News, Prophecy and other

[Soldier4Christ]

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Aims At Islam’s Heart

Hirsi Ali is not afraid of the “taboo” subjects on Islam. Sadly it seems that the truth about Islam is what outrages the majority of Muslims the most. Here is today’s must read, so aptly titled “Freedom Fighter.” Via The Philadelphia Inquirer

    You need talk only briefly with Hirsi Ali, or read The Caged Virgin - a crisp, very clear indictment of Islamic misogyny mixed with autobiographical scenes and reflections about her own liberation - to understand that the lady pulls no punches.

    This is not Rodney King and “Can’t we all just get along?” Not “We respect Islam and, hey, everyone has a few bad apples.”

    Hirsi Ali aims at Islam’s heart. She insists that the beliefs and life of Islam’s prophet, Muhammad, must be confronted, analyzed, and, in many respects, rejected.

    “If 1.2 billion to 1.5 billion abide by, follow his rules,” Hirsi Ali observes, “and say we want to be like him, then I think it’s urgent, it’s necessary.”

    She concedes that Muhammad urged Muslims to do some good things, “such as his advice to be charitable toward the poor and orphans.” But, Hirsi Ali insists, on the whole he’s not admirable.

    “He borrowed a little bit from Judaism,” she says, “he borrowed a little bit from Christianity, and he invented some things, especially the fierceness with which he dealt with his enemies, the killing, the way he violated special tribal rules.”

    Long before radical Islamists threatened violence in return for any criticism of Muhammad (thus violating the Islamic principle that Muhammad was a man with flaws and should not be idolized), Islamic scholars accepted that Muhammad was a warrior of his time, contending that he shouldn’t be judged by modern standards.

    Even Lewis, the great scholar of Islam, leans to that interpretation, though Hirsi Ali sees his graciousness as prudence: “I think Bernard wants to leave the Arabs some dignity… . He wants to give them an opening, which is really noble… . ”

    Her own view, however, is that “following this man [Muhammad] can lead to only one thing, fascism… .”

    Hirsi Ali says she decided to confront Muhammad’s history after Nigerian Muslims rioted over the planned 2002 Miss World contest there. A British-educated Nigerian journalist poured fuel on the fire by writing that Muhammad himself would have married one of the contestants. The rioting killed 200 people.

    “So I said,” Hirsi Ali confides, ” ‘You know what, darling Europeans? I’m going to tell you about Muhammad!’ ”

    True to her gloves-off approach, Hirsi Ali talked about how Muhammad, who had nine wives, fell in love with his wife Aisha when she was 6 and married her when she was 9. Hirsi Ali outraged Dutch Muslims by accusing Muhammad of pedophilia.
    Hirsi Ali says some took the issue seriously. She emphasizes its relevance because “there are more and more men taking minors as wives, and saying that Muhammad is their example.”

    Hirsi Ali says the debate gave her hope - she received one letter from a Muslim that read, “I don’t know what you started in me, but I am thinking… . ”

    In the same way, Hirsi Ali explains, she’d like to challenge the beliefs of Black Muslims in America. She finds it as unfathomable that African Americans would convert to Islam as that Jews would convert to Nazism.

    “I want to tell them about Darfur,” she asserts firmly. “The people in Darfur are being exterminated just because they are black. So [Islam] is also a racist doctrine… . People don’t know what’s going on in Saudi Arabia. All these palaces are full of black slaves! So the black community here converting to Islam is like converting voluntarily to slavery.

    “I think if they hear it from a black person,” she says hopefully, “it will help.”

[Soldier4Christ]

Terrorism - Homeland Security - Money

This week there has been an outcry over the intention of the Homeland Security Department to shift the awarding of block grants from big cities like New York and Boston to medium sized cities like Nashville and Las Vegas. New York believes since they were the site of the largest terrorist strike ever to hit the US, they are automatically entitled to the lion’s share of the grant money.

The logic behind the change is that since these grant monies started to be awarded, the large cities like New York have increased their abilities to handle potential threats so now it’s time to spread that money to other communities so that they can do the same.

For instance, look what happened in Nashville…

    Authorities said they found pipe bombs and a jar containing the potentially deadly poison ricin while searching a home in suburban Nashville.

    The ricin was found sealed in a baby food jar in a shed at the home of William Micheal Matthews, according to a joint statement Thursday from Nashville police, the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and health officials. SOURCE

Obviously there was federal funding and investigations involved in this incident because the ATF and FBI were involved in the raid. But what if the ATF and FBI weren’t involved. What if this individual went undetected until he used those weapons? There would be destroyed property, dead and sick people to deal with, and evacuation of other residents to prevent the spread of that poison.

It only takes 500 micrograms of ricin to kill an adult human. That amount could fit on the head of a pin. After all, look what happened in Japan just a few years ago.

Seized in the raid also were five gun silencers, a bowl containing ricin residue and bomb-making materials. So it is evident that Matthews was going to use these items for some sinister plan.

The FBI and ATF raided the home in response to a tip from Matthews’ wife. Matthews himself is serving 9 months in jail for violating a protection order taken out on him by his wife.

Matthews was recently fired from his job in the city’s drug court testing lab because of sexual harassment complaints the city received from female co-workers.

This is just one example of what could happen in small and medium sized cities. Not all terrorists are Islamic fanatics. We have some home grown fanatics of our own.

Al Qeada has done the large scale attack and understands that we have taken steps to secure these types of targets. The next target out of them will be somewhere that attracts large numbers of people and exemplifies American decadence. Somewhere like Las Vegas or Miami.

An attack on the Las Vegas Strip could potentially kill more people at one time than died at the WTC. A ricin attack could easily pass from person to person through close contact on the crowded Strip.

To people in New York, America stops at the city limits. They don’t mind high gas prices because they don’t have to drive 40 miles to go to work or 20 to go to a grocery store. New Yorkers believe that they are the absolute center of the universe.

The fact is that New York has an Army. Their Police Force is the largest single city law enforcement agency in the world. It is cities and towns struggling to employ enough police officers that cannot afford to build a terrorism/disaster response team and the additional security measures necessary to secure and protect their citizens. It is these cities that have smaller tax bases that need the funding to assist in these efforts.

New York has utilized their status as the media capital of the US to do their crying on all the alphebet networks and FoxNews the past 2 days. But what about Nashville?

[Shammu]

Iran, al Qaeda and Islam- Precursors to Disaster

By Randy Taylor, Contributing Analyst

What you are witnessing today is the forces of Good and Evil locked in a death struggle. Recognize it for what it is. Sit down and teach your children what they will certainly face because eventually you will not be here to guide them through what surely will come.

2 June 2006: Iran, the masters of distraction are still dancing around the issue of whether they should be allowed to possess nuclear materials. The United States, for all intents and purposes appearing to want to keep from blasting Iran off the planet are going through the motions, filling Iran’s dance card. How long the dance will last, only a few people know.

