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2/27/10

Taliban style government in Iran


The current civil uprising in Iran reflects not just a protest against a rigged election. Nor is it primarily a symptom of contentions for power or clashes between opposing perspectives on the nature of the Islamic regime. It is, rather, resistance against a political coup, whose engineers plan to impose a Taliban-style Islamic government on Iran. The coup has been organized by an alliance between the supreme leader and the most militant and fundamentalist faction within the ruling establishment, backed by the Revolutionary Guard.

The political attitudes of one of its most notorious ideologues, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, demonstrate the danger Iranians and the world would be facing should this militant faction get its way. Mesbah Yazdi does not believe in the republican aspects of the Islamic regime, but rather views Islamic law as supreme and must be unquestionably followed. The supreme leader, he says, is not elected but rather discovered by the clerics. For him, Ayatollah Khamenei is the exemplar of such a leader. He has characterized the ideas of representative government and legislative functions as belong to the decadent system of Western liberalism. He has likened reformist ideas to the AIDS virus. He has publically endorsed the construction of a nuclear bomb.

These ideas have much appeal for Ahmadinejad, who claims that the past governments were corrupt and deviated from the Islamic path.


The outcome of the current civil uprising is certainly consequential for the development of democracy in Iran. It has also far reaching implications for regional stability, international peace efforts, and the security of the United States. At this point, the regime cannot secure its rule without unleashing a reign of terror. And if this coup succeeds, the regime will forge ahead with its expressed plans for nuclear development and support for religious extremism abroad.

It would be a mistake to think that people like Ahmadinejad are reasonable. It is counter productive to base policy on the untenable premise that he would be amenable to a cost-benefit analysis on the nuclear issue. Time and again he has announced that the nuclear issue is off the table. To believe or hope otherwise would be a profound and resonant error. 
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Israel in Africa


For the second week running I will focus on the implications of the Israeli foreign minister's recent African tour. After visiting several countries in Central Asia and Latin America, Avigdor Lieberman went to Africa, where he visited five carefully selected African nations. The man who, because of his well-known racist views, has failed to persuade any Arab or Western nation to receive him found African doors open. The tour has scantly been reported in the media, apart from a few leaks. But from what we know, it is safe to assume that the Israeli government is trying to outflank us in Africa.


