies with military intelligence, economic
aid and covert supplies of munitions.
Rumsfeld is not the first American diplomat to wish for the
demise of a former ally. After all, before the cold war, the
Soviet Union was America's partner against Hitler in World
War II. In the real world, as the saying goes, nations have
no permanent friends, just permanent interests. Nonetheless,
Rumsfeld's long-ago interlude with Saddam is a reminder that
today's friend can be tomorrow's mortal threat. As President
George W. Bush and his war cabinet ponder Saddam's
successor's regime, they would do well to contemplate how and
why the last three presidents allowed the Butcher of Baghdad
to stay in power so long.
The history of America's relations with Saddam is one of
the sorrier tales in American foreign policy. Time and again,
America turned a blind eye to Saddam's predations, saw him as
the lesser evil or flinched at the chance to unseat him. No
single policymaker or administration deserves blame for
creating, or at least tolerating, a monster; many of their
decisions seemed reasonable at the time. Even so, there are
moments in this clumsy dance with the Devil that make one
cringe. It is hard to believe that, during most of the 1980s,
America knowingly permitted the Iraq Atomic Energy Commission
to import bacterial cultures that might be used to build
biological weapons.
Let me read that again:
It is hard to believe that, during most of the 1980s,
America knowingly permitted the Iraq Atomic Energy Commission
to import bacterial cultures that might be used to build
biological weapons. But it happened.
America's past stumbles, while embarrassing, are not an
argument for inaction in the future. Saddam probably is the
"grave and gathering danger" described by President Bush in
his speech to the United Nations last week. It may also be
true that "whoever replaces Saddam is not going to be
worse," as a senior administration official put it to
Newsweek. But the story of how America helped create a
Frankenstein monster it now wishes to strangle is sobering.
It illustrates the power of wishful thinking, as well as the
iron law of unintended consequences.
America did not put Saddam in power. He emerged after two
decades of turmoil in the '60s and '70s, as various strongmen
tried to gain control of a nation that had been concocted by
British imperialists in the 1920s out of three distinct and
rival factions, the Sunnis, Shiites and the Kurds. But during
the cold war, America competed with the Soviets for Saddam's
attention and welcomed his war with the religious fanatics of
Iran. Having cozied up to Saddam, Washington found it hard to
break away--even after going to war with him in 1991. Through
years of both tacit and overt support, the West helped create
the Saddam of today, giving him time to build deadly arsenals
and dominate his people. Successive administrations always
worried that if Saddam fell, chaos would follow, rippling
through the region and possibly igniting another Middle East
war. At times it seemed that Washington was transfixed by
Saddam.
The Bush administration wants to finally break the spell.
If the administration's true believers are right, Baghdad,
after Saddam falls will look something like Paris after the
Germans fled in August 1944. American troops will be cheered
as liberators, and democracy will spread forth and push
Middle Eastern despotism back into the shadows. Yet if the
gloomy predictions of the administration's many critics come
true, the Arab street, inflamed by Yankee imperialism, will
rise up and replace the shaky but friendly autocrats in the
region with Islamic fanatics.
While the Middle East is unlikely to become a democratic
nirvana, the worst-case scenarios, always a staple of the
press, are probably also wrong or exaggerated. Assuming that
a cornered and doomed Saddam does not kill thousands of
Americans in some kind of horrific Gotterdammerung--a scary
possibility, one that deeply worries administration
officials--the greatest risk of his fall is that one
strongman may simply be replaced by another. Saddam's
successor may not be a paranoid sadist. But there is no
assurance that he will be America's friend or forswear the
development of weapons of mass destruction.
American officials have known that Saddam was a
psychopath--
Get that.
American officials have known that Saddam was a psychopath
ever since he became the country's de facto ruler in the
early 1970s. One of Saddam's early acts after he took the
title of president in 1979 was to videotape a session of his
party's congress, during which he personally ordered several
members executed on the spot.
Let me repeat that:
American officials have known that Saddam was a psychopath
ever since he became the country's de facto ruler in the
early 1970s. One of Saddam's early acts after he took the
title of president in 1979 was to videotape--
Videotape--
a session of his party's congress, during which he personally
ordered several members executed on the spot.
The message, carefully conveyed to the Arab press, was not
that these men were executed for plotting against Saddam, but
rather for thinking about plotting against him. From the
beginning, U.S. officials worried about Saddam's taste for
nasty weaponry; indeed, at their meeting in 1983, Rumsfeld
warned that Saddam's use of chemical weapons might
"inhibit" American assistance. But top officials in the
Reagan administration saw Saddam as a useful surrogate. By
going to war with Iran, he could bleed the radical mullahs
who had seized control of Iran from the pro-American shah.
Some Reagan officials even saw Saddam as another Anwar Sadat,
capable of making Iraq into a modern secular state, just as
Sadat had tried to lift up Egypt before his assassination in
1981.
But Saddam had to be rescued first. The war against Iran
was going badly by 1982. Iran's "human wave attacks"
threatened to overrun Saddam's armies. Washington decided to
give Iraq a helping hand.
After Rumsfeld's visit to Baghdad in 1983, U.S.
intelligence began supplying the Iraqi dictator with
satellite photos showing Iranian deployments. Official
documents suggest that America may also have secretly
arranged for tanks and other military hardware to be shipped
to Iraq in a swap deal--American tanks to Egypt, Egyptian
tanks to Iraq. Over the protest of some Pentagon skeptics,
the Reagan administration began allowing the Iraqis to buy a
wide variety of "dual use" equipment and materials from
American suppliers. According to confidential Commerce
Department export-control documents obtained by NEWSWEEK, the
shopping list included a computerized database for Saddam's
Interior Ministry (presumably to help keep track of political
opponents); helicopters to transport Iraqi officials;
television cameras for "video surveillance applications";
chemical-analysis equipment for the Iraq Atomic Energy
Commission (IAEC), and, most unsettling, numerous shipments
of "bacteria/fungi/protozoa" to the IAEC. According to
former officials, the bacterial cultures could be used to
make biological weapons, including anthrax. The State
Department also approved the shipment of 1.5 million atropine
injectors, for use against the effects of chemical weapons,
but the Pentagon blocked the sale. The helicopters, some
American officials later surmised, were used to spray poison
gas on the Kurds.
The United States almost certainly knew from its own
satellite imagery that Saddam was using chemical weapons
against Iranian troops. When Saddam bombed Kurdish rebels and
civilians with a lethal cocktail of mustard gas, sarin, tabun
and VX in 1988, the
[[Page S8988]]
Reagan administration first blamed Iran, before
acknowledging, under pressure from congressional Democrats,
that the culprits were Saddam's own forces. There was only
token official protest at the time. Saddam's men were
unfazed. An Iraqi audiotape, later captured by the Kurds,
records Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid (known as Ali
Chemical) talking to his fellow officers about gassing the
Kurds. "Who is going to say anything?" he asks. "The
international community? F----k them!"
The United States was much more concerned with protecting
Iraqi oil from attacks by Iran as it was shipped through the
Persian Gulf. In 1987, an Iraqi Exocet missile hit an
American destroyer, the USS Stark, in the Persian Gulf,
killing 37 crewmen. Incredibly, the United States excused
Iraq for making an unintentional mistake and instead used the
incident to accuse Iran of escalating the war in the gulf.
The American tilt to Iraq became more pronounced. U.S.
commandos began blowing up Iranian oil platforms and
attacking Iranian patrol boats. In 1988, an American warship
in the gulf accidentally shot down an Iranian Airbus, killing
290 civilians. Within a few weeks, Iran, exhausted and
fearing American intervention, gave up its war with Iraq.
Saddam was feeling cocky. With the support of the West, he
had defeated the Islamic revolutionaries in Iran. America
favored him as a regional pillar; European and American
corporations were vying for contracts with Iraq. He was
visited by congressional delegations led by Sens. Bob Dole of
Kansas and Alan Simpson of Wyoming, who were eager to promote
American farm and business interests. But Saddam's
megalomania was on the rise, and he overplayed his hand. In
1990, a U.S. Customs sting operation snared several Iraqi
agents who were trying to buy electronic equipment used to
make triggers for nuclear bombs. Not long after, Saddam
gained the world's attention by threatening "to burn Israel
to the ground." At the Pentagon, analysts began to warn that
Saddam was a growing menace, especially after he tried to buy
some American-made high-tech furnaces useful for making
nuclear-bomb parts. Yet other officials in Congress and in
the Bush administration continued to see him as a useful, if
distasteful, regional strongman. The State Department was
equivocating with Saddam right up to the moment he invaded
Kuwait in August 1990.
Mr. President, I referred to this Newsweek article yesterday at a
hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Specifically, during
the hearing, I asked Secretary Rumsfeld:
Mr. Secretary, to your knowledge, did the United States
help Iraq to acquire the building blocks of biological
weapons during the Iran-Iraq war? Are we in fact now facing
the possibility of reaping what we have sewn?
The Secretary quickly and flatly denied any knowledge but said he
would review Pentagon records.
I suggest that the administration speed up that review. My concerns
and the concerns of others have grown.
A letter from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, which I
shall submit for the Record, shows very clearly that the United States
is, in fact, preparing to reap what it has sewn. A letter written in
1995 by former CDC Director David Satcher to former Senator Donald W.
Riegle, Jr., points out that the U.S. Government provided nearly two
dozen viral and bacterial samples to Iraqi scientists in 1985--samples
that included the plague, botulism, and anthrax, among other deadly
diseases.
According to the letter from Dr. Satcher to former Senator Donald
Riegle, many of the materials were hand carried by an Iraqi scientist
to Iraq after he had spent 3 months training in the CDC laboratory.
The Armed Services Committee is requesting information from the
Departments of Commerce, State, and Defense on the history of the
United States, providing the building blocks for weapons of mass
destruction to Iraq. I recommend that the Department of Health and
Human Services also be included in that request.
The American people do not need obfuscation and denial. The American
people need the truth. The American people need to know whether the
United States is in large part responsible for the very Iraqi weapons
of mass destruction which the administration now seeks to destroy.
We may very well have created the monster that we seek to eliminate.
The Senate deserves to know the whole story. The American people
deserve answers to the whole story.
Also yesterday, in the same 6 minutes that I was given in which to
ask questions--which was extended by virtue of the kindness of the
distinguished Senator from Georgia, Mr. Max Cleland, and other members
of the committee, so it was perhaps 9 or 10 minutes--there was another
interesting question that I asked. Let me read a portion of that
transcript from the Armed Services Committee:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding these hearings. Mr.
Secretary, to your knowledge, did the United States help Iraq
to acquire the building blocks of biological weapons during
the Iran-Iraq War? Are we, in fact, now facing the
possibility of reaping what we have sown?
Rumsfeld: Certainly not to my knowledge. I have no
knowledge of United States companies or government being
involved in assisting Iraq develop chemical, biological or
nuclear weapons.
There is another excerpt from that question and answer period in
which Secretary Rumsfeld and I engaged:
Byrd: Now, the Washington Post reported this morning
[yesterday] that the United States is stepping away from
efforts to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention. Are
we not sending exactly the wrong signal to the world, at
exactly the wrong time?
Doesn't this damage our credibility in the international
community at the very time that we are seeking their support
to neutralize the threat of Iraq's biological weapons
program? If we supplied, as the Newsweek article said, if we
supplied the building blocks for germ and chemical warfare to
this madman in the first place, this psychopath, how do we
look to the world to be backing away from this effort to
control it at this point?
That question speaks for itself. I ask unanimous consent that the
following material be printed in the Record at the close of my remarks:
The partial transcript from the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing
on September 19; the article from the Washington Post of yesterday,
titled "U.S. Drops Bid to Strengthen Germ Warfare Accord"; the
Newsweek article, which I have alluded to already; a letter dated
January 6, 1994, requesting information from the Centers for Disease
Control and a response to the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., U.S.
Senator, dated June 21, 1995, from David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D.,
Director; a U.S. Senate Hearing Report 103-900, dealing with U.S.
exports of biological materials to Iraq to the Senate Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs which has oversight responsibility
for the Export Administration Act, and keeping in mind that the U.S.
Department of Commerce approves licenses by that Department for
exports; including also the U.S. Senate hearing report in that matter.
Included in the approved sales are such items as Bacillus Anthracis,
anthrax, Clostridium Botulinum, Histoplasma Capsulatum, which causes a
disease superficially resembling tuberculosis that may cause pneumonia;
Brucella Melitensis, a bacteria which can cause chronic fatigue, and so
on; Clostridium Perfringens, which causes gas gangrene. I believe that
completes the list.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Byrd-Rumsfeld Transcript--Partial Transcript From Senate Armed Services
Committee, September 19, 2002
Levin. Senator Byrd?
Byrd. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding these hearings.
Mr. Secretary, to your knowledge, did the United States
help Iraq to acquire the building blocks of biological
weapons during the Iran-Iraq War? Are we, in fact, now facing
the possibility of reaping what we have sown?
Rumsfeld. Certainly not to my knowledge. I have no
knowledge of United States companies or government being
involved in assisting Iraq develop chemical, biological or
nuclear weapons.
Byrd. Mr. Secretary, let me read to you from the September
23, 2002, Newsweek story. I read this, I read excerpts,
because my time is limited.
"Some Reagan officials even saw Saddam as another Anwar
Sadat, capable of making Iraq into a modern secular state,
just as Sadat had tried to lift up Egypt before his
assassination in 1981. But Saddam had to be rescued first.
The war against Iran was going badly by 1982."
Byrd. "Iran's human-wave attacks threatened to overrun
Saddam's armies. Washington decided to give Iraq a helping
hand. After Rumsfeld's visit to Baghdad in 1982, U.S.
intelligence began supplying the Iraqi dictator with
satellite photos showing Iranian deployments.
"Official documents suggest that America may also have
secretly arranged for tanks and other military hardware to be
shipped to Iraq in a swap deal: American tanks to Egypt,
Egyptian tanks to Iraq.
"Over the protest of some Pentagon skeptics, the Reagan
administration began allowing the Iraqis to buy a wide
variety of, quote, `dual-use,' close quote, equipment and
materials from American suppliers.
"According to confidential Commerce Department export
control documents obtained
[[Page S8989]]
by Newsweek, the shopping list included a computerized
database for Saddam's Interior Ministry, presumably to help
keep track of political opponents, helicopters to help
transport Iraqi officials, television cameras for video
surveillance applications, chemical analysis equipment for
the Iraq Atomic Energy Commission, IAEC, and, most
unsettling, numerous shipments of the bacteria, fungi,
protozoa to the IAEC.
"According to former officials the bacterial cultures
could be used to make biological weapons, including anthrax.
The State Department also approved the shipment of 1.5
million atropine injectors for use against the effects of
chemical weapons but the Pentagon blocked the sale.
"The helicopters, some American officials later surmised,
were used to spray poison gas on the Kurds. The United States
almost certainly knew from its own satellite imagery that
Saddam was using chemical weapons against Iranian troops.
"When Saddam bombed Kurdish rebels and civilians with a
lethal cocktail of mustard gas, sarin, tabun and VX in 1988,
the Reagan administration first blamed Iran before
acknowledging, under pressure from congressional Democrats,
that the culprit were Saddam's own forces. There was only
token official protest at the time. Saddam's men were
unfazed.
"An Iraqi audiotape later captured by the Kurds records
Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Ali Chemical,
talking to his fellow officers about gassing the Kurds.
Quote, `Who is going to say anything?' close quote, he asks,
`the international community? F-blank them!' exclamation
point, close quote."
Now can this possibly be true? We already knew that Saddam
was dangerous man at the time. I realize that you were not in
public office at the time, but you were dispatched to Iraq by
President Reagan to talk about the need to improve relations
between Iraq and the U.S.
Let me ask you again: To your knowledge did the United
States help Iraq to acquire the building blocks of biological
weapons during the Iran-Iraq war? Are we, in fact, now facing
the possibility of reaping what we have sown?
The Washington Post reported this morning that the United
States is stepping away from efforts to strengthen the
Biological Weapons Convention. I'll have a question on that
later.
Let me ask you again: Did the United States help Iraq to
acquire the building blocks of biological weapons during the
Iran-Iraq War? Are we, in fact, now facing the possibility of
reaping what we have sown?
Rumsfeld. I have not read the article. As you suggest, I
was, for a period in late '83 and early '84, asked by
President Reagan to serve as Middle East envoy after the
Marines--241 Marines were killed in Beirut.
As part of my responsibilities I did visit Baghdad. I did
meet with Mr. Tariq Aziz. And I did meet with Saddam Hussein
and spent some time visiting with them about the war they
were engaged in with Iran.
At the time our concern, of course, was Syria and Syria's
role in Lebanon and Lebanon's role in the Middle East and the
terrorist acts that were taking place.
As a private citizen I was assisting only for a period
of months. I have never heard anything like what you've
read, I have no knowledge of it whatsoever, and I doubt
it.
Byrd. You doubt what?
Rumsfeld. The questions you posed as to whether the United
States of America assisted Iraq with the elements that you
listed in your reading of Newsweek and that we could
conceivably now be reaping what we've sown.
I think--I doubt both.
Byrd. Are you surprised that this is what I've said? Are
you surprised at this story in Newsweek?
Rumsfeld. I guess I'm at an age and circumstance in life
where I'm no longer surprised about what I hear in the
newspapers.
Byrd. That's not the question, I'm of that age, too.
Somewhat older than you, but how about that story I've read?
Rumsfeld. I see stories all the time that are flat wrong. I
just don't know. All I can say . . .
Byrd. How about this story? This story? How about this
story, specifically?
Rumsfeld. As I say, I have not read it, I listened
carefully to what you said and I doubt it.
Byrd. All right.
Now the Washington Post reported this morning that the
United States is stepping away from efforts to strengthen the
Biological Weapons Convention. Are we not sending exactly the
wrong signal to the world, at exactly the wrong time?
Byrd. Doesn't this damage our credibility in the
international community at the very time that we are seeking
their support to neutralize the threat of Iraq's biological
weapons program? If we supplied, as the Newsweek article
said, if we supplied the building blocks for germ and
chemical warfare to this madman in the first place, this
psychopath, how do we look to the world to be backing away
from this effort to control it at this point?
Rumsfeld. Senator, I think it would be a shame to leave
this committee and the people listening with the impression
that the United States assisted Iraq with chemical or
biological weapons in the 1980s. I just do not believe that's
the case.
Byrd. Well, are you saying that the Newsweek article is
inaccurate?
Rumsfeld. I'm saying precisely what I said, that I didn't
read the Newsweek article, but that I doubt it's accurate.
Byrd. I'll be glad to send you up a copy.
Rumsfeld. But that I was not in government at that time,
except as a special envoy for a period of months. So one
ought not to rely on me as the best source as to what
happened in that mid-'80s period that you were describing.
I will say one other thing. On two occasions I believe when
you read that article, you mentioned the IAEC, which as I
recall is the International Atomic Energy Commission, and
mentioned that if some of the things that you were talking
about were provided to them, which I found quite confusing to
be honest.
With respect to the Biological Weapons Convention, I was
not aware that the United States government had taken a
position with respect to it. It's not surprising because it's
a matter for the Department of State, not the Department of
Defense.
If in fact they have indicated, as The Washington Post
reports, that they are not going to move forward with a--I
believe it's an enforcement regime, it's not my place to
discuss the administration's position when I don't know what
it is.
But I can tell you, from a personal standpoint, my
recollection is that the biological convention never, never
was anticipated that there would even be thought of to have
an enforcement regime. And that an enforcement regime on
something like that, where there are a lot of countries
involved who are on the terrorist list who were participants
in that convention, that the United States has, over a period
of administrations, believed that it would not be a good
idea, because the United States would be a net loser from an
enforcement regime.
But that is not the administration's position. I just don't
know what the administration's position is.
Levin. We're going to have to leave it there, because
you're way over.
Byrd. This is a very important question.
Levin. It is indeed, and you're over time, I agree with you
on the importance, but you're way over time, sir.
Byrd. I know I'm over time, but are we going to leave this
in question out there dangling?
Levin. One last question.
Byrd. I ask unanimous consent that I may have an additional
five minutes.
Levin. No, I'm afraid you can't do that. If you could just
do one last--well, wait a minute, ask unanimous consent, I
can't stop you from doing that.
(Unknown). I object.
(Laughter)
Byrd. Mr. Chairman?
Levin. Just one last question. Would that be all right so
you could wind that up?
Senator Byrd, if you could just take one additional
question.
Byrd. I've never--I've been in this Congress 50 years. I've
never objected to another senator having a few additional
minutes.
Now Mr. Chairman, I think that the secretary should have a
copy of this report, this story that--from Newsweek that I've
been querying him about. I think he has a right to look at
that.
Levin. Could somebody take that out to the secretary?
Byrd. Now, while that's being given to the secretary, Mr.
Secretary, I think we're put into an extremely bad position
before the world today if we're going to walk away from an
international effort to strengthen the Biological Weapons
Convention against germ warfare, advising its allies that the
U.S. wants to delay further discussions until 2006.
Especially in the light of the Newsweek story; I think we
bear some responsibility.
Inhofe. Mr. Chairman I ask for a point of order.
Levin. Can we just have this be the last question, if you
would just go along with us please, Senator Inhofe?
Inhofe. I'll only say though, in all respect to the Senator
from West Virginia, we have a number of senators here. We
have a limited time of six minutes each, and we're entitled
to have our six minutes. That should be a short questions if
it's the last question.
Levin. If we could just make that the last question and
answer, I would appreciate it. The chair would appreciate the
cooperation of all senators.
Secretary Rumsfeld, could you answer that question please?
Rumsfeld. I'll do my best.
Senator, I just in glancing at this, and I hesitate to do
this because I have not read it carefully.
But it says here that, "According to confidential Commerce
Department export control documents obtained by Newsweek, the
shopping list included." It did not say that there were
deliveries of these things. It said that Iran--Iraq asked for
these things. It talks about a shopping list.
Second, in listing these things, it says that they wanted
television cameras for video surveillance applications,
chemical analysis equipment for the Iraq Atomic Energy
Commission, the IAEC--and that may very well be the Iraqi
Atomic Energy Commission, which would be--mean that my
earlier comment would not be correct, because I thought it
was the International Atomic Energy Commission. But this
seems to indicate it's the Iraq Commerce Commission.
Byrd. Mr. Chairman, may I say to my friend from Oklahoma,
I'm amazed that he himself wouldn't yield me time for this
important question. I would do the same for him.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask . . .
[[Page S8990]]
(Cleland). I yield my five minutes, Senator.
Byrd. I thank the distinguished Senator.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the secretary--and I
don't just like to ask him--I asked him to review Pentagon
records to see if the Newsweek article is true or not. Will
the secretary do that?
Rumsfeld. It appears that they're Department of Commerce
records, as opposed to Pentagon. But I can certainly ask that
the Department of Commerce and, to the extent that it's
relevant, the Department of State, look into it and see if we
can't determine the accuracy or inaccuracy of some aspects of
this. Yes, sir.
Levin. And we go one step further than that. I think the
request is that the Defense Department search its records.
Will you do that?
Rumsfeld. We'll be happy to search ours, but this refers to
the Commerce Department.
Levin. We will ask the State Department and the Commerce
Department to do the same thing.
Rumsfeld. We'd be happy to.
Levin. And we will also ask the Intelligence Committee to
stage a briefing for all of us on that issue, so that Senator
Byrd's question. . .
Byrd. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman.
Levin. Thank you very much, Senator.
Byrd. I thank the secretary.
Rumsfeld. Thank you.
Levin. Senator Byrd, we will ask Senator Graham and Senator
Shelby to hold a briefing on that subject, because it is a
very important subject.
Byrd. I thank the chairman.
____
[From the Washington Post, Sept. 19, 2002]
U.S. Drops Bid To Strengthen Germ Warfare Accord
(By Peter Slevin)
The Bush administration has abandoned an international
effort to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention
against germ warfare, advising its allies that the United
States wants to delay further discussions until 2006. A
review conference on new verification measures for the treaty
has been scheduled for November.
Less than a year after a State Department envoy abruptly
pulled out of biowarfare negotiations in Geneva, promising
that the United States would return with new proposals, the
administration has concluded that treaty revisions favored by
the European Union and scores of other countries will not
work and should not be salvaged, administration officials
said yesterday.
The decision, which has been conveyed to allies in recent
weeks, has been greeted with warnings that the move will
weaken attempts to curb germ warfare programs at a time when
biological weapons are a focus of concern because of the war
on terrorism and the administration's threats to launch a
military campaign against Iraq. It also comes as the
administration, which has angered allies by rejecting a
series of multilateral agreements, is appealing to the
international community to work with it in forging a new U.N.
Security Council resolution on Iraq's programs to develop
weapons of mass destruction.
The 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, which has been
ratified by the United States and 143 other countries, bans
the development, stockpiling and production of germ warfare
agents, but has no enforcement mechanism. Negotiations on
legally binding measures to enforce compliance have been
underway in Geneva for seven years.
The administration stunned its allies last December by
proposing to end the negotiators' mandate, saying that while
the treaty needed strengthening, the enforcement protocol
under discussion would not deter enemy nations from acquiring
or developing biological weapons if they were determined to
do so. Negotiators suspended the discussions, saying they
would meet again in November when U.S. officials said they
would return with creative solutions to address the impasse.
Instead, U.S. envoys are now telling allies that the
administration's position is so different from the views of
the leading supporters of the enforcement protocol that a
meeting would dissolve into public squabbling and should be
avoided, administration officials said. Better, they said, to
halt discussions altogether.
"It's based on an incorrect approach. Our concern is that
it would be fundamentally ineffective," a State Department
official said. Another administration official said the
"best and least contentious" approach would be to hold a
very brief meeting in November--or even no meeting at all--
and talk again when the next review is scheduled four years
from now.
Amy Smithson, a biological and chemical weapons specialist,
said the administration is making a mistake by halting
collaborative work to strengthen the convention. "It sounds
to me as though they've thrown the baby out with the bath
water," said Smithson, an analyst at the Henry L. Stimson
Center. "The contradiction between the rhetoric and what the
administration is actually doing--the gulf is huge. Not a day
goes by when they don't mention the Iraq threat."
The Stimson Center is releasing a report today that
criticizes the U.S. approach to the convention. Drawn from a
review by 10 pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology
experts, the document argues that bioweapons inspections can
be effective with the right amount of time and the right
science and urges the administration to develop stronger
measures.
"To argue that this wouldn't be a useful remedy would just
be a mistake. I think it's because they're looking through
the wrong end of the telescope," said Matthew Meselson, a
Harvard biologist who helped draft a treaty to criminalize
biological weapons violations. "We're denying ourselves
useful tools."
The administration has focused publicly on a half-dozen
countries identified by the State Department as pursuing germ
warfare programs. Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton said
the existence of Iraq's bioweapons project is "beyond
dispute." The U.S. government also believes Iran, North
Korea, Sudan, Libya and Syria are developing such weapons, he
said.
Meselson concurred with the administration's position that
a limited enforcement provision for the bioweapons treaty
could not provide confidence that countries are staying
clean. But he said that a pact establishing standards and
verification measures would deter some countries while also
helping to build norms of international behavior.
Bolton, on the other hand, told delegates to last year's
review conference that "the time for `better-than-nothing'
protocols is over. We will continue to reject flawed texts
like the BWC draft protocol, recommended to us simply because
they are the product of lengthy negotiations or arbitrary
deadlines, if such texts are not in the best interests of the
United States."
With only hours to go at the meeting, Bolton stopped U.S.
participation in the final negotiations. He said of the
resulting one-year delay, "This gives us time to think
creatively on alternatives."
In Bolton's view, each country should develop criminal laws
against germ warfare activities, develop export controls for
dangerous pathogens, establish codes of conduct for
scientists and install strict biosafety procedures. The
administration has proposed that governments resolve disputes
over biowarfare violations among themselves, perhaps through
voluntary inspections or by referral to the United Nations
secretary general.
Such an approach is "at best ineffectual," said the
specialists gathered by the Stimson Center. At worst, they
concluded, the approach could damage U.S. interests because
it would not be structured to deliver "meaningful
monitoring."
"If a challenge inspection system is not geared to pursue
violators aggressively, then it does not serve U.S. security
interests," the 65-page report states. The participants
strongly favored establishing mandatory standards backed by
penalties and "robust" inspections, which goes
significantly further than the proposed protocol backed by
the EU and other nations.
The State Department Web site has not yet been changed to
reflect the change in policy. It says, "The United States is
committed to strengthening the BWC as part of a comprehensive
and multidisciplinary strategy for combating the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and
international terrorism. . . . We would like to share these
ideas with our international partners."
____
Partial Transcript From Senate Armed Services Committee, September 19,
2002
Levin. Senator Byrd?
Byrd. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding these hearings.
Mr. Secretary, to your knowledge, did the United States
help Iraq to acquire the building blocks of biological
weapons during the Iran-Iraq War? Are we, in fact, now facing
the possibility of reaping what we have sown?
Rumsfeld. Certainly not to my knowledge. I have no
knowledge of United States companies or government being
involved in assisting Iraq develop chemical, biological or
nuclear weapons.
Byrd. Mr. Secretary, let me read to you from the September
23, 2002, Newsweek story. I read this, I read excerpts,
because my time is limited.
"Some Reagan officials even saw Saddam as another Anwar
Sadat, capable of making Iraq into a modern secular state,
just as Sadat had tried to lift up Egypt before his
assassination in 1981. But Saddam had to be rescued first.
The war against Iran was going badly by 1982."
"Iran's human-wave attacks threatened to overrun Saddam's
armies. Washington decided to give Iraq a helping hand. After
Rumsfeld's visit to Baghdad in 1983, U.S. intelligence began
supplying the Iraqi dictator with satellite photos showing
Iranian deployments.
"Official documents suggest that America may also have
secretly arranged for tanks and other military hardware to be
shipped to Iraq in a swap deal: American tanks to Egypt,
Egyptian tanks to Iraq.
"Over the protest of some Pentagon skeptics, the Reagan
administration began allowing the Iraqis to buy a wide
variety of, quote, `dual-use,' close quote, equipment and
materials from American suppliers.
"According to confidential Commerce Department export
control documents obtained by Newsweek, the shopping list
include a computerized database for Saddam's Interior
Ministry, presumably to help keep track of political
opponents, helicopters to help transport Iraqi officials,
television cameras for video surveillance applications,
chemical analysis equipment for the Iraq Atomic Energy
Commission, IAEC, and, most unsettling, numerous shipments of
the bacteria, fungi, protozoa to the IAEC.
[[Page S8991]]
"According to former officials the bacterial cultures
could be used to make biological weapons, including anthrax.
The State Department also approved the shipment of 1.5
million atropine injectors for use against the effects of
chemical weapons but the Pentagon blocked the sale.
"The helicopters, some American officials later surmised,
were used to spray poison gas on the Kurds. The United States
almost certainly knew from its own satellite imagery that
Saddam was using chemical weapons against Iranian troops.
"When Saddam bombed Kurdish rebels and civilians with a
lethal cocktail of mustard gas, sarin, tabun and VX in 1988,
the Reagan administration first blamed Iran before
acknowledging, under pressure from congressional Democrats,
that the culprit were Saddam's own forces. There was only
token official protest at the time. Saddam's men were
unfazed.
"An Iraqi audiotape later captured by the Kurds records
Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Ali Chemical,
talking to his fellow officers about gassing the Kurds.
Quote, `Who is going to say anything?' close quote, he asks,
`the international community? F-blank them!' exclamation
point, close quote."
Now can this possibly be true? We already knew that Saddam
was dangerous man at the time. I realize that you were not in
public office at the time, but you were dispatched to Iraq by
President Reagan to talk about the need to improve relations
between Iraq and the U.S.
Let me ask you again: To your knowledge did the United
States help Iraq to acquire the building blocks of biological
weapons during the Iran-Iraq war? Are we, in fact, now facing
the possibility of reaping what we have sown?
The Washington Post reported this morning that the United
is stepping away from efforts to strengthen the Biological
Weapons Convention. I'll have a question on that later.
Let me ask you again: Did the United States help Iraq to
acquire the building blocks of biological weapons during the
Iran-Iraq War? Are we, in fact, now facing the possibility of
reaping what we have sown?
Rumsfeld. I have not read the article. As you suggest, I
was, for a period in late `83 and early `84, asked by
President Reagan to serve as Middle East envoy after the
Marines--241 Marines were killed in Beirut.
As part of my responsibilities I did visit Baghdad. I did
meet with Mr. Tariq Aziz. And I did meet with Saddam Hussein
and spent some time visiting with them about the war they
were engaged in with Iran.
At the time our concern, of course, was Syria and Syria's
role in Lebanon and Lebanon's role in the Middle East and the
terrorist acts that were taking place.
As a private citizen I was assisting only for a period
of months. I have never heard anything like what you've
read, I have no knowledge of it whatsoever, and I doubt
it.
Byrd. You doubt what?
Rumsfeld. The questions you posed as to whether the United
States of America assisted Iraq with the elements that you
listed in your reading of Newsweek and that we could
conceivably now be reaping what we've sown.
I think--I doubt both.
Byrd. Are you surprised that this is what I've said? Are
you surprised at this story in Newsweek?
Rumsfeld. I guess I'm at an age and circumstance in life
where I'm no longer surprised about what I hear in the
newspapers.
Byrd. That's not the question. I'm of that age, too.
Somewhat older than you, but how about that story I've read?
Rumsfeld. I see stories all the time that are flat wrong. I
just don't know. All I can say . . .
Byrd. How about this story? This story? How about this
story, specifically?
Rumsfeld. As I say, I have not read it, I listened
carefully to what you said and I doubt it.
Byrd. All right.
Now the Washington Post reported this morning that the
United States is stepping away from efforts to strengthen the
Biological Weapons Convention. Are we not sending exactly the
wrong signal to the world, at exactly the wrong time?
Byrd. Doesn't this damage our credibility in the
international community at the very time that we are seeking
their support to neutralize the threat of Iraq's biological
weapons program? If we supplied, as the Newsweek article
said, if we supplied the building blocks for germ and
chemical warfare to this madman in the first place, this
psychopath, how do we look to the world to be backing away
from this effort to control it at this point?
