January 12, 2010 by Tim McDowell.

Volume 2 Issue 12 December 2009

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December 4, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

As if there weren’t already enough evidence that Obama’s war “leadership” is insane… On Sept. 3 in Iraq, three of our elite SEALs captured Ahmed Hashim Abed, a high value target whom the military had code-named “Objective Amber.” Abed was responsible for murdering four Blackwater employees in March 2004 and hanging their charred bodies from a bridge over the Euphrates River near Fallujah for the entire world to see. Clearly, Abed was someone the U.S. wanted, and our SEALs expertly and professionally captured him this past September. Time for saluting our heroes and giving them commendations, right?

Fat chance, because somehow Abed got a fat lip, or possibly a punch in the stomach, by one of our SEALs — or so he says. Standard jihadi operating procedure, after all, is to claim abuse at the first opportunity. And in today’s upside-down, PC military, such “extensive abuse” of a prisoner means that our three SEAL heroes will, unbelievably, be facing courts martial for possibly injuring a wanted terrorist while capturing him.

The three heroes, Petty Officers Matthew McCabe, Jonathan Keefe and Julio Huertas, could have chosen an administrative hearing, leaving them with no possibility of jail time or dishonorable discharges, but tarnishing their reputations forever. Instead, like the men they are and knowing they are in the right, they chose a court martial, which could (and should) exonerate them completely, though, if convicted, it could also land them behind bars and end their military careers.

Leaving aside the question of how, or even whether, Abed was hurt, does a sane country prosecute its own soldiers for fighting and capturing the enemy? Why are these young heroes standing trial for bringing an enemy suspect in alive? Where is the outrage?

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October 8, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

The state of Colorado, its fusion center, and the Denver-based nonprofit Center for Empowered Living and Learning (CELL) have co-produced a video exploring suspicious activities that may indicate terrorist planning,” reports Security Management . The eight-minute video, Recognizing 8 Signs of Terrorism , “lists the eight signs of terrorism experts agree on”:

1. Surveillance
2. Elicitation (or trying to get information out of people close to a target)
3. Tests of security
4. Funding
5. Acquiring supplies
6. Impersonation (of company employees or government personnel such as mail carriers)
7. Rehearsal
8. Deployment

http://securitymanagement.com/news/colorado-releases-video-describing-8-signs-terrorism-006297

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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 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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