Cnn National Security Debate: Candidates fall short

 Wolf Blitzer asked good questions and persevered with follow ups without overt gotcha questions. On the down side, he went to breaks promising to return to the question and get a broader response, then asked a new question after the break.  I wonder whether someone higher up was dictating that behavior or Wolf was being loose with his rhetoric. 

    The major difference between this debate and the AFA debate last Saturday is that the entire debate was devoted to national security issues.  Better late than never.

    I readily admit my opposition to Huntsman, Perry, Paul & Romney, but even a stopped clock is right twide every 24 hours.  Huntsman said that we need to find a balance between security and liberty and that the state and federal governments must cooperate against terrorists. I do not view security against terror attacks and liberty as antagonists. I see the former as a necessary foundation for the latter.  Citizens of states and members of organizations inimical to America should not expect perfect privacy nor should their contacts and close associates.

    When the CIA find names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses on documents in terrorist training camps, or in the possession of captured terrorists, exploiting that information with surveillance, wire taps & intercepts  is not an assault on or threat to liberty, it is essential to national security. That is why I support maintaining and strengthening the Patriot Act. 

    In the most recent bomb plot case, the FBI declined to get involved, leaving the case to the locals. I doubt that FBI participation would have made a major difference, but I don't have all the facts. What would have happened if the NYC PD shared their attitude about the suspect and dropped the investigation?

    Huntsman stated the obvious: that sanctions against Iran & Syria won't work because of Chinese & Russian opposition. He is right about that.  I am firmly convinced that sanctions would fail even if they had global support & cooperation in their enforcement.

    At the end of the debate, Huntsman said named China as the major unrecognized foreign  threat and unemployment & debt as domestic threats stemming from a lack of leadership. He is right about that but events and trends in Latin America, particularly alliance with Iran and Hezbollah also require attention.

    Huntsman favored foresight over hindsight, saying that history will tell the outcome of the "Arab spring". He seemed to be critical of President Obama's neglect of the Green Revolution in Iran and intervention in Libya.  He implied that we should be more deliberate. I say, that when two Islamic enemies of ours fight each other, we should be spectators, not in the corner of either.

    Huntsman said that terrorism is permanent, meaning that it poses a continuing threat for the long term. Of course, he was stating the obvious.  We need to look beyond the burning trees to the burning forest;    bring on the bulldozers,  

    He said that the deficit hampers growth, which is true. Unfortunately, growth is the only way out of the deficit.  Wasteful spending must be stopped.

     Asked about the efficacy of drone attacks in Pakistan in defeating al-Qaeda, Huntsman said that Washington is dysfunctional, that we need a Washington that works and should bring our troops home from Afghanistan. He restated the obvious about Pakistan without proposing a solution. Of course, there is no solution, short of the ultimate solution. which nobody is willing to implement.

    Paul called the Patriot Act "unpatriotic", that it exchanges liberty for security.  Paul wants to know what we'd do if a terrorist looked like Tim McVeigh.  That straw man argument must be refuted. Tim's partner had a Filipino wife; their test bombs did not work until after the partner visited his wife and presumably met with al-Qaeda bomb makers to get technical advice.  The infamous "third terrorist" was described as looking like an Iraqi. 

    How many of the recent terrorists were not Muslims and either Asiatic or Arabian?  Yes, they are recruiting Caucasians, but those terrorists all have one thing in common. They are Muslims.  Profiling is not the answer.  Pat downs are not the answer. Body scanners are not the answer. Identify Muslims and exclude them from mass transit terminals & vehicles.  If you want to prevent terrorism, get the Muslims out of here, away from us.   We need a candidate and nominee who will abandon pc and state the obvious truth.  Islamic terrorism is a function  of Islamic doctrine; texts & teachings, not age, race, gender or national origin.  Allah said that he would "cast terror". Allah said that he "cast terror". Allah said that believers are only those who "fight in his cause", "killing others and being killed".  Moe said that he was made victorious with terror. Muslims get Brownie Points for "any step" taken to "injure or enrage" disbelievers.  What part of that do the candidates not comprehend?  Has any of them read the Qur'an & hadith?  Terrorism is an act of worship! If you need to obtain a clue, read the confession of Khalid Sheik Mohammed & associates.

    Paul said that he would not participate in an Israeli attack on Iran's nuke project, that we need to get out of Israel's way, mentioning their supposed possession of nuclear armed missiles.  Who will be the first to explore the ramifications of that last bit?  Green light, anyone?  That begged for a follow up question,

`   Paul referred to the Iraq & Afghanistan as needless and unnecessary wars.  When a nation sponsors an attack that kills 3000 and does billions of dollars in property damage, retaliation is necessary to deter further attacks. Exterminating the principals who dispatched  the attackers and their support network is necessary to prevent further attacks.   Retaliating against Afghanistan & Iraq was necessary but insufficient.  Peace and security will not be established without the total elimination of the root cause of terrorism: Allah's word and those who believe it.  Unfortunately for those who love to chant "racist, bigot, Nazi, hater, Islamophobe", there is ample evidence to substantiate my statement of objective factual reality.  If you doubt this, obtain a clue from Allah's perfected, immutable word: 8:12, 39,  57, 60 , 65, 9:5,29, 38, 39, 111, 120, 123, 33:26, 27, 59:2, 13, 61:10-12 & Sahih Bukhari 4.52.220 from whence issue war & terror. Reasonable and rational readers will click those links and scroll down to the successive ayat; bigots will not.  I can point a fool to wisdom but I can't make him read. 

    Perry would privatize the TSA and strengthen the Patriot act. Not without a super majority of Conservatives in both houses! He says that we should remain involved with foreign aid, but not write blank checks, apparently feeling heat for suggestions of zero sum foreign aid budgets. He wants to use every possible sanction against Iran, including cutting off the central bank.  The problem is that sanctions do not work. Iran will have enough fissile material to produce a bomb within one year. Sanctions take months to implement, running us out of time without accomplishing anything.

    Romney wants a slower drawdown in Afghanistan instead of a precipitous withdrawal. He wants to drag them toward modernity. He wants to prevent Afghanistan from reverting to a launching pad for terrorism.  If we stay, they bleed us to death in a war of attrition, exploiting domestic impatience.  If we leave, they return to status quo ante.  We are in this bind because Shrub needed to nuke Afghanistan but invaded instead. Romney appears to be oblivious to the fact that nothing can be accomplished while the population and government of Afghanistan remain Islamic.

    Romney cites failed leadership; how about failure to submit a budget?  He says that cutting men and material weakens our defense. Kind of obvious, ain't it? 
    Bachmann says that terrorists should not be Mirandized and that Obama has turned interrogation over to the ACLU.  She calls Pakistan the "epicenter of terrorism" and unstable, mentioning that there are fifteen vulnerable nuclear weapons sites.  She would continue aid but wants more return on investment; no "blank check".

    Bachmann opposes amnesty for illegal aliens and the Dream Act. She favors visas for highly skilled technicians.She agrees with Gingrich on the urgent necessity of energy independence so that we can overcome the threat of oil cut off from Iran. She says that Obama's failed policy of appeasement has changed the course of history. She declares Iran's promise to eradicate Israel to be real, not an idle threat.