Rumsfeld. Senator, I think it would be a shame to leave
this committee and the people listening with the impression
that the United States assisted Iraq with chemical or
biological weapons in the 1980s. I just do not believe that's
the case.
Byrd. Well, are you saying that the Newsweek article is
inaccurate?
Rumsfeld. I'm saying precisely what I said, that I didn't
read the Newsweek article, but that I doubt its accurate.
Byrd. I'll be glad to send you up a copy.
Rumsfeld. But that I was not in government at that time,
except as a special envoy for a period of months. So one
ought not to rely on me as the best source as to what
happened in that mid-'80s period that you were describing.
I will say one other thing. On two occasions I believe when
you read that article, you mentioned the IAEC, which as I
recall is the International Atomic Energy Commission, and
mentioned that if some of the things that you were talking
about were provided to them, which I found quite confusing to
be honest.
With respect to the Biological Weapons Convention, I was
not aware that the United States government had taken a
position with respect to it. It's not surprising because it's
a matter for the Department of State, not the Department of
Defense.
If in fact they have indicated, as The Washington Post
reports, that they are not going to move forward with a--I
believe it's an enforcement regime, it's not my place to
discuss the administration's position when I don't know what
it is.
But I can tell you, from a personal standpoint, my
recollection is that the biological convention never, never
was anticipated that there would even be thought of to have
an enforcement regime. And that an enforcement regime on
something like that, where there are a lot of countries
involved who are on the terrorist list who were participants
in that convention, that the United States has, over a period
of administrations, believed that it would not be a good
idea, because the United States would be a net loser from an
enforcement regime.
But that is not the administration's position. I just don't
know what the administration's position is.
Levin. We're going to have to leave it there, because
you're way over.
Byrd. This is a very important question.
Levin. It is indeed, and you're over time. I agree with you
on the importance, but you're way over time, sir.
Byrd. I know I'm over time, but are we going to leave this
in question out there dangling?
Levin. One last question.
Byrd. I ask unanimous consent that I may have an additional
five minutes.
Levin. No, I'm afraid you can't do that. If you could just
do one last--well, wait a minute, ask unanimous consent, I
can't stop you from doing that.
(Unknown). I object.
(Laughter)
Byrd. Mr. Chairman?
Levin. Just one last question. Would that be all right so
you could wind it up?
Senator Byrd, if you could just take one additional
question.
Byrd. I've never--I've been in this Congress 50 years. I've
never objected to another senator having a few additional
minutes.
Now Mr. Chairman, I think that the secretary should have a
copy of this report, this story that--from Newsweek that I've
been querying him about. I think he has a right to look at
that.
Levin. Could somebody take that out to the secretary?
Byrd. Now, while that's being given to the secretary, Mr.
Secretary, I think we're put into an extremely bad position
before the world today if we're going to walk away from an
international effort to strengthen the Biological Weapons
Convention against germ warfare, advising its allies that the
U.S. wants to delay further discussions until 2006.,
Especially in the light of the Newsweek story; I think we
bear some responsibility.
Inhofe. Mr. Chairman I ask for a point of order.
Levin. Can we just have this be the last question, if you
would just go along with us please, Senator Inhofe?
Inhofe. I'll only say though, in all respect to the senator
from West Virginia, we have a number of senators here. We
have a limited time of six minutes each, and we're entitled
to have our six minutes. That should be a short question if
it's the last question.
Levin. If we could just make that the last question and
answer, I would appreciate it. The chair would appreciate the
cooperation of all senators.
Rumsfeld. I'll do my best.
Senator, I just in glancing at this, and I hesitate to do
this because I have not read it carefully.
But it says here that, "According to confidential Commerce
Department export control documents obtained by Newsweek, the
shopping list included." It did not say that there were
deliveries of these things. It said that Iran--Iraq asked for
these things. It talks about a shopping list.
Second, in listing these things, it says that they wanted
television cameras for video surveillance applications,
chemical analysis equipment for the Iraq Atomic Energy
Commission, the IAEC--and that may very well be the Iraqi
Atomic Energy Commission, which would be--mean that my
earlier comment would not be correct, because I thought it
was the International Atomic Energy Commission. But this
seems to indicate it's the Iraq Commerce Commission.
Byrd. Mr. Chairman, may I say to my friend from Oklahoma,
I'm amazed that he himself wouldn't yield me time for this
important question. I would do the same for him.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask . . .
(Cleland). I yield my five minutes, Senator.
Byrd. I thank the distinguished senator.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the secretary--and I
don't just like to ask him--I ask him to review Pentagon
records to see if the Newsweek article is true or not. Will
the secretary do that?
Rumsfeld. It appears that they're Department of Commerce
records, as opposed to Pentagon. But I can certainly ask that
the
[[Page S8992]]
Department of Commerce and, to the extent that it's relevant,
the Department of State, look into it and see if we can't
determine the accuracy or inaccuracy of some aspects of this.
Yes, sir.
Levin. And we go one step future than that. I think the
request is that the Defense Department search its records.
Will you do that?
Rumsfeld. We'll be happy to search ours, but this refers to
the Commerce Department.
Levin. We will ask the State Department and the Commerce
Department to do the same thing.
Rumsfeld. We'd be happy to.
Levin. And we will also ask the Intelligence Committee to
stage a briefing for all of us on that issue, so that Senator
Byrd's question . . .
Byrd. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman.
Levin. Thank you very much, Senator.
Byrd. I thank the secretary.
Rumsfeld. Thank you.
Levin. Senator Byrd, we will ask Senator Graham and Senator
Shelby to hold a briefing on that subject, because it is a
very important subject.
Byrd. I thank the chairman.
____
[From Newsweek, Sept. 23, 2002]
How Saddam Happened
(By Christopher Dickey and Evan Thomas)
The last time Donald Rumsfeld saw Saddam Hussein, he gave
him a cordial handshake. The date was almost 20 years ago,
Dec. 20, 1983; an official Iraqi television crew recorded the
historic moment.
The once and future Defense secretary, at the time a
private citizen, had been sent by President Ronald Reagan to
Baghdad as a special envoy. Saddam Hussein, armed with a
pistol on his hip, seemed "vigorous and confident,"
according to a new declassified State Department cable
obtained by Newsweek. Rumsfeld "conveyed the President's
greetings and expressed his pleasure at being in Baghdad,"
wrote the notetaker. Then the two men got down to business,
talking about the need to improve relations between their two
countries.
Like most foreign-policy insiders, Rumsfeld was aware that
Saddam was a murderous thug who supported terrorists and was
trying to build a nuclear weapon. (The Israelis had already
bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor at Osirak.) But at the time,
America's big worry was Iran, not Iraq. The Reagan
administration feared that the Iranian revolutionaries who
had overthrown the shah (and taken hostage American diplomats
for 444 days in 1979-81) would overrun the Middle East and
its vital oilfields. On the theory that the enemy of my enemy
is my friend, the Reaganites were seeking to support Iraq in
a long and bloody war against Iran. The meeting between
Rumsfeld and Saddam was consequential: for the next five
years, until Iran finally capitulated, the United States
backed Saddam's armies with military intelligence, economic
aid and covert supplies of munitions.
former allies
Rumsfeld is not the first American diplomat to wish for the
demise of a former ally. After all, before the cold war, the
Soviet Union was America's partner against Hitler in World
War II. In the real world, as the saying goes, nations have
no permanent friends, just permanent interests. Nonetheless,
Rumsfeld's long-ago interlude with Saddam is a reminder that
today's friend can be tomorrow's mortal threat. As President
George W. Bush and his war cabinet ponder Saddam's
successor's regime, they would do well to contemplate how and
why the last three presidents allowed the Butcher of Baghdad
to stay in power so long.
The history of America's relations with Saddam is one of
the sorrier tales in American foreign policy. Time and again,
America turned a blind eye to Saddam's predations, saw him as
the lesser evil or flinched at the chance to unseat him. No
single policymaker or administration deserves blame for
creating, or at least tolerating, a monster; many of their
decisions seemed reasonable at the time. Even so, there are
moments in this clumsy dance with the Devil that make one
cringe. It is hard to believe that, during most of the 1980s,
America knowingly permitted the Iraq Atomic Energy Commission
to import bacterial cultures that might be used to build
biological weapons. But it happened.
America's past stumbles, while embarrassing, are not an
argument for inaction in the future. Saddam probably is the
"grave and gathering danger" described by President Bush in
his speech to the United Nations last week. It may also be
true that "whoever replaces Saddam is not going to be
worse," as a senior administration official put it to
Newsweek. But the story of how America helped create a
Frankenstein monster it now wishes to strangle is sobering.
It illustrates the power of wishful thinking, as well as the
iron law of unintended consequences.
transfixed by saddam
America did not put Saddam in power. He emerged after two
decades of turmoil in the '60s and '70s, as various strongmen
tried to gain control of a nation that had been concocted by
British imperialists in the 1920s out of three distinct and
rival factions, the Sunnis, Shiites and the Kurds. But during
the cold war, America competed with the Soviets for Saddam's
attention and welcomed his war with the religious fanatics of
Iran. Having cozied up to Saddam, Washington. . . .
While the Middle East is unlikely to become a democratic
nirvana, the worst-case scenarios, always a staple of the
press, are probably also wrong or exaggerated. Assuming that
a cornered and doomed Saddam does not kill thousands of
Americans in some kind of horrific Gotterdammerung--a scary
possibility, one that deeply worries administration
officials--the greatest risk of his fall is that one
strongman may simply be replaced by another. Saddam's
successor may not be a paranoid sadist. But there is no
assurance that he will be America's friend or forswear the
development of weapons of mass destruction.
a taste for nasty weapons
American officials have known that Saddam was a psychopath
ever since he became the country's de facto ruler in the
early 1970s. One of Saddam's early acts after he took the
title of president in 1979 was to videotape a session of his
party's congress, during which he personally ordered several
members executed on the spot. The message, carefully conveyed
to the Arab press, was not that these men were executed for
plotting against Saddam, but rather for thinking about
plotting against him. From the beginning, U.S. officials
worried about Saddam's taste for nasty weaponry; indeed, at
their meeting in 1983, Rumsfeld warned that Saddam's use of
chemical weapons might "inhibit" American assistance. But
top officials in the Reagan administration saw Saddam as a
useful surrogate. By going to war with Iran, he could bleed
the radical mullahs who had seized control of Iran from the
pro-American shah. Some Reagan officials even saw Saddam as
another Anwar Sadat, capable of making Iran into a modern
secular state, just as Sadat had tried to lift up Egypt
before his assassination in 1981.
But Saddam had to be rescued first. The war against Iran
was going badly by 1982. Iran's "human wave attacks"
threatened to overrun Saddam's armies. Washington decided to
give Iraq a helping hand. After Rumsfeld's visit to Baghdad
in 1983, U.S. intelligence began supplying the Iraqi dictator
with satellite photos showing Iranian deployments. Official
documents suggest that America may also have secretly
arranged for tanks and other military hardware to be shipped
to Iraq in a swap deal--American tanks to Egypt, Egyptian
tanks to Iraq. Over the protest of some Pentagon skeptics,
the Reagan administration began allowing the Iraqis to buy a
wide variety of "dual use" equipment and materials from
American suppliers. According to confidential Commerce
Department export-control documents obtained by Newsweek, the
shopping list included a computerized database for Saddam's
Interior Ministry (presumably to help keep track of political
opponents); helicopters to transport Iraqi officials;
television cameras for "video surveillance applications";
chemical-analysis equipment for the Iraq Atomic Energy
Commission (IAEC), and, most unsettling, numerous shipments
of "bacteria/fungi/protozoa" to the IAEC. According to
former officials, the bacteria cultures could be used to make
biological weapons, including anthrax. The State Department
also approved the shipment of 1.5 million atropine injectors,
for use against the effects of chemical weapons, but the
Pentagon blocked the sale. The helicopters, some American
officials later surmised, were used to spray poison gas on
the Kurds.
"who is going to say anything?"
The United States almost certainly knew from its own
satellite imagery that Saddam was using chemical weapons
against Iranian troops. When Saddam bombed Kurdish rebels and
civilians with a lethal cocktail of mustard gas, sarin, tabun
and VX in 1988, the Reagan administration first blamed Iran,
before acknowledging, under pressure from congressional
Democrats, that the culprits were Saddam's own forces. There
was only token official protest at the time. Saddam's men
were unfazed. An Iraqi audiotape, later captured by the
Kurds, records Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid (known as
Ali Chemical) talking to his fellow officers about gassing
the Kurds. "Who is going to say anything?" he asks. "The
international community? F--k them!"
The United States was much more concerned with protecting
Iraqi oil from attacks by Iran as it was shipped through the
Persian Gulf. In 1987, an Iraqi Exocet missile hit an
American destroyer, the USS Stark, in the Persian Gulf,
killing 37 crewmen. Incredibly, the United States excused
Iraq for making an unintentional mistake and instead used the
incident to accuse Iran of escalating the war in the gulf.
The American tilt to Iraq became more pronounced. U.S.
commandos began blowing up Iranian oil platforms and
attacking Iranian patrol boats. In 1988, an American warship
in the gulf accidentally shot down an Iranian Airbus, killing
290 civilians. Within a few weeks, Iran, exhausted and
fearing American intervention, gave up its war with Iraq.
Saddam was feeling cocky. With the support of the West, he
had defeated the Islamic revolutionaries in Iran. America
favored him as a regional pillar; European and American
corporations were vying for contracts with Iraq. He was
visited by congressional delegations led by Sens. Bob Dole of
Kansas and Alan Simpson of Wyoming, who were eager to promote
American farm and business interests. But Saddam's
megalomania was on the rise, and he overplayed his hand. In
1990, a U.S. Customs sting operation snared several Iraqi
agents who were trying to buy
[[Page S8993]]
electronic equipment used to make triggers for nuclear bombs.
Not long after, Saddam gained the world's attention by
threatening "to burn Israel to the ground." At the
Pentagon, analysts began to warn that Saddam was a growing
menace, especially after he tried to buy some American-made
high-tech furnaces useful for making nuclear-bomb parts. Yet
other officials in Congress and in the Bush administration
continued to see him as a useful, if distasteful, regional
strongman. The State Department was equivocating with Saddam
right up to the moment he invaded Kuwait in August 1990.
ambivalent about saddam's fate
Some American diplomats suggest that Saddam might have
gotten away with invading Kuwait if he had not been quite so
greedy. "If he had pulled back to the Mutla Ridge
[overlooking Kuwait City], he'd still be there today," one
ex-ambassador told Newsweek. And even though President George
H.W. Bush compared Saddam to Hitler and sent a half-million-
man Army to drive him from Kuwait, Washington remained
ambivalent about Saddam's fate. It was widely assumed by
policymakers that Saddam would collapse after his defeat in
Desert Storm, done in by him humiliated officer corps or
overthrown by the revolt of a restive minority population.
But Washington did not want to push very hard to topple
Saddam. The gulf war, Bush I administration officials pointed
out, had been fought to liberate Kuwait, not oust Saddam. "I
am certain that had we taken all of Iraq, we would have been
like the dinosaur in the tar pit--we would still be there,"
wrote the American commander in Desert Storm, Gen. Norman
Schwarzkopf, in his memoirs. America's allies in the region,
most prominently Saudi Arabia, feared that a post-Saddam Iraq
would splinter and destabilize the region. The Shiites in the
south might bond with their fellow religionists in Iran,
strengthening the Shiite mullahs, and threatening the Saudi
border. In the north, the Kurds were agitating to break off
parts of Iraq and Turkey to create a Kurdistan. So Saddam was
allowed to keep his tanks and helicopters--which he used to
crush both Shiite and Kurdish rebellions.
The Bush administration played down Saddam's darkness after
the gulf war. Pentagon bureaucrats compiled dossiers to
support a war-crimes prosecution of Saddam, especially for
his sordid treatment of POWs. They documented police stations
and "sports facilities" where Saddam's henchmen used acid
baths and electric drills on their victims. One document
suggested that torture should be "artistic." But top
Defense Department officials stamped the report secret. One
Bush administration official subsequently told The Washington
Post, "Some people were concerned that if we released it
during the [1992 presidential] campaign, people would say,
`Why don't you bring this guy to justice?' " (Defense
Department aides say politics played no part in the report.)
The Clinton administration was no more aggressive toward
Saddam. In 1993, Saddam apparently hired some Kuwaiti liquor
smugglers to try to assassinate former president Bush as he
took a victory lap through the region. According to one
former U.S. ambassador, the new administration was less than
eager to see an open-and-shut case against Saddam, for fear
that it would demand aggressive retaliation. When American
intelligence continued to point to Saddam's role, the
Clintonites lobbed a few cruise missiles into Baghdad. The
attack reportedly killed one of Saddam's mistresses, but left
the dictator defiant.
clinton-era covert actions
The American intelligence community, under orders from
President Bill Clinton, did mount covert actions aimed at
toppling Saddam in the 1990s, but by most accounts they were
badly organized and halfhearted. In the north, CIA operatives
supported a Kurdish rebellion against Saddam in 1995.
According to the CIA's man on the scene, former case officer
Robert Baer, Clinton administration officials back in
Washington "pulled the plug" on the operation just as it
was gathering momentum. The reasons have long remained murky,
but according to Baer, Washington was never sure that
Saddam's successor would be an improvement, or that Iraq
wouldn't simply collapse into chaos. "The question we could
never answer," Baer told Newsweek, "was, `After Saddam
goes, then what?' " A coup attempt by Iraqi Army officers
fizzled the next year. Saddam brutally rolled up the
plotters. The CIA operatives pulled out, rescuing everyone
they could, and sending them to Guam.
Meanwhile, Saddam was playing cat-and-mouse with weapons of
mass destruction. As part of the settlement imposed by
America and its allies at the end of the gulf war, Saddam was
supposed to get rid of his existing stockpiles of chem-bio
weapons, and to allow in inspectors to make sure none were
being hidden or secretly manufactured. The U.N. inspectors
did shut down his efforts to build a nuclear weapon. But
Saddam continued to secretly work on his germ- and chemical-
warfare program. When the inspectors first suspected what
Saddam was trying to hide in 1995, Saddam's son-in-law,
Hussein Kamel, suddenly fled Iraq to Jordan. Kamel had
overseen Saddam's chem-bio program, and his defection forced
the revelation of some of the secret locations of Saddam's
deadly labs. That evidence is the heart of the "white
paper" used last week by President Bush to support his
argument that Iraq has been defying U.N. resolutions for the
past decade. (Kamel had the bad judgment to return to Iraq,
where he was promptly executed, along with various family
members.)
By now aware of the scale of Saddam's efforts to deceive,
the U.N. arms inspectors were unable to certify that Saddam
was no longer making weapons of mass destruction. Without
this guarantee, the United Nations was unwilling to lift the
economic sanctions imposed after the gulf war. Saddam
continued to play "cheat and retreat" with--the inspectors,
forcing a showdown in December 1998. The United Nations
pulled out its inspectors, and the United States and Britain
launched Operation Desert Fox, four days of bombing that was
supposed to teach Saddam a lesson and force his compliance.
Saddam thumbed his nose. The United States and its allies,
in effect, shrugged and walked away. While the U.N. sanctions
regime gradually eroded, allowing Saddam to trade easily
on the black market, he was free to brew all the chem-bio
weapons he wanted. Making a nuclear weapon is harder, and
intelligence officials still believe he is a few years
away from even regaining the capacity to manufacture
enriched uranium to build his own bomb. If he can steal or
buy ready-made fissile material, say from the Russian
mafia, he could probably make a nuclear weapon in a matter
of months, though it would be so large that delivery would
pose a challenge.
lashing out?
As the Bush administration prepares to oust Saddam, one way
or another, senior administration officials are very worried
that Saddam will try to use his WMD arsenal Intelligence
experts have warned that Saddam may be "flushing" his
small, easy-to-conceal biological agents, trying to get them
out of the country before an American invasion. A vial of
bugs or toxins that could kill thousands could fit in a
suitcase--or a diplomatic pouch. There are any number of grim
end-game scenarios. Saddam could try blackmail, threatening
to unleash smallpox or some other grotesque virus in an
American city if U.S. forces invaded. Or, like a cornered
dog, he could lash out in a final spasm of violence, raining
chemical weapons down on U.S. troops, handing out his
bioweapons to terrorists. "That's the single biggest worry
in all this," says a senior administration official. "We
are spending a lot of time on this," said another top
official.
Some administration critics have said, in effect, let
sleeping dogs lie. Don't provoke Saddam by threatening his
life; there is no evidence that he has the capability to
deliver weapons of mass destruction. Countered White House
national-security adviser Condoleezza Rice, "Do we wait
until he's better at it?" Several administration officials
indicated that an intense effort is underway, covert as well
as overt, to warn Saddam's lieutenants to save themselves by
breaking from the dictator before it's too late. "Don't be
the fool who follows the last order" is the way one senior
administration official puts it.
The risk is that some will choose to go down with Saddam,
knowing that they stand to be hanged by an angry mob after
the dictator falls. It is unclear what kind of justice would
follow his fall, aside from summary hangings from the nearest
lamppost.
post-saddam iraq
The Bush administration is determined not to "overthrow
one strongman only to install another," a senior
administration official told Newsweek. This official said
that the president has made clear that he wants to press for
democratic institutions, government accountability and the
rule of law in post-Saddam Iraq. But no one really knows how
that can be achieved. Bush's advisers are counting on the
Iraqis themselves to resist a return to despotism. "People
subject to horrible tryanny have strong antibodies to anyone
who wants to put them back under tyranny," says a senior
administration official. But as another official
acknowledged, "a substantial American commitment" to Iraq
is inevitable.
At what cost? And who pays? Will other nations chip in
money and men? It is not clear how many occupation troops
will be required to maintain order, or for how long. Much
depends on the manner of Saddam's exit: whether the Iraqis
drive him out themselves, or rely heavily on U.S. power.
Administration officials shy away from timeables and
specifies but say they have to be prepared for all
contingencies. "As General Eisenhower said, `Every plan gets
thrown out on the first day of battle. Plans are useless.
Planning is everything'," said Vice President Cheney's chief
of staff, I, Lewis (Scooter) Libby.
It is far from clear that America will be able to control
the next leader of Iraq, even if he is not as diabolical as
Saddam. Any leader of Iraq will look around him and see that
Israel and Pakistan have nuclear weapons and that Iran may
soon. Just as England and France opted to build their own
bombs in the cold war, and not depend on the U.S. nuclear
umbrella, the next president of Iraq may want to have his own
bomb. "He may want to, but he can't be allowed to," says a
Bush official. But what is to guarantee that a newly rich
Iraqi strongman won't buy one with his nation's vast oil
wealth? In some ways, Iraq is to the Middle East as Germany
was to Europe in the 20th century, too large, too
militaristic and too competent to coexit peacebly with
neighbors. It took two world wars and millions of lives to
solve "the German problem." Getting rid of Saddam may be
essential to creating a stable, democratic
[[Page S8994]]
Iraq. But it may be only a first step on a long and dangerous
march.
____
Per our previous conversation, after reviewing the
available licensing records of the Bureau of Export
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, related to
biological materials exported to the government of Iraq,
additional information identifying the genus species, and
strain or origin (if known) of the following viruses,
bacteria, fungi, and protozoa for which export licenses were
granted is requested.
Date License Approved, Consignee, and Material information:
02/08/85, Iraq Atomic Energy Commission, Ustilago
02/22/85 (2 each), Ministry of Higher Education, Fungi
Histoplasma
07/11/85 (2 each), Middle and Near East Regional A, Fungi
Histoplasma
10/02/85 (46 each), Ministry of Higher Education, Bacteria
10/08/85 (10 each), Ministry of Higher Education, Bacteria,
Clostridium, Francisella
03/21/86 (18 each), Agriculture and Water Resources, Fungi,
Alysidium, Aspergillus, Hypopichia
03/21/86 (21 each), Agriculture and Water Resources, Fungi,
Actinormucor, Aspergillus, Rhizopus, Rhizomucor,
Talaromyces, Fusarium, Penicillium, Tricyoderma
02/04/87 (11 each), State Company for Drug Indust, Bacteria
Bacillus, Bacillus, Escherichia, Staphylococcus,
Klebsiella, Salmonella, Pseudomonas
08/17/87 (2 each), Iraq Atomic Energy Commission, Bacteria,
Escherichia
03/24/88 (3 each), Iraq Atomic Energy Commission, Bacteria,
Escherichia
04/22/88, Sera and Vaccine Institute, Bacteria, Salmonella
(Class I), Clostridium (Class II), Brucella (Class III),
Corynebacterium (II), Vibrio (Class III)
05/05/88 (1 each), Iraq Atomic Energy Commission, Bacteria,
Escherichia
08/16/88, Ministry of Trade, Bacteria, (12 each) Bacillus
(Class III), (6 each) Bacillus (Class II), (6 each)
Bacillus (Class III), (9 each) Clostridium (Class 10)
11/07/88 (2 each), Iraq Atomic Energy Commission, Bacteria,
Escherichia (Class I)
12/19/88 (3 each), Iraq Atomic Energy Commission, Bacteria
Escherichia (Class I)
The above listing includes only those material for which
export licenses were granted from January 1, 1985, until the
present. A number of requests were returned without action.
If any information is available as to the specific materials
requested by the consignee in these cases, it may also prove
useful. A listing of materials for which export licenses were
approved between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 1984
follows. I understand that record may no longer be available
for these items, however, if any specific information is
available which identifies these materials please forward it
as well.
Data License Approved, Consignee, and Material Information
08/14/80 (20 each), Ministry of Health for College, Bacteria/
Fungi, not further identified
09/11/80 (45 each), University of Baghdad, Bacteria/Fungi/
Protozoa, Virus/Viroids (15 each), not further identified
03/17/82 (1 each), University of Mosul, Bacteria/Fungi/
Protozoa
04/09/82 (6 each), General Establishment/Drugs, Pseudomonas,
Salmonella, Aspergillus
04/09/82 (6 each), General Establishment/Drugs, Pseudomonas,
Salmonella, Aspergillus
07/30/82 (3 each), State Co for Drug Industries, Bacillus
08/08/84 (2 each), Ministry of Health for College, Bacteria
Corynebacterium
11/30/84 (59 each), College of Medicine, Aspergillus,
Epidermophyton, Microsporum, Penicillium, Trichophyton,
Alternaria, Neisseria, Clostridium, Bacteroides,
Escherichia
I understand that information for those items exported
prior to January 1, 1985 may be unavailable. Please feel free
to contact me if you have any questions regarding this
request at 202-224-4822.
HEADLINE: Ustilago nuda (Jensen) Rostrup, ATCC 34718. TEXT:
CBS 118.19. H. Kniep. USDA permit PPQ-526 required. Growth
Conditions: Medium 336 24C. Shipped: Test tube. Price Code:
W.
HEADLINE: Histoplasma capsulatum var. farciminosum, ATCC
32136. TEXT: A.A. Padhye CDC Disagnostic 76-066816
(Histoplasma farciminosum). CBS 176.57. Class III pathogen,
requests must carry signed statement assuming all risks and
responsibilities for lab handling. Growth Conditions: Medium
337 25C. Shipped: Test tube. Price Code: W.
AMERICAN TYPE CULTURE COLLECTION, CUSTOMER ACTIVITY DETAIL REPORT, FROM: 01/01/85 TO: 12/31/93; FOR: ALL
CUSTOMERS, FOR COUNTRY: IRAQ
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inv. # Date ATCC # Description Batch # Quantity Price
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cust #: 015408 Customer Name: UNIV OF BAGHDAD
010072......... 05/02/86 000000000010 BACILLUS ANTHRACIS...... 8-20-82 2 108.80
010072......... 05/02/86 000000000082 BACILLUS SUBTILIS....... 6-20-84 2 108.80
010072......... 05/02/86 000000003502 CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM 7-7-81 3 163.20
TYPE A.
010072......... 05/02/86 000000003624 CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS. 10-85SV 2 20.40
010072......... 05/02/86 000000006051 BACILLUS SUBTILIS....... 12-6-84 2 20.40
010072......... 05/02/86 000000006223 FRANCISELLA TULARENSIS 5-14-79 2 108.80
VAR. TULARENSIS.
010072......... 05/02/86 000000009441 CLOSTRIDIUM TETANI...... 3-84 3 163.20
010072......... 05/02/86 000000009564 CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM 3-29-79 2 108.80
TYPE E.
010072......... 05/02/86 000000010779 CLOSTRIDIUM TETANI...... 4-24-84S 3 30.60
010072......... 05/02/86 000000012916 CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS. 8-14-80 2 108.80
010072......... 05/02/86 000000013124 CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS. 7-84SV 3 30.60
010072......... 05/02/86 000000014185 BACILLUS ANTHRACIS...... 1-14-80 3 163.20
010072......... 05/02/86 000000014578 BACILLUS ANTHRACIS...... 1-6-78 2 108.80
010072......... 05/02/86 000000014581 BACILLUS MEGATERIUM..... 4-18-85 2 20.40
010072......... 05/02/86 000000014945 BACILLUS MEGATERIUM..... 6-21-81 2 108.80
010072......... 05/02/86 000000017855 CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM 6-21-71 2 108.80
TYPE E.
010072......... 05/02/86 000000019213 BACILLUS MEGATERIUM..... 3-84 2 108.80
010072......... 05/02/86 000000019397 CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM 8-18-81 3 163.20
TYPE A.
010072......... 05/02/86 000000023450 BRUCELLA ABORTUS BIOTYPE 8-2-84 3 163.20
3.
010072......... 05/02/86 000000023455 BRUCELLA ABORTUS BIOTYPE 2-5-68 3 163.20
9.
010072......... 05/02/86 000000023456 BRUCELLA MELITENSIS 3-8-78 2 108.80
BIOTYPE 1.
010072......... 05/02/86 000000023458 BRUCELLA MELITENSIS 1-29-68 2 108.80
BIOTYPE 3.
010072......... 05/02/86 000000025763 CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM 8-83 2 108.80
TYPE A.
010072......... 05/02/86 000000035415 CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM 2-24-84 2 108.80
TYPE F.
297.12
010072......... 05/02/86 FREIGHT ........... 0.00
010072......... 05/02/86 TAX ........... ...........
010072......... 05/02/86 Total Invoice....... 58 2,813.12
-------------------------
Total for: UNIV OF ........... 58 2,813.12
BAGHDAD.
Cust #: 016124 Customer Name: STATE CO FOR DRUG INDUST.
AC377.......... 08/31/87 000000002601 SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE 8-28-80 1 12.00
AC377.......... 08/31/87 000000006539 SALMONELLA CHOLERAESUIS 6-86S 1 12.00
SUBSP. CHOLERAESUIS.
AC377.......... 08/31/87 000000006633 BACILLUS SUBTILIS....... 10-85 2 128.00
AC377.......... 08/31/87 000000010031 KLEBSIELLA PNEUMONIAE 8-13-80 1 64.00
SUBSP. PNEUMONIAE.
AC377.......... 08/31/87 000000010536 ESCHERICHIA COLI........ 4-9-80 1 64.00
AC377.......... 08/31/87 000000011778 BACILLUS CEREUS......... 5-85SV 2 24.00
AC377.......... 08/31/87 000000012228 STAPHYLOCOCCUS 11-86S 1 12.00
EPIDERMIDIS.
AC377.......... 08/31/87 000000014884 BACILLUS PUMILUS........ 9-8-80 2 128.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AC1507, 04/26/88, Total Invoice
AC1616, 07/11/88, 0000000035-X, COMMUNICATION FEES, 35-X.
AC1616, 07/11/88, 000000011303, ESCHERICHIA COLI, 4-87S.
AC1616, 07/11/88, 000000037349, PTIBO542 PLASMID IN
AGROBACTERIUM TUMEFACIENS, 6-14-85.
AC1616, 07/11/88, 000000045031, CAULIFLOWER MOSAIC
CAULIMOVIRUS CLONE, 5-28-85.
AC1616, 07/11/88, FREIGHT.
AC1616, 07/11/88, TAX.
062876, 10/12/87, Total Invoice
AC1507, 04/26/88, 0000000035-X, COMMUNICATION FEES.
AC1507, 04/26/88, 000000057236, HU LAMBDA 4X-8 PHAGE
LYSATE.
AC1507, 04/26/88, 000000057240, HU LAMBDA 14 PHAGE LYSATE.
AC1507, 04/26/88, 000000057242, HU LAMBDA 15 PHAGE LYSATE.
AC1507, 04/26/88, FREIGHT.
AC1507, 04/26/88, TAX.
AC489, 08/31/87, 000000023846, ESCHERICHIA COLI, 7-29-83.
AC489, 08/31/87, 000000033694, ESCHERICHIA COLI, 7-29-83.
[[Page S8995]]
AC489, 08/31/87, FREIGHT.
AC489, 08/31/87, MINIMUM.
CUST #: 022913, Customer Name: TECHNICAL & SCIENTIFIC
AC2658, 09/29/88, 000000000240, BACILLUS ANTHRACIS, 5-14-
63.
AC2658, 09/29/88, 000000000938, BACILLUS ANTHRACIS, 1963.
AC2658, 09/29/88, 000000003629, CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS,
10-23-85.
AC2658, 09/29/88, 000000008009, CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS, 3-
30-84.
AC2658, 09/29/88, 000000008705, BACILLUS ANTHRACIS, 6-27-
62.
AC2658, 09/29/88, 000000009014, BRUCELLA ABORTUS, 5-11-66.
AC2658, 09/29/88, 000000010388, CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS, 6-
1-73.
AC2658, 09/29/88, 000000011966, BACILLUS ANTHRACIS, 5-5-70.
AC2658, 09/29/88, 000000025763, CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM TYPE
A, 7-86.
AC2658, 09/29/88, 000000033018, BACILLUS CEREUS, 4-83.
AC2658, 09/29/88, 000000033019, BACILLUS CEREUS, 3-88.
AC2658, 09/29/88, DISCOUNT.
AC2658, 09/29/88, FREIGHT.
AC2658, 09/29/88, TAX.
AC3352, 01/17/89, Total Invoice
AC1639, 01/31/89, 0000000035-X, COMMUNICATION FEES, 35-X.
