September 30, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued the following Warden Message 29 September 2009: “The U.S. Embassy has received information that, as of late September 2009, Taliban members in Logar Province, Afghanistan, were planning on an unspecified date to ambush and capture unidentified Americans who routinely travel between Kabul City and Logar Province. The Taliban reportedly intend to follow the Americans’ vehicle from Kabul and stop the car en route. The U.S. Embassy urges Americans who travel between Kabul City and Logar Province to exercise additional caution if traveling in the specified area.”

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September 30, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

An earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale struck in the South Pacific near Tonga and Samoa on 29 September 2009. The quake occurred at approximately 1748 UTC at a depth of 22 mi/35 km; its epicenter was 100 mi/160 km east-northeast of Tonga and 125 mi/205 km south-southwest of Samoa. The tremor caused several waves of up to 15 ft/4.5 m in Samoa and American Samoa that reached nearly 1 mi/1.6 km inland. The tsunami killed at least 99 people in Samoa and American Samoa, and dozens of people are still missing, despite the early warning system that prompted people to move to higher ground.

Details regarding the extent of damage due to the earthquake and tsunami are still emerging, but it appears that American Samoa and the southern portion of Samoa sustained significant damage. Several villages were completely destroyed in American Samoa, and extensive damage was also reported in Pago Pago, the capital. In Samoa, the earthquake damaged the water infrastructure, but communication and power services are operational. There is a potential for low-level transportation disruptions due to the location of the roads along the more heavily impacted southern side of the island. Currently the Samoan capital of Apia has been shut down, with schools and businesses closed. Some locations are expected to be without power for up to a month. Flights into Samoa and American Samoa are reportedly operating. Following the initial earthquake, a series of aftershocks measuring between 5.6 and 5.9 hit the area. Additional aftershocks — some of which could be powerful — are possible. The earthquake’s impact in other locations was limited. Tidal surges of 16 in/40 cm hit New Zealand, but they did not significantly affect the country. Alerts were also issued in Hawaii and California in the United States, but they were later withdrawn. In Japan a small wave was reported off the island of Hachijojima approximately 10 hours after the quake, but it did not cause damage or injuries.

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September 30, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

On 29 September 2009 ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya called for his supporters to stage more demonstrations in Tegucigalpa against the interim government’s regime, particularly against recent measures limiting civil liberties and shutting down media outlets. Zelaya remained at the Brazilian Embassy surrounded by security forces on 29 September, as police officers blocked hundreds of his supporters at a Tegucigalpa University from marching to the embassy. Union leaders stated that they would protest on 30 September outside one of the radio stations that the government closed on 28 September. Meanwhile, under the emergency decree declared by the government on 27 September, authorities began evicting Zelaya supporters from government buildings in Tegucigalpa, which they have occupied since his 28 June ouster. Military personnel reportedly escorted approximately 10 Zelaya followers from the National Agrarian Institute on the morning of 30 September. A larger contingent of Zelaya supporters has been housed since July at the National Pedagogical University, and authorities may be moving to that location next in an effort to dislodge his followers.

Despite the continued crackdown, the crisis currently seems to be moving toward a political resolution. On 29 September Honduran business leaders, who have historically strongly opposed Zelaya, issued a statement supporting his reinstatement, albeit with strictly limited powers. Congress also chastised interim President Roberto Micheletti for the emergency decree that limited civil liberties and closed down several critical media outlets, threatening to revoke the decree if he does not. Such developments suggest that the Micheletti administration is under heavy pressure to initiate dialogue with Zelaya, both from international and domestic entities.

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September 18, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

On 18 September 2009 pro-government and opposition rallies were held in Tehran amid tight security during the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day events. More than 100,000 people gathered for rallies in anticipation of an address by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to his supporters at Tehran University. Many of the rally attendants chanted anti-Western slogans. According to reports, the anti-government protests were largely peaceful, as tens of thousands of reformist supporters donning the color green (which represents the opposition movement) staged marches.

ASI Comment: The rallies staged by the opposition were the first to occur in recent weeks but are not necessarily indicative of a revival of the widespread civil unrest campaign that occurred following the 12 June presidential election. The demonstrations do, however, highlight the fact that political tensions remain a very relevant issue in Iran, and that despite an ongoing crackdown by the government against opposition figures and their supporters, the latter remain willing to take to the streets to voice criticism against the new Ahmadinejad administration. In light of the 18 September incidents, security forces will likely remain heavily deployed around Tehran and possibly other major cities over the next several days so as to prevent any further rallies or gatherings from occurring. The opposition has not attempted to organize street demonstrations on a regular basis, but rather has exploited politically sensitive and/or important dates to gather, as was the case with the 18 September events.

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September 18, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

CHERRY POINT AIR STATION — It was a nightmare situation.

Four armed terrorists held 17 Marines hostage at a terminal at Cherry Point air station. Three were killed after the demands of the hostage takers were not met on time.

Fortunately for all involved, it was just a drill in case a real siege ever happens.

The anti-terrorism exercise Wednesday tested emergency and other air station personnel in how to react to such a scenario.

“The safety of our personnel and our Marines is key,” said Cpl. Lisa Strickland, a spokeswoman at Cherry Point. “It’s important for all our teams to be spun up on how to react to it.”

In one of the terror scenarios, a group of eco-terrorists raids a terminal taking more than a dozen Marines. They make telephone contact with station police, making unreasonable demands.

They want the base closed, for all aircraft to be dismantled, $2 million Euros, a transport aircraft for their escape and eight parachutes.

And they want it all in 30 minutes or they will start killing.

A tactical team from the provost marshal’s office won’t have any of it and plans a raid on the terminal from an out-of-sight staging area.

The siege drags on as the gunmen, armed with pistols and automatic weapons, grow impatient. Time is up. They kill a hostage. Then another.

By the third death, the raid is on.

Members of the air station’s Security Reaction Team bust through the doors in full riot gear, wearing gasmasks and firing tear gas into the large room.

Each one has automatic weapons drawn, and they take down the masked gunmen without a fight.

One terrorist resists, firing shots from a corner behind lockers. Team members return fire and kill the terrorist.

About 50 people participated in the drill, including about 25 from military police, fire and rescue, and explosive ordnance disposal. Another 25 were in the base’s Emergency Operations Center.

“It is a huge number of people that take something like this on,” said Mike Barton, deputy director of public affairs at Cherry Point.

He said personnel involved in such a scenario would include a command representative who would be in contact with the base commanding officer, the base’s Joint Law Center, various communications and operations personnel and the public affairs office.

Barton said Marines are constantly training for all types of situations, and the terrorism drill was just another example.

“Essentially, our mission in life when we are not doing real-world operations is to train for real-world operations,” he said. “Exercises like this help us prepare for possible events that we could face in the future, and they help us find out what we can do better.”

http://www.newbernsj.com/news/terrorism-48003-helps-air.html

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September 17, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

President Barack Obama on Thursday overhauled plans for a missile defense shield in eastern Europe, promising instead stronger, swifter defense systems to protect U.S. allies against any threat from Iran.

In a move that may ease tensions with Moscow but spur regional fears of resurgent Kremlin influence, Obama said he had approved recommendations from U.S. military leaders to shift focus to defending against Iran’s short and medium-term missile capabilities.

“This new approach will provide capabilities sooner, build on proven systems and offer greater defenses against the threat of missile attack,” Obama said in a brief statement on scrapping plans for ground-based interceptors in Poland and a related radar site in the Czech Republic.

Moscow said it would welcome the decision to drop the program, which had complicated U.S. efforts to enlist Russian support over Afghanistan, Iran and nuclear arms control.

But critics accused the White House of going soft on defense by dropping the project, which had raised hopes of huge contracts among U.S. defense giants.

Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate who lost to Obama in 2008, blasted the move as “seriously misguided” and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, once a leading hawk under the Bush administration, was scathing.

“It’s just unambiguously bad decision,” he said. “Russia and Iran are the big winners. I just think it’s a bad day for American national security.”

The Bush administration had proposed the system amid concerns Iran was trying to develop nuclear warheads it could mount on long-range missiles.

The shield was intended to defend against any long-range missile launches from “rogue” states such as Iran and North Korea. Russia saw it as a threat to its missile defenses and its overall security.

Outlining the new approach, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday the United States would deploy Aegis ships equipped with interceptors to defend European allies and U.S. forces against any threats.

Gates said land-based defense systems would be fielded in a second phase starting in about 2015.

“We have now the opportunity to deploy new sensors and interceptors in northern and southern Europe that near term can provide missile defense coverage against more immediate threats from Iran or others,” he said.

Shares of U.S. companies involved in missile defense, including Boeing Co, Lockheed Martin Corp, Northrop Grumman Corp and Raytheon Co, were little changed in early trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The decision had been widely anticipated, with the contractors likely to benefit from the administration’s revised missile-defense plans.

EASTERN EUROPEAN FEARS

It was unclear, however, if the renewed promises of U.S. support would ease fears in Eastern Europe states, many of which had seen the large-scale missile plan as a symbol of U.S. commitment to the defense against any encroachment by its former Soviet rulers 20 years after the end of communist rule.

Obama informed the Czech and Polish governments of his decision just hours before the announcement, officials said.

Some European analysts said the U.S. move could help the traditionally pro-American region to build a more pragmatic relationship with both Washington and Moscow.

“I think we have to approach this decision with calm. The U.S. president has changed and so has U.S. foreign policy. I don’t think the enemy is just outside our gate,” said Iwona Jakubowska-Branicka of Warsaw University.

Pentagon officials said the decision to move away from the shield was based on intelligence indicating Iran is focused on developing short- and medium-range missiles rather than the long-range intercontinental missiles originally feared.

The decision comes as Obama administration seeks to “reset” battered ties with Russia so that the two former Cold War foes can cooperate on Iran, on fighting Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan and on cutting their nuclear arsenals.

Washington has won permission to move trains carrying supplies for U.S. forces across Russia via Central Asia to Afghanistan, avoiding routes through Pakistan that had come under frequent attack from the Taliban.

Diplomats in Moscow say Russian hardliners could read the move as a sign of U.S. weakness and then press for further gains to shore up Russian power in the former Soviet bloc, where Russia already engaged in a brief war with Georgia last year and periodic clashes with Ukraine over gas supplies.

Ignoring U.S. assurances that the system was not targeted at Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev threatened last year to station missiles in a Russian enclave near Poland if the United States implemented the plan.

Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said Washington would now await Moscow’s response.

“The Russians should return the gesture. It is time for Russia to join our push to impose stricter sanctions on Iran in order to halt its nuclear weapons program,” he said in a statement.

A senior Iranian government source said the move could signal a move away from what he called ‘threats and confrontation’ over Iran’s nuclear program.

“There could be two reasons behind such a decision; either the U.S. has reached the conclusion that Iran is not a threat, or the Russians may have convinced the Americans that there is no need for such a defense shield.”

 http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/eu_eastern_europe_missile_defense/2009/09/17/261167.html?s=al&promo_code=8938-1

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September 15, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

A Belgian arms dealer who allegedly tried to smuggle fighter-jet engines and parts from the United States to Iran has been indicted, U.S. officials announced days after he was arrested in New York City after stepping off a flight from France. Jacques Monsieur, 56, was charged Aug. 27 by a federal grand jury with six counts of conspiracy, smuggling, money laundering, and violating weapons-trafficking laws and export controls related to a U.S. trade embargo on Iran.

Co-defendant Dara Fotouhi, 54, an Iranian national who lives in France and allegedly works with the government of Iran, is still at large, the Justice Department said in a statement. The case is the latest U.S. effort to counter what authorities describe as Tehran’s pursuit of banned weaponry. It comes as the United States and other countries renew efforts to pressure Iran to scale back its nuclear ambitions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/02/AR2009090203859.html?hpid=sec-nation

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September 15, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

Starting Sept. 8, federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to use a federal verification program to check whether their employees are eligible to legally work in the United States. The program, known as E-Verify or Basic Pilot, has been controversial because of errors in the databases that it relies on.

It’s a free, Internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security in partnership with the Social Security Administration that uses information from the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9). It’s meant to screen current employees, not potential hires. For the past five years, the program has been offered on a voluntary basis. Nationwide, about 144,000 companies at more than half a million worksites use E-Verify.

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/09/everify_becomes_mandatory_empl.html

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September 15, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

Iran increasingly is obtaining U.S. military equipment and technology through shipments to Malaysian middlemen that illegally circumvent trade restrictions, according to American officials and analysts.

The U.S. has charged, convicted or sentenced defendants in at least six cases involving Malaysia since August 2008. The shipments have included parts for bombers and items sent to firms linked to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program, according to court papers. More Malaysia shipments are under investigation, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aK4daf8MD.Bw

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September 11, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

Results of one of many Muslim invasions

Here is what Denmark is doing to correct the problem that crept up on them in
all of their goodness…..

A must read for Americans & Canadians, our politicians need a wake-up call.

By Susan MacAllen

In 1978-9 I was living and studying in Denmark .

But in 1978 - even in Copenhagen , one didn’t see Muslim immigrants. The Danish
population embraced visitors, celebrated the exotic, went out of its way to
protect each of its citizens. It was proud of its new brand of socialist
liberalism - one in development since the conservatives had lost power in 1929 -
a system where no worker had to struggle to survive, where one ultimately could
count upon the state as in, perhaps, no other western nation at the time.

The rest of Europe saw the Scandinavians as free-thinking, progressive and
infinitely generous in their welfare policies. Denmark boasted low crime rates,
devotion to the environment, a superior educational system and a history of
humanitarianism.

Denmark was also most generous in its immigration policies - it offered the best
welcome in Europe to the new immigrant: generous welfare payments from first
arrival plus additional perks in transportation, housing and education.. It was
determined to set a world example for inclusiveness and multiculturalism. How
could it have predicted that one day in 2005 a series of political cartoons in a
newspaper would spark violence that would leave dozens dead in the streets - all
because its commitment to multiculturalism would come back to bite?

By the 1990’s the growing urban Muslim population was obvious - and its
unwillingness to integrate into Danish society was obvious. Years of immigrants
had settled into Muslim-exclusive enclaves. As the Muslim leadership became more
vocal about what they considered the decadence of Denmark ’s liberal way of
life, the Danes - once so welcoming - began to feel slighted. Many Danes had
begun to see Islam as incompatible with their long-standing values: belief in
personal liberty and free speech, in equality for women, in tolerance for other
ethnic groups, and a deep pride in Danish heritage and history.

The New York Post in 2002 ran an article by Daniel Pipes and Lars Hedegaard, in
which they for ecasted accurately that the growing immigrant problem in Denmark
would explode. In the article they reported:

“Muslim immigrants constitute 5 percent of the population but consume upwards of
40 percent of the welfare spending.”

“Muslims are only 4 percent of Denmark’s 5.4 million people but make up a
majority of the country’s convi cted rapists, an especially combustible issue
given that practically all the female victims are non-Muslim. Similar, if
lesser, disproportions are found in other crimes.”

“Over time, as Muslim immigrants increase in numbers, they wish less to mix with
the indigenous population. A recent survey finds that only 5 percent of young
Muslim immigrants would readily marry a Dane.”

“Forced marriages - promising a newborn daughter in Denmark to a male cousin in
the home country, then compelling her to marry him, sometimes on pain of death -
are one problem”

“Muslim leaders openly declare their goal of introducing Islamic law once
Denmark ’s Muslim population grows large enough - a not-that-remote prospect If
present trends persist, one sociologist estimates, every third inhabitant of
Denmark in 40 years will be Muslim.”