Most African countries have been off bounds to the Israelis since 1973, when 54 African nations severed ties with Israel in solidarity with Arab countries. This gives an added significance to Lieberman's tour, occurring at a time when the Arabs have given up their policy of boycotting Israel. Lured by the mirage of a lasting peace, one Arab country after another has normalised its ties with Israel, Egypt being the first to do so. Egypt, I will argue, is also the primary target of Lieberman's African schemes.
Few would deny that Israel is envious of Egypt's status and prestige. When Lieberman called for bombing the High Dam and flooding Egypt, his remarks were undoubtedly motivated by envy. To this moment, the Israeli foreign minister hasn't apologised for his remarks, and Egypt is acting as if the whole thing didn't matter much. But now Lieberman is taking steps not to flood Egypt this time, but to dry it up.
Africa was the third stop for Lieberman after Central Asia and Latin America. This leads one to surmise that the Israeli foreign minister wants to get as many nations as possible on his side and thus change the dynamic at the UN. Lieberman said that the visit is of great importance in bolstering the status of Israel in the international community and promoting commercial ties with Africa.
Some experts believe that Israel is hoping to put together an anti-Arab alliance. According to a Western diplomat based in Nairobi, Israel wants to forge closer ties with the countries situated beyond the boundaries of the Arab world. Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, India, Turkey, and Central Asia are primary targets.
In Africa, Israel seems to be intent not on making new friends as much as on consolidating ties with old friends. In his recent tour, Lieberman visited Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and Ghana. The first three countries control the sources of the Nile. Ethiopia has been Israel's best friend in Africa for sometime. Kenya is widely thought to be the centre of Mossad activities in Africa. Actually, some Kenyan churches are staunch supporters of Zionist Christianity. The Kenyans have had remarkably close ties with Israel. And Uganda is believed to be the springboard for Israel's secret wars in Africa. Experts say that Israeli weapons reach African insurgent movements usually through Uganda.
The delegation accompanying Lieberman included prominent businessmen specialised in energy projects, agriculture, transportation, infrastructure, communications and security. Senior officials from the foreign, finance, and internal security ministries were also among Lieberman's entourage.
The visit could be seen as an answer to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's trip to Africa in February. The Israelis are said to have been shocked by the Iranian president's tour, especially his visit to Nairobi. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Lieberman was scheduled to discuss the Iranian question during his tour. Iran has numerous projects and invests considerable funds in more than one African country. Israel is worried that the Iranians may find someone to sell them uranium in Africa.
There is also the chance that Lieberman's tour was Israel's way of telling the US that Israel can be of help in African affairs. Washington has been facing increased Chinese and European competition in Africa of late.
As the world's second largest manufacturer of diamonds, Israel imports raw diamonds from Africa. Israel also wants to import oil from African countries, including Nigeria. International Zionist financial firms may also be interested in the money laundering business believed to be rife in Africa. The fact that major oil companies, such as Chevron and BP, operate in Africa makes the continent particularly alluring to the Israelis.
Moreover, Israel is always on the lookout for markets for its light and medium calibre weapons. It is known to supply African militia with such arms. Retired Israeli officers routinely work as trainers for African militia, and they often send militia leaders to Israel to receive instruction and learn the ways of promoting Israeli interests on the continent in return.
Israel's ultimate goal in Africa, however, is to conspire against Egypt. Even before Lieberman threatened to bomb the High Dam and drown Egypt, Israeli diplomats have been trying to cut off the water supplies to Egypt from upstream countries. Israel has invested heavily in African water projects, and not just for financial gain. Its main purpose is to strangulate both Egypt and Sudan.
For decades, Israel has been trying to gain a foothold on the central lakes and the Nile sources -- its aim being to distract Egypt with problems on its southern front.
Egypt has recently asked for an increase of its quota of Nile water. This has led to differences with three of the upstream countries. Among the five countries that Lieberman visited are three that control Nile waters. Ethiopia controls Lake Tana, from which the Blue Nile flows. Kenya and Uganda control Lake Victoria, which provides the White Nile with water.
Two rounds of talks concerning the Nile waters were held in summer, the first in Kinshasa in June and the second in Alexandria in July. The meetings produced no agreement, and the participants agreed to hold further consultations in six months, during which littoral countries are supposed to maintain the status quo.
Still, Lieberman has concluded several agreements through which Israel would finance and implement projects ranging from water reservoirs to diversions of some of the tributaries of the Nile. When negotiations among the Nile basin countries resume in four months or so it will be hard for Egypt and Sudan to ask African nations to reverse the steps they would have taken. It is said that Israel has promised to build massive reservoirs at both Lake Tana and Lake Victoria.
Sudan is Israel's second target in Africa. Israel has accused Sudan of supporting the Palestinian resistance and providing it with weapons. According to a report published in Haaretz on 27 March 2009, Israeli planes raided vehicles loaded with Iranian weapons in eastern Sudan. The paper claimed that the weapons were bound for Gaza. The attack was conducted in January, but it was kept a secret because of a certain mishap. Instead of striking arms smugglers, the planes attacked a caravan of 1,000 civilians who were smuggling regular goods on the Sudanese- Egyptian borders. The Israeli planes killed 119 people, including 56 smugglers and 63 refugees from Ethiopia and Somalia who were trying to get across the border.
According to Muammar Gaddafi, Israel is behind much of the violence presently taking place in Africa. Addressing an extraordinary session of the African Union, Gaddafi said that the crises in Darfur and Southern Sudan would have petered out but for the interference of foreign powers. One of the factions fighting in Darfur has offices in Tel Aviv, the Libyan leader remarked.
Unfortunately, Egypt is doing little to confront Israel's tactics. Egypt has neglected Africa for years, according to Samir Radwan, member of the Higher Policies Council at the National Democratic Party. In an interview with Al-Masry Al-Yom, published on 6 September 2009, Radwan deplores Egypt's approach to the Nile basin countries.
"Egypt has neglected Africa and thus imperilled its quota of water coming from the south," Radwan says. He adds that Israel has stepped in and led Africans to believe that Egypt was getting more water than it deserved. Radwan says that Egypt should forge closer ties with all Nile Basin countries, not just Sudan.
The Arab world is not making much headway in Africa either. With the exception of the financing of mosques and the distribution of religious publications, the Arabs and Muslims are not doing much. Israel, meanwhile, is getting involved in economic life in Africa. According to one analyst, "the number of Muslims who can recite the whole Quran is rising in Africa, but people still need help with their day-to-day life."
To sum up, Israel could not care less for African welfare. But it will use the Africans to stab Egypt, and Sudan, in the back.
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Hossein Mousavi challenged the government


Hijacked the concept of Iranianism and nationalism," Mousavi said 


Iran's opposition leader said Saturday that a dictatorial "cult" was ruling Iran in the name of Islam - his strongest attack to date on the country's clerical leadership.
Mir Hossein Mousavi also challenged the government to let his supporters take to the streets freely, saying that would allow it to gauge the opposition's true strength. Two days ago, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, charged that Iran's the opposition had lost its credibility and its right to participate in politics by not accepting the results of June presidential elections