AC1639, 01/31/89, 000000057056, PHPT31 PLASMID IN
ESCHERICHIA COLI JM83, 3-88.
AC1639, 01/31/89, 000000057212, P LAMBDA 500 PLASMID IN
ESCHERICHIA COLI, 88-09.
AC1639, 01/31/89, FREIGHT.
AC1639, 01/31/89, TAX.
____
Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention,
Atlanta, GA, June 21, 1995.
Hon. Donald W. Riegle, Jr.,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Riegle: In 1993, at your request, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) forwarded to your
office a listing of all biological materials, including
viruses, retroviruses, bacteria, and fungi, which CDC
provided to the government of Iraq from October 1, 1984,
through October 13, 1993. Recently, in the course of
reviewing our shipping records for a Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) request from a private citizen, we identified an
additional shipment, on May 21, 1985, that was not included
on the list that was provided to your office. Following this
discovery, we conducted a thorough review of all of our
shipping records and are confident that we have now included
a listing of all shipments. A corrected list is enclosed
(Note: the new information is italicized).
These additional materials were hand-carried by Dr.
Mohammad Mahoud to Iraq after he had spent three months
training in a CDC laboratory. Most of the materials were non-
infectious diagnostic reagents for detecting evidence of
infections to mosquito-borne viruses. Only two of the
materials are on the Commodity Control List, i.e., Yersinin
Pestis (the agent of plague) and dengue virus. (the strain of
plague bacillus was non-virulent, and CDC is currently
petitioning the Department of Commerce to remove this
particular variant from the list of controlled materials).
We regret that our earlier list was incomplete and
appreciate your understanding.
Sincerely,
David Satcher,
Director.
Enclosure. (Copy unclear)
CDC Shipments to Iraq October 1, 1984 through Present
4/26/85--Minister of Health, Ministry of Health, Baghdad, Iraq
8 Vials antigen and antisera, (R. rickettsii and R. typhi)
to diagnose rickettsial infections (non-infectious).
5/21/85--Dr. Mahammad Imad, Al-Dean M. Mahmud, Dept. of Microbiology,
College of Medicine, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq
Etiologic Agents:--lyophilized arbovirus seed;
West Nile Fever Virus, Lyophilized cultures of avirulant
yersinia pestis and Y. pseudotuberculosis ((strain r);
0.5 m1 Bhania Virus (Iq 690);
0.5 m1 Dongua Virus type 2 (New Guinea C);
0.5 m1 Dongua Virus type 3 (H-97);
0.5 m1 Hazara Virus (Pak IC 280);
0.5 m1 Kemeroud Virus (rio);
0.5 m1 Langat Virus (TP 21);
0.5 m1 Sandfly Fever/Naples Virus (original);
0.5 m1 Sandfly Fever/Sicilian Virus (original);
0.5 m1 Sindbis Virus (Egar 339);
0.5 m1 Tahyna Virus (Bardos 92);
0.5 m1 Thgoto Virus (II A).
Diagnostic Reagents and Associated Materials:
2. vials each Y. pestis FA (+ & -) conjugates;
2 vials Y. pestis Fraction 1 antigen;
10 vials Y. pestis bacteriophage impregnated paper strips;
5 plague-infected mouse tissue smears (fixed);
Various protocols for diagnostic bacteriology tests;
23 X 0.5 m1 Bhanja (Ig 690) antigen;
22 X 0.5 m1 Dengue Type 2 (New Guinea C) antigen;
22 X 0.5 ml Dengue type 3 (H-69) antigen;
22 X 0.5 ml Hazara (Pak IC 290) antigen;
22 X 0.5 ml Kemarovo (Rio) antigen;
22 X 0.5 ml Langat (IF 21) antigen,
24 X 0.5 ml Sandfly Fever/Naples (original) antigen;
24 X 0.5 ml Sandfly Fever/Sicilian (original) antigen;
Diagnostic Reagents and Associated Materials:
2 vials each Y. pestis PA (+6-) conjugates;
2 vials Y. pestis Fraction 2 antigen;
10 vials Y. pestis bacteriophage impregnated paper stripe;
5 plague-infected mouse tissue smears (fixed);
Various protocols for diagnostic bacteriology tests;
23 X 0.5 ml Bhanja (Ig 690) antigen;
22 X 0.5 ml Dengue Type 2 (New Guinea C) antigen;
22 X 0.5 ml Dengue Type 3 (H-67) antigen;
22 X 0.5 ml Hazara (Pak IC 280) antigen;
23 X 0.5 ml Kemorovo (Rio) antigen;
21 X 0.5 ml Langat (TP 21) antigen;
24 X 0.5 ml Sandfly Fever/Maples (original) antigen;
24 X 0.5 ml Sandfly Fever/Sicilian (original) antigen;
23 X 0.5 ml Sindbis (EgAr 339) antigen;
23 X 0.5 ml Tahyna (Bardos 92) antigen;
20 X 0.5 ml Thogoto (II A) antigen;
23 X 0.5 ml Bhanja (Ig 690) antigen;
21 X 0.5 ml West Nile (Eg 101) antigen;
20 X 0.5 ml Normal SMB antigen;
10 X 0.5 ml Normal SML antigen;
5 X 1.0 ml Bhanja (Ig 690) antibody;
5 X 1.0 ml Dengue Type 2 (New Guinea C) antibody;
5 X 1.0 ml Dengue Type 3 (H-87) antibody;
5 X 1.0 ml Hazara (Pak IC 280) antibody;
5 X 1.0 ml Xemerovo (Rio) antibody;
5 X 2.0 ml Langat (TP 21) antibody;
5 X 1.0 ml Sandfly Fever/Naples (original) antibody;
5 X 2.0 ml Sandfly Fever/Sicilian (original) antibody;
5 X 1.0 ml Sindbis (EgAr 339) antibody;
5 X 1.0 ml Tahyna (Bardos 92) antibody;
5 X 1.0 ml Thogoto (II A) antibody;
5 X 1.0 ml West Nile (Eg 101) antibody;
3 X 1.0 ml Normal MHIAF (SMB) antibody;
3 X 1.0 ml Normal MHIAF (SML) antibody;
1.0 ml A polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml AIYA, etc. polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml B polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml BUN polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml BWA polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml C-1 polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml C-2 polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml CAL polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml CAP polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml CON polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml GMA polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml KEM polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml PAL polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml PAT polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml PHL polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml ORF polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml Rabies, etc. polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml STM polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml TCR polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml VSV polyvalent grouping fluid;
1.0 ml polyvalent 1;
1.0 ml polyvalent 2;
1.0 ml polyvalent 3;
1.0 ml polyvalent 4;
1.0 ml polyvalent 5;
1.0 ml polyvalent 6;
1.0 ml polyvalent 7;
1.0 ml polyvalent 8;
1.0 ml polyvalent 9;
1.0 ml polyvalent 10;
1.0 ml polyvalent 12;
1.0 ml Group B1 reagent;
1.0 ml Bluetongue reagent;
4 X 0.5 ml Dengue 1-4 set monoclonal antibodies;
1.0 ml St. Louis Enc. (MSI-7) monoclonal antibody;
1.0 ml Western Eq. Enc. (McMillian) monoclonal antibody.
6/26/85--
Dr. Mohammed S. Khidar, University of Baghdad, College of
Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Baghdad, Iraq 3 yeast
cultures Candida sp. (etiologic).
3/10/86
Dr. Rowil Shawil Georgis, M.B.CH.B.D.F.H., Officers City
Al-Muthanna, Quartret 710, Street 13, Close 69, House 28/I,
Baghdad, Iraq. 1 vial Botulinum Toxiod # A-2 (non-
infectious).
4/21/56--Dr. Rowil Shawil Georgis, N.B. Cir. D.D.F.H., Officers City
Al-Muthana, Quartret 710, Street 13, Close 69, House 23/r, Baghdad,
Iraq
1 vial Botulinum toxin (non-infections).
7/21/88--Dr. Faqid Alfarhood, Mahela 887, Zikak 54, House 97, Hay
Aljihad, Kerk, Baghdad, Iraq
teaching supplies (non-infectious); CDC procedures manuals.
7/27/88--Dr. Fagid Alfarhood, Mahela 887, Zikak 54, House 97, Hay
Aljihad, Kerk, Baghdad, Iraq
teaching supplies (non-infectious); CDC procedure manuals.
11/28/89--Dr. Nadeal T. Al Hadithi, University of Basrah, College of
Science, Department of Biology, Basrah, Iraq
5.0 mls Enterococcus faecalis;
5.0 mls Enterococcus faccium;
5.0 mls Enterococcus avium;
5.0 mls Enterococcus raffinosus;
5.0 mls Enterococcus gallinarum;
[[Page S8996]]
5.0 mls Enterococcus durans;
5.0 mls Enterococcus hirac;
5.0 mls Streptococcus bovis (cciologic).
From U.S. Senate Hearing Report 103-900
u.s. exports of biological materials to iraq
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs has
oversight responsibility for the Export Administration Act. Pursuant to
the Act, Committee staff contacted the U.S. Department of Commerce and
requested information on the export of biological materials during the
years prior to the Gulf War. After receiving this information, we
contacted a principal supplier of these materials to determine what, if
any, materials were exported to Iraq which might have contributed to an
offensive or defensive biological warfare program. Records available
from the supplier for the period from 1985 until the present show that
during this time, pathogenic (meaning "disease producing"), toxigenic
(meaning "poisonous"), and other biological research materials were
exported to Iraq pursuant to application and licensing by the U.S.
Department of Commerce. Records prior to 1985 were not available,
according to the supplier. These exported biological materials were not
attenuated or weakened and were capable of reproduction. According to
the Department of Defense's own Report to Congress on the Conduct of
the Persian Gulf War, released in April 1992:
"By the time of the invasion of Kuwait, Iraq had developed
biological weapons. It's advanced and aggressive biological warfare
program was the most advanced in the Arab world. The program probably
began late in the 1970's and concentrated on the development of two
agents, botulinum toxin and anthrax bacteria. . . . Large scale
production of these agents began in 1989 at four facilities near
Baghdad. Delivery means for biological agents ranged from simple aerial
bombs and artillery rockets to surface-to-surface missiles."
Included in the approved sales are the following biological materials
(which have been considered by various nations for use in war), with
their associated disease symptoms:
Bacillus Anthracis: anthrax is a disease-producing bacteria
identified by the Department of Defense in the The Conduct of the
Persian Gulf War: Final Report to Congress, as being a major component
in the Iraqi biological warfare program.
Anthrax is an often-fatal infectious disease due to ingestion of
spores. It begins abruptly with high fever, difficulty in breathing,
and chest pain. The disease eventually results in septicemia (blood
poisoning), and the mortality is high. Once septicemia is advanced,
antibiotic therapy may prove useless, probably because the exotoxins
remain, despite the death of the bacteria.
Clostridium Botulinum: a baterial source of botulinum toxin, which
causes vomiting, constipation, thirst, general weakness, headache,
fever, dizziness, double vision, dilation of the pupils and paralysis
of the muscles involving swallowing. It is often fatal.
Histoplasma Capsulatum: causes a disease superficially resembling
tuberculosis that may cause pneumonia, enlargement of the liver and
spleen, anemia, an influenza-like illness and an acute inflammatory
skin disease marked by tender red modules, usually on the shins.
Reactivated infection usually involves the lungs, the brain, spinal
membranes, heart, peritoneum, and the adrenals.
Brucella Melitensis: a bacterial which can cause chronic fatigue,
loss of appetite, profuse sweating when at rest, pain in joints and
muscles, insomnia, nausea, and damage to major organs.
Clostridium Perfringens: a highly toxic bacteria which causes gas
gangrene. The bacteria produce toxins that move along muscle bundles in
the body killing cells and producing necrotic tissue that is then
favorable for further growth of the bacteria itself. Eventually, these
toxins and bacteria enter the bloodstream and cause systemic illness.
In addition, several shipments of Escherichia Coli (E.Coli) and
genetic materials, as well as human and bacterial DNA, were shipped
directly to the Iraq Atomic Energy Commission.
The following is a detailed listing of biological materials, provided
by the American Type Culture Collection, which were exported to
agencies of the government of Iraq pursuant to the issuance of an
export licensed by the U.S. Commerce Department:
Date: February 8, 1985
Sent to: Iraq Atomic Energy Agency
Materials Shipped: Ustilago nuda (Jensen) Rostrup.
Date: February 22, 1985
Sent to: Ministry of Higher Education
Materials Shipped: Histoplasma capsulanum var. farciminosum (ATCC
32136). Class III pathogen.
Date: July 11, 1985.
Sent to: Middle And Near East Regional A.
Materials Shipped: Histoplasma capsulatum var. farciminosum
(ATCC 32136). Class III pathogen.
Date: May 2, 1986.
Sent to: Ministry of Higher Education.
Materials Shipped: 1. Bacillus Anthracis Cohn (ATCC 10).
Batch #08-20-82 (2 each). Class III pathogen.
2. Bacillus Subtitlis (Ehrenberg) Cohn (ATCC 82). Batch
#06-20-84 (2 each).
3. Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 3502). Batch #07-07-
81 (3 each). Class III Pathogen.
4. Clostridium perfringens (Weillon and Zuber) Hauduroy, et
al (ATCC 3624). Batch #10-85SV (2 each).
5. Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6051). Batch #12-06-84 (2 each).
6. Francisella tularensis, var. tularensis Olsufiev (ATCC
6223) Batch #05-14-79 (2 each). Avirulent, suitable for
preparations of diagnostic antigens.
7. Clostridium tetani (ATCC 9441). Batch #03-84 (3 each).
Highly toxigenic.
8. Clostridium botulinum Type E (ATCC 9564). Batch #03-02-
79 (2 each). Class III pathogen.
9. Clostridium tetani (ATCC 10779). Batch #04-24-84S (3
each).
10. Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 12916). Batch #08-14-80
(2 each). Agglutinating type 2.
11. Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 13124). Batch #07-84SV (3
each). Type A, alpha-toxigenic, produces lechitinase C.J.
Appl.
12. Bacillus Anthracis (ATCC 14185). Batch #01-14-80 (3
each). G.G. Wright (Fort Dertick) V770-NP1-R. Bovine anthrax,
Class III pathogen.
13. Bacillus Anthracis (ATCC 14578). Batch #01-06-78 (2
each). Class III pathogen.
14. Bacillus megaterium (ATCC 14581). Batch #04-18-85 (2
each).
15. Bacillus megaterium (ATCC 14945). Batch #06-21-81 (2
each).
16. Clostridium botulinum Type E (ATCC 17855. Batch #06-21-
71. Class III pathogen.
17. Bacillus megaterium (ATCC 19213). Batch #3-84 (2 each).
18. Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 19397). Batch #08-
18-81 (2 each). Class III pathogen.
19. Brucella abortus Biotype 3 (ATCC 23450). Batch #08-02-
84 (3 each). Class III pathogen.
20. Brucella abortus Biotype 9 (ATCC 23455). Batch #02-05-
68 (3 each). Class III pathogen.
21. Brucella melitensis Biotype 1 (ATCC 23456). Batch #03-
08-78 (2 each). Class III pathogen.
22. Brucella melitensis Biotype 3 (ATCC 23458. Batch #01-
29-68 (2 each). Class III pathogen.
23. Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 25763. Batch #8-83
(2 each). Class III pathogen.
24. Clostridium botulinum Type F (ATCC 35415). Batch #02-
02-84 (2 each). Class III pathogen.
Date: August 31, 1987.
Sent to: State Company for Drug Industries.
Materials Shipped:
1. Saccharomyces cerevesia (ATCC 2601). Batch #08-28-08 (1
each).
2. Salmonella choleraesuis subsp. choleraesuis Serotype
typhia (ATCC 6539). Batch #06-86S (1 each).
3. Bacillus subtillus (ATCC 6633). Batch# 10-85 (2 each).
4. Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae (ATCC 10031).
Batch# 08-13-80 (1 each).
5. Escherichia coli (ATCC 10536). Batch# 04-09-80 (1 each).
6. Bacillus cereus (11778). Batch# 05-85SV (2 each).
7. Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 12228). Batch# 11-86s
(1 each).
8. Bacillus pumilus (ATCC 14884). Batch# 09-08-90 (2 each).
Date: July 11, 1988.
Sent to: Iraq Atomic Energy Commission.
Materials Shipped:
1. Escherichia coli (ATCC 11303). Batch# 04-87S. Phage
host.
2. Cauliflower Mosaic Caulimovirus (ATCC 45031). Batch# 06-
14-85. Plant virus.
3. Plasmid in Agrobacterium Tumefaciens (ATCC 37349). (Ti
plasmid for co-cultivation with plant integration vectors in
E Coli). Batch# 05-28-85.
Date: April 26, 1988.
Sent to: Iraq Atomic Energy Commission.
Materials Shipped:
Hulambda4x-8, clone: human hypoxanthine
phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT). Chromosome(s): X q26.1
(ATCC 57236) Phage vector; Suggested host: E.coli.
2. Hulambdal 14-8, clone: human hypoxanthine
phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT). Chromosome(s): X q26.1
(ATCC 57240) Phage vector; Suggest host: E.coli.
[[Page S8997]]
3. Hulambda 15, clone: human hypoxanthine
phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT). Chromosome(s): X q26.1
(ATCC 57242) Phage vector; Suggested host: E.coli.
Date: August 31, 1987.
Sent to: Iraq Atomic Energy Commission.
Materials Shipped:
1. Escherichia coli (ATCC 23846). Batch# 07-29-83 (1 each).
2. Escherichia coli (ATCC 33694). Batch# 05-87 (1 each).
Date: September 29, 1988.
Sent to: Ministry of Trade.
Materials Shipped:
1. Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 240). Batch# 05-14-63 (3 each).
Class III pathogen.
2. Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 938). Batch# 1963 (3 each).
Class III pathogen.
3. Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 3629). Batch# 10-23-85 (3
each).
4. Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 8009). Batch# 03-30-84 (3
each).
5. Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 8705). Batch# 06-27-62 (3
each). Class III pathogen.
6. Brucella abortus (ATCC 9014). Batch# 05-11-66 (3 each).
Class III pathogen.
7. Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 10388). Batch# 06-01-73 (3
each).
8. Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 11966). Batch# 05-05-70 (3
each). Class III pathogen.
9. Clostridium botulinum Type A. Batch# 07-86 (3 each).
Class III pathogen.
10. Bacillus cereus (ATCC 33018). Batch# 04-83 (3 each).
11. Bacillus ceres (ATCC 33019). Batch# 03-88 (3 each).
Date: January 31, 1989.
Sent to: Iraq Atomic Energy Commission.
Materials Shipped:
1. PHPT31, clone: human hypoxanthine
phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT). Chromosome(s): X q26.1
(ATCC 57057)
2. plambda500, clone: human hypoxanthine
phosphoribosyltransferase pseudogene (HPRT). Chromosome(s): 5
p14-p13 (ATCC 57212).
Date: January 17, 1989
Sent to: Iraq Atomic Energy Commission.
Materials Shipped:
1. Hulambda4x-8, clone: human hypoxanthine
phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT). Chromosome(s): X q26.1
(ATCC 57237) Phage vector; Suggested host: E. coli.
2. Hulambda14, clone: human hypoxanthine
phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT). Chromosome(s): X q26.1
(ATCC 57240) Cloned from human lymphoblast. Phage vector;
Suggested host: E. coli.
3. Hulambda15, clone: human hypoxanthine
phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT). Chromosome(s): X q26.1
(ATCC 57241) Phage vector; Suggested host: E. coli.
Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control has compiled
a listing of biological materials shipped to Iraq prior to
the Gulf War. The listing covers the period from October 1,
1984 (when the CDC began keeping records) through October 13,
1993. The following materials with biological warfare
significance were shipped to Iraq during this period:
Date: November 28, 1989.
Sent to: University of Basrah, College of Science,
Department of Biology.
Materials Shipped:
1. Enterococcus faecalis.
2. Enterococcus faecium.
3. Enterococcus avium.
4. Enterococcus raffinosus.
5. Enterococcus gallinarium.
6. Enterococcus durans.
7. Enterococcus hirae.
8. Streptococcus bovis (etiologic).
Date: April 21, 1986.
Sent to: Officers City Al-Muthanna, Quartret 710, Street
13, Close 69 House 28/I, Baghdad, Iraq.
Materials Shipped:
1. 1 vial botulinum toxoid (non-infectious).
Date: March 10, 1986.
Sent to: Officers City Al-Muthanna, Quartret 710, Street
13, Close 69 House 28/I, Baghdad, Iraq.
Materials Shipped:
1. 1 vial botulinum toxoid #A2 (non-infectious).
Date: June 25, 1985.
Sent to: University of Baghdad, College of Medicine,
Department of Microbiology.
Materials Shipped:
1. 3 yeast cultures (etiologic) Candida sp.
Date: May 21, 1985.
Sent to: Basrah, Iraq.
Materials Shipped:
1. Lyophilized arbovirus seed (etiologic).
2. West Nile Fever Virus.
Date: April 26, 1985.
Sent to: Minister of Health, Ministry of Health, Baghdad,
Iraq.
Materials Shipped:
1.8 vials antigen and antisera (r. rickettsii and r. typhi)
to diagnose rickettsial infections (non-infectious).
UNSCOM Biological Warfare Inspections
UNSCOM inspections uncovered evidence that the government
of Iraq was conducting research on pathogen enhancement on
the following biological warfare-related materials: bacillus
anthracis; clostridium botulinum; clostridium perfirgens;
brucella abortis; brucella melentensis; francisella
tularensis; and clostridium tetani.
In addition, the UNSCOM inspections revealed that
biological warfare-related stimulant research was being
conducted on the following materials: bacillus subtillus;
bacillus ceres; and bacillus megatillus.
UNSCOM reported to Committee staff that a biological
warfare inspection (BW3) was conducted at the Iraq Atomic
Energy Commission in 1993. This suggests that the Iraqi
government may have been experimenting with the materials
cited above (E. coli and rDNA) in an effort to create
genetically altered microorganisms (novel biological warfare
agents). Committee staff plans to interview the BW3 team
leader, Col. David Franz of the United States Army Medical
Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in the
near future. This phase of the investigation continues.
Biological Warfare Defense
The following section, describing the types, dissemination,
and defensive measures against biological agents, is quoted
verbatim from a United States Marine Corps Institute
document, Nuclear and Chemical Operations, MCI 7711B, used in
the Command and Staff College's nonresident program. It is
clear from this document that the Department of Defense
recognizes both the threat and U.S. vulnerability to
biological weapons. This document also outlines the
Department's understanding of what actions should be taken in
the event that a biological weapon has been or is suspected
to have been employed.
"Biological agents cannot be detected by the human senses.
A person could become a casualty before he is aware he has
been exposed to a biological agent. An aerosol or mist of
biological agent is borne in the air. These agents can
silently and effectively attack man, animals, plants, and in
some cases, materiel. Agents can be tailored for a specific
type of target.
Methods of using antipersonnel agents undoubtedly vary so
that no uniform pattern of employment or operation is
evident. It is likely that agents will be used in
combinations so that the disease symptoms will confuse
diagnosis and interfere with proper treatment. It is also
probable that biological agents would be used in heavy
concentrations to insure a high percentage of infection in
the target area. The use of such concentrations could result
in the breakdown of individual immunity because the large
number of micro-organisms entering the body could
overwhelm the natural body defenses.
Types of biological agents
Different antipersonnel agents require varying periods of
time before they take effect, and the periods of time for
which they will incapacitate a person also vary. Most of the
diseases having antipersonnel employment potential are found
among group of diseases that are naturally transmitted
between animals and man. Mankind is highly vulnerable to them
since he has little contact with animals in today's urban
society. The micro-organisms of possible use in warfare are
found in four naturally occurring groups--the fungi,
bacteria, ricketisiae, and viruses.
a. Fungi. Fungi occur in many forms and are found almost
everywhere. They range in size from a single cell, such as
yeast, to multicellular forms, such as mushrooms and
puffballs. Their greatest employment potential is against
plants, although some forms cause disease in man. A fungus
causes the disease coccidioidomycosis in man. Other common
infections caused by Fungi include ringworm and "athletes
foot."
b. Bacteria. Bacteria comprise a large and varied group of
organisms. They occur in varying shapes, such as rods,
spheres, and spirals, but they are all one-celled plants.
Some bacteria can assume a resistant structure called a
spore, which enables them to resist adverse environmental
conditions. Others may produce poisonous substances called
toxins. Examples of human disease caused by bacteria are
anthrax, brucellosis, tularemia, staphylococcus, and
streptococcus.
c. Rickettsiae. Rickettsiae organisms have the physical
appearances of bacteria and the growth characteristics of
viruses. Members of this group must have living tissue for
growth and reproduction, whereas most fungi and bacteria can
be grown on artificial material. Another characteristic of
rickettsiae is that most diseases caused by this group are
transmitted by the bite of an insect, such as the mosquito,
mite, or tick. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Q fever, and
typhus are diseases of mankind caused by rickettsiae.
d. Virus. The smallest living things known to mankind are
virsuses. Viruses are so small that an electron microscope is
required to see them. Viruses cannot be grown in the absence
of living tissue. Diseases which are caused by viruses cannot
normally be treated with antibiotics. Viruses cause yellow
fever, rabies, and poliomyelitis.
Dissemination of biological agents
a. Aerosol. Biological agents may be disseminated on, or
over, the target by many means, such as aircraft, missiles,
and explosive munitions. These devices produce a biological
aerosol, and, if antipersonnel biological agents are ever
used, they will probably be disseminated in the form of
biological mists or aerosols. This method of dissemination
would be extremely effective because the micro-organisms
would be drawn into the lungs as a person breathes, and there
they would be rapidly absorbed into the blood stream. The
hours from dusk until dawn appear to be the best time for
dissemination of biological agents. The weather conditions
are most favorable for these agents at night, since sunlight
will destroy many of them. In field trials, using harmless
biological aerosols, area coverages of thousands of square
miles have been accomplished. The aerosol particles were
carried for long distances by air currents. (emphasis added)
b. Living Hosts. Personnel may be infected by disease
carrying vectors, such as insects, rats, or other animals.
Mosquitos may
[[Page S8998]]
spread malaria, yellow fever, or encephalitis; rats spread
plague (any mammal may carry rabies). Militarily, specific
vectors may be selected, infected as required, and then
released in the target area to seek out their human victims
and pass on the disease. Since infection is transmitted
through a bite in the skin, protective masks offer no
protection. A vectorborne agent may remain in the target area
for as long as there are live hosts; thus, a major
disadvantage results. The vectorborne agent can become a
permanent hazard in the area as the host infects others of
his species.
c. Food and Water Contamination. Biological agents could
also be delivered to target personnel by placing the agent in
food and water supplies (sabotage). This type of attack would
probably be directed against small targets, such as
industrial complexes, headquarters, or specific individuals.
The methods of delivering the attack are many and varied.
Defensive Measures
The United States carries out research aimed at improved
means of detection of biological agents and treatment and
immunization of personnel. Both of these are essential to
biological defense.
a. Before an Attack. The inability of the individual to
detect a biological attack is perhaps the greatest problem.
Contributing factors are the delay experienced before the
onset of symptoms and the time required to identify specific
agents. Without an adequate means of detection, complete
defensive measures may not be taken since an attack must
first be detected before you can defend against it. Diseases
caused by biological agents do not appear until a few days to
weeks after contact with the agent. Personnel are protected
against biological agents in aerosol form by the protective
mask. Ordinary clothing protects the skin from contamination
by biological agents. Other means of protection include
immunizations; quarantining contaminated areas; cleanliness
of the body, clothing, and living quarters; stringent rodent
and pest control; proper care of cuts and wounds; and
education of troops to eat and drink only from approved
sources.
b. After an Attack: After a biological agent attack has
occurred, it will be necessary to identify the agent used in
the attack so that proper medical treatment may be given to
exposed personnel. To perform this identification, it is
necessary to collect samples or objects from the contaminated
area and send them to a laboratory or suitable facility for
processing. Samples may be taken from the air, from
contaminated surfaces, or from contaminated water. After the
sample is taken, laboratory time will be required to identify
the suspected biological agent. The length of time for
identification is being significantly shortened through the
use of new medical and laboratory techniques. Proper
defensive actions taken during a biological attack depend
upon the rapid detection of the attack. Biological defense is
continuous. You must always be prepared for the employment of
these weapons. (emphasis added)
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the Chair and I thank all Members.
____________________
</pre></blockquote><br style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; white-space: normal;" /></pre><pre style="background-color: white;"><br /></pre><pre style="background-color: white;"><br /></pre><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-34210243455809842642022-03-03T11:16:00.001-08:002022-03-03T11:31:23.974-08:00Power at the UN: UNGA on Russia<p> <span style="font-size: medium;"><i>While the world has been drowned in ignorance and misinformation, the United States has managed to bribe or threaten the United Nations states into its lapdogs. This is not new to Russia. But it was even more disappointing this time around to see non-blue-eyed blondes vote against themselves. And to see other nations cower from voting against the Resolution and simply abstaining</i></span>.</p><p>In 2005, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newt_Gingrich">Newt Gingrich</a> addressed the neocon/pro-Israel think tank, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Enterprise_Institute">the American Enterprise Institute</a> (AEI), in a fiery speech demanding that UN members be coerced into voting. The AEI has since removed the link from its website. The following is what was captured before it disappeared:</p><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal"><strong><a href="http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.23396,filter.all/pub_detail.asp"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.23396,filter.all/pub_detail.asp</span></a><o:p></o:p></strong></p></blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strong> </strong></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strong>AN EXAMPLE OF A U.N. REFORM SCORECARD</strong><br />
<strong>(With results of the 2005 U.N. World Summit)</strong><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 6pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Newt Gingrich<br />
October 31, 2005<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>“By now one would think it was quite evident to all U.N.
members the nature of the enemies of civilization. The same terrorists and
state sponsors of terror who want to kill all the Jews in Israel are the same
murderers and sponsors who are killing innocent Muslims in Iraq for wanting to
build a society of free men and women. It is the same terrorists who murdered
Sergio Vieira de Mello and twenty one other United Nations staff members in
Baghdad. The terrorists--and the ideology that they represent--neither want Jew
nor Muslim, Israeli nor free Iraqi, to stand in the way of their vision of
Taliban-like dictatorships throughout the Middle East.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 6pt;"> </span>“<span style="background: yellow;">By
contrast, Israel is a country that manifests the values that the U.N. should
defend and embrace, not condemn</span>.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>“The United States and Israel share a special bond rooted in
our democratic traditions of government, our pluralistic societies, and our
common respect for faith -- not just one faith, but all faiths, and for all
people of goodwill. These values are central to our national identities and
unite us in a common vision for what we expect from the U.N. The U.N.’s past
and current treatment of Israel has fallen dramatically short of these ideals.
When the U.N. moves finally to end the second class treatment of Israel, it
will provide an important indication that U.N. reform is truly moving in the
right direction.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>“The challenge before those of us who believe in the
principles of the United Nations Charter, but who also believe that the UN as it
operates today has betrayed these principles, is to effect change in the voting
practices at the UNGA. I believe the United States can lead other countries in
an effort to successfully reform the United Nations but it will take
significant work over the long haul.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>“In the first place a decision will have to be made that the
UN is important enough to us to link our multilateral diplomacy with our
bilateral diplomacy.” </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>“<span style="background: yellow;">A key
first test for a concerted effort by the U.S. to win U.N. votes should be an
upcoming vote in the [GA Assembly] concerning the abolishment of the Committee
on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and of the
Division of Palestinian Rights.” “This
should be not just a matter of high importance of U.S. Ambassadors around the
world, but also of every member of Congress, who can play an influential role
with foreign Ambassadors assigned to Washington or with high-ranking foreign
government officials whom they know. Members of Congress should take every opportunity
to relay the message to these foreign representatives that we are paying
attention to their vote, that their vote matters, and that we will remember how
they vote.”</span> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><u><o:p> </o:p></u></p><p class="MsoNormal">“The U.N. must be a fundamentally limited institution
because it has no democratic accountability but has at times pretensions of
asserting legitimacy akin to that of a democratic nation state. For example,
large international meetings sponsored by the U.N. often aim to create new
systems of “law” and new “norms” of international behavior under the guise of
“global governance.” These present a direct threat to American sovereignty and
our system of Constitutional liberty and therefore must be rejected.”
