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[Soldier4Christ]

Iran to reject EU offer to end atomic work

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday it would reject any demand to stop what it calls peaceful nuclear work, a day before European foreign ministers discuss incentives and penalties designed to rein in Tehran's atomic ambitions.

European Union foreign ministers meet on Monday to work out technical, trade and political sweeteners that would be offered to Iran in exchange for allaying Western fears it is seeking to produce an atom bomb, notably by halting uranium enrichment.

Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, insists its nuclear plans are purely to make electricity and says it will not give up enrichment, a process which can used to make fuel for power stations but also material for weapons.

"Any proposal that obliges us to stop peaceful (nuclear) activities would not have value and would not be valid," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast on state television.

He accused the Europeans of living in a "colonialist world" and said Tehran would not accept decisions reached in Brussels.

"If they want to decide things that concern us in a place where we are not present, then that body does not have any legal validity or credibility in decision-making," Ahmadinejad said.

Washington and its European allies have been seeking to pass a U.N. Security Council resolution that would oblige Iran to halt all uranium enrichment work or face possible sanctions.

But Russia and China, which have energy interests in Iran, have resisted the move. Washington agreed to let Britain, France and Germany devise a package of benefits for Iran in return for cooperating, putting back a decision on a possible resolution.

"The aim is to come up with a very attractive package to make it difficult for the Iranian government to refuse," said a senior envoy from one of the so-called "EU3" countries.

A draft statement for Monday's EU meeting obtained by Reuters stated the bloc was ready to help Tehran develop "a safe, sustainable and proliferation-proof civilian nuclear programme" while insisting it halt all enrichment on its soil.

EU officials said it was undecided if help could include letting Western firms build nuclear power stations in Iran, an offer sources said was in an earlier package rejected by Iran last August and which also stipulated an end to enrichment.

BEST INCENTIVE

The EU wants the package ready by a meeting on Friday in London of the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany.

Several Iranian officials have recently focussed on saying Iran must be allowed to keep at least an enrichment research programme, suggesting Tehran might be ready to scrap plans for industrial-scale production of uranium fuel as part of a deal.

"We should first see what the (EU) proposal is. Anyway, we will not abandon our right. (Nuclear) research and development will remain on Iran's agenda," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference.

But Washington has said all such work must stop and the draft EU proposals rules out even enrichment for research.

Western diplomats say keeping even a small-scale enrichment programme at home would enable Iran to master a technology that could quickly be expanded for military purposes in the future if Tehran chose.

Iran argues that its right to enrichment is enshrined in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treat (NPT), which allows signatories to carry out the whole range of research, development and production activities to produce nuclear energy.

"I think the best incentive is that they implement the regulations of the NPT," Ahmadinejad said.

Western diplomats say Iran would have such rights only if it could prove its aims are entirely peaceful but the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, says it still cannot give Iran a clean bill of health.

Diplomats say the IAEA head, Mohamed ElBaradei, has privately told Western leaders they may have to accept a limited Iranian enrichment programme under IAEA monitoring as it was a matter of national pride and to insist on scrapping it may only bolster Iranian conservatives opposed to any compromise.

[Soldier4Christ]

Iran gave al-Qaeda in Iraq SAM-7 missiles


Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had provided the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq heavy weapons including anti-aircraft missiles, it emerged on Friday.

The Iraqi daily az-Zaman which is published in London and Baghdad quoted credible Iraqi sources as revealing that the IRGC had given al-Qaeda in Iraq, Strela-type SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles, modern explosives, and a large number of personnel arms including Kalashnikovs and BKC machineguns.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq is believed to be led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is on the United States’ wanted list.

The report said that representatives of al-Zarqawi’s group met in Beirut with members of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and through them established channels with Tehran.

Three close aides to al-Zarqawi travelled to Iran via a security checkpoint in the Iraqi border province of al-Amara from where they met with Iranian officials, the report added.

The United States and Iraqi officials have accused Iran’s radical Islamic government of sending agents and arms into Iraq to assist the insurgency.

The IRGC was founded in the early days of the Islamic revolution in 1979 as an armed force loyal to Iran’s clerical rulers. Its commanders directly report to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and their mission is to “protect and propagate” the Islamic revolution.

[Soldier4Christ]

Military Plans Tests in Search for an Alternative to Oil-Based Fuel

When an F-16 lights up its afterburners, it consumes nearly 28 gallons of fuel per minute. No wonder, then, that of all the fuel the United States government uses each year, the Air Force accounts for more than half. The Air Force may not be in any danger of suffering inconveniences from scarce or expensive fuel, but it has begun looking for a way to power its jets on something besides conventional fuel.

In a series of tests — first on engines mounted on blocks and then with B-52's in flight — the Air Force will try to prove that the American military can fly its aircraft by blending traditional crude-oil-based jet fuel with a synthetic liquid made first from natural gas and, eventually, from coal, which is plentiful and cheaper.

While the military has been a leader in adopting some technologies — light but strong metals, radar-evading stealth designs and fire-retardant flight suits, for example — any effort to hit a miles-per-gallon fuel efficiency rating has taken a back seat when the mission is to haul bombs farther and faster or push 70-ton tanks across a desert to topple an adversary. (The Abrams tank, for example, gets less than a mile per gallon under certain combat conditions.)

"Energy is a national security issue," said Michael A. Aimone, the Air Force assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics.

The United States is unlikely ever to become fully independent of foreign oil, Mr. Aimone said, but the intent of the Air Force project is "to develop enough independence to have assured domestic supplies for aviation purposes."

By late this summer, on the hard lake beds of the Mojave Desert, where the Air Force tests its most secret and high-performance aircraft, a lumbering B-52 is scheduled to take off in an experiment in which two of the giant bomber's engines will burn jet fuel produced not from crude oil but from natural gas. The plane's six other engines will burn traditional jet fuel — just in case.

The Air Force consumed 3.2 billion gallons of aviation fuel in fiscal year 2005, which was 52.5 percent of all fossil fuel used by the government, Pentagon statistics show. The total Air Force bill for jet fuel last year topped $4.7 billion.

Although the share of national energy consumption by the federal government and the military is just 1.7 percent, every increase of $10 per barrel of oil drives up Air Force fuel costs by $600 million per year.

Mr. Aimone said that if the synthetic blend worked, plans called for increasing its use in Air Force planes to 100 million gallons in the next two years.

Air Force and industry officials say that oil prices above $40 to $45 per barrel make a blend with synthetic fuels a cost-effective alternative to oil-based jet fuel.

Fuel costs have doubled since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and crude oil prices since Hurricane Katrina have remained above $60 a barrel.

The Air Force effort falls under a directive from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to explore alternative fuel sources. Under the plan, the Air Force has been authorized to buy 100,000 gallons of synthetic fuel.

Ground experiments are scheduled to begin in coming weeks at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, followed by test flights at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Although the Air Force is leading the project, it is working with the Automotive Tank Command of the Army, in Detroit, and the Naval Fuels Laboratory, at Patuxent River, Md.

The research and tests on synthetic fuel would ultimately produce a common fuel for the entire military, Air Force officials said.

The initial contract for unconventional fuel for the tests will be signed with Syntroleum Corporation of Tulsa, Okla., which has provided synthetic fuel for testing by the Departments of Energy, Transportation and Defense since 1998.

John B. Holmes Jr., Syntroleum's president and chief executive officer, said his firm would sell the Air Force its synthetic fuel for testing "at our cost, and we may be losing a little bit."

Neither Mr. Holmes nor the Air Force would provide cost estimates for the experimental fuel deal in advance of signing a final contract, expected in coming days.

Air Force officials have acknowledged, however, that the cost per gallon of the test fuel will be expensive.

Syntroleum can produce 42 gallons of synthetic fuel from 10,000 cubic feet of natural gas. The raw materials cost about $70.

If the military moves ahead with using the synthetic fuels, the Syntroleum technology could be used by factories elsewhere to produce the same 42 gallons of fuel from just $10 worth of coal, Mr. Holmes said.

"The United States is essentially the Saudi Arabia of coal," Mr. Holmes said. "It can be mined relatively inexpensively. We really believe that one of the things we can do to help our country's energy needs is to use the abundance of coal reserves."

Mr. Aimone said the large plants needed to produce nonconventional fuels did not exist and would have to be designed and built by the industry.

But he added: "We believe there are economic incentives as we invest in this, and invest with the industry at large, because there are vast coal reserves in this country. The economic pressures of rising oil prices can be moderated by the price of coal."

[Soldier4Christ]

'$100 per barrel if U.S. hits Iran'
Venezuelan chief warns skyrocketing prices for oil as supplies would instantly be halted

The price of a barrel of oil could surge to triple figures if the United States were to attack Iran in order to halt that country's nuclear program.

That's the claim of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who said the Iranians would have no choice but to cut off their supply of fuel.

"If the United States attacks Iran ... oil could reach $100 a barrel or more," Chavez told a meeting today hosted by London Mayor Ken Livingstone, according to Reuters. "The English middle classes would have to stop using their cars."

"If they attack Iran, the Iranians will cut off their supply of oil. We would do the same if we were attacked. We would cut off our oil," Chavez told some 1,000 leftists and trade unionists. "Moreover, Iran has said it would attack Israel, and I know they have the wherewithal to do so."

In recent years, the price of oil has gushed to about $70 a barrel, meaning billions of dollars for the economy of Venezuela and fueling Chavez's self-styled socialist Bolivarian revolution.

"If they attack Iran I think it will be far worse than the situation is in Iraq," Chavez added, calling Iraq "the Vietnam of the 21st century."

Chavez got a warm welcome to London by Livingstone, who commenced the meeting by claiming President Bush was running "a gangster regime."

"We salute you Mr. President," Livingstone told Chavez. "Londoners stand with you, not with the oil companies and the oligarchs."

[Soldier4Christ]

Cuba to let China drill for offshore oil

The Cuban government is to allow China to station 12 oil rigs in its waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

Fidel Castro's government has stepped up work on 36 new oil wells in partnership with Chinese and Canadian companies, officials said on Thursday.

The Cuban government is generally silent about oil matters, but this week Communist Party newspaper Granma also reported that Cuba had drilled its deepest oil well yet near Varadero, east of Havana.

Diplomatic sources said Indian, Norwegian and Spanish companies would begin searching for crude oil in the gulf.

The news has angered some US politicians, who say the US economic embargo of Cuba locks them out of the potentially lucrative operation at a time when oil prices are soaring.

Two Republican politicians have submitted a bill that would ease the embargo by allowing US companies to engage in transactions and travel to Cuba without the special license required by the US government.

Republican US Senator Larry Craig of Idaho said: "The American public would be shocked and stunned that as this country faces a serious energy crisis at home, countries like China, India, Canada, Spain and Norway are exploring and drilling 50 miles off the US coast."

Cuba has invited US companies to take part in the drilling operations, but the 44-year old embargo prevents it.

"China, as our National Security Strategy points out, is trying to lock up resources around the world, and they are locking up resources in our own back yard where we can't even compete," Craig said.

[Soldier4Christ]

Israeli admin 'panicking' ahead of Bush meeting
American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem for 'urgent consultations'


TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's administration is scurrying to put together an agenda for the Israeli leaders scheduled talks in Washington next week, with a series of specific requests mostly tied to financial aid already having been rejected by the White House, sources in Olmert's office told WND.

Olmert aims to secure large U.S. grant and loan packages to fund his stated plan to withdraw from most of Judea and Samaria, the biblical Jewish communities now known as the West Bank, while American officials object to Olmert raising funding issues during his upcoming trip, diplomatic sources said.

The sources added the White House is not convinced Olmert commands a government coalition stable enough to carry out the withdrawal plan.

American Jewish leaders close to the U.S. administration have rushed to Jerusalem in recent days to consult with Olmert and to help formulate a strategy for the White House visit, WND has learned. Olmert is scheduled to meet with Bush next Tuesday after a trip to the Pentagon, and is slated to address Congress next Wednesday.

Olmert's chief of staff Dov Weisglass and primary advisor Yoram Turbowitz headed to Washington last night to meet with senior U.S. officials including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Steven Hadley to help map out the agenda for next week's visit.

According to reports, Olmert's trip will focus on U.S. support for Israel amid threats from Iran and the ongoing attempted isolation of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.

Olmert will reportedly outline his so-called convergence plan, which seeks to "change Israel's borders" by withdrawing from most of Judea and Samaria, which runs alongside Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Israel's international airport. Olmert officials last week announced they are also drawing up a plan to evacuate parts of Jerusalem.

But aids to Olmert told WND the prime minister also wants to propose a request for large financial aid packages from the international community led by the U.S. to fund his withdrawal plan, currently priced at over $10 billion.

Financing for the plan is considered crucial for its implementation. The U.S. previously pledged to help fund Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which was carried out this summer at a cost of about $2 billion, but little aid actually arrived. Analysts here contend the Judea and Samaria withdrawal plan could easily get stalled in the Knesset if Olmert doesn't secure international funding to defray the costs.

In a series of cables sent to Washington from Olmert's offices and through the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, the requests to discuss aid for the Judea and Samaria withdrawal were rejected, diplomatic sources said.

Bush is said to be hard-pressed to sell additional Israeli aid packages to Congress during an election year while lawmakers are already debating the price tags of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also factored in are recent large domestic aid packages in the wake of last summer's massive hurricane Katrina that hit the Gulf coast, the diplomatic sources said.

Israel is already the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, receiving over $3 billion per year mostly for defense purposes. In addition, America provides some $7 billion per year in loan guarantees, which Israel has a history of always repaying on time.

Diplomatic sources said American officials suggested any talks with Bush about the Judea and Samaria withdrawal center on the general nature of U.S. political support for the plan, which seeks to gain recognition of new borders created after the withdrawal is implemented.

Bush will also press Olmert to restart talks with PA President Mahmoud Abbas while knowing the talks will likely be fruitless, the diplomatic sources said, adding the U.S. feels it is important to show its European allies it is at least pressing Israel to talk with the Palestinians. Plus, such efforts will boast Abbas against the Hamas government in the international arena, they said.

Political sources close to Olmert's office told WND the Israeli prime minister is most pressed to convince the Bush administration he has the political clout necessary to carry out his Judea and Samaria withdrawal plan.

"The Bush administration does not have faith that Olmert has the parliamentary coalition needed to sustain the firestorm of political activity that is sure to surround the implementation of the withdrawal," said a political source, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They do not see him as the strongman Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to them."

Olmert currently leads a slim governing coalition of 67 out of 120 Knesset seats. Typically, Israeli governments composed of ongoing coalitions with less than 70 seats tend to be unstable and short-lived.

Olmert's government relies heavily on 12 seats from the Ultra-Orthodox Shas party, which traditionally opposes land concessions and which some analysts have predicted may bolt the government as the convergence plan gets closer to implementation. Olmert may then be forced to bring Arab parties into his government or form a coalition with the Knesset's right-wing bloc, which would likely only enter the government on condition a Judea and Samaria withdrawal is either nixed, postponed, or put to a Knesset referendum.

The ongoing flurry of diplomatic activity surrounding the upcoming Washington trip has prompted American Jewish leaders with close ties to the White House to fly to Jerusalem in recent days for "emergency consultations" with Olmert.

The leaders recently received discreet advice from pro-Israel senators and congressmen to urge Olmert to focus his trip on general issues and not financial aid. The Jewish leaders are helping Olmert formulate a strategy for convincing the White House he has credibility with the Israeli public and has the political backing necessary to forge ahead with his withdrawal plan, sources close to the Jewish groups told WND.

Mortimer Zuckerman, former chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, and the Conference's executive vice chairman, Malcolm Hoenlein, are currently in Israel meeting with senior Israeli officials this week, including Olmert.

Hoenlein told WND yesterday, "I know there is a lot of speculation regarding what Olmert will ask and what he will not ask. I think the discussions will be found to focus on the understanding of what the Prime Minister has in mind regarding his withdrawal plan, the direction he will take and how those steps will ensure mutual understanding and cooperation [with the U.S.]"

Hoenlein said the "joint war on terrorism being fought by Israel and the U.S." unites the two countries, and that Olmert's visit will seek to solidify "cooperation on the many vital issues that require coordination."

[Soldier4Christ]

Weapons-grade uranium found in Iran


UN inspectors have found traces of highly enriched uranium at an Iranian research center linked to the military, diplomats said Friday, which could strengthen arguments that Teheran wants to develop nuclear arms.

The diplomats - who demanded anonymity in exchange for divulging the confidential information - cautioned that confirmation still had to come through other laboratory tests. But they said the density of enrichment appeared to be close to or above the level used to make nuclear warheads.

