#1
And a great-uncle of Ziad al Jarrah, Assem Omar Jarrah, was apparently Stasi's link to the Abu Nidal Organization. Great Uncle Assem spent time with Ziad in Germany, and disappeared two weeks before 9/11.
One Test Biden May Not Have Anticipated . . . [Michael Rubin]
Keep an eye on Bahrain. Over the last month, Iranian rhetoric against the continued independence of the tiny Arab island nation has really picked up, with repeated declarations that Bahrain isn't independent, but really just a province of Iran.
(Historically, Bahrain was part of Iran until the Portuguese separated it in 1522; it later became a British protectorate and a 1970 plebiscite confirmed the Bahraini desire to be independent).
Iranian authorities have recently suggested seating Bahraini representatives in the Iranian parliament, categorizing Ahmadinejad's trips to the island nation as provincial trips, and broadcast interviews with Bahraini Shi'a predicting revolution within a year.
Yesterday, Bahrain stopped allowing Iranians to travel to the island, and announced they were cutting off oil imports from Iran.
Of course, much of this may be simple rhetoric, but then again, so was Saddam Hussein's Kuwait-is-our-19th province rhetoric until he made good on his threats.
Bahrain is more complicated because of the U.S. navy's presence on the island. Continued on Page 47
#3
...and at one time Persia was just another administrative unit of the vast Mongolian Empire. Be careful when you cite history as a basis of territorial 'possession'.
(AKI) - A motorcycle bomber struck a mosque in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan on Wednesday, damaging the building but causing no human casualties, semi-official Iranian news agency Fars reported, quoting police.
The motorcyclist had apparently detonated his bomb outside the building after being prevented from entering the mosque.
Zahedan is the provincial capital of Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province, which borders Pakistan. Similar bombings have been carried out in the past in Iran's southeastern regions, some of them deadly.
Zahedan is a stronghold of Sunni armed insurgent group Jundallah. The group has launched attacks near the Afghan and Pakistani borders and the Iranian authorities have claimed it is linked it to Al-Qaeda.
Iran claims armed separatist groups usually carry out bomb attacks in the southeast before fleeing to hideouts in Pakistan.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2009 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11140 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Ah, but was the motorcyclist sent by America, Israel, or the squirrels?
US Senator Benjamin Cardin has called on Syria to end its alliance with Iran as Washington reviews its policies towards the Middle East. Ben's one of Maryland's U.S. senators. His primary distinction is being colorless, odorless, and tasteless. He must be really good at it cuz I've never heard of him... Why it's Senator Zelig! More like senatorial iocaine powder.
"Syria has isolated itself by its partnership of terrorism, by providing safe haven to terrorist organizations, its relations with Hamas and (Islamic) Jihad, and a troubled relationship with Iran," Cardin said after talks with Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday. "The question we came to try to answer here is about whether Syria is ready to make important and significant decisions that will bring us closer together and move forward." My guess is that, no, they're not.
"It is an opportunity with the new president, Obama ... Dialogue is important but actions speak wider than words. We will be watching Syria's actions very carefully over the next weeks and months," he added. I'd guess Ben hasn't been up until now, otherwise he'd have noticed Bush's handling of Syria and the Syrian and Iranian countermachinations, punctuated as they were by exploding politicians in Lebanon.
Syria's official SANA news agency said that the talks with the US delegation, "focused on ties between Syria and the United States, and the importance of developing them through a serious and positive dialogue based on mutual respect." In the news agency game this is known as "boilerplate."
The Cardin-led delegation is the second congressional team to visit Syria in less than a month and John Friggin' Kerry, the foreign relations committee chairman is expected to make the country one of his stops on his Middle East tour. Maybe Teresa can buy the place for him. The other stops are Paris, Versailles, Nice, Rome, Florence ...
Iran, Syria alliance dates back to the early-to mid-1980s B.C., when Damascus supported Tehran during the Iraq-Iran war. Syria used to be an Iranian satrapy before it became a place for the Romans to send unruly politicians and generals.
On May 28, 2008, the two countries signed a new defense cooperation pact, pledging their mutual support regarding territorial independence and integrity.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2009 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11140 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Better chance of getting the Donks to cut their ties with the UAW. (none, zero, zip, nada)
#2
Can we have a year long moratorium on mentioning or posting any article with the name John Kerry in it? My stomach is like a vial of hydrochloric acid right now and I really needed to eat.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
02/19/2009 11:02 Comments ||
Top||
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