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strong> </strong>“3. The United States should promote the “naming of
names” that is, the United States should push the Security Council to have the
1373 Committee publicly list state sponsors of terrorism.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">“11. On the critical subject of the nuclear fuel cycle
and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the United States should continue to
promote the Bush administration’s initiative to prevent the acquisition of
uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing facilities by additional
countries.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">“12. The United States should encourage the Council to
strengthen legal authorities to interdict illicit WMD-related shipments and
disrupt illicit WMD-related networks.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">III. International Atomic Energy Agency.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>“1. The United States should continue pressing for
establishment of a committee of the IAEA Board to review the Agency’s role in
monitoring and promoting compliance with nuclear nonproliferation obligations.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although at time of the speech this was centered around Palestine and Iran, it is noteworthy that we saw so many nations cower yesterday. Stupidity, bribery, threat, or all three?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Also noteworthy that the <a href="https://www.heritage.org/global-politics/report/us-funding-the-united-nations-reaches-all-time-high">US funding of the UN reached an all-time high in 2010</a> with the US paying 22% . <span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: 11pt;">The next largest contributors were Japan (12.53%),
Germany (8.018%), the United Kingdom (6.604%), and France (6.112%) </span><a href="http://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL30605.pdf">http://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL30605.pdf</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Currently, China's contribution is second at 12.0% and Japan at 8.5% - a dismal performance by China in abstaining and not voting against). <span style="font-family: inherit;">By contrast, <i>Russia's contribution is a mere </i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>1.602%,. Not likely to have much sway! </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-332103069239585672022-03-01T10:23:00.005-08:002022-03-01T10:31:14.097-08:00Global Implications of US Foreign Policy<p> <span style="font-size: medium;"><i>When visiting Iran in 2016, I was left with a great deal of time on my hands. Seems many Iranians - especially the ones I am in contact with, like to sleep at dawn and wake up in the afternoon. As an early riser, I was often left alone with my thoughts - and so jotted down some - not in any particular order, but as if to think out loud. A diary of sorts. The current events prompted me to visit these notes. Though seems like a world away since then, but is it?</i></span></p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p></p><div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 4pt;">
<p class="MsoTitle">Global Implications of US Foreign Policy<span style="text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoTitle"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoTitle"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Present, Past, and Future</b></span></p></div>
<p class="MsoBodyText">Current hot spots and trends:<o:p></o:p></p>
<h1>Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Daesh, Saudi Arabia<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">US Goals:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Total domination.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Military dominance
(includes space) , economical (incudes control of resources, renewable (oil)
and non-renewable, cultural (neo-colonialism through cultural imperialism,
media, information technology) – clearly, all of which are related.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Military domination does
not require elaboration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the same
time, it is worth noting that the strength of the military is used to control
the international system – preferably not to engage in warfare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Controlling the international system
(dominance over oil, <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">shipping
lanes</span>, neo-liberal economics, etc.) enables the complete control of
allies and adversaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also an
option the US uses to ‘reassure’ allies and encourages them to work with the US
in achieving American goals – often at odds with their own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside from the bases the US has established
around the world (many countries actually PAY the US for these bases!), the US
wants complete control of the seas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The thinking that
‘whoever<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>controls the waves, controls
the word’, put forward by Admiral McMahon is in full effect. During the Iran-Iraq
war</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: yellow; font-size: 14pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">" a former senior Defense
Department official observed, "'Gulf waters' now extend from the Straits
of Malacca to the South Atlantic." Nevertheless, bases nearer the Gulf had
a special importance, and Pentagon planners urged "as substantial a land presence
in the as can be managed." The Gulf states were reluctant to have too
overt a relationship with the United States, but the Iran-Iraq war served to
overcome some of this reluctance</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">The
US has not ratified the United Nations Treaty on the Law of the Seas but
instead has promoted the policy of Freedom of Navigation – which really means
control of the seas, especially the world chock points..<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">While
we may think of this control in terms of oil, passage of finished goods and
food are equally important.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This is
partially responsible for the conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Ukraine/Crimea, the
Persian Gulf, South China Sea.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Other important US foreign
policies (aside from control of the waves) are to curb Russia’s emergence as a
global player.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Contain China</span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was felt that the domination of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
Heartland (Eastern Europe, Russia, Central Asia) would lead to the domination
of the World.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To present Islam as an
enemy (and Iran), and total control of the internet (Rumsfeld 2003 Information
Operations Roadmap).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Russia: </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">At the end of the Cold War</span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Prominent
Americans such as Wolfowitz and (CFR)Rustow opined that it was important to
contain Russia (the Heartland – Defense Planning Guideline 1992, 1993).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was felt that the domination of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Euro Asia (</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">the land lying between Europe and Asia proper;
namely, those made up of Western and Central <b>Russia</b>, <b>Belarus</b>, <b>Ukraine</b>,
part of Caucasus,<b>Uzbekistan</b>, <b>Kazakhstan</b>, <b>Tajikistan</b>,
and<b>Kyrgyzstan</b></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">) was key to the domination of the
World.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">As recently as April 2015, during a</span><a href="http://orientalreview.org/2015/06/17/how-the-pentagon-plans-to-defeat-eurasia-and-roll-out-robotic-warfare-i/"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> speech</span></a><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> at the
Army War College Strategy Conference, </span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work
elaborated on how the Pentagon plans to counter the three types of wars
supposedly being waged by Iran, Russia, and China.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Importantly, US has
subjugated its national interest to that of Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While initially Israel was a base for the
US, its influence has grown to the point that it dominates US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Israel (through US
Congress) has actually succeeded in reversing the tying of aid – <span style="color: magenta;">US firms are required to purchase from Israel about sixty
cents worth of Israeli goods for every $1 which the US provides in military
grants. And as Israel’s largest trade partner, the European Union benefits from
US aid which helps to finance its exports to Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(</span></span><a href="http://www.mees.com/postedarticles/finance/iraq/a46n09b01.htm" title="http://www.mees.com/postedarticles/finance/iraq/a46n09b01.htm"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">http://www.mees.com/postedarticles/finance/iraq/a46n09b01.htm</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">
</span></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Dr. T. Stauffer was a well-respected economist and
engineer who taught at Harvard. He passed in 2005.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Its through this prism that
one needs to look at current trouble spots and the players: Saudi Arabia,
Daesh, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Iran.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Decades ago, the most
important commodity was considered to be oil (I share the view of many scholars
that today water is the most essential commodity).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 1973 Arab-Israeli war further
strengthened the American resolve in its determination to secure the flow of
oil to its European allies, Japan, Israel, and its own domestic use. A
renewable 15-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the U.S. and Israel
was signed in September 1975, the United States undertook to promptly make oil
available for purchase by Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
Israel was unable to secure the necessary means to transport such oil to
Israel, the United States Government will make every effort to help Israel
secure the necessary means of transport – even before supplying America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: black;">After the
revolution, IRI <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>put a stop to this and
Israel was forced to buy more expensive oil from Russia – footed by the
U.S.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="t13"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In the mid
1980s, Israel was involved in talks<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on a
plan for an Iraq-Jordanian pipeline to the Red Sea port of Aqaba.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 7.5pt;"><span class="t13"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Given the value of oil and the
leverage the US has over its transit, America’s actions post 911 indicate that
oil has taken a back seat to other considerations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Upon
taking office, Pres. George W. Bush commissioned the Bakers Institute (Rice
University) and the Council on Foreign Relations to study the energy trends and
requirements of the 21<sup>st</sup> century.</span><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><a href="http://www.rice.edu/energy/publications/docs/TaskForceReport_Final.pdf"><span style="color: #4c6981; font-size: 14pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://www.rice.edu/energy/publications/docs/TaskForceReport_Final.pdf</span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The comprehensive report
recommended that not only should the administration ease its Iraqi oil-field
investment restrictions, but actions and policies should be taken to promote
the well-being of the Iraqi people which was being undermined in light of the
sanctions and the continuous bombings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Furthermore, the report
favored the Iranian route for the Caspian oil exports which would serve several
purposes. In itself, it would translate into a policy shift towards Tehran, and
throw Iran as a counterweight to Iraq. The transport of oil through Iran versus
the prohibitively expensive longer and costly Baku-Ceyhan pipeline would be of
great benefit to the West, and the world, and help build up the drastically low
global spare capacity. Of note, the Kazakh officials had been in favor of the
Iran route, as well as the US oil companies such as Chevron, Exxon-Mobil and
Conoco.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">But military –media
industrial complex trumped oil securities.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Arguably, oil and military hardware are not the only factors.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">(Iran deal).</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 14pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">WATER</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">. </span><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">A new NASA study (September 2016) finds that the recent
drought that began in 1998 in the eastern Mediterranean Levant region, which
comprises Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Turkey, is
likely the worst drought of the past nine centuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a </span><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May 2001
quotes Jean-Louis Sarbib, Vice President of the World Bank’s Middle East and
North Africa Region, as saying that the CIA had identified water as one of the
key issues of the 21st century.</span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Additionally, </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The primary goal of the early
Zionist leadership was to control and secure the region’s waters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Chaim
Weizmann declared that ‘it was of vital importance not only to secure all water
resources feeding the country, but to control them at the sources – and the
development of these waters became the primary aim of the Yishuv as a whole<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Global%20Implications%20of%20US%20Foreign%20Policy.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This policy remained in place. As Israel’s
third Prime Minister Levi Eshkol put it, water was “the blood flowing through
the arteries of the nation”.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Even with the occupation of
Golan and its waters, Israel faced one of its worst droughts in 1990-91.
A second more serious drought in 1998, forced it to turn to water rich
Turkey.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Turkey and Israel engaged in
serious negotiations starting in May 2000 to import 50 billion cubic meters of
fresh water from Turkey using tanker ships, but using tankers was not cost
effective for the transport of water.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Alternate plans were suggested.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In September 2000,</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">the same year that young Bashar-al Assad
succeeded his father as President of Syria, a strategy paper entitled “The
Geopolitics of Water” by the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political
Studies (IASPS) opined that "Since extensive water planning proposals will
necessitate the establishment of pipelines and energy grids stretching across
borders, a political and military structure that can ensure the safety and
security of the carriers will be the prerequisite to effective water sharing”
….. “But an effective regional system would require political-military
cooperation against Syria”.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14pt;">The cooperation of the Arab states
became important.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">states of Syria, Turkey and Iraq themselves
have directly conferred on the issue of sharing the water of the Tigris and
Euphrates.</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">According to Thomas Naff, a
professor of Middle East History at Pennsylvania State University, the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers which provide Iraq with nearly 100% of its water “depend
essentially on agreements with Turkey” where both rivers originate. Turkey
disagrees over quotas to meet Syria and Iraq’s minimum requirements for what
would be the natural flow of the water and what would provide their people with
adequate access to those resources, claiming that Syria and Iraq take more than
their allotted amount of water from the rivers as compared to how much each
country contributes to the rivers’ flows.</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Thus Turkey began constructing a major series of dams to control the
waters of the Tigris and Euphrates and flex their regional muscle.</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Iraq and Syria effectively tabled their
mutual disagreements and colluded in 1998 to resist the construction of the
Southeast Anatolia Project in Turkey. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Stephen Pelletiere, a former CIA analyst, wrote
in the New York Times that Turkey had envisioned building a Peace Pipeline
carrying water that would extend to the southern Gulf States, and as he sees
it, “by extension to Israel.” He continued by saying that “no progress has been
made on this, largely because of Iraqi intransigence. With Iraq in American
hands, of course, all that could change.”</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">And now Syria.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Myth of Israel fulfilling its water needs.</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Environmental law, environment, cost,</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">and ideology.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">So
in conclusion: Both Iraq and Syria and Syria are about control of the region, oil
and water, curbing Russia (Mediterranean).</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">One could add expansion of Israel – the Greater Israel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-highlight: yellow;">Turkish Threat:</span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Turkey has been a conduit for arms to Daesh and smuggled oil through
Turkey to Europe (EU admitted buying oil from Daesh </span><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-15/petrodollar-panic-eu-officials-admit-buying-oil-isis"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-15/petrodollar-panic-eu-officials-admit-buying-oil-isis</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>but the world has failed to charge Europe/NATO with state sponsor of
terrorism).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>McCain to Turkey to
Brookings (Iraq and Libya and Chechens).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>US wanted Turkey to take a more active role in Syria (and perhaps Iraq –
opening of NATO front through Turkey).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the Turkish people were reluctant to deploy boots in Syria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WINEP “Tuesday Changed Everything” (June 30<sup>th</sup>),
after the bombing in Istanbul, the Turkish people were more willing to deploy
boots to Syria, but </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Russia
effectively made northern Syria its no fly zone, meaning a no fly zone for
Turkish planes. Russia set up an air defense bubble, and the Russians are
basically flying there looking for groups of planes to shoot down in retaliation
for the November incident. So for Turkey to send in conventional troops, it
needs Russia's blessings.</span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">The
failed coup attempt, which I believe was orchestrated with Washington and not
by Washington, had several advantages.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14pt;">Erdogan's
AKP party has maxed out twice at 49.5 percent in the most recent elections of
2011 and 2015. Erdogan wants to become an executive-style president and he
wants to change the constitution</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.
The coup afforded this opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
pretense of Gulen US being behind the coup, allowed for pretentious
rapprochement with Russia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turkey
deployed boots in Syria without Russian objections.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Additionally,
there had been complaints in the US and article in The Hill, that Gulen was
opening too many religious schools, even on military basis.</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">This would be a warning to Gulen to stop the
activities – and curb his power projection.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
an October 6, article called “</span><span style="color: #02223d; font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Syrian 'Plan B' Options Beyond Immediate Military Confrontation”, WINEP
suggested </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: yellow; color: #262626; font-size: 14pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Taking up Turkey's offer
to expand the safe zone it established in northern Syria (with some U.S.
military support) in August.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Turkey’s
role in Iraq at the moment also shows that NATO is actively re-occupying
Iraq.</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Turkey’s historical claims to
Mosul and America’s cooperation in this theater, indicates that once again, the
Kurds will be sacrificed both in Syria and in Iraq.</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Kurds should make note of this.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-highlight: yellow;">Water Diplomacy – UNESC) 2011<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arab Region</span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-highlight: yellow;">Russia and China:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Necons literature predicts Russo-Sino water
disputes.</span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">US will try to disrupt
Russian-Chinese water cooperation in the coming decades. </span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some
70 million cubic metres of water could be sold to China, rising to one billion
cubic metres, said Alexander Tkachev during a meeting in Beijing, but his
proposal has led to mixed reactions, including alarm from ecologists. </span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Altai
are Turkic people and US/Turkey will likely provoke unrest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some even suggested color revolutions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Altai
floodwater could be sent to parched Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China,
says Russian agriculture minister.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #362f2d; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;">Perhaps
Morsi</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #362f2d; font-family: "MS Mincho"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: inherit; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: inherit; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;">’</span><span lang="EN" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #362f2d; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;">s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>most serious offense was his opposition to a
dam which bo</span><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="color: #362f2d; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: justify;">th Israel and Saudi
Arabia favored as they had plans to divert water from the Nile . In 2012,
it was<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/12/121217-saudi-arabia-water-grabs-ethiopia/" target="_blank"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #3b4d81; font-family: "inherit",serif; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">reported</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>that Saudi Arabia had claimed a stake
in the Nile . Israel ’s ambitions went much further back.</span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #362f2d; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">In the 1970s Israeli’s idea was
to convince Egypt to divert Nile water to Israel . In 1978, President
Anwar Sadat “declared in Haifa to the Israeli public that he would transfer
Nile water to the Negev . Shortly afterward, in a letter to Israeli Prime
Minister Menachem Begin, Sadat promised that Nile water would go to Jerusalem
. During Mubarak’s presidency, published reports indicated that Israeli
experts were helping Ethiopia to plan 40 dams along the Blue Nile .”<a name="_ednref2"></a><sup>[</sup></span><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="color: #362f2d; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
2008, the State Department identified “threat” of Iran, Islam, Euroasia ( In
1997, in his book the Grand Chessboard, </span><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Brzezinski
outlined:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“... how
America "manages" Eurasia is critical. A power that dominates
“Eurasia” would control two of the world’s three most advanced and economically
productive regions. A mere glance at the map also suggests that control over
“Eurasia” would almost automatically entail Africa’s subordination. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Eurasia”
accounts for about three-fourths of the world’s known energy resources.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Daesh:
A tool to deploy soldiers for occupation and to diminish Islam.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Even
the naming of Daesh and changing it to IS is a deliberate act to drive home
Islam and terrorism – and to liken it to IR.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Which Netanyahu readily uses.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The end of the Cold War had
left Israel in an awkward place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jerusalem Report</i>,
in 1991, the idea that radical Islam would replace communism had taken seed
among the Israeli right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The basis of
the idea was founded on the neoconservatives fear that with the demise of the
Soviet Union, and the splintering of the America’s right wing faction, there
would no longer be an unconditional support for a U.S.-Israel alliance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1993, Samuel Huntington offered the
solution, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Clash of Civilizations</i>
based on an earlier piece by Bernard Lewis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face=""ArnoPro-Regular",serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;">In
line with the neoconservative’s agenda, </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">the
mainstream media in the US framed September 11 within the context of Islam and
Islamic terrorists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bernard Lewis
introduced the concept of Jihad and Crusade in an opinion piece.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
2012 it was revealed that </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a course for<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/us-military"><span style="background: white; color: #005689; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">US
military</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">officers has been teaching that America's enemy is Islam in
general and suggesting that the country might ultimately have to obliterate the
Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina without regard for civilian deaths,
following second world war precedents of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The plan suggested possible outcomes such as
"Saudi Arabia threatened with starvation ... Islam reduced to cult
status".</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">In
2012, in spite of warning from some military personnel, extremists were armed
in Syria.</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Revelations of Saudi
complicity in 2016 and the law suit, its war crimes in Yemen conducted by the
US, all are in Saudi’s demise.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The Saudis felt considerable
annoyance at the United States for doing too little to prevent the Shah’s fall
and too much to promote Sadat’s peace initiative”.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This led the Saudis to drop their production
by 1 million barrels per day during the Iranian Revolution, playing havoc on
oil markets at a most crucial time (Deese and Nye 68)</span><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Global%20Implications%20of%20US%20Foreign%20Policy.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;">.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Although Saudi Arabia later picked up Iran’s
slack, Washington was not prepared to have Saudi Arabia follow Iran’s suite.
Nor was Washington accustomed to having an Arab nation ‘threaten’ its oil
supply.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
US used the Saudis as a gas station and as its gladiators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2012 reports indicate that by the year 2030,
Saudi Arabia will be a net importer of oil due to its own ever growing
consumption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Saudi-Arabia-Could-Become-a-Net-Oil-Importer-by-2030.html"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Saudi-Arabia-Could-Become-a-Net-Oil-Importer-by-2030.html</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Saudis
fall (over the years privately and now openly) has led to the rise of UAE.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-highlight: yellow;">Internet:</span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although the State Department refers to the threat of internet as a recruiting
tool used by adversaries,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it actually
wants the US to have complete control of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“A 2003
Pentagon document previously classified as ‘noforn’ (not for release to foreign
nationals, including allies), this report details the US military’s information
operations, including psychological operations, electronic warfare, and
involvement in foreign journalism.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
consists of effectively communicating U.S. Government (USG) capabilities and
intentions as an important means of combating the plans of adversaries. The
ability to rapidly disseminate persuasive information to diverse audiences in
order to directly influence their decision-making is an increasingly powerful means
of deterring aggression.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background: yellow; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-highlight: yellow;">Bascially, </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: yellow; color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-highlight: yellow; mso-shading: white;">“The integrated employment of the core capabilities of
Electronic Warfare, Computer Network Operations, Psychological Operations,
Military Deception and Operations Security, in concert with specified
supporting and related capabilities, to influence, disrupt, corrupt or usurp
adversarial human and automated decisions-making while protecting our own.”</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">But
they soon learnt this is not a one way street.</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Adversaries had capabilities that challenged the supremacy.</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Moreover,
expertise in computer technology and warfare did not require finances that
would otherwise debilitate a country.</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">In other words, the plan actually helped even out the battle field
instead of owning it.</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">But the US still
owns access – the World Wide Web</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Extent
of hacking, imagined and real, is to curb and control the internet? Censor
information.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 16pt;">Yemen:</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 16pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 16pt;">Falls in the category of control of
waterways.</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 16pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 16pt;">Importantly, the control of
Bab-el Mandeb.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Cultural Imperialism/neo-colonialism
- </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This is spread through the media
(including the internet) multinational companies, text (books), universities,
and student exchanges.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Once an
indigenous person is educated and returns to native country, the feeling of
inferiority felt in the West is taken home and applied towards own people.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The West or colonial powers, are not only
disruptive where culture is concerned, but in creating a gap between the
peoples of the same country.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Value
of (Iranian) bloggers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Iran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Carter, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">UANI<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">AIPAC sponsored WINEP<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/aga-khan-foundation"><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: white; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Aga Khan Foundation</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="color: white; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/amcham-abu-dhabi-american-chamber-commerce"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">AmCham Abu Dhabi - American Chamber of
Commerce </span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/content/carnegie-corporation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Carnegie Corporation of New York</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/content/chevron-corporation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Chevron Corporation</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/content/doris-duke-foundation-islamic-art-ddfia"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art (DDFIA)</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/content/dr-scholl-foundation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Dr. Scholl Foundation</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/exxon-mobil-corporation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Exxon Mobile Corporation </span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/ford-foundation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Ford Foundation </span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/german-marshall-fund"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">German Marshall Fund </span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/global-intellectual-property-center"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Global Intellectual Property Center</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/henry-luce-foundation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Henry Luce Foundation</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/oak-foundation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Oak Foundation </span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/ploughshares-fund"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Ploughshares Fund</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/qatar-foundation-international"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Qatar Foundation International</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/rockefeller-brothers-fund"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Rockefeller Brothers Fund</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/smith-richardson-foundation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Smith Richardson Foundation</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/stuart-family-foundation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Stuart Family Foundation</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/content/diana-davis-spencer-foundation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/john-templeton-foundation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">The John Templeton Foundation</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/national-endowment-humanities"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">The National Endowment for the Humanities</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/starr-foundation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">The Starr Foundation</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/us-agency-international-development"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">The U.S. Agency for International Development</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/william-and-flora-hewlett-foundation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/turkish-airlines"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Turkish Airlines</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/una-chapman-cox-foundation"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Una Chapman Cox Foundation</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/united-states-department-state"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">United States</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> </span></span><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Department of State</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><a href="http://americaabroadmedia.org/supporter/united-states-institute-peace"><span color="windowtext" face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">United States Institute of Peace</span></a><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Lucida Grande"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">TR: "Democracy has
justified itself by keeping for the white race the best portion's of the
earth's surface."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first
governor-general of the Philippines, General Arthur MacArthur, father of Douglas,
mirrored these ideas when he claimed that "America's wonderful thrust into
Asia was the destiny of the magnificent Aryan people."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Lucida Grande"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">Senator Beveridge (1901) :
God has not been preparing the English-speaking and Teutonic peoples for a
thousand years for nothing but vain and idle self-admiration. No, he has made
us the master organizers of the world...that we may administer government among
savages and senile peoples...the Philippines are ours forever...and just beyond
the Philippines lie China's illimitable markets...We will not renounce our part
inthe mission of our race, trustee under God, of the civilization of the
world...China is our natural customer. The Philippines give us a base at the
door of the East...it has been charged that our conduct of the war has been
cruel. Senators, it has been the reverse. Senators, remember that we are not
dealing with Americans or Europeans. We are dealing with Orientals.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;"><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Global%20Implications%20of%20US%20Foreign%20Policy.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> Jan Selby, “Water, Power & Politics in the Middle East; The
Other Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Global%20Implications%20of%20US%20Foreign%20Policy.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> Deese, David A. and Joseph S. Nye, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ibid<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
</div>
</div><br /><p></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-12274254608675097912022-02-27T14:46:00.009-08:002024-03-13T10:42:11.899-07:00What If?<p> It has never been easy to understand what goes on in politics; but what has happened over the past several years had made it virtually impossible. However we try to make sense of things, COVID, mandatory jabs, funding neo-Nazis in Ukraine, Russia-Ukraine crisis, something does not make sense. Theories and explanations just satisfy one answer and we are left with: 'but what about ...' </p><p>The Russia-Ukraine crisis escalated four days ago - and we are all facing a catastrophic future. None of it makes sense. And then there is that persistent question: "Why"?</p><p>So let us consider a variety of possibilities, not on any particular order, and see if dig ourselves a darker hole or climb out of one.</p><p>Is there a correlation between the vaccine mandates and the impending full-blown war in Europe?</p><p><b>WHAT IF</b> the covid vaccines are not designed to cure what some dub a 'common cold' - albeit a deadly one, but to prevent what is to come - biowarfare or radiation fall-out?</p><p>There have been so many theories thrown out there about the mandatory vaccines - perhaps the one widely accepted among the anti-mandate group being a New World Order and population control. Given the virus itself and the serious and often deadly side-effects of the vaccine, the sudden deaths, disruption of the menstruation cycle among women, and so on, it is easy to see why this theory has its appeal. And then of course the vaccine passes which would lead to complete control of us all.</p><p>But why would the NWO crowd start the depopulation and control process with its own people? Europe, America, Israel, China, Russia and the more affluent populations are among the most vaccinated. Surely if the goal is to depopulate, "THEY" would start with poor countries rich in resources that could be had - such as Africa and the Middle East. Or those not rich in resources but simply 'disposable' populations such as Norht Korea or India. But that has not been the case.</p><p>If a further goal of the vaccine is to control the population, the vaccinated are already compliant! There are those who willingly succumbed to the vaccine out of fear, or 'safety'. It is a safe bet to think that these same people would be compliant in general. Others agreed to be vaccinated for fear of losing their livelihoods as opposed to fighting for their freedom. They would fall into the compliant class as well. They would not be a threat to "THEM".</p><p>But what if some catastrophe were to happen and eliminate a good part of the world population - the 'undesirables', the poor, the disobedient, say the unvaccinated? </p><p>Why have the mandates been lifted along with an escalation in the Russian-Ukraine conflict? Was England the first? Seems so. I could be wrong. But it is very convenient albeit tragic timing given that the Ukraine-Russia conflict is creating millions of refugees for Europe - <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/world/europe/ukraine-refugee-discrimination.html">though 'whites only' need apply.</a> No vaccine mandates.</p><p>....</p><p>WHAT IF a war on a scale not seen before, with weapons not used before is set to start? WHAT if the vaccines are to help protect those exposed to the weapons - microwave, radiation, virus, etc. True, there have been vaccine casualties and side effects, but miniscule compared to what is to come without the jabs. </p><p>Why did two prominent American universities run simulations within a couple of months of each other with deadly results: Princeton University runs a simulation of nuclear war between the US and Russia in September 2019 - millions and millions of casualties. <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1cvl2hr r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-1ny4l3l r-1ddef8g r-tjvw6i r-qvutc0" dir="ltr" href="https://t.co/yDPT0yWTbI" rel="noopener noreferrer" role="link" style="background-color: white; border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d9bf0; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; outline-style: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">youtu.be/k2aGm_oHKh8</span></a></p><p><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/2019/11/06/event-201-health-security/">John Hopkins runs a simulation on a pandemic - coronavirus in November 2019!</a> Millions of deaths!</p><p>Why did the United States build an Armageddon proof city in Israel called Site 911 in 2012, with the ushering in of the Obama admin.? US was quick to add <a href="https://govtribe.com/opportunity/federal-contract-opportunity/site-911-phase-2-israel-w912gb13r0001">Phase II of the special bunkers </a>during the same administration. </p><p>Why did the <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/congress-has-removed-a-ban-on-funding-neo-nazis-from-its-year-end-spending-bill/">United States Congress remove a ban in 2016 on funding neo-Nazi extremists in Ukraine</a>?</p><p>Given that the last time Wall Street & prominent Americans funded Hitler, after Hitler offered Palestine to the German Jews (seems Trump followed his example by giving Syria Golan to Israel), it led to World War II, why would the US once again fund and arm neo-Nazis - and why would <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/rights-groups-demand-israel-stop-arming-neo-nazis-in-the-ukraine-1.6248727">Israel arm neo-Nazis in Ukraine? </a> Will they hide in Site 911 as the world is set ablaze? Why are Jews, especially prominent Jews in America so pro neo-Nazis?</p><p>Though the West would like to change the narrative of the Second World War, it was in fact the Soviet Union/Russia that defeated the Nazis - not Europe and not America. </p><p>But putting the squeeze on Russia, "THEY" know that Russia is left with one choice - one choice only. It has to being out the big guns. But WHAT IF Russia checked these plans with a preemptive move?</p><p>WHAT IF, years in the making, the fascists, their backers, and the vaccines are all truly intended to depopulate the planet? </p><p>WHAT IF ....</p><p>Even if all this supposition and madness were true, I would not get the vaccinated. I would not want the world left behind.</p><p>Sunday afternoon thoughts in the dark empire which is making the world all too dark.</p><p><br /></p><p>RELATED? <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/chernobyl-nuclear-disaster-altered-genetics-dogs-left-scientists/story?id=97493621#:~:text=The%20radiation%20exposure%20still%20being,published%20Friday%20in%20Science%20Advances.">Chernobyl nuclear disaster altered the genetics of the dogs left behind, scientists say - ABC News (go.com)</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-7060283939776326822022-02-22T11:57:00.001-08:002022-02-22T11:57:06.331-08:00Correlation Between Iran Talks and Ukraine <p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;">In </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #5f6368; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">politics</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;">, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way." Franklin D. Roosevelt.</span></span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Ukraine-Iran. An interesting correlation between nuclear program talks with Iran and Western assault on Russia re Ukraine. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">1st round: 2003-2005 Iran talks, failed 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">2014 (signed 2015) JCPOA with Iran, 2014 Maidan Coup in Ukraine.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Both times was 'reformist government' in Iran with Zanganeh as the oil minister tripping over himself to supply Europe's gas! </div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">They signed the deal in 2015 and the West gave Iran a big, fat middle finger.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">2022: Biden calls Qatar to the White House to discuss gas to Europe. Qatar meets with Iran. Iran is superbly rich in gas.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I hope that Iranians are not fooled yet again, do not get greedy thinking about instant gratification versus long term benefit. No doubt some in Iran want to line their pockets; but at what cost?</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Normal to think that Russia has let Iran down. It has. But will two (3) wrongs make a right?</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Talks with Iran now 'progressing'.</i></div></div><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-68295077100826150812021-10-12T17:16:00.004-07:002021-10-12T17:26:37.144-07:00Killing Us - One Lie at a Time<p> For almost two years, every attempt has been made to rob us of our senses with fear - fear of COVID. If people refuse the jab, there are plenty of other ways they will devise to get rid of us. Confident that we have indeed lost our senses, they are now making the contradictions even more stark thinking the sheeple are not paying attention. </p><p>They are.</p><p>First shock of the day came this morning when CNN announced that 'Task Force' (the kill force?) has decided that adults 60 and older (the ones they want to kill first) should not start an aspirin regiment:</p><p><span> "</span><span face="CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626; font-size: 1.2rem;">says that adults 60 and older should not start taking aspirin to prevent heart disease and stroke because new evidence shows that potential harms cancel out the benefits, according to the task force." </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/12/health/daily-aspirin-heart-disease-stroke-draft-recommendation-wellness/index.html">US task force proposes adults 60 and older should not start daily aspirin to prevent heart disease or stroke - CNN</a></p><p>Why you ask?</p><p>Maybe because a study by the George Washington University (reported by JP) days earlier found:</p><p><span> "</span><span face="Khula, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #212121; font-size: 20px;">Over-the-counter aspirin could protect the lungs of COVID-19 patients and minimize the need for mechanical </span><a href="https://m.jpost.com/breaking-news/covid-19-in-israel-3186-new-cases-505-in-serious-condition-681082/amp" rel="" style="background-color: #f7f7f7; box-sizing: border-box; color: blue; font-family: Khula, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">ventilation</a><span face="Khula, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #212121; font-size: 20px;">, according to new research at the George Washington University." </span><a href="https://m.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/aspirin-lowers-risk-of-covid-new-findings-support-preliminary-israeli-trial-681127/amp?fbclid=IwAR2JtrLtsumynL8IJjHTNtKyvaC6sLJoQzt9Sc2x8-Dfohy_HDcDibs8i58">Aspirin lowers risk of COVID: New findings support preliminary trial - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)</a></p><p>To add insult to injury, FDA approved E-Cigarettes founding they can be " beneficial"! <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-10-12/fda-authorizes-e-cigarettes-for-first-time-citing-benefit-for-smokers?utm_id=39511&sfmc_id=575718">FDA authorizes e-cigarette, citing smoker benefit - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)</a></p><p>Yes, they are. Beneficial for those who are trying to kill us - both COVID and E cigarettes cause upper respiratory damage. </p><p>Only last year the CDC was alarmed (February 2020) <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html">Outbreak of Lung Injury Associated with the Use of E-Cigarette, or Vaping, Products | Electronic Cigarettes | Smoking & Tobacco Use | CDC</a>:</p><p><span> "</span><span face=""Open Sans", apple-system, blinkmacsystemfont, "Segoe UI", "Helvetica Neue", arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px;">CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state and local health departments, and other clinical and public health partners are continuing to monitor e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI)."</span></p><p> Questions? </p><p><br /></p><p><span face="CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626; font-size: 1.2rem;"><br /></span></p><div><span face="CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #262626; font-size: 1.2rem;"><br /></span></div><div class="ad ad--epic ad--tablet" data-ad-text="show" style="background-color: #fefefe; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; text-align: center;"><div data-ad-id="ad_nat_btf_01" data-ad-position="tablet" data-ad-refresh="default" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div><div class="ad ad--epic ad--desktop" data-ad-text="show" style="background-color: #fefefe; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #262626; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; text-align: center;"><div data-ad-id="ad_nat_btf_01" data-ad-position="desktop" data-ad-refresh="default" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div></div>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-26323453501828315972021-09-23T08:53:00.004-07:002021-09-23T08:55:15.426-07:00Amir-Abdollahian Calls Sanctions What They Are: Terrorism<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.5pt; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: #2b2b2b; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sanctioned Terrorism</span><o:p style="font-size: 25pt;"></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal;"><b><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">In 2013, I was invited to speak at a conference in Tehran on the
topic of terrorism. Regrettably, none of the speakers covered the topic of
terrorism sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The reality
is that the UNSC is the only un-democratic entity that gives license to terror
– without ever facing consequences. And we still fail to recognize this act of
terrorism – America’s weapon of choice. We call it sanctions.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is way past time for us to wake up to the reality that
terrorism must not necessarily involve blood and carnage. Yes, images of the
atomic bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki <i>immediately</i> killing
120,000 civilians continue to shock us. The images haunt us and shame us. But
there are no shocking images of the 500,000 Iraqi children that were killed
with sanctioned terrorism. We were horrified and reacted to the drone strike
that killed 7 innocent Afghan children, but we are silent and therefore
complicit in the terrorizing of innocent children and adults who suffer as a
result of America’s sanctioned terror all over the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The world must unite in fighting the ruthless but cowardly
terrorists who continue their reign of terror; their weapon of mass murder that
they dub ‘diplomacy’. The foremost state sponsor of terror, the United States,
pledges COVID vaccines to the very same people whose well-being and security it
is undermining or killing with terrorism – sanctions. By every
definition, <b><a href="https://syrianews.cc/nobody-talking-about-sanctions-against-syria/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #003af9;">sanctions</span></a></b> are
an act of terrorism. You don’t see the blood, you don’t see the wreckage. Maybe
you don’t want to hear the number of casualties pile up. But terrorism has no
borders, no boundaries. It may spare you today. Tomorrow you may well be the
victim.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Understand terrorism – call it out by its name. Shame it and stop
it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Who is a terrorist? Undoubtedly, what comes to mind is Daesh
(ISIL), al-Qaeda, MKO, Boko Haram, etc. What is terrorism? The events of 9/11
and the gruesome beheadings carried out by Daesh shape our visual perception of
terrorism. What is left unmentioned and unrecognized in our collective psyche
is the kind of terrorism that has been deliberately obfuscated: sanctioned
terrorism or terrorism with a license—sanctions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The fact that scholars have identified over 100 definitions of the
term terrorism demonstrates that there is no universally accepted definition.