It is important to the point of imperative that the people of the United States and all other countries that are predominantly non-Muslim to realize and accept that Iran cannot be allowed to continue in their current path.

Iran is the seat of Islam, the root of terrorism, the home of the Caliphate, (as you will) and the headquarters of everything evil. We must understand and accept without reservation that the sole intent of Islam is to destroy everything that is not Islamic. This is not some religious whim that will eventually pass, this is not some lonely nutcase that managed to accumulate some followers and live in a compound and sit around and smoke dope and make up religious fantasies. This is life and death, and this is what is foretold in the scriptures. This is Evil and must be recognized for what it is. This is the clash between good and evil in literal biblical proportions.

There is no peace plan that is workable in the Middle East. There is no negotiating with terrorist governments and groups. We cannot make a deal with the devil, period. Letting Iran have nuclear capability unchecked is like handing the arsonist matches and gasoline or locking a six year old child in a room with a pedophile. (I wanted to put the example in terms that followers of Mohammed would understand)

Iran has spoken openly that they fully intend to destroy Israel, the will eventually lash out directly against the United States and they will orchestrate the terror that will occur within this nations borders. They are al Qaeda. That’s right, al Qaeda is Islam, Iran is Islam, Islam is Islam, and all three are synonyms for evil.

This isn’t about a few people that hijacked the religion of Islam. No one hijacked the so called religion. The idiots here in the United States and Europe that think that Islam can be tolerated, can co-exist peacefully, can be negotiated with and think that Islam is a peaceful religion are blind to this evil movement and will serve as the catalyst for the destruction of mankind as we know it.

There is no place on this planet where Islam prevails and Sharia law is followed to the letter that can be considered a good place to live, can be considered a democracy and be considered to have freedom as we know it. If you know of one such place feel free to email me and disclose the location. Islamic countries are mostly third world, poverty stricken (except for the elite or the royals), kill and murders people of outside faiths at will, degrade and abuse women and children, teach hate and death as the curriculum in the schools.

Here is the paradox: Do we deal with it now or do we leave it for our children and grandchildren to deal with? What are your children doing at this precise moment in time? Are they outside playing with friends, are they watching television, are the on the computer? Let me tell you what the Middle Eastern children are doing.

They are in classrooms being taught to hate Israel and her allies, being taught how to use firearms and build bombs, being taught the merits of suicide bombings. They are being systematically programmed to kill and destroy what the adults don’t manage to kill and destroy in their own lifetimes. They are being taught radical, hate filled Islam by the leaders of their families, and local schools and mosques. They are being trained to kill you and your children.

I have watched films upon films of Muslim children in their own environments, in their schools, mosques, jihad training camps and homes being taught violence directed towards the people of other faiths and belief systems different from their own. This is not a rarity; this is not the hijacking of a religion by a few zealots. This is becoming the norm. When all you know is violence and your upbringing was hate, you are a threat to society.

You read of children crossing into Israeli areas strapped with explosives and blowing themselves up all the time. What kind of person, religion or ideology would entice or convince a child that suicide and the taking of other human lives is honorable or even an option? The answer is Islam does. Children mean nothing in Islamic countries and societies; they are as expendable as cattle are in a stock yard.

So the next time you hear about another attempted infiltration by organized Islam into our established way of life, into our judicial system, into our classrooms, our legal system, into our Freedom Based society and way of life, you need to think about the eventual overall cost. What we as Americans would call the end result, the end product. The end product is death, destruction, poverty, violence, rape, murder and total loss of your freedoms, primarily your religious freedom. When you hear about Iran and their total lack of cooperation with the non-Muslim countries and you listen or read the venomous hatred coming out of Tehran, Iran you need to look at the big picture, the end result, the end product. A 100% terrorist state armed with nuclear weapons and an agenda to bring about the end of all mankind that isn’t Muslim cannot be allowed to operate at will. It brings only pain and suffering, death and destruction to all mankind.

Think about it people. What you are witnessing today is the forces of Good and Evil locked in a death struggle. Recognize it for what it is. Sit down and teach your children what they will certainly face because eventually you will not be here to guide them through what surely will come. Don’t teach them violence as the only tool but instead teach them to recognize evil for what it is. Teach them that Islam is here to destroy them. At least teach your children the basics so that they have a chance once we are gone if this final confrontation doesn’t come about in our lifetimes. It’s your duty to do so.

Stay safe. Be vigilant.

I can't post the link because of advertisment.

The colors are the authors, not mine.

[Shammu]

World Markets about to Crash Together?
 
By Chris Laird

May 31, 2006

Recent stock headlines include a collapsed India stock  market, collapsed not just dropping. Collapsed Middle East stock markets on the order of 50%. Dropping European markets, and US markets. Very weak Japanese stocks, probably looking to crash like the Middle East and India markets because the Nikkei is/was up 50% in a year.

Very weak Chinese stocks, rapidly weakening ‘emerging’ markets because of a slowing commodities bull. Weak Russian markets. … In short, the whole world is just about to fall into a synchronized stock cascade.

Here is a typical headline, one of many these last weeks:

European sell-off continues after U.S., Asia falls
Autos, miners among decliners following steep Wall Street fall

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European markets dropped sharply Wednesday morning, extending the week's losses and taking their cue from a steep fall in the U.S. on the back of rising oil prices and falling consumer confidence.

I offered a theory in World Speculation Dominoes that the world financial markets are all synchronized and will crash together. It appears that we are very near such an event right now.

The causes

I have written several articles with ‘stock crash alert’ in the title this year. One of the major impetuses was the imminent unwinding of the Japanese Yen carry trade. In that ten year old free money spree, Japan allowed financiers world wide to borrow Yen for a literally zero interest rate and then invest that money in world stock markets and to buy other nations bonds for about a 3% interest rate premium. The amount of borrowed Yen invested in the world’s financial markets is astounding. We are talking trillions of dollars value in Yen that has found its way into every major financial market in the world.

The US is considering a pause in its interest rate hikes of late. The interest rate differential the US holds over Japan and Europe is as much as 3%. If that differential is not maintained, trillions of dollars of US denominated financial investments are going to be unloaded on the world markets. A combination of unwinding the Yen carry trade and a serious drop in the value of the USD will just simply pull the rug out from under every major financial market that has benefited from the cheap USD and Yen.

Liquidity is being pulled from world markets as we speak. It could get really ugly in a very short time friends. There are substantial reasons for major stock collapses due to very large macro economic trends affecting both the Yen and the USD.

This is made worse by the bubble nature of world stock markets as of the last year, where many Asian markets saw gains over 50%, such as the Nikkei and Korean markets. They are/ were in stock manias. And then add the literal collapse of the Middle Eastern markets in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait….and India.

Then add emerging market weakness, and the fact that the Nikkei and the US stock markets are also definitely tipping down as we speak, and there is definitely a little panic in the winds.

To say the least.

I’m going to go out on a small limb and say we are looking right now at a gigantic world stock collapse. I don’t like writing this, I get no fun out of writing gloomy financial analyses. It is still possible that these world market drops will be forestalled, but the end is nearing now for a world financial mania that started in Japan in the early 1990’s with their ridiculous zero interest rates. As a matter of fact, the whole financial mania we are about to see collapse began in Japan in the 1980’s when they created their own stock and real estate bubbles that collapsed in the early 1990’s.

Then the US had its financial and real estate bubbles in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Just as late as last year, the financial manias took hold in India, the Middle East and Korean and even emerging markets….and are now crashing as we speak.

Now the flagship markets of the US and Japan are shuddering. The final gasp of a world financial mania is appearing before our eyes right now.

The big story out now is the appearance of world stock collapses that may get out of control. I have been writing about this for months already for my readers. The other big story is an impending energy war in the Middle East.

Look at your stock portfolio right now. Imagine how you would feel if it dropped 50%.
That has happened this year in the Middle Eastern markets. Something like this has happened in India as well just recently. It’s so bad in the Middle East that the Saudi Royal Family has offered to guarantee middle income people ($144k a year there) with guaranteed stock purchases for several years if they will go back into their stock markets. How about that one?

As a matter of fact, I am only giving a brief rehash of the quite recent stock collapses. The number of nations involved is many. Trust me, go look for that kind of news, you will find a lot of it recently.

There are two major forces that are propelling gold upward. One is fear of financial market collapses that are appearing like burned popcorn everywhere. The other is an imminent energy war in the Middle East. Iran is the pretext. It does not help that their leader is a maniacal Iranian mystic/politician that believes he is ushering in the end of ‘history’ – his own words.

So, we have a huge overhang over the world financial markets with the unwinding of the Yen carry trade. The over blown real estate markets that are now collapsing just like everyone feared world wide. The imminent dropping of the USD that is making world central banks very afraid that a lower USD will pull more liquidity out of the speculative bubble world stock markets. And fear of an energy war in the Middle East with Russia and China and Iran on one side, Israel right in the middle, and the US and its few allies on the other side.

No wonder gold is up about 200 bucks this year, and is having no problem holding onto its 650$ range.

I’m sure gold is going to go well over 700 quite soon now. Read my article about “Huge Action and Earth Shaking Change Imminent”.

Now there is talk among central bankers that they are in crisis mode. The ECB and BOJ have both made comments like that, the BOJ much more gentle, but just as concerned. The ECB and friends are talking of crisis mode operations and financial crisis war games as we speak. They are concerned about the implications of a dropping USD and the liquidity that will pull out of world financial markets.

The list goes on. Russia, emerging now from its decade old financial collapse following ‘perestroika’ is now joining a growing list of energy producers who are creating oil bourses denominated in anything but USD. The Proposed Ruble bourse is the latest.
This is just one snippet, to be added to Iran’s Euro Oil bourse, and all the coordinated oil / resource nations now collaborating with hostility to the Western Economies.

A new world financial order is just now emerging and it looks very much, very much like the pre 1930’s.

Oh, did I mention that we are seeing the highest insider selling of stocks since about 2000??

I think this delineation of financial market bad news could be ten pages. I’m just hitting some of the more recent high points.

So perhaps some of you with gains in stocks should take some money off the table and put it where it is safe. OF course that is the big question of the day isn’t it?

What, with the usual safe haven of good sovereign bonds being very questionable. Besides the imminent decline of the USD and that affecting the yield of USD bonds, Japan will have some trouble maintaining their bond quality if they tip into deflation again. And of course who else has bonds people want? Not many.

There has been a lot of discussion about the Euro becoming the next alternative to the USD. Problem is there aren’t enough of them to do the job. There are probably over 100 trillion US dollars out there now working as the de-facto world currency. The number and penetration of Euros is less that one tenth of that.

It is going to be interesting to see what happens should there be a simultaneous precipitous drop in world stock markets of the order of 50%.  I wonder if the USD is going to survive that. The last time there was a great world depression the USD was a flight to safety. This time, it could be just the opposite.

There are two big stories out now. One, and the biggest, is the impending energy war in the Middle East. The other is an emerging world stock collapse.

World Markets about to Crash Together?

[Shammu]

Iran's next vote to show power of regime

By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer Fri Jun 2, 10:34 AM ET

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian voters already know what to expect the next time they cast ballots: a clerics-only list of candidates for a pillar of the regime known as the Assembly of Experts.

The election — possibly in October — is likely to intensify debate on the future of the Islamic system because of the Assembly's lofty duties: monitoring the all-powerful supreme leader and picking a successor after his death.

The election may also open a window into Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's tight-knit circle, which — despite the new prominence of Iran's hard-line president — still shapes all critical decisions in the country, including Iran's nuclear policies and possible talks with the United States.

"Real power is still in the hands of the very few," said Nasser Hadian, a political science professor at Tehran University. "This is a political fact of life in Iran."

Nothing illustrates it better than the nuclear impasse.

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, makes headlines with denunciations of the West and calls for Israel's destruction. Meanwhile, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, tends toward sensitive diplomacy along with fellow members of the Supreme National Security Council.

Yet both make regular trips to Khamenei's residence for instructions and meetings with the forces he directly controls — including the intelligence services, the judiciary forces and the Revolutionary Guards that hold the key levers to Iran's economy and security.

Key posts such as foreign minister, intelligence minister and defense ministers also must be cleared by Khamenei.

"The elected government is effectively a puppet and the supreme leader is the puppet master," said Issa Saharkhiz, a Tehran-based political analyst. "That is Iran in a nutshell."

On paper at least, the 86-member Assembly of Experts is a mighty force.

It has the task of overseeing Khamenei and, in theory, could reprimand or even dismiss him. In reality, however, it's doubtful any serious criticism is lodged. The clerics are vetted by the Islamic establishment before they can become candidates. Even mild critics of the system are weeded out.

The Assembly's real clout only kicks in after the supreme leader is gone — a sort of Iranian version of the
Vatican's College of Cardinals when they gather to pick a new pope.

The Assembly has done that only once since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In 1989, it picked Khamenei to succeed his late mentor, the Islamic Revolution patriarch Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Khamenei will turn 67 in July. There are no official pronouncements on the state of his health.

The Assembly's members — who serve eight-year terms — will someday face a choice far more complex than the late 1980s, when Iran still was focused on recovering from its 1980-88 war with Iraq and regarded most of the world with deep suspicion.

Now, the Islamic leadership is on a fast learning curve about high-stakes international talks and realpolitik.