Still, they said, further analysis could show that the find matches others established to have come from abroad. The International Atomic Energy Agency determined earlier traces of weapons-grade uranium were imported on equipment from Pakistan that Iran bought on the black market during nearly two decades of clandestine activity discovered just over three years ago.

Even then, however, the find would be significant.

Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has met with Mossad chief Meir Dagan, and decided that the Mossad would continue to investigate Iran's progress in its nuclear enrichment project, Army Radio reported.

Because Iran has previously denied conducting enrichment-related activities at the site, the mere fact that the traces came from there bolsters arguments that it has hidden parts of a program that can create the fissile material used in nuclear warheads. Additionally, the site's connection to the military weakens Iranian arguments that their nuclear program is purely civilian.

The development was still unlikely to result in an immediate American push for strong UN Security Council action against Tehran.

The Americans recently agreed to put such efforts on hold and give new European-led attempts to find a negotiated solution to the Iran crisis a chance in the face of fierce Russian and Chinese opposition to US-led calls for a strong signal from the council.

Specifically, Moscow and Beijing have balked at British, French and US efforts to put the Security Council resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. Such a move would declare Iran a threat to international peace and security and set the stage for further measures if Tehran refuses to suspend its uranium enrichment operations. Those measures could range from breaking diplomatic relations to economic sanctions and military action.

Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac said Friday that a proposed UN Security Council resolution on the standoff over Iran's nuclear program "does not automatically entail" use of force.

Chirac said France was not against a tough resolution aimed at pushing Iran to stop its uranium enrichment program, but stressed it should not lead to the automatic use of military force or sanctions if Iran refuses.

"Our objective is to have a resolution that may be obeyed," Chirac told reporters on the margins of an EU-Latin America leaders summit.

Chirac's comments appeared aimed at reassuring China and Russia, which object to attempts by Britain, France and the United States to draft the Security Council resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which would make it enforceable by sanctions - or if necessary - military action.

"Our objective ... is that we be in a position to impose decisions taken by the Security Council," Chirac said when asked if the draft resolution was in contradiction to France's position on the Iran standoff.

[Soldier4Christ]

EU to offer Iran best civil nuclear technology

The European Union is ready to share the most sophisticated civilian nuclear technology with Iran if it agrees to halt uranium enrichment on its soil, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Monday.

But the initiative seemed likely to be rejected by Iran.

The EU plans to offer Tehran enhanced incentives to halt sensitive nuclear activities which the West suspects are aimed at producing a bomb, coupled with a U.N. resolution threatening possible sanctions if it refuses.

"We could help you (Iran) with the best and most sophisticated technology," Solana told a news conference after EU foreign ministers met to discuss the package.

Without giving details, he said the European offer -- which it hopes to present to Iran at the end of the month -- would go beyond the comprehensive package of technological, economic and political sweeteners rejected by Tehran last August.

Diplomats said at the time that the original package included allowing Western companies to build nuclear power stations in Iran and supply fuel to them.

The 25-member bloc insisted in a joint statement that as a prerequisite for any incentive, Iran would have to agree to "suspend all enrichment related and reprocessing activity, including research and development".

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pre-emptively ruled out any such trade-off on Sunday, while on Monday his foreign minister repeated the message.

"Any demand for a suspension or pause (of uranium enrichment) is an illogical and unacceptable demand and undoubtedly will be rejected," Manouchehr Mottaki told the ambassadors of Britain, France and Germany in Tehran.

The United States has agreed in principle to the EU presenting a new package offer to Iran, provided it accompanies a U.N. resolution paving the way for possible sanctions if Tehran does not suspend uranium enrichment activities.

Efforts to agree a U.N. resolution last week stalled in the U.N. Security Council amid opposition from Russia and China.

UP TO AMERICA

The EU statement acknowledged Iran's right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes but affirmed that it fully supported an U.N. resolution that would make legally binding international calls for it to suspend nuclear enrichment.

Ahmadinejad said Iran would not accept any EU offer if it included a demand that Tehran stop what he called peaceful nuclear activities.

"I am optimistic that there are still enough sensible people to respond positively to the offer and not in the same way as Ahmadinejad," said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Speaking after meeting South Korean officials in Seoul, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday called for urgent action on the Iranian nuclear dispute crisis but said he was encouraged by diplomatic efforts to resolve the stand-off.

The United States made clear on Sunday it had no intention of holding direct talks with Iran on the nuclear issue despite a letter to President George W. Bush last week from Ahmadinejad -- the first direct communication between the two countries' leaders for more than two decades.

Germany, which has in past weeks called on Washington to engage Iran directly, acknowledged there was little chance of Washington doing that.

"The United States have said it is out of the question," Steinmeier told reporters. British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said any such approach was up to Washington itself.

"What is important is that there is a clear, strong and consistent message from the international community," she said.

[Soldier4Christ]

US bans arms sales to Venezuela

Washington banned all U.S. arms sales to Venezuela on Monday, punishing President Hugo Chavez for his ties with Cuba and Iran and for what it believes is his inaction against Colombian guerrillas.

The sanctions against a major U.S. oil supplier come after years of antagonism between the leftist leader and the Bush administration on issues ranging from trade to oil prices that have dragged ties to their worst state in decades.

Despite Venezuela's repeated assertions it works against terrorism, and particularly militants in the Andean region, the United States designated it on Monday as a country considered uncooperative in the U.S. war on terrorism.

While the move is not as severe as adding a country to the U.S. blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, which includes Iran and Cuba, it does trigger sanctions and is likely to provoke an angry response from Chavez.

The sanctions extend the Bush administration's practice in recent years of stopping country-to-country sales involving American arms and technology to Venezuela.

Now Washington also prohibits all U.S. commercial weapons sales to Venezuela and prevents any re-sales of American arms and technology from other nations.

Maripili Hernandez, Venezuelan Vice Minister of Foreign Relations for North America and Multilateral Affairs, dismissed the U.S. move.

"From a diplomatic point of view those classifications that the United States makes are absolutely irrelevant. We don't take them into account," she said.

OIL THREAT

The top U.S. diplomat for Latin America said the Bush administration took the step with "enormous reluctance," but noted the countries' traditionally strong bilateral relationship had eroded under Chavez.

That deterioration has weighed on world oil markets in recent years, adding to supply worries that have helped cause record high crude prices.

Governing policy over the largest oil reserves outside of the Middle East, Chavez has periodically threatened to stop oil exports to Venezuela's biggest market, the United States, but the OPEC member has remained a reliable supplier.

State Department spokesman Eric Watnik explained Monday's decision citing Chavez's relations with the two U.S. foes, Iran and Cuba, and accusing him of allowing leftist guerrillas from neighboring Colombia to operate from Venezuela.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra, a Michigan Republican, who chairs the House Permanent Select Committee on Republican Intelligence, said in a statement: "The hostility shown by the Venezuelan leadership toward the United States along with its efforts to sow totalitarianism in the hemisphere, at the expense of the Venezuelan people, should be alarming to everyone."

[Soldier4Christ]

MySpace.com hosts wannabe terrorists
Popular site provides fertile ground for recruitment, glorification of jihad

While concerns about MySpace.com often focus on its use by sexual predators, the popular youth networking website may also pose a risk to the nation's security.

An investigation found the website to be fertile ground for inspiring and recruiting a new generation of Islamic terrorists, according to independent analyst Laura Mansfield.

A young man from Seattle, for example, who gives his name as Amin Al-Mujaahid As-Salafi – or "Salafi Jihaadi – has a blog that features images of al-Qaida leaders Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, British jihadist Abu Hamza, and the 19 hijackers who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, referring to them as the "Magnificent 19."

An audio link on his site – titled "Du'a by Abdul Rahman – "sounds absolutely Hitleresque," Mansfield says.

She finds a "disturbing pattern" emerging in a closer examination of the 78 "friends" listed in As-Salafi's "social network."

His friend Rashid Ali, who describes himself as a 31-year-old living in Seattle, has similar views.

Ali describes his activities:

    Reading Quran & hadith, Training Hui (Chinese-Muslim) kung-fu, Makoto-Ryu aki-jujitsu, & muay-thai-kick-boxing, NiNjitsu, Penjat-Silat, escrima:Kali/JKD.Target shooting ect. And hanging out with. My Big Bro Imam Rahim

Like his "friend," Ali includes jihadi-tribute imagery and the black flag of jihad on his page.

"With over 173 people listed, Ali appears to be part of a wide network of people who share similar sentiments," Mansfield says.

A MySpace blog called "Soldiers of Allah" features the hard-edged tones of rap to call Muslims to faithfulness in titles such as "No Compromise" and "Bring Islam Back."

Soldiers of Allah says it's "not a jihad group" but declares, "Remember we are the next generation of Muslims and it's an obligation and responsibility of each and every Muslim to implement as Allah commanded."

Soldiers of Allah has 258 people in its "social network."

Among them is 19-year-old Salafi Mujahid of Chicago who boasts an image on his page that says "Support Our Troops" above Arabic writing and an assault rifle.

The site also has images glorifying Zarqawi. Mujahid says he's an architecture major at College Of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Ill., who is active in the Muslim Students Association.

Some of these youth, such as 17-year old "Yaqub," seem to simply echo Islamist propaganda, Mansfield says.

Yaqub, from Plainfield, N.J., proclaims "Denmark Is messin with the wrong people!!"

Some, such as 17-year old Aaron Moore of West Haven, Conn., seem to have developed profound anti-American feelings:

    white ppl (or americans) killed most of the native Americans they caused the trail of tears (deals with the native americans, mostly of the Cherokee nation) then they continue pushing them back on the western front …

    americans say "all muslims are saveges, or animal beasts" (as they did to the native americans, [see a cycle?]) or the americans also say "ohh, arabs and muslims are almost humans".

Others, such as 19-year old "Islamakazi," are more explicit, posting a countdown until what he describes as "Iran war (world war 3)."

Along with the "countdown clock" are a variety of other images glorifying jihadi and terrorist leaders, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Jihadi imagery, video and audio easily are found on MySpace.com sites of young girls as well as of older male youth, Mansfield points out.

A young California woman, this one claiming to be 18 and posting under the screen name "Islam4Ever," is listed in "3rabiah's" circle of friends.

Recruiting

MySpace.com is fertile ground for terrorist recruitment, Mansfield says.

Nineteen-year-old Hemadah from Brooklyn is like many of the other teenagers on the site, describing himself as 190 pounds, 5'8" tall and a Gemeni of Middle Eastern descent. He doesn't drink, has no children and is a college student. He has cute photos of beautiful children, in this case his niece and nephew. He has a special love for everything bagels and wants to go "to college to become a cop, hopefully work my way up as a detective."

But a look at his MySpace blog suggests he's anything but ordinary.

How does he want to die?:

    "AS A MARTYR, IF NOT THAT WAY, THEN WHILE IM PRAYING AND MY HEADS ON THE FLOOR"

Twenty-one year old Isa from Fort Worth, Texas, also says he wants to die as a martyr.