"This is the rule of a cult that has hijacked the concept of Iranianism and nationalism," Mousavi said in an interview published on his website. "Our people can't tolerate that [dictatorial] behaviours are promoted in the name of religion." The opposition alleges President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the vote through massive fraud and that Mousavi was the rightful winner. A massive wave of protests provoked a bloody government crackdown, in which more than 80 demonstrators were killed and hundreds of rights activists, journalists and pro-reform politicians were rounded up.
The government puts the number of confirmed death at 30. It has accused opposition leaders of being "stooges of the West" and seeking to topple the ruling system through street protests.
Meanwhile, it has put more than 100 people on a mass trial that began in August. Eleven people have been sentenced to death, and more than 80 others have been handed prison terms ranging from six months to 15 years.
Mousavi himself is free, in Tehran.
Iran's rulers point to several recent pro-goverment rallies as an indication that the opposition has lost popular backing.
But Mousavi accused the state of abusing in people to inflate the crowds at a February 11 rally marking the anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. And he asked the government to let opposition supporters to take to the streets without being attacked or killed by security forces.
"Allow the Green Movement to invite people to a rally," Mousavi said. "How people respond will put an end to all speculation" about its strength, he added
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On the northern edge of the former Taliban



Marines and Afghan troops who fought through the centre of Marjah linked up Saturday with American soldiers on the northern edge of the former Taliban stronghold, clearing the town's last major pocket of resistance.
The joint force encountered almost no hostile fire, indicating that the militants have either fled or blended in with the local population - perhaps to stage attacks later if the Afghan government fails to hold the town. Some Taliban operatives are believed to remain west of Marjah



Establishing a credible local government is a key component of NATO's strategy for the two-week-old offensive on the Taliban's longtime logistical hub and heroin-smuggling centre. Earlier in the week, the government installed a new town administrator, and several hundred Afghan police have begun to patrol the newly cleared areas of the town in the southern province of Helmand.
After a gruelling four-day march, Marines and Afghan troops succeeded Saturday in linking up with a US Army Stryker battalion on Marjah's northern outskirts.
"Basically, you can say that Marjah has been cleared," said Capt. Joshua Winfrey, commander of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines Regiment.
As helicopters and unmanned drones circled overhead, NATO troops saw little resistance except from homemade explosives buried in the ground.
Kabul attacks
Afghan President Hamid Karzai called India's prime minister on Saturday to express regret over the deaths of at least six Indians in a Taliban suicide attack in Kabul, as New Delhi sent an air force jet to repatriate the bodies.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveyed India's "outrage" over Friday's assault that killed at least 16 people in all, and requested Karzai "ensure full security for Indian nationals in Afghanistan", a statement from Singh's office said.
It said Karzai promised a full investigation into the attack, which targeted an area of residential hotels in the Afghan capital rented by Indian embassy workers and other foreigners. An Italian diplomat and a French filmmaker also died.
It follows attacks on India's embassy in Kabul in July 2008 and October 2009.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for Friday's attack. He did not specifically name India as the target, but the Islamist has long opposed India's involvement in the country and its ties to the Northern Alliance that helped the US oust the Taliban regime in 2001.
"This attack specifically targeted Indian cooperation experts and workers, those who are serving the Afghan people and earning goodwill for India," Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Jayant Prasad said. "It's clearly the handiwork of those who oppose our presence in Afghanistan." He said India sent an air force jet Saturday to repatriate the bodies of the dead Indians.
Prasad refused to point the finger specifically at archrival Pakistan or say whether it would damage Pakistan-India talks which resumed Thursday after a 15-month hiatus.
India accused a Pakistani spy agency of involvement in the July 2008 embassy attack, and Pakistani militants waged the November 2008 attacks in India's financial hub, Mumbai, that had prompted India to pull out of the peace dialogue.
"That's too much to speculate," Prasad said of the possibility that Friday's attack could derail talks. "It depends on where the precise provenance of the attack is.
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What is sure right now is that Dubai police have good camcorder


But what else they can do?


Most of the 26 people so far linked to the murder of a top Hamas commander are to be found in Israel, Agence France-Presse cited Dubai police chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan as charging in comments published on Saturday.
Khalfan also again pointed the finger at Meir Dagan, the head of Israel’s secret service Mossad which is widely suspected of carrying out the Cold War-style hit on Mahmoud Mabhuh in his Dubai hotel room on January 20



Dubai police have published details of 26 suspects together with passport photographs and said on Friday they have DNA proof of the identity at least one of the killers.
“What is sure right now is that the majority of the murderers whose names have been announced... are to be found in Israel,” Khalfan said in comments published in Arabic-language Al Khaleej daily.
“Dagan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will head the list [of an international arrest warrant] if it is proven that Mossad is behind the murder,” the police chief said.
Khalfan was quoted in the government daily Emarat Al Yom as calling on the Mossad chief to come clean.
“Meir Dagan, the boss, should admit the crime... or present a categorical denial that his service is implicated,” he said.
“But his current attitude shows he is afraid. Let him be a man, and tell the truth.”
Israel has sought to play down the row, saying there is no evidence of its involvement. It has rejected the calls for Dagan’s arrest as “baseless” and “absurd”.
The murder of Mabhuh, regarded by Israel as a key link in a weapons smuggling chain into the Gaza Strip that is controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas, has mounted international pressure on Israel.
Twelve British, six Irish, four French, one German and three Australian passports were used by the suspects, according to Dubai police.
Khalfan said police had succeeded in identifying the suspects although some had worn wigs during the operation. The suspects were identified by footage from closed circuit televisions, which abound in security-conscious Dubai.
The revelation of stolen identities being used by suspected Israeli agents has caused a diplomatic outcry, with Australia threatening it would “not be silent on the matter”.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Saturday his centre-left government had an “absolutely hard line” on defending the integrity of its passport system and took seriously allegations that suspected Mossad assassins had stolen Australian identities.
“That is why the foreign minister has called in the Israeli ambassador and asked for an explanation,” Rudd told reporters.
“Thus far we are not satisfied with that explanation.”
Canberra summoned ambassador Yuval Rotem on Thursday and warned that friendly ties were at risk if Israel was found to have sponsored or condoned the tampering of three Australian passports, linked to the killing of Mabhuh.
The Israel-based Australians caught in the passport scandal - Joshua Daniel Bruce, Nicole Sandra McCabe and Adam Korman - were among 15 named in connection with the killing of Mabhuh.
The real McCabe, a 27-year-old mother to be who has lived in Israel for two and a half years, said she first learned of her passport’s link to the crime from a radio news bulletin.
“I have no idea how they got hold of my passport. Obviously it’s not my photo,” she told the Daily Telegraph newspaper. “I don’t know any of these people, I don’t know the other Australians.”
“I’m terrified, I haven’t slept and I’m shaky. I’m worried for my health and I’m worried for my baby’s health,” she added.
Israeli ambassadors in four European countries have been summoned for talks and the European Union has also voiced outrage over the use of fake passports after an earlier list of 11 people was released.
The British embassy in Israel said an investigator was flown in this week to interview 10 dual Israeli-British citizens whose British passports may have been used in Mabhuh’s assassination, Reuters reported from Jerusalem.
At least six Britons with the same names as members of the alleged hit team live in Israel and say their identities were stolen.
The investigator will speak to the individuals when they come to the embassy to collect new passports, an embassy spokesman told Reuters. He provided no further details about the British probe.
Israel has officially remained silent on the January 20 assassination, though its foreign minister said there was nothing to link it to the killing.
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Qatar Facilities for usa


The State of Qatar is situated halfway along the west coast of the Persian Gulf, on the eastern side of the Arabian peninsula. The present population is estimated at 600,000 inhabitants most of whom reside in Doha, the capital city. It is a Peninsula that extends northward covering an area of 11,437 sq. km. as well as a number of islands in the coastal waters of the peninsula. The terrain is generally flat. However, there are some hills and sand dunes which reach an altitude of 40 metres above sea level in the areas of Dukhan and Jebel Fuwairit in the western and northern parts of the country and Khor Al-Udeid in the south.