There is general consensus that terrorism is “viewed as a method of violence in
which civilians are targeted with the objective of forcing a perceived enemy
into submission by creating fear, demoralization, and political friction in the
population under attack.” <a href="https://syrianews.cc/sanctioned-terrorism/#sdendnote1sym"><sup><span style="color: #003af9; font-size: 10pt;">i</span></sup></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 1937, the League of Nations Convention <a href="http://terrorism.about.com/od/whatisterroris1/ss/DefineTerrorism_2.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #003af9;">defined terrorism</span></a> as
“All criminal acts directed against a State and intended or calculated to create
a state of terror in the minds of particular persons or a group of persons or
the general public.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://www.unodc.org/tldb/pdf/conv_arab_terrorism.en.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: #003af9;">Article 1.2</span></a> of The
Arab Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism signed in Cairo in 1998
describes terrorism as: “Any act or threat of violence, whatever its motives or
purposes, that occurs for the advancement of an individual or collective
criminal agenda, causing terror among people, causing fear by harming them, or
placing their lives, liberty or security in danger, or aiming to cause damage
to the environment or to public or private installations or property or to
occupy or to seize them, or aiming to jeopardize a national resource”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the UN Security
Council adopted Resolution 1373, licensing the United States to wage war
against terrorism without first defining terrorism. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/abs/security-council-resolution-1373-the-counterterrorism-committee-and-the-fight-against-terrorism/2F038CB9547FE44144D03128849BC55D" target="_blank"><span style="color: #003af9;">Security Council Resolution 1373,
the Counter-Terrorism Committee, and the Fight Against Terrorism | American
Journal of International Law | Cambridge Core</span></a>, however, Section 1.B
of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2331" target="_blank"><span style="color: #003af9;">18 U.S. Code § 2331</span></a> on
international terrorism includes the following: (i) to intimidate or coerce a
civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by
intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by
mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping. In spite of these clear
definitions, sanctions—sanctioned terrorism is dubbed as “diplomacy”, “an
alternate to war”, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The reality of sanctioned terrorism is denied even by the UN from
whence the most important definition of terrorism was delivered in a seminal
speech by Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations. Annan
conveyed the findings of a high-level UN panel “A More Secure World: Our Shared
Responsibility”(2004)<a href="https://syrianews.cc/sanctioned-terrorism/#sdendnote2sym"><sup><span style="color: #003af9; font-size: 10pt;">ii</span></sup></a> as having
defined terrorism to be: “[A]ny action intended to kill or seriously harm
civilians or non-combatants, with the purpose of intimidating a population or
compelling action by a government or international organization”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS", sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Shamelessly, even after sanctioned terrorism took the life of one
million Iraqis, the UNSC licensed terrorism against Iran—sanctions, without any
remorse for the lost lives of one million Iraqi victims of sanctioned terrorism
and untold numbers of other victims across the globe.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The terror inflicted by way of sanctions could not have been made
more clear than what Kofi Annan reported of the 2004 UN panel’s findings
stating that prevention was a vital part of any strategy to protect people
against terrorism adding that “in today’s world, any threat to one is truly a
threat to all” and that “any event or process that leads to deaths on a large
scale or the lessening of life chances, and which undermines states as the
basic unit of the international system, should be viewed as a threat to
international peace and security. Such threats included “economic and social threats”.<a href="https://syrianews.cc/sanctioned-terrorism/#sdendnote3sym"><sup><span style="color: #003af9; font-size: 10pt;">iii</span></sup></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Security” in terms of international relations is understood to be
human security. There are six sectors to security: physical, military,
economic, ecological, societal, and political. Any change from “secure” to
“insecure” or a general deterioration in any one or more of these sectors,
increases the potential for violence (Buzan 2009). In spite of it all, the UNSC
licensed terrorism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The overall failure to identify and deliberately obfuscate this
act of terrorism has enabled this premeditated act of terrorism to continue
with impunity. The success of this deception is owed to controlling the
narrative with complicity from the media. This has been so effective that even
the victims of sanctioned terrorism fail to grasp that they are being subjected
to terrorism. As Walter Laquer famously wrote in his 1977 piece “Terrorism”:
“The success of a terrorist operation depends almost entirely on the amount of
publicity it receives.” Sanctioned terrorism has received no publicity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Our present day understanding of terrorism was initially
introduced by Hollywood that often borrows its story ideas from the U.S.
foreign policy agenda and has at times reinforced these policies. Hollywood
rarely touched the topic of terrorism in the late 1960s and 1970s when the
phenomenon was not high on the U.S. foreign policy agenda, in news headlines or
in the American public consciousness. In the 1980s, in the footsteps of the
Reagan administration, the commercial film industry brought terrorist villains
to the big screen, making terrorism a blockbuster film product in the 1990s,
painting Arabs (and now Moslems) as terrorists.<a href="https://syrianews.cc/sanctioned-terrorism/#sdendnote4sym"><sup><span style="color: #003af9; font-size: 10pt;">iv</span></sup></a> Thus the movie
industry-defined and projected terrorism to the world at large in a manner
consistent with US foreign policy. The news media continues to play an even
bigger role.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">News media has consistently framed terrorism by presenting sudden,
shocking scenes of carnage and blood in order to shock the viewer and drive
home the narrative of what terrorism should entail—by implication, ruling out
all other terrorist acts. So while the imagery creates fear and loathing, and a
total rejection of terrorism as identified by the media, a parallel loathing of
unidentified terrorism—of sanctioned terrorism has been deliberately precluded.
This is propaganda at its finest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It goes without saying that the aim of propaganda is to change
people’s opinions and attempt to influence their future actions and decisions.
What is common about propaganda is that it seldom shows the situation from
different points of view and seldom gives the full picture. Images of
sanctioned terrorism are sorely missing from the picture as the culprits make
every effort to present sanctions as diplomacy, a tool of statecraft, and have
even convinced the general public that it is a better alternative to war. In
fact, sanctioned terrorism is the cowardly alternative to war for the victim is
deprived of an unidentifiable enemy to fight. Sanctions, like other terrorists,
don’t wear military uniforms.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span face=""Trebuchet MS",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is incumbent upon every individual opposed to terrorism to take
ownership of the falsely presented narrative about sanctions and refer to sanctions
as sanctioned terrorism at all times. Terrorism, like pollution, does not
recognize boundaries. Russia has learned this the hard way. By Hillary
Clinton’s own admission, the terrorists America is fighting today were created
by the US. We cannot send our uniformed men and women to fight unidentified
terrorism, sanctions. We must be the champions of this war on terror. Whether
we want to speak for yesterday’s victims or defend today’s victims of
sanctioned terrorism, or whether we want to prevent future victims, we must
fight sanctioned terrorism today.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://syrianews.cc/sanctioned-terrorism/&source=gmail&ust=1632494025580000&usg=AFQjCNHzJKozMxf6g4pZY9TQsvh7dL4UIA" href="https://syrianews.cc/sanctioned-terrorism/" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">Sanctioned Terrorism (syrianews.cc)</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 17pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1b1b1b; font-size: 10pt;">Alex P. Schmid, Albert
J. Jongman, et al., Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors,
Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction
Books, 1988, pp. 5-6.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.un.org/secureworld"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">www.un.org/secureworld</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> Kofi Annan, “Special Report: Courage to fulfill our
responsibilities”, The Economist Intelligence Unit, December 4, 2004.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Helena Vanhala
– “<span class="bold">Hollywood portrayal of modern international terrorism in
blockbuster action-adventure films: From the Iran hostage crisis to September
11, 2001”. Dissertations and theses</span>. University of Oregon; 2005.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></p><br />Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-66779059257740932912021-09-19T14:17:00.005-07:002021-09-19T14:17:45.480-07:00Iran's New Foreign Minister - Amir-Abdollahian<p>Article published by Foreign Policy about Iran's new FM. </p><p><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/09/17/amir-abdollahian-iran-foreign-minister-suleimani/&source=gmail&ust=1632172070979000&usg=AFQjCNHp4IYio8vsd7PeSPITeZUfi5VPIQ" href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/09/17/amir-abdollahian-iran-foreign-minister-suleimani/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">https://foreignpolicy.com/<wbr></wbr>2021/09/17/amir-abdollahian-<wbr></wbr>iran-foreign-minister-<wbr></wbr>suleimani/</a></p><p><b><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 31.0pt; letter-spacing: -.4pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Meet
Iran’s New Foreign Minister: Qassem Suleimani’s ‘Soldier’</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian is a staunch backer of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Solido",serif; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/author/saheb-sadeghi/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">Saheb Sadeghi</span></a>, a columnist and foreign-policy
analyst on Iran and the Middle East. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><!--[if mso & !supportInlineShapes & supportFields]><span
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Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian gives a press conference at Bayan
Palace in Kuwait City, Kuwait, on March 31, 2015. </span><span style="font-family: "Solido",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-transform: uppercase;">STR/AFP VIA
GETTY IMAGES</span><span style="font-family: "Solido",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Solido",serif; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-transform: uppercase;">SEPTEMBER
17, 2021, 3:16 PM<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“[Hossein] Amir-Abdollahian is another Qassem
Suleimani in the field of diplomacy.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That’s how one Iranian lawmaker recently <a href="https://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news/621969/%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A8-%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AC-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%85-%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%BE%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AF" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">described</span></a> Iranian
President Ebrahim Raisi’s nominee for foreign minister. Like Suleimani, the
powerful commander of Iran’s Quds Force who was assassinated in a U.S. drone
strike in January 2020, Amir-Abdollahian is well known for his support of the
Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance” in the Middle East—the array of political and
military groups, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Hashd al-Shaabi in Iraq, Yemen’s
Houthis, and others that Iran supports across the region.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The country’s conservative-led parliament
approved Amir-Abdollahian’s appointment 270 votes to 10 votes. Members had
demanded the Ministry of Foreign Affairs support the late Suleimani’s goals and
missions during their review of Amir-Abdollahian’s credentials, and the high
vote in parliament shows they trust him in this regard.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Indeed, the 57-year-old diplomat, who
previously served as speaker of parliament for international affairs and deputy
foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, among other posts, once <a href="https://www.irna.ir/news/83667331/%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B3%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%BE%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AA%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%87-%D9%88-%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B2%D8%B1%DA%AF" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">referred to himself</span></a> as
Suleimani’s “soldier.” He <a href="https://www.khabaronline.ir/news/1544472/%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D9%86%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AF%D9%87%D8%AF" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">said</span></a> every time he
went to a country as a diplomatic and negotiation envoy, he would first consult
with Suleimani to get necessary guidance.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The closeness in Amir-Abdollahian’s and Suleimani’s views
means the former is likely to attach great importance to Iran’s military policy
in the Middle East during his tenure. On his first official bilateral visit as
Iran’s foreign minister, he traveled to Syria and met with Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad to reaffirm Iran’s support for his regime. Since 2011, with the
start of the Syrian civil war, Iran has provided military and civilian support
to Assad.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Amir-Abdollahian was born in Damghan, Iran, 200 miles
north of Tehran, but his family moved to the capital when he was six after his
father passed away. They settled in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, on
17 Shahrivar Street to the south of Mehrabad International Airport. He <a href="https://www.jamaran.news/%D8%A8%D8%AE%D8%B4-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%B1-59/874422-%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D9%BE%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B3%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%B8%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%81-%D9%85%D8%B0%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AA%D9%87-%D8%B1%D9%87%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%B4-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%A2%D9%85%D8%B1%DB%8C%DA%A9%D8%A7-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B5%D9%84" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">describes</span></a> himself
as “from the south”—a term usually reserved for families who live in the poor
southern outskirts of Tehran and have a relatively low level of welfare and
livelihood.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Describing the level of poverty and deprivation in the
area where he lived, he has said there was no hospital or even a small clinic
where he grew up, and later, with the help of a group of locals and his
friends, they established a charity-run clinic there.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Amir-Abdollahian volunteered to serve in the Iran-Iraq War
from 1980 to 1988 and <a href="https://sharghdaily.com/fa/main/detail/138194/%D9%86%D9%82%D8%B4-%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B3%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%87-%D9%88-%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">says</span></a> that
experience is what led him to work at the foreign ministry’s Iraq desk in 1990
and 1991. He received his bachelor’s degree in international relations from the
School of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1991,
and went on to receive his master’s and doctoral degrees in international
relations from the University of Tehran. He was appointed undersecretary of
Iran’s embassy to Iraq in 1997.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Amir-Abdollahian has said from the very beginning of his
career, he worked closely with Suleimani. He was present for the <a href="https://farsi.khamenei.ir/others-dialog?id=47300" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">direct 2007 negotiations</span></a> with the
Americans in Iraq. The Iranian team was under Suleimani’s supervision during
those talks and negotiated with CIA and U.S. Defense Department officials.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That his work frequently brought him into close contact
with Suleimani is no surprise. Suleimani’s Quds Force, the foreign branch of
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has traditionally been <a href="https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1400/02/13/2496067/%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%B1%D9%88%DB%8C-%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3-%D8%B3%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%87-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87-%D8%AA%D8%B4%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%84-%D8%B4%D8%AF-%D9%88-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%82%D9%87-%DA%86%D9%87-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">in charge</span></a> of Iran’s
policies and diplomacy in the Middle East, from Palestine to Iraq to Yemen, and
has played an instrumental role in providing military and political support to
militant movements throughout the region.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 2011, due to Amir-Abdollahian’s good relationship with
the Quds Force and Suleimani, then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
appointed Amir-Abdollahian as deputy foreign minister for Arab and African
affairs, where most activities of the Quds Force took place. When Mohammad
Javad Zarif became foreign minister in 2013, Amir-Abdollahian was the only
deputy foreign minister from the Ahmadinejad era to keep his post, which he
held for three more years.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But in 2016, he was abruptly dismissed. Some reports <a href="https://www.dw.com/fa-ir/%DA%AF%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87%D8%B2%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%88-%D9%88%D8%A7%DA%A9%D9%86%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%A8%D8%B1%DA%A9%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86/a-19345235" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">suggest</span></a> he did not
match Zarif’s approach and the two were not on the same page regarding regional
issues. Asked about his ouster, Amir-Abdollahian <a href="https://sharghdaily.com/fa/main/detail/138194/%D9%86%D9%82%D8%B4-%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B3%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%87-%D9%88-%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">said</span></a> Zarif was
pursuing new policies in the region after the nuclear talks concluded. Yet
hard-line lawmaker Javad Karimi Qudusi <a href="https://www.rouydad24.ir/fa/news/274017/%D8%AD%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%B2%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D9%BE%DB%8C%D8%B4%D9%86%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AA-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AC%D9%87-%DA%A9%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">quoted</span></a> Zarif’s
undersecretary, Morteza Sarmadi, telling Amir-Abdollahian: “We want to send a
message to the West that our policies in the Middle East have changed, and the
way to send this message is to remove you from your post.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Amir-Abdollahian’s ouster was met with sharp criticism
from conservatives and conservative-friendly media outlets. Some <a href="https://www.mashreghnews.ir/news/593010/%DA%86%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AB%DB%8C%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%B0%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AA-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AC%D9%87-%D8%A8%D8%B1%DA%A9%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B4%D8%AF" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">suggested</span></a> he’d been
fired to appease Arab countries and then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry,
who saw Amir-Abdollahian as one of the main obstacles to then-Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani’s peace and diplomacy efforts toward the United States and major
Arab countries in the region, such as Saudi Arabia.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When conservatives in parliament summoned Zarif for an
explanation, he <a href="https://www.radiofarda.com/a/f4_zarif_reaction_amirabdullahian_arabs/27811989.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">denied</span></a> that
accusation, stating: “It is an insult to the government to claim that we are
changing our officials due to the concerns of foreigners. These claims have no
basis. The transfer of people from one department to another in the foreign
ministry is an obvious fact.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yet Zarif’s decision to fire Amir-Abdollahian may have
also had to do with his own frustrations with Suleimani—and thus with
Amir-Abdollahian by proxy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In recently leaked audio of an interview that was only
meant to be published long after he had left office, Zarif accused Suleimani of
having constantly undermined his diplomatic efforts and <a href="https://www.isna.ir/news/1400020705073/%D8%B5%D8%AF%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%85%DA%A9%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%A8-%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%BE%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%86-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%84-%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%B4%DB%8C%D9%87-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%B2" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">complained</span></a> that
despite being foreign minister, he had a limited role in setting Iran’s
regional policies. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, he said, the battlefield or
“field”—meaning the Quds Force’s military and influence operations in the
Middle East—always came first ahead of the “diplomatic field.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In this context, then, Zarif’s firing of Amir-Abdollahian
could be seen as an attempt to weaken the Quds Force’s influence in the foreign
ministry and claw back some authority over foreign policy in the Middle East.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And judging by Amir-Abdollahian’s reaction to Zarif’s
remarks, he may have had a point.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Amir-Abdollahian argued that Suleimani’s and the Quds
Force’s actions in the Middle East have brought security to Iran and the
region. He <a href="https://www.farsnews.ir/news/14000213000644/%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D9%85%D8%A7-%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%BE%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AA%E2%80%8C%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B2-%D9%85%D8%B0%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%A8%D9%87%E2%80%8C%D8%B4%D8%AF%D8%AA-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">said</span></a>diplomacy has always
relied on the “field,” and if the Americans agreed to negotiate with Iran on
various occasions over the past decade regarding the nuclear program and other
issues, it had been because of Iran’s capabilities on the ground and its
influence in the Middle East.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now that he’s foreign minister, Amir-Abdollahian will be
able to more seamlessly integrate the Quds Force’s strategy into the nation’s
foreign-policy approach. He even <a href="https://www.rfi.fr/fa/%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86/20210816-%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AC%DB%8C-%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%85-%D8%B3%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87-%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D9%87%D9%85" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">told</span></a> lawmakers he
would continue Suleimani’s path in foreign policy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Amir-Abdollahian has been clear about what he wants to
achieve as foreign minister. “We in the Middle East are looking to consolidate
the achievements of the ‘Axis of Resistance’ field,” he <a href="https://www.irna.ir/news/84445169/%D9%87%D9%85%D9%87-%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B4-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%AF-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A8%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%AB%D8%B1-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%86-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%85-%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D9%87-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%85%DB%8C-%DA%AF%DB%8C%D8%B1%D9%85" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">said</span></a> during his
parliamentary review for the job. “We are proud to support our allies and the
‘Axis of Resistance.’”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That approach seems to be in line with Raisi’s own
foreign-policy goals. At Raisi’s inauguration ceremony, representatives of
Iranian-backed proxies—such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and al-Hashd al-Shaabi—were
seated at the front; the EU foreign-policy representative was seated behind
them. Amir-Abdollahian, who was the international director of parliament at the
time, was responsible for the formalities of the international guests and their
seating arrangements at the ceremony.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Amir-Abdollahian also supports the “Look to the East”
policy <a href="https://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news/621414/%D8%B3%D9%87-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%B1-%DA%AF%D9%81%D8%AA-%D9%88%DA%AF%D9%88%DB%8C-%D8%B1%D8%A6%DB%8C%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D9%BE%D9%88%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%86-%D9%88-%D8%B4%DB%8C-%D8%AC%DB%8C%D9%86-%D9%BE%DB%8C%D9%86%DA%AF-%D8%B1%D8%A6%DB%8C%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">emphasized</span></a> by
Raisi, which aims to expand Iran’s relations with China and Russia, and <a href="https://www.entekhab.ir/fa/news/634038/%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AC%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%A7-%D8%A2%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%A7-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF-%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AA-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AC%D9%87-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85-%DA%AF%D8%B1%D9%87-%D9%86%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%B2%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%85-%D9%87%D9%85%D9%87-%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B4-%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%B1%D9%88%DB%8C-%D8%A8%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%AB%D8%B1-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%86-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%85-%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%85%DB%8C-%DA%AF%D8%B0%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%85-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87-%D9%85%D8%A7-%DA%A9%D9%85%DA%A9-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B2%D8%A2%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D9%85%D9%85%DA%A9%D9%86-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B2%D9%86-%DA%A9%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%B2%DB%8C-%D9%87%D9%85-%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%AC-%D9%BE%DB%8C%D8%AF%D8%A7-%DA%A9%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%85" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">called</span></a> it the most
important axis of the new government’s foreign policy. He <a href="https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1399/04/25/2307154/%DA%AF%D9%81%D8%AA%DA%AF%D9%88-%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%DA%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7-%D9%87%D9%85-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%87%D9%85%DB%8C%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%B6%D8%B9%DB%8C%D8%AA-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B4%D8%AA-%D8%B5%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%87%D9%85-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D9%85%D8%B4%DA%A9%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%A7-%D9%86%D9%85%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D9%86%D8%AF" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">described</span></a> the
signing of the 25-year cooperation agreement between Iran and China as
“historic” and said he had played a role in drafting the document.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On the nuclear deal, Amir-Abdollahian does not have much
experience as he was not present in the talks. But he <a href="https://www.iribnews.ir/fa/news/2941675/%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%BE%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D9%88-%D9%85%D8%B0%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%B2%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%AA-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A8-%D9%85%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D9%81%D9%87%D9%85%D8%AF" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">believes</span></a> “diplomacy
only understands the language of force,” and to get the United States to lift
sanctions on Iran, the country must increase its leverage in negotiations by
advancing its nuclear program.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He supported legislation under which Iran drastically
reduced its nuclear commitments and seriously limited International Atomic
Energy Agency access to its nuclear program—legislation that Rouhani <a href="https://www.irna.ir/news/84412962/%D8%A7%DA%AF%D8%B1-%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3-%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B9-%D9%86%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF-%D9%82%D8%A8%D9%84-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%B9%DB%8C%D8%AF%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%85-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B4%D8%AA%D9%87-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%85" target="_blank"><span style="color: #111111;">called</span></a> harmful to
Iran and one of the most important barriers to reaching an agreement with the
West to lift economic sanctions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">During his tenure, Zarif turned the foreign ministry into
the most important government ministry in the past eight years, bringing in a
generation of Iranian diplomats who negotiated the nuclear deal, the most
important diplomatic agreement in Iran’s modern history in the last 40 years.
That’s the foreign ministry Amir-Abdollahian has inherited, and he has a
difficult job to do as he will inevitably be compared to Zarif.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, Amir-Abdollahian enjoys privileges that pave the
way for him in diplomacy. The IRGC’s and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s trust in
him give him more credibility than Zarif had. All of this means his tenure
could see a significant expansion of the foreign ministry’s role in shaping
Iran’s Middle East policy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-30259012847616829122021-09-14T12:19:00.005-07:002021-09-14T12:26:23.469-07:00Afghanistan and Taliban<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(17, 17, 17); line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #333333; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Thoughts share with an Afghan friend on
9/13/2001.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #333333; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Press TV interview today prompted me to share
on my blog.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #333333; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1dRKZNaDlnMKB<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #333333; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #333333; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 0px;">
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13, 2021, 9:41 AM (1 day ago)</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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</tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I believe that the Taliban DID make a deal. And the US,
both Trump and Biden knew they would take over very quickly - a planned
before. But they pulled a fast one over the Americans!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt 0cm 0cm; mso-outline-level: 4;"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">b<span style="background: yellow;">etween 1994 and
1997 was the expectation that they would swiftly conquer the whole country,
enabling Unocal to build a pipeline through Afghanistan. Pakistan, the U.S.,
and Saudi Arabia "</span> <span style="background: yellow;">The
Washington Post on May 25, 2001, reported that the U.S. government
"pledged another $43 million in assistance to Afghanistan, [the Taliban
government] raising total aid this year to $124 million and making the United
States the largest humanitarian donor to the country.'' This was less than four
months before the September 11 attacks. </span></span></b><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">According to reports, the Taliban demanded a bigger cut from the
pipeline for infrastructure. The US declined and said we will
carpet bomb you. And they did. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Course, a lot more to the background and other stuff on the
matter, but my point being that the US concluded it should make a deal with the
Taliban, stop being involved, get benefits from Afghanistan's riches,
and set them on the 'targets' - including Iran, China and Russia.
Private mercenaries were being hired as late as May.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But I believe, and will continue to believe until demonstrated
otherwise, that the Taliban pulled a fast one on the Americans. They
promised cooperation but they were making deals with China. They sent a
delegation to China a few months before the pull out. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I also believe that they are capable of change - so long as they
want to. Let us remember that </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">with American interference and encouragement, weaponry, the
Mojahedeen and their offshoot Taliban were fighting invaders.
Women are the first victim of wars - and there was rampant rape and other
practices. Many welcome Taliban to give order to society. This
included practice of a more strict practices. I have been told the
imposititon of the strict dress code was to protect women from being raped or
abused. Something very common. Then they got
worse, more fanatical, and the corruption and dealings with the Americans just
exasperated it all. The Afghan people outside Kabul were still being
assaulted - in a major way, and many welcomed the Taliban for the same reason
they did in earlier times.</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Right now, Afghanistan is in a very bad place. </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. Covid. Drought. Famine.
According to UN agencies, Food insecurity has spiked over the past year.
2.3 billion people lacking year around food. They are striving to form a
government to rule over a disaster with all the problems facing them, a quest
for legitimacy, and winning over the people. I believe the Taliban will
implement better policies - in time. For now, they need people to fear
them so as to stop further fractioning, and they are not interested in the
West's standards of 'modern society', women's rights, gays, transgenders, etc.
which became common place in Afghanistan with the Americans! And I think
China can afford to help them. Though China always does things for a
price and to benefit itself. America wants to destroy and conquer with
war, China with exploitation/construction.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The world will react to the Taliban and its actions. But
we MUST remember, whether we hate the Taliban or not, that there are thousands
of foreign terrorists in Afghanistan, as well as thousands of 'mercenaries' -
US paid. Anything that happens in Afghanistan will be blamed on the
Taliban. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No doubt, Pakistan and Wahhabis have skin in the game.
Where their standing is at the moment, I am not certain. I think that
every nation is re-evaluating its relationship with Washington. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: -3.75pt; margin-right: -3.75pt; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm -3.75pt 8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Time will tell. But tragically, millions don't have
time. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-80699305358518109702021-08-13T15:13:00.001-07:002021-08-13T15:13:03.522-07:00Two Decades Later: The War on Terror - Continued!<p> <i><b>An essay written in 2006. A brief look at how we destroyed country after country. And in so doing, we defeated America and the American people. We are still at war with Moslems, except that we have coopted more of their leaders. Just as our leaders have been coopted. We failed. We are failing miserably. Even as we outsource censorship to private companies, the FBI strongarms truth-tellers and intimidates them into silence, whistle-blowers are jailed and tortured, we continue to wage war internally and externally - crashing towards our demise. </b></i></p><p>The following was actually an essay on "public diplomacy". </p><p><b>George W. Bush & The War on Terror (Continued!)</b></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">On January 20, 2001, George W. Bush was inaugurated as
the 43rd president of the United States.
He did not gain office through popular
vote. The 25 electoral votes in Florida
were too close to call and recounts began.
After five weeks of legal battle, the Supreme Court by a ruling of 5-4 determined that the recounts in Florida
should be stopped – George W. Bush became the president by majority vote of the
Supreme Court. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">His administration has been marked by corporation corruption, waning of
the economic boom, and rising anti-Americanism.
A ‘Pew Global Attitudes Project’ indicates that since President Bush took
office, with the exception of a couple of countries, there has been a rise of
negative view towards America across the board (Pew 2006) <a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. Several factors contribute to the rise in
anti-Americanism, and while much of it may be the </span><span lang="EN-GB">unilateral
and militaristic approach following the terrorist attacks of September 11<sup>th,</sup>
the daily scandals and atrocities reported in Iraq, have had a grave impact on the
negative image of America and this president in particular. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">From its beginning, the Bush’s presidency was on a
downslide. According to <i>Boston Globe</i>, on the day of his inauguration, tens of thousands of
protestors descended on George W. Bush's
inaugural parade route in Washington D.C. and shouted slogans such as: ‘<i>Hail to the Thief’</i> and ‘<i>Selected, Not Elected</i>,’<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><sup><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 1.5pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></sup></a><sup>.</sup> In
June 2001, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll showed President Bush's approval
rating at 50 percent<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 1.5pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>;
his vacation hours at his Texas Crawford ranch were far too frequent. However, his dipping numbers were ‘saved’ by
the destruction</span><span style="line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> of the Twin Towers and the horrors of 9/11. The Commander-in-Chief with a disputable
service record became the war president and his popularity soared<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">The shocking images of the Twin Towers were transmitted
around the globe and the world shared
America’s grief. The tragedy that had
befallen America was felt far and wide, even by perceived ‘enemy’ Iran where
candles were lit to mourn the victims<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 1.5pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. In spite of the solidarity felt towards
America, some feared the White House
reaction to the attacks. </span>London’s <i>Guardian </i>was among those that<i> </i>called
for restraint<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 1.5pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. Apprehensions about what the scope of the
U.S. retaliation might be <span lang="EN-GB">heightened when </span>on
September 16<sup>th</sup>, President Bush declared that he was launching a
‘crusade’ against terrorists. <span lang="EN-GB">The ‘crusade’ he had spoken of, was also a clear indication that he
meant to ignore and dismiss the voices which had been articulated through the
person of “</span>Hafedh Al-Shaikh
writing in Bahrain’s <i>Akhbar Al-Khalij:</i>
‘The U.S. now is eating a little piece from the bread which she baked and fed
to the world for many decades…’”<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 1.5pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. This
was to be a pattern throughout his presidency.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">While this White House lacked the “culturally informed
approach which the old USIA had brought to US public diplomacy” in the past to
help coin its phrases and avoid such words as ‘crusade’ and ‘Operation Infinite
Justice’ (later changed to ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’</span><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 1.5pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span lang="EN-GB">),
it had a great appeal for his domestic
audience, the intended target and base support for his intended plan – the
affront on the Middle East. In addition,
his choice of words had enable him to implicate the ideology of two religions –
[Judeo] Christianity versus Islam, of a war of good against evil, with evil
being the [Moslem] terrorists. To help
Washington, on October 2, Charlotte Beers who had been named ‘the Queen
of Madison Avenue’ by <i>Business Week</i> , was appointed to the
post of Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy. Her
job was to make the Moslem world hate their new hero, Osama bin Laden, and to
understand America. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">By September 27, the FBI had determined that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda were responsible
for the attacks of 9/11. S<span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11,_2001_attacks#_note-56#_note-56"></a></span>heltered
by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the bombing of that country
started on October 7, 2001. The United
States <span lang="EN-GB">fired missiles into and dropped bombs upon
heavily populated areas of Afghanistan causing 3000 – 3,400 civilian deaths. The blame for the civilian casualties was put
on the Taliban who were said to be using civilians as 'human shields' to protect military targets. This explanation relied on the American short
term memory that the ten years of civil
war in the 1980’s during which many military
garrisons and facilities were located in urban areas where the Soviet-backed
government had placed them there to keep them better protected from attacks by
the rural US-backed Mujahedeen<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 1.5pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">Not only did the <span style="background: aqua; mso-highlight: aqua;">Pentagon
undermine the number of civilian casualties, but it engaged a public relations
firm, the Rendon Group, to showcase the bombing campaign as a benevolent
gesture of good against evil. Rendon’s
task was to focus on the U.S. dropping food along with the</span> <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">bombs, as well as engage in a
propaganda campaign of having loudspeakers warning the civilians of the coming
assaults</span><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. The PR campaigns would underscore that the
United States was siding with the civilians and was determined to fight the
terrorists only. This was purely a
psychological operation given that if it had a chance of success, it would have
helped the al-Qaeda terrorists and the Taliban also – the intended target of
the bombs, as well as provided them with the food being dropped. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">The propaganda arm continued with insensitivities. On 5 November, VOA began its broadcast to Afghanistan to
justify the U.S. attacks during the holy
month of Ramadan (October). The Voice
(VOA) cited seventh-century battles led by the Prophet Muhammad as their
precedent and quoted George W. Bush’s assertion that ‘the enemy won't rest
during Ramadan, and neither will we.’<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The attacks had caused the death of almost 4000 innocent Afghanis, driving home
the fact that this was a ‘crusade’ as they had been foretold – and their
prophet was being callously invoked in preparation for their slaughter.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"> The next day, on
November 6<sup>th</sup>, a front page <i>New
York Times </i>story claimed that Beers was ‘planning a television and
advertising campaign to try and influence the ‘Islamic opinion.’ In a joint press briefing with Richard
Boucher on November 9, 2001, they announced that the State Department had
intensified its efforts to "tell America's story to the world." In the same briefing, Beers equated these terrorist acts by
implicating Islam stating: “ In an effort to foster greater dialogue with the
Muslim world, the State Department has established an advisory group comprising
Muslim scholars and academics.”<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 1.5pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> In
effect, 3 billion Moslems were being implicated for the actions of nineteen
hijackers, fifteen of whom were of Saudi origin. This is sharp contrast to the British
policy [and common sense] when during the Cold War when in order to diminish
the grip of the Soviets, for each medal
won for a relevant sport by the former U.S.S.R., the British broadcasters would
announce that it had been earned by an individual country, such as
Ukraine. This would serve as ‘breaking
down’ the Soviet Union. In this
administration, Islam as a generic ideology behind the terrorist attacks was
implicated in order to move President Bush a step closer to his core agenda –
Iraq. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">Even while the bombs were pounding Afghanistan, and a
prize of $25 million had been put on the head of Osama bin Laden, the man who
Mr. Bush had said ‘we would get dead or alive’,
the administration was forging on with plans to invade Iraq. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 36.0pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB">"For many conservatives, Iraq is now the test
case for whether the U.S. can engender American-style free-market capitalism
within the Arab world."</span></i><span lang="EN-GB"> - Neil King Jr., the <i>Wall Street Journal</i>,
May 1, 2003.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">Mr. Bush’s Iraq plan needed to have the American people on board. The real agenda, that of the corporate
interest, had to be framed in a manner that would overcome the reluctance of the American people to go to war. To this end, it was necessary for policy makers to shape
the policy of self-interest into a more altruistic policy. The American public were made to believe that
war was necessary to defeat evil. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">The Iraq agenda was so important to the
Bush administration that the planning of the Iraq invasion was minutely
detailed. The White House had even
created “an interagency ‘Iraq Public Diplomacy group’ comprised of NSC, CIA,
Pentagon, State and USAID staffers.” The
group created a documentary and press releases
showing interviews with Iraqi exiles and
dissidents. Secretary of State Colin
Powell, used VOA as a platform to emphasize “that the War on Terror was ‘not
anti-Islam. It is anti-terrorism and
anti-those regimes that develop weapons of mass destruction that they have used
against their own people, fellow Muslims.”<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> As with Afghanistan, this would be a
fight against evil, and innocent
casualties would be the collateral in the fight against evil – the terrorists
and those who had weapons of mass destruction. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">In addition to the <i>Iraqi Voices for
Freedom</i> orchestrated by the Iraq Public Diplomacy Group, Rampton and
Stauber (2003)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> claim
that a public relations firm helped create the Iraqi National Congress (INC) in
order to promote ‘the democratic voice of Iraq’. This firm
helped President Bush sell the war to the public with a hypnotic effect, taking over the American people's minds and
making them think what their political masters wanted them to think. They claim
the public's "erroneous beliefs" about Iraq was the result of a
"steady drumbeat of allegations and insinuations from the Bush
administration, pro-war think tanks and commentators." Apparently, myths
are transferred into our minds through "sheer repetition," whereby,
for example, "simply by mentioning Iraq and al-Qaeda together in the same
sentence, over and over, the message got through," and people eventually
believed that "Iraq posed an imminent peril" and that Saddam Hossein
was tied to al-Qaeda. The American
people were on board for the long haul.