It is easy to understand why a growing number of Danes would feel that Muslim
immigrants show little respect for Danish values and laws. An example is the
phenomenon common to other European countries and the U.S. : some Muslims in
Denmark who opted to leave the Muslim faith have been murdered in the name of
Islam, while others hide in fear for their lives. Jews are also threatened and
harassed openly by Muslim leaders in Denmark, a country where once Christian
citizens worked to smuggle out nearly all of their 7,000 Jews by night to
Sweden - before the Nazis could invade. I think of my Danish friend Elsa - who
as a teenager had dreaded cros sing the street to the bakery every morning under
the eyes of occupying Nazi soldiers - and I wonder what she would say today.

In 2001, Denmark elected the most conservative government in some 70 years - one
that had some decidedly non-generous ideas about liberal unfettered immigration.
Today Denmark has the strictest immigration policies in Europe ( Its effort to
protect itself has been met with accusations of “racism” by liberal media across
Europe - even as other governments struggle to right the s ocial problems
wrought by years of too-lax immigration.)

If you wish to become Danish, you must attend three years of language classes.
You must pass a test on Denmark’s history, culture, and a Danish language test.
You must live in Denmark for 7 years before applying for citizenship. You must
demonstrate an intent to work, and have a job waiting. If you wish to bring a
spouse into Denmark , you must both be over 24 years of age, and you won’t find
it so easy anymore to move your friends and family to Denmark with you

You will not be allowed to build a mosque in Copenhagen . Although your children
have a choice of some 30 Arabic culture and language schools in Denmark , they
will be strongly encouraged to assimilate to Danish society in ways that past
immigrants weren’t. < /P>

In 2006, the Danish minister for employment, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, spoke
publicly of the burden of Muslim immigrants on the Danish welfare system, and it
was horrifying: the government’s welfare committee had calculated that if
immigration from Third World countries were blocked, 75 percent of the cuts
needed to sustain the huge welfare system in coming decades would be
unnecessary. In other words, the welfare system as it existed was being
exploited by immigrants to the point of eventually bankrupting the government
“We are simply forced to adopt a new policy on immigration. The calculations of
the welfare committee are terrifying and show how unsuccessful the integration
of immigrants has been up to now,” he said.

A large thorn in the side of Denmark ’s imams is the Minister of Immigration and
Integration, Rikke Hvilshoj. She makes no bones about the new policy toward
immigration, “The number of foreigners coming to the country makes a
difference,” Hvilshøj says, “There is an inverse correlation between how many
come here and how well we can receive the foreigners that come.” And on Muslim
immigrants needing to demonstrate a willingness to blend in, “In my view,
Denmark should be a country with room for different cultures and religions. Some
values, however, are more important than others. We refuse to question
democracy, equal rights, and freed om of speech.”

Hvilshoj has paid a price for her show of backbone. Perhaps to test her resolve,
the leading radical imam in Denmark, Ahmed Abdel Rahman Abu Laban, demanded that
the government pay blood money to the family of a Muslim who was murdered in a
suburb of Copenhagen, stating that the family’s thirst for revenge could be
thwarted for money. When Hvilshoj dismissed his demand, he argued that in Muslim
culture the payment of retribution money was common, to which Hvilshoj replied
that what is done in a Muslim country is not necessarily what is done in
Denmark. The Muslim reply came soon after: her house was torched while she, her
husband and children slept. All managed to escape unharmed, but she and her
family were moved to a secret location and she and other ministers were assigned
bodyguards for the first time - in a country where such murderous violence was
once so scarce.

Her government has slid to the right, and her borders have tightened. Many
believe that what happens in the next decade will determine whether Denmark
survives as a bastion of good living, humane thinking and social responsibility,
or whether it becomes a nation at civil war with supporters of Sharia law.

And meanwhile, Americans clamor for stricter immigration policies, and demand an
end to state welfare programs that allow many immigrants to live on the public
dole. As we in America look at the enclaves of Muslims amongst us, and see those
who enter our shores too easily, dare live on our taxes, yet refuse to embrace
our culture, respect our traditions, participate in our legal system, obey our
laws, speak our language, appreciate our history . we would do well to look to
Denmark, and say a prayer for her future and for our own.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/New-EFL/message/4704

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