    Bachman said that Obama is giving away our victory in Iraq.  She lists al-Shebab as an emerging threat already manifesting in her state. .  .

     Cain. wants to keep and improve the Patriot Act and agreed with Santorum on profiling. He would privatize the TSA. He wants to use every means possible to identify terrorists.  How do you determine which skunk will spray or which snake will bite?  You avoid all of them, don't you?  What common association did all the recent attackers share? 

    Cain's response when asked about helping Israel neutralize Iran's nuclear bomb program was that he would join the attack if Israel had good intelligence on the locations of the facilities, a good plan, good chance of success and definition of victory. He opposes precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan.  He wants clear goals before sending foreign aid, emphasizing priority, efficiency and results.

    Cain says that we know that terrorists have entered from Mexico, so we must secure the border for real. . He says we need to reform the naturalization process and allow states to enforce immigration laws.   Cain won't support a no fly zone over Syria. He lists EMP and cyber attacks among the emerging threats  to be contended with.

    Gingrich emphasized the difference between domestic crime and terrorism, which is war. He would strengthen, not eliminate the Patriot Act. In the matter of Pakistan taking offense at our elimination of bin Ladin, Gingrich said that we should be furious about Pakistan's hiding him.  He said that hot pursuit should be allowed, there should be no sanctuaries.  He would overhaul the CIA.  He said that Pakistan should help us or get out of the way. 

    Europe won't back us on sanctioning Iran because they are dependent on Iranian oil. Gingrich would have us increase domestic production enough to replace Iran's European exports in the case of a boycott.  He would bomb their nuclear program only as a last resort if regime change was an assured outcome. 

    Gingrich mentioned Chili's social security system as a model for entitlement reform using guaranteed private accounts. Will taking  stand on the third rail wreck his candidacy, go unnoticed or serve as a springboard to the White House? 

    Gingrich wants to issue a green card to every foreign student  who graduates in math & science.  Did he consider the fact that many of them are Muslims who come from areas where hatred of the U.S.A. is rampant?  He should be more selective. He would the selective service board system as a model for picking the illegal aliens who should be allowed to stay on a path to citizenship. He mentioned community and church membership as criteria for selection.  He might as well stand between lanes on an expressway, he will surely be hit by both sides on this one. 

       `Santorum  irritated me by  proceeding Islam with "radical", wasting a word when time is critical. the "debate" parallel press conference format does not afford time for wasted words.  "Radical" implies the existence of a :moderate", harmless normative Islam, which does not exist and never will.  The enemy is Islam, not "radical Islam". He mentioned the time and patience factor, that they will wait us out; that Obama is proving them right.  He said that Obama is playing politics with his policy in Afghanistan. That's stating the obvious.

    Santorum supports profiling at airports. Who needs it? Excluding all Muslims from all mass transit vehicles & terminals is the simple solution which would not subject the general public to unnecessary harassment, indignity and delay.   .

    Santorum favors continuing foreign aid, particularly for development.  I agree with Santorum that Obama has poisoned the well of compromise, but I disagree that both sides should compromise more.  Appeasing and yielding to Socialists must come to an end.  Our economy needs a cure, not more poison.

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Too Horrible To Contemplate!

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

I received this via an e-mail and did some checking up on the facts I am about to present to you.  Most of this I have been able to confirm through my own sources.

Earlier today I posted about the warning Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely issued about the grave danger Israel is in. Following that, I received this from a colleague who has close friends in Israel. Here’s what she wrote:

I have just received this: from my friend in Israel who moves in high circles there.

No attribution possible. It’s from a very trustworthy source who was himself the recipient and knows these people. They send him information clandestinely and they remain incognito, so that they can safely inform Americans of what is actually happening. I’m sure that they would be pleased to have the information disseminated.

Incidentally, in my opinion, this is what appears to be happening. Obama has made secret deals with the Iranian mullahcracy to facilitate the weakening of both the USA and Israel, even the planned destruction of Israel, in exchange for promises from Iran and now the Turkish leadership that ‘all they want’ – à la Munich, 1938 – is their individual MidEast Sudentenland, each of them.

Turkey and Iran have decided to split the ME between them – East and West. Turkey will recreate a new Sunni-controlled Ottoman Empire, and Iran will be allowed its own ‘greater Iran’ hegemony…i.e. a new Shiite Caliphate stretching beyond its current borders.

Obama, who is a Muslim, agrees with this plan and has pledged to help throw Israel – along with all American national security interests – to the wolves.

This appears to me to be what is currently happening, and Americans had better awaken to this reality long before November, 2012, or we won’t have a country, or an Israel, to save any longer.

***

Tonight Clive and I heard very disturbing information – we heard it from a consultant to the United States who meets once a month with the President in the White house. He is in the know. This is what actually has happened with the relationship with Israel and the USA and it is not pretty:

1. Israel during the Bush and Clinton Administrations – had landing rights in Turkey, and in the USA bases in the middle east and more recently under George Bush, in Iraq. This was in case they were invaded by Iran , or Saudi or any other Arab country. Obama has withdrawn those landing rights. Israel now has nowhere to refuel in the Middle East.

2. Netanyahu was instructed to come to the White House for a meeting. He was brought in through a servants entrance – the only head of state ever in US history to be given that disgraceful treatment. He was not offered even a cup of tea – but was lectured to by Obama who told him that he is not permitted to attack Iran and that he has to withdraw all forces from the West Bank and may not build any more settlements ( neighborhoods) in East Jerusalem.

3. Israel found out that there were four terrorists meeting in Dubai . As they have done for the past 62 years, they informed the US of that and said that these terrorists had to be dealt with. Obama said under no circumstances. Israel decided to go ahead. They killed the one terrorist who showed up. However the CIA was sent there to film the entire event by Obama – and then a concerted PR campaign was waged by the White house to discredit Israel and what they did – this kind of action has taken place with US support for the past 62 years since we have common enemies.

4. Obama has refused to oppose Syria’s rearming of Hezbollah and Hamas – Israel now sits in imminent danger from the amounts of missiles that can be sent into her territory.

5. Israel will never tell the US again of its plans – since they cannot trust us.

6. Israel intends to attack Iran –there are over 30 installations of which 4 have underground bunkers that contain nuclear weapons. Israel cannot wait any longer. The US is no longer supporting Israel ’s self defense.

7. This is the same man that gave the White House a full file on the 9.11 attack – his warnings and proof were laughed at.

8. He believes that the next attacks in the USA will be mass transportation – subways and malls – especially the largest malls where the most people can be killed – and that Vegas and wherever there are conventions of employees will be a huge target. We are not prepared and are naive in our lack thereof.

9. Once Israel attacks Iran , every Jew and Jewish institution will be at risk – temples, religious schools etc. We must be prepared.

10. This kept a room of 200 people spellbound. It is not fiction. It is fact.

What can be done?

It is essential that everyone who doesn’t know yet, now understands that the protection and survival of Israel is not on Obama’s list – and he is now taking ACTUAL steps to move all protections away – no more landing rights, negotiating with Iran and Syria, making nice to the Muslim World in the face of allies of long standing and he is no friend of the Jewish people and Israel.

We must be sure that we elect politicians who protect Israel as well as the USA – our interests are intertwined. Please forward to everyone you know.

I was able to verify through my own sources every one of the 10 points cited here. Yet Barack Hussein Obama is sending his Kapos

With this happening, no wonder Netanyahu is on edge!

Something for all of us to remember:

On this date, 5 Sivan 5741 (June 7, 1981), Israel bombed and destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor in Baghdad. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had pronounced himself as the reincarnation of Babylonian tyrant Nebuchadnezzar, and named the nuclear reactor "Tammuz" -- the name of the calamitous Jewish month when Nebuchadnezzar's troops laid siege on Jerusalem 2,500 years earlier. Ilan Ramon (later to become Israel's first astronaut, who died in the explosion of the Space Shuttle Columbia) and seven other pilots executed the daring raid -- flying over enemy Arab territory for hours, and avoiding detection with their tight formation that emitted a radar signal resembling a commercial airliner. However, even as Israel celebrated the successful raid, condemnation was nearly universal. One prominent U.S. senator called it "one of the most provocative, ill-timed and internationally illegal actions taken in that nation's history." Two decades later, as the world feared Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, the Israeli action was vindicated.

Operation Opera

Israel will do what is necessary to survive regardless of what Barack Hussein Obama want them to do, even if it costs them funding and/or support.

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Kill the Protesters!

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

That is the cry from Ayatollah Mehyaddin Haeri Shirazi on Iran Television recently in a live interview.  (View it here.)

In a live interview broadcast on the Islamic Republic's national television station sometime within the last two weeks, Ayatollah Mehyaddin Haeri Shirazi described a Communist protest movement from the early years of the Islamic Republic, noting how it was effectively crushed by the authorities. The government targeted opposition activists, he said, "arrested them in the afternoon and the same night announced the names of 30 people killed or executed by the government forces."

In reaction to the arrests and killings, Shirazi continued, "nothing happened. Why? Because they killed them."

Expanding on what he sees as the lesson from those events, the ayatollah said,"The more of them [the opposition] are killed, the more beneficial [to the people]. If the armed forces kill some of them, it is to our benefit."

On the other hand, Shirazi continued, "When they are arrested, it is bad [for public opinion], when they are captured [it is bad for public opinion]. Do not make victims out of them."

Killing the opposition protesters, the ayatollah insists, "is sanctioned by obedience to Allah and the prophet and is handed down to the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Khamenei]. When it is sanctioned by such a power, there is no need to go through the government powers."

Shirazi warned the opposition forces, "Do not look upon the Supreme Leader [simply] as a person with a soft turban on his head, and that you can beat him. His support comes from the Hidden Imam Mahdi, he [Khamenei] is made of iron. It will come back down to break your own heads."

Perhaps in reaction to the increasing levels of violence by government forces, on December 26 a previously unknown anti-regime group calling itself the National Iranian Armed Resistance Forces (NIRU) "declare our readiness to rise to the armed defense of our nation against the forces of the criminal, illegitimate, transgressing and occupying current Government of Iran...." The group "accuses the current government and the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Mr. Sayyed Ali Khamenei of legal transgressions and high treason of nation and homeland."

NIRU claims to be made up of "a number of officers, soldiers and personnel of the armed forces", calling for "support" and "cover... in this moral and nationalist act" from "our brothers and sisters serving with the armed security forces of Iran...."

Iranian pro-democracy activists in contact with Israel National News said they are hesitant to believe in the authenticity of the organization until there is some external evidence of its activities beyond email and Web postings.

The first of two NIRU communiques, headed with praise for the Islamic god Allah, explained: "In accordance with the regulations of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, we are commissioned to protect the lives, properties and honor of our nation, and defend our sacred soil, as well as combat all occupying forces within the borders of the land. Any failure in carrying out this duty is considered a betrayal of nation and oath. According to the constitution, the defense of the rights of the nation of Iran, and avoidance of the collapse of the country takes precedence over protection of the ruling regime."

The group announced "the initiation of Operation Azadi ('Freedom')," which they said will end upon "unconditional surrender of the occupying government and leadership." The operation, the NIRU communique said, will involve taking control of military bases, taking over government buildings, arrest of "government-supporting agents within your units", "seizing... military and public communication facilities, as well as other news media", "combat mission[s] at the regional level, and expanding", and more.

Read the full story here.

Ayatollah Mehyaddin Haeri Shirazi has a wonderful nickname in Iran:  Land Thief.  For he has stolen thousands of acres of land in Shiraz and became a billionaire doing it.  So he is scared of what will happen to him if Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs are overthrown.

If the National Iranian Armed Resistance Forces (NIAR) is an actual group of resistane and not a front group set up by the Iranian government to destroy the Green Revolution, then it brings a whole new dynami to the Iranian equation.  For then the world will have an Iran in a very bloody civil war. Waged on one side by the Mullahs and the Revolutionary Guard, on the other side by the Protesters and the regular army.

The side that is victorious in this will become stronger than ever, the losers will be executed.  Thus is the way with despots.

Now is the time for the leaders of the Free World to speak up and be heard.  To speak words of encouragement to the people of Iran longing for Freedom, Justice and Liberty.  For the people of Iran who wish to throw off the tyrant who has destroyed their nation (physically and spiritually).  And still, President Obama says nothing.  His silence on this is deafening.

This is not the time to be silent Mr. President.  It is the time for you to stand up and speak to the people of Iran.  Not the Mullahs or Ahmadinejad.  The people who are fighting for the Freedom and Liberty that you take for granted.

The Iranin government has rejected your hand of friendship.  Now is the time for you to end your vacation, and become the Leader of the Free World.  If you fail on this, and the people of Iran are resubjegated into the slavery and despair that they have lived under these last 30 years, the verdict of history will be damning of you.  Your legacy will be one of incompetence and stupidity.  You will have shown the world that you are nothing more than a 2-bit street hustler who made it big!

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Tell the UN to do something about Iran

The Israel Project has a new petition demanding enforcement of Security Council Resolution 1696. The petition is short, simple, well written and meritorious. Lets rise up in unison and push this one over the top. We must send an unmistakable message to Ban Ki-moon. I urge you to sign the petition and forward it to everyone you can hope to influence.

It becomes increasingly obvious that if effective sanctions are not imposed. Israel will be compelled to take effective action. Why not make a last ditch effort to make a military attack unnecessary?

To: The Honorable Secretary-General of the United Nations

Dear Secretary-General,

We, the undersigned, feel that a nuclear-armed Iran is a threat to Israel, the United States and the entire Western world. Iran must be stopped now before it develops a nuclear bomb.

Iran restarted its nuclear fuel research program and is now enriching uranium needed to create a nuclear bomb. Iran rebuffed the UN's offer of incentives to suspend enrichment and has rejected UN Security Council Resolution 1696, which requires the immediate suspension of all enrichment-related activities and strict monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran's president Ahmadinejad is a religious extremist who has declared that Israel should be wiped off the map in a religious war with the infidel West, which will be led by Iran and the rest of the Muslim world.

As the world's leading state sponsor of international terrorism, Iran is likely to sell or give nuclear weapons to terror groups like Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas. These groups have terrorist cells throughout Europe and the US.

We demand that the UN enforce its own Resolution 1696. Iran must immediately and unconditionally:

• Stop enriching uranium
  
  
• Open all of its facilities to monitoring by the IAEA
  
  
• Stop funding terrorist groups including Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas
  
  
• Recognize the right of Israel to exist peacefully within its internationally-recognized borders. It is time for the UN to take a stand against Iran and its nuclear ambitions

Signed,

Click here to sign the petition

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Shoot Down Israeli Planes if They Attack Iran

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Is the advise that Zbigniew Brzezinski is giving to Barack Obama.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, who enthusiastically campaigned for U.S. President Barack Obama, has called on the president to shoot down Israeli planes if they attack Iran. “They have to fly over our airspace in Iraq. Are we just going to sit there and watch?” said the former national security advisor to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in an interview with the Daily Beast. Brzezinski, who served in the Carter administration from 1977 to 1981, is currently a professor of American foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Maryland.

“We have to be serious about denying them that right,” he said. “If they fly over, you go up and confront them. They have the choice of turning back or not. No one wishes for this but it could be a 'Liberty' in reverse.’" Israel mistakenly attacked the American Liberty ship during the Six-Day War in 1967.

Brzezinski was a top candidate to become an official advisor to President Obama, but he was downgraded after Republican and pro-Israel Democratic charges during the campaign that Brzezinski’s anti-Israel attitude would damage Obama at the polls.

President Obama’s advisors have emphasized that the former national security advisor is not playing any unofficial role as advisor to the White House.

His enthusiasm for President Obama has waned in the past several months. He recently told a London-based newspaper that the United States may be "sliding into a deeper conflict with various segments of the world of Islam.” because of the president’s failure to carry out his promises to the Muslim world.

Brzezinski said the Obama administration is "diddling around" in trying to reach an “evasive compromise” between Israel and the Arab world.

What promises did Barack Obama make to the Muslim world that would make them love us? Could it be that he promised to destroy Israel? That has been the cry from Carter, Brezezinski, Powers, Wright, Ayers, Jackson, Sharpton, and the majority of people moonbats on the left.

Perhaps that is the reason that Obama welcomes Iranian nukes?

Or is it just that like the majority of African-Americans he just hates all Jewish people and want to finish the job that his idol Adolph Hitler started.

I expect that Obama will follow this course of action. It is a shame that the US will not support the only democracy in the Middle East, and instead will try to throw Israel under the bus.

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Ad Hoc Cmte: Iranian Submission

Outline for the Ad Hoc Committee on Complementary Standards Consultations

An additional mechanism, the Ad Hoc Committee on Complementary Standards was created by the Human Rights Council in 2006 to fill gaps in CERD, and to provide new normative standards aimed at combating all forms of contemporary aspects of racism.

The committee's mission is to write new international legislation to criminalize criticism of Islam. They solicited suggestions from the member nations to get the process started.

The Iranian submission begins on page 12 of the pdf. and ends on page 17. Although capturing the attitude & meaning of the document through excerpts is not satisfactory, I will not reproduce the entire five page submission here. You can click through to the pdf file and enter 12 in the page window to go directly to the full text of the submission.

The pdf is a scanned document, requiring the use of ocr to cull excerpts. Unfortunately, the printer which created the document needs a head cleaning, and the plate on which it was scanned is dusty, so that ocr was extremely difficult. I have therefore run the spelling checker on the excerpts, they may deviate slightly from the original, but care has been taken to avoid changing the meaning of the text. [Emphasis added.]

The Iranian submission is not novel, it rehashes malicious malarkey from previous resolutions. The following documents were referenced in the text.

• General Assembly resolution 62/154 on combating defamation of religions
• General Assembly resolution 55/23 on Dialogue Among Civilizations
• security Council resolution 1624(2005)
• UDHR
• ICCPR
• International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights
• DDPA
• Special Rapport on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (AIHRC/6/6)

They are off to a fast start in their Introduction, asserting that Islamophobia is a growing trend, becoming pervasive and often officially condoned.

The growing trend of defamation of religions is arising from the following factors: the conflation of race, culture and religion, concept of clash of civilizations and religions, all these provides fertile soil for the defamation of religions.
And also on the fight against terrorism, based on defense of national identity and security, it is reduced to religious
dimension.

Note the clause which I emphasized. Who is it that conflates race with religion? If you can't answer that question, re-read the initial post in this series :
Ad Hoc Committee on Complementary Standards, paying close attention to the quote from the report of the African Regional Conference in preparation for the Durban Review.

Unfortunately, insults and intolerance against Islam are being provided intellectual justification by Western scholars
and political lobbies who espouse anti-Islamic agendas, hence lending support to ideological violence against
Muslims. Sophisticated slogans are used to provoke systematic insults against Islam. This phenomenon reflects
the Islarnophobia which afflicts segments of western society.

This paragraph inverts cause and effect. We developed anti-Islamic agendas precisely because of Islam's anti-Christian & anti-western doctrines, agendas & actions. Our accurate descriptions of Islamic doctrines & practices are labled insults and intolerance. Accurate and well documented descriptions of Islamic sanctification & mandate of genocidal conquest and terrorism are labled "insults" and "intolerance".
The last paragraph of the introduction is severely overloaded by implicit reference to the documents listed and linked above.

Lack of action to prevent the reprinting of blasphemous caricatures, and indifference in airing the inflammatory documentary against the holy Quran will be perceived as manifestation of insincerity towards the principles and objectives of various efforts within the United Nations system aiming at promoting understanding and respect among cultures and civilizations. [Links added.]

It should now be clear to you that the Iranian agenda includes criminalizing criticism of Islam, specifically the Danish Cartoons and Geert Wilders' Fitna.

The cartoons depict Muhammad as a terrorist, which, by his own admission, he was. He never threw a bomb, because explosives were invented after he died. he used the primitive weaponry available in the seventh century to terrorize his victims with ruthless slaughter. If you do not comprehend this fact, open your Qur'an to 33:26, 59:2 & 59:13 and read them carefully.

Fitna demonstrates the obvious connection between Islamic doctrine enshrined in the Qur'an. This fact is documented in another blog post. It is extremely unlikely that anyone else will reveal to you the source of Islam's intense determination to criminalize criticism of itself. I will: It comes from Islamic law, codified in Reliance of the Traveller. Book O, which treats of "Justice", includes an outline of the conditions imposed upon dhimmis, who were "people of the book" subjugated by Muslims under a "treaty of protection". Chapter 11.10 lists five acts which violate the treaty of protection and subject the dhimmi to immediate execution. Here is the fifth item in that list.