The capital, Doha, is located on the central east coast on a sweeping (if shallow) harbor. Other ports include Umm Said, Al Khawr, and Al Wakrah. Only Doha and Umm Said are capable of handling commercial shipping, although a large port and a terminal for loading natural gas are planned at Ras Laffan, north of Al Khawr. Coral reefs and shallow coastal waters make navigation difficult in areas where channels have not been dredged.
Undoubtedly one of the most scenic of places to visit in Qatar is Khor Al Udeid - or the inland sea which penetrates the country in the southeast. Khor means inlet in Arabic. Here the sea surges in a wide channel dividing Qatar from Saudi Arabia and then curves to create a vast, shallow tidal lake. The Khor Al Udeid is not, despite its name, a real landlocked sea, but is a long, narrow channel of the Gulf on the borders of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. A huge tidal lake is formed at the inlet between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It is a surreal place, with white sand dunes on one side of the inlet facing the pink cliffs of Saudi Arabia on the other. It is long way off the beaten path and you will need either a boat or a four - wheel drive to get there. The government is particularly keen to preserve the beauty of Khor Al Udeid, and it has been agreed that no construction is to take place in the region. As a result, the area is pristine, and attracts wildlife, such as the migratory birds which gather there in abundance. The area is vast and affords plenty of opportunity to drive over both sabkha, or salt flats, and an astounding variety of sand dunes of all shapes and sizes. The area contains many magnificent, unspoiled beaches and is perfect both for day trips and for overnight (or longer) camping trips.
Bilateral relations are cordial and expanding. The U.S. embassy was opened in March 1973. The first resident U.S. ambassador arrived in July 1974. Ties between the U.S. and Qatar are excellent and marked by frequent senior-level consultations in Doha and Washington. Qatar and the United States coordinate closely on regional diplomatic initiative, cooperate to increase security in the Gulf, and enjoy extensive economic links, especially in the hydrocarbons sector. Qatar sees the development of a world-class educational system as key to its continued success. As a result, hundreds of Qataris study in the United States. Cornell University plans to establish a degree granting medical campus in Doha, and the State of Qatar is in talks with leading U.S. universities to also establish engineering, business, and other faculties there.
USAF Prepositioned War Reserve Materiel (WRM) provides support to bare base systems, medical, munitions, fuels mobility support equipment, vehicles, rations, aerospace ground equipment, air base operability equipment, and associated spares and other consumables at designated locations. Responsible for asset receipt, accountability, serviceability, storage, security, periodic inspection and test, maintenance, repair, outload, and reconstitution of prepositioned WRM. Current WRM operating locations include Seeb, Thumrait, Masirah, Oman; Al Udeid, Qatar; and Manama, Bahrain. United States Central Command Air Forces (USCENTAF), the designated air component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), uses prepositioned war reserve materiel (WRM) to support apportioned combat forces deployed to Southwest Asia (SWA). Prepositioning is a force multiplier for providing bare base systems; medical; munitions; Tanks, Racks, Adapters, and Pylons (TRAP); Fuels Mobility Support Equipment (FMSE); vehicles; rations; Aerospace Ground Equipment (AGE); Air Base Operability (ABO) equipment; and associated spares and other consumables at designated operating locations. Prepositioning also mitigates transportation requirements and time/distance realities involved in moving like assets from the continental United States (CONUS) to SWA. The Contractor is responsible for asset receipt, accountability, serviceability, storage, security, periodic inspection and test, maintenance, repair, outload, and reconstitution of prepositioned WRM in the USCENTAF Area of Responsibility (AOR).
Services under the War Reserve Materiel (WRM) contract are performed by DynCorp Technical Services at Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) bases at Masirah, Thumrait, and Seeb; Al Udeid, Qatar; Manama, Bahrain; and Shaw AFB, SC. DynCorp provides support to bare base systems, medical, munitions, fuels mobility support equipment, vehicles, rations, aerospace ground equipment, air base operability equipment, and associated spares and other consumables at designated locations. Responsible for asset receipt, accountability, serviceability, storage, security, periodic inspection and test, maintenance, repair, outload, and reconstitution of prepositioned WRM. This is a one year contract with an option to renew the contract. Total length of contract is seven years.
Services include maintaining war reserve materiel (WRM) stored in the Sultanate of Oman, State of Bahrain, and State of Qatar. In Oman, contract performance is on Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) government installations, and all access to the installations is controlled by the RAFO Security. In Bahrain, performance is in an area controlled by US Navy and Bahrain Port Authority. In Qatar, the Host Nation controls access to the work site.
War reserve materiel includes medical and munitions, warehousing of rations, and various other supplies. The contractor shall be responsible for performing all or any specifically designated portions of the functions accomplished under this contract during any wartime operations. Wartime operations are those actions, including contingency planning, which would be required to support current or any future United States Air Force wartime requirement. Emergency situations (i.e., accident and rescue operations, civil disturbances, natural disasters and military peacetime contingency operations and exercises) may necessitate the Contractor provide increased or reduced support as indicated below when required by Contracting Officer. Military contingency operations may necessitate military personnel assistance be provided to the Contractor. Should this occur, the Contractor will be relieved of responsibilities and accountability for the phase of the contract taken over by the military. Optional WRM sites may be exercised at any time during the performance of this contract. In the event the Government adds a new site to the contract, both parties to this contract hereby agree to negotiate in good faith the applicable price necessary to account for the change.
As of October 2000 there were fewer than 50 US troops in Qatar, who manage a large stock of prepositioned Army war-fighting equipment.
Qatar is a country on the southwestern side of the Arabian Gulf. And what many military personnel don't know is that there are soldiers stationed there. Soldiers in Qatar get the best of both worlds. On the installation, Camp As Sayliyah, the soldiers have many of the same amenities that Camp Doha soldiers have. Meanwhile, in Doha, the main city off post, soldiers can do all of the same things that are available in Kuwait City, plus more, with a little less crowding.
Known as the "Pearl of the Gulf," Qatar mixes classic architecture with modern structures. The roads in downtown Doha are all lined with parks and fountains where natives and guests stop to catch their breath or enjoy a picnic. Al Corniche Street runs along the coast from one end of the city to the other. All along Al Corniche are mosaics, tall office buildings, and women in abayas. At night, after the sun has set Doha really comes to life. Some of the fountains get crowded with barefoot children cooling off under their parent's watchful eye. Gaggles of young men face off in soccer matches on the plush grass.
Some other places that soldiers like to frequent are the Souqs. Souqs are markets that are open late into the night. Vendors sell things like food, clothes, jewelry and carpets, as well as home furnishings. They will barter with shoppers to find an agreeable price. As in America, the malls are also a popular place to hang out. One mall features five floors that wrap around an ice skating rink. From the upper levels, shoppers look down on the ice, watching the skaters as they glide across the surface.
Qatar is a peninsula, 11437 sq. km in area, that projects from the Arabian mainland. It is approximately 160 km in length and 80 km in width at its widest point. Overall, the country is very flat, rising to only 110 m at its highest point, and the land mass largely consists of scrubby desert terrain, covered in sand and loose gravel. The country is largely formed of limestone deposits and clays, laid down in various geologically defined areas. A broad North-South arch dominates the structure of the land, with the Dukhan anticline to the west, while the coastal areas are mostly characterized by salt flats, with an area of high sand dunes in the southeast. Lying in the path of strong prevailing south-easterly winds, the peninsulas owes many of its features to wind erosion, in addition to significant fluctuations in the level of the sea-bed. The latter is responsible for the fact that Qatar is now separated from Bahrain and from the small islands that surround the peninsula, all of which, at one time, formed a complete land mass. There are several small islands dotted around the coastline of Qatar. The most significant of these are Halal, located 90 km off the east coast and used as an oil processing, storage and export terminal, and the Hawar Islands to the west, which are currently the subject of an ownership dispute between Qatar and Bahrain. The resolution of this conflict is in the hands of the International Court of Justice.

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Iran's nuclear program

Iran's nuclear program began in the Shah's era, including a plan to build 20 nuclear power reactors. Two power reactors in Bushehr, on the coast of the Persian Gulf, were started but remained unfinished when they were bombed and damaged by the Iraqis during the Iran-Iraq war. Following the revolution in 1979, all nuclear activity was suspended, though subsequently work was resumed on a somewhat more modest scale. Current plans extend to the construction of 15 power reactors and two research reactors.


Research and development efforts also were conducted by the Shah's regime on fissile material production, although these efforts were halted during the Iranian revolution and the Iran-Iraq war.
The current nuclear program is headed by the President, the commander of the Iranian Revulutionary Gaurd Corps (IRGC), the head of the Defense Industries Organization, and the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO). These leaders continue the pursuit of WMD's and support Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear programs against all pressures from the United States and its allies.
Iran ratified the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1970, and since February 1992 has allowed the IAEA to inspect any of its nuclear facilities. Prior to 2003 no IAEA inspections had revealed Tehran's violations of the NPT.
Since the end of the Iran-Iraq War, Tehran redoubled its efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missiles. In addition to Iran's legitimate efforts to develop its nuclear power-generation industry, it is believed to be operating a parallel clandestine nuclear weapons program. Iran appears to be following a policy of complying with the NPT and building its nuclear power program in such a way that if the appropriate political decision is made, know-how gained in the peaceful sphere (specialists and equipment) could be used to create nuclear weapons (dual-use technologies have been sold to Iran by at least nine western companies during the early 1990's). Also, in this atmosphere of deception, unconfirmed reports have been made that Tehran purchased several nuclear warheads in the early 1990's
It is evident that Iran's efforts are focused both on uranium enrichment and a parallel plutonium effort. Iran claims it is trying to establish a complete nuclear fuel cycle to support a civilian energy program, but this same fuel cycle would be applicable to a nuclear weapons development program. Iran appears to have spread their nuclear activities around a number of sites to reduce the risk of detection or attack.
Iran does not currently have nuclear weapons, and would appear to be about two years away from acquiring nuclear weapons. By some time in 2006, however, Iran could be producting fissile material for atomic bombs using both uranium enriched at Natanz and plutonium produced at Arak. The Natanz facility might produce enough uranium for about five bombs every year, and the Arak facility might produced enough plutonium for as many as three bombs every year.
If Iran did acquire atomic bombs, it would put pressure on other countries in the region do the same. Many Arab countries believe it is unfair that Israel has nuclear weapons. If Arab countries, notably Saudi Arabia but also Egypt and possibly Syria, found themselves caught between a nuclear-armed Israel and a nuclear-armed Iran, it would greatly increase pressures to pursue their own nuclear options. This could result in a regional arms race in the Middle East which is likely to be quite destabilizing, given the number and intensity of conflicts and instabilities in the region.
In December 2003 Presidential hopeful John Kerry said that he would explore "areas of mutual interest" with Iran. And in June 2004 Kerry proposed providing nuclear fuel to Iran in exchange for Iran's abandoning the fissile material production complex at Esfahan, Arak, Natanz and other locations. In an interview on 29 August 2004, reported in the Washington Post on 30 August, Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards proposed a "Grand Bargain" with Iran, under which the US would drop objections to the nuclear power reactor at Bushehr, in exchange for Iran abandoning the material production complex. According to Edwards, if Iran rejected this offer, it would confirm that it was building atomic bombs. Edwards also said that Kerry would ensure that European allies would join the US in imposing sanctions on Iran. "If we are engaging with Iranians in an effort to reach this great bargain and if in fact this is a bluff that they are trying to develop nuclear weapons capability, then we know that our European friends will stand with us," Edwards said. "Iran is further along in developing a nuclear weapon than they were when George Bush came into office... A nuclear Iran is unacceptable for so many reasons, including the possibility that it creates a gateway and the need for other countries in the region to develop nuclear capability -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt, potentially others," Edwards said.

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U S A Suicide airplane


Frustrated American flew his airplane into an Austin, Texas, office building. He was one of the 79 percent of Americans who have given up on “their” government.
The latest Rasmussen Poll indicates that the vast majority of Americans are convinced that “their” government is totally unresponsive to them, their concerns, and their needs. Rasmussen found that only 21 percent of the American population agree that the U.S. government has the consent of the governed, and that 21 percent is comprised of the political class itself and liberals. Rasmussen concludes that the gap between the American population and the politicians who rule them “may be as big today as the gap between the colonies and England during the 18th century.”


Indications are that Joseph Stack was sane. Like Palestinians faced with Israeli jet fighters, helicopter gunships, tanks, missiles and poison gas, Stack realized that he was powerless. A suicide attack was the only weapon left to him.
Stack targeted the IRS, the federal agency that had gratuitously ruined him. He flew his airplane into an office building occupied by 200 members of the IRS. This deliberate plan and the written explanation he left behind segregate him from deranged people who randomly shoot up a Post Office or university campus.
The government and its propaganda ministry do not want to call Stack a terrorist.  “Terrorist” is a term the government reserves for Muslims who do not like what Israel does to Palestinians and the U.S. government does to Muslim countries.
But Stack experienced the same frustrations and emotions as Muslims who can’t take it any longer and strap on a suicide vest.
“Violence,” Stack wrote, “not only is the answer, it is the only answer.” Stack concluded that nothing short of violence will get the attention of a government that has turned its back on the American people.
Anger is building up. People are beginning to do unusual things. Terry Hoskins bulldozed his house rather than allow a bank to foreclose on it. The local TV station conducted an online survey and found that 79 percent of respondents agreed with Hoskins’ action.
Perhaps the turning point was the federal government’s bailout of the investment banks whose reckless misbehavior diminished Americans’ retirement savings for the second time in eight years. Now a former head of the most culpable bank is campaigning to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits in order to pay for the bailout. President Obama has obliged him by creating a “deficit commission.”
The “deficit commission” will be used to gut Social Security, just as the private insurance health plan is paid for by cutting $500 billion out of Medicare.
It could not be more clear that government represents the interest groups that finance the election campaigns.
Conservatives used to say that Washington’s power should be curtailed in behalf of state and local governments that are “closer to the people.” But of course state and local governments are also controlled by interest groups.
Consider Florida, for example. In 2004 the storm surge from Hurricane Ivan did considerable damage to the Gulf Coast of the Florida panhandle. At Inlet Beach in Walton County, the surge claimed two beachfront homes and washed away enough of the high ground as to leave other homes vulnerable to the next storm.
People wanted to armor their homes with some form of sea wall. When the county gave the go ahead, two houses on the West end hired engineers who constructed a barrier made of rows of tubes 60 feet long filled with sand, each weighing about 70 tons. The sand-colored tubes were buried under many tons of white sand trucked in, and sea oats were planted. It was a perfect solution, and an expensive one–$250,000.
Just East of the two homes, Ivan washed away a section of beach front road and left three houses built on pilings sitting on the beach. Last year government with FEMA money rebuilt the section of washed away beachfront road and armored it and two adjacent houses. The government used interlocking iron or steel panels that it drove down into the sand, leaving six to seven feet of the rusty metal above ground. Hundreds of truck loads of sand were brought in to cover the unsightly sea wall.
It didn’t require a storm to wash away the loose sand and leave the ugly rusty metal exposed on the beach. The first high tide did the trick. Residents and vacationers are left with an eyesore on a beach ranked as the third most beautiful in the world.
The ugly rusty barrier built by government is still there.  But the intelligent approach taken by the private homeowners has been condemned to death. As I write heavy equipment is on the beach slashing open the tubes and piling up the sand to be carried away. The homes will be left standing on the edge and will be undermined by the next hurricane.
Why did this happen? The official reason given by Florida’s Department of Environmental Policy is that the county could only issue a temporary permit. Only DEP can issue a permanent permit, and as the homeowners don’t have DEP’s permanent permit, out goes the expensive, carefully engineered and unobtrusive sea wall.
This is the way government “works” for ordinary citizens. For the vast majority of people, government exists as a persecution mechanism that takes great pleasure in ruining their lives and pocketbooks. The DEP has inflicted heavy stress on the homeowners, now elderly, and could bring on a heart attack or stroke.
The real explanation for DEP’s merciless treatment of citizens is that the agency is powerless against developers. It cannot stop them from destroying the Everglades, from destroying wetlands, from polluting rivers, or from building in front of the coastal setback line. As the state politicians protect developers from the DEP, the only people against whom the DEP can use its authority are unrepresented citizens. Frustrated itself, the DEP lashes out at powerless citizens.
In the small settlement of Inlet Beach, there are numerous examples of developers getting what they want. Over the years hurricanes have eaten away the beach and the dunes. As this occurs the setback line for construction moves inland. Back when the real estate bubble was being created by Alan Greenspan’s irresponsibly low interest rate policy, small beach front lots were going for one million dollars. In the midst of this frenzy, a well connected developer bought a beach front lot for $30,000.
The lot was not recognizable as such. It sits on flat land on the beach. Decades ago it was a lot, but as the Gulf ate away the coast, the lot is now positioned in front of the setback line. The developer got the lot for the low price, because no one had been able to get a building permit for years.
But the developer got a permit. According to the head of the neighborhood association at the time, the developer went to a DEP official, whose jurisdiction was another part of the state and who was a former employee of the developer, and was issued a permit. Because of its exposure, during the real estate boom the house sat unsold for years. The community, which had opposed the project, concluded that the developer just wanted to show that he was more powerful than the law.
Currently, on six acres next to a state park on the East end of Inlet Beach another well connected developer has obtained DEP permission to compromise Walton County’s highest and last remaining sand dunes held in place with native vegetation in order to build 20 houses. To protect the houses, DEP has issued a permit for the construction of a fifteen foot high man-made sand wall, a marketing device that will offer little protection.
According to information sent to me, nine of the houses will be seaward of the Coastal Construction Control line. Apparently this was a result of the developer being represented by a former county attorney, who convinced the commissioners to allow the developer to plan on the basis of the 1996 FEMA flood plain maps instead of using the current 2007 maps. Since 1996 there have been a number of hurricanes, such as Dennis and Ivan, and the set back line has moved inward.
When state and local governments allow developers to set aside the rules governing flood-plain development, they create insurance losses that drive up the insurance premiums for everyone in the community. The disturbance of the natural dunes could result in a breach through which storm surge can damage nearby properties. Instead of protecting people, government is allowing a developer to impose costs of his project on others.
Joseph Stack, Terry Hoskins, and 79 percent of the American population came to the realization that government does not represent them.  Government represents monied interests for whom it bends the rules designed to protect the public, thus creating a legally privileged class.
In contrast, as at the West end of Inlet Beach, ordinary citizens are being driven into the ground.
This is what we call “freedom and democracy.”