Twenty-three year old Kareemwazwaz, who posts a photo of Palestinian terrorist Izz el din Qassam on his webpage, includes this posting:

    How do you want to Die: a martyr for palestine What do you want to be when you Grow Up: a martyr for Palestine

Mahmoud, a student from the University Of California at Santa Cruz, expresses similar sentiments. How does Mahmoud want to die?

    "defending something ... either my family, my religion, or my country ... basically i wanna die a martyr"

He includes a photo from the UC Santa Cruz "Palestinian Die-In," dated May 9.

A 17-year-old girl from California echos the two young men, saying she wants to die "as a Martyr (ubgone19) insha'a Allah."

Eighteen year old Fayyad of Oviedo, Fla., has even bolder aspirations.

The University of Central Florida student wants to die "as a martyr for God or in a huge nuclear explosion."

Mansfield says such beliefs are not rare among MySpace.com users, identifying blogs belonging to more than 70 young people who want to die as a martyr.

"Is one of these 70young people, who openly aspire to be a martyr in the name of Allah, one of the next wave of terrorists who will attack America?" Mansfield asks.

Mansfield said the FBI, when contacted regarding the websites, said all of the material is "protected free speech."

[Soldier4Christ]

Israel holding back 'needed' anti-terror operations?
Officials: PM ordered plotter's assassination only after death of Florida teen

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been reluctant to authorize "necessary" anti-terror operations in Judea and Samaria, territories also known as the West Bank, for fear military action there will hamper his planned withdrawal from the area, security officials charged.

A raid carried out by the Israeli army yesterday in northern Samaria in which seven senior terrorists were assassinated, including the alleged plotter of a suicide bombing last month in Tel Aviv, was called for by Olmert following the death Sunday of an American teenager critically injured in the Tel Aviv blast, the security officials stated. They said the operation could have been conducted months earlier and that several other anti-terror raids are being held back.

"The army has been petitioning for certain raids to be conducted. But it is not happening," stated a security official.

The official said large-scale anti-terror operations in Judea and Samaria could highlight the major terror threats in the area and may generate criticism of Olmert's withdrawal plan, which seeks to evacuate most of Judea and Samaria, territories bordering Israel's major population centers. Olmert officials also recently announced they are drawing up plans to vacate parts of Jerusalem.

Yesterday, Israeli Defense Forces troops and special police units entered the northern Samaria town of Qabatiyeh near Jenin and killed seven armed militants, including senior members of the Islamic Jihad terror group.

The raid successfully targeted Elias Al-Askar, who is thought to have headed Islamic Jihad's military wing in northern Samaria. Israel's Shin Bet Security Services says Al-Askar was directly involved in several Islamic Jihad terror attacks that killed at least 27 Israelis and one American. These include the January 2005 bombing of Tel Aviv's Stage Club, which killed four people; two attacks in Netanya, in July and December; an October suicide bombing in the Israeli town of Hadera which killed five people; and the latest terror attack, the April 17 bombing in Tel Aviv, which killed 11.

According to reports, yesterday's anti-terror raid took place after the Israeli military became aware of Al-Askar's whereabouts. But senior security officials said the Israeli army has been capable of tracking down Al-Askar and other wanted terrorists for months. They said the raid was ordered directly by Olmert after the Israeli leader was informed Sunday night of the death of Daniel Wultz, a Florida resident critically injured in last month's Tel Aviv blast while on vacation in Israel.Wultz's story had generated extensive media coverage the past few weeks.

"The order was given by Olmert [to conduct the Qabatiyeh raid] after [Wultz] died," a security source said. "It was known Wultz's death would be covered widely, especially by the American media. There was some pressure for an isolated anti-terror operation related to the attack that killed Wultz."

Indeed, the IDF raid was completed hours before a memorial service held yesterday in Jerusalem for Wultz. The service, attended by dignitaries including U.S. ambassador to Israel Richard Jones, was reported internationally alongside the news of the Israeli raid and the assassination of Al-Askar.

A security official charged there are "dozens" of anti-terror operations that are necessary to be carried out to protect against further suicide attacks, including large-scale raids they say are needed in Qabatiyeh and other northern Samaria towns, particularly Jenin and Nablus, which have extensive Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror networks.

'Gift from Allah'

The Brigades, the declared military wing of the long-ruling Fatah party, took responsibility along with Islamic Jihad for last month's Tel Aviv blast and several other recent terror attacks. Brigades leaders in Nablus, including the overall leader Ala Senakreh, have boasted to WND in recent weeks they are able to operate openly in their town. Brigades senior leader Abu Nasser this weekend told WND Wultz's death, which he took credit for, was a "gift from Allah."

Jihad members in Qabatiyeh yesterday told WND they were able to replace the terrorists killed in the Israeli raid there, including their group's senior leadership.

Said a security official: "What is needed is for the terror infrastructure [in northern Samaria] to be knocked out. Israeli troops would be required to conduct ground operations. But this is not on the Olmert administration's current agenda,"

Israeli minimizing rocket threat?

Military operations security officials contend are being held back also extend to anti-rocket raids in northern Samaria.

Last week, WND reported some intelligence officials charge Israel has been deliberately minimizing the threat of rocket attacks by Palestinian terror groups in Judea and Samaria.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in the northern Samaria town of Jenin told WND last Monday they fired two rockets aimed at an Israeli military installation about a mile away. The leaders said the projectiles were called Bahaa rockets, named after Saed Bahaa, an Al Aqsa Brigades member killed the previous week in an Israeli anti-terror operation. A source close to the Brigades said the rockets actually were Jenin 1s, a less advanced Qassam rocket that can travel about one mile.

A security official confirmed on condition of anonymity there is information the rockets were fired. But an official spokesperson for the IDF told WND the army was not aware of any rockets fired that week from Jenin.

The IDF several times has denied rockets were launched from northern Samaria only to later release select information stating some rockets had indeed been fired from the area.

Al Aqsa leaders previously told WND they fired seven rockets from the Jenin area in December and January aimed at nearby Jewish communities. The IDF at first denied any rockets were fired, but later confirmed in January it found one rocket that had been launched from northern Samaria, likely from Jenin.

At the time, Abu Oudai, Al Aqsa's West Bank rocket coordinator, told WND, "[The one rocket the IDF said it found] was not the first time we shot rockets from Jenin to the settlements of the enemy inside the green line. It is the enemy who for the first time has admitted that these rockets exist in [Judea and Samaria] and that they were shot against Israeli targets. We have launched six times, and with the help of Allah we will launch these rockets regularly."

Abu Oudai's information of six rockets previously being launched is consistent with information obtained by security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Official Israeli defense spokesmen claim the threat of rockets being fired from Judea or Samaria is minimal. They say the army there largely has prevented rockets from being transferred to the territory from the Gaza Strip, where rockets are fired almost daily at nearby Jewish towns. The officials maintain anti-rocket operations in northern Samaria have been successful.

Yaacov Amidror, former head of Israeli military intelligence research, told WND, "Can Israel be sure in the future there won't be a rocket threat? Of course not. But the army has been extremely successful in stopping the flow and production of rockets in the West Bank."

On a few occasions the past two years, the IDF has announced it has found evidence of rocket construction in Samaria during routine raids, particularly in Jenin and Nablus. In October, three members of the Popular Resistance Committees, a Gaza-based terror group, were arrested attempting to infiltrate northern Samaria to set up a Qassam missile-manufacturing facility. The Committees has fired more than 300 rockets from the Gaza Strip during the past four years.

'Much more to come'

The threat of projectiles also has been highlighted in Bethlehem, which borders Jerusalem. In February, Israel's Shin Bet Security Services told reporters it captured a rocket launcher and mortars that were slated to be fired by the Committees terror group at Gilo, a peripheral Jerusalem neighborhood.

The day the attack was thwarted, Abu Abir, spokesman for the Committees, told WND his group was coordinating extensive rocket capabilities in Judea and Samaria:

"We call on (Shin Bet chief Yuval) Diskin and tell him not to be so happy and proud about stopping our attack because there is much more to come. I am not going to give details (about which cities we will attack), but we are planning to be present all around the West Bank. Every Israeli target is a legitimate target. Jerusalem, Ben Gurion International Airport, Tel Aviv and every Israeli point can be part of our goals."

While many dismiss Abu Abir's statements as rhetoric, intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say there is indication Palestinian terror groups have been producing and stockpiling rockets in northern Samaria that are capable of being fired.

But some security officials say the information is not getting out.

"All I can say is the information is known by the decision makers," said a senior security official.

The official noted Israel has been "reluctant" to order large-scale anti-rocket operations in northern Samaria in spite of intelligence about rocket infrastructures there.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon previously warned any rockets fired by Palestinian groups from within Judea or Samaria would provoke an "unprecedented" military response.

Last week, Israeli Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin warned Hamas is seeking to manufacture Grad rockets, a kind of Katyusha rocket that can travel about 13 miles.

cont'd

[Soldier4Christ]

'Victory for Palestinian resistance'

As WND reported, Al Mustaqbal, a research center in the Gaza Strip reportedly affiliated with Hamas, recently published a study labeling Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip last summer a victory for "Palestinian resistance" and stating Palestinian groups will now continue the next phase of their "war to destroy the Jewish state" by focusing on rocket and mortar attacks launched from Judea and Samaria.

The Judea and Samaria rocket infrastructure is largely thought to belong to Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Brigades. Most rockets likely are stockpiled in northern Samaria and are premature versions of the Qassam, officials said. Qassams are improvised steel rockets, about four feet in length, filled with explosives and fuel. They can travel between one and four miles depending on the sophistication of the particular rocket.

Sources close to the Brigades claimed the group has several advanced versions of the Qassam in and near Jenin.

Abu Oudai told WND his organization in northern Samaria has developed a new kind of rocket named after the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that can reach major Israeli cities.

"The Arafat (rocket) can reach every goal we want all over the enemy state," Abu Oudai said. "I don't need to tell you that the aerial distance from Jenin to Netanya, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities is not big without telling what are all our plans concerning hitting Israeli settlements (in Judea and Samaria). We can reach any point inside Israel, but I will not mention what are the regions we are ready to shoot from."

Abu Oudai warned the Brigades will use positions gained after any Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria to launch rockets into Israeli cities.

Olmert has said his administration is seeking to withdraw from most of Judea and Samaria before 2009.

Since Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip nine months ago, terror organizations have been regularly firing rockets from the area aimed at adjacent Jewish communities. Three Qassam rockets were fired from Gaza yesterday. Fourteen were launched last week.

The IDF has retaliated with artillery fire against Gaza launch sites and targeted aerial strikes against suspected rocket factories, but the current retaliation policy has failed to stop or even slow the number of missiles being launched from Gaza, prompting calls from some in the defense establishment, including a former Israeli defense minister, to reoccupy parts of the territory.

Gaza borders desert and farming regions. There are some vital targets nearby, including the Ashkelon power station, which supplies much of Israel with electricity. Judea and Samaria, however, runs alongside Israel's major population centers. A withdrawal from the area could place Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Israel's international airport within rocket firing range.

George Birnbaum, managing director of Kidron Strategies, a Jerusalem-based political consulting firm, commented, "If it became known there were rocket threats in the West Bank, it would make it very difficult politically for Olmert to implement his withdrawal plan. There would be a lot more resistance from the general public and the Knesset."

Knesset Member Effie Eitam, chairman of the National Union Party, told WND any Judea and Samaria withdrawal will result in rockets fired at major Israeli cities.

"Aside from the short-range rockets the Palestinians have now, it is just a question of time before they obtain longer-range missiles from Iran," said Eitam, who serves on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. "Regardless, Olmert's withdrawal will give the terrorists land bordering our major cities."

Eitam noted other withdrawals that resulted in rocket threats:

"Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. Now Hezbollah has over 10,000 missiles on the border pointed at us," he pointed out. "Israel evacuated Gaza last summer. The missiles are flying out every day. There is no doubt a withdrawal from Judea and Samaria will bring a rocket war to Israel."

[Soldier4Christ]

Jihadists issue threat to UK

 

Islamist websites: 'The British government is playing with a dangerous fire, and the fire when played with will burn you or will give you a shock'
Yaakov Lappin

 
A new message appearing on a number of jihadi websites in the UK has warned the British government that "it is playing with a dangerous fire."

 

"Verily this Government needs to think carefully about the consequences of their action because they are playing with a dangerous fire, and the fire when played with will burn you or will give you a shock!" the message said.

 

The warning was first posted on the al-Ghurabaa website, and later reproduced on the Saved Sect website.

 

Both sites were created by followers of the Beirut-based cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, who was banned from Britain shortly after the London suicide bomb attacks, and who declared that Britain was a "land of war" a number of months before the attacks.

 

The most recent message accused the British government of carrying on a "crusade" against Islam, and cited the recent arrest of Anjem Choudary, an outspoken deputy of Omar Bakri.

 

'Europe will pay'

 

Choudary was arrested after being accused of organizing demonstrations in February in London against cartoons depicting Islam's prophet, Muhammad.

 

During the protests, signs were held threatening terrorist attacks and murder. One sign held by a masked protester read: "Europe you
will pay, Bin Laden is on his way."

 
"Following the recent provocation and animosity towards the Muslims, and in particular the arrests of Anjem Choudary and Abdul Muhid at Stansted airport on May 5 and then the attempted distortion and accusations against them by certain sections of the media, it has become crystal clear that the British government is continuing in her crusade against Islam and Muslims and is working tirelessly to silence the voice of any sincere Muslim," the online warning stated.

 
The authors of the message lamented what they described as a clampdown on Islamic scholars, and claimed that the UK government pursued a policy whereby "any Muslim scholar who teaches Islam will be deported, arrested or threatened with that in order to silence the voice of Islam from being heard!"

 
The al-Ghurabaa website contains another section entitled "The crimes of the British government," where it accuses Britain of "terrorist acts and crimes against Islam," including being "the main cause of the destruction of the Islamic State." The section also states that Britain "granted Palestine to the Jews by their Balfour Declaration… conspired against Muslims in the Balkans region… and fully support the barbaric killing of the civilian population of Iraq."

 

[twobombs]

US spells out plan to bomb Iran

By IAN BRUCE
Defence Correspondent

05/16/06 "The Herald" -- -- THE US is updating contingency plans for a non-nuclear strike to cripple Iran's atomic weapon programme if international diplomacy fails, Pentagon sources have confirmed.

Strategists are understood to have presented two options for pinpoint strikes using B2 bombers flying directly from bases in Missouri, Guam in the Pacific and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

RAF Fairford in Gloucester also has facilities for B2s but this has been ruled out because of the UK's opposition to military action against Tehran.

The main plan calls for a rolling, five-day bombing campaign against 400 key targets in Iran, including 24 nuclear-related sites, 14 military airfields and radar installations, and Revolutionary Guard headquarters.

At least 75 targets in underground complexes would be attacked with waves of bunker-buster bombs.

Iranian radar networks and air defence bases would be struck by submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles and then kept out of action by carrier aircraft flying from warships in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf.

The alternative to an all-out campaign is a demonstration strike against one or two high-profile targets such as the Natanz uranium enrichment facility or the hexafluoride gas plant at Isfahan.

UK sources say contingency plans have also been drawn up to cope with the inevitable backlash against the Basra garrison in neighbouring Iraq.

[twobombs]

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/716146.html


Ex-Military Intelligence chief Ze'evi warns of impending world jihad 'tsunami'
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent

Former Military Intelligence chief Aharon Ze'evi warned Monday morning of an impending world jihad "tsunami" that he said may soon descend on the entire Middle East.

Ze'evi, speaking at a Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies conference in Tel Aviv University, said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad has been overheard promising the "end of history in two or three years."

Ze'evi recommended that the Iranian threats be taken seriously, saying that Tehran will soon have nuclear warhead compatible surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 5,000 kilometers, putting Europe within striking distance.

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Ze'evi also warned that Israel should not rule out the possibility of a conventional war against Islamic militants.

Ze'evi said he foresees this war breaking out on Israel's northern frontier, against Syria and Hezbollah.

Emphasizing the radicalization of Islamic militancy, Ze'evi cited recent changes in the objectives of major militant organizations, which have recently begun targeting sites in Arab countries.

"We are seeing attacks carried out in Amman, Dahab and Sharm el-Sheikh," said Ze'evi.

He cited the increased accessibility of Internet in the Arab world as facilitating the process, saying, "Today, anyone who is interested can learn how to blow up a bomb."

Major General (Res.) Ze'evi stepped down as chief of Military Intelligence about four months ago, and was replaced by Major General Amos Yadlin.