But who was pushing the war with the President?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">Concurrent with the INC, a Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI) was
formed by a group who called itself ‘distinguished Americans who wanted to free
Iraq from Saddam Hossein’s rule’. The
distinguished members of CLI had close links to the Project for the New
American Century and the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank that
shaped the Bush foreign policy. Notable among
the CLI members was former secretary of state George P. Shultz.<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"> Prior to the Iraq invasion, Shultz was
Bechtel's senior counsel and director ,
and part of a fiercely pro-war group
with close ties to the White House, who made it clear that the ouster of
Saddam's regime was not enough, and that it was necessary 'to work beyond the
liberation of Iraq to the reconstruction of its economy."<a href="http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=6975#6#6"></a><sup> </sup> Shultz not only used his political influence
to help bring this war about, “but key Bechtel board members with advisory
positions to the Bush Administration, helped ensure that Bechtel would receive
one of the most lucrative contracts for rebuilding what they had helped to
destroy”<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"> It was not the first time that Bechtel
had been given a lucrative contract in Iraq.
Under a renewable 15-year
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the U.S. and Israel signed in
September 1975, the United States Government has undertaken to promptly make
oil available for purchase by Israel. If
Israel is unable to secure the necessary means to transport such oil to Israel,
the United States Government will make every effort to help Israel secure the
necessary means of transport<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. The 1979 overthrow
of the Shah created added expense and inconvenience for Israel and
America. The Shah supplied all Israel's
oil needs via a pipeline from Eilat. After the revolution, the IRI put a stop
to this and Israel was forced to buy more expensive oil from Russia – footed by
the U.S. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span class="t13">According to the <i>Haaretz,</i>
Hanan Bar-On, the former deputy
director-general of the Foreign Ministry, confirmed that during the mid 1980s,
Israel was involved in talks on a plan
for an Iraq-Jordanian pipeline to the Red Sea port of Aqaba. Among the participants in these talks was
Donald Rumsfeld, then an adviser to U.S. president Reagan ( and at the time of
the Iraq invasion two, secretary of
defense). The American corporation Bechtel was slated to build the pipeline</span><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 200%;">. </span> These talks were taking place as Saddam
Hossein was dropping chemicals on his own people and his neighbors, the
Iranians. In 1985, the deal was called
off as Hossein had concerns about the safety of the pipeline going through Israel.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">A far more powerful man pushing
for the Iraq war was Vice President Cheney.
Mr. Cheney seems to have strong financial links to the war. It was revealed that Kellogg, Brown, & Root, a
subsidiary of his former company, Halliburton, had been awarded a contract to supply the
American military with food, fuel, housing and other necessities prior to the
war (New York Times)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. As of 2004, Halliburton, had contracts worth over $10 billion in Iraq
which had prompted Rep. Henry Waxman to
call for an investigation. <a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">The Bush Administration used the
pretext of ‘war on terror’ to expand capitalism in the Middle East/Islamic
world starting with oil rich Iraq. Having
set the stage with the help of Public Relations firms, Its corporate agenda has been disguised as a
pre-emptive war (war on terror, democratization), with everything in Iraq to be owned by U.S. corporations – perhaps with some
crumbs falling to allies. On May
1, 2003, the day he gave his “Mission
Accomplished” speech on board the USS Abraham Lincoln, it was revealed that the Bush administration
had plans to remake Iraq's economy in the U.S. image, calling for the privatization of state-owned
industries. The execution of the plan
was to fall “ largely to private American contractors working alongside a
smaller team of U.S. officials “(Wall Street Journal)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. The plan would allow U.S. corporations to
take over Iraq’s entire economy from banking to schools to health care to
energy to water. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">While some 150 American companies received contracts for work in Iraq
following the invasion, the big reconstruction winners were: Halliburton; Parsons Corporation of Pasadena, California; Fluor Corporation of Aliso Viejo, California;
Washington Group International of Boise, Idaho; Shaw Group of Baton Rouge,
Louisiana Bechtel Corporation of San
Francisco, California; Perini
Corporation of Framingham, Mass. ; and Contrack International, Inc. of
Arlington, Virginia (<em>Juhasz</em><i> <em>2006</em></i><em><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 200%;">)</span></em><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><i><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></i></span></a>. None of the reconstruction contracts were awarded to the Iraqis,
and often foreign workers were brought in to work for the American firms. Unemployment and a sense of injustice only
fueled discontent and internal strife. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">War invigorated the sense of nationalism in the Iraqis; and they
perceived the Americans as occupiers, not liberators. The U.S.
plans met with resistance. Blackwater USA, another corporate entity was
there to deal with this. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">Blackwater USA got a no-bid
contract to protect high profile State Department officials in Iraq since 2003. In 2005, the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) which had been examining the
Pentagon's Iraq expenses, stated that ''we're having extreme difficulty in
getting the Department of Defense to provide a full accounting of what they're
spending" there. It further
added: ''I can't understand how we're
spending $1 billion a week<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">.</span><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">"</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span>Some 48,000 private soldiers,<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span>working for 181
private military firms, are deployed in Iraq alone<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. The
chaos in Iraq necessitated the presence of militias as well as the troops. In
2004, fourteen U.S. bases in Iraq had
been planned as a model for the rest of the Middle East. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 28.8pt; margin-right: 28.8pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>"Is this a swap for the Saudi
bases?" </i>asked Army Brig. Gen. Robert Pollman, chief engineer for base
construction in Iraq<i>. "I don't know.
... When we talk about enduring bases here, we're talking about the present
operation, not in terms of America's global strategic base. But this makes
sense. It makes a lot of logical sense</i>." Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy chief of
operations for the coalition in Iraq, said the military engineers are trying to
prepare for any eventuality. <i>"This is a blueprint for how we could
operate in the Middle East," Kimmitt said. "[But] the engineering
vision is well ahead of the policy vision. What the engineers are saying now
is: Let's not be behind the policy decision. Let's make this place ready so we
can address policy options."(</i>Chicago Tribune) <a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8pt;">With its foothold in Iraq, the
State Department attempted to reach out to the Muslim world even as every
terrorist act was reported as an ‘Islamist terrorism’. In April 2003, President Bush and Colin
Powell launched a ‘roadmap for peace’ in the conflict between Israelis and
Palestinians.<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Yet,
in mockery of the Islamic world, four months later, in August, Mr. Bush appointed anti-Muslim Daniel Pipes to the board of U.S.
Institute of Peace, a man fiercely opposed to the “Road Map”. Pipes had “warned that America's Muslims are
the enemy within and called for unrestricted racial profiling and monitoring of
Muslims in the military (The Guardian).”<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">On October 30, 2003,
al-Jazeera accused US-led forces in Iraq of harassment, after one of its
journalists was detained. Their cameraman, Samer Hamza was freed after two days in
custody. They claim to have had
"more than 15 arrests in recent months". It seemed that America was keen to keep
journalists out. There were
reports of accidental shootings and near misses. In October 2003 the Belgian-based
International Federation of Journalists lodged a formal complaint over
harassment of journalists in Iraq.<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> It would seem that the Americans had good reason to want
the journalists out. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8pt;">In April 2004, the world would witness Iraqis being tortured at Abu
Gharib when the CBS program <i>60 Minutes II
</i>exposed some of the photographs taken there. The pictures revealed more than torture and
sexual humiliation of inmates at the hand of their American guards – they
reflected a knowledge of Islamic culture<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. The
Islamic world watched.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 28.8pt;">In May 2004, President Bush
granted an interview to the
Virginia-based Arabic television Alhurra following the release of the torture
pictures which had come out of Abu Gharib.
Asked if America is any better than Saddam’ old regime, “President Bush
responded by pledging that the images were an aberration and ‘mistakes will be
investigated…and people will be brought to justice.’ He went on to pitch his support for a
Palestinian state.” <a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"> One would have to question if Mr.
Bush intends to support the Palestinian state from the military bases in Iraq,
for Iraq has become a hot bed of ‘lily
pads’ for America. The term describes the
military jumping from base to base without ever touching the ground in between.
The U.S. base in Balad, north of Iraq,
houses 40,000 troops and civilians, and it is the headquarters for an Air Force Expeditionary
Wing. The Subway sandwich chain is one
of several U.S. chains with a foothold here. There are two base exchanges that
are about as large as a Target or K-Mart. Consumer items from laptop computers
to flat-screen TV's to Harley Davidson motorcycles are available for
purchase. Seen from the sky at night,
the base resembles Las Vegas: While the surrounding Iraqi villages get about 10
hours of electricity a day, the lights never go out at Balad Air Base (NPR)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. At another giant base, al-Asad in Iraq's
western desert, the 17,000 troops and workers come and go in a kind of bustling
American town, with a Burger King, Pizza Hut and a car dealership. At a third hub down south, Tallil, they're
planning a mess hall that will seat 6,000 airmen and soldiers for chow (The
Seattle Times)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"> The vast majority of the American
public is not aware of the bases in Iraq, nor of the corporate expansion. They are not aware that it is the war
profiteers, the weapons manufacturers who are supplying the war intelligence.
An advertisement taken out by Lockheed Martin in 2006 looking for intelligence
recruits read: "on substantive intelligence matters involving
terrorist groups and networks . . . Centcom experience is a plus,". Raytheon, the other large defense contractor,
is also supplying intelligence.
America’s military industrial
complex has been contracted to take America
to war (Washington Post)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>.
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">Regardless of the nation’s demand to bring the troops home, George W.
Bush continues to ask for money for Iraq and Afghanistan in order to maintain
the troops in the region. As the war
rages on, the <i>Los Angeles Times</i>
revealed on November 30, 2005 that a contractor called the Lincoln group was
paying Iraqi media to run positive stories about the progress of the war in
Iraq<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. In
spite of the report by Djerejian, the focal point of which can be summed up as
follows: “Surveys indicate that much of the resentment toward America stems
from real conflicts and displeasure with policies, including those involving
the Palestine-Israel conflict and Iraq” , policies remain unchanged.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">Karen Hughes who took on her role as under secretary of state for public
diplomacy with the words: ‘I am mindful
that before we seek to be understood, we must first work to understand’<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> also brought home a message that American
policies were the root of regional anger.
‘One of the things that I heard as I traveled throughout the Middle
East’ she told NPR in the spring of 2006, ‘is concern about the
Israeli-Palestinian policy.’ On her
return she urged the president and secretary of state that the need for the
U.S. to be ‘seen as visibly working to improve life for the Palestinian
people.’ <a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Mr. Bush had announced his support for a
Palestinian state on Alhurra
television. This was not to be the
case.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"> In January 2006, following President Bush’s
call for democracy and elections, Hamas won
the parliamentary elections with 76 seats in the 132-seat-strong
legislative body against a 43 rival Fatah.
( Ynet
new)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. President Bush, ignoring Karen Hughes and the
Djerejian
report, at the behest of Israel, decided that this step toward
democracy, popular vote, should be punished by cutting off all aid to Palestine
(AP)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>.
For the first time in its history, the
International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) issued a political statement
about the Palestinian territories:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 36.0pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><i>“Throughout the occupied
Palestinian territories, in the Gaza Strip as well as in the West Bank,
Palestinians continuously face hardship in simply going about their lives; they
are prevented from doing what makes up the daily fabric of most people's
existence. The Palestinian territories face a deep human crisis, where millions
of people are denied their human dignity. Not once in a while, but every day.”(</i>ICRC)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">While Palestinians
were being subjected to hardship for choosing their own government, the Arab and Moslem world, witnessed the contempt with which other
fellow Moslems were treated by Israel – the bombing of Lebanon.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span class="t13">The head of an IDF rocket unit in Lebanon told </span> <i>Haaretz</i>:
<span class="t13">"What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire
towns in cluster bombs," . Quoting his battalion commander, the rocket
unit head stated that the IDF fired around 1,800 cluster bombs, containing over
1.2 million cluster bomblets.
Soldiers testified that the army
used the phosphorous shells which are strictly forbidden by international law
(Haaretz)</span><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="t13">. It would be revealed by
former Ambassador to the United Nations, </span>John Bolton, that the United
States deliberately blocked an immediate ceasefire (BBC)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">The Islamic world had not recovered from the 33-day Lebanon war when the
execution by hanging of Saddam Hossein exploited the creeping divide in the
Moslem world. Following the bombing of
one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines, the Askariya shrine in Samarra in
February 2006, a dangerous divide was settling between the two Moslem factions,
the Sunni and the Shiites. Hanging Saddam
Hossein on Eid ul-Adha. Only added to
these grievances as it was a holy day of celebration for the Sunnis, yet the
timeline had not yet commenced for the Shiites – it would commence a day
later. This was perceived as a gift to
the Shiites. There is mystery and
speculation around Saddam’s death.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">In that Karen Hughes stepped down, there is no surprise. Bad policies cannot be fixed with public
diplomacy. In her NPR interview in March 2006, she had
gone on record as saying that it would take more than her to ‘fix’ the image problems facing the United
States. “The new era had to be lived and
not just spoken; a new era in U.S. public diplomacy needed a new era in U.S.
foreign policy and a new president”<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. The president’s close friend and trusted advisor could not persuade
him to change course. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">The United States overestimates its influence. It is no longer a dominant force in
controlling the information outlets and the political discourse. More importantly, its credibility is being questioned. America still commands a large television
audience, and the mainstream media has often played the conservative card,
however, the political discourse across
the globe is growing at a fast rate. With the advent of weblogs and Youtube, very little can be hidden from the
public. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">In spite of the decline in U.S. popularity, its extraordinary lack of
credibility in the lead up to the Iraq war,
and the continuous allegations it is facing, America was successful in yet another major
propaganda battle; that of persuading the American public and other nations
that Iran was a threat to peace. Undoubtedly,
given that America’s reputation has been so sullied, this has been a true
accomplishment in diplomacy abroad and public diplomacy at home. Condoleezza
Rice who had replaced Colin Powell, pirouetted around the world and in a
major diplomatic coup, brought all United Nation Security Council members on
board to pass a sanctions resolution against Iran for enriching uranium – its
inalienable right under Article IV of the Non- Proliferation Treaty. While Iraq was associated with al-Qaeda,
9/11, and weapons of mass destruction, Iran is being associated with ‘threat’,
‘nuclear weapons’, ‘nuclear holocaust’, ‘terrorism’, and ‘destruction of
Israel’. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span class="copymain1"><span style="background: yellow; line-height: 200%;">Perhaps coincidentally, the sanctions
followed an investigation into Halliburton practices. In 2004, Halliburton was forced to release a
report to the managers of the New York City Police Pension Fund and the New
York City Fire Pension Fund that regarding its activities in Iran through the
operations of Halliburton Products & Services, Limited, a Cayman Islands
company, headquartered in Dubai, U.A.E. (hereinafter HPSL) which indicated that
it had performed between $30 and $40 million annually for 2002, 2003 in oilfield
service work in Iran</span></span><span class="copymain1"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></span><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="copymain1"><span style="line-height: 200%;">. This
was in direct violation of </span></span>Executive Order 12957 given by Clinton
which specifically banned any "contract for the financing of the
development of petroleum resources located in Iran" proposed by Martin Indyk’s
"dual containment" policy for Iran and its troublesome neighbor, Iraq
(Fairbanks 2001, p447-465)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. The sanctions had remained in place. Halliburton was forced to close shop. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">In 2005 U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
labeled Iran a growing danger and called
for the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran. In 2006, Iran was sent to the UN Security
Council. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">Although the United States can win influence with world leaders, it must
remember that the masses cannot be influenced as easily. This is in spite of the efforts reported by <i>U.S. News and World Report </i> in April 2005:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">“In at least two dozen countries, Washington has quietly funded Islamic
radio and TV shows, coursework in Muslim schools, Muslim think tanks, political
workshops, or other programs that promote moderate Islam. Federal aid is going
to restore mosques, save ancient Korans, even build Islamic schools… The CIA is
revitalizing programs of covert action that once helped win the Cold War,
targeting Islamic media, religious leaders, and political parties. The agency is receiving ‘an exponential
increase in money, people, and assets’ to help it influence Muslim societies”<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> . In spite of these efforts, according
to a 2006-07 World Public Opinion Poll,
Muslims believe that the U.S. seeks to undermine Islam, and the
majorities want U.S. forces out of Islamic countries. According to the poll, they approve attacks
on U.S. troops<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The failure of the efforts is easily understood. As the Djerejian report observed “Arabs and Muslims have a surfeit of opinion
and information about the United States.” America has not changed its policies; it
simply wishes to gloss them over. It is
worthwhile remembering that during the Cold War years, America won the battle
of ideology, the battle of ‘hearts and minds’ because it offered a more
attractive alternative to the communist ideology and way of life. This is no longer the case. Islam in itself, is an antithesis to capitalism. The Muslim society, accustomed to dictators
and censorship backed by America, is skeptical of news outlets. This has served to make the masses critical
thinkers and to send them in search of alternate news in the age of information
technology. Every news bite is evaluated. In sharp contrast to the American public
which for the most </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">part, is under the impression that it has free press and it is receiving
‘fair and balanced’ news, not mindful that corporations often work in
conjunction with each other, and serve as the government mouthpiece.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]-->Toda<span style="text-indent: 36pt;">y, when
information technology has made America’s actions so transparent, what we say
about ourselves is no longer important, what we do is observed and speaks for
us.</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">No amount of public diplomacy will alter
the fact that a war was waged based on false information, and corporations were
the beneficiaries of this war.</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Perhaps
none have articulated it as well as the ‘Madison Queen’ herself, when she was
leaving her post of Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, she mocked
the idea of marketing a foreign policy.</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">During her interview with the NBC’s </span><i style="text-indent: 36pt;">Today
Show</i><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> audience, she told them:</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 36.0pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">“<i>I’m afraid we’re always going to
have disappointed people if you think we can sell a policy. What we can do is articulate it well, get it
out in thirty languages overnight, which we do.
We can have every one of our rather articulate officials in the U. S.
government talk about it. We can use
third parties… But you don’t sell policy, you articulate it, make it clear, put
it in context</i>”.<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">Anti-Americanism is not abating simply because American policies remain
the same. The administration
underestimates the Moslem understanding of current affairs; and attempts to exploit their divisions (Hamas
and Fatah, Sunni and Shiite, Arab and Persian) in order to further its the
Middle East Agenda, neglectful of the fact that the Moslems are far savvier and less prone to
State Department propaganda than the average American. Their leaders and ruling elite tend to
cooperate because their very existence depends on American ‘muscle’, as polls
have indicated, the anti-American sentiment is growing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">The American masses are led to believe that Islamic
fundamentalist/terrorists pose a threat to their lifestyle, giving the
president the indulgence to curb the liberties to question his actions, while
spending billions on ‘security’, and wars of choice. More than any other president,
Mr. Bush has put corporate interest
before the nation’s national interest. In the age of information technology and
instant reporting, what America is seen doing, is perhaps more transparent in
the Moslem world than it is on its own soil.
Until such time that Americans
can decouple national interest from corporate greed, corporate wars will
continue and public diplomacy will remain ineffective. </p><div>
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<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Beers interview with Katie Couric on <i>NBC: Today, </i>tx 6 March 2003, 7:00 ET. “<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Nicholas J. Cull, Ibid<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> <a href="http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/home_page/346.php?nid=&id=&pnt=346&lb=hmpg2">http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/home_page/346.php?nid=&id=&pnt=346&lb=hmpg2</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Halliburton News
Archive <span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.halliburton.com/news/archive/2004/report.jsp"><span lang="EN-US">http://www.halliburton.com/news/archive/2004/report.jsp</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Fairbanks, Stephen. “<i>Iran: No Easy Answers</i>”. <i>Journal
of International Affairs </i>54.2
(2001): 447-465<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Nicholas J. Cull.,Ibid<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 36.0pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> Meron Rappaport. “IDF Commander: We fired more than a million
cluster bombs in Lebanon”. 9 December 2006</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>BBC Online (Bolton
admits Lebanon Truce Block” march 22, 2007 <span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6479377.stm"><span lang="EN-US">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6479377.stm</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Nicholas J. Cull. Ibid<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> Steve Inskeep, ‘Hughes: no short term fix for U.S. image abroad,’ <i>NPR Morning Edition, </i>28 March 2006, <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5304491"><span style="font-family: "Georgia, serif",serif;">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5304491</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3207101,00.html<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Robert Wielaard “EU
Ministers back Palestinian aid freeze”. 10, April 2006<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn5">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> ICRC, “2008 Global Priorities Overview”, December 13, 2007-12-16 <a href="http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/palestine-report-131207">http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/palestine-report-131207</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Walter Pincus,
“Lawmakers want more data on contracting out intelligence” Washington Post. 7
May 2006 p. A07<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Nicholas J. Cull,
Ibid, Ch. 5<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Nicholas J. Cull. Ibid<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Nicholas J. Cull. Ibid<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>NPR “U.S. Builds Air
Base in Iraq for the Long Haul” 12, October 2007<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15184773"><span lang="EN-US">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15184773</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Charles J. Hanley,
“U.S. bases built in Iraq with an air of permanence”. The Seattle Times. 21
March 2006<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 28.8pt; margin-right: 28.8pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Editorial: ‘Powell’s Mideast Moment,’ <i>Los Angeles Times, </i>30 April 2003.”<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Suzanne Goldernberg,
“Bush appoints anti-Muslim to peace role”. The Guardian, 23, August 2003<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Tim Gospill, ‘Target the Media,’ in David
Miller (ed.), <i>Tell Me Lies: Propaganda
and Media Distortion in the Attack on Iraq. </i>Pluto: London, 2004, pp.
251-261, also Slobodan Lekic, ‘U.S. troops said to be more hostile to
reporters,’ <i>Associated Press, </i>13
November 2003 and Reporters without Borders press release, ‘Reporters without
borders outraged at bombing of al-Jazeera office in Baghdad.’ 8 April 2003.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Susan Miligan,” <span lang="EN-GB">GAO investigator rips Pentagon on Iraq war finances”, The Boston
Globe, July 15, 2005</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> Jeremy Scahill. “Mercenary
Jackpot”. The Nation 10 August 2006</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> Christine Spolar, “14 `enduring bases' set in Iraq; Long-term
military presence planned” Chicago Tribune.
23 March 2004<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> Neil King Jr. “Bush Officials Devise a Broad Plan For
Free-Market Economy in Iraq “ The Wall Street Journal. May 1, 2003<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> Antonia Juhasz, The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One
Economy at a time (Regan, HarperCollins Publishers, 2006).</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Akiva Eldar, “<span lang="EN-GB">Infrastructure Minister Paritzky dreams of Iraqi oil flowing to
Haifa” Haaretz. 31 March 2003. online
edition <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=278572">http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=278572</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>James Glanz “Bribery
network to bloat war costs is alleged” The New York Times, 21 July 2007<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> <a href="http://www.truthout.org/mm_01/5.120904A-1.pdf">http://www.truthout.org/mm_01/5.120904A-1.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Corporate Watch.
Bectel. Profiting from Destruction: Why the Corporate Invasion of Iraq Must be
Stopped”. 5 June 2003. <span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=6975#A"><span lang="EN-US">http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=6975#A</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> <a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/cdoilmou.html"><span style="font-family: "Georgia, serif",serif;">http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/cdoilmou.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Sheldon Rampton and
John Stauber, “Weapons of Mass Deception: the uses of propaganda in Bush’s war
on Iraq.” Penguin, 2003<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_for_the_Liberation_of_Iraq">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_for_the_Liberation_of_Iraq</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">
</span></p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> VOA press releases, ‘Rice to VOA: “Offering
more time at this point only plays into Saddam’s hands,”’ 26 February 2003;
‘VOA interviews Powell on Iraq,’ 28 February 2003.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">
</span></p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Nicholas J. Cull. Ibid<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%;"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Michael R. Gordon, ‘A nation challenged:
seeking support US tries to sway worldwide opinion in favor of war,’ <i>New York Times, </i>6 November 2001, p. A1.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> <a href="http://www.usembassy.it/file2001_11/alia/a1110929.htm"><span style="font-family: "Georgia, serif",serif;">http://www.usembassy.it/file2001_11/alia/a1110929.htm</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p>
</div>
</div><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span></p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Time Europe. “<i>Candle Power: Iran Mourns America’s dead</i>”.
18, September, 2001http://www.time.com/time/europe/photoessays/vigil/<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Nicholas J. Cull,
“Selling America. (ch 4, p2)<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Nicholas J. Cull,
Ibid. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Nicholas J. Cull, Ibid<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn5">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> Marc W. Herold. “<i>A Dossier on
Civilian Victims of United States' Aerial Bombing of Afghanistan:<br />
A Comprehensive Accounting [revised</i>]”. Departments of Economics and Women's
Studies. University of New Hampshire <a href="http://www.cursor.org/stories/civilian_deaths.htm"><span style="font-family: "Georgia, serif",serif;">http://www.cursor.org/stories/civilian_deaths.htm</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p>
</div>
</div><p>
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
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<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> Pew Global Attitudes. “<i>America's
Image Slips, But Allies Share U.S. Concerns Over Iran, Hamas</i>” Released 13
June , 2006 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=252"><span style="font-family: "Georgia, serif",serif;">http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=252</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> Michael Kranish and Sue Kirchhoff, “Thousands Protest ‘Stolen’
Election,” Boston Globe, January 21, 2001.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> Richard L. Berke, “G.O.P. Defends Bush in Face of Dip in Poll
Ratings,” The New York Times, June 29 2001</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/losing%20America.docx#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> <a href="http://www.hist.umn.edu/~ruggles/Approval.htm"><span style="font-family: "Georgia, serif",serif;">http://www.hist.umn.edu/~ruggles/Approval.htm</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p>
</div>
</div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-53801583614575568942021-08-13T08:35:00.004-07:002021-08-13T11:38:31.389-07:00Raisi's New Cabinet & West Regurgitating Old Lies <p> <i><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Atlantic Council's "The Iranist" made accusations today against a cabinet member of Iran's newly elected President Raisi. The Iranist states: "<span style="background-color: white; color: #2c2c2c;"> General Ahmad Vahidi for interior minister. </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://theiranist.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D552b2620b45ba21e496291062%26id%3D99a1e6538d%26e%3D68efc7fcb4&source=gmail&ust=1628954442815000&usg=AFQjCNGsQoiEfV3KmxUUYrPfH8haL0W8oA" href="https://theiranist.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=552b2620b45ba21e496291062&id=99a1e6538d&e=68efc7fcb4" style="background-color: white; color: forestgreen; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Vahidi is a former defense minister sanctioned by the US and wanted by Interpol over his alleged role in the 1994 bombing</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #2c2c2c;"> of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires (AP)." </span></span></b></i></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #2c2c2c;">This is sheer nonsense. It would appear that the Western trouble makers are all out of fresh lies and are repeating old lies. </span></span>First published at the end of 2008 (since then, the article has "disappeared" from online publications), the following article explains who gained from the lies.</p><p>It is important to note that these allegations were made at a time when the pro-West Rafsanjani was president. Rafsanjani has often come under question for his relations with the West. True or not, it is certainly true that his daughter, Faezeh, had very close relations with a NED/CIA fund recipient. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Haleh Esfandiari who comes
from a Shia Muslim family is married (1967) to Shaul Bakhash, a Jewish Iranian
American professor of history and Persian studies at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">George</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Mason</st1:placename>
<st1:placename w:st="on">University</st1:placename></st1:place>. She was Deputy Secretary General of the
Women's Organization of Iran, a royal-patronage society established in 1966 by
Ashraf Pahlavi. She is known to have been close to <u>Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, a
daughter of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, according to The New York Times. She was the first Iranian-American fellow at
NED (1995). </u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX8 SCXW89025316" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Underneath the Rubbles:
The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Argentina</st1:place></st1:country-region>
Conspiracy<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal">By: Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1047235.html">Haaretz</a> reports that an Argentine judge has
ordered the property of a former Iranian diplomat to be seized as compensation awarded
to a <span class="t13">survivor of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center
in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Buenos Aires</st1:city></st1:place>. Without verification, Israeli and American
accusations trump lack of evidence in any jurisdiction- <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region></st1:place> in particular – since it
stands to benefit from the verdict. </span></p><p>The U.S.-Argentina relationship has always been in a struggle; but it was
Ronald Reagan, the man who declared to the American people: “<i>We raised a
banner of bold colors--no pale pastels. We proclaimed a dream of an <st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region> that would be a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Shining</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">City</st1:placetype></st1:place>
on a Hill” </i>who strengthened the
ties. Reagan’s opposition to the
Sardinistas prompted him to solicit the aid of the most ruthless military regime
<st1:place w:st="on">Argentina</st1:place>
has ever known to train the Contras<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>.
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">The
same regime that was responsible for the disappearance of 20,000 people during
1976-1983, according to The Center for Legal and Social Studies in <st1:place w:st="on">Buenos Aires</st1:place>. Other reports speculate the toll to reach as
high as 30,000. Juan Mendez of Americas
Watch has compared Argentine’s “dirty war” to “the tragedies experienced by human kind subsequent
to World War II". A former
lieutenant commander in the Argentine navy confessed in 1995 that 1,500 to
2,000 live and drugged bodies of victims had been jettisoned into the <st1:place w:st="on">Atlantic</st1:place> from planes<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">Among
the victims were some 2000 Jews. Hitler
was not without long-term impact in <st1:place w:st="on">Argentina</st1:place>. The country's military regime kept secret
camps decorated with swastikas.<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> A
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs <a href="http://www.jcpa.org/jpsr/jpsr-mualem-s04.htm">publication</a> reveals
that during this period, the foreign policy of Israel was to offer assistance
to the Jews in Argentina, but at the same time “to cooperate with the military regime in realizing economic
goals” of Israel. “<st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> was accused by various quarters within the
Israeli political system and the Jewish community in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region> of deserting hundreds of
Argentinean Jews, some of whom disappeared and some of whom were arrested and
tortured under the military junta's rule.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">Some
two thousand Jewish lives later, with a different ambition in mind, that of
destroying 70 million Iranians, <st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place>
is seeking compensation for a building that was bombed. With <st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place> in tow and a compliant
Argentine who is too happy to bury the past –literally, a compensation of one
million dollars is being sought for one survivor.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">It has
been a well-kept secret that an important project being carried out in the
Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building was a review of previously
secret government files that reportedly reveal how Nazis entered <st1:place w:st="on">Argentina</st1:place>
following World War II helped by Argentine officials. The review of the files
had gone on for two years, but had not been completed at the time of the
bombing. “Speculation centered on the
possibility that former Argentine government and military officials, fearful of
exposure, were responsible for the bomb attack.”<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">It is
hard to disregard the views of Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate director of the <st1:placename w:st="on">Simon</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Wiesenthal</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Center</st1:placetype> in <st1:place w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:place>.
Cooper suggests that government and military figures may have sought to
embarrass the Menem government because of its decision to release the files.