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Hamas ..the vulnerability game


Mosab Hassan Yousef, whose father, Sheik Hassan Yousef, is in an Israeli prison, provided intelligence to Israel's Shin Bet domestic security service was the latest setback to Hamas's image. The organization seized control of the Gaza Strip from the ruling Fatah Party in 2007 and had once been viewed as all but impregnable.
The news comes amid fighting between Hamas and Fatah that has split Palestinians and hampered U.S. efforts to restart peace negotiations with Israel, which has sealed off the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas into releasing Gilad Shalit, a captured Israeli soldier



Hamas has been reeling from the assassination of one its leaders, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in Dubai on Jan. 19. His killing by what authorities say was a hit team suspected of being part of Israel's Mossad spy agencyhas become an international espionage drama that now has a sequel in Yousef's story.
In his soon-to-be be published memoir, "Son of Hamas," Yousef, 32, says his code name was "Green Prince" and that he helped Shin Bet operatives kill Hamas leaders and arrest his own father, according to an interview in the Haaretz newspaper.
Shin Bet's high-level penetration of Hamas, if true, is a "catastrophe for Hamas," said Mkhaimar Abusada, a political science professor at Al Azhar University in Gaza. It is not clear whether the report will cause Hamas to target other suspected informants or if the movement's leaders will simply regard it an isolated incident, Abusada said.
Retired Brig. Gen. Shalom Harari, a former army intelligence officer and adviser on Palestinian affairs in Israel's Defense Ministry, said Yousef's spying and Mabhouh's killing make Hamas appear vulnerable.
The news of Yousef's spying was no less painful for his family.
On Friday at his father's home here in Beitunia, outside the West Bank city of Ramallah, Yousef's 22-year-old brother, Mohammed, expressed concern about the effect of the revelations on his father's reputation and emphasized his family's contributions to the Palestinian cause.
"It's painful to hear this,'' said Mohammed, a history and political science major at Birzeit University. "We are a family that has sacrificed, a family that fought. And we're a family that is known for its patriotism. Sheik Hassan Yousef brings respect to the Muslim nation.''
Sitting next to a portrait of his father, who was elected to the Palestinian legislature in 2006 and is serving a six-year prison sentence for belonging to an organization deemed illegal in Israel, Mohammed Yousef alternated allegations that the United States and Israel were defaming his family with acknowledgments that his brother may have gone astray.
Another brother, 23-year-old Uwais, who joined the conversation, said he hadn't spoken to Mosab in several months and didn't have his phone number. He said that since Mosab's conversion to Christianity, the family has been focused on trying to bring him back to Islam. The family also said it was surprised by the story of Mosab, who now lives in California.
Mosab Yousef was jailed by Israel at one time. It was during his imprisonment, he said, that he became motivated to help Shin Bet. He said he saw Hamas members torture other Palestinian prisoners who they suspected of collaborating with Israel. "It was there that I lost my faith in Hamas,'' Yousef said in the interview with Haaretz. "They killed people for no reason.''
In his memoir, Yousef details how he went on to help Shin Bet prevent dozens of suicide-bombing attempts against Israelis and uncover terrorist cells plotting to kill senior Israeli political figures.
From his prison cell, Yousef's father said he did not accept the news about his son's activities.
In a statement published on a Hamas Web site, Hassan Yousef said, "What was published about his activities against the Hamas movement and its fighters is a blatant lie and it was not possible.''
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