-5- or mentions something impermissible about Allah, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), or Islam.

The perceptive reader will want to know what is impermissible to mention. O8.7 lists 20 items which entail apostasy, and describes the list as nearly endless. Here are a few relevant items from that list.

-1- to prostrate to an idol, whether sarcastically, out of mere contrariness, or in actual conviction, like that of someone who believes the Creator to be something that has originated in time. Like idols in this respect are the sun or moon, and like prostration is bowing to other than Allah, if one intends reverence towards it like the reverence due to Allah;

-2- to intend to commit unbelief, even if in the future. And like this intention is hesitating whether to do so or not: one thereby immediately commits unbelief;

-3- to speak words that imply unbelief such as ``Allah is the third of three,'' or ``I am Allah''-unless one's tongue has run away with one, or one is quoting another, or is one of the friends of Allah Most High (wali, def: w33) in a spiritually intoxicated state of total oblivion (A: friend of Allah or not, someone totally oblivious is as if insane, and is not held legally responsible (dis: k13.1(O:) ) ), for these latter do not entail unbelief;

-4- to revile Allah or His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace);

-5- to deny the existence of Allah, His beginingless eternality, His endless eternality, or to deny any of His attributes which the consensus of Muslims ascribes to Him (dis: v1);

-6- to be sarcastic about Allah's name, His command, His interdiction, His promise, or His threat;

-7- to deny any verse of the Koran or anything which by scholarly consensus (def: b7) belongs to it, or to add a verse that does belong to it;

-14- to deny the obligatory character of something which by the consensus of Muslims (ijma`, def: B7) is part of Islam, when it is well known as such, like the prayer (salat) or even one rak'a from one of the five obligatory prayers, if there is no excuse (def: u2.4);

-15- to hold that any of Allah's messengers or prophets are liars, or to deny their being sent;

(n: `Ala' al-din' Abidin adds the following:

-16- to revile the religion of Islam;

-17- to believe that things in themselves or by their own nature have any causal influence independent of the will of Allah;

-18- to deny the existence of angels or jinn (def: w22), or the heavens;

-19- to be sarcastic about any ruling of the Sacred Law;

-20- or to deny that Allah intended the Prophet's message (Allah bless him and give him peace) to be the religion followed by the entire world (dis: w4.3-4) (al-Hadiyya al-`Ala'iyya (y4), 423-24). )

By now you must be wondering about the penalty. Islamic law has that covered, too.

O8.1

When a person who has reached puberty and is sane voluntarily apostatizes from Islam, he deserves to be killed.

O8.2

In such a case, it is obligatory for the caliph (A: or his representive) to ask him to repent and return to Islam. If he does, it is accepted from him, but if he refuses, he is immediately killed.

Islamic law is clear on its face: any criticism of Allah or his Messenger gets you killed. The Ad Hoc Committee On Complementary Standards is only the latest tool developed in pursuit of that objective.

Under the heading of "Legal Aspects", Iran describes the cartoons & Fitna as "inconsistent with the spirit of the UN Charter" and various resolutions.

The elimination of discrimination and the protection against Intolerance is in part a matter of legal protection.

They jabber on with quotes about universal freedom, equality and dignity, without finding anything relevant to the matter at hand. The next paragraph is mired in excrement.

Crucially, according to- article 20, paragraph.2 of the ICCPR, " any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law" This provision represents a clear limitation to-the night to fee speech which according to article 19 of the ICCPR carries with it special duties and responsibilities.

The cartoons do not advocate hatred, nor do they incite discrimination, hostility or violence. The same is true of Fitna. Few will perceive the irony in Islam's specious assertion: it is their own scripture, tradition & jurisprudence which advocates hatred and incites violence. If Article 20 were to be enforced, the Qur'an, hadith & Shari'ah would be banned as incitement to violence!

The committee on civil and Political Rights in its general comment 11 provided that these required prohibitions are fully compatible with the right to freedom of expression as contained in Article 19, the exercise of which carries with it special duties and responsibilities. This is clear indication that human rights instruments recognize provisions against incitement to religions hatred as being a completely legitimate- safeguard against the abuse of the right to free speech.

Iran is asserting that accurately describing Allah's genocidal Jihad imperatives which are found in Surahs Al-Anfal & At-Taubah and confirmed in Sahih Bukhari's Books of Jihad, Khumus & Expedition and codified in Reliance of the Traveller Book O, Chapter 9, Paragraphs 8 & 9 must be legally prohibited as "incitement to religious hatred". Islamic obedience to those imperatives has resulted in 270*10⁶ premature deaths in the last 1400 years but we must be prevented, by judicial penalties, from mentioning it.

Identifying the enemy and describing his doctrines is characterized as an abuse of free speech. This is nothing less than the aggressor's program for depriving us of the ability to defend ourselves against his aggression.

The last section of the submission is under the heading of Programme of Action.

In sum, the right to freedom of expression should be exercised with the responsibilities and limitations as prescribed by law. The international community should initiate a global dialogue to promote a culture of tolerance and peace based on respect for human rights and cultural diversity and urges states, NGOs, religious bodies and media to support and promote such a dialogue. Developing the human rights language to address emerging issues such as defamation of religions was an important step forward that is of interest not only to Muslims but to all the internatioual community.

Our freedom of expression must not include mention of Islam's aggressive doctrines & practices: conquest, genocide & terrorism. A culture of tolerance and peace means being led, dumb like sheep, to the slaughter.

Islamic Republic of Iran urges the Ad hoc Committee on the elaboration of complementary standards to call upon the States to stop the publication of blasphemous caricatures, Elms and media as well as the campaigns for anti-Islamic regulations to take all possible legal and administrative measures to prevent continuation of these deliberate offensive acts, which impinge greatly on the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion of the followers of Islam.

They want to add wording to ICERD to criminalize every criticism of Islam. How in Hell does anything we write or say impinge on the liberty of Muslims? Why must they be allowed to continue in the arrogant assumption that they have a divine right and mission to kill, enslave, rape, pillage & plunder us?

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Sderot: Iran and A Cinemateque

by Findalis



Just 2 separate articles on the occurring violence that is happening in Sderot from Gaza:

Iran too close for Israel's Comfort

by Noam Bedein

While the world follows Iranian developments from the grandstands of YouTube, the people of southern Israel have had front row seats for some time now.

When Iran's protege, Hamas, staged a coup in Gaza that placed 1.4 million Palestinians under 'Hamastan' military rule, no one thought of how southern Israelis would be affected. Located less than one mile away from Sderot, Gaza's dramatic developments would come to affect everyone in the region.

Before Israel disengaged the Jewish communities from Gaza in August 2005, the Palestinian Authority had promised vast properties of some of these communities to Hamas. Four months later, in January 2006, Hamas won a stunning victory in the Palestinian Authority legislative elections, which resulted in the Mecca Accord of March 2007, which obligated the PA to share all foreign assistance with the Hamas organization.

All this placed Hamas in a strategic position from where it could launch attacks on Israel, even before the Hamas military coup.