"Anti-Semitism is endemic in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region>". Exemplifying this is the fact that <st1:place w:st="on">Argentina</st1:place>'s
chief rabbi was assaulted while walking to synagogue by youths who pushed him
to the ground and shouted anti-Semitic curses. The attack was followed by the painting of Nazi slogans on the chief
rabbi's synagogue<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. Unlikely events in <st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">However,
blaming the bombing on Iranian-backed elements serves both <st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place> and Argentine. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">It
exonerates Argentina – and while it saves them domestic conflict and
embarrassment, spares the compensation that would be due not only as a result
of the bombings, but the paper trail would assure them a fate similar to that
of Germany’s. Perhaps no other judge has
better served <st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region>
than <span class="t13">Alberto Nisman. In
spite of Madoff’s disservice to the Jewish community, it is not the million
dollar compensation that will make or break anyone in the community. Even as the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United
States</st1:country-region> is in a recession, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> continues to enjoy receiving
</span>30% of the total foreign aid. The
<a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3362402,00.html">2008 budget</a>
submitted by Bush to Congress was a 12% increase over 2007. President-elect Obama, <a href="http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=9ae5fcc1-9f89-4a44-8ed9-f6deecb24884">addressing
AIPAC</a>, promised even more: $30 billion in aid to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The aim of this fiasco is to further <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>’s
foreign policy. In a diversionary tactic
and in order to distract from their expansionist ideology and terrorist
tactics, <st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place>
is being scapegoated. A Soviet
correspondent once said this of the Americans:
“I think that the fundamental difference between our worlds, with
respect to propaganda, is quite simple. You tend to believe yours ... and we
tend to disbelieve ours." Obviously
he was not familiar with Israeli propaganda. Once again, ambitious Israeli politicians are
demonstrating that they can turn away from the anti-Semitism in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region> in order to further their destructive
policies in the <st1:place w:st="on">Middle East</st1:place>. With persecution of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region> as centre-piece of this policy, they fail
to recognize that the rubbles in <st1:place w:st="on">Buenos
Aires</st1:place> will not hide the truth.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"> “<i>Truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it and ignorance may
deride it, but, in the end, there it is.”</i> - Winston Churchill<o:p></o:p></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW89025316 BCX8" paraeid="{1ce3089d-4820-4f17-aa0b-73f51f207627}{3}" paraid="1398935733" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <i>Pawning Honor for the Contras.</i><span class="t13"> </span><span class="bold">New York Times</span>. (Late Edition
(east Coast)). <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">New York</st1:city>,
<st1:state w:st="on">N.Y.</st1:state></st1:place>:Aug 21, 1987.
p. A.26 <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Jerry
W. Knudson, “<i>Veil of Silence; The
Argentine Press and the Dirty War 1976-1983</i>”. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Esther
Schrader, <span class="bold"><i>President of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Argentina</st1:place></st1:country-region>
Apologizes for Nation's Role as Haven for Nazis</i>. </span><st1:city w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:city> Times. : Jun 14,
2000. pg. 16<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> <i>Jewish Center
Bombed in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region></st1:place></i>.
<span class="bold">The Christian Century</span>. <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:city>:Jul 27, 1994. Vol. 111,
Iss. 22, p. 716 (2 pp.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn5">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <i>Jewish Center Bombed in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region></st1:place>, ibid<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><i> </i></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</div></div><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-92055433623636037722021-06-23T11:43:00.002-07:002021-06-23T11:43:40.663-07:00America's Digital Mercenaries<p> America uses mercenaries to avoid shouldering responsibility, be it the likes of Blackwater to kill without being accountable, or using digital mercenaries like Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc. to censor without technically violating the Constitution and the First Amendment.</p><p>But they both serve the same purpose. To silence and eliminate resistance to the empire.</p><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-10682205079939319712021-05-31T12:43:00.003-07:002021-05-31T12:56:59.817-07:00Iran Elections 2021 and the CIA<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The article published on the amazing, patriotic, and
truthful Dr. Ron Paul's website describes in depth how the CIA
plants stories, influences etc. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2021/may/30/cia-dis-information-operations-come-home-to-the-us/?fbclid=IwAR0b6De-okOmZp68PdaK8NBoTeQhyPb9e9ZTHWkx7fC5CoSYNgTBeJ5yhOI" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">The Ron Paul Institute for Peace
and Prosperity : CIA (Dis)Information Operations Come Home to the US</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One must read it and understand how it relates to
Iran. An "NGO" leading the charge against presidential
candidate Ebrahim Raisi and allegations of connections to the 1988 massacre, is
Boroumand Foundation. They have filed lawsuit for the arrest of 17
officials complicit in the massacres. And according to the article
below, there is an arrest warrant out for them should they venture to Europe
and other places, no doubt America since the CIA's NED is funding them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/iranian-officials-face-arrest-travelling-abroad-as-trial-nears-for-1988-massacre-1.1202170" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Iranian officials ‘face arrest’
travelling abroad as trial nears for 1988 massacre | The National
(thenationalnews.com)</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">And many links Boroumand ties to NED/CIA. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://www.ned.org/wp-content/themes/ned/search/grant-search.php?organizationName=&region=Middle+East+%26+North+Africa&projectCountry=Iran&amount=&fromDate=&toDate=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&projectFocus%5B%5D=&search=&maxCount=25&orderBy=AwardAmount&start=1&sbmt=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">NED Grant Search</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">On the one side you have the MEK, CIA funded NGOs, and on
the other, someone who was complicit in starting the 2009 allegations of fraud,
USC professor and a darling of the press, including Antiwar,. He started
the allegations of fraud with hsi tory about a 'fatwa' - Mohammad Sahimi.
Today, he is after Raisi today as he was 4 years ago. </span><a href="https://news.gooya.com/2017/04/post-2773.php" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">https://news.gooya.com/2017/04/post-2773.php</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I know Sahimi personally - not only chats at USC, but when I
lived in LA from 2007-2010, he used to over a lot with 2 other
professors. Would solicit information - that is, wanted me to be his
research lackey so that he could write articles under his own name. he
even plagiarized my articles and though I informed Eric Garris of Antiwar, in
spite of assurances, nothing happened and they continued to publish him
rejecting mine.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Not important, but mention the familiarity with him
and the things he disclosed. His younger brother was an MEK member who
got executed by IRI. His mother lost her mind over this. He was
silent and pro Iran until his mother died - then he started his mischief
against Iran. 2009 election fraud his handiwork. Let us hope that
2021 stays safe from him. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have no idea why IRI decided to reject Saeed Mohamamd in
favor of Raisi. Even without all the above info it was lunacy to reject
Mohammad when even Iran's enemies had likened him to Sardar Soleimany in the
realm of economics. But I have no doubt there will a great deal of
mayhem. A lot of false information, and Iran must brace
itself. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I sincerely hope I am wrong. </span></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-24321853048316103642021-05-19T09:06:00.002-07:002021-05-31T16:33:50.985-07:00Make a Difference - Be Heard!<p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-78492591776294446442021-05-16T13:19:00.006-07:002021-05-20T17:59:32.497-07:00Palestine or Israel? <p>Which has a right to exist?</p><p>Some make the argument based on Law - United Nations and the creation of the State of Israel.</p><p>Others make the argument based on Religion. God gave Jews the land.</p><p>Let's see.</p><p><span style="color: red;">History and international law</span><span>: Palestine -- the ancient Land of Canaan . For well over 5000 years to present, various people conquered and lived on this land – these included Egyptian, Turkish, Assyrian, Persian, and Jewish (David and Solomon and the Ten Tribes of Israel). In this long history of conquest and habitation, inarguably, the Canaanites were the first, which gave them priority; their </span>descendants<span> have continued to live there, which gives them continuity; and with the exception of the refugees chased out by Israeli terrorism, they continue to live there. The Canaanites are the Palestinians or the Arab population of today. The Atlantic Charter -- self-governing right -- applies to the Palestinians - the legal occupants of the land, and certainly not non-Arab Jews.</span></p><p><span>However, seems <i>terrorism trumps international law</i>. Under the British Mandate, Irgun and Stern terrorist gangs committed terrorism to the point of chasing out the British. The British did not want to retaliate fearing repercussions and so handed the issue over to the United Nations. The United Nations then awarded the terrorists with a state - Israel. </span></p><p><span>It should come as no surprise then that ISIS aspires to do the same. Perhaps the precedent has been set by the UN - commit enough acts of terrorism and you will be awarded with someone else's territories to make it your own state.</span> Zionism to Jews is the same as ISIS to Moslems. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red;">Religion</span>: Abraham did not promise the land to the Jews alone. When Abraham made a covenant with God through circumcision, all the land of Canaan was promised to him as 'an everlasting possession'. When the Bible says the word 'to thy seed', it included Arabs. Both Moslems and Christians can claim descent from Abraham through his son Ishmael.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And if you really want to be scientific about it, the </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "PT Serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> 2006 Nobel prize for physics was awarded to John Mather and George Smoot for their contribution to the big bang theory of the origin of the universe. God was not part of it. Absence God, absence 'God giving land to the Jews'. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not to forget another aspect of religious belief by some Jews. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span>On every Jewish festival, Jewish voices say: “Umipnay chatoenu golinu mayartsaynu" - "Because of our sins we were expelled from our land". It is believed that at a predestined time, God will send the Jews the Messiah and they will be able to return to the Promised Land. Jews are to accept exile and not attempt to force their way back. They stayed away from Jerusalem for 2,000 years because their religion forbade them from returning, not because they could not return. Yet today, those who are violating the laws of man and lay claim to ‘Eretz Yisrael’ as God’s land promised to them, are the ones who are betraying the very God they pretend to worship. <a href="https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3671017/jewish/Discover-the-Four-Exiles-of-the-Jewish-People.htm">https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3671017/jewish/Discover-the-Four-Exiles-of-the-Jewish-People.htm</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "PT Serif"; font-size: 15.3333px;">So however you want to spin it, the land belongs to Palestinians.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "PT Serif"; font-size: 15.3333px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "PT Serif"; font-size: 15.3333px;">Nothing will change that. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">As such, the ONLY people with legitimacy to live in Palestine are the Palestinian Moslems, Palestinian Jews, and Palestinian Christians. The rest are occupiers. </span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: PT Serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.3333px;">End the Occupation.</span></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-85840643834483569462021-05-16T10:17:00.005-07:002021-05-16T10:36:51.233-07:00Israel Massacres Palestinians; Liberal Media Victimizes the Victim<p> It should not have come as a shock, but it did. </p><p>Regardless of the mass worship of Wikileaks, I have always been suspicious of it. But I did not expect Consortium News to parrot drivel without a thought - without any investigation.</p><p>Consortium News posts Wikileaks garbage as Palestinians are getting slaughtered, making HAMAS the guilty party - and in fact painting it as a battle between 'good' and 'evil', 'secular' versus 'fanatic':</p><p>"<span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1419; display: inline; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">US cables show how </span><span class="r-18u37iz" face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-box-direction: normal; -webkit-box-orient: horizontal; background-color: white; color: #0f1419; flex-direction: row; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" color="inherit" dir="ltr" style="border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: inherit;">#Israel</span></span><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1419; display: inline; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> facilitated birth of </span><span class="r-18u37iz" face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-box-direction: normal; -webkit-box-orient: horizontal; background-color: white; color: #0f1419; flex-direction: row; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" color="inherit" dir="ltr" style="border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: inherit;">#HAMAS</span></span><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1419; display: inline; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in order to marginalise the PLO </span><span class="r-18u37iz" face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-box-direction: normal; -webkit-box-orient: horizontal; background-color: white; color: #0f1419; flex-direction: row; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" color="inherit" dir="ltr" style="border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: inherit;">#Gaza".</span></span></p><p><span class="r-18u37iz" face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-box-direction: normal; -webkit-box-orient: horizontal; background-color: white; color: #0f1419; flex-direction: row; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" color="inherit" dir="ltr" style="border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: inherit;"><a href="https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1393897791722860549">WikiLeaks on Twitter: "US cables show how #Israel facilitated birth of #HAMAS in order to marginalise the PLO #Gaza Link: https://t.co/RBtdBFPVoX Link: https://t.co/4t8h9Nk7UM https://t.co/kPX0PQk6Fx" / Twitter</a></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">These ignorant pretenders must be corrected. </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Hamas-an acronym
for the Islamic Resistance Movement-was born with the first Palestinian uprising
in December 1987. Hamas's goals-a
nationalist position couched in religious discourse-are articulated in Hamas's
key documents: a charter, political memoranda, and communiques. They have since moderated their stance and in
recent statements by key Hamas officials maintain that their goals are Israel's
withdrawal from lands occupied in the 1967 war, the end of Israeli occupation,
the establishment of a Palestinian state, and a solution to the refugee issue
(Roy, 2003, 2)</span><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="text-indent: 36pt;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> .</span></p><p><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">With the end of
the Intifada and the initiation of the Oslo peace process, the resistance
component of the Palestinian struggle-so critical to Hamas's political thinking
and action-was undermined. For Hamas,
social and political action is inextricably linked.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">However, the retreat from the
political sphere was pragmatic and accompanied by a need to rediscover Islam
and its relevance to society. This enabled Hamas to spread itself among the
Palestinian people and organize itself. In
the two- to three-year period before the second Intifida in 2000, Hamas was no
longer prominently or consistently calling for political or military action
against the occupation, but was instead shifting its attention to social works and the propagation of Islamic values and religious practice (Roy,
2003, 3)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">The
start of the second Palestinian Intifada on September 28, 2000, coupled with the impact of September 11, dramatically changed the environment in the
West Bank and Gaza(Rabbani & Roy, 2002,
1).<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Preexisting political arrangements had been severely disrupted, economic
conditions had deteriorated, and key social structures and mediatory
institutions had weakened. Within this context of desperation and hopelessness,
the Islamist opposition, notably Hamas, had reasserted itself. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon continued the Israeli land expansions through land
expropriations and economic dispossession.
It is unlikely that his agenda included a Palestinian state. The United States uneven handling of the
conflict encouraged Sharon’s plans. With a weak Palestinian leadership in place,
and the increasing significance of Hamas influence, the U.S. opened dialogue
with a senior Hamas leader in early September of 2002. Judging by the Israeli reaction, it seems
that Israel does not want to have any Palestinian engaged in dialogue with the
U.S. for fear that there may be a political solution to the Israel-Palestine
conflict. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">United
States-Hamas contacts, of which Israel was fully aware, ended when </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">the Israeli army arrested a politically moderate Hamas official in Ramallah on
September 9, which Hamas interpreted as a deliberate attempt by the Sharon
government to undermine its exchange with the Americans. A few days later,
Israel launched an attack in Rafah that killed nine Palestinians, including
civilians. Predictably, a suicide bomber staged an attack on a bus in Tel Aviv
on September 19, killing six people.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Other Hamas-Palestinian
Authority (PA) cease-fires have been undermined by Israeli attacks. Alex Fishman,
the security commentator for the right-of-center Yediot Achronot, Israel's
largest mass-circulation newspaper, detailed in the November 25, 2001 issue of
the newspaper how the assassination that November of Mahmud Abu Hanud, a key
Hamas figure, shattered a Hamas promise not to carry out suicide bombings
inside Israel: "Whoever gave the green light to this act of liquidation
knew full well that he was thereby shattering in one blow the gentleman's
agreement between Hamas and the PA; under that agreement, Hamas was to avoid in
the near future suicide bombings inside the Green Line [Israel's pre-1967
borders] of the kind perpetrated at the Dolphinarium [a discotheque in Tel
Aviv].( Perry, 2004, 7) </span><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="text-indent: 36pt;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span></span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">In effect,
Israel’s actions led Hamas to play into their hands. Having already marginalized the PLO and Yasir
Arafat, by instigating Hamas suicide bombings Sharon would ensure that
negotiations for a Palestinian state would not take place, no matter what the
cost. Although seemingly agreeing to
the “road map” initiated by the U.S., Sharon’s underlying intentions were
otherwise. The Israeli prime minister actions led to a
period of suicide bombings by Hamas, followed by negotiations while Israel
expanded in to the West Bank, having found the perfect excuse to deal heavy
handedly with Hamas and PLO and to build a barrier which it claimed was to stop
the suicide bombings. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">On Aug 8, 2003
more than 40 protestors were arrested by the Israeli government </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">for attempting to interfere with construction of the security barrier
separating Israel and the West Bank. In a raid by Israeli troops, one Israeli
Defense Forces (IDF) soldier and </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">two suspected Hamas bomb-makers were shot and killed. The raid took place in
the “Askar” refugee camp next to the West Bank city of Nabilus. On August
12</span><sup style="text-indent: 36pt;">th</sup><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade and Hamas claimed responsibility for
separate suicide bombings near Rosh Haayin in Israel. Although the attacks were
uncoordinated, they occurred a few miles, and less than an hour, apart (Middle
East Journal, 2003).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">With the
escalation of suicide bombings, the European Union imposed a sanction on Hamas
and their assets were frozen. Sharon
started targeting top Hamas personnel, and in 2004 Israel’s extra judicial assassination
of Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin was supported by the United States. This gave Sharon the green light and he gave
the orders to kill the man who replaced Yassin – Abdel Aziz Rantisi. Again, without being reprimanded from
Washington, and finding that Hamas is
being crushed, having found that the Middle East Peace Plan is moving in
accordance to Sharon’s wishes, that is unilaterally and unacceptable not only
to Palestinians, but to the whole Arab world, Sharon has now declared that he
will target Arafat. This will buy him
the excuse to eliminate anyone to negotiate with for an independent Palestinian
state.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">The suicide
bombing tactics served to advance Sharon’s goals and that of Israel. They came across as the aggressors that
created fear and mistrust who had to be dealt with brutally. With the world super power backing every
action of your opponent, it is hard to devise a plan to counter their
aggression. Even the United Nations and
Europe is impotent vis-à-vis U.S. and Israel.
It would have been fruitless for Hamas to have protested at the onset of
the Israeli master plan. It would have
no doubt fallen on deaf ears. It is
clear that their unity with PLO and Arafat would have served Palestine. As it stands, suicide bombings gave Sharon a
carte blanche, did not further the cause of the Palestinian people, and
depleted Hamas of funds, to say the least.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
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<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 11pt;">Roy, Sara. “Hamas and the transformation(s) of
political Islam in Palestine”. <i>Current
History</i>. Jan 2003<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Roy, Sara. “Hamas and the transformation(s) of
political Islam in Palestine”. <i>Current
History</i>. Jan 2003<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Rabbani, M & Roy, S. "Palestinian Politics and September
11th: Critical Changes in Policy and Structure," <i>Middle East Policy</i>, December 2002
<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/hamas.doc#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Perry, M. "Israeli Offensive Disrupts US-Hamas
Contacts," <i>Palestine Report</i>,
October 9, 2002 Downloaded April 23, 2004 from <httpJ/www.jmcc.org/
media/report/02/Oct/2b <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div><p><span class="r-18u37iz" face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-box-direction: normal; -webkit-box-orient: horizontal; background-color: white; color: #0f1419; flex-direction: row; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" color="inherit" dir="ltr" style="border: 0px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font: inherit; margin: 0px; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; white-space: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-66171887225344314682021-04-13T11:11:00.001-07:002021-04-13T11:11:21.912-07:00Iran's Nuclear "Threat"<p><span style="background-color: #fcff01;"> Article first published on Payvand News on October 2, 2006</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i>‘A nuclear accident anywhere is a nuclear accident everywhere’<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal">On September 28, 2006, the House of Representatives passed
the ‘Iran Sanctions Bill’ HR6198.
Representative Tom Lantos, the
top Democrat on the House International Affairs Committee, said: "<i>If we fail to use the economic and
diplomatic tools available to us, the world will face a nightmare that knows no
end: a despotic, fundamentalist regime wedded both to terrorism and to the most
terrifying weapons known to man</i>,” ."<i>In the meantime, we cannot shirk our responsibility to employ every
peaceful means possible to defeat <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iran's</st1:place></st1:country-region> reckless nuclear military
ambitions,".</i></p><p class="MsoNormal">Allegations have been made that <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region>
is engaged in a clandestine operation to divert its civilian nuclear program
into a nuclear arms program, threatening the world [read <st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place>]. Igniting a fuse of suspicion, attention has
been diverted away from the real threat posed to the world by the imposition of
sanctions and threats of military actions. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has
not found <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region>
to be in violation of its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
and no evidence of weaponization has
been found. However, <st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place>’s
nuclear energy program has been built in isolation, under sanctions. Sanctions and threat of war only exacerbate the situation. </p><p class="MsoNormal">It must be reiterated that all Parties to the NPT are
entitled to participate to the fullest possible exchange of scientific
information for, and to contribute alone or in cooperation with other States to
the further development of the applications of atomic energy for peaceful
purpose. <st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place>
is a party to this Treaty. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Contrary to their commitments under the NPT, the five
nuclear power states, Russia, Britain, France, China, and United States, have opted
to use this Treaty as a political tool, ‘doling out’ technical assistance to chosen
allies. Not only has the spirit of the
NPT become obsolete, but in an ever changing turning world, where friends and
enemies shift places, assistance based on policies rather than science must
surely prompt one to question the sanity of our current world order.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Given that fossil fuels are exhaustible, the nuclear
industry has proven itself to be a viable source of energy. An increasing number of countries are turning
to this source for their electrical needs, developing countries among them. Even environmentalists, who had once shunned
the industry, now hail it as a solution to global warming and there is growing
cooperation between them and the nuclear industry (Nuclear Power: 58-60)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span><!--[endif]--></a>. In spite of these developments, in the
anarchy of a politically charged world system, the spirit of collective
responsibility is being slighted by the dictates of irrational policies, rendering
the international safety of nuclear power plants unobtainable. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Regrettably, although the <st1:city w:st="on">Chernobyl</st1:city> power plant tragedy reinforced the
need for international cooperation, politics dominate the arena of decision
making while the safety of nuclear power plants are placed in the hands of ambitious policy makers. This tragedy failed to impress upon us the
safety culture that is so pertinent in the safe operation of a nuclear power
plant. While the extend of human losses
from Chernobyl is still unknown, it has
been said that the accident caused up to 300,000 deaths (The Economist, April
27, 1991), or it may ultimately claim more victims than did World War II (Read,
1993)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span><!--[endif]--></a>. Yet today, caution is thrown to the wind as
the rapid growth of the nuclear industry takes place under sanctions and
isolation.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Contrary to the fear instilled by politician to further
their sanctions and wars, nuclear bearing terrorists, or indeed, nuclear armed
hostile states are not the biggest threat facing the <st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place> today. The problem of the safety and security of
Russian nuclear weapons and nuclear material has been called the most urgent
unmet national security threat to the <st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place> today. This is the conclusion of a recent report by
a bipartisan task force that was organized to review and assess the U.S.
Department of Energy’s (DOE) nonproliferation programs in <st1:place w:st="on">Russia</st1:place> and to make recommendations
for their improvement. The task force
was co-chaired by the former Senate majority leader, Howard Baker, and Lloyd
Cutler a former counsel to <st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place>
presidents (Baker and Cutler, 2001). </p><p class="MsoNormal">Yet attention and resources are diverted towards ending a
nuclear program in <st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place>
alleged to be engaged in diverting a civilian program into bomb-making. The fiasco behind this is to affect regime
change and install a <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region>
friendly regime who would sacrifice <st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place>’s sovereignty. This futile
rhetoric is a waste of resource as not only does it leave the international
community inadequately protected, but every effort is made to conceal the
dangers inherent with the lack of a diminishing “safety culture” resulting from
sanctions. History has shown economic
sanctions and political reprimands are ineffective in preventing nuclear
technology; <st1:country-region w:st="on">North Korea</st1:country-region> and <st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place>
are two cases in point. Even an Israeli
air strike against the Iraqi Osirak nuclear plant in 1981 did not curb their
ambitions. Given the determination of
countries to reach their goal to be on par with the West, one must therefore weigh
the consequences of isolation and sanctions. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">In 1993 Martin Indyk,<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
the National Security Council's Senior Director for the Near East and South
Asia; portrayed Iran to be the world's foremost sponsor of
terrorism and assassinations, sounding alarm about Iran’s alleged attempt to
build weapons of mass destruction. According to <st1:city w:st="on">Indyk</st1:city>,
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region> sought to undermine the
Arab-Israeli peace efforts, to subvert friendly Arab governments and to
intimidate the <st1:place w:st="on">Persian Gulf</st1:place> region by military
means. Indyk proposed "dual containment" for <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region> and its troublesome neighbor, <st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place>.
President Bill Clinton signed two executive orders in 1995, banning commercial
interaction with <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region> (<st1:city w:st="on">Fairbanks</st1:city>)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span><!--[endif]--></a>. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The unfounded sanctions, put forward by Senator Alfonse
D’Amato (R-N.Y.) and heavily backed by American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC), had an immediate impact on <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region>’s economy. After the Iran-Iraq war (1988), <st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place>’s
foreign debt of less than $5 jumped to about $30 billion in 1993. In May 1995, due to ban on oil sale to U.S.
firms, which forced Iran to accept a discount of 30-80 cents on the oil it
could sell, Iran suffered a loss of $100 million to $200 million, as well as
the collapse of the Iranian currency (Clawson, 89-93)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span><!--[endif]--></a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal">As history has shown, policies of restriction or containment
through foreign economic relations do not work.
In a porous world, sanctions are largely ineffective and coercion cannot
control the flow of nuclear technology among interested countries. What
sanctions do contribute to is an increase in the dangers arising from a poor
safety culture. </p><p class="MsoNormal">It has been demonstrated that in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Britain</st1:country-region>,
the staffing crisis caused by the decision to close Montague’s <st1:placename w:st="on">Peel</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Park</st1:placetype>
headquarters in <st1:place w:st="on">East Kilbride</st1:place> could put safety
at risk. Among factors contributing to <i>potential risk</i>, low morale of operators
was one for an inspectorate report had concluded that the British Energy had
failed to relocate its staff from and “the consequential impact has had an
adverse effect on the staff with respect to <i>stress,
morale and uncertainty</i> <i>over their
future</i>.” (Edwards)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[v]</span><!--[endif]--></a>. While in <st1:place w:st="on">Britain</st1:place> failure to relocate had a
consequential impact, the Iranian worker deals with far graver personal risks
which affect his/her personal safety, imposing a crisis in the safety culture.</p><p class="MsoNormal">As the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Peel</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Park</st1:placetype></st1:place> reactor
demonstrates, low morale among nuclear reactor operators is a critical factor
in safety. The threat to Iranian scientists and the stress in the ever present fear of an aerial attack by the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region> or <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel lend themselves to an important crisis in safety culture</st1:country-region>. A military attack is rarely far from the
operators’ mind as driven home by <i>The American Conservative</i> (August 1, 2005)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_edn6" name="_ednref6" title=""><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[vi]</span></a> reports that the Bush
Administration is preparing a conventional and even nuclear air attack on
Iran’s strategic (translates nuclear and military) sites. Knowing that every day of their lives is a
risk, the operators of these facilities must surely have a low morale,
rendering the safety culture ineffective.
Indeed, it would be hard to imagine an operator thinking of the safety
culture of an industry when the industry is the daily topic of an attack by a
superpower. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Further, the nuclear plant operators risk the possibility of
an industrial sabotage as was suggested by Patrick Clawson, Deputy Director for
Washington Institute for Near East Policy declared in a gathering at the <st1:placename w:st="on">Woodrow</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Wilson</st1:placename>
<st1:placename w:st="on">Center</st1:placename> that an industrial accident the
scale of <st1:place w:st="on">Three Mile Island</st1:place> should be put into
effect to sabotage the Iranian nuclear power plant. Broadcasted simultaneously
on C-Span on November 29, 2004 (Hoover Institution)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_edn7" name="_ednref7" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[vii]</span><!--[endif]--></a>,
this horrific scenario must surely have had a chilly effect on the Iranian
power plant staff. This rhetoric is not
lost on the Iranian nuclear power plant staff, putting plant safety and safety
culture on the back-burner.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Aside from safety, in spite of years of operation at the
nuclear power plant in <st1:place w:st="on">Britain</st1:place>,
British Energy’s Montague says that there are “reliability problems”, “with one
problem being that some of the thousands of graphite bricks that surround the
reactor cores cracking, threatening the safe running of the plants.” “[T]he unplanned loss of nuclear generation
in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">UK</st1:country-region> was 12-perent in
2002, compared to under 2-per cent in the <st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place>.” (Murphy)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_edn8" name="_ednref8" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[viii]</span><!--[endif]--></a>
. <st1:country-region w:st="on">Britain</st1:country-region>
is a member of the NPT, a democracy, and Western country with close ties to the
<st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place>. This declared nuclear power is able to avail
itself of top of the line technology, including the know-how of a safety
culture, yet it has not succeeded to create efficient plants and optimum
conditions. It is hard to imagine <st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place>, under sanctions and in
isolation, accomplishing this. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The fact that the heads of the G-7 governments spent two
days in 1996 to discuss civil nuclear issues with Russian leaders, attests to
the fact that the world powers have are concerned with the safety of Soviet designed
nuclear reactors (and fissile material safety).
Many have sounded alarmed about the possibility of another Chernobyl-type
accident (The World Today)<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_edn9" name="_ednref9" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ix]</span><!--[endif]--></a>. Yet they are dooming a nation for pursuing
its inalienable right, and with it, they may be dooming untold others.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Antagonism has been seeded among nations as a result of irrational
policies, and along with it, the comradeship that is essential among scientists
to take us along the path of civilization has been eroded. In the words of Dr.
Homi J. Bhabha, father of <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>’s
atomic energy:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 50.4pt;">“<i>Our first duty as scientists is to establish the truth, and in this
matter our responsibility to humanity transcends our allegiance to any state</i>.” And: <i>“[F]or
the continuation of our civilization and its further development, atomic energy
is not merely and aid; it is an absolute necessity</i>.”(United Nations
Presidential Speech – 1956).</p><p class="MsoNormal">It would seem however, that when it comes to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region>, the <st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place> was only too happy to
use the Shah of Iran as a poster boy for nuclear energy. Sitting on top of all that oil, he made a
handsome figure in his uniform selling nuclear power plants for Boston
Edison. The French and Germans all
cooperated. Perhaps the IR Iran is
not up to modeling. Today, it would seem that Senator Ros-Lehtinen who spends more time defending terrorists than
the interests of her adopted country, the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region>, has her mind set on
war – for they inevitably follow sanctions.
Her heart set on the MEK as the future rulers of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region>, she declares: “This group loves the <st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place>.
They’re assisting us in the war on terrorism; they’re pro-U.S.”<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> . She champions them and along with like-minded
colleagues devotes her time to have them removed from the state list of
terrorists. If only she would serve <st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place>.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps those others who have ‘ordered’ the imposition of
sanctions, should also be reminded that ‘ <i>a
nuclear accident anywhere, is a nuclear accident everywhere’. <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Australian
origin and AIPAC member<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Deleay,
Sam. “Rep. Ros.Lentinen Defends Iranian Group Labeled Terrorist Front for
Saddam Hossein”. <i>The Hill</i>. 8 April,
2003<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</div><p>
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<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> “Nuclear Power: The Shape of Things to Come?”. <i>The Economist.</i> July 9<sup>th</sup>-15<sup>th</sup>
2005: 58-60<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> Read, P.P. <i>Ablaze: The Story of the Heroes and Victims
of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Chernobyl</st1:city></st1:place></i>. <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New
York</st1:place></st1:state>: Random House 1993<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><sup><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> Fairbanks, Stephen. “<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region></st1:place>: No Easy Answers”. <i>Journal of International Affairs </i>54.2 (2001): 447-465<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Clawson, Patrick. “<st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place>”. <i>Economic Sanctions and American Diplomacy. </i>Ed. R. Haass. CFR. <st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place> 1998<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn5">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Ibid<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn6">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_ednref6" name="_edn6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[vi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> Giraldi,
Philip. “Deep Background”. <i>The American Conservative.</i> August 2005issue Downloaded on July 30
2005 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amconmag.com/2005_08_01/article3.html">http://www.amconmag.com/2005_08_01/article3.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn7">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_ednref7" name="_edn7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[vii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> <st1:city w:st="on">Hoover</st1:city> Institution –
“Foreign Policy Options on <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place></st1:country-region>”
. November 29, 2004. <a href="http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/pubaffairs/whatsnew/112004/iran.html">http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/pubaffairs/whatsnew/112004/iran.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn8">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_ednref8" name="_edn8" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[viii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> Murphy, Francois.
“Un Atomic Chief Says Supports U.S.-India Nuke Deal”. <i>Reuters News. </i>20 July 2005<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn9">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/Iran's%20Nuclear%20Threat.doc#_ednref9" name="_edn9" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ix]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
“Nuclear Accidents Waiting to Happen”. <i>The
World Today. </i>April 1996: 93-95<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-71431905498524093532021-03-27T07:41:00.004-07:002021-08-13T13:11:52.280-07:00Underneath the Rubbles: The Argentina Conspiracy<p> <span style="background-color: #fcff01;"><i><b>This article was first published in 2008 on different media sites. There is not a trace of it in search engines. Reposting here to make sure it continues to exist on line!</b></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1047235.html"> Haaretz</a> reports that an Argentine judge has
ordered the property of a former Iranian diplomat to be seized as compensation awarded
to a <span class="t13">survivor of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center
in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Buenos Aires</st1:city></st1:place>. Without verification, Israeli and American
accusations trump lack of evidence in any jurisdiction- <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region></st1:place> in particular – since it
stands to benefit from the verdict. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p>The U.S.-Argentina relationship has always been in a struggle; but it was
Ronald Reagan, the man who declared to the American people: “<i>We raised a
banner of bold colors--no pale pastels. We proclaimed a dream of an <st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region> that would be a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Shining</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">City</st1:placetype></st1:place>
on a Hill” </i>who strengthened the
ties. Reagan’s opposition to the
Sardinistas prompted him to solicit the aid of the most ruthless military regime
<st1:place w:st="on">Argentina</st1:place>
has ever known to train the Contras<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>.
<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">The
same regime that was responsible for the disappearance of 20,000 people during
1976-1983, according to The Center for Legal and Social Studies in <st1:place w:st="on">Buenos Aires</st1:place>. Other reports speculate the toll to reach as
high as 30,000. Juan Mendez of Americas
Watch has compared Argentine’s “dirty war” to “the tragedies experienced by human kind subsequent
to World War II". A former
lieutenant commander in the Argentine navy confessed in 1995 that 1,500 to
2,000 live and drugged bodies of victims had been jettisoned into the <st1:place w:st="on">Atlantic</st1:place> from planes<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">Among
the victims were some 2000 Jews. Hitler
was not without long-term impact in <st1:place w:st="on">Argentina</st1:place>. The country's military regime kept secret
camps decorated with swastikas.<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> A
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs <a href="http://www.jcpa.org/jpsr/jpsr-mualem-s04.htm">publication</a> reveals
that during this period, the foreign policy of Israel was to offer assistance
to the Jews in Argentina, but at the same time “to cooperate with the military regime in realizing economic
goals” of Israel. “<st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> was accused by various quarters within the
Israeli political system and the Jewish community in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region> of deserting hundreds of
Argentinean Jews, some of whom disappeared and some of whom were arrested and
tortured under the military junta's rule.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">Some
two thousand Jewish lives later, with a different ambition in mind, that of
destroying 70 million Iranians, <st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place>
is seeking compensation for a building that was bombed. With <st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place> in tow and a compliant
Argentine who is too happy to bury the past –literally, a compensation of one
million dollars is being sought for one survivor.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">It has
been a well-kept secret that an important project being carried out in the
Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building was a review of previously
secret government files that reportedly reveal how Nazis entered <st1:place w:st="on">Argentina</st1:place>
following World War II helped by Argentine officials. The review of the files
had gone on for two years, but had not been completed at the time of the
bombing. “Speculation centered on the
possibility that former Argentine government and military officials, fearful of
exposure, were responsible for the bomb attack.”<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">It is
hard to disregard the views of Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate director of the <st1:placename w:st="on">Simon</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Wiesenthal</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Center</st1:placetype> in <st1:place w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:place>.
