Monthly Archives: January 2012

Inside Mossad’s war on Tehran

open quoteSince its foundation in 1948, Israel has used assassination as a national weapon, striking targets abroad ranging from Palestinians who killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, to enemies on the streets of Amman and a Hamas leader in a Dubai hotel room in 2010.

Now Iran is the target. In the past two years assassins have attacked five scientists in the state nuclear program, killing four of them. Mossad, the Israeli external intelligence agency, is widely believed to be responsible.

The murder of civilians divides Iran’s critics — and Israel’s. Some find it repugnant, others see them as casualties in an undeclared war that is greatly preferable to the alternative of full-scale conflict.

One Israeli source claimed the killings were a precursor to a military strike, not merely an alternative, to make it more difficult for Iran to rebuild facilities if they are bombed.

Last week Iran defiantly announced it was enriching uranium at a new site, Fordo, built under a mountain near the holy city of Qom to protect it from aerial attack. The assassins were ready.

As Roshan, 32, prepared to leave home, he was monitored from a makeshift control room in a safe house nearby. Israeli agents were also watching the entrance to Iranian intelligence headquarters in the city centre. Suddenly they noticed a number of cars and people running; then they saw police rushing into the nearby streets. Another agent monitoring radio traffic between the Tehran police and security forces confirmed unusual activity. Had the operation been exposed?

In 1997 two agents of Caesarea, Mossad’s top hit squad, had bungled an attempt to kill a Palestinian leader in Jordan and were arrested before they could flee, triggering a diplomatic crisis. Jordan is relatively friendly to Israel. Iran is its bitterest enemy.close quote (Read more)

Killing Iranian Nuclear Scientists Is Counterproductive and Wrong (duh!)

open quoteMostafa Ahmadi-Rowshan was on his way to a ceremony on Wednesday commemorating the second anniversary of the death of one of his colleagues, nuclear physicist , who had been assassinated by a remote-controlled explosive outside his home. As his sedan drove down in Tehran’s morning rush hour traffic, two assailants riding on a motorcycle attached a magnetic bomb to his car. A few seconds later, it detonated, killing the 32-year old scientist and his driver and sending shock waves across the country.

Rowshan was indeed involved in Iran’s nuclear program. He was the deputy director of the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz and led its procurements department. He had previously worked at the Iran’s covert centrifuge research and development center in Kalaye Electric Company. Iran’s past history of concealment and defiance has fueled international concerns about the country’s intent to acquire nuclear weapons. Uranium enrichment, an activity that can fuel both reactors and weapons, is at the crux of Iran’s nuclear crisis. But Rowshan’s scientific credentials and affiliation with Iran’s atomic energy organization do not provide justification for his abhorrent killing.

Although the Iranian regime has blamed the United States and Israel for the “heinous act,” whoever perpetrated this murder was no friend of the U.S. This mishap occurred in the wake of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s call on Iran “to return to negotiations with the P5+1,” the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany. The statement deplored Tehran’s decision to start uranium enrichment at a bunker facility in Fordow, but it reiterated that the goal of U.S. policy is “reaching a comprehensive, negotiated solution that restores confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.” The assassination clearly undermines this objective.
vaez fergunson inset photo.jpgMostafa Ahmadi-Rowshan with his son / Farsnews

Notwithstanding Secretary Clinton’s immediate reaction to the assassination by categorically denying “any United States involvement in any kind of act of violence inside Iran,” Tehran blamed the bