KNOW THIS VERY DANGEROUS ENEMY TOO

Al-Hajj Ghazi Khankan was in the news recently for his meeting (and hugging) Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss of Neturei Karta International on August 22. Khankan previously served as executive director of CAIR-NY and is currently CAIR-NY's senior advisor. His resume which was available online at: Khankan resume has been pulled!! However, it is shown below as it was on the link. AL-HAAJ GHAZI Y. KHANKAN Director of Interfaith and Communication Islamic Center of Long Island Al-Haaj Ghazi Y. Khankan has been "The Voice of Al-Islaam" in America since 1967. He has lectured across the United States and produced radio and television programs dealing with Al-Islaam, the religion, civilization, and complete way of life. His main concern is to correct the distorted image of Al-Islaam in the West. Al-Haaj Khankan studied at the Lycee Francaise, at Aleppo College in Syria and at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. In the United States, he completed his education at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles in the fields of Business Administration and International Relations (1954-60). Al-Haaj Ghazi Y. Khankan was the director of the Organization of Arab Students in U.S. and Canada (1960-64). He is the President of the National Council on Islamic Affairs. He is a member of the Islamic-Roman Catholic Dialogue, the Jewish-Christian-Islamic Commission of the National Conference, American Muslims and Jews in Dialogue, The Long Island Multi-Faith Forum, The Long Beach Clergy Association, The Long Island Majlis Ash-Shura, Islamic Leadership Council of New York and several other interfaith groups. As Director of "The Voice of Al-Islaam Broadcasting" in New York, Al-Haaj Khankan has met with and interviewed many Muslim and Arab leaders during his travels throughout the Middle East and U.S.A. He is a member of the N.Y. State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, DC. and in November of 1996 has been designated by Nassau County Executive, Mr. Thomas S. Gulotta to serve as his Coordinator within the Muslim Community on Long Island. In 1995 and 1996, Al-Haaj Ghazi Y. Khankan was the Muslim guest on Cablevision Channel 25 TeLIcare T.V. program: "Father Tom & Religious Leaders". Beginning in 1998, Advisor on Islamic Affairs at the Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus, Long Island, NY. Listed on an on-call clergy list of North Shore University Hospital at Glen Cove, NY and the Nassau County Medical Center at East Meadow, NY. Former Executive Director and presently Senior Advisor to CAIR-NY. Recipient of honor award from local and national organizations. He is a U.S. citizen and has lived in the U.S. since 1954. He has apparently built his Islamic reputation with Hamas related matters but more recently is reported to be taking a strong lobbying position for the Hezbollah in the USA and apparently should register accordingly as a foreign "agent" - not a "preacher". Take a really good look at him and beware! Extremely dangerous for the USA.

News - ENGLISH, FRENCH & FARSI

ALSO POSTED ON MULTILINGUAL PAGE

http://www.iranpressnews.com/source/016338.htm

Iranians gather at Tehran U.N. offices to protest imminent execution of 3 women by the regime; guards attack protestors and brutally batter them.

Shahla Jahed , Fatemeh Haghighatpajooh, Nazanin Fatehi, Kobra Rahmanpour. (photos on site via above link).

A large number of civil and human rights activists gathered on Sunday, September 25th at 5 pm Tehran time, in front of the Tehran offices of the United Nations to protest the regime’s refusal to stop the execution of 4 women, Nazanin Fatehi, 18 years old, Kobra Rahmanpour, 25 years old, Fatemeh Haghighat-pajooh, 35 years old and Shahla Jahed, also 35.

The families of these women had requested an appointment to meet with the U.N. officials and had called for human rights and civil activists to also gather for a peaceful protest against the Islamic regime’s execution sentence for the 4 women.

Hours before the gathering of the protestors, the regime’s disciplinary guards that are now a permenant fixture in every street, in every city, town and village all across Iran, along with plain-clothes secret service agents had been increased and strategically deployed; they surrounded the nearby area streets in order to minimize attendance and intimidate people from joining up with the others who would have already been there.

Despite the presence of the disciplinary forces and plain-clothes agents, members of the families of the 4 women were able to enter UN and discuss the cases of their respective “prisoner” with the representatives of the United Nations.

They also succeeded in delivering a resolution to abolish the death sentences of each woman, requesting their immediate release and return to their families, considering the significant jail time each has already served, not to mention the monetary payment each individual has paid to the families of the so-called victims of their crimes.

This resolution was also promptly faxed to a large number of U.N. representative and rapporteurs in both New York and Geneva.

Outside on the street however, in the early moments, as the protestors gathered the agents and guards brutally attacked, beating the protestors; they arrested many, most of whom were women and girls, as well as several student leaders who had traveled from the city of Isfahan to take part in the protest.

They were taken to a precinct in northern Tehran, close to the U.N. offices. It is reported that the guards did manage to drive away hundreds more protestors who had been seen approaching.

As the crowds who managed to get past the guards and succeeded in joining up with the other protestors, plain-clothes agents pushed their way through the crowds that were present, threatening and menacing them with violence and bodily harm.

Protestors tried to ignore the agents by chanting slogans of condemnation of exeuctions of not only the 4 women but of the Islamic regime’s constant reign of terror and intimidation by execution in general. At this time, there is no further news of those who were arrested.

http://www.iranpressnews.com/source/016227.htm Political prisoners lives in danger Mullah Dorri-Najafabadi

Mullah Ghorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi, the Islamic Republic’s general attorney, describes the murders of the two young activists and political prisoners Akbar Mohammadi and Valiollah Fayz-Mehdavi, [who were tortured to death in the Islamic regimes’ prisons in late July and early September] as appropriate, goes on to specify: “Not only is this a warning, it should be absolutely construed as a threat [to all Iranians opposing the Islamic regime].

The attorney general has also stated very openly that he supported the murders of the Iranian opposition leaders and intellectuals in Iran who were brutally murdered throughout the ‘90’s, in what became known in Iran as the Chain Murders.

He said that the bloodbath slaughter of leader of the Pan-Iranianist movement, Darioush Forouhar and his wife Parvaneh – whose breasts were even sliced off – in their home, as well as the secret murders of journalists and writers like Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad-Jafar Pouyandeh, are not only justified but necessary.

Dorri-Najafabadi who mocks the legal process, and arrogantly describes the nature of the individual’s rights as ludicris, also asserts that the murder of the Islamic order’s opponents and dissidents, is necessary and an “act of grace”.

http://www.iranpressnews.com/source/016235.htm

Russia sells 5 more passenger planes to the Islamic Republic Despite the repeated crashes of Russian-made planes in Iran, Russian media announced that the Islamic Republic intends to purchase yet another five passenger planes from Russia.

The regime-run news agency ISNA, quoting the Russian news agency, Interfax reported that authorities from Ilyushin Finance company reported that Russia will hand over five TU- 204 passenger airplanes to Iran Tour company.

The Russian Company officials announced that this contract valued at about $180 million is scheduled to be signed just before December 15th and the delivery time has been slated for early 2008. The same officials also announced that the Islamic Republic intends to lease two II-96 planes to test fly; should they have a positive impression of the plane’s performance they have announced that they would also purchase several of these models as well.

Several months ago the French newspaper Le Monde, in an incisive article against Russia’s double-dealings with Tehran’s regime wrote: "While Moscow says it is making an attempt to get the regime in Tehran to accept Russia's proposal for the enrichment of Uranium on Russian soil, Russian arms companies are involved in transaction and sales of arms to the Islamic regime. (Alan: pot calling the kettle black). France has opposed financial sanctions on Iran in the UN because about 28% of the loans to iran are by French banks!!)

On February 9th, the Director of the governmental agency for military and technical cooperation, Mikhail Dmitriev, confirmed that Russia had in fact delivered an anti-air defense system to the regime in Tehran. Dmitriev specified that there is no other contract however Russia is bound by its own guarantees and must satisfy its commitments.

Last December Russian media reported that Russia intends to deliver 49 Tor-M1 missiles priced at $700 million to the Islamic regime. Based on reports in Russian newspapers these missiles are slated to be delivered by Fall 2006.

http://www.iranpressnews.com/source/016256.htm

U.S. company prosecuted for export of sensitive products to Iran According to the regime-run news agency, MEHR, a U.S. computer equipment production company was indicted by the U.S. attorney general’s office for exporting equipment to the Islamic Republic.

U.S. Attorney General announced: "Supermicro Computer, based in San Jose has been indicted for breaching security regulations, for exporting equipment that was specifically banned to export to Tehran’s regime.”

Officials from the office of the attorney general, Alberto Gonzales reported that in the years 2001 and 2002 Supermicro Computer exported 300 motherboards to a UAE company which then exported those directly to Iran which lead up to Supermicro Computer being fined $150,000; the company has agreed to pay the fine.

Supermicro computer confessed that in the years 2001 and 2002 approximately $27,600 worth of equipment was exported to Iran; for security purposes the U.S. department of commerce had banned such exports to countries such as Iran. The U.S. department of commerce also noted that in February 2004 with the new export control laws, Supermicro Computer was prohibited from further exports to Iran.

http://www.iranpressnews.com/source/016259.htm Seven to be executed in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan The human-rights-violating Islamic regime has once again issued the death sentences of seven residents of the province of Sistan-Baluchestan (south east Iran, bordering on Pakistan) . Also during the second week of September the Islamic regime publicly hung yet another individual in the town of Zabol, in that province.

On Wednesday September 20th, the regime-run news agency, IRNA, reported that during the police raid of a neighborhood in the town of Iranshahr, the guards also murdered one of the local residents.

In recent months, the Islamic regime has either publicly executed hundreds of activists and anti-regime opponents in villages, small towns and cities in this province or actively sought to kill them during local clashes.

The judiciary in Tehran has also issued the order of execution for a 40-year-old woman who due to the lack of any family or relations should be executed for giving the impression of being a “loose woman”. Her execution sentence was approved by the Islamic regime’s supreme court in Tehran.

http://www.iranpressnews.com/source/016274.htm Mullah organizations actively financed the Lebanese Hezbollah Shrine of Imam Reza

The regime-run news agency, ILNA reported: “Astan Ghods Razavi (a.k.a. AGR) paid out $40,000 [during July and August] to the Lebanese Hezbollah.

This amount was paid by check via the management of Astan Qods Razavi, to account number 33600 of the Melli Bank at the holy Mash’had branch. This transaction was organized and overseen by Ayatollah Vaez-Tabasi, representative of the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Khamenei) in the province of Khorasan; Vaez-Tabasi who is also the ‘chief ’ of AGR, added this amount to the cash Add-0n from AGR employees who are "champions of righteous".

While lending their full support to those brave Lebanese resistance fighters of Hezbollah fighting the invaders of the Zionist regime, we all pray for the decisive victory of the global Islamic movement over international arrogance; we announce our total and eternal readiness for any necessary help and assistance.”

The office of public relations of AGR also announced: “Said account number remains open and anyone can make donations.”

Astan Ghods Razavi which is also the name for the Shrine of Imam Reza is the largest private firm in Iran which conveniently enjoys a non-profit status. This organization owns many varied and profiteering industrial conglomorates, that oversees everything from food groups to computer software companies, to tobacco, etc. AGR also heads up other small foundations such as the various holy shrines around Iran, starting with the Imam Reza shrine in the city of Mashhad.

http://www.iranpressnews.com/source/016334.htm (see photos on this link) Inhumane Islamic regime hangs a teenage boy for crime committed as child The regime-run news agency, MEHR, reported that the Islamic regime’s judiciary publicly hanged a teenage boy, only known as Vaheed, on Wednesday, September 20th, for a murder he had allegely committed as a child.

Vaheed had recently turned 18. The execution of another teenager, also identified as Sina, was suspended for two months.

Sina who also recently turned 18 was accused of murdering a relative when he was a child. Sina’s relatives, called for the temporary suspention of the exeuction while Sina literally stood with the noose around his neck.

Under the Islamic republic’s legal statute, boys above the age of fifteen are considered adults and could be convicted of capital crimes. Under increasing international pressure for violations of the children’s rights, the inhumane Islamic regime keeps convicted children in juvenile prisons and issues court verdicts only after they turn 18 so as to carry out sentences that would have be handed out if the defendants were adults.

http://www.iranpressnews.com/source/016283.htm Regime’s own journalist/TV producer arrested

According to blogger and activist, Kianoosh Sanjari, reporting from Iran, Pourya Nejad-Veysi, journalist and segment producer for the Islamic Republic’s own television news reports has been arrested.

Nejad-Veysi was collared on August 22nd by secret police agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security of the Islamic regime’s branch in Islamshahr, a Tehran suburb.

The journalist and TV producer, was originally detained for 20 days in the NAJA detention center (the secret police bureau for combating social corruption) and was physically and psychologically tortured. Among other charges leveled against him, his interogators accused him of spying, but the journalist rejected those charges.

Branch one of the revolutionary court of Islamshahr has sentenced Nejad-Veysi with the high crime of “taking action against the security of the regime” and has sent him to Tehran’s infamous Evin prison to serve his term; he is being detained in the deplorable ward 350 of said prison.

The journalist is responsible for exposing some of the most horrifying crimes commited by the various Mullah factions and their mafia-like extortions. One of his famous exposes was about the distribution and sale of meat that was known to have been contaminated that originally aired on the Islamic regime’s channel 2; he also did reports on homeless women, combatting addiction in Iran, etc.

However this journalist has a long track record of working for and promoting the Islamic regime’s rule of law as well.

http://www.iranpressnews.com/source/016318.htm Imprisonment and flogging for a political activist in province of Kurdistan

The organization for the defense of human rights in the province of Kurdistan reported that the high tribunal of the city of Saghez confirmed the prison sentence and flogging for their organization’s member and political activist, Loghmon Mehri.

This activist was charged with taking part in protests for the rights of women in front Tehran University in June of 2005. He was sentenced to 6 months in prison and 25 lashes; his case was sent to the court of appeals and confirmed by the Supreme Court recently. His was served with the order last week.

Mehri was also charged with taking part in civil protests during the summer of 2005 and for that the revolutionary court in his hometown of Saghez sentenced him to yet another 5 years in prison; that sentence is currently being evaluated by the court of appeals in the Kurdistan.

In addition he was recently threatened and harrassed by the secret police agents of the ministry of intelligence and security for his membership in the organization for the defense of human rights.

http://www.iranpressnews.com/source/016309.htm Former secretary of Amir-Kabir University student association, Keyvan Ansari, arrested.

Abbas Hakim-zadeh, a member of the central committee of said university’s student association announcing the news, told the reporter from the regime-run news agency ILNA: “On Monday, September 17th, Ansari was arrested in front of his house; he was transported to the central committee offices of the student association and after the secret police agents tossed the offices of the central committee, they took several documents with them.

The nature of the arrest, the place of his detention and the charges against Ansari have not been announced and he has not, as of yet been permitted to contact his family; as such they too are worried and being kept in the dark.”

Français http://www.iranpressnews.com/french/ samedi 23 septembre 2006

L'Iran frappera l'ennemi "comme la foudre" en cas d'attaque

TEHERAN – AFP- L'Iran frappera l'ennemi "comme la foudre" s'il est attaqué, a déclaré vendredi le vice-président Parviz Davoudi lors d'un discours prononcé à l'occasion d'un défilé des forces armées à Téhéran.

"Nous voulons la paix mais nous lançons une mise en garde, les puissances expansionnistes ne doivent pas penser à une agression contre l'Iran car nous pouvons défendre la patrie et l'islam", a déclaré M. Davoudi dont le pays est en crise avec l'Occident au sujet de son programme nucléaire.

"Nos lions sont si puissants qu'ils peuvent frapper comme la foudre l'ennemi et le détruire" en cas d'attaque, a-t-il ajouté en parlant des forces armées iraniennes.

Ce défile marque l'anniversaire du déclenchement de la guerre Irak-Iran en 1980, qui a duré huit ans et fait environ un million de morts de part et d'autres selon les estimations occidentales.

"Nos forces armes n'ont pas besoin d'armes atomiques pour montrer leur puissance, qui est basée sur notre croyance", a-t-il dit.

Il a ajouté que lors des récentes manoeuvres militaires, "les forces armées iraniennes ont montré leur puissance" en utilisant des armes et des moyens technologiques "qui étaient jusque-là le monopole des grandes puissances". L'Iran a notamment affirmé avoir testé avec succès des missiles et des avions sophistiqués lors des récentes manoeuvres.

M. Davoudi a également fustigé les grandes puissances qui "osent dire qu'elles n'ont pas confiance dans notre programme nucléaire pacifique et parlent d'inquiétudes".

"Nous avons dit que l'arme atomique n'a pas de place dans notre doctrine de défense et notre guide suprême (l'ayatollah Ali Khamenei) a déclaré à plusieurs reprises que l'utilisation de l'arme atomique était haram (proscrit par l'islam)", a-t-il ajouté.

"L'utilisation de la technologie nucléaire à des fins pacifiques est notre droit absolu conformément au Traité de non prolifération (TNP) et nous agissons en conformité avec le TNP", a-t-il poursuivi.

Dans un entretien au magazine américain Time publié cette semaine, le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a assuré qu'il ne craignait pas une attaque américaine pour détruire les installations nucléaires de son pays. Pour Washington, un Iran doté de l'arme atomique reste une perspective inacceptable et les Etats-Unis ont toujours refusé d'exclure l'option militaire contre Téhéran.

Selon Time, des frappes américaines contre l'Iran, si elles devaient avoir lieu, pourraient viser jusqu'à 1.500 sites, nucléaires ou de missiles, et impliquer notamment des bombardiers B-52 et des missiles de croisière Tomahawk. Le vice-président iranien a également demandé le départ des forces américaines d'Irak.

"La présence des Etats-Unis est source d'insécurité en Irak, les Etats-Unis doivent mettre fin à l'occupation car pour les peuples de la région la démocratie (américaine) est synonyme de massacre de leurs enfants", a-t-il poursuivi.

Réunion des diplomates des Six sur des sanctions contre l'Iran

NEW YORK – AFP- Les six grandes puissances engagées dans les discussions sur le dossier nucléaire iranien étaient réunies vendredi pour discuter des sanctions qui seraient éventuellement imposées à l'Iran s'il refusait de suspendre l'enrichissement de l'uranium, a-t-on appris auprès d'un haut responsable américain.

Le numéro trois du département d'Etat, Nicholas Burns, a précisé à des journalistes que ses discussions avec ses homologues de Grande-Bretagne, Chine, France, Allemagne et Russie porteraient sur la première série de sanctions progressives qui pourraient être imposées à l'Iran.

"Nous nous réunissons cet après-midi (...) pour discuter des sanctions qui pourraient figurer dans la première série de sanctions, si cela s'avérait nécessaire", a précisé M. Burns, secrétaire d'Etat adjoint aux Affaires politiques.

Le responsable américain a précisé avoir peu d'espoir de parvenir à un accord dès cette semaine sur une première série de mesures à l'encontre de l'Iran, alors que le diplomate en chef de l'Union Européenne, Javier Solana, doit rencontrer le chef des négociateurs iraniens, Ali Larijani, dans une capitale européenne.

"Soyons réalistes. Je pense que tant que nous n'aurons pas pris la décision que l'Iran a rejeté l'offre, on ne verra pas de décision sur des sanctions, mais les ministres nous ont demandé de nous rencontrer, et nous nous réunissons donc à 14H45" (18H45 GMT), a-t-il ajouté.

"Nous avons encore des divergences", a-t-il reconnu. "Je ne m'attends pas à ce que nous parvenions à un accord, mais nous allons discuter".

Le ministre russe des Affaires étrangères, Sergueï Lavrov, a affirmé jeudi soir à la tribune de l'ONU la nécessité de régler les problèmes de non prolifération nucléaire par la négociation, en laissant de côté "l'obsession des sanctions". L'Iran figurera aussi à l'agenda du dîner des ministres des Affaires étrangères du G8 prévu vendredi, a poursuivi M. Burns. L'Italie et le Japon, qui ne font pas partie du groupe des Six mais ont d'importants intérêts économiques et commerciaux en Iran, participeront à ce dîner.

Les Etats-Unis poussent à l'adoption de sanctions contre l'Iran après que Téhéran a ignoré une demande du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU de suspendre au 31 août ses activités d'enrichissement d'uranium avant toute négociation sur son programme nucléaire.

Téhéran affirme que ce programme est purement pacifique mais Washington et ses alliés le soupçonnent de vouloir se doter de l'arme nucléaire.

Des sanctions contre l'Iran pourraient viser balistique et nucléaire

NEW YORK - De premières sanctions internationales contre l'Iran en cas d'échec des discussions sur son programme nucléaire, pourraient viser les échanges et la coopération liés à ses activités nucléaires et ses programmes de missiles balistiques, a-t-on appris vendredi de source diplomatique à New York.

Ce sujet a été au centre d'une réunion de hauts diplomates des six puissances (Etats-Unis, Russie, Chine, France, Grande-Bretagne, Allemagne) engagées dans les discussions sur le dossier nucléaire iranien, en marge de l'Assemblée générale de l'ONU.

"Le coeur des sanctions toucherait tout ce qui est biens, services et personnes liés au balistique et au nucléaire", a déclaré à des journalistes une source proche des discussions.

Outre les livraisons d'équipements, cela pourrait aussi concerner les voyages de physiciens et scientifiques, ou le financement de programmes de recherche par exemple, a ajouté ce haut diplomate européen, sous couvert de l'anonymat.

Les Russes, souvent conciliants avec l'Iran, sont plus restrictifs que les Américains, qui plaident avec insistance depuis des mois pour des sanctions. Mais à l'issue de la réunion, "on a le sentiment qu'il y aura un accord" et "que l'on n'est pas dans une logique de confrontation USA-Russie", a-t-il estimé.

Moscou insiste notamment pour que ces sanctions soient "réversibles" en cas de changement d'attitude de Téhéran, et ne veut pas de sanctions ciblées contre des responsables du régime (interdiction de voyager, gel des avoirs à l'étranger) dans un premier train de mesures.

L'aide de la Russie à la construction de la centrale iranienne de Bouchehr ne serait pas remise en cause par ces sanctions, a précisé ce diplomate. Ces premières sanctions, qui demanderaient une nouvelles résolution du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, seraient éventuellement imposées à l'Iran s'il refusait de suspendre l'enrichissement de l'uranium, une activité à finalité civile ou militaire.

Le groupe des six puissances a décidé mardi soir de donner une nouvelle chance à la négociation, en attendant le résultat d'une nouvelle rencontre entre le diplomate en chef de l'Union européenne, Javier Solana, et le principal négociateur iranien, Ali Larijani.

Téhéran a annoncé que M. Larijani rencontrerait M. Solana la semaine prochaine en Europe, sans donner de date ni de lieu précis. Le numéro trois du département d'Etat américain, Nicholas Burns, avait indiqué avant l'ouverture de la réunion que ses discussions avec ses homologues porteraient sur la première série de sanctions progressives qui pourraient être imposées à l'Iran.

Le responsable américain avait toutefois précisé avoir peu d'espoir de parvenir à un accord avant de connaître le résultat de la prochaine rencontre Larijani-Solana.

Le ministre russe des Affaires étrangères, Sergueï Lavrov, a affirmé jeudi soir à la tribune de l'ONU la nécessité de régler les problèmes de prolifération nucléaire par la négociation, en laissant de côté "l'obsession des sanctions". Les Etats-Unis poussent à l'adoption de sanctions contre l'Iran après que Téhéran a ignoré une demande du Conseil de sécurité de suspendre au 31 août ses activités d'enrichissement d'uranium avant toute négociation sur son programme nucléaire.

L'Iran affirme que ce programme est purement pacifique mais Washington et ses alliés le soupçonnent de vouloir se doter de l'arme nucléaire.

Moscou et Pékin discutent de sanctions contre l'Iran avec les Occidentaux LE MONDE

Même si le haut représentant de l'Union européenne (UE) pour la politique étrangère, Javier Solana, s'apprête à renouer le dialogue avec Téhéran, les grandes puissances étudient la mise au point de sanctions qui pourraient frapper les programmes balistique et nucléaire de l'Iran. Malgré les démentis catégoriques de son président, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ce pays est toujours soupçonné de chercher à mettre au point une bombe atomique.

Selon une source occidentale proche des discussions, le sujet a été évoqué, vendredi 22 septembre, lors d'une réunion qui rassemblait des diplomates de haut rang américain, français, britannique, allemand, russe et chinois.

Selon cette source, si la reprise du dialogue avec l'Iran, attendue aux alentours du 27 septembre, échoue, les cinq membres permanents du Conseil de sécurité (Etats-Unis, France, Russie, Royaume-Uni et Chine) et l'Allemagne devraient s'accorder "sans trop de problèmes" sur des sanctions ciblées.

"Le coeur du régime de sanctions toucherait au nucléaire et au balistique", affirme le diplomate, qui évoque une interdiction de financer ces programmes, un embargo sur les transferts de technologie, d'équipements, de services ou de personnels dans ces domaines et une interdiction de voyager à l'étranger pour les scientifiques iraniens.

Au cours de la réunion, qui se tenait en marge de l'Assemblée générale de l'ONU, "les Russes ont accepté de discuter des sanctions" et, toujours selon cette source, "la Chine ne s'y est pas opposée". Il n'a pas été possible, vendredi soir, de vérifier ces informations auprès des deux pays.

"A PETITS PAS"

Les Etats-Unis, représentés par le numéro trois du département d'Etat, Nicholas Burns, "ont demandé beaucoup plus" de sanctions, poursuit ce diplomate, et notamment une interdiction de voyager à l'étranger pour les dirigeants iraniens, dont les avoirs devraient aussi, selon Washington, être gelés. Aucun projet de résolution n'a toutefois été déposé.

Moscou aurait refusé d'aller aussi loin et exigé une dérogation aux sanctions pour tout ce qui touche à la centrale nucléaire de Bouchehr, construite par la Russie en Iran. Les sanctions "doivent être prises à petits pas et de façon réversible", affirme cette source, selon laquelle les divergences entre les six pays "portent davantage sur le rythme et l'étendue que sur le principe des sanctions".

Téhéran a ignoré les menaces de sanctions votées, le 31 juillet, par le Conseil de sécurité qui lui donnait un mois pour arrêter l'enrichissement d'uranium. Mais à l'initiative de Jacques Chirac, les grandes puissances ont accepté de relancer une dernière fois le dialogue en ne faisant plus de la suspension de l'enrichissement un préalable à toute négociation.

Selon le scénario français, les deux camps doivent commencer à discuter d'un ordre du jour des négociations qui s'ouvriraient ensuite par un double "geste de bonne volonté" : les Occidentaux accepteraient de mettre entre parenthèses leurs projets de sanctions, et l'Iran suspendrait ses activités suspectes.

En dépit des efforts insistants du chef de la diplomatie européenne, Javier Solana, le négociateur iranien chargé du dossier nucléaire, Ali Larijani, ne s'est pas rendu à New York, entre le 18 et le 23 septembre, pour entamer les discussions. Selon des diplomates, la rencontre pourrait avoir lieu en milieu de semaine en Europe, mais ni la date ni le lieu n'ont été fixés.

Les fuites concernant le débat sur les sanctions pourraient être destinées à faire pression sur l'Iran pour qu'il reprenne le dialogue. Selon des sources diplomatiques concordantes, les Etats-Unis ont donné aux Européens jusqu'au début du mois d'octobre pour obtenir des résultats, avant de déposer officiellement leurs demandes de sanctions au Conseil de sécurité.

lundi 25 septembre 2006 Iran: le chef du nucléaire iranien à Moscou pour discuter de la centrale de Bouchehr

MOSCOU (AFP) - Le chef de l'Organisation iranienne de l'énergie atomique, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, est arrivé lundi en fin de matinée à Moscou pour discuter de l'achèvement de la centrale nucléaire iranienne de Bouchehr, a indiqué à l'AFP la société russe Atomstroïexport chargée de la construction de la centrale.

Le responsable iranien doit discuter avec son homologue russe Sergueï Kirienko et le président d'Atomstroïexport Sergueï Chmatko de la date de démarrage de la centrale et de l'envoi du combustible nucléaire pour l'approvisionner, selon l'agence officielle iranienne Irna.

La rencontre est prévue à 16H00 locales (12H00 GMT).

"Au cours de cette visite, nous allons discuter des moyens de supprimer les obstacles existant à l'achèvement rapide de la centrale atomique et nous allons nous entendre sur la date de l'inauguration et de l'envoi du combustible", a dit un adjoint de M. Aghazadeh, Mohammad Saïdi.

"Bien que la Russie, à l'époque d'(Alexandre) Roumiantsev (ex-directeur de l'Agence fédérale russe de l'énergie atomique Rosatom, ndlr), ait donné à l'Iran un engagement écrit sur la date de l'envoi du combustible, il ne s'est pas concrétisé", a ajouté M. Saïdi.

La centrale, un projet de près d'un milliard de dollars, doit être achevée "en septembre 2007" et commencer à produire de l'énergie "en novembre 2007", avait indiqué la semaine dernière le porte-parole de l'Agence fédérale russe de l'énergie atomique (Rosatom), Sergueï Novikov.

Selon M. Novikov, "la Russie peut livrer du combustible nucléaire à l'Iran en mars prochain, six mois avant la date du lancement de la centrale en septembre".

Le projet de la centrale de Bouchehr a été lancé par l'ancien Shah d'Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi dans les années 70. La compagnie allemande Kraftwerk-Union, filiale de Siemens, avait été choisie pour sa construction, mais s'est retirée au moment de la révolution islamique de 1979.

Moscou a pris le relais en signant un contrat avec Téhéran en 1995 pour terminer la construction de la centrale.

La Russie a conclu avec l'Iran en 1995 un accord pour livrer la centrale nucléaire de Bouchehr (sud), mais le projet a pris du retard, notamment sous la pression des autorités américaines.

La Russie a notamment conclu avec l'Iran, sous la pression de Washington, un accord afin que le combustible nucléaire d'origine russe pour Bouchehr soit retourné en territoire russe une fois usagé, afin d'éviter des risques de détournement à des fins militaires.

Ehoud Olmert aurait rencontré un très haut responsable saoudien, selon un journal israélien

JERUSALEM (AP) - Le Premier ministre Ehoud Olmert aurait rencontré un haut responsable saoudien, et peut-être même le roi Abdallah lui-même il y a une dizaine de jours, rapporte lundi le quotidien israélien "Yediot Ahronot". Le journal cite plusieurs responsables israéliens anonymes selon lesquels Olmert a rencontré le roi, tandis que d'autres rapportent qu'il a rencontré un haut responsable dans l'entourage du roi.

Dans un entretien publié sur le site Internet du "Yediot Ahronot" lundi, le Premier ministre israélien a affirmé qu'il n'avait pas rencontré le roi saoudien, mais n'a pas nié s'être entretenu avec un haut responsable du royaume. "Je n'ai pas rencontré le roi saoudien et je n'ai rencontré personne qui puisse entraîné une agitation médiatique", a-t-il déclaré.

Parallèlement, un haut responsable saoudien s'exprimant sous couvert de l'anonymat a formellement démenti l'information du "Yediot Ahronot". "Il s'agit d'une invention née de leur imagination", a assuré ce responsable. Israël et l'Arabie saoudite n'ont par de relations diplomatiques, mais le "Yediot Ahronot" a rapporté la semaine dernière que les deux pays entretiennent des contacts secrets depuis le mois de juillet pour parler du processus de paix avec les Palestiniens et du dossier iranien.

Ehoud Olmert aurait rencontré un très haut responsable saoudien, selon un journal israélien

JERUSALEM (AP) - Le Premier ministre Ehoud Olmert aurait rencontré un haut responsable saoudien, et peut-être même le roi Abdallah lui-même il y a une dizaine de jours, rapporte lundi le quotidien israélien "Yediot Ahronot".

Le journal cite plusieurs responsables israéliens anonymes selon lesquels Olmert a rencontré le roi, tandis que d'autres rapportent qu'il a rencontré un haut responsable dans l'entourage du roi.

Dans un entretien publié sur le site Internet du "Yediot Ahronot" lundi, le Premier ministre israélien a affirmé qu'il n'avait pas rencontré le roi saoudien, mais n'a pas nié s'être entretenu avec un haut responsable du royaume. "Je n'ai pas rencontré le roi saoudien et je n'ai rencontré personne qui puisse entraîné une agitation médiatique", a-t-il déclaré.

Parallèlement, un haut responsable saoudien s'exprimant sous couvert de l'anonymat a formellement démenti l'information du "Yediot Ahronot". "Il s'agit d'une invention née de leur imagination", a assuré ce responsable. Israël et l'Arabie saoudite n'ont par de relations diplomatiques, mais le "Yediot Ahronot" a rapporté la semaine dernière que les deux pays entretiennent des contacts secrets depuis le mois de juillet pour parler du processus de paix avec les Palestiniens et du dossier iranien.

Le président irakien se prononce pour une présence américaine à long terme en Irak

WASHINGTON - AFP- Le Président irakien, Jalal Talabani, s'est prononcé pour une présence militaire américaine à long terme en Irak, affirmant que son pays aurait besoin de la présence de bases américaines aériennes permanentes afin d'empêcher les "interférences étrangères".

"Je pense que nous aurons besoin des forces américaines pendant longtemps, même de deux bases militaires pour empêcher les interférences étrangères", a affirme Jalal Talabani au journal Washington Post. "Je ne demande pas d'avoir 100.000 soldats américains, 1O.000 et deux bases aériennes seront suffisants", a-t-il ajouté.

Le president a indiqué que les bases pourraient être installées au Kurdistan, région autonome du nord de l'Irak qui est auto-gouvernée depuis la guerre du Golfe de 1991.

Mais il a également suggéré que la population de confession sunnite serait favorable à une présence militaire américaine à long terme en Irak.

"Dans ceraine endroits, les sunnites veulent que les Américains restent", a-t-il dit. "Les sunnites pensent maintenant que le principal danger vient de l'Iran à l'heure actuelle".

Alors que le maintien d'un fort contingent militaire américain en Irak est impopulaire aux Etats-Unis, un haut responsable militaire américain, le général John Abizaid, avait affirmé la semaine dernière qu'il ne fallait pas compter sur une réduction de troupes --actuellement 147.000 hommes-- avant le printemps.

Le général Abizaid avait pourtant prédit il y a six mois une baisse de plusieurs milliers de soldats des effectifs américains en Irak. Mais, selon lui, l'explosion de violence et le retard dans la mise en place du gouvernement irakien ont obligé les Etats-Unis à repousser cette échéance.

Centrale Bouchehr: l'Iran peut finir lui-même la construction

MOSCOU - AFP- Un haut responsable du nucléaire iranien, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, en visite lundi à Moscou, a affirmé que son pays pouvait lui-même achever la construction de la centrale nucléaire de Bouchehr si les Russes n'étaient pas capables de le faire, selon les médias iraniens.

Le chef de l'Organisation iranienne de l'énergie atomique (OIEA) a eu un premier entretien à Moscou avec son homologue de l'Agence fédérale russe de l'Energie atomique (Rosatom), Sergueï Kirienko, au sujet de l'achèvement de la centrale nucléaire de Bouchehr (sud de l'Iran) construite par la société russe Atomstroïexport. Ils doivent reprendre leurs discussions mardi.

"Dans le cas où le constructeur russe est dans l'incapacité de finir le projet de Bouchehr, l'Iran est prêt à le finir lui-même", a dit M. Aghazadeh aux journalistes iraniens l'accompagnant et dont les propos ont été reproduits par l'agence semi-officielle iranienne Mehr.

"De notre point de vue, nous pouvons finir la centrale dans une période de six mois", a-t-il dit, démentant les informations sur un "accord avec la partie russe pour l'entrée en fonction de la centrale en novembre 2007".

La semaine dernière, le porte-parole de Rosatom, Sergueï Novikov, avait indiqué que la centrale, un projet de près d'un milliard de dollars, devrait être achevée "en septembre 2007" et commencer à produire de l'énergie "en novembre 2007".

"Nous pensons que cinq ou six mois suffisent pour finir le projet. Mais malgré les faiblesses de l'entrepreneur russe et vu que le projet a avancé à 90%, nous allons continuer de travailler avec eux", a dit M. Aghazadeh.

Selon lui, "l'entrepreneur russe est très faible et nous allons lors des réunions (à Moscou) insister sur ses difficultés". "Nous savions dès le départ qu'il était faible mais il n'y a pas d'autres entrepreneurs russes pour construire des centrales nucléaires et nous n'avions pas le choix".

Mohammad Saïdi, le vice-président de l'OIEA qui accompagne M. Aghazadeh, a indiqué que les deux parties devraient "décider demain (mardi) de la date définitive du démarrage de la centrale et de la livraison du combustible".

Selon M. Novikov, "la Russie peut livrer du combustible nucléaire à l'Iran en mars prochain, six mois avant la date du lancement de la centrale en septembre".

Interrogé sur la décision de donner à l'époque aux Russes la charge de finir la construction de la centrale commencée par les Allemands, M. Aghazadeh a dit: "Si j'avais été responsable à l'époque, je n'aurais pas pris une telle décision et j'aurais proposé la construction d'une nouvelle centrale".

Le projet de la centrale de Bouchehr a été lancé par l'ancien Shah d'Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi dans les années 1970. La compagnie allemande Kraftwerk-Union, filiale de Siemens, avait été choisie pour sa construction, mais s'est retirée au moment de la révolution islamique de 1979.

Moscou a pris le relais en signant un contrat avec Téhéran en 1995 pour terminer la construction de la centrale de Bouchehr (sud de l'Iran), mais le projet a pris du retard, notamment sous la pression des autorités américaines.

La Russie a notamment conclu avec l'Iran, sous la pression de Washington, un accord afin que le combustible nucléaire d'origine russe pour Bouchehr soit retourné en territoire russe une fois usagé, afin d'éviter des risques de détournement à des fins militaires.

