Ex-CIA official Robert Baer
believes an Israeli strike against Tehran is rather imminent; predicts US will
have to get involved Israel may mount a strike
against Iran in the fall, longtime CIA officer Robert Baer, who spent 21
years in the Middle East, told a Los Angeles radio station Saturday.
Baer ventured such a move will drag the United States into another major war
and endangering US military and civilian personnel throughout the Middle East
and beyond.
Baer spoke on the provocative KPFK Los Angeles show Background Briefing, hosted
by Ian Masters.
Baer didn't name sources for his prediction of an Israeli attack, but
the few he did cite are all Israeli security figures who have publically warned
that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was adamant to strike Iran, such as former Mossad Chief
Meir Dagan.
Baer said that "There is almost near certainty that Netanyahu is
planning an attack (on Iran)… and it will probably be in September before the
vote on a Palestinian state. And he's also hoping to draw the United States into
the conflict," he explained.
The ex-CIA official went on to guess that the Israeli air force would attack
"Natanz and other nuclear facilities to degrade their capabilities. The Iranians
will strike back where they can: Basra, Baghdad," effectively forcing the US to
"jump into the fight" with attacks on Iranian targets.
"Our special forces are already looking at Iranian targets in Iraq and across
the border (in Iran) which we would strike. What we're facing here is an
escalation, rather than a planned out-and-out war...it's a nightmare scenario.
We don't have enough troops in the Middle East to fight a war like that. I think
we are looking into the abyss," he said.
Dagan: Iran strike - only as last
resort
Ex-Mossad chief warns against
military attack on Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities, says regional conflict
might drag Hezbollah, Syria into war. Dagan also voices opposition to returning
captive soldier Gilad Shalit 'at all costs'
Former Mossad Chief Meir Dagan on Wednesday said that a strike on Iran should
only be considered as the last resort and after all other means and methods have
been exhausted.
Speaking at a conference at the Tel Aviv University, Dagan said: "A military
attack will give the Iranians the best excuse to pursue the nuclear race.
Khamenei will say 'I was attacked by a country with nuclear capabilities; my
nuclear program was peaceful, but I must protect my country. "
The former secret service chief warned that if a regional war breaks after
Israel attacks Iran, Hezbollah will join forces with the Islamic Republic, and
Syria might also be dragged into the confrontation.
Dagan also addressed reports of trade ties between the Ofer Brothers and the
Islamic Republic. "There is no law prohibiting a ship from docking in Iran," he said.
"I am not the defender of the Ofer family, nor am I their representative – I
simply care about the State of Israel; I care for the thousands of employees
working for the Ofer family, whose livelihood might be jeopardized. "
Dagan also referred to the legal aspect of the affair, saying "they didn’t trade
with Iran – they are a shipping company; besides, there is no boycott on Iran,"
he stated.
Dagan, currently the chairman of Gulliver Energy Ltd, a gas and oil
exploration company, also commented on the peace process, saying that Israel
should have accepted the "Saudi Peace Initiative", which he claimed provided "a
good basis to adopt" because it does not deal with core issues such as the
refugees.
Speaking of the recent reconciliation pact between Hamas and Fatah, the
former Mossad chief said "there is a very problematic situation between Hamas
and the Palestinian Authority, which presents Israel with complex dilemmas.
'Israel facing complex
dilemmas.' Dagan (Photo: Ben Kelmer)
"Parts of the Authority do not recognize Israel, and this casts doubt on
whether an agreement with the Palestinians will have validity in the future," he
said, noting that Israel should wait until "the dust settles on their
relationship. This is not an historic pact because the conceptual ideological
differences are crosscutting – not only on the Israeli issue, but also vis-à-vis
Palestinian society as a whole."
During the panel, Dagan commented on kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit,
saying that "returning a soldier at all costs is something the state cannot
withstand."
Dagan stressed that while he is not opposed to a prisoner exchange deal,
he does not support the current one that will see 450 prisoners with blood on
their hands set free.
"What will be the human cost of such a deal? A day will come when a father will
say – who allowed you to play with the fate of my son who was killed because you
released a murderer."
Throughout his speech, Dagan referred indirectly to the criticism
directed at him and other security officials who publicly commented on sensitive
issues after retiring from their posts. "I think it is the duty of former senior
officials to present their opinions although sometimes these may be unpopular,"
he noted.
America states
U.S. intelligence on alert for Israeli strike on Iran
The Pentagon is watching for the possibility that Israel could use the
occasion of an alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the
United States as a pretext for launching a long-anticipated attack on Iran’s
nuclear sites, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.
The source, who is in a position to monitor Israeli defense activities, said
the U.S. is watching “an indicator and warning matrix” in which the U.S. can “go
so far as to plot the illumination tables to pick out what nights would be best”
for such an attack.
The intelligence source said that there is “a green light” for the Israelis
“to do a strike.”
The source said that the concern among some U.S. analysts is that an attack
could be “imminent.”
For some time, Israel has sought to get the U.S. to launch an attack on
Iran’s nuclear-enrichment facilities sprinkled throughout the country. Until
now, however, the U.S. has sought to impose more stringent sanctions against the
Islamic republic, even though Tehran insists that its nuclear program is for
peaceful purposes and it has a “right” under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
treaty to engage in enrichment for its reactors.
The indicators and warning, or I&W, are being watched closely following
an arrest last month and an indictment this week in a New York federal
courthouse in Manhattan of an Iranian-American, Mansour Arbabsiar, allegedly for
conspiring to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., Adel al-Jubier.
Arbabsiar was arrested in a sting operation by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
The U.S. alleges that Arbabsiar, a used-car salesman living in Texas, had
conspired with individuals in Iran said to be linked to Iran’s Quds Force. The
Quds Force is an arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps that undertakes
foreign operations.
According to the indictment, Arbabsiar allegedly had contacted a member of a
Mexican drug cartel who was an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to
carry out the assassination at a Washington restaurant frequented by
al-Jubier.
Arbabsiar allegedly was to funnel some $1.5 million from the Quds Force to
the Mexican drug cartel contact. Prior to the arrest, two payments adding up to
$100,000 allegedly were sent from Iran as a down payment, with the rest to be
paid once al-Jubier was killed.
A total of $5 million potentially was to be paid out for other operations,
which allegedly were to include attacks on the Israeli and Saudi embassies in
Argentina following al-Jubier’s assassination.
The U.S. intelligence source said while some analysts believe an Israeli
attack may be imminent, close I&W monitoring of Israeli defense posture
indicated that only their civil defense had been “spun up” at the moment.
“You can’t launch a strike where the possibility of massive retaliation is
very high and not have anything activated,” he said.
“One curious thing is that we’re taking a lot of imagery of the (Israeli)
defense sites – more than usual,” he added. “You might see one report every few
weeks on something (but) there were five just today.”
Even President Obama has stated that “nothing is off the table” when it comes
to responding to Iran.
FROM
JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN
U.S. intelligence on alert for Israeli strike on Iran
Pentagon monitoring ally to see if attack 'imminent'
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is watching for the possibility that Israel could
use the occasion of an alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador
to the United States as a pretext for launching a long-anticipated attack on
Iran's nuclear sites, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
The source, who is in a position to monitor Israeli defense activities, said
the U.S. is watching "an indicator and warning matrix" in which the U.S. can "go
so far as to plot the illumination tables to pick out what nights would be best"
for such an attack.
The intelligence source said that there is "a green light" for the Israelis
"to do a strike."
The source said that the concern among some U.S. analysts is that an attack
could be "imminent."
For some time, Israel has sought to get the U.S. to launch an attack on
Iran's nuclear-enrichment facilities sprinkled throughout the country. Until
now, however, the U.S. has sought to impose more stringent sanctions against the
Islamic republic, even though Tehran insists that its nuclear program is for
peaceful purposes and it has a "right" under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
treaty to engage in enrichment for its reactors.
The indicators and warning, or I&W, are being watched closely following
an arrest last month and an indictment this week in a New York federal
courthouse in Manhattan of an Iranian-American, Mansour Arbabsiar, allegedly for
conspiring to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., Adel al-Jubier.
Arbabsiar was arrested in a sting operation by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
The U.S. alleges that Arbabsiar, a used-car salesman living in Texas, had
conspired with individuals in Iran said to be linked to Iran's Quds Force. The
Quds Force is an arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps that undertakes
foreign operations.
According to the indictment, Arbabsiar allegedly had contacted a member of a
Mexican drug cartel who was an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to
carry out the assassination at a Washington restaurant frequented by al-Jubier.
Arbabsiar allegedly was to funnel some $1.5 million from the Quds Force to
the Mexican drug cartel contact. Prior to the arrest, two payments adding up to
$100,000 allegedly were sent from Iran as a down payment, with the rest to be
paid once al-Jubier was killed.
A total of $5 million potentially was to be paid out for other operations,
which allegedly were to include attacks on the Israeli and Saudi embassies in
Argentina following al-Jubier's assassination.
The U.S. intelligence source said while some analysts believe an Israeli
attack may be imminent, close I&W monitoring of Israeli defense posture
indicated that only their civil defense had been "spun up" at the moment.
"You can't launch a strike where the possibility of massive retaliation is
very high and not have anything activated," he said.
"One curious thing is that we're taking a lot of imagery of the (Israeli)
defense sites – more than usual," he added. "You might see one report every few
weeks on something (but) there were five just today."
Even President Obama has stated that "nothing is off the table" when it comes
to responding to Iran. Keep in touch with the most important breaking news stories about
critical developments around the globe with Joseph
Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium, online intelligence news source edited and
published by the founder of WND. For the complete report and full
immediate access to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, subscribe
now.
Iran actress sentenced to one year in jail:
report
Oct 9 03:15 PM
US/Eastern
Actress Marzieh Vafamehr has been sentenced to a year
in jail and 90 lashes for her role in a film about the limits imposed on artists
in the Islamic republic, an Iranian opposition website reported Sunday.
"A verdict has been issued for Marzieh Vafamehr, sentencing her to a year in
jail and 90 lashes," Kalameh.com reported.
"Her lawyer has appealed the sentence, which was handed down yesterday
(Saturday)," the report added, without giving further details.
Vafamehr was arrested in July after appearing in "My Tehran for Sale," which
came under harsh criticism in conservative circles.
The film, produced in collaboration with Australia, tells the story of a
young actress in Tehran whose theatre work is banned by the authorities. She is
then forced to lead a secret life in order to express herself artistically.
The Fars news agency said the movie had not been approved for screening in
Iran and was being distributed in the country illegally.
Vafamehr was released in late July after posting unspecified bail.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Was Al-Awlaki involved in 9/11? House investigate U.S. born Al-Qaeda cleric's links to suicide hijackers
U.S. investigators are looking into the possibility radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was overlooked as a key player in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In a letter obtained by Fox News, congressman Peter King of New York wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder saying investigators believe it is more than coincidence the American cleric had contact with three of the five hijackers who flew a plane into the Pentagon on September 11. Extracts from the letter confirm the House Homeland Security Committee are investigating: 'To what extent Anwar al-Awlaki wittingly or unwittingly facilitated the plot of the 9/11 hijackers.'
Investigated: Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric linked to al-Qaeda in Yemen speaking from an undisclosed location
While they are also trying to establish: 'To what extent al-Awlaki was an al Qaeda operative, offering support to acts of terrorism prior to 9/11.' The revelation indicates that the full story behind the terrorist attacks on September 11 may not have been uncovered yet. The documents, seen by Fox News also alledge that: 'Given the greater collection of intelligence and integration of pertinent data since the attacks of 9/11, I believe that al-Awlaki may have played greater roles in the terrorist attacks of 9/11, as well as other terrorist plots, than those of which we have been previously aware.
'Accordingly, I request the full assistance of the Department of Justice in carrying out this inquiry.'
Al-Awlaki is said to have inspired attacks by Muslims inside the U.S - including the Fort Hood, Texas, shootings in 2009, which left 13 dead
U.S. born radical al-Awlaki is widely believed to be the mastermind behind a number of terror atrocities and the leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). AQAP is estimated to number about 300 militants with strongholds in a number of remote mountain regions. It is thought to be behind numerous attacks on government targets and is said to have inspired attacks by Muslims inside the United States - including the Fort Hood, Texas, shootings in which an Army psychiatrist is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32. It's also thought the group has twice smuggled explosives aboard aircraft headed to the United States.
Al-Awlaki's chilling plans for a Mumbai-style terror attack on Britain were were also previuosly uncovered. Chilling email exchanges between an undercover Sun reporter and al-Awlaki - widely tipped to succeed Osama bin Laden as Al Qaeda leader - outlines the various options open to extremists who want to launch an attack on British soil.
The calls have reached a point of repetitive regularity for muslim civil rights lawyer Gadeir Abbas: A young muslim-American, somewhere in the world, is barred from boarding an airplane. (And this is a bad thing, because why?)
The exact reasons are never fully articulated, but the reality is clear. The traveler has been placed on the government’s terror watchlist—or the more serious no-fly list—and clearing one’s name becomes a legal and bureaucratic nightmare. On Monday Abbas sent letters to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and FBI Director Robert Mueller requesting assistance for his two most recent clients. One is a resident of Portland, Ore. who is trying to fly to Italy to live with his mother. The other, a teenager and U.S. citizen living in Jordan, has been unable to travel to Connecticut to lead prayers at a mosque. “All American citizens have the unqualified right to reside in the United States,” Abbas wrote Monday in a letter to secretary of State Hillary Clinton seeking a change in status for the client in Jordan. Abbas, a lawyer with the Terrorist Front Group CAIR Council on American-Islamic Relations, tries to piece together the reason why a client has been placed on the list.(Gee, let me guess) Perhaps a person has a similar name to a known terrorist. Maybe their travels to Yemen or some other Middle East hot spot have garnered suspicion. Maybe they told the FBI to take a hike when they requested an interview.(All valid reasons to keep muslims off planes) Ultimately, though, the reasons are almost irrelevant. From Abbas’ perspective, the placement on the no-fly list amounts to a denial of a traveler’s basic rights: U.S. citizens can’t return home from overseas vacations, children are separated from parents, and those under suspicion are denied the basic due process rights that would allow them to clear their name. (Good!) Abbas describes the security bureaucracy as Kafkaesque, a labyrinthine maze of overlapping agencies, all of which refuse to provide answers unless they are threatened with legal action. One lawsuit is still pending in federal court in Alexandria, Va. That case has followed what has become a familiar pattern: Abbas either files a lawsuit or exposes the case to public scrutiny through the media, and within a few days the individual in question is able to travel. Government officials then ask a judge to dismiss any lawsuits that were filed, saying the cases are now moot. “The amount of people who experience tragic, life-altering travel delays is significant,” said Abbas, who estimates he gets a call at least once a month from a Muslim American in dire straits because their travel has been restricted. (Life altering? Dire straits? Oh please, so what if they miss their pilgrimage to Mecca?) Government officials, of course, see it differently. They say they have a Traveler Redress Inquiry Program that lets people wrongly placed on the no-fly list, or the much broader terrorist watchlist, fix their circumstances. More broadly, the government has argued in court that placing somebody on the no-fly list does not deprive them of any constitutional rights. Just because a person can’t fly doesn’t mean they can’t travel, the government lawyers argue. They can always take a boat, for example. (Or a camel) “Neither Plaintiff nor any other American citizen has either a right to international travel or a right to travel by airplane,” government lawyers wrote in their defense against a lawsuit by another of Abbas’ clients. The teenager from Virginia had found himself stuck in Kuwait after suspicions about has travel to Somalia apparently landed him on the no-fly list. Exactly how many people are on the government’s lists is unclear. Some of the most recent estimates, from late 2009, state that about 400,000 individuals are on the “watchlist,” which requires a “reasonable suspicion” that the person is known or suspected to be engaged in terrorist activities. A much smaller number—about 14,000—is on the “selectee list,” meaning they will likely have to undergo rigorous screening to travel. And officials estimated that 3,400 individuals, including roughly 170 U.S. residents, are on the no-fly list. Michael Migliore was told by security officials last month that he is on the no-fly list after he tried to take a flight from Portland, Ore., to Italy following his college graduation. Migliore, 23, a Muslim, suspects he was placed on the no-fly list after he refused to talk to the FBI without a lawyer in November 2010, when the bureau was investigating an acquaintance charged in a plot to detonate bomb at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony. (They should let him fly…after they deport him) In another case, an 18 year-old U.S. citizen living in Jordan with his parents was bounced from an EgyptAir flight to New York. Amr Abulrub had planned to lead
Amr Abualrub, radical muslim "scholar"
Ramadan prayers at a Connecticut mosque. After a few days of confusion, Abulrub learned from airline officials that the U.S. government had instructed EgyptAir to cancel his ticket. U.S. embassy officials in Amman have subsequently told Abulrub he can travel under certain restrictions, including a requirement that his flight to the U.S. be booked on an American airline. But Abulrub is leery of traveling at all for fear that he won’t be allowed to go back to Jordan. (The U.S. is where he shouldn’t be allowed to return)
Abulrub’s father, Jalal Abulrub, suspects his son has come to the attention of U.S. authorities because of his own writings. Jalal is a Salafist scholar who has sometimes written provocative articles and antagonized Christian evangelists he believed were disrespectful to Muslims. While Jalal says his family is Salafist—generally considered a fundamentalist sect of Islam—he is quick to point out that he has a long history of writing in opposition to the ideology espoused by Osama bin laden and al-Qaida. (Yeah, sure he did) “I am not going to let this go,” Jalal said, referring to his son’s inability to travel. “We don’t allow anyone to oppress us.”(Then get out of this country if you don’t like it)
Whatever the country, this girl was repeatedly raped by at least 50 Muslim men over a month’s time. When she finally got out and went to the police, they beat her as well and treated her like a prostitute.
While America focuses on its internal problems and its involvement in three wars and the world focuses on the global economy, Iran is progressing on three dangerous fronts: nuclear weapons, armed missiles and naval capability.
Despite four sets of United Nations sanctions and pressure by the United States and Europe, Iran has chosen not only to continue its nuclear program but to expand it. Iran’s leaders, dominated by fanatical mullahs, announced in mid-July that the installment of faster centrifuges had begun and that they will soon triple the production of enriched uranium to 20 percent at the Fardo nuclear facility deep in the mountain near the city of Qom. It is estimated that Iran will have enough highly enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb within two months and currently has enough low-enriched uranium for three nuclear bombs.
Retired CIA Man: Israel Likely to Strike Iran Soon
by Chana Ya'ar
Follow Israel news
A former CIA operative says Israel is likely to strike Iran before the Palestinian Authority attempts to win membership at the United Nations this September.
Robert Baer spent 21 years in the Middle East, including Syria – now in the grip of a budding civil war – and Lebanon, under the thumb of the Hizbullah terrorist organization. He told listeners in Los Angeles while being interviewed on KPFK Radio last Tuesday that recent public comments by former Mossad director Meir Dagan were very revealing.
Among other remarks, Dagan had warned that an Israeli attack on Iran could lead to a regional war.
Baer said that Dagan's comments, criticized by many lawmakers in Israel, “tell us with near certainty that [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu is planning an attack, and inasmuch as I can guess when it's going to be, it's probably going to be in September, before a [U.N. General Assembly] vote on the Palestinian state.”
The retired CIA operative said he did not agree with Dagan's assessment, however, and opined that a regional war was unlikely.
Nevertheless, he noted that there is a “warning order” inside the Pentagon to prepare for conflict with Iran. “We've started to look at Iran's targets in Iraq and across the border,” he said.
He predicted that Israel would most likely attack the Natanz nuclear facility and “a couple of others to degrade their capabilities.”
