The War in Lebanon:
Strategic Perspective, US Military's strategies
of widening Circles, one circle at a time ?
Global Theater of Operations, Centcom & beyond ?
This blog is mostly about US's global challenge. It is basically an Intel perspective...A very brief Diary from the HK's "secret files", just a little
taste from the real McCoy...a tiny preview! for now.
The media is simply being misled at best, mostly complicit.
The question of the recent conflict in Lebanon is a case in point. Some people wondered how Lebanese saw things and whether they were interested in the first place. This is how I see it from overseas. I have a soft spot for Lebanon. There was a time when many of us spent their summer holidays In Lebanon. I was 13 when I first visited the country and immediately fell in love with it. I was struck by the friendliness of the people, their openness towards strangers and the wonderful lifestyle.
The picturesque country and its pleasant cultural and geographic variety are also unique in the region: It is one of the few countries I know where you can move from warmth of sunny sandy beaches to the fresh coolness of mountain air in less than half an hour. I went back to Lebanon many times. I have fond memories of the country and its people. Some people have indicated that most of us are too busy with their own daily lives to follow what is happening in Palestine and Lebanon. This is not true. Despite their own routine and preoccupations, most of us are following those developments very closely. Sunnis mostly do not look at Hezbollah as a ‘Shiite’ movement. The sectarian polarization, bad as it is, has not gone that far overseas… yet. In this respect, most of us are united.
In Iraq for example, most ‘Shiite’ and ‘Sunni’ pro- and anti-Occupation political and insurgency groups declared their solidarity with Hezbollah and Lebanon and their outrage at Israel! Even the puppets and the stooges, have expressed their displeasure! Notable exceptions are the Kurdish ‘leadership’ and the Qaeda people.Furthermore, these people almost unanimously believe that the root cause of all that is taking place is America, not Syria and Iran! Odd? Not really! America and Israel keep saying that Hezbollah’s weaponry comes from Iran.
What most people see is that Israel’s superior weaponry that was killing innocent civilians comes from the US.There is a lot of anger at America and the way the administration is implicitly condoning those criminal acts and giving the Israeli war machine political and diplomatic cover until they have finished their business. No sir, no hearts and minds won here either!!What is the matter with these ungrateful people? Similarities..... I find the similarities in tactics used by the American and Israeli war machines in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon eerie. Motives: self-defense, eradicating terrorism. Changing declared reasons: freeing soldiers; eradicating terror; no quarrel with the people, strengthening the government. Means: ‘surgical’ bombing followed by ground invasion.
Result: Total devastation of civil life, innocents homeless and suffering, numerous children killed and mutilated, ruined civilian infrastructure; destruction of the tools and elements of government rendering the countries ungovernable; and… hatred, popular resentment, vengefulness and more hatred.Air and fire superiority coupled with bombing ‘incompetence’ (!) resulting in enormous “collateral damage” (meaning murdered and injured innocent civilians) and a high proportion of children as well as devastation of civilian infrastructure, including power stations, water plants, roads, bridges and almost anything of value.They are doing it again, I thought!
It reminded me of the US ‘surgical’ bombings in 1991 to evict Saddam from Kuwait and later, during and after the invasion of Iraq: they bombed schools, bridges, cement factories, powder milk factories, an assortment of other factories, grain silos, civilian air-raid shelters, water treatment and pumping plants, power plants… and hundreds of other targets, unrelated to the war machine, that were hundreds of miles away from the “theater of operations” for more than 40 days in order to expel Saddam from Kuwait.Other similarities of note:The percentage of the population supporting the military action (around 80%)!The claim that they were doing the bombarded country a favor and that the people should be grateful.
The claim that they were doing it in self defense Even the signing of bombs, this time by smiling, small children signing on death gadgets likely to hit similarly young children across the border!Conclusion: The governing powers in America and Israel are two faces of the same coin. I doubt that anyone can debate that. The debate is whether the coin is good or bad.Another conclusion: Fanatics always, always go too far. This ultimately leads to their own demise… but they can cause a lot of damage in the process.Hezbollah Regardless of what people (including me) think of their doctrine, Hezbollah is a popular movement and not just a group of terrorists. They have representatives freely and democratically elected into Parliament and Office!! They haven’t done anything that the US and Israel haven’t done!Very few people seem to remember that Hezbollah, as a movement, was born out of the Israeli occupation of Lebanon in 1982 – also allegedly done in ‘self defense’.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Planning started way back in the US Strategic Agreement in 1998....
The Kissinger Plan in action anew....The Targets: MENA, Africa and way beyond in EURASIA....., creating Hundreds of Tribes with Flags from Kosovo to Darfur and from Kurdistan to India & China by 2015-2016...
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz
Remarks at the Defense Programs Conference, Arlington, Va., March 2, 2001
DOWNLOAD COMPLETE SPEECH
Some Excerpts
"From ongoing operations to future acquisition programs, the Department of Defense is strengthening its efforts to distinguish between capabilities that are actually required versus those that are merely desired.... This will translate to approximately 100-billion dollars in DoD-wide efficiencies over the next five years, which then can be transferred to war-fighting capabilities and requirements, and modernization or recapitalization efforts."