Cooper suggests that government and military figures may have sought to
embarrass the Menem government because of its decision to release the files.
"Anti-Semitism is endemic in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region>". Exemplifying this is the fact that <st1:place w:st="on">Argentina</st1:place>'s
chief rabbi was assaulted while walking to synagogue by youths who pushed him
to the ground and shouted anti-Semitic curses. The attack was followed by the painting of Nazi slogans on the chief
rabbi's synagogue<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. Unlikely events in <st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">However,
blaming the bombing on Iranian-backed elements serves both <st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place> and Argentine. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">It
exonerates Argentina – and while it saves them domestic conflict and
embarrassment, spares the compensation that would be due not only as a result
of the bombings, but the paper trail would assure them a fate similar to that
of Germany’s. Perhaps no other judge has
better served <st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region>
than <span class="t13">Alberto Nisman. In
spite of Madoff’s disservice to the Jewish community, it is not the million
dollar compensation that will make or break anyone in the community. Even as the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United
States</st1:country-region> is in a recession, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> continues to enjoy receiving
</span>30% of the total foreign aid. The
<a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3362402,00.html">2008 budget</a>
submitted by Bush to Congress was a 12% increase over 2007. President-elect Obama, <a href="http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=9ae5fcc1-9f89-4a44-8ed9-f6deecb24884">addressing
AIPAC</a>, promised even more: $30 billion in aid to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The aim of this fiasco is to further <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>’s
foreign policy. In a diversionary tactic
and in order to distract from their expansionist ideology and terrorist
tactics, <st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place>
is being scapegoated. A Soviet
correspondent once said this of the Americans:
“I think that the fundamental difference between our worlds, with
respect to propaganda, is quite simple. You tend to believe yours ... and we
tend to disbelieve ours." Obviously
he was not familiar with Israeli propaganda. Once again, ambitious Israeli politicians are
demonstrating that they can turn away from the anti-Semitism in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region> in order to further their destructive
policies in the <st1:place w:st="on">Middle East</st1:place>. With persecution of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region> as centre-piece of this policy, they fail
to recognize that the rubbles in <st1:place w:st="on">Buenos
Aires</st1:place> will not hide the truth.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"> “<i>Truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it and ignorance may
deride it, but, in the end, there it is.”</i> - Winston Churchill<o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><div><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <i>Pawning Honor for the Contras.</i><span class="t13"> </span><span class="bold">New York Times</span>. (Late Edition
(east Coast)). <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">New York</st1:city>,
<st1:state w:st="on">N.Y.</st1:state></st1:place>:Aug 21, 1987.
p. A.26 <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Jerry
W. Knudson, “<i>Veil of Silence; The
Argentine Press and the Dirty War 1976-1983</i>”. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Esther
Schrader, <span class="bold"><i>President of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Argentina</st1:place></st1:country-region>
Apologizes for Nation's Role as Haven for Nazis</i>. </span><st1:city w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:city> Times. : Jun 14,
2000. pg. 16<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> <i>Jewish Center
Bombed in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region></st1:place></i>.
<span class="bold">The Christian Century</span>. <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:city>:Jul 27, 1994. Vol. 111,
Iss. 22, p. 716 (2 pp.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="edn5">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/dbd33538c8c8a4fd/Documents/Libraries/Documents/The%20Argentina%20Conspiracy.docx#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <i>Jewish Center Bombed in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region></st1:place>, ibid<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><i> </i></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</div><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-43690201279399281322021-01-04T09:34:00.003-08:002021-01-04T09:34:25.973-08:00In memoriam - Sardar<p> General Soleimany was, and is, a gift to mankind struggling for peace and justice.</p><p>Press TV interview.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.urmedium.com/c/presstv/58556">https://www.urmedium.com/c/presstv/58556</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-39294197631629896862020-12-22T10:26:00.006-08:002020-12-25T15:08:34.688-08:00Health Imperialism and Discriminatory International Laws<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-outline-level: 3;"><a href="https://whyitscommonsense.blogspot.com/2020/12/health-imperialism-and-discriminatry.html"><b><span style="color: #6699cc; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Health
Imperialism and Discriminatory International Laws</span></b></a><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i> </i></b><i>“Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promise,
for never intending to go beyond promise costs nothing.” </i><span style="font-size: 11pt;">- Edmund Burke</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Joe Biden’s statements on resuscitating the 2015 Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has also reignited an old debate inside
Iran. With the Rouhani administration clearly siding with those pushing for
unconditional return to the ‘deal’ signed with the U.S. and five other world powers, it is important
to discuss what is at stake - specifically as it relates to medical isotopes
and Iran's enrichment needs.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>While the United States and its western ‘allies’ demand that
Iran stop all enrichment of up to 20% for its research reactor and medical
isotopes, the US government has continued its efforts to commercialize nuclear
medicine. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In 2011, while the Obama administration was busy talking in
secret with the ‘reformist’ groups attempting to influence and undermine Iran’s
rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the U.S. Congress passed the “<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/senate-bill/99/text">American
Medical Isotopes Production Act of 2011”</a> . The Bill calls for providing
uranium to private sector companies to make medical isotopes with U.S.
government undertaking the task of waste removal: “The lease contracts
shall provide for the Secretary to retain responsibility for the final
disposition of radioactive waste created by the irradiation, processing, or
purification of leased uranium.” It is important to read the entire Bill
here: <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-112s99is/pdf/BILLS-112s99is.pdf">E:\BILLS\S99.IS
(govinfo.gov)</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Under Section 6 titled ‘<span class="lbexallcap"><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-transform: uppercase;">DOMESTIC MEDICAL ISOTOPE PRODUCTION</span></b></span><span class="lbexsectionlevelolc"><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">’</span></b></span>, the Bill stipulates:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i> </i><i>“(a) In General.— Chapter 10 of the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954 (</i><a href="http://uscode.house.gov/quicksearch/get.plx?title=42&section=2131"><i>42
U.S.C. 2131 et seq.</i></a><i>) is amended by adding at the end the following:</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i> </i><i>“Sec. 112. Domestic Medical Isotope Production.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>“a. The Commission may issue a license, or grant an
amendment to an existing license, for the use in the United States of highly
enriched uranium as a target for medical isotope production in a nuclear
reactor, only if, in addition to any other requirement of this Act.”</i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Clearly not a proliferation concern. America is the
arbitrator of international treaties – it would seem with cooperation from
other powers. But Iran’s uranium enriched to 19.75% - considered to be LEU
and necessary for research reactors and medicinal purposes - has to be
halted. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Through National Nuclear Security Administration, the U.S.
is monopolizing and handing control over global medical isotope production to
profit-driven companies. Here is the statement published on <a href="https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-s-molybdenum-99-program-establishing-reliable-supply-mo-99-produced-without-highly">NNSA’s
website</a>:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><i>“As part of its mission to minimize the use of highly
enriched uranium (HEU), NNSA’s Office of Material Management and Minimization
was tasked to lead the Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) program. Mo-99 is an isotope that
is used in over 40,000 medical procedures in the United States each day, but is
100% supplied by foreign vendors, most of which use HEU in the production
process.”</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>It also identifies four private companies currently working
with the U.S. government:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">NorthStar Medical
Radioisotopes, LLC, located in Beloit, Wisconsin</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span>SHINE Medical Technologies,
located in Janesville, Wisconsin Northwest<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span>Medical Isotopes, located
in Corvallis, Oregon<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span>Niowave, Inc., located in Lansing,
Michigan”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Medical isotopes are a lucrative, growing business and one
that is essential to human health.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Radiotherapy can be used to
treat some medical conditions, especially cancer, using radiation to weaken or
destroy particular targeted cells.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span>Over 40 million nuclear
medicine procedures are performed each year, and demand for radioisotopes is
increasing at up to 5% annually.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span>Sterilization of medical
equipment is also an important use of radioisotopes<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The global radioisotope market was valued at $9.6 billion in 2016, with
medical radioisotopes accounting for about 80% of the total, and poised to
reach about $17 billion by 2021. North America is the dominant market for
diagnostic radioisotopes with close to half of the market share, while Europe
accounts for about 20%. Hence, 70% of the global medical
radioisotopes goes to a population of 778 million people (US 331 and EU 447
million) while 7 billion (global population 7.8 billion less US and EU) are
left with only 30%. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Where there is health imperialism, profit, and
discrimination, there is Bill Gates. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ajes.12110"> According
to the </a><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ajes.12110">Journal of
Economics and Sociology (2015)</a>, Bill Gates, the single biggest
contributor to World Health Organization (WHO): </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><i>"Gates calls for discussion “about which parts of
the process [WHO] should lead and which ones others (including the World Bank
and the G7 countries) should lead in close coordination.” While the article
contains perfunctory nods to U.N. authority, as well as brief lip service to
the idea of strengthening public health services in poor countries, there can
be little doubt that Gates is advocating a new form of international
institution, transcending the United Nations, targeting the developing world,
and effectively controlled by the wealthy nations of the
West". </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">It comes as no surprise therefore that Gates in
involved with nuclear medicine. "</span><a href="https://terrapower.com/" style="background-color: transparent;">TerraPower</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">, the nuclear research venture
founded by Bill Gates, is joining with Isotek Systems and the U.S. Department
of Energy in a public-private partnership aimed at turning what otherwise would
be nuclear waste into radiation doses for cancer treatment." </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Such benevolence. But sovereign signatory nations
party to the NPT are not permitted to cure their sick.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Furthermore, the more affluent people living in countries
with limited access to nuclear medicine, find their way to the US or the EU for
treatment, benefiting from their affluence while taking their home country's
wealth to the West. And the gap is only growing.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In the USA there are over 20 million nuclear medicine
procedures conducted per year, and in Europe about 10 million. In Australia
there are about 560,000 per year, with 470,000 using reactor isotopes. The use
of radiopharmaceuticals in diagnosis is <a href="https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/non-power-nuclear-applications/radioisotopes-research/radioisotopes-in-medicine.aspx">growing
at over 10% per year</a>. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"> But in spite of the dire shortage of medical isotopes as
reported by <a href="https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/medical-radioisotopes-still-produced-but-facing-distribution-challenges-globally-data-collected-by-iaea-shows">IAEA
report – April 2020,</a> JCPOA and the signatories, are demanding that Iran not
produce this life-saving nuclear medicine. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The degree of double standards and hypocrisy cannot be emphasized
enough. Only <a href="http://www.oecd.org/health/the-supply-of-medical-isotopes-9b326195-en.htm">10
nuclear reactors</a>, many of which are nearing 50 years of operation, produce
over 95% of the world’s supply. In 2007, Poland used HEU to supply medical
isotopes – and continued. Why and how is it that the IAEA and other
members states have no problem with Poland possessing HEU? “In
2007, during a supply crisis in the molybdenum 99 market (caused by breakdowns
at some of the older reactors, particularly the Canadian NRU reactor), Poland’s
MARIA reactor increased its HEU-based production of molybdenum 99 to fill the
gap. Though the crisis has passed, the Polish reactor does not appear to have
reduced its production. It too uses HEU fuel and targets. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>One of the main suppliers of medical isotope is the
Netherlands using bomb grade/HEU to process. Obviously
not an issue with the IAEA or the U.S. or anyone else. South Africa has
maintained around 80 kilograms of its HEU according to NTI <a href="https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/civilian-heu-south-africa/">Civilian
HEU: South Africa | NTI</a> Clearly, <a href="https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-collaborates-south-african-firm-groundbreaking-conversion-low-enriched-uranium">blessed
by America</a> as they are working on producing LEU medical isotopes while the
U.S. looks the other way</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>It is not clear how anyone can accept so much discrimination
in applying science, and to enforce not only lawlessness, but health imperialism.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #292929; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-7600096880006761982020-12-09T10:43:00.003-08:002020-12-10T08:13:12.683-08:00Global Health Governance ; Health Imperialism<p> The world has been trapped in a state of panic, fear, hunger, unemployment, and downright misery. Now there are promises of vaccines so that we can return to 'normalcy'.</p><p>Regardless of how you view the "pandemic", what your plans and beliefs are, you owe it to yourself to be at least informed. </p><p>This is a 2015 publication. The groundwork was laid down for health imperialism. Fear is fueling it. </p><p>Click on the link and read it. It is worth every minute of your time to read every page. Download in case removed.</p><p><i>American Journal of Economics and Sociology (2015)</i></p><p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ajes.12110" style="font-size: x-large;">Gates et al And Our Health</a><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></p><p>Replace the last couple of pages with "adversary" China instead of poor countries.</p><p>Noteworthy is the insistence on giving 'blacks' the vaccine first. </p><p>Cuomo: <span style="background-color: white; color: #042d4d; font-family: proximanova-regular-webfont; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.6px;">"And that's why I'm fighting for a mechanism that brings social equity, where the public housing projects get it first and the low-income communities get it first."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #042d4d; font-family: proximanova-regular-webfont; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.6px; line-height: 1.42857; margin: 0px 0px 10px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.6px;">"Cuomo pointed to the disproportionate death toll for communities of color during the height of the pandemic. Black people were likely to die at twice the average rate and be infected at twice at the average rate as well." </span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2351494077574155627.post-69412676750036393792020-11-07T16:52:00.001-08:002020-11-07T16:52:55.320-08:00The Media and Elections<p> In 2013, I was asked by the ACLU (Shasta Chapter) to give a one hour presentation about 'Government Secrecy', Drones, and Militarization of Police. Social media was not yet a hindrance to our liberties at that time, although it did plenty to interfere in other countries. So sadly, the issue of social media was never discussed. But it is not separate from the mainstream media/corporations and other issues discussed in that talk.</p><p>Given what has happened in the 2020 elections, I am posting my talking points (all of it, mistakes and all) in the hope that it may help us understand what the media did in all this.</p><p>Incidentally, Trump's maker, i.e. Murdoch and Fox abandoned him as early as early-mid October. See <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/10/rupert-murdoch-off-trump-train">link here</a></p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">ACLU talk April 13,
2013<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I would like to thank the ACLU (Shasta chapter) for inviting
me to be here with you today – to talk about grave issues
which are of so much concern to us, our rights, and our country -- <u><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">"Government
Secrecy, drones, and militarization".<o:p></o:p></span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A functioning democracy</span><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> requires the
people to hold their government to account. Accountability, in turn, requires
knowledge about government activities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 20.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 20.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Our fourth President, James Madison</span><span style="font-size: 20.0pt;"> <i><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">believed Knowledge would always govern ignorance</span></i>; and <span style="color: magenta;">the people must arm themselves with the power which
knowledge gives .<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 20.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 16.0pt;">Surely then, Secrecy is disempowering cyber
security bill </span><span lang="EN">known as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and
Protection Act, CISPA would create a loophole in all existing privacy laws,
allowing companies to share Internet users' data with the National Security
Agency, part of the Department of Defense, and the biggest spy agency in the
world — without any legal oversight.</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 16.0pt;"> Increasingly, on a daily basis, while our rights are beign
trampled upon, such as with CISPA bill, government secrecy is increasing. There seems to be direct correlation between
government secrecy and our right to privacy! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 20.0pt;">A 2005 report
found that for every $1 spent on declassification, $148 is spent to classify.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 20.0pt;">In 2011, The federal government spent more than $11 billion to
protect its secrets, double the cost of classification a decade ago —and 1.2
billion dollars over the previous year. This sum does not include the costs incurred by the </span><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/central_intelligence_agency/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about the Central Intelligence Agency."><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 20.0pt;">Central
Intelligence Agency</span></a><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 20.0pt;">, the </span><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_security_agency/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about National Security Agency, U.S."><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 20.0pt;">National
Security Agency</span></a><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 20.0pt;"> and other spy agencies, Pentagon, …. — classified.</span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 20.0pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 20.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> It is <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Moreover</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">, <b>the
government diminishes criticism by keeping information secret, and thereby
regulates criticism.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">There is no statutory base to what should be stamped as
secret. , <span style="color: blue;">classification and declassification have
been governed by a series of executive
orders, with no </span> legal framework.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 14.0pt;">Why should we
care/ Some may argue it is to protect us
and the country. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 20.0pt;">The liberties of a
people are not secure when government transactions
are concealed from them. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 20.0pt;"> <span style="color: blue;">Excessive secrecy,
which is what we witness today, has significant consequences for the national
interest when we cannot engage in informed debate and so government is not held
accountable for its actions. </span> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Politics carried out in our name, in secret and without our knowledge or
consent, have often – too often, led to blowback .</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 16.0pt;">the unintended consequences of policies that were kept secret
from the American people</span>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt;">Somewhere on this planet an American commando is carrying out a
mission. a secret force within the
U.S. military, the US special forces, taking operations in a majority of the
world’s countries. Some 120 of them.
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">CIA
coups<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Iran
Contra, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">cia
rendition flights, torture<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 20.0pt;">Underwear
bomber - CIA operative</span><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Drone base in Saudi Arabia – 9/11 Osama bin Laden, first
Gulf War…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Syria - <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 20.0pt;">book </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VQQCB6/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=1532201582&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0226644626&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=14HJYEE3M82T1JD4P8TW" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 20pt; text-decoration-line: none;">The Foreign Policy Disconnect</span></a><span style="color: blue; font-size: 14.0pt;">, Benjamin Page and Marshall Bouton </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 20.0pt;">demonstrated that most of the crises in
post-1945 U.S. foreign policy could have been avoided if U.S. leaders had paid
more attention to the views of the public.</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 14.0pt;"> But how can the public have any influence on secret
policy-making? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 20.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal">To understand why, or how, we should look at <span style="background: yellow; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">who is pushing
the buttons in Washington.</span> In that the <span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Powerful interests run today's America, there is no doubt. Identifying them is not always so easy – as
they seem separate, but often they are not. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Who and what is big business?
This is a question that can’t be
answered in one hour, or one day. But
there are some which immediately jump to
mind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st"><span style="background: yellow; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-highlight: yellow;">In 1935, a Major General
in the U.S. Marine Corps.</span></span><span class="st"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> </span></span><span lang="EN" style="background: yellow; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-highlight: yellow;">Smedley</span><span lang="EN" style="background: yellow; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-highlight: yellow;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="background: yellow; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-highlight: yellow;">Butler</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> who died in
1940, </span><span class="st"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">and one </span></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">of only two
Marines to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">twice</span> and author <span style="color: #33cccc;">of
a book called “War is a Racket – 1935</span>) wrote: "</span><span style="font-size: 20.0pt;">I
spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that
period I spent most of my time as a high-class muscle man for Big Business.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 20.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Today, the military is part
and parcel of big business. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;">Drones that can
become chemichal biological warfare weapons <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Radiological
dispersal becomes possible and potentially effective with a UAV over large
urban areas, but only if the source material is cesium chloride--the one
radiological source that comes in powdered form.[18] Dispersal of chemical or
especially biological agent is ideally suited for a UAV; its flight stability
permits the release of agent evenly along a line of contamination</span><span style="color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/unmanned-air-vehicles-terror-weapons/"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">http://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/unmanned-air-vehicles-terror-weapons/</span></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">President Eisenhower spoke of
the military industrial complex. But
today, we are facing a greater danger </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 18.0pt;">-
the military-industrial-media complex.
</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">M</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">edia
magnates and people on the boards of large media-related corporations have
close links with the military industry and Washington’s foreign-policy – no
longer separate from domestic policies. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Just to give an example <span style="color: blue; font-size: 20.0pt;">- General Electric doesn’t
just make appliances. GE manufactures
weapons – and it owns The vast NBC network .
GE designed, manufactured or supplied parts or maintenance for nearly
every major weapon system used by the U.S. during the Gulf War 1991—including
the Patriot and Tomahawk Cruise missiles.
Its media arm, NBC, then praised and justified the use of weapons made
by their parent company. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 20.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue;">To the detriment of the public
interest, and the world at large, the military-media ties have grown extensively.
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Top 10 media corporations share board director positions with the major
defense contractors . Example</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 16.0pt;">Disney (ABC</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">), <span style="color: blue;">Boeing</span> Alwyn Lewis: <span style="color: blue;">Disney
(ABC), Halliburton</span>, Douglas McCorkindale: <span style="color: blue;">Gannett,
Lockheed-Martin ….<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">It is no accident that these giant weapons
contractors use the news media as the public relations arm for their primary
product - </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 16.0pt;">war and the
weapons of war</span><span style="color: magenta;">...</span><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 20pt;">big media in
the United States effectively represent the interests of corporate America</span><span style="font-size: 20pt;">. </span><span style="font-size: 20.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 18pt;">They are the
watchdogs of acceptable ideological messages, responsible for manufacturing
consent - Their goal is to control the news and information available to
society. The two most prominent methods used to accomplish this task are
censorship and propaganda.</span><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Not to left
unmentioned is the </span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 18.0pt;">role of think tanks, and the Diaspora – the exiles</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> and some NGOS – </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 18.0pt;">which Colin
Powell referred to as force multipliers.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">
No war, no coup, no regime change would
be possible without the Diaspora’s role in facilitating, or pushing for
same. To give a few recent examples, the Iraqi
National Council (Chalabi), The Libyan National Transitional Council, the
Syrian National Council, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Cubans, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Grasping this dynamic will give us a clearer picture of the
rise of the drones! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The drone program cost
billions of dollars, until cost millions, flight hours thousands of dollars per
hour. Or drone wars, as they are called – there was
a program by the same name, rise of the drones, on PBS, in part, funded by
Lockheed martin!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt;">You’ve probably heard of the </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Congressional Black
Caucus, or perhaps the Progressive Caucus, </span><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">but we now have a
drone caucus!</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> . Officially, it’s the </span><a href="http://unmannedsystemscaucus.mckeon.house.gov/"><span lang="EN">Unmanned Systems Caucus</span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> and top
donors are </span><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Lockheed
Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Drones are aerial robots – unmanned aerial vehincles - remotely
controlled, that carry visual sensors, navigation systems, and even weapons.
They come in all shapes and sizes and go by a variety of names. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Since 2005,
the federal government has awarded at least $12 billion in contracts for drones
and drone supplies and maintenance</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">. That includes at least $270 million for U.S.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 18.0pt;">Between 50 and 60
percent of the workforce of the CIA's most important directorate, the National
Clandestine Service (NCS), responsible for the gathering of human intelligence,
is composed of employees of for-profit corporations</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Amazing fact considering that drone makers
not only lobby to get drones approved,
but as importantly, </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 16.0pt;">Corporate intelligence professionals
from companies such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Booz Allen Hamilton, and
others are thoroughly integrated into analytical divisions throughout the
intelligence community. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">estimates as high
as </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/opinion/17exum.html?_r=1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 22.0pt;">98%</span></a><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 22.0pt;"> of drone
strike casualties being civilians</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> (50 for every one "suspected terrorist"). The Bureau of
Investigative Journalism issued a report detailing how the </span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 22.0pt;">CIA is </span><a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/02/05/u_s_drones_targeting_rescuers_and_mourners/singleton/" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 22.0pt;">deliberately targeting</span></a><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 22.0pt;"> those who show up after the
sight of an attack, rescuers, and mourners at funerals as a part of a
"double-tap" strategy . <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The drone war is carried out remotely, </span><a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/pain-continues-after-war-for-american-drone-pilot-a-872726.html"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">from the U.S.</span></a><span class="print-only"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">and a network of </span><a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/05/29/where_the_drones_are?page=full"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">secret bases</span></a><span class="print-only"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">around the world<span class="print-only"> – and we recently learnt that one of the drone bases is in </span></span><span class="print-only"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 20pt;">Saudi Arabia - 9/11. blowback.
Where else? </span></span><span class="print-only"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt;">When the United
States kills people in foreign, sovereign states, the world looks to
international law for the standard of justification. <span lang="EN">Use of drones
is illegal. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">There are Last monght, </span><span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN">During a national press
conference in Atlanta, </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt;">Jimmy Carter</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN">
expressed that </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Drone attacks are gross violations of international law
and human rights and are outright immoral. The claim that the President of the
United States has the ultimate power to determine who is guilty and therefore a
legitimate target of assassination is dangerous. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: yellow; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">AT about the same time as Carter’s
speech, Attorney General Eric Holder did not entirely rule out a scenario under
which a drone strike would be ordered against Americans on U.S. soil, but says
it has never been done previously and he could only see it being considered in
an extraordinary circumstance.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"> "federal authorities have stepped up
efforts to license surveillance drones for law enforcement and other uses in US
airspace". </span><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Mayor Bloomberg, "Like
it or not, the eye in the sky will soon be following your every move".<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="RU" style="color: magenta; font-family: "Segoe UI",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: RU;">Arkansas State Fusion Center Director
Richard Davis</span><span lang="RU" style="font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">recently </span><span lang="RU" style="font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">confirmed Americans’ fears: the center <i>does</i> in
fact spy on Americans – but only on those who are suspected to be
‘anti-government’.</span><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "Segoe UI",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">This
may well be interpreted to include all of us!</span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="textexposedshow2"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; mso-ansi-language: EN;">But there is much more to drones. </span></span><span class="textexposedshow2"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; display: none; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-hide: special;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">A drone named <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">"</span></span><span lang="EN" style="background: yellow; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-highlight: yellow;">Switchblad</span><span lang="EN" style="background: yellow; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-highlight: yellow;">e</span><span lang="EN">", described as "</span><em><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">the ultimate
assassin bug</span></em><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; mso-ansi-language: EN;">", can </span><span lang="EN"> <span style="color: blue;">worm its
way around buildings and into small areas, sending its surveillance imagery to
an i-Pad held by the operator, who can then direct the Switchblade to lunge
toward and kill the target</span> by exploding in his face.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="background: white;"><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">There are insect drones</span><span lang="EN"> with
the ability to land on you and infect you with a virus, or take DNA, or plant a
tiny microchip. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">It
could land on you and stay, so that you take it with you into your home. Or it
could fly into a building through a window. There are well-funded research
projects working on such devices with such capabilities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Aside from the
threat posed to our civil rights and liberties – in itself, of utmost
importance, there are untold dangers
posed by the drones. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="background: yellow; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-highlight: yellow;">Drones
can be easily hacked.</span><span lang="EN" style="background: yellow; color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-highlight: yellow;"> In June last year, the </span><span lang="EN" style="background: yellow; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-highlight: yellow;">University of Texas at Austin </span><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/06/25/drones-vulnerable-to-terrorist-hijacking-researchers-say/"><span lang="EN" style="background: yellow; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-highlight: yellow;">reportedly</span></a><span lang="EN" style="background: yellow; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-highlight: yellow;"> demonstrated in front of Department of Homeland
Security officials</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> that it is relatively easy to </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">take </span><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">control of
an airborne drone by hacking into its GPS system</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;">So, if these drones were created to be spies, or to kill,
they can be hijacked and used against us. – turned on us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal">They also be <span style="font-size: 22.0pt;">duplicated.
Chinese</span> are making drones
at a fraction fo the cost of US drones.
And looking for clients. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #339966;">No American safe. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #339966; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The other public concern is the </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">inability of drones to detect other aircraft</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> (or each other!) in the area, creating safety problems </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">in busy airspace</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;">.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Law-enforcement
agencies could use them to illegally monitor Americans. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Drones are big business.
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 17.6pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18pt;">What are the implications? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Historians and political scientists have warned us about </span> dangerous war fever sweeping the United
States. Today we have gone beyond that. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 20.0pt;">The
"Global War on Terror" - A war
indefinite in duration, against an ill-defined and shifting enemy, </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 20.0pt;">al-qaeda the enemy, now being armed in Syria</span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 20.0pt;"> - and
without a clear explanation of American strategy, a specific definition
of victory, or even a way to measure progress in the struggle has taken its
toll on civil liberty. The problem of
militarization poses a danger to the very character of American government and
society</span><span style="font-size: 20.0pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; mso-line-height-alt: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 20.0pt;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">General Tommy Franks</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> - in his first public interview after retiring from active duty in 2003,
identified the single most dangerous possibility offered by an endless war on
terrorism. An attack with weapons </span><span class="hit1"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;">of</span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> mass destruction "just to create casualties ... to terrify"
could lead "the western world, </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">the free
world" to forfeit its "freedom and liberty," to lose its
democracy,</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> and "</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">begin to militarize our country in order to avoid a repeat </span><span class="hit1"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">of</span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> another
mass-casualty event, ... to potentially unravel the fabric </span><span class="hit1"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">of</span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> our
Constitution.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Over</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;">half a century ago, </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson concluded "by giving way to the passion,
intolerance and suspicions </span><span class="hit1"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">of</span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> wartime, it is easy to reduce our liberties
to a shadow, often in answer to exaggerated claims </span><span class="hit1"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">of</span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> security</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">.".</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 18.0pt;">That
day is here. Not only are we under
constant surveillance , Take for example the kill list. A list
which began under the Bush administration as a rationale for murdering suspect
citizens of countries with which the United States was not at war has become </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 18.0pt;">Obama’s kill list and the scope of the list
has been expanded to include the execution, without due process of law, of U.S.
citizens accused, without evidence presented in court, of association with
terrorism</span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 18.0pt;">. Blood ties to a suspect places you in the
kill list. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">And this is accepted by the people.</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Robert.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; mso-line-height-alt: 18.0pt;"><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 22pt;">The framers of the Constitution
recognized such dangers when they carefully subordinated the military to
civilian authority and attempted to limit the power of the President to
initiate war.</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><h2 style="background: white;"><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Gregory Foster, a former
Army officer and West Point graduate</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> who now
teaches national security studies at the </span><a href="http://www.ndu.edu/es/people/faculty/" target="_blank"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">National
Defense University in Washington</span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> said that </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">principle of civilian control of the military—an early
building block of American democracy-
has become the civilian
subjugation to the military. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></h2><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; mso-line-height-alt: 18.0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Today, </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 22pt;">the degree to which society's institutions, policies, behaviors,
thought, and values are devoted to military power and shaped by war are
alarming</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; mso-line-height-alt: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt;">The incursion of
military recruiters and teachings into the public school system is well
known.. . Presidents favors speaking to captive
audiences at military bases, defense plants, and on aircraft carriers. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">lawmakers’ constant use of “support our troops”
to justify defense spending</span><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">, to TV programs and video games like
“NCIS,” “Homeland” and “Call of Duty,” to reality </span><a href="http://www.nbc.com/stars-earn-stripes/about/"><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">show</span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> “Stars
Earn Stripes,” Americans are subjected to a daily diet of stories that valorize
the military while the storytellers pursue their own opportunistic political
and commercial agendas</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; mso-line-height-alt: 18.0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 22.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Former secretary of defense Donald
Rumsfeld acknowledged publicly in an October 24, 2003, interview in the
Washington Times: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> "<i>We are in a war of ideas, as well as a
global war on terror. Ideas are important, and they need to be marshalled, and
they need to be communicated in ways that are persuasive to the listeners</i>."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 22.0pt;">Embedded journalists in Iraq
and Afghanistan – <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; mso-line-height-alt: 18.0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">This was part of his information operations
roadmap. </span>As part of the plan, “<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4655196.stm">public affairs officers
brief journalists</a>”. In 2005 it came to light that the Pentagon
paid the Lincoln Group (a private company) to plant ‘hundreds of stories’ in
Iraqi papers in support of U.S. Policies<span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 22.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; mso-line-height-alt: 18.0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; mso-line-height-alt: 18.0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The war has been internalized, whether you
look at drones, kill list, or militarization of the police force, or in the
classrooms. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; mso-ansi-language: EN;">During the Clinton
administration</span><span lang="EN">, </span><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Congress
passed what's now known as the "1033 Program</span><span lang="EN">," <span style="color: blue;">which
formalized Reagan administration's
directive to the </span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Pentagon to share surplus military gear with
domestic police agencies.</span><span lang="EN"> </span><span lang="EN" style="background: yellow; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-highlight: yellow;">Since then, millions of pieces of military equipment
designed for use on a battlefield have been transferred to local cops -- SWAT
teams and others -- including machine guns, tanks, armored personnel carriers, </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The
Pentagon's 1033 program has exploded under Obama. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Clinton</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> also created the "</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Troops to
Cops" program</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; mso-ansi-language: EN;">, which offered grants </span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">to police departments who hired soldiers
returning from battle</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; mso-ansi-language: EN;">, contributing even further to the militarization of the police force.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">David
Grossman </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">2005
Retired US Army <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heart/interviews/grossman.html"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heart/interviews/grossman.html</span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">the
law enforcement groups, worldwide</span><span style="font-size: 22.0pt;"> to
kill. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 22.0pt;">Law enforcement should be for protection of
the civilians. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="color: blue; font-size: 22.0pt;">most of what I do is I train
military and law enforcement in what I call the <b>bulletproof mind<o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p><span style="color: blue; font-size: 22.0pt;">Prior preparation is that one
variable in the equation that we can control ahead of time, </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt;">and one of the key things is embracing
the responsibility to kill.</span><span lang="EN" style="color: magenta; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="color: blue; font-size: 22.0pt;">So when I teach, one of the things
I believe we need to do is embrace this word "kill."</span><span lang="EN" style="color: blue; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p>Bloomberg and Kelly are the proud autocrats who brag of <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/69422.html"><span style="color: red; text-decoration-line: none;">“hav(ing) my own
army in the NYPD”</span></a> and who used that army to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/nyregion/occupy-wall-street-protesters-complain-of-police-monitoring.html"><span style="color: red; text-decoration-line: none;">spy on peaceful
Occupy Wall Street protestors</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Radiation <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Soraya S Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15879524322193272806noreply@blogger.com0