Iranian Hamas terror tactics have dominated the lives of the people of Sderot. A town battered by sustained attacks for eight years, Sderot has become the only city to remain under continuous siege in the 21st century.

Sderot woman overlooks her home, damaged in a Qassam attack during the recent Gaza war.

Photo: Noam Bedein

In 2008 alone, the Hamas-controlled Gaza regime fired over 3,300 rockets, mortars and Grads towards the Western Negev and southern Israel, 50 percent more than the previous year.

Five months after Operation Cast Lead, Hamas has fired over 215 rockets during the Hamas-Israel 'ceasefire.' Is anyone even keeping track of the number of failed ceasefires that Israel has held with Hamas in the past two years?

For Sderot residents, the knowledge that this has been Israel's third failed ceasefire with Hamas is not surprising.

In a June 17 appearance at the Knesset, Israel Security Agency director Yuval Diskin warned that "Hamas is continuing to increase its strength, manufacture longer-range rockets and smuggle rockets of a far superior quality,". In that light,every citizen of southern Israel knows that a massive escalation is around the corner, which will force more than one million Israelis in southern Israel into the seeming safety of protected rooms and bomb shelters.

Shoshana Swissa, a kindergarten teacher in Sderot recently told Sderot Media Center that ”Even today, in these relatively quiet days in Sderot, every single morning we exercise a drill for the 3-year-old children in our kindergarten. The staff teaches them how to run in 15 seconds towards the safe room when the Color Red alert siren sounds. ”

Turning the Gaza Strip into an Iranian military buffer zone

During Israel's second ‘ceasefire’ with Hamas, between June 2008- December 2008, Hamas did not waste any time building up its military capabilities. Israeli intelligence sources confirm that Hamas dug between 400 and 600 smuggling tunnels that connected Sinai and Gaza in order to “import” guns, missiles, explosives, money,and terrorists, along with oil, fuel, metal, cloths, electronics and even a lion for Gazan's zoo - earning the Hamas regime between 30-50 million dollars a month from the digging of the tunnels and the goods smuggled through.

The Iranian influence and involvement with the Gaza Strip peaked during the summer of 2008, when hundreds of Iranian missiles were smuggled in, to be fired massively only a few months later at southern Israelis during Israel's last military operation in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Hamas regime trained tens of thousands of children and woman in Gaza during summer 2008, in anticipation of an Israeli counterattack to the Hamas reign of missiles.

Accepting Iran, accepting Hamas

Hamas today has become more acceptable as a resistance organization among political sectors worldwide. The most recent acceptance overture was made by the former US president Jimmy Carter, who visited Gaza this June and asked the European Union to take Hamas off the charts as a terrorist organization.

It should come as no surprise that a terrorist organization like Hamas, which has killed and wounded thousands of Israeli by suicide bombings and rocket fire, is now accepted as a legitmate governing body. If Iranian President, Ahmedinejad is invited to open a UN Conference on Human Rights and is then invited to meet with the Swiss President, then Western embrace of Hamas is just around the corner.

In the meantime, Sderot and southern Israel can only gear up for another round of rocket fire in the near future.

If Iranians really want to know where all their money from the sale of oil is going to they only have to look at 3 places: Their nuclear program which IS attempting to build an Nuclear bomb, Hamas and Hezbollah. With poverty in their own land, food prices soaring and violent crackdown on dissent, Iran is more concerned with providing weapons to Hamas and Hezbollah, then anything else. If you ever wondered where the Kassams that Hamas still fires into Sderot and the rest of Israel come from, look no further than Iran.

Bringing Israeli and Arab Worlds Together at the Sderot Cinemateque

by Anav Silverman

In a region where rockets have hammered civilian residents for the past eight years, the local Sderot Cinemateque remains a popular pastime for residents looking to enjoy a film. As the only rocket-proof cinema in Israel, the Sderot Cinemateque was built eight years ago, right around the time when the first Qassam slammed into Sderot.

The rocket-proof cinema allows local residents to enjoy a film uninterrupted when the rocket alarm, or Tzeva Adom sounds to warn residents of impending Qassams from Gaza. It remains a popular hangout regardless of rocket fire.

A week ago, I had the opportunity to watch a film at the Cinemateque during the eighth annual Cinema South Festival which was held from June 7-12. The festival features the films of graduate students studying in the Department of Film & TV at the local Sapir College. The festival also screened Israeli films that were awarded top prizes abroad as well as international films from Mexico, Hong Kong, and France.

International festival guests included filmmakers Carlos Reygadas from Mexico, Thierry Michel from Belgium, Osvalde Lewat-Hallade of Cameroon and Abi Feijo from Portugal among many others.

I had the opportunity to watch Ajami, one of the featured films of the festival,along with the hundreds of other area residents and international guests. Ajami, named after the largest Arab neighborhood in Jaffa, was co-directed by Israeli Yaron Shani and Jaffa-born Arab, Scandar Copti. The film tells the story of two Muslim Arab brothers and is set against the background of a revenge murder, gangs, Bedouin revenge squads, a Christian Arab godfather and Israeli police.

Ajami was filmed in Arabic -and most of the actors were from the Ajami neighborhood. The mostly Israeli audience at the Sderot cinemateque, myself included, followed along by reading the Hebrew subtitles below.

The film has won international acclaim and was shown in France’s prestigious Cannes Film Festival this past May.

In an interview with the New York Times, the directors of the film, Copti and Shani described their relationship outside of directing of the film, to which both wrote the script. When Shani’s city, Ashdod, was targeted by Gaza rockets in the recent war, Copti called him and said “Take your daughter and your wife and leave.” According to the NYT article, Shani does the same for Copti. Both the directors and the cast where present at the screening in Sderot.

There was something quite unique about watching Ajami in an Israeli rocket-proof theater on the Gaza border. In area that has been devastated by rockets and trauma, it is cultural events like the Cinema South Festival which brings hope for a normal reality that citizens on both sides of the Gaza border continue to seek.

Strange that a movie theater has to be bomb-proof, isn't it? But that is the reality of life in Sderot. Sderot is a small town that has faced the brunt of rocket attacks for 9 years now. Israel was guaranteed that if they "ethnically cleansed" Gaza of all Jews the rockets attacks would cease. The Israelis did just that in 2005, and the attacks got worse.

Now President Obama is singing the same song: "If you "ethically clean" Judea and Sameria of all Jews, there will be peace!"

Right, and I have a bridge in Brooklyn for those who believe this lie to buy.

Unless the PA is willing to be demilitarilized, there can never be peace. Strange as that sounds, it is not Israel who is anti-peace (regardless of what the Useful Idiots of Free Gaza keep saying), but it is the thugs and murderers of Hamas and the PA who will never accept a Jewish nation, never accept Israel and never stop their attacks.

Yet the world loves Hamas. It cries make peace with Hamas. How can one make peace with them when they have openly stated that their goal is the total destruction of Israel and the death to all Jews world-wide?

Again I ask you, my reader to pray for the people of Sderot, to pray for an permanent end to the rocket attacks, and if you are able to, to donate a few coins to the Sderot Media Center. They do such good work in the city of Sderot. Just click here and follow the instructions. All the funds collected go directly to helping the people of Sderot.