"looking to the future, we are planning our force structure to be at least equally versatile, including being prepared for higher-end conflict involving aggressive actors. To that end, we continue to recognize the growing interconnectedness in the land, maritime, air, space, and cyber environments, and the need to strengthen Joint and Inter-agency collaboration. We know that now, more than ever, our ability to operate in any single domain relies on a substantial level of control in the others. This complexity increasingly requires a wide-angle view of the operating environments, to ensure that our domain control efforts are undertaken through close collaboration with our Joint partners, and that our intended effects span multiple domains as necessary."
There are many ways to view this moment of strategic inflection, so to conclude, I offer only three thoughts for your consideration today.
First, we require more efficiency, agility, and responsiveness, as I have outlined so far. If we are to address the root causes of explosive cost growth in many of our Major Defense Acquisition Programs, we must be innovative in advancing immature technology more efficiently. We must be firmly committed to stemming the tide of readiness shortfalls and widening gaps in manufacturing technology. And, we must work to shift the manufacturing focus earlier in the acquisition process, so that we can deliver better, rapid-response solutions where 10- to 15-year development cycles are insufficient in keeping pace in our highly dynamic environment.
Second, we require straight, candid talk from everyone—investors, manufacturers and service providers, and the government. We need honest and realistic evaluations of requirements and capabilities, pricing and time-lines, and development and delivery. With the confluence of ongoing fiscal pressures and strategic uncertainty, there is no trade space to do otherwise, so as I said recently, we can’t afford to over-promise and then under-deliver. Quite simply, there is neither time nor patience......
The TOOLS.... and the Kleiat Air Force Base in North Lebanon ???
The Murders by the Infamous White House Murder INC, with Asef Shawkat....and the "Outcry"....Made by Saatchi&Saatchi.....CIA/MOSSAD/MI6/DGSE/BND/GID.....
SAMIDOUN ???
THE END GAME .... KSA [ DIVIDED IN THREE OR FOUR TERRITORIES....? ]
THE THUG FROM TEXAS, MANIPULATED BY DICK CHENEY,
THE STOOGE OF THE MOTHER OF ALL LOBBIES,
THE PETROLEUM LOBBY , OF TEXAS...
"THE SUM OF ALL LOBBIES WORLDWIDE"
THE LITTLE DONKEYS & CIA/MOSSAD Stooges....
ONE OF THE SNAKES OF MOSSAD/AMAN/OSP....
*******************************************************************************
In fact, they managed to expel Israel from Lebanon; hence their clout in the Arab World! Nobody mentions that Hezbollah did what it did (attacking and capturing those two unfortunate Israeli soldiers) in an attempt to release their own, held by Israel from the time that it occupied Lebanon. It still holds them six years after it left the country. Why didn’t they negotiate to swap prisoners? No negotiations with terrorists? But they did it before!Labnana or Arqana?During the early days of the sectarian polarization under the auspices of the American occupation, numerous people started warning about the “Labnana” (Lebanonization) of the internal conflict in Iraq. During the first and second weeks of the Israeli assault on Lebanon, several times I heard analysts and politicians warning against the “Arqana” (Iraqization) of the situation in Lebanon.Perhaps “Amraka” (Americanization) of the conflict would be a better description.Neocons again?I had some time ago declared the neocon empire defunct. Perhaps I was hasty.
Secretary Condoleezza Rice used the term “Pangs of birth” to describe the present carnage. This is so reminiscent of neocon thinking and terminology. She should have used the term “Creative Destruction” the neocons are more fond of. One would have thought that they would not take the next step in the direction of the ‘new Middle East’ until they were successful in Iraq. Perhaps they are, as far as their objectives are concerned!Media coverageThere was a time when the international media was literally ‘owned’ by Israel. I can’t help remembering the previous wars between Israel and her neighbors. The media bias was astounding. The other point of view was virtually non-existent! This time, there was live coverage from Arab and other media channels, dozens of channels.
The declared claims of avoiding civilian casualties, acting in self defense, helping the Lebanese government etc. etc. simply could not hold!This time, Prime Minister Olmert complained about the media’s unbalanced reporting.It seems that Israel did things with a mentality that assumed that they were going to get away with things like previous times. That was a major error. As the battles unfolded, the declared objectives of the Israeli campaign were ‘reduced’ several times, clearly indicating that things were not going as planned.
A major casualty in this war was Israel's image of invincibility. It was literally shattered! Yes, Israel had air and fire-power superiority. In more than 2,400 sorties and precision bombings, they killed many children but could not make a noticeable dent in Hezbollah’s primitive armor. When ground skirmishes started, those fighters gave the Israelis a good run for their money. Much of it was reported almost immediately. The impressive Israeli war machine looked clumsy and almost pathetic! Also gone is the image of small country fighting against all odds for survival.Where to next?Peace treaties? Normalizations? They will not work. Look at Egypt. Normalization with Israel has officially been consolidated for more than 30 years. Can an Israeli safely walk the streets of Cairo?
Can their businesses operate openly? Nothing, nothing will work until the root causes of the injustice and the terror are addressed. Meanwhile, to millions of people, it seems that only Militant Religion offers the solution to address these injustices. This is why it has become stronger. To many people, it seems to be the only force capable of striking back. There are more than a billion of these people growing more militant by the day and with every new atrocity. What will they do? Eradicate them all to remove that cancer? This analogy was in fact used by Israel’s ambassador to the UN:
"When you operate on a cancerous growth you do not stop in the middle, sew the patient up and tell him keep living with that growth until it kills you. You make sure it is totally removed."If it is a cancer, how are they going to eradicate it? By killing children? Possibly… because some of those children will grow up full of hate and revenge! So, do you eradicate a cancer by increasing cancerous cells? By this reasoning, you will have to kill all children. Is Israel also incompetent?Is it possible that they are addressing the wrong tissue?
NO, it is a deliberate policy of NeoImperialism, based on hard facts and fears about Energy Security, and many other Global Challenges which very few bring out in the open...
Which is why Americans have such a hard time understanding these various groups. It is why they have come to be called "fanatic" and "radical". I'm certain that, in their view, they are neither "radical" nor "fanatic" just as they think of the murders they commit as "just" and not evil. Just as Americans think of the murders being committed by our armies as "just" and not evil.The principal American ideal, the basis of our belief system, is not "freedom" or "equality", though that is what most people will say if asked. It is the Argument. It is Debate. Americans are, perhaps, less free than many peoples of the world.
All of the "World Power" countries are oppressed not by dictators and armies, but by capitalism. The dollar is our shackle and chains. It is the reason for our existence. We get up in the morning to work for someone to give us a stack of paper, which someone else takes more than half of, in order to live and buy material things which we "need" to fit in socially. With all of this there is very little time or energy left in one's day to question the government which rules us, even to get upset about it.We are so intimidated by the futility of fighting the system that we do not even try. America will not Stand. As long as we have our cable TV, internet, video-games, films, music, sports, whatever, we are content to sit idly by while our government continues to steal our freedoms one by one by one.
To do otherwise would disrupt "the system" and make everyone else's life much more difficult.We do not understand people who work, not for money to survive, but to simply survive. It has been so long since we have had to subside in anyway but the sort of "assembly-line living" which is the capitalistic norm that we do not remember that man is an animal that was meant to survive by killing. I am not in anyway saying that Lebanese or other peoples of the Middle East are all primitive savages who live by hunting .All of this I believe, helps explain a bit of the American side of what we are talking about here. There has not been violence of any kind within America, not even the sort of "violence" necessary for survival, that it is incomprehensible that someone could believe killing people because they have a different opinion, much less because they deserve it, could be "just.
"We will debate and argue until our face is blue before we will pick up a gun and kill the opposing side. Bear in mind I am speaking of the average American person, not the government. What is more, we are taught to question our beliefs. One of the first adages taught to our children is "don't believe everything you hear." Also "don't believe everything you read."We are taught to question and to formulate our own ideas and to build our belief system from this, rather than to accept what one person tells us as truth, be that person the President, the Pope, or our own parents. Which is why we have so many different beliefs in America and there is no real unifying religion.I write this to create a complimentary expansion, if you will, from a different perspective. To view the world in two colors is narrow-minded and ignorant. To put it in terms an American will understand . . . would you watch a black and white TV when there's an HD plasma hanging on the wall?
The world should do the same.
America was made great, among other things, by leaders with vision, integrity and wisdom. America was turned into an ugly bully by men and forces ignorant of history and driven by greed, arrogance, a culture of violence, intrigue, covert and black operations, murder, fascistic tendencies, and short-term outlook. The trajectory towards disaster can only be changed by true statesmen and women of courage and vision who are prepared to prescribe and, if necessary, take bitter medicine. Will They ? or are we on a downhill spiral to WW3/4.
The legend.
The Gordian Knot is a legend associated with Alexander the Great, Saidon, Saida, The Fort ? South Lebanon...ALL OF LEBANON...in time.....
It is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem,
solved by a bold stroke ( cutting the Gordian knot ). The legend.
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http://iat.ubalt.edu/moulthrop/hypertexts/wm/AN/AN_XI.htm
XI.4.5 Fresco: Alexander and the Gordian Knot. A key reference.
Veidt: "...no time like the present." Note the clocks visible in
foreground.
XI.5.4: The finger on the button. Note the time.... 11/9 - 9/11 ?
XI.10.2 Veidt describes "lateral thinking:" Alexander's solution
to the Gordian Knot -- when in doubt, slash the thing in two.
The genius of violence.
XI.18.8-9 The speech John F. Kennedy never made in Dallas: "...
watchmen on the walls." A second source for the title and
conception of the project.
XI.18.9 "We in this country, in this generation, are by destiny,
rather than choice, the watchmen on the walls of world freedom."
XI.21.5-6 Veidt's calculus: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'
Doomsday Clock -- sooner or later, nuclear war will occur, if
only by accident. A bit of historical perspective here: 1984-87,
the years in which Watchmen came into being, saw intense
speculation about President Reagan's "Star Wars" antimissile
system, thought by some to be a first-strike weapon, or a cause
of instability in the balance of terror.
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++ Ohio Class Trident II Nuclear Submarine Ship Model
... quality ship model of a Trident Nuclear Submarine hand made
in the USA. ... Configured in the "Hangman's Knot" with
13 missile doors open and one empty silo...
http://thatravenmagic.com/trident.html
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http://www.heaven-words.com/3.htm
We will tangle with this deadlock in the concluding chapter of
Heaven-Words - It is knot to be skipped! A multi-dimensional
language unwinds chaotic strings tangled in the loops of complex
numbers ... unfolding a quantum relativistic theory of
everything relevant to scientists who must discover their own
human nature while knotted in a technology of oppression....???
http://www.heaven-words.com/
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The Siniora Government is not interested in any effort toward resolving the
crisis in Lebanon through dialogue...., Siniora is an economic terrorist and agent of CIA/MOSSAD for decades....and still is today in 2011....
Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon,...another CIA Puppet.
On the occasion of your visit to our country Lebanon, I would like to
clarify a number of critical matters as we observed some misunderstandings
in recent statements made by certain members of the international community.
For almost two years, our country has been suffering a governance crisis
which primarily resulted from unfair 2005 parliamentary elections and was
further augmented following a series of failures by the Siniora Government.
The crisis significantly escalated subsequent to the resignation of all Shia
Ministers leading to a sharp division between the opposition and the Siniora
Government.
In accordance with Article 95 of the Lebanese Constitution and Paragraph J
of its Preamble, all communities must be represented in order for the
Government to be legitimate. The resignation of all Shia Ministers, and the
failure to replace them, has rendered the Siniora Government
constitutionally illegitimate and has violated the National Pact.
The Siniora Government, in addition, has violated numerous other provisions
of the Lebanese Constitution including, inter alia, (i) bypassing the
Presidency through ignoring Articles 49 and 52 connected with the authority
and prerogatives of the President as the Head of State, (ii) failing for two
consecutive years to submit Draft Budget to the Parliament as required under
Article 83; hence, the country has been operating without a budget, and
(iii) paralyzing the Constitutional Court stipulated in Article 19; thus,
preventing it from examining appeals connected with the 2005 election
violations which, if adjudicated, will change the majority in the Parliament
in favor of the opposition and strip from the Siniora Government the
parliamentary majority it claims and rules on its behalf.
As result of the July 2006 war and its aftermath, the failure of the
Government to implement its program and any of the provisions in its
Declaration as well as the breakup of electoral alliances which led in
mid-2005 to the current Government, the Lebanese people lost their trust in
the Siniora Government. This has been translated through massive
demonstrations and sit-ins since December 1, 2006 with unprecedented numbers
(over 1.5 Million Lebanese on December 10, 2006) representing opposition
parties and diverse communities
Despite the illegitimacy of, and the lack of confidence by the majority of
the Lebanese people in, the Siniora Government and its incapability to rule
the country, it has been receiving unlimited and irrational support from the
international community. Given such empowerment, the current Siniora
Government is not interested in any effort toward resolving the crisis in
Lebanon through dialogue. The international community appears to be taking
side in an internal dispute related to democratic rules and the Lebanese
Constitution, and runs the risk of shouldering a big responsibility in case
the country reaches a governance vacuum or internal conflict at the end of
current President term.
We urge you to support Lebanon and all of its institutions and not only the
Siniora Government. We hope for greater objectivity and reconsideration of
current positions which assume the crisis is only the result of external
factors or dispute regarding the international tribunal. We are a key player
in the opposition as we represent 1/3 of the Lebanese population according
to the last election. And we are known to have no agenda connected with any
foreign interests in Lebanon. In addition, we were the first to propose and
support the establishment of the international tribunal. We continue to
strongly believe in the possibility of its adoption in accordance with the
Lebanese Constitution and in cooperation with the Security Council.
There are however many other dimensions to the current crisis. It is
detrimental to be ignoring a number of priorities which are posing threats
to the welfare of the Lebanese people and the security in Lebanon and the
region. These include, inter alia,
. The establishment and expansion in Lebanon of fundamentalist terrorist
organizations with no preventive measures on the part of the Siniora
Government;
. The arming and training of previous militias and new ones, all affiliated
with the governing majority, under the sight of the Siniora Government;
. The rampant corruption by the same governing elements who caused the
accumulation of at least USD 40 Billion debt (or around 200% of GDP); and
. The real threat of settling the Palestinians in Lebanon which we, and the
overwhelming majority of the Lebanese, oppose. There is a national consensus
in Lebanon against such settlement as stipulated in the Preamble of the
Lebanese Constitution.
The solution to the current crisis starts with respecting the Constitutional
rules in forming Governments and in ensuring adequate proportional
representation of political forces in a national unity Government. There
should not be a deadlock in a democracy. Should the current illegitimate
Government continue to maintain its current position, the solution would be
to resort to the people through holding early parliamentary elections
followed by Presidential elections and formation of a new Government.
In conclusion, I assure Your Excellency Secretary-General, of our full
readiness for constant communications and coordination with the United
Nations to provide further clarifications and contribute to a permanent
solution to the current crisis.
Respectfully yours,
Michel Aoun, Member of Parliament
Head of the Change and Reform Parliamentary Bloc
CC: Members of the Security Council
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http://nafeez.blogspot.com/
ANNEX: HK Notes and Diaries.
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Hamas is a Palestinian group known both for charitable works benefiting the
Palestinian population and suicide attacks against Israeli targets. Hamas
was formed in 1987, after a Palestinian uprising began the year before. Some
claim that Israel indirectly supported and perhaps even directly funded
Hamas in its early years in order to divide the Palestinians politically.
For instance, a former senior CIA official will later claim that Israel's
support for Hamas "was a direct attempt to divide and dilute support for a
strong, secular PLO [Palestinian Liberation Organization] by using a
competing religious alternative." Hamas begins attacks on Israeli military
and civilan targets in 1989 and will begin suicide attacks on these targets
in April 1994. The US will not officially declare Hamas a terrorist
organization until 1995 (see January 1995). This means that funding Hamas is
not a crime in the US before that year, but knowingly participating in or
supporting a violent act overseas outside of the rules of war such as a
suicide bombing could still potentially result in criminal charges in the
US. [United Press International, 6/18/2002; Associated Press, 3/22/2004]
Mohammad Salah, a Palestinian-American living in Chicago as a used car
salesman, was reputedly trained by Hamas in terrorist techniques, including
the use of chemical weapons and poisons, in the late 1980s. Working on the
orders of high-level Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk, Salah leads a four day
Hamas training camp in the Chicago area in June 1990. According to one
trainee, the approximately twenty-five trainees study Hamas philosophy,
receive weapons training, and learn how to plant a car bomb. Two of the
trainees are ultimately selected to fly to Syria, where they undergo more
advanced training in making car bombs and throwing grenades. Ultimately,
they are sent into Israel to launch attacks. Similar training camps take
place in Kansas City and Wisconsin from 1989 through early 1991. Then, Salah
is told by Marzouk to change his focus from training to fundraising. In
early 1992, Salah receives about $800,000 from Saudi multimillionaire Yassin
al-Qadi, and he temporarily invests it in a BMI real estate scheme (see
1991). Between June 1991 and December 1992, Salah repeatedly travels to the
Middle East and spends more than $100,000 in direct support of Hamas
military activities. He attempts to spend the $800,000 that is still
invested in BMI, but BMI is unable to quickly liquidate the investment.
Marzouk sends Salah almost $1 million to spend. Salah goes to the West Bank
in January 1993 and begins dispersing that money, but he is arrested before
the end of the month. With Salah arrested, Hamas needs a new point man to
collect and transfer new money raised in the US. Jamil Sarsour, a grocery
store owner in Milwaukee, is chosen. It will be reported in 2003 that
Sarsour is still living openly in Milwaukee (see June 2-5, 2003) [Chicago
Tribune, 10/29/2001; LA Weekly, 8/2/2002; Federal News Service, 6/2/2003]
Mercy International USA's logo. [Source: Mercy International USA]The 1999
book Dollars for Terror will allege that in 1989, Mercy International, a
"subsidiary of the Muslim Brotherhood, was able to establish its
headquarters in the United States, in the state of Michigan, with the
assistance of the CIA. The Agency provided significant logistical and
financial support to this 'humanitarian' organization, enabling it to act
clandestinely in the various Balkan conflicts as well as within the Muslim
communities of several Russian republics." [Labeviere, 1999, pp. 364] Mercy
International will later be tied to al-Qaeda in a number of ways. For
instance, in the mid-1990s its Pakistan branch will be headed by Zahid
Shaikh Mohammed, brother of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (see
1988-Spring 1995). [Los Angeles Times, 9/1/2002] Its Kenya branch will be
tied to the 1998 US embassy bombing there. Its Philippine branch is tied to
Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, bin Laden's brother-in-law. [Burr and Collins, 2006,
pp. 128, 188-189] Branches of this charity in different countries have
slightly different names such as Mercy International-USA and Mercy
International Relief Agency, and it has been claimed that the US branch has
no connection with the terrorism-related branches. However, a 2003 article
will draw links between the US branch and other branches. [National Review,
9/4/2003]
Prior to this year, President George W. Bush is a failed oilman. Three
times, friends and investors have bailed him out to keep his business from
going bankrupt. However, in 1988, the same year his father becomes
president, some Saudis buy a portion of his small company, Harken, which has
never performed work outside of Texas. Later in the year, Harken wins a
contract in the Persian Gulf and starts doing well financially. These
transactions seem so suspicious that the Wall Street Journal in 1991 states
it "raises the question of. an effort to cozy up to a presidential son." Two
major investors in Bush's company during this time are Salem bin Laden and
Khalid bin Mahfouz. [Intelligence Newsletter, 3/2/2000; Salon, 11/19/2001]
Salem bin Laden is Osama's oldest brother; Khalid bin Mahfouz is a Saudi
banker with a 20 percent stake in BCCI. The bank will be shut down a few
years later and bin Mahfouz will have to pay a $225 million fine (while
admitting no wrongdoing) (see October 2001)).
Al-Qaeda bomber Ramzi Yousef is said to be recruited by the CIA, though
details are not known. Author Richard Labeviere reported without elaboration
in a 1999 book, "A classified FBI file indicates that [Yousef] was recruited
by the local branch of the CIA." [Labeviere, 1999, pp. 220-221] In 1995,
Newsday will report, "FBI officials also are considering a probe of whether
the CIA had any relationship with Yousef, who fought with the CIA-financed
mujaheddin in Afghanistan in the 1980s." [Newsday, 4/16/1995] But there
appears to be no further reporting on whether such a probe was conducted.
Yousef is believed to have masterminded a series of bombings in the early
1990s, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the planned Bojinka
attack, before being captured in 1995 (see February 7, 1995). If Yousef was
recruited by the CIA, it may have been in the late 1980s when the CIA
recruited and trained thousands of people around the world to fight in
Afghanistan (see 1986-1992). In the late 1980s, Yousef was studying
engineering at a Wales college, but he'd also joined the Muslim Brotherhood
while there. During a break from school in 1988, he went to one of bin
Laden's
training camps in Afghanistan and spent several months honing his
bomb-making skills. [Miller, Stone, and Mitchell, 2002, pp. 78]
The core of the future Philippine militant group Abu Sayyaf fights with bin
Laden in Afghanistan and its training there is paid for by the CIA and
Pakistani ISI. In 1986, the CIA agreed to support an ISI program of
recruiting radical Muslims from other countries, including the Philippines,
to fight in the Afghan war (see 1986). By one estimate, initially between
300 and 500 radical Muslims from the southern Philippines go to Afghanistan
to fight. [Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College,
/1/2005 ]
In 1987 or 1988, bin Laden dispatches his brother-in-law Mohammed Jamal
Khalifa to the Philippines to find more recruits willing to go to
Afghanistan. It is estimated he finds about 1,000 recruits. One of them is
Abdurajak Janjalani, who emerges as the leader of these recruits in
Afghanistan. When the Afghan war ends in 1989 most of them will return to
the Philippines and form the Abu Sayyaf group, still led by Janjalani (see
Early 1991). [Contemporary Southeast Asia, 12/1/2002; Manila Times,
2/1/2007] Journalist John Cooley will write in a book first published in
1999 that Abu Sayyaf will become "the most violent and radical Islamist
group in the Far East, using its CIA and ISI training to harass, attack, and
murder Christian priests, wealthy non-Muslim plantation-owners, and
merchants and local government in the southern Philippine island of
Mindanao." [Cooley, 2002, pp. 63] After having read Cooley's book and
gathering information from other sources, Senator Aquilino Pimentel,
President of the Philippine Senate, will say in a 2000 speech that the "CIA
has sired a monster" because it helped train this core of the Abu Sayyaf.
[Senator Aquilino Q. Pimentel website, 7/31/2000]
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin forms Hamas as the military arm of his Islamic
Association, which had been licensed by Israel ten years earlier (see
1973-1978). According to Charles Freeman, a former US ambassador to Saudi
Arabia, "Israel started Hamas. It was a project of Shin Bet, which had a
feeling that they could use it to hem in the PLO." [CounterPunch, 1/18/2003;
Dreyfuss, 2005, pp. 191, 208] Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East analyst for
the Center for Strategic Studies, states that Israel "aided Hamas
directly-the Israelis wanted to use it as a counterbalance to the PLO." A
former senior CIA official speaking to UPI describes Israel's support for
Hamas as "a direct attempt to divide and dilute support for a strong,
secular PLO by using a competing religious alternative." Further, according
to an unnamed US government official, "the thinking on the part of some of
the right-wing Israeli establishment was that Hamas and the other groups, if
they gained control, would refuse to have anything to do with the peace
process and would torpedo any agreements put in place." Larry Johnson, a
counter-terrorism official at the State Department, states: "The Israelis
are their own worst enemies when it comes to fighting terrorism. They are
like a guy who sets fire to his hair and then tries to put it out by hitting
it with a hammer. They do more to incite and sustain terrorism than curb
it." [United Press International, 2/24/2001 Sources: Larry C. Johnson,
Unnamed former CIA official]
During a secret visit to Pakistan CIA Director William Casey commits the CIA
to support the ISI program of recruiting radical Muslims for the Afghan war
from other Muslim countries around the world. In addition to the Gulf
States, these include Turkey, the Philippines, and China. The ISI started
their recruitment of radicals from other countries in 1982 (see 1982). This
CIA cooperation is part of a joint CIA-ISI plan begun the year before to
expand the "Jihad" beyond Afghanistan (see March 1985). [Rashid, 2001, pp.
128-129]
The CIA, ISI, and bin Laden build the Khost tunnel complex in Afghanistan.
This will be a major target of bombing and fighting when the US attacks the
Taliban in 2001. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/23/2001; Hindu, 9/27/2001] It
will be reported in June 2001 that "bin Laden worked closely with Saudi,
Pakistani, and US intelligence services to recruit mujaheddin from many
Muslim countries," but this information has not been reported much since
9/11. [United Press International, 4/10/2004] A CIA spokesperson will later
claim, "For the record, you should know that the CIA never employed, paid,
or maintained any relationship whatsoever with bin Laden." [Ananova,
10/31/2001]
Quoting a French intelligence report posted by PBS Frontline, The New Yorker
reports, "During the nineteen-eighties, when the Reagan administration
secretly arranged for an estimated $34 million to be funneled through Saudi
Arabia to the Contras in Nicaragua, [Osama's eldest brother] Salem bin Laden
aided in this cause." [PBS Frontline, 2001; New Yorker, 11/5/2001]
Afghan opium production rises from 250 tons in 1982 to 2,000 tons in 1991,
coinciding with CIA support and funding of the mujaheddin. Alfred McCoy, a
professor of Southeast Asian history at the University of Wisconsin, says US
and Pakistani intelligence officials sanctioned the rebels' drug trafficking
because of their fierce opposition to the Soviets: "If their local allies
were involved in narcotics trafficking, it didn't trouble [the] CIA. They
were willing to keep working with people who were heavily involved in
narcotics." For instance, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a rebel leader who received
about half of all the CIA's covert weapons, was known to be a major heroin
trafficker. Charles Cogan, who directs the CIA's operation in Afghanistan,