"The mullahs are trying to drive Iran into the position of being a serious regional power," said Mary Habeck, an associate professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University. "Are they up to the task? That's what everyone is watching."

Within Iran, the questions are even more sharply focused.

Iran's reform movement stripped away many of the past taboos limiting criticism of the supreme leader, whose supporters say answers only to God. Some influential figures, including the liberal-minded Grand Ayatollah Yusef Saanei, have urged that the Assembly should be opened to non-clerics, including women — in effect giving the public a wider voice in top affairs.

But authorities have stuck to the clergy-only rule for the upcoming election.

"In my opinion, everyone who meets the qualifications should be able to pick the leader," said Saanei at his office in the holy city of Qom. "Instead, you have a system that shuts out the people."

The street slang of Iran even reflects the divide. The regime is simply called "eena," which roughly translates to "these guys" and is considered impolite used outside close friends and family.

The candidate list for the Assembly is not yet published. But it's widely expected to be led by the same group of clerics as in the past, who are unlikely to challenge the system, including former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, former intelligence chief Ali Fallahian and arch-conservative Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, who was once quoted as saying "the people are ignorant sheep."

In the last Assembly election in 1998, the Islamic leadership accepted fewer than half the nearly 400 applicants who wanted to run. Those rejected were told they didn't meet the level of Islamic scholarship.

According to some Iranian press reports, some Assembly members have insisted that candidates display even higher knowledge in Islamic teaching this time, but the reports could not be confirmed.

The Assembly holds its meetings in secret. Even notes are classified to prevent leaks.

Some reformist clerics also have suggested the Assembly study whether to abolish the supreme leader post and replace it — after Khamenei's death — with a council of religious leaders. But any such radical overhaul is considered unlikely.

Iran's next vote to show power of regime

[Shammu]

States to hold first oil meeting

Updated: 2006-06-01 15:17

China and Arab states will hold their first meeting on oil issue at some time between the year of 2006 and 2008, according to an action plan issued in Beijing on Thursday.

The action plan was signed by Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and League of Arab States Secretary-general Amr Mahmoud Moussa during the second ministerial meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum.

The two sides vowed to establish a dialogue mechanism to further promote their energy cooperation. Under the mechanism, China and the Arab countries agree to increase visits and dialogue and coordinate in relevant activities of the United Nations and other international organizations.

"The two sides attach importance to energy cooperation, particularly the cooperation in the sectors of oil, natural gas and renewable energy," says the action plan.

The plan says China and the Arab countries will encourage their enterprises to enhance investment and set up joint ventures and conduct cooperation in exchanging experience and technology transfer in the energy sector.

The Arab countries have been China's largest crude oil supplier. China imported 55.36 million tons of crude oil from Arab countries in 2005, 43.7 percent of its total oil import.

Energy cooperation constitutes an important part of China-Arab cooperation, which complies with interests of both sides and contributes to the stability of international energy market, said Zhai Jun, the director general of Chinese Foreign Ministry's Asian and African division.

The two-day meeting was attended by delegates from China and 22 Arab countries, who also signed the meeting's communique, an environmental cooperation plan and a memorandum of understanding for a meeting between Chinese and Arab entrepreneurs.

According to these documents, Arab-China trade volume is expected to reach 100 billion U.S. dollars in 2010.

The third ministerial meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum will take place in Bahrain in 2008.

From 2006 to 2008, China will train 500 Arab professionals in various fields every year.

The second meeting between Chinese and Arab entrepreneurs will be held in Jordan.

States to hold first oil meeting

[Shammu]

Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Jun. 02 – Iran rejected on Friday conditions set out by United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to pave the way for direct dialogue between Tehran and Washington, and hinted it may carry out uranium enrichment to close to 20 percent.

“Iran has not asked the United States to enter nuclear negotiations, and if such negotiations have conditions Iran will not abandon its legitimate right. Therefore, it is almost impossible that the condition which the U.S. has laid out for the start of negotiations be accepted”, deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran Mohammad Saeedi said. His comments were carried by the state new news agency ISNA.

Saeedi said that it was incorrect to place a 3.5, 5, or 10 percent cap on Iran’s level of uranium enrichment. “Fuel for lightwater reactors needs uranium enriched to even 19.9 percent, therefore these remarks that Iran should accept a 10 percent cap on its enrichment cannot be correct”, he said.

Rice announced earlier this week that Washington was willing to join its European partners on the negotiations table with Iran if Tehran “verifiably” freezes its uranium enrichment activities.

Iran Focus

[Shammu]

Jun. 1, 2006 16:11
Kids brandish guns to test IDF vigilance
By YAAKOV KATZ AND JPOST STAFF

A group of Palestinian children were sent towards the Gaza Strip border fence holding toy guns on Thursday in order to test the vigilance of the soldiers on duty.

From a distance, troops noticed four apparently armed Palestinians approaching the border north of the Kissufim crossing.

When the four were some 400 meters from the fence, the soldiers realized that they were children, who looked to be about 13 years of age, and that their guns were toys.

The Gaza security fence has become the scene of almost daily incidences of would-be infiltrations from the Gaza Strip, attempted terror attacks, and occasionally exchanges of fire. Earlier Thursday, IDF forces arrested two unarmed Palestinians who breached the fence in order to cross into Israel.

And only Monday, a Palestinian was shot and killed by IDF soldiers after they identified three men near the fence and fired at them, suspecting they intended to carry out an attack.

Kids brandish guns to test IDF vigilance

[Shammu]

    Taliban Military Commander Mullah Dadallah: We are in Contact With Iraqi Mujahideen, Osama bin Laden & Al-Zawahiri; Non-Islamic Countries Have Offered Help in Defeating the Americans

The following are excerpts from an interview with Taliban military commander Mullah Dadallah, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on May 31, 2006.

"Would You Believe That Some Non-Islamic Countries Have Offered Us Support... [To Help Us] Defeat the Americans[?]"

Mullah Dadallah: "The infidels who have occupied our country and some other Muslim countries - not only Afghanistan - have hatched a great plot to destroy Islam. We resolved to expel the infidels from all Muslim countries, not only from Afghanistan. We will continue with this until our last breath."

Interviewer: "Are there specific reasons for this escalation? Did you obtain new weapons? Did you receive support from neighboring countries, or from Islamic countries?"

Mullah Dadallah: "Allah be praised, the Islamic countries don't mind if we inflict losses upon the infidels and defeat them. America is the big snake that wants to bite everybody. Would you believe that some non-Islamic countries have offered us support? They offered [to help us] defeat the Americans."

Interviewer: "Yes, but did any country actually help you in your recent operations?"

Mullah Dadallah: "These are matters of military tactics, which I cannot divulge. Doing so will not benefit us in any way. Some of them may have helped us in this."