Defense & Foreign Affairs - September 19th

Volume XXIV, No. 56 Tuesday, September 19, 2006 Zawahiri Warns in New Type of Message of Imminent Attacks on the West Strategy: The Art of Victory: Seizing the Strategic Future Essential Reading: Victory: More Important Than War or Peace ... Essential Reading: From the Hejaz: Rare Glimpses of Islam and Saudi Arabia Zawahiri Warns in New Type of Message of Imminent Attacks on the West Analysis. By Jason Fuchs, GIS UN Correspondent. The September 11, 2006, video tape of al-Qaida commander Ayman al-Zawahiri released by As-Sahab Productions to commemorate the fifth “anniversary” of the “Ghazvat al-Gha Zavat” (“The Mother of All Raids”) on New York and Washington DC marked a watershed moment in the Islamist-jihadist war on the West. While many, if not most, Western media outlets dismissed the tape as propaganda, in fact, Zawahiri’s message was the long-promised culmination of a series of taped messages from the global jihadist leadership which directly “paves the way” for new acts of “spectacular” terrorism against the West which are intended to surpass those of September 11, 2001, in lethality and audacity. While Zawahiri spoke of threats to US interests in the Gulf and to Israel and of the “doomed” efforts of the US military in Afghanistan and Iraq, the message which would be heard most loudly in jihadi circles was the following: “We have repeatedly warned you and offered a truce with you. Now we have all the legal and rational justification to continue to fight you until your power is destroyed or you give in and surrender … The days are pregnant and giving birth to new events.” Zawahiri was correctly referring to spate of al-Qaida messages released since late 2004 which had seen the jihadist leadership make every effort to gain the widest possible backing and legitimacy in the Islamic world for the upcoming “raids” on the US, which were expected to shock Islamic audiences not only because of their general destructiveness but because significant numbers of Muslim civilians who were expected to be “martyred” as a result of what has been determined to be unavoidable collateral damage. As a result of this expectation, key al-Qaida leaders, like Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri, had focused their most recent messages secondarily on the promised next series of “spectaculars”, but primarily on going through the perceived protocols articulated in 15 centuries of collective Islamic jurisprudence on the necessary steps that should precede any just military strike. These steps included: · An offer of truce. Bin Laden’s April 2004 tape had offered Western Europe the opportunity for a truce and his November 2004 “election message” to US citizens provided a similar offer to the US.1 Since that time, bin Laden, as well as other key jihadi ideologues, have made similar offers. An offer of conversion to Islam. Commanders of the jihadist movement had repeatedly stressed the centrality of conversion to Islam as means for the Judeo-Christian West of avoiding what Zawahiri recently referred to as the “dark” and “pitiable” fate awaiting the American people. The video released by As-Sahab productions on September 2, 2006, featuring Zawahiri and Azzam al-Amriki (US citizen Adam Gadahn) had been entitled “An Invitation to Islam” and was only the most recent manifestation of this trend. Clear warning. The need to “warn” the US and the West, to make clear to them the result of their “refusal to heel to the path of the shehada (martyrs)”, was paramount. Zawahiri’s September 11, 2006, message effectively announced that this period was now complete and that the global jihadist movement now retained sufficient legal and theological justification to proceed with the long-planned attacks against the US and the West. This development was emphasized by an Afghanistan-based al-Qaida commander known as Abu Dawood on September 12, 2006, in an interview at the tomb of Sultan Mehmud Ghaznawi on the outskirts of Kabul with Pakistani journalist and official bin Laden biographer Hamid Mir. As Dawood explained: “Our cycle of warnings has been completed, now we have fresh edicts from some prominent Muslim scholars to destroy our enemy, this is our defending of jihad; the enemy has entered in our homes and we have the right to enter in their homes, they are killing us, we will kill them.” Further Dawood specifically warned Muslims in New York and Washington DC that they needed to leave immediately for their own safety, saying: “We cannot stop our attack just because of the American Muslims; they must realize that American forces are killing innocent Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq; we have the right to respond back, in the same manner, in the enemy's homeland. The American Muslims are like a human shield for our enemy; they must leave New York and Washington." The use of the term “human shield” was a none too oblique reference that would be readily appreciated in Islamist circles as a nod to what was known as the “shield fatwa debate”. Detailing the coming strike, Dawood added: “We have a different plan for the next attack. You will see. Americans will hardly find out any Muslim names, after the next attack. Most of our brothers are living in Western countries, with Jewish and Christian names, with passports of Western countries. This time, someone with the name of Mohamed Atta will not attack inside America, it would be some David, Richard or Peter." In what appeared to be somewhat of a contradiction to this last statement, though, Dawood claimed the “raid” would be led by a commander already inside the US named Adnan el-Shukrijumah who “has smuggled deadly materials inside America from the Mexican border”. Dawood made clear that this new attack would be “a bigger attack than September 11, 2001”, and that bin Laden would be releasing a new audiotape in the next two weeks. All this would occur during this coming Ramadan against NATO Forces in Afghanistan in the context of an intensified offensive which was being called the “Badr operation”, according to Dawood. Thus, the US and the West needed to recognize they were currently engaged in a significantly high threat period, which would not end until either the threat was realized, the “cells” involved were discovered and dismantled, or the sponsoring states, which provided guidance, support, and safe-haven were removed from the strategic playing field. Footnotes: 1. Following bin Laden’s “election message”, the Islamist website Al-Islah provided an articulate characterization of this development of “truce-offering” as follows: “Some people ask 'what's new in this tape?' [The answer is that] this tape is the second of its kind, after the previous tape of the Sheikh [Osama bin Laden], in which he offered a truce to the Europeans a few months ago, and it is a completion of this move, and it brings together the complementary elements of politics and religion, political savvy and force, the sword and justice. The Sheikh reminds the West in this tape of the great Islamic civilization and pure Islamic religion, and of Islamic justice …” See: www.islahi.net/vboard/showthread.php?t=116432. 2. This referred to the late 13th century debate among Islamic jurists and its 21st century correlative. This seemingly arcane debate over theological jurisprudence had, in fact, played a significant role in jihadist deliberations and, by late 2004, been resolved in bin Laden’s favor, setting the ideological justification for the mass killing of innocent Muslims in forthcoming “spectacular” operations. The original debate had occurred when the Tatar (Mongol) armies destroyed the Abassid caliphate and occupied Baghdad in 1258. In doing so, the Tatars captured large numbers of Muslims, placed them in chains, and then placed them in front of their own forces as human shields during the fighting, creating a major quandary for the Muslim resistance. Was it permissible to attack the Tatars with arrows and catapults and risk killing their brethren in the process, or, should they desist from fighting altogether? The Islamic scholar Ibn Tamiyya issued a fatwa ruling that such attacks were permissible. Bin Laden and his ideological allies argued and received a formal ruling from a small number of influential Saudi jihadi clerics that this provided legal and religious precedent for any Muslim collateral damage in upcoming strikes. Strategy The Art of Victory: Seizing the Strategic Future By Gregory R. Copley, Editor, GIS. Presented to the US Army Command & General Staff College, Leadership Lecture Series, Ft. Belvoir, Virginia: September 15, 2006. The speech highlighted themes from the new book, The Art of Victory, which is to be released in the US on October 3, 2006. Turn and take one last look around at the life you have known, at the life we humans have built over the past few thousand years. It is already gone. The granite columns of antiquity remain, ’though they crumble. Humanity, more vast in its numbers, remembers little of its past. This great upheaval we see today is how the epochs change. Our ego tells us that this era of change is different from all other past human experience; that the future is unchartable and unmanageable. But that is not so. We can shape the future as we have always done, now more than ever before. There are golden times again for us to make. And yet we are in the eye of the hurricane, an Age of Global Transformation, a pivotal time for humanity. The pace of change is accelerating, not just in science and technology: human numbers are surging, and flooding into urban, mostly coastal, cities and towns, creating a cauldron of friction and potentially revolutionary heat. Climates, too, are changing, and yet we remain fixated on the status quo, and on the promises and fears of the future. Forgotten is the fact that in our past mankind was more aware of the tools of survival with which nature equipped us. Officers of this Command & General Staff College Course: you are, in the profession of strategy, still young, and have yet to be given great command, ’though your mettle has already been tested in harsh times. You are now being called to even greater service for your country because you have proven to have the essential instincts of courage, decisiveness, loyalty, and intellectual curiosity. These are the noble characteristics of youth, which has the strength to respond quickly and efficiently to the immediate challenges; to be able to obey without question; to uphold the ideals of a civilization handed down from heroes of antiquity. But, to quote the words from St Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians: When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put aside childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly … Thus now you move from the golden horizons of youth into a night of serried shadows. With this Command course, you move from the tactical to the strategic. From the immediate and visible, to the indefinite, the wraith-like, and the invisible. From what, in youth, seems the certain clarity of knowledge to that which, in growing maturity, is the troubling uncertainty and infinite nuance of wisdom. From follower to leader. The marshal’s baton which has merely weighed heavy and useless at the foot of your knapsack must now be the altar which you transport with you. For you are to command the future, if you can but see the broad horizons while retaining the characteristics and vigor which made your command of the immediate — the tactical phalanx — so gratifying to grasp. Our talk today is of victory, which goes beyond military strategy — although it embraces it — and which transcends any single generation. And if we understand victory, and the path to its achievement, then we will truly contribute to the endurance of our civilization. Once we grasp the meaning of victory we can begin to understand the arts and costs of its achievement. Victory is infinitely more important than war and peace. Without victory — victory over nature, victory over adversaries, victory over self, victory over ignorance — a society fades to extinction. Mankind can tolerate the uncertainties and costs of conflict, but without victory there is no lasting peace, or any real peace at all: no prosperity, no control over destiny, no guarantee of survival. Victory at its essence is the survival of the species, and for each us the survival of our own clan and society within the species. The achievement or loss of victory directs and contours forever the destiny of every society. Victory is not just “winning”. Winning — when viewed down the silent, windswept plains of history — is tactical, a phenomenon which is, by definition, explosive, transitory, and ephemeral. Victory is slow-burning, overarching and transcendent. Victory requires, however, that goals be won or achieved on an ongoing basis. It is neither a permanent nor secure phenomenon. Society too often mistakes the process of conquest for victory itself, but victory is the sustained delivery of a complex pattern of successes. To be victorious, then, implies the command of an epoch and the fundamental alteration of history. While a single success or defeat may affect history, victory — whether eventually undone or not — marks the path of a society or of mankind. And yet we take our continued survival for granted, although history tells us that no species is immune from obliteration; no culture, language, ethnic community, nation, or belief system is guaranteed its survival. We fail to learn from history. We know that the Neanderthals are no more. We know that the languages and beliefs of ancient Egypt are gone beneath the sands, interpreted — as the writings of the Sumerian scribes and poets of ramparted Uruk — from fragmentary scripts, weathered into stone. Most of the ancient languages of my native Australia have flown on the wind, and the last blood of their tribes who spoke them long soaked into the red soil. We know that there are other peoples, cultures, beliefs, languages, genetic lines: all lost without trace. We do not know how many. They are as though they never existed. Still we persist in the belief in the inevitable linear progression and dominance of our own cultures, tribes, religions, and languages, without doing anything to ensure the survival of our society. So the survival and dominance of a society through history is its principal victory. As with the chance triumph of Duke William of Normandy on Senlac Hill — the Battle of Hastings — on October 13, 1066, the fate of civilizations turns on unexpected things. Hastings brought us the birth of Anglosphere civilization, which today is the heart of Western or modern civilization. The languages we speak, the generations which may — or, in defeat, may not — follow our family line, the welfare we enjoy: all hang upon pivotal events but must be confirmed and compounded by the consciously-defined processes of history. So much of the destiny of humanity hangs on what we do every day. The least we can do is to understand what led us here, what ensures our societal future, and how we can ensure that this future — if it indeed is to exist — is in the image we wish it to be. In my new book, The Art of Victory, I identified 28 maxims to achieve and sustain victory, but there are more. Each maxim on its own merits a book-length discussion, but just let me go into one of the maxims at this point. In Maxim Four in The Art of Victory, I said: “War is the most common and successful catalyst through which victory is commenced, but once victory is secured, warfare should be the preferred option only when considered against lesser forces.” We cannot forget that it was the Continental Army of the United States which, together with the US Navy and Marine Corps, which essentially initiated the victory of the United States within what was to become the overarching victory of the West. And the US Armed Forces have sustained and defended that victory. Meanwhile, in 1917, the Red Army was used as an instrument to reinvigorate or initiate what was intended to be a great Russian victory, but in fact the Red Army — or preoccupation with militarism — proved, over 70 years, to be what caused the Sovietized Russian empire to fail. Russia’s drive toward victory was only resumed, in 1991, after the military was essentially put into a more balanced place in the Russian equation. Maintaining an understanding of these maxims makes the crafting of national and military strategies more contextual and long-term, and expands the field of operations open to a leader. But, as I attempted to show in the book, these tenets apply equally to the command of life at an individual level, as well as within families, or other societies, such as corporations. In all of this we need to understand how our past relates to our future. We know that global warming threatens coastal environments and island communities around the world and the viability of life in regions like the arid lands of China’s Xinjiang Province or in Africa’s Sahel. But we cannot know how aware the people of the lower Indus River Valley were that their world was changing as the last Ice Age drew to an end around 10000 BCE. By 8000 BCE, the major cities of the lower Indus Valley were beneath the sea. Higher up the Indus Valley, a number of major population centers continued to thrive for several thousand years after the last Ice Age. But it was only at the dawn of the 21st Century that the secrets of the cities which had lain hidden for ten millennia on the bed of the Arabian Sea, began to be discovered and are now being interpreted. The changes faced by the inhabitants of those cities were gradual. The waters lapped incessantly higher over the years. Societies had time to adjust, and drift away to higher ground in what was a period of global warming — such as we appear to be facing now — which transformed the entire environment and all societies. That era, which does not appear in our history books, has direct parallels with today. Society has constantly transformed, in many ways no more so than with the explosion of literacy following the development of moveable type and printing in 1450. The portability of knowledge caused by this development created new wealth and power. Those societies with widespread literacy and easily-reproduced languages became prosperous and dominant. All this is our heritage. Our egos tell us that great upheavals are in the past, and we do not need to learn them again. We are different. The future is different. We have tamed change. Or so we believe. But life changes constantly, and we still have not absorbed many of the changes which occurred even during the 20th Century. After World War II, in the triumphant nations of the Allied West, a “baby boom” created a population bubble in the rich, industrialized societies. This demographic trend skewed and paralyzed the economic and political thinking of our present generation. This moving demographic bloc of “baby boomers”, who are now approaching retirement, will also pass. Yet few are thinking about the economic consequences beyond this blip. And what if once again totally new reproductive patterns transform the shape of societies? Certainly, China’s one-child policy has already dramatically skewed the gender balance in the world’s most populous nation, with as-yet unknown — but significant — consequences. The tectonic shifts in history — the discovery of agriculture, the end of the Ice Age, and so on — affected everything from how wars were fought to who came to power, to how societies became prosperous. Those societies and individuals which succeed do so by recognizing familiar paths through what appears to be an alien landscape of change. The laws of nature have not changed; we have gradually, throughout human development, discovered more and more of what nature has always held in store for us. But we have also forgotten some of the tools with which we were equipped to cope with change. We are, in fact, better prepared to face the strange new gifts of science and the chaos of mass human concentrations than were the humans who faced the onset of the last Ice Age. And yet their survival forms the very basis of the victory we share today. The Context of Change Strategic reality changes as the contextual environment changes. And we are now coming to a confluence of various strands of profound change. We are on the brink of a global shift of humanity which has aspects in common with the end of the last Ice Age, an era which brought the birth of agriculture and the consequent rise of towns and cities. Some shifts are decided by nature; some by human action. We are now engaged in a shift which is the result of the works of both nature and man. Climate and Population The new global shift includes climatic and environmental change: new patterns of weather, rising sea levels, transformed ocean currents (further compounding the altered weather patterns), the creation of new areas of terrestrial aridity (and revived fertility and productivity in others), and so on. The shift will affect agricultural and habitat viability, with consequent ramifications for political stability in many countries. This process has already begun, and the results are evident within our generation. The timescales of these changes are accelerating. The new global transformation — the abyss as well as the sunlit upland into which we now stare — includes dramatic and epochal changes in population patterns: the first substantive reorientation of societies since the Middle Ages (which led to the age of colonial migration which essentially created our present global geopolitical shape). The new age of transformation — the result of the impact of technologies of transportation, computing and mass communications, along with rising but unevenly distributed wealth — has caused a fluid and natural movement of large masses of people from low-opportunity areas to high-opportunity areas. This all changes the nature of sovereignty, the rôle of government, and the functioning of human mechanisms of choice (such as democracy). At the same time, we are witnessing the first major and progressive population declines in Europe and Africa for hundreds of years, the result of demographic ageing and birth-rate patterns on the one hand, and disease and economic challenges on the other. But it is also clear from history that globalization will likely lead to even greater sweeping disease pandemics with profound strategic consequences. Quite apart from the impact on demographics, which can distort economic models, disease can strike at the heart of victory. Napoleon Bonaparte would have created a Continental trading system excluding Britain if his 1812 invasion of Russia had succeeded. The impact on history would have been profound, and French could have been the lingua franca of the world today instead of English. What defeated Napoleon, however, was not only the onset of an extreme Winter in his war against Russia but relapsing fevers transmitted by body lice among his troops. And while the health of leaders, armies, and societies have always been key determinants in history, today, however, perhaps the most challenging — and overlooked — issue facing societies is the question of population. Not only has the growth of population numbers become an issue of profound importance when considering infrastructure and human needs, globalization has ensured that the phenomenon of population movement and loyalty has, for the first time, become something which must be considered in an entirely new light. “Population strategies” will become the major challenge for governments in the 21st Century. The Creation of Militant Societies Change, chaos, and anomie — of which terrorism and alienation within society are but symptomatic parts — will lead rapidly during the coming decade or two to a reactive period of increasing militarization and militancy on a near-universal basis. Where this militant reaction does not occur, the civilizations will perish or erode still further. And the companion of the militarization of society will be increasing “political correctness”. This is a normal coping mechanism of society to assert control over change; to re-assert balance. The Militarization of Space … and China is in the Lead The question of the militarization of space is no longer open. Space is, and will increasingly be, militarized. In some very key respects, China has seized the initiative in this arena. Not all of the new space activity will be offensive in nature: apart from contributions to science, space holds the key to neutralizing the viability of offensive strategic ballistic missiles and their nuclear or other strategic payloads. Dr Stefan Possony, the great strategist, and Ronald Reagan — even before he became US President in 1981 — saw the prospects of such a system, the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which would have been controlled by a consortium of all the major powers, and which would have effectively neutralized the capabilities of strategic ballistic missiles. Few people saw far enough into the future to realize that this system could have brought benefits to all of humanity by making nuclear war less feasible. But even if we were merely to extend our present capabilities in a linear fashion, terrestrially-based anti-ballistic-missile systems have already reduced the chance of success of North Korean and Iranian ballistic missiles. The greatest potency which lingers for those nuclear weapons held by “rogue states” lies in their psychological impact. Our collective minds are held captive by icons of the past. Science has already moved on, even if many scientists, politicians, and journalists have not. Transformed Energy, Food, and Water Production The emerging new technologies will transform food production and fuel efficiencies and, indeed, the very question as to what constitutes fuel. New, safe nuclear energy technologies — which do not pose the same risks as current approaches in terms of waste material or the ability to produce weapons-grade by-products — are on the brink of viability. These will further transform and revitalize human abilities to harness power for industry and for the desalination and movement of clean water, as well as reducing emissions from fossil fuels. In the late 20th Century, we were contemplating the finite life of energy resources; now we need not. We were contemplating the finite availability of safe drinking and agricultural water, and of food; now we need not. The Age of Biology is also now full upon us, and once again the farmers will provide renewable fuels for motive power: not hay for horses, this time, but cornstalks, sugarcane, and other agricultural growth into ethanol. Agricultural powers once again will control their own destinies, free from hostage dependency on imported oil. This comes just in time for the United States, for example, which is now in the last great fight for domination of the fossil fuel marketplace. The US is gradually losing its dominance over that arena, but no matter: even that trend toward the loss of dominance over world oil resources impels the US to ensure the smooth transition to an age dominated not by fossil fuels, but by biofuels and other energies. But the energy business — possibly the biggest single economic factor in the world today — is like a supertanker; slow to change course. And it never will change course until it sights a reef and the captain gives the order. The reef is already in sight. Productive Societies Surrendering to Unproductive Societies? We know that science and technology offer us the options to take control of our destinies; to avoid, for example, the entanglements which the pursuit of oil has brought. But have we the strength to grasp our destiny in our own hands? Or is it possible that we could succumb, through loss of will, to a new dark age before we can actually bring these stunning scientific breakthroughs into use? It is up to us whether we choose to be part of the re-birth of a society or part of the slow and geriatric failing and death of one. Today, the productive nations of the world (the ones which produce and export food surpluses, technologically value-added goods, and services) may squabble among themselves, but their challenge comes almost solely from societies in which the people produce nothing of benefit to their fellow humans. And yet these unproductive societies are using the cheaply-acquired technologies of the productive societies against them. Think of these challengers to the industrial societies: almost all of them produce nothing of a value-added nature. Some of them may sell oil, or coca leaf, or opium and cocaine, but this is an accident of geography, not a feat of scientific or technological progress. Yet today, all of the efforts by the industrial world are focused on addressing the demands of people who choose not to cherish education and productivity, the tools of survival and prosperity. In less than a century, the oil-producing states of the Middle East will have nothing of great importance to sell unless they become diversified economies. Oil, by then, will be a minor fuel. We will look back on them as we did, with bemusement, on the salt sellers of old, or the dealers in tulip bulbs in 17th Century Holland. To our detriment, we still focus our attention on the price of oil. To their detriment, the oil-producing states of the Middle East fail to move their societies to literacy, science, and production. An Age of Savage Wars and Global Criminals Few people today could name even 10 percent of the countries which existed only, say, 300 years ago. Italy did not then exist as a sovereign state; neither did the United States, nor Germany, Italy, or Australia. And more countries will appear or disappear in the next few decades in a process which in The Art of Victory I’m calling cratogenesis and cratocide: the birth and murder of nations. The wars of secession, and the re-shaping of boundaries — largely suppressed by the Cold War — begin anew. The wars to break up Yugoslavia are still unfinalized. And in many of the new wars we will see savagery abound as groups “re-discover” old identities, and seek to capitalize on the permissive climate of change and chaos. From this turmoil we already see the rise of new global criminal movements benefiting from the globalization of technologies and societies. The international banking constraints imposed to restrict terrorists have not hampered the new, more vicious criminal movements. In all of these, the Albanian criminals have displaced the old Sicilians. If the 20th Century was the criminal age of the Sicilian mafia, then the 21st Century is the age of the Albanian mafia. Even the Russian mafia, let loose after the collapse of communism, is no match for the Albanian criminal industry, which is now operating across Europe and into the Americas, closely tied to the Islamist jihadists. In many respects, the “al-Qaida” phenomenon owes its success to the financial links with the Albanian mafia, just as the Albanian criminals owe their success to the logistics and networks of al-Qaida. The chaos of changing borders is fertile ground for criminality. In the coming decades there will be more and more “no go” areas in the world. And this is partly the reason why some societies will react with greater militarization and rigidity. In many respects, the terror has just begun. Emerging criminal states, such as the Kosovo Albanian “state” and even, potentially, Venezuela, could profoundly change our sense of security. We will all feel the reverberations over the coming decade. But it would be simplistic to say that we are in a “Clash of Civilizations”. Rather we are seeing new civilizations defined and older ones re-defined. Globalization is changing how ethnic and communal nations interact. But the visible, iconic lifestyles which divide us will continue to be the essence of conflict. Still, within the competition between societies, the underlying thread that mankind is competing for survival with the rest of nature will come again to the fore. In the “peace” and prosperity which followed the titanic confrontations of the 20th Century, the smug, safe, secure modern states embarked upon the divisive social policy of “multi-culturalism”, which created, essentially, isolated and competitive sub-states of communities within states. Why should we be surprised, then, when national unity — already pressured by globalization — fails in modern Western societies? A Context of Victory In the end, we can see that the world is divided into two basic camps: one which believes it must take responsibility for defining its future; and one which clings to the hope that someone, or something, else will take care of its safety and welfare. Most of us have a foot in both camps, but lean more one way than the other. The first group retains a more primal comprehension of species survival; the second wants no sacrifice in the standard of living and wealth which our forebears created, heedless of the cost to the future. Even so, many of the things which impact us are beyond our control: the last Ice Age and the effects of its remission; the current exponential growth in human population numbers; and many aspects of the current global warming pattern akin to the end of the last Ice Age. How we react to things not of our making is the mark of whether or not we will survive and prosper. Those who wait for someone else — government or God — to resolve the problems will be in for an unhappy time. Nature — God, if you prefer — has already given us the tools to survive against the threats of man and the environment. We just need to use them. Essential Reading Victory: More Important Than War or Peace ... The Art of Victory: Strategies for Personal Success and Global Survival in a Changing World. By Gregory R. Copley. New York, 2006: Threshold Editions, imprint of Simon & Schuster. ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-2470-0, ISBN-10: 1-4165-2470-3.328pp, indexed, bibl. Hardcover, $25. The book will be released in North American bookstores on October 3, 2006. See www.artofvictory.com. Victory, the survival of a society with undisputed dominion over its languages, customs, sovereignty, and beliefs, is something the West has long taken for granted. And yet it is a phenomenon which requires assiduous striving and planning. The West, in many respects, has ceased such striving and is spending the fruits of the victory built over more than a thousand years, based on the philosophical, intellectual, and societal underpinnings reaching back into Zoroastrian Persian culture, Greek and Roman civilization, and Viking and Celtic societies. What lessons can leaders draw from the history of successful and failed civilizations and societies? This is the key to Gregory Copley’s timeless new opus, The Art of Victory: Strategies for Personal Success and Global Survival in a Changing World. The author distills the lessons into 28 major maxims which provide context and a basis for grand strategy, and, under that, political and military strategy. That the book has been issued by one of the West’s major publishing houses speaks for its general importance, and probably accounts for the tagline of the book, “Strategies for Personal Success and Global Survival in a Changing World”. But make no mistake: this is a book for professionals in national management and national security. The Art of Victory was based on a much larger, extensively documented study for Western intelligence and political leaders, but the public edition which has now gone on sale is eminently readable and understandable. It is also, in essence, the “marshal’s baton” to be carried in the knapsack of future leaders. The Art of Victory is the first book ever published which deals specifically with psychological strategy, the parent art of psychological warfare, and the facilitating mechanism of grand strategy. For that matter, The Art of Victory is a true handbook on how grand strategy functions. But this sophisticated yet flowing book also places the timeless maxims into a context of current and anticipated global events, showing the relationships between globalization, climate change, and science and technology, as well as highlighting how the destruction of hierarchies which occurred following the end of the Cold War enables the development of new strategic frameworks. Copley introduces us to two new words and concepts: cratocide and cratogenesis, the murder and birth of nations. In discussing the transformation of Westphalian sovereignty with colleague Dr Marios Evriviades — a Cypriot of Greek background — they settled on descriptors based on ancient Greek, but appropriate to the emerging age of changing state boundaries and the appearance and disappearance of states. Gregory Copley, Editor-in-Chief of the Defense & Foreign Affairs series of publications is well-known for introducing the world to analysis from a grand strategy standpoint, something he says he learned from a quarter-century of work with the late Dr Stefan T. Possony, to whom The Art of Victory is dedicated. In his acknowledgments, Copley said that Possony was known as “the greatest strategic philosopher of the 20th Century”, but “his work was even wider-reaching than that”. Devotees of Possony’s classical studies on strategy will find an echo of that great master in Victory, but Copley has taken the study even further. The book has 30 main chapters: Prologue: The Emerging Global Revolution 1 Defining Victory 2 Embarking on the Path to Victory 3 Defining a Grand Strategy for Victory 4 The Rôle of War in Victory 5 Mastering Self, Mastering Fate 6 God and Victory 7 The Pre-Requisites of Victory 8 Abstraction, Complexity, and Victory 9 Positioning Perceptions for Victory 10 Identity as the Core of Victory 11 The Failure, and Promise, of Terrorism 12 The Care and Feeding of Enemies 13 When Destruction is the Aim, Victory is Not 14 Making Victory Endure Through “Legitimacy” 15 The True Leader 16 The Passion of Leadership 17 Perceptions of Leadership 18 The Great Symbiosis of Leader and Led 19 Loyalty and Survival 20 The Never-Ending Challenge 21 Welcome to an Interregnum of Cratocide and Cratogenesis 22 Victory’s Unique DNA 23 The Gift Which Cannot be Given 24 The Gift to Oneself 25 Strength and Courage: the Hallmarks of Victory 26 My Country, Right or Wrong ... 27 The Sum of All Strengths 28 The Teamwork of Leader and Society Epilogue: The Art of Victory in the Age of Opportunity Copley notes: “Victory ... is eternal; its achievement or loss directs and contours forever the destiny of every society. Victory is not just “winning”. Winning — when viewed down the silent, windswept plains of history — is tactical, a phenomenon which is, by definition, explosive, transitory, and ephemeral. Victory is slow-burning, overarching and transcendent. Victory requires, however, that goals be won or achieved on an ongoing basis. It is neither a permanent nor secure phenomenon. Society too often mistakes the process of conquest for victory itself, which is the sustained delivery of a complex pattern of successes. To be victorious, then, implies the command of an epoch and the fundamental alteration of history, personal or societal. While a single success or defeat may affect history, victory — whether eventually undone or not — marks the path of … mankind.” This is a rare book which will be read with relevance for decades into the future, and should form a permanent part of all strategic libraries. It is the logical next step after Sun-tzu, Machiavelli, and von Clausewitz. — Pamela von Gruber Essential Reading From the Hejaz: Rare Glimpses of Islam and Saudi Arabia Twilight in the Kingdom: Understanding the Saudis. By Mark A. Caudill. Westport, Connecticut, 2006: Praeger Security International. ISBN: 0-275-99252-7. 151pp, photographs; map, glossary, index. Hardcover, $44.95 (UK Sterling Price: £25.99). Saudi Arabia and Islam figure prominently in the strategic consciousness of policymakers in the early 21st Century, but the religion — and particularly the sects of it — is little understood outside the faith, and there is scarce any balance in assessments of where the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is going. To be fair, Arabia and Islam discourage deep research by outsiders, and even insiders, so unfair characterizations of the land, and the religion which centers on it, are bound to occur. US diplomat and Muslim Mark A. Caudill, however, went to great lengths in Twilight in the Kingdom: Understanding the Saudis to provide a comprehensive and balanced view of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Muslim rites which guide the faithful to perform religious oblations at Mecca. In so doing, he became one of a select band of Westerners who have done great work in penetrating the veil which has shrouded Arabia for centuries, writers such as St. John Philby, Sir Richard Burton and the like. Caudill, who converted to Islam before being assigned to the US Consulate General in Jeddah, the capital of the Hejaz, served in the Kingdom as a diplomat from 1999 until 2002, a fateful span considering the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States which featured predominantly Saudi citizens. But as a Muslim — albeit as a US diplomat — Caudill was able to participate freely in the hajj, and he describes in detail the three types of hajj: the tamattu’, qiraan, and ifraad. His writings on the process of the hajj, and the historical development of it, is profoundly interesting and important, because he gets into the human and bureaucratic aspects as much as the religious symbolism. But he also gets into the society as a whole, and particularly — mainly — Hejazi society. The Hejaz, region of the two most important cities in Islam, Mecca and Medina, only came under the domination of the Wahhabist House of Saud in 1924-25. Little wonder, then, that this significant region of Arabia, the source of its great trade — and pilgrimage traffic to holy shrines, even in pre-Islamic times — was looked upon warily by the bedouin Nejdi Al Sauds, and vice versa. Caudill’s book is full of insights, and it is difficult to capture the breadth and detail of his work — essentially a compilation of reports written during his tenure in country, with later additions — other than to say that it would be foolhardy for an analyst to attempt to assess modern Saudi Arabia without it. He does not proselytize in favor of either Islam of Saudi Arabia, instead reporting analytically, but with the benefit of intimate contacts within the society. His extensive glossary of terms at the end of the book alone will ensure that it is seen as a constant reference source for writers on the Middle East. Caudill leaves reader to draw their own conclusions, and in many instances the conclusions which must be drawn about the problems faced by the Saudi Kingdom in Arabia are less than optimistic. Nonetheless, Caudill performed an outstanding service for US-Saudi relation by expanding the understanding which each state can have of the other, but particularly by putting flesh on the bones of Saudi Arabia’s image in the West. His book is also of great service in delving into the great conflicts between the Q’uran’s own words and the sunna and hadith which — Mohammed’s practices and his words and deeds as recounted by associates — and how this affects the modern Muslim society, and particularly the modern Wahhabist. —

IN A PERFECT WORLD Politics Would Be Like This

Love comes in all sizes.... Your Friends will support you.... And respect your creativity for thinking outside the box.... They'll be there when you need a shoulder to lean on.... Or a great big hug.... A true friend takes interest in understanding what you're all about.... They see beyond the black and white to discover your true colors.... And accept you the way you are... Even when you wake up in the morning So make your own kind of music.... Follow your heart wherever it takes you... . And when someone reaches out to you, Don't be afraid to love them back.... They may just become a friend for life.... Practice patience and tolerance..... Enemies even Talk to each other Listen to each other Put up with attempts to force themselves on you Even show solidarity Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave .... And impossible to forget! BUT THE WORLD IS NOT PERFECT

So have a laugh while you can.

The Iranian Ambassador to the UN had just finished giving a speech, and walked out into the lobby where he ran into President Bush. As they walked, the Iranian said, "You know, I have just one question about what I have seen in America".

President Bush said, "What?

"The Iranian whispered "My son watches this show 'Star Trek' and in it there is Chekhov who is Russian, Scotty who is Scottish, and Sulu who is Chinese, but no Iranians.

My son is very upset and doesn't understand why there aren't any Iranians on Star Trek.

"President Bush laughed, leaned toward the Iranian ambassador, and whispered back..... "It's because it takes place in the future!"

Some updated News Round-ups and "Our Beautiful World" in the Graphics page link.

SINFUL CHAVEZ Despite His Sign of the Cross

The Sins of Chavez is a journalistic film that offers the audience an objective reportage about the Venezuelan crisis, its onset and evolution. The documentary was produced by Colombia's Independent Network and Power magazine. Presented by Maria Cristina Uribe. Chavez' sins 1st part (video) Chavez' sins 2nd part (video) Chavez' sins 3rd part (video) Los Pecados de Chavez Investigacion realizada por la periodista Maria Cristina Uribe de Noticias Uno - La Red Independiente de Colombia y la Revista Poder que consta de tres reportajes. La cadena 11A 2002 Venezuela: a nation on edge El Valor de la Razón Documental producido por Gente de Petróleo en torno a las graves violaciones a los derechos humanos sufridas por las familias residentes del campo petrolero Los Semerucos. ¿Cual Revolución? National Electoral Council's Director, Jorge Rodriguez, tried unsuccessfully to stop the broadcasting of this video in a letter sent to the TV channels in Venezuela. The illegal attempt to forbid its transmission by the CNE director backfired badly for it turned the video in an instant bestseller and brought much attention to it, which would not had been the case had Rodriguez remained within the realm of his electoral duties. Latest version of Widows Media Player required [Spanish]. ¿Cual Revolución? Documental producido por Ciudadania Activa. Muestra los discursos y actos de Hugo Chavez desde que asumió la presidencia. Para poder ver estos videos se requiere la ultima versión de Windows Media Player. FOX News reports by Steve Harrigan from Venezuela CARACAS, Venezuela — Hugo Chavez, the left-wing leader who is moving toward totalitarian rule at home in Venezuela and backing guerrilla movements in the region, could become a test for the new Bush administration [windows media player]. More >> Landowvers v Peasants Venezuela's Oil Violence Marks Chavez Rule Nuestro Petróleo y otros cuentos Documentary produced by Elizabetta Andreolli, Sara Muzio, Gabrielle Muzio and Max Plug of Edizioni Gattacicova. Amazingly unadultered viewpoint of the chaotic situation in which the Venezuelan oil industry finds itself at this time. In spite of having been partly funded by the Ministry of Culture the documentary ends with the following: This documentary was filmed on November and December 2004. Seeking replies to the issues raised by those interviewed we requested appointments to President Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias, Minister Rafael Ramirez, Minister Ali Rodriguez Araque, Minister Jorge Giordani, Venezuelan Ambassador to the USA Bernardo Alvarez, and spokespersons of Chevron Texaco, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Total Fina. No appointments or interviews were granted by any of the aforementioned. Nuestro Petróleo y otros cuentos Venezuela: una amenaza real A five part documentary in Spanish that exposes Hugo Chavez's intentions in the Americas: Part I: A real threat Part II: Terrorism Part III: The strategy, international lobbying Part IV: The big country (La Patria Grande) Part V: Guerrilla La Lista - Un Pueblo Bajo Sospecha Documentary produced by Ciudadania Activa that portrays victims of political prosecution in Venezuela. An explanation of how the list works, also known as Tascon List or Maisanta database, can be found here. La Lista - Un Pueblo Bajo Sospecha More videos: 11Abril.com Urru.org

LIST OF ARTICLES CULLED FROM ARCHIVES - FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO BROWSE & REFRESH

EARLIEST ARTICLES FIRST TO PROVIDE FLOW OF ANALYSIS & SITUATION CHANGES WITH LINKS TO EACH INDIVIDUAL ARTICLE below each one MUST READ 3/02/04 Who is the Ayatollah Khomeini? (also in Farsi on Multilingual Page) http://noiri.blogspot.com/2004/03/who-is-ayatollah-khomeini.html MUST READ 3/15/04 Jimmy Carter's Illegal Demands on the Shah (also in Farsi) http://noiri.blogspot.com/2004/03/jimmy-carters-illegal-demands-on-shah.html 5/05/05 Gruesomeome Video of Islam - Religion of Peace http://noiri.blogspot.com/2005/05/gruesome-video-of-islam-religion-of.html 6/05/05 Americans Running for President of Iran http://noiri.blogspot.com/2005/06/americans-running-for-president.html 10/19/05 "Allah on Earth" Aircraft Grounded http://noiri.blogspot.com/2005/10/allah-on-earth-aircraft-grounded.html MUST READ 11/04/05 Mullahs' Threat Not Sinking in http://noiri.blogspot.com/2005/11/mullahs-threat-not-sinking-in.html 11/15/05 Running A Country http://noiri.blogspot.com/2005/11/running-country.html 11/20/05 Operation Sandblast (Note situation changes since written) http://noiri.blogspot.com/2005/11/operation-sandblast.html 01/05/06 Iran's "Let's Roll" Beginning? http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/01/irans-lets-roll-beginning.html 1/22/06 Can the USA Avoid Attacking Iran? http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/01/can-usa-avoid-attacking-iran-can-we.html 2/12/06 IS FORCE NEEDED IN IRAN http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/02/is-force-needed-in-iran.html 3/19/06 New Site Sections http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/03/new-site-sections.html 3/25/06 Patterns of Discontent - Will History Repeat Itself? http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/03/patterns-of-discontent-will-history.html 4/09/06 Iran's Nukes http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/04/irans-nukes.html 4/17/06 REVISED Think Iran - Think Hojatieh http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/04/revised-think-iran-think-hojatieh.html MUST READ 4/23/06 IRAN - JUSTIFIED FINAL SOLUTION http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/04/iran-justified-final-solution.html 5/06/06 WHAT WOULD LOSING THE FIGHT TO ISLAM MEAN? http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/05/what-would-losing-fight-to-islam-mean.html 5/10/06 THE OIL STORY - REVISITED http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/05/oil-story-revisited.html 5/25/06 thank you visitors http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/05/thank-you-visitors.html 5/27/06 DREAM LAPTOP - WOW! http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/05/dream-laptop-wow.html 5/20/06 IRAN'S MOST WANTED LIST (being updated as often as possible) http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/05/irans-most-wanted-list-to-protect.html 6/11/06 PLANNING IRAN TAKEOVER http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/06/planning-iran-take-over-always-check.html MUST READ 6/14/06 IRAN GAVE UP ZARGHAWI http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/06/iran-gave-up-zarghawi-to-west.html 6/23/06 Change of Pace GREECE http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/06/temporary-change-of-pace-athens-greece.html 6/25/06 HOW OUR SENIOR MILITARY VIEWS IRAQ http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/06/how-senior-military-views-iraq-and.html 6/25/06 WHY IRAN CHOSE MID-AUGUST http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/06/why-iran-chose-mid-august-to-respond.html MUST READ 7/01/06 WATCH OUT FOR THE WHITE AL QAEDA http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/07/watch-out-for-white-al-qaeda.html 7/08/06 WMDs CONTINUE TO BE FOUND http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/07/wmds-continue-to-be-found-or.html

MUST READ - STORY BROKEN SIMULTANEOUSLY ON MY SITE

7/09/06 El-Baradei betrays his own IAEA Staff http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/07/el-baradei-betrays-his-own-iaea-staff.html 7/10/06 Breaking News - Not Everything is Politics http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/07/breaking-news-not-everything-is.html 7/14/06 Democrats Helped Iran & Created the Serb War for Profit http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/07/democrats-helped-iran-created-serb-war.html MUST READ 7/14/06 KNOW THY ENEMY - Both Within & Without http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/07/know-thy-enemy-both-within-and-without.html July 18, 2006 Heads Up - Breaking News - IRANIAN THREAT http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/07/heads-up-breaking-news-iranian-threat.html July 22, 2006 WAITING FOR THE OTHER SHOE http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/07/waiting-for-other-shoe.html July 24, 2006 HOMICIDE/SUICIDE SQUADS HEAD FOR LEBANON http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/07/homicidesuicide-squads-head-for.html STORY BROKE ON MY SITE July 26, 2006, UN SPYING FOR HEZBOLLAH? http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/07/un-spying-for-hezbollah.html July 29, 2006 ANOTHER IRANIAN TROJAN HORSE? http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/07/another-iranian-trojan-horse.html July 30, 2006 Useful SITE DETAILS & INFORMATION http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/07/important-site-details-information.html MUST READ August 01, 2006 IRAN - JUSTIFIED FINAL SOLUTION http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/iran-justified-final-solution.html August 02, 2006 IRAN MONARCHY COMPARED TO THE WHAT FOLLOWED http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/monarchy-compared-to-what-followed.html August 2006 AZADEGAN OPPOSITION MOVEMENT http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/azadegan-opposition-movement.html August 05, 2006 NEWS ROUND-UPS SECTION http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/news-round-ups-section.html August 06, 2006 Defense & Foreign Affairs - August 01 http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/defense-foreign-affairs-august-01.html August 07, 2006 SPECIAL ANALYSIS - Defense & Foreign Affairs http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/special-analysis-defense-foreign.html August 08, 2006 PALIWOOD http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/paliwood.html August 2006 ISLAMIC RAGE http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/islamic-rage.html August 09, 2006 SOME HEZBOLLAH BACKGROUND INFORMATION http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/must-read-iran-hezbollah-behind-scenes.html August 11, 2006 MIKE WALLACE MAY GET MY FRIENDS KILLED http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/mike-wallace-may-get-my-friends-killed.html August 12, 2006 WILL THE LEBANESE ARMY SENT TO THE SOUTH INCLUDE "HEZ-EBOLA" FIGHTERS IN DISGUISE? http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/will-lebanese-army-sent-to-south.html August 2006 QUICK CHANGE ARTISTS for THE HEZ-EBOLA http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/quick-change-artists-hez-ebolas-could.html August 2006, INTERNATIONAL MASS MEDIA PHOTO FRAUD http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/international-mass-media-photo-fraud.html August 14, 2006 LEBANON - MYTH & FACT http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/lebanon-myth-fact.html U P D A T E D - MUST READ!! August 16, 2006 PALESTINIANS? PURE INVENTION. NO SUCH RACE OR PEOPLE http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/u-p-d-t-e-d-palestinians-pure.html August 2006, Mullah Threat to Attack Tel Aviv - Iranian D-Day (Deadline fast approaching). http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/mullah-threat-to-attack-tel-aviv.html August 2006 Lebanese Realize SEVERE Cost of Hezbollah Activity http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/lebanese-realize-severe-cost-of.html August 2006 MUST WATCH - Netanyahu Interview http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/must-watch-netanyahu-interview.html August 18, 2006 Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center Special Bulletins http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/intelligence-and-terrorism-information.html August 2006 USEFUL IDIOTS http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/useful-idiots-by-amil-imani-foreword.html August 19, 2006 TOTAL DISCONNECT OF THE AMERICAN MIND FROM REALITY IN IRAN http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/total-disconnect-of-american-mind-from.html August 2006 Mullah Taking Iran Beyond a SOCIAL Point of No Return (Biingual Farsi) http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/mullah-taking-iran-beyond-social-point.html August 21, 2006 NO PUNCHES PULLED http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/no-punches-pulled.html August 23, 2006 Beat Up Mullah Nassrallah (Humor) http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/beat-up-mullah-nassrallah.html August 25, 2006 Test Results http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/test-results.html August 27, 2006 UN SPYING FOR HEZBOLLAH - MORE DETAILS http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/un-spying-for-hezbollah-more-details.html August 2006 MORE BIAS AGAINST NON-MOSLEMS BY UN http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/more-bias-against-non-moslems-by-un.html August 28, 2006 AZADEGAN OPPOSITION TO KHATAMI http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/azadegan-opposition-to-khatami.html August 29, 2006 LAUGHTER the Best Medicine by President Bush http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/laughter-best-medicine-by-president.html August 31, 2006 VOICE OF AMERICA ATTACKS AMERICA http://noiri.blogspot.com/2006/08/voice-of-america-attacks-america.html