later claims he was unaware of the drug trade: "We found out about it later
on." [Atlantic Monthly, 5/1996; Star-Tribune (Minneapolis), 9/30/2001]
Salem bin Laden, Osama's oldest brother, described by a French secret
intelligence report as one of two closest friends of Saudi Arabia's King
Fahd who often performs important missions for Saudi Arabia, is involved in
secret Paris meetings between US and Iranian emissaries this month,
according to a French report. Frontline, which published the French report,
notes that such meetings have never been confirmed. Rumors of these meetings
have been called the "October Surprise" and some have speculated that in
these meetings, George H. W. Bush negotiated a delay to the release of the
US hostages in Iran, thus helping Ronald Reagan and Bush win the 1980
Presidential election. All of this is highly speculative, but if the French
report is correct, it points to a long-standing connection of highly
improper behavior between the Bush and bin Laden families. [PBS Frontline,
2001]
Journalist Simon Reeve will claim in the 1999 book The New Jackals that US
officials directly met with bin Laden in Afghanistan in the 1980s. He will
write, "American emissaries are understood to have traveled to Pakistan for
meetings with mujaheddin leaders. [A former CIA official] even suggests the
US emissaries met directly with bin Laden, and that it was bin Laden, acting
on advice from his friends in Saudi intelligence, who first suggested the
mujaheddin should be given Stingers." [Reeve, 1999, pp. 167, 176] The CIA
begins supplying Stinger missiles to the mujaheddin in 1986 (see September
1986). After 9/11, the CIA will state, "Numerous comments in the media
recently have reiterated a widely circulated but incorrect notion that the
CIA once had a relationship with Osama bin Laden. For the record, you should
know that the CIA never employed, paid, or maintained any relationship
whatsoever with bin Laden." [US State Department, 1/14/2005]
Osama bin Laden begins providing financial, organizational, and engineering
aid for the mujaheddin in Afghanistan, with the advice and support of the
Saudi royal family. [New Yorker, 11/5/2001] Some, including Richard Clarke,
counterterrorism "tsar" during the Clinton and George W. Bush
administrations, believe he was handpicked for the job by Prince Turki
al-Faisal, head of Saudi Arabia's Secret Service. [New Yorker, 11/5/2001;
Sunday Times (London), 8/25/2002] The Pakistani ISI want a Saudi prince as a
public demonstration of the commitment of the Saudi royal family and as a
way to ensure royal funds for the anti-Soviet forces. The agency fails to
get royalty, but bin Laden, with his family's influential ties, is good
enough for the ISI. [Miami Herald, 9/24/2001] (Clarke will argue later that
the Saudis and other Muslim governments used the Afghan war in an attempt to
get rid of their own misfits and troublemakers.) This multinational force
later coalesces into al-Qaeda. [Clarke, 2004, pp. 52]
The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. The Russians were initially invited in
by the Afghan government to deal with rising instability and army mutinies,
and they start crossing the border on December 8. But on December 26,
Russian troops storm the presidential palace, kill the country's leader,
Haizullah Amin, and the invitation turns into an invasion. [Blum, 1995, pp.
342] Later declassified high-level Russian documents will show that the
Russian leadership believed that Amin, who took power in a violent coup from
another pro-Soviet leader two months before, had secret contacts with the US
embassy and was probably a US agent. Further, one document from this month
claims that "the right wing Muslim opposition" has "practically established
their control in many provinces. using foreign support." [Cooley, 2002, pp.
8] It has been commonly believed that the invasion was unprovoked, but the
Russians will later be proven largely correct. In a 1998 interview, Zbigniew
Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter's National Security Adviser, will reveal
that earlier in the year Carter authorized the CIA to destabilize the
government, provoking the Russians to invade (see July 3, 1979). [Le Nouvel
Observateur (Paris), 1/1998; Mirror, 1/29/2002] Further, CIA covert action
in the country actually began in 1978 (see 1978), if not earlier (see
1973-1979). The US and Saudi Arabia will give a huge amount of money
(estimates range up to $40 billion total for the war) to support the
mujaheddin guerrilla fighters opposing the Russians, and a decade-long war
will ensue. [Nation, 2/15/1999]
In the 1960s Osama bin Laden's brother Mahrous bin Laden joined a rebel
group opposed to the Saudi government. With his assistance, in 1979 the
rebels smuggle weapons into Mecca, Saudi Arabia, using trucks belonging to
the bin Laden family company. Five hundred rebels then seize the Grand
Mosque in Medina, Islam's holiest mosque in its holiest city. They try, but
fail, to overthrow the Saudi royal family. All the men who took part are
later beheaded except Mahrous. Eventually he is released from prison because
of the close ties between the bin Ladens and the Saudi royal family. Mahrous
apparently abandons the rebel cause and joins the family business. He is
eventually made a head of the Medina branch and a member of the board. He
will still hold these positions on 9/11. But a newspaper reports that "his
past [is] not forgiven and most important decisions in the [bin Laden family
business] are made without Mahrous' input." [Sunday Herald (Glasgow),
10/7/2001; New Yorker, 11/5/2001; Ha'aretz, 12/18/2002]
At some point in the late 1980s or early 1980s while bin Laden is still
finishing his university degree, he apparently visits the US. Author Peter
Bergen will later claim, "Undoubtedly, bin Laden took his son for medical
treatment to a western country and it's either the United States or the
United Kingdom. There's some kind of controversy about that." Khaled
Batarfi, a close childhood friend to bin Laden, will later recall more
specifically, "In Washington airport, Dulles Airport, people were surprised
at the way he dressed, his wife dressed. Some of them were even taking
photos and he was kind of joking about it. We were like in a zoo." [CNN,
8/23/2006] Apparently, this is bin Laden's only known visit to the US.