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De-Nuke Iran!

De-nuke Iran! The declaration reads:

We, the undersigned, declare that the American government and all free nations must act with speed, determination, and muscle to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. Now. By any means necessary. Before it's too late.

4200 have endorsed the declaration. I am one of them. Will you join us?

The Mullahs who run Iran believe that, by initiating Armageddon, they will provoke the appearance of their messiah, the Mahdi, who will finish their Islamic world conquest. When they obtain a nuke, they will use it. We must not let that happen!

Consider the consequences of a 10KT blast on any Jewish city. Consider the consequences on any American city. Consider the consequences of an EMP attack. Let Iran obtain the bomb and one or more of those evils is a guaranteed certainty. It will happen!

The banner at DeNukeIran.com says "Stand up, speak out, be counted, raise Hell, De-Nuke Iran before it's too late." Click the link above and sign the declaration. Follow up by copying this blog post, paste it into an email and send it to your family, friends and associates with an exhortation to follow suit.
This campaign won't succeed unless we make it succeed; lets do it!

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Is Israel Getting Ready To Attack Iran?

By Findalis



According to The Times the answer is YES.

The Israeli military is preparing itself to launch a massive aerial assault on Iran's nuclear facilities within days of being given the go-ahead by its new government.

Among the steps taken to ready Israeli forces for what would be a risky raid requiring pinpoint aerial strikes are the acquisition of three Airborne Warning and Control (AWAC) aircraft and regional missions to simulate the attack.

Two nationwide civil defence drills will help to prepare the public for the retaliation that Israel could face.

“Israel wants to know that if its forces were given the green light they could strike at Iran in a matter of days, even hours. They are making preparations on every level for this eventuality. The message to Iran is that the threat is not just words,” one senior defence official told The Times.

The distance from Israel to at least one of the sites is more than 870 miles, a distance that the Israeli force practised covering in a training exercise last year that involved F15 and F16 jets, helicopters and refuelling tankers.

The possible Israeli strike on Iran has drawn comparisons to its attack on the Osirak nuclear facility near Baghdad in 1981. That strike, which destroyed the facility in under 100 seconds, was completed without Israeli losses and checked Iraqi ambitions for a nuclear weapons programme.

“We would not make the threat [against Iran] without the force to back it. There has been a recent move, a number of on-the-ground preparations, that indicate Israel's willingness to act,” said another official from Israel's intelligence community.

He added that it was unlikely that Israel would carry out the attack without receiving at least tacit approval from America, which has struck a more reconciliatory tone in dealing with Iran under its new administration.

An Israeli attack on Iran would entail flying over Jordanian and Iraqi airspace, where US forces have a strong presence.

Read the full story here.

What is strange about this is that Israeli news sources are totally silent on this. Not even a hint of any thing.

The Obama administration has already nixed this idea. There will be no go ahead from them. So if Israel does attack it not only will go it totally alone, but quite possibly have to attack American planes as well. (That would get Iran very friendly with the US).

That would give Obama justification to attack Israel and quite possibly get the War Powers Act he would need.

I'm betting that Netanyahu will try this, but not until after Obama's scheduled visit in June.

And I'm betting that not only will Israel do this, but somehow they'll come out of this smelling like roses.

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Sderot: Rockets, Iran and Obama

Cross posted by Findalis


From the Sderot Media Center

50 Gaza Rockets Strike Israel Since Ceasefire

by Anav Silverman

Over 50 Palestinian rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel since the unilateral ceasefire began between Hamas and Israel on January 18. This is the third Hamas-Israel ceasefire held since November 2006.

Two Qassam rockets were fired at the Eshkol region early Thursday morning, on February 19. Around 7:18 am, the Tzeva Adom sounded, followed by the rocket attacks. A third rocket had exploded earlier on the Gaza side. At 6:00 in the evening, the Tzeva Adom set off again--this time in Sderot. A loud explosion followed, with the rocket slamming in the Sderot cemetery.

On Wednesday, February 18, western Negev residents woke up to the sound of the Tzeva Adom, Color Red alert siren blaring at 7:40 am in the morning. A Palestinian rocket fired from Gaza slammed into the Sha'ar HaNegev kibbutz causing no reported damages or injuries. Late Wednesday night, a mortar rocket from Gaza was fired at Sdot Negev region as well. No physical injuries or damages were reported in any of the terror incidents.

There have been at least five Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on Israel in the past six days.

On Friday, February 13, Palestinian terrorists fired three rockets at Israel, striking the Sderot area. A week before on Friday, February 6, a Palestinian rocket fired from northern Gaza struck Ashkelon at 9: 30 am morning. Another Qassam rocket hit the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council area earlier in the morning the same day.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak stated after the Ashkelon attack that Israel is not gearing up for a second offensive in the Gaza Strip.

According to YNET News, (February 6, 2009) Barak stated that:

"We have no intention of embarking on Operation Cast Lead number two. We said there would be a response (to the rocket fire) and we responded," he said, "Our deterrence is intact. Hamas is barely picking up the pieces and is looking for a lull. If we play our cards right and prevent further escalation than we have a good chance of some peace and quiet."

The IDF has responded to the attacks on Wednesday, February 18, by striking seven smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border and a Hamas security base near Khan Yunis.

Previous ceasefires with Hamas have fraught with rocket fire violations. During the first ceasefire held with Hamas from November 11, 2006 to May 15, 2007, over 315 rockets struck Israel throughout the six-month ceasefire. During the second ceasefire, held between June 19 to December 19, 2008, over 538 Qassam and mortar rockets slammed into Israel.

*Jerusalem Post and YNET News contributed to this report.

In a cease-fire both sides stop fighting not just one. That is unless you are Israel. Then you are the only side to stop all attacks and allow your civilian population to be terrorized by thugs.

The Iran-Hamas Connection and President Obama

by Anav Silverman

As US President Barack Obama makes historic overtures in attempting to foster open dialogue with Iran, the rest of world watches in optimistic anticipation. The UK's Guardian recently reported that Obama's administration drafted a letter to Iran "aimed at unfreezing US-Iranian relations and opening the way for face-to-face talks."

Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has welcomed US overtures saying that:

"The new U.S. administration announced that it's willing to bring about a number of changes and is now taking the course for dialogue. It's quite clear that the real change should be fundamental, not just tactical change, and it is quite clear that the Iranian nation will greet real changes." (CNN, February 10)

Change or no change, residents of southern and northern Israel have reason to be wary of Iran, a country that continues to fund Hamas and Hezbullah terrorism operations.

Thanks to Iranian-produced respectively, along with Grad missiles and technology, Hamas now holds rockets that place close to 1 million Israelis within target range. During Operation Cast Lead, Hamas was able to strike Israel's fifth and sixth largest cities, Ashdod and BeershebaNetivot, Ofakim, Qiryat Gat, Yavneh, and Kiryat Malachi.