"We are Using New and Accurate Methods... You Will Have Many Surprises in the Future"

Mullah Dadallah: "In our recent attacks, we carried out a number of martyrdom operations. These operations were numerous. As for mines and booby-trap tactics, we are using new and accurate methods. This is just the tip of the iceberg. You will have many surprises in the future."

"The government's military situation is very bad. All the commanders are beyond its control. In personal contacts, the military commanders who work for the government have asked us to pardon and forgive them. They said that they will not fight and that they are weary of the war. Karzai also conveyed a message to us. But, Allah be praised, we have an Islamic goal, and in no way will we give up this goal. These military commanders are in touch with us, and if we decide to pardon any of them, you will see him jumping with joy."

"We are the Ones Who Control Afghanistan"

Mullah Dadallah: "Allah be praised, there are many Taliban members in these four states. To the best of my knowledge, 12,000 Taliban fighters participate in the attacks. Based on this, you can assume what happens in other regions. Allah be praised, there are huge numbers of mujahideen. The people as a whole has revolted. The people in its entirety has begun to participate in jihad against the infidels."

"The government's control over the region it rules is also weak. Allah be praised, Taliban is in control. The Americans rule in their bases and in Karzai's palace. With these exceptions, we are the ones who control Afghanistan."

"All Muslims, Throughout the World, Wish They Could... Support Us"

Interviewer: "Some say you are financed by drug dealing, and so on. Is this true?"

Mullah Dadallah: "This is not true. We do not obtain aid through drugs. We get aid from the people. All Muslims, throughout the world, wish they could spend even a single rupee to support us. The drugs here are not on that scale. It is the Americans who deal with these drugs. Many are unaware of this fact. Karzai helps the Americans in this. His brother is in charge of the largest drug-smuggling operations."

"Our Advice to [Canada and Britain] is to Avoid the Heat of Battle, Because We Will Wreak Vengeance Upon Them One by One"

Mullah Dadallah: "America now wants to avoid the heat of battle, so it pushes other countries towards it. Our operations may increase even more. Our advice to Canada and Britain is to refrain from defending the American propaganda, and from standing by this historic American crime. America wants to get other countries entangled in the crimes it committed in Afghanistan. Our advice to these countries is to avoid the heat of battle, because we will wreak vengeance upon them one by one, like we are doing with the Americans, if they remain here when the Americans are gone."

"Our main enemy is the United States. As for Canada and the other countries - we have no historical enmity with them. But if they want to come here as fighting forces, we will view them just as we view the Americans, and will conduct resistance against them. But if they return to where they came from, and withdraw their forces from here, we will not view them like the Americans, but as countries which we have nothing to do with."

"The Bombings We Carry Out - We Learned it From [Al-Qaeda]"

Mullah Dadallah: "We like the Al-Qaeda organization. We consider it a friendly and brotherly organization, which shares our ideology and concepts. We have close ties and constant contacts with it. Our cooperation is ideal."

Interviewer: "Do you coordinate with them in military operations in Afghanistan?"

Mullah Dadallah: "Yes, when we need them, we ask for their help. For example, the bombings we carry out - we learned it from them. We learn other types of operations from them as well. We have 'give and take' relations with the mujahideen of Iraq. We cooperate and help each other."

Interviewer: "Did Arabs from Al-Qaeda participate in the recent operations in south Afghanistan?"

Mullah Dadallah: "Some may have participated in the bombing operations."

"Sheikh Haqqani and his son are undoubtedly the battle commanders. They devise the military plans. He and I are in charge of things here. In some of the other regions, one of our brothers is in charge. As for Hekmatyar, he is our brother in the confrontation with the Americans. We can form close relations with him, and enjoy better contacts with him. Sheikh Haqqani is one of our greatest friends. He supports us and makes efforts to provide us with aid."

"Operations are carried out throughout Afghanistan, but the reason they escalated in three or four states is that commanders like myself and others are here. In other regions, there are fewer commanders. One of our plans is to escalate our operations there as well."

"We Have Continuous Contacts With [Osama Bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri], Whether by Phone or by Other Means"

Interviewer: "Let's move on to the issue of Osama bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri. Do you have any information about them? Have you heard anything about them? Are they in Afghanistan, in Pakistan, or elsewhere?"

Mullah Dadallah: "The senior commanders know that they cannot hide in a place controlled by the others, without having control over that place, and without having any army or force. They may have been in a place controlled by the mujahideen, protected by many people, but from a military perspective, I cannot tell you where they are now - in Afghanistan or elsewhere."

"We may have sent our people to Iraq, and [the Iraqis] may have sent their friends to us. We have continuous contacts with them, whether by phone or by other means. Some of our brothers may have met them, and they may have met with us too."

Interviewer: "Yes. Do you send people for training, for example, do they come here for training, or do you maintain contact through the Internet?"

Mullah Dadallah: "We have training centers here in Afghanistan, and, as you know, they have their own centers there. If we discover anything new, they come here to learn it, and if they discover anything new, our friends go to learn it from them."

Interviewer: "Have the Americans contacted you recently for the purpose of negotiations?"

Mullah Dadallah: "The Americans are ready to leave Afghanistan, on condition that we sit with Karzai at the negotiating table. But we do not want to negotiate with their ally. They have demanded this of us time and again, but we did not, and will not, accept this type of negotiations.

"Mullah 'Omar appointed a shura council with 10 members. He delegated to them the task of conducting the operations, in accordance with the interests of each region. We get new messages from Mullah 'Omar."

Non-Islamic Countries Have Offered Help in Defeating the Americans

[airIam2worship]

Iran, al Qaeda and Islam- Precursors to Disaster

By Randy Taylor, Contributing Analyst

What you are witnessing today is the forces of Good and Evil locked in a death struggle. Recognize it for what it is. Sit down and teach your children what they will certainly face because eventually you will not be here to guide them through what surely will come.

2 June 2006: Iran, the masters of distraction are still dancing around the issue of whether they should be allowed to possess nuclear materials. The United States, for all intents and purposes appearing to want to keep from blasting Iran off the planet are going through the motions, filling Iran’s dance card. How long the dance will last, only a few people know.

It is important to the point of imperative that the people of the United States and all other countries that are predominantly non-Muslim to realize and accept that Iran cannot be allowed to continue in their current path.

Iran is the seat of Islam, the root of terrorism, the home of the Caliphate, (as you will) and the headquarters of everything evil. We must understand and accept without reservation that the sole intent of Islam is to destroy everything that is not Islamic. This is not some religious whim that will eventually pass, this is not some lonely nutcase that managed to accumulate some followers and live in a compound and sit around and smoke dope and make up religious fantasies. This is life and death, and this is what is foretold in the scriptures. This is Evil and must be recognized for what it is. This is the clash between good and evil in literal biblical proportions.

There is no peace plan that is workable in the Middle East. There is no negotiating with terrorist governments and groups. We cannot make a deal with the devil, period. Letting Iran have nuclear capability unchecked is like handing the arsonist matches and gasoline or locking a six year old child in a room with a pedophile. (I wanted to put the example in terms that followers of Mohammed would understand)

Iran has spoken openly that they fully intend to destroy Israel, the will eventually lash out directly against the United States and they will orchestrate the terror that will occur within this nations borders. They are al Qaeda. That’s right, al Qaeda is Islam, Iran is Islam, Islam is Islam, and all three are synonyms for evil.

This isn’t about a few people that hijacked the religion of Islam. No one hijacked the so called religion. The idiots here in the United States and Europe that think that Islam can be tolerated, can co-exist peacefully, can be negotiated with and think that Islam is a peaceful religion are blind to this evil movement and will serve as the catalyst for the destruction of mankind as we know it.

There is no place on this planet where Islam prevails and Sharia law is followed to the letter that can be considered a good place to live, can be considered a democracy and be considered to have freedom as we know it. If you know of one such place feel free to email me and disclose the location. Islamic countries are mostly third world, poverty stricken (except for the elite or the royals), kill and murders people of outside faiths at will, degrade and abuse women and children, teach hate and death as the curriculum in the schools.

Here is the paradox: Do we deal with it now or do we leave it for our children and grandchildren to deal with? What are your children doing at this precise moment in time? Are they outside playing with friends, are they watching television, are the on the computer? Let me tell you what the Middle Eastern children are doing.

They are in classrooms being taught to hate Israel and her allies, being taught how to use firearms and build bombs, being taught the merits of suicide bombings. They are being systematically programmed to kill and destroy what the adults don’t manage to kill and destroy in their own lifetimes. They are being taught radical, hate filled Islam by the leaders of their families, and local schools and mosques. They are being trained to kill you and your children.

I have watched films upon films of Muslim children in their own environments, in their schools, mosques, jihad training camps and homes being taught violence directed towards the people of other faiths and belief systems different from their own. This is not a rarity; this is not the hijacking of a religion by a few zealots. This is becoming the norm. When all you know is violence and your upbringing was hate, you are a threat to society.

You read of children crossing into Israeli areas strapped with explosives and blowing themselves up all the time. What kind of person, religion or ideology would entice or convince a child that suicide and the taking of other human lives is honorable or even an option? The answer is Islam does. Children mean nothing in Islamic countries and societies; they are as expendable as cattle are in a stock yard.

So the next time you hear about another attempted infiltration by organized Islam into our established way of life, into our judicial system, into our classrooms, our legal system, into our Freedom Based society and way of life, you need to think about the eventual overall cost. What we as Americans would call the end result, the end product. The end product is death, destruction, poverty, violence, rape, murder and total loss of your freedoms, primarily your religious freedom. When you hear about Iran and their total lack of cooperation with the non-Muslim countries and you listen or read the venomous hatred coming out of Tehran, Iran you need to look at the big picture, the end result, the end product. A 100% terrorist state armed with nuclear weapons and an agenda to bring about the end of all mankind that isn’t Muslim cannot be allowed to operate at will. It brings only pain and suffering, death and destruction to all mankind.

Think about it people. What you are witnessing today is the forces of Good and Evil locked in a death struggle. Recognize it for what it is. Sit down and teach your children what they will certainly face because eventually you will not be here to guide them through what surely will come. Don’t teach them violence as the only tool but instead teach them to recognize evil for what it is. Teach them that Islam is here to destroy them. At least teach your children the basics so that they have a chance once we are gone if this final confrontation doesn’t come about in our lifetimes. It’s your duty to do so.

Stay safe. Be vigilant.

I can't post the link because of advertisment.

The colors are the authors, not mine.

Brother this is really deep, I a, going to copy it and put it in my files so I can print it and pass it to my daughters, and their friends. They have young children and need to be alerted.

[Soldier4Christ]

 Canada launches mass anti-terror sweep

Federal and local authorities staged a major counterterrorism sweep in the Toronto area, arresting at least 10 people, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said on Saturday.

Armed police surrounded the Durham Regional Police Station in Pickering, east of Toronto, as unmarked vehicles carrying the suspects headed into an underground garage.

The Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto said the operation "appeared to be the most concerted such sweep in Canada since the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001."

The initial arrests were made on Friday, and more were expected through the night, police spokeswoman Cpl. Michele Paradis told CNN.

The sweep was a joint operation involving most of the police forces in the Toronto area, she said.

Federal agencies including border and intelligence agents worked with the police under the auspices of the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, Paradis said.

She could not confirm a report that the arrests involved an explosives plot in the province of Ontario.

Such anti-terror operations in Canada are rare. It's not clear if the sweep is related to a raid in east London Friday, one of the largest there since the London transit bombings in July. That raid was carried out with the help of police and Britain's domestic spy agency, MI5. (Full story)

In March 2004 a man from Ottawa, Canada -- Mohammad Momin Khawaja -- was charged in connection with terror-related offenses that involved activities there and in London.

[Soldier4Christ]

Police hunt for lethal chemical suicide vest

A DESPERATE search is under way for a “chemical vest” that a British suicide bomber was ready to deploy in a terror attack on London.

Police fear that the strike, using a home-made chemical device, was imminent after an informant told MI5 that he had seen the lethal garment at the home of two young men.

Last night detectives were at the hospital bedside of a 23-year-old postal worker shot during a pre-dawn raid on his parents’ home, while his younger brother, aged 20, was being questioned at Paddington Green high security police station.

Armed officers who led the assault on the terraced house in Forest Gate, East London, wore oxygen masks and protective chemical gear after a tip-off from MI5 that the device had already been assembled.

Security chiefs are deeply concerned that there was no sign of the vest inside what they believe is a chemical bomb factory.

No weapons were found either as officers searched the two adjoining properties that have been converted to accommodate a large Bangladeshi family.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorist Branch, said that the raid, codenamed Operation Volga, was ordered in response to “specific intelligence”.

He said that there had been no time to conduct further surveillance, which suggests that the police believed a terrorist was close to launching an attack. The fear is that if chemicals were to be used then a likely target could be a train compartment on the London Underground.

Another theory is that a suicide attacker, wearing the vest under a shirt, could trigger the device in a crowded venue, such as a pub full of people watching an England World Cup match.

It is understood that the main target in yesterday’s raid was the postal worker, who was hit in the shoulder by a single shot fired by a police marksman.

His injuries are not life threatening and he remains under armed guard at the Royal London Hospital.

Scientific experts had to delay a detailed search of the house in Lansdown Road while officials from the Independent Police Complaints Commission moved into the property to begin their investigation into the shooting.

After the bungled inquiry into the shooting of the Brazilian electrician, Jean Charles de Menezes, who was mistaken for a suicide bomber a day after a failed terror attack last July, Scotland Yard chiefs are keen to ensure that procedures are followed.

It is thought that the scientific investigators will remain at the property for up to a week searching for any trace of chemicals that have been used in a device.

More than 250 officers took part in the operation, which was the biggest seen in Britain this year. As well as police it involved MI5 agents and bio-chemical experts from the Health Protection Agency.

Such was the operation’s importance that Tony Blair, whois in Italy, was informed of the raid on Thursday night.

John Reid, the Home Secretary, was woken soon after the shooting. He went to Scotland Yard to be briefed by senior officers and met John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, in Downing Street.

After the operation, friends of the wounded man staged a demonstration outside the hospital where he is being treated. They claimed that the police had made a mistake.

One said: “Going into someone’s house and shooting them in front of their mum, that’s not right is it? Just because they have got a beard doesn’t mean to say you can shoot them.”

Another friend said that after the September 11 attacks on America the older brother had started taking his religion more seriously, growing a beard and praying five times a day. “When we were younger he was no angel. But he changed, we all just grew up. He chose to go on the right path.

“He prayed five times a day, he went to the gym every day and other than that he stayed at home.

“Every time he spoke he would say peaceful things. He would give advice to everybody.

“Out of all our crew he was one of the good ones, working and looking after his family.”

A 24-year-old man, who declined to be named, said that he was a “distant cousin” of the victim.

He said that before becoming a van driver for the Royal Mail his friend had previously worked for the supermarket chain Tesco. He said that they had attended a gym together and that the injured man was a keen motorcyclist who owned an R6 Yamaha bike.

He added that the younger brother also worked at Tesco after being introduced to the company by his older brother.

Speaking about the family, he said that they lived in a “civilised” home and often welcomed visitors.

He added that the brothers had three sisters, one of whom lived next door.

Speaking about the man who was shot, he said: “He went to the gym, he also worked out at home. He’s more homely rather than going out. Ever since I’ve known him he’s been religious.”

[Soldier4Christ]

Al-Zarqawi lashes out at Shiites in tape

CAIRO (AP) — The leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq railed against Shiites in a four-hour-long audiotape harangue posted on the Internet on Friday, saying militias are raping women and killing Sunnis and the community must fight back..

The tape by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi appeared aimed at sabotaging the Iraqi government's efforts to name a unity government — but was also intended to enflame rising Shiite-Sunni tensions across the Arab world.

"There's a civil war going on in Iraq, but it will not become truly fierce until it's exported outside Iraq. This tape is trying to do just that," said Dawood al-Shirian, a Saudi political commentator.

The No. 2 man in al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, chastised al-Zarqawi last September for attacking Shiites, recalled Bruce Hoffman, a RAND Corp. terrorism expert.

"Obviously, he (al-Zarqawi) is thumbing his nose at the al-Qaeda central leadership," Hoffman said. "That's significant."

A written statement said the audiotape was made two months ago. The CIA said Friday that technical analysis of the tape confirmed it was al-Zarqawi's voice.

Al-Zarqawi's Sunni insurgent followers have carried out some of the deadliest suicide bombings in Iraq's conflict and have frequently targeted Shiite civilians and mosques in an attempt to spark civil war. In his statements, the Jordanian-born militant often vilifies Shiites as infidels.

But the tape posted Friday was an unprecedented screed that chronicled what al-Zarqawi said was a Shiite campaign throughout history to destroy Islam and help foreign invaders of Muslim lands.

"Sunnis, wake up, pay attention and prepare to confront the poisons of the Shiite snakes," al-Zarqawi said. "Forget about those advocating the end of sectariansim and calling for national unity."

He pointed to two Shiite militias with links to parties in the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government, accused by Sunnis in Iraq of running death squads in a recent wave of sectarian violence.

"They kill men and arrest women, put them in prison and rape them and steal everything from the houses of the Sunnis," he said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said al-Zarqawi expressed "a futile brutality, depraved mentally and morally."

"I believe the Iraqi people won't listen to such miserable words," he told a news conference in Baghdad. "Reconciliation is the hope for all Iraqis, and all Iraqis welcome it".

Al-Maliki has put together a government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds that U.S. and Iraqi officials hope will be able to ease spiraling sectarian violence in the country. But al-Maliki has struggled to get the parties to agree on key security posts that would lead any effort to bring stability — the interior and defense ministries.

He said Thursday he intends to announce names for the posts even without an agreement between his government partners in an attempt to force a resolution to the continuing differences.

Al-Zarqawi appeared to be aiming at a wider audience, seeking to rally Sunni radicals by tapping into mistrust of Shiites and non-Arab Shiite Iran.

He denounced Shiites across the Mideast, saying they were "the same as Jews, with secret meetings" and loyalty to a "mother country" — Israel for the Jews, Iran for the Shiites.

He called the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah the "enemy of Sunnis" and accused it of working to protect Israel from Lebanon-based Palestinian guerrillas.

Hezbollah gained widespread popularity among both Sunnis and Shiites for its fight against Israel. But its support at home has waned amid resentment by anti-Syrian Lebanese for its alliance with Damascus and Tehran.

The head of south Lebanon's Shiite religious scholars, Sheik Afif al-Naboulsi, said the militant leader was seeking to "incite sectarian sentiments" and "name himself the leader of the Sunnis."

The conflict in Iraq has reopened the long dormant fault lines between the two communities across the Arab world, where Sunnis form the vast majority.

Sunni-led governments have shown increasing fear of restiveness among their Shiite populations. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak enraged Shiites earlier this year when he said they were more loyal to Iran than their own countries, and Jordan's King Abdullah has warned of a "Shiite crescent" of power.

It was al-Zarqawi's first message since an April 29 videotape that seemed aimed at creating a hero's image of himself in the eyes of extremists after criticism over Muslim civilian deaths in some of his attacks — particularly hotel bombings in the Jordanian capital that killed 63 people.

The video was the first to show his face and had images of him firing a machine gun in the desert and consulting with mujahedeen leaders, apparently to emphasize his control.

[Shammu]

Iran could direct Hezbollah to attack U.S.
By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - If cornered by the West over its nuclear program, Iran could direct Hezbollah to enlist its widespread international support network to aid in terrorist attacks, intelligence officials say.

In interviews with The Associated Press, several Western intelligence officials said they have seen signs that Hezbollah's fundraisers, recruiters and criminal elements could be adapted to provide logistical help to terrorist operatives.

Such help could include obtaining forged travel documents or off-the-shelf technology - global positioning equipment and night goggles, for example - that could be used for military purposes.

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The senior officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive positions they occupy.

Hezbollah was responsible for the 1983 bombings of the United States Embassy and the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. The group's Saudi wing, in coordination with the larger Lebanese Hezbollah, is blamed for the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia in 1996 that killed hundreds of American servicemen.

Tensions between Iran and the U.S. and its allies have grown over Iran's expanding nuclear program. Iran insists its aims are peaceful; U.S. officials say they are convinced the Iranians intend to develop a nuclear weapon within the next decade.

John Negroponte, head of the U.S. intelligence network, suggested in an interview aired Friday by the British Broadcasting Corp. that an Iranian bomb could be a fact in as little as four years, although he admitted, "We don't have clear-cut knowledge."

The U.S. and five other world powers agreed Thursday on a plan designed to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions. Iran's president, without directly mentioning the proposal, pledged on Friday that the West would not deprive his country of nuclear technology.

The Bush administration and U.S. allies know that Iran could order attacks. Some officials believe that threat is a bargaining chip worth more to Iran if kept in reserve.

Given the potential that diplomacy could fail to defuse the nuclear standoff, U.S. intelligence agencies are studying Iran's options to retaliate: using oil as a weapon, attacking Americans in Iraq and elsewhere, unleashing Hezbollah, or other tactics.

To the State Department, Hezbollah is a militant Lebanese group classified as a terror organization. Its terrorist wing, the Islamic Jihad Organization, is a global threat with cells in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South America, Asia and North America. Before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Hezbollah was responsible for more American deaths than any other single terrorist organization.

Yet in many countries, Hezbollah is praised for providing education, medical care and housing, particularly in Lebanon's south, and raising money for it is legal.

So far there are no signs the Iranian-backed group plans an imminent attack on U.S. interests. But the possibility has counterterrorism agencies keeping close watch as the friction with Iran grows.

U.S. analysts believe the potential is greater for Iran to use terrorism to retaliate, rather than to strike first. But they have considered scenarios under which Iran may view its own pre-emptive attack as a deterrent.

One senior official said that if Iran were backed into a corner and considered U.S.-led military action as inevitable, the Iranians might calculate that terrorism could break international unity, increase pressure on the United States or shift Americans' public opinion.

U.S. analysts, however, are cautious in their judgments about what might lead Iran to order strikes.

Hezbollah, which means Party of God, was founded in 1982 to respond to Israel's invasion of Lebanon. The radical Shi'ite organization advocates for Israel's elimination and the establishment of an Islamic government in Lebanon modeled after the religious theocracy in Iran.

With some exceptions, Hezbollah has not targeted the United States in recent years - a strategic decision that gives the group more freedom to operate, according to one U.S. counterterrorism official.

Hezbollah was tied to a string of kidnappings and assassinations of Westerners in the 1980s, ordered up by Iran. Victims included the CIA's former station chief in Tehran, William Buckley.

Hezbollah is accused of bombing the Israeli Embassy and a Jewish community center in Argentina in the early 1990s, killing more than 100. The group denies the charges.

A former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said before and right after the Sept. 11 attacks that Hezbollah was believed to have the largest embedded terrorist network inside the U.S. "I have no reason to believe that there has been a dismantlement of that capability," said former Democratic Sen. Bob Graham.

[Shammu]

TV spoof ignites Shi'ite riots in Lebanon
By The Associated Press

Every week, Lebanese tune into the TV program "A Nation's Smiles" for a dose of satire on their leaders. But when an actor in clerical robes and fake beard spoofed the leader of Hezbollah this week, mocking the militant group's fight against Israel, it took only minutes for thousands of Shi'ite viewers to turn into rioters.

For the next five hours, Shi'ite Muslims thronged the streets of south Beirut and other towns in Lebanon, waving yellow Hezbollah flags, blocking traffic - including cars trying to get to Beirut airport - and burning tires.

They also burned Lebanon's reputation as the most politically tolerant nation in the Arab world.

Rebuking the rioters, Social Affairs Minister Nayla Mouawad pointed out that the TV program was known for poking fun at politicians of all colors. "If everyone were to respond this way, then we would all be in the street."

Mouawad, who herself was spoofed in previous episodes of the program, told reporters "such criticism should be accepted by everyone."

The target of Thursday night's spoof, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, appeared to agree. Early Friday morning, he appealed on the party's TV channel for his supporters "to end the gatherings and go home."

The producer of the TV satire, Charbel Khalil, apologized. He said he deeply respected Nasrallah and the show was "was not meant to offend him." For some, this was not enough. Abdul-Hadi Mahfouz, the chairman of the National Media Council, Lebanon's press watchdog, convened an emergency meeting Friday and demanded an apology from the private channel that broadcast the show, Lebanese Broadcasting Corp.. If LBC did not apologize, he added, it could face legal action.

Satellite service providers in south Beirut, where Hezbollah enjoys strong support, announced Friday they would boycott LBC until the channel apologized.

The chief of LBC, Pierre Daher, issued a statement arguing that the program dealt with Nasrallah as a political leader "not as a religious personality or a leader of the resistance" - the accepted term for Hezbollah guerrillas.

Daher added that freedom of opinion was enshrined in Lebanon's constitution.

The Interior Ministry issued a summons for the producer to be questioned by a magistrate.

But Information Minister Ghazi Aridi appealed for "calm, wisdom and reason," adding the issue would be dealt with according to the law.

Aridi told reporters the Interior Ministry should not have issued the summons because the matter was under his ministry's jurisdiction.

The fuss reflected the political tension in Lebanon between the pro- and anti-Syrian camps. Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, has been accused by the anti-Syrian majority in parliament of serving Syria's interests. The pro-Syrians accuse the majority of working for the United States.

A possible element in the unrest is that LBC is a Christian-owned channel that is close to the Lebanese Forces, a former Christian militia during the 1975-90 civil war which is now a member of the anti-Syrian bloc in parliament.

The program "Bassmet Watan" - which means "A Nation's Smiles" or, in a pun in Lebanese slang, "A Nation That Died" - showed an actor in the role of Nasrallah talking about his alliance with Christian politician Michel Aoun. The actor wore Nasrallah's trademark black turban and sported a similar beard and spectacles.

In the scene that provoked the riot, a woman - played by a man in drag - asks Nasrallah whether Hezbollah would lay down its arms after Israel's withdraws from Chebaa Farms - a disputed piece of land on south Lebanon's border where Hezbollah guerrillas frequently fight Israeli troops. Nasrallah replies that Hezbollah's weapons will still be needed for "liberating the house of Abu Hassan in Detroit from his Jewish neighbor."

Abu Hassan is a common Shi'ite name, and many Shi'ites of Lebanese origin live in Detroit. So the remark was a dig at the lengths to which Hezbollah goes to justify keeping its weapons - despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed.

Police hardly intervened during the unrest. But 10 rioters were detained, and soldiers deployed along the border between Christian and Muslim neighborhoods of south Beirut to prevent sectarian friction.

However, some rioters did enter Ain el-Rummaneh, a Christian area, where a Christian was attacked with a stick.

A Muslim was hit by a speeding car. Both men were both admitted to hospital, said security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.