The CIA begins covert action against the Communist government in
Afghanistan, which is closely tied to the Soviet Union. Some time this year,
the CIA begins training militants in Pakistan and beaming radio propaganda
into Afghanistan. By April 1979, US officials are meeting with opponents of
the Afghan government to determine their needs. [Blum, 1995, pp. 344] Robert
Gates, who will become CIA Director in the early 1990s, will later recall
that in a meeting on March 30, 1979, Under Secretary of Defense Walter
Slocumbe wonders aloud whether there is "value in keeping the Afghan
insurgency going, 'sucking the Soviets into a Vietnamese quagmire.'" [Gates,
1996, pp. 145] In March 1979, there is a major revolt in Herat province, and
in June and August there are large scale army mutinies. [Cooley, 2002, pp.
5] President Carter will formally approve covert aid to opponents of the
government in July (see July 3, 1979), which will result in a Russian
invasion in December (see December 8, 1979).
In 1977 Zbigniew Brzezinski, as President Carter's National Security
Adviser, forms the Nationalities Working Group (NWG) dedicated to the idea
of weakening the Soviet Union by inflaming its ethnic tensions. The Islamic
populations are regarded as prime targets. Richard Pipes, the father of
Daniel Pipes, takes over the leadership of the NWG in 1981. Pipes predicts
that with the right encouragement Soviet Muslims will "explode into
genocidal fury" against Moscow. According to Richard Cottam, a former CIA
official who advised the Carter administration at the time, after the fall
of the Shah of Iran in 1978, Brzezinski favored a "de facto alliance with
the forces of Islamic resurgence, and with the Republic of Iran." [Dreyfuss,
2005, pp. 241, 251 - 256]
ISRAELIS vs ARABS
WHO ARE THE REAL TERRORISTS?
By: Hal Turner
North Bergen, NJ USA -- For years, we in America have supported Israel
both financially and militarily because we perceived they were the
innocent victims of hostile and violent neighbors. The US media has,
for years, provided extensive coverage of every incident involving
Arab-against-Israeli violence. From shootings, to car bombs to suicide
bombers, we in America have seen it all. Or have we?
Why would rational human beings, given a choice, choose to attack their
neighbors rather than live together in peace? More pertinent, why
would a rational human being choose to blow himself up rather than
live? The Israelis, the US media and our politicians would have us
believe that the Arabs are simply not rational. They routinely tell us
that Arabs are "religious fanatics" who "hate freedom" or "hate our way
of life" to quote George W. Bush. These arguments are fallacious and
intellectually bankrupt.
The reason for Arab against Israeli violence is simple: The Israelis
have been systematically repressing and brutalizing hundreds of
thousands of Arabs on a scale unparalleled since World War 2. I have
the proof.
Below are photographs of the victims of Israeli violence. They depict
brutal, violent death, horrific personal injury and devastation of
property which is simply unfathomable. ALL of it was perpetrated by
Israelis against Arabs. ALL of the victims are civilians.
As you view these pictures ask yourself this question: What would YOU
or YOUR LOVED ONES do in retaliation for these things?
DANGER: SEVENTY-SEVEN GRAPHIC PICTURES OF BRUTAL
VIOLENCE, DEATH AND INJURY.
NOT FOR VIEWING BY PERSONS WITH WEAK HEARTS!
http://www.halturnershow.com/IsraeliAtrocities.html
Genocide Advocated by The Talmud
Minor Tractates. Soferim 15, Rule 10. This is the saying of Rabbi
Simon ben Yohai: Tob shebe goyyim harog ("Even the best of the
Gentiles should all be killed").
This passage is not from the Soncino edition but is from the original
Hebrew of the Babylonian Talmud as quoted by the 1907 Jewish
Encyclopedia, published by Funk and Wagnalls and compiled by
Isidore Singer, under the entry, "Gentile," (p. 617).
This original Talmud passage has been concealed in translation.
The Jewish Encyclopedia states that, "...in the various versions the
reading has been altered, 'The best among the Egyptians' being
generally substituted." In the Soncino version: "the best of the
heathens" (Minor Tractates, Soferim 41a-b].
Israelis annually take part in a national pilgrimage to the grave of
Simon ben Yohai, to honor this rabbi who advocated the
extermination of non-Jews. (Jewish Press of June 9, 1989, p. 56B).
On Purim, Feb. 25, 1994, Israeli army officer Baruch Goldstein,
an orthodox Khazar from Brooklyn, massacred 40 Palestinian
civilians, including children, while they knelt in prayer in a mosque.
Goldstein was a disciple of the late Rabbi Kahane who has stated
that his view of Arabs as "dogs" is "from the Talmud." (Cf. CBS 60
Minutes, "Kahane").
Univ. of Jerusalem Prof. Ehud Sprinzak described Kahane and
Goldstein's philosophy: "They believe it's God's will that they commit
violence against 'goyim,' a Hebrew term for non-Jews." (NY Daily
News, Feb. 26, 1994, p. 5).
Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg declared, "We have to recognize that Jewish
blood and the blood of a goy are not the same thing." (NY Times,
June 6, 1989, p.5).
Rabbi Yaacov Perrin says, "One million Arabs are not worth a
Jewish fingernail." (NY Daily News, Feb. 28, 1994, p.6).