Hamas now has aspirations to target other Israeli cities, particularly Tel Aviv. Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV recently proclaimed on a program: "Tel Aviv, all our options are open." (Al Aqsa TV, January 10, 2009)

But it is not only the rockets which are worrying.

Although the Obama administration is keen on turning a new leaf with Iran, the fact remains that Iran is the "central banker" for Middle East terrorism, as former US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice aptly put when she spoke to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Iran's role in supporting Islamic terror in 2006.

The Iranian nation is a leading financial supporter of three terror networks; Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. Iran transfers several hundreds of million of dollars a year to Hamas, financing the movement and its military wing, Iz Al-Din-al Qassam Brigades. When Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2006, Iran awarded the regime with a $50 million bonus (BBC report April 16, 2006).

The Hamas website reported on December 11, 2006 that the Iranians had given $250 million to top Hamas official and fundraiser, Ismail Haniya, of which $100 million was used to cover the salaries of Hamas employees in the social, labor and cultural ministries for a six-month period in 2007. (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center report )

According to the IICC, Iran regards Hezbollah and Hamas as two important sources of power which Iran uses to promote its strategic goals, that of regional hegemony.

“Using Hezbollah, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations, the Iranian-Syrian axis can increase its influence in the Arab and Muslim world, pose a serious challenge to Mahmoud Abbas, harm the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and export the Iranian brand of radical Islam to other Sunni countries, especially Egypt. From the Iranian point of view, its sponsorship of Hamas is considered as a means of establishing an Iranian foothold in the heart of the Sunni world.”

Iranians themselves fully identify with Hamas’s goals to destroy Israel, as most recently indicated when more than 70,000 Iranian student volunteers registered to carry out suicide bombings against Israel to support Hamas during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. (AP January 5) The rush of volunteers transpired when Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a religious decree stating that anyone who carried out an attack against Israel would be considered a martyr.

Iranian schools, like Hamas, contain children’s textbooks which teach Iranian schoolchildren to hate and fear Israel. IMPACT recently published a short volume on The War Curriculum in Iran, which exposes the way in which Iranian textbooks connect the Islamic Revolution in Iran to the struggle for the liberation of Palestine.

Children as young as eight years of age learn in Iranian history textbooks that

“God willing, the day will come when all Muslims will be united, liberate Palestine and save Jerusalem from the hands of the enemies of Islam.”
Social Studies, Grade 3 (2004) p. 56

And finally, Iran’s perception of the West is just as hostile. Iranian school books equal the United States with “the Great Satan.” Westernization receives a special label in Persian, known as Gharbzadegi, which literally means being smitten with the West in a way that corrupts the soul. “Westernization is treated as an ominous danger targeting Islamic identity.” (The War Curriculum in Iranian Schoolbooks p.162)

Is it any wonder that Iran and most of its population of 74 million residents determinedly supports the Hamas regim? After all the Iranian national education system and religious institutions for the past thirty years has indoctrinated a hate education against Israel and the West.

The question is-- what will President Obama be willing to believe of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should he engage in direct talks, as Iranian financial aid and rockets continue to strengthen Hamas and Hezbollah. And will Israel be pressured to talk to Hamas in the same fashion?

Obama is trying to emulate both FDR and Abraham Lincoln, but in reality he is emulating Neville Chamberlain. Obama has gone down a path that will not bring peace to the region, but I do invision him stepping down from Air Force One in the future, waving a piece of paper, and shouting: "We now have peace in our lifetime." The word for that is appeasement and surrender. And neither one is an option.

Like always I ask my readers to say a prayer or Psalm 130 for the people of Sderot, to subscribe to the Code Red alerts, contact your Representatives in Congress and the President, and if they can to send a donation to the Sderot Media Center. Just click on the logo at the top or bottom of this post and follow the instructions there. But don't stand idly by.

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Obama's Secret Meetings With Iran

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

During the last campaign season it seems that now President Obama was conducting his own foreign policy. He had representatives meet with high officials of Syria and Iran, promising them what? And giving them what guarantees?

United States President Barack Obama employed representatives and experts to hold secret high-level talks with Iran and Syria months prior to his election as president, organizers of the meetings told Agence France Presse on Monday.

Over the past few months, Obama campaign and election officials, as well as nuclear non-proliferation experts, had several "very, very high-level" contacts with Iranian leaders, according to Jeffrey Boutwell, executive director for the U.S. branch of the Pugwash group, a Nobel Prize-winning international organization of scientists. Former defense secretary William Perry, who served in Obama's election campaign, also participated in some of the meetings, which included discussions on Iran's nuclear program and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Though Boutwell refused to name other participants, he said they were senior figures in the Iranian and US governments.

In his first television interview as president, conducted by the Muslim Al-Arabiya television network, Obama called Iranians "a great people," adding "the U.S. has a stake in the well being of the Muslim world."

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad affirmed the reports Monday that Obama officials had repeated contact with his country for some time prior to the U.S. elections. "Dialogue started some weeks ago in a serious manner through personalities who are close to the administration and who were dispatched by the administration," Assad said.

A group of experts, under the auspices of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) think tank, announced Thursday that they met for more than two hours in Damascus with President al-Assad. Obama transition team member and former Clinton White House adviser Ellen Laipson attended the meeting as well, they said.

Seeing that Obama is reaching out to the Muslim/Arab world, and seeing that his Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, was one of the biggest supporters of the Arab world, it is not surprising to me that Israelis do not see Obama as a friend, but one who is opposed to the very idea of Israel and is working towards its demise. As Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada, dear friend of Obama has recently stated:

Accusing the Jewish state of "genocide," an anti-Israel Palestinian activist once commended by President Obama has predicted the end of Israel, which, he boasted, is "within reach, in our lifetimes."

In a piece earlier this month titled, "Why Israel won't survive," Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada, a pro-Palestinian online publication, accused Israel of war crimes and gloated, "Now, the other pillar of Israeli power – Western support and complicity – is starting to crack. We must do all we can to push it over."

"It is Israel as a Zionist state, not Palestine or the Palestinian people, that cannot survive this attempted genocide. Its problem is legitimacy, or rather a profound and irreversible lack of it," wrote Abunimah.

Abunimah previously was described as close to Obama and has introduced the politician at pro-Palestinian events. Referring to a time period in the late 1990s, Abunimah said that "Obama used to be very comfortable speaking up for and being associated with Palestinian rights and opposing the Israeli occupation."

Abunimah was quoted stating Obama was "quite frank that the U.S. needed to be more evenhanded, that it leaned too much toward Israel."

He noted Obama's unusual stance toward Israel, commenting "these were the kind of statements I'd never heard from a U.S. politician who seemed like he was going somewhere, rather than at the end of his career."

In his piece this month, Abunimah blasted Israel's three-week campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, accusing the Israel Defense Forces of "massacr[ing] civilians in the hope that the population would turn against those fighting the occupier."

Just another one of Obama's close friends. This one is closer to the President than Ayers, or Wright. And Obama receives his advice on the region from this man, not anyone else.

Obama screams that he wants an open government, but his actions speak volumes of the secrecy and deceit that he has and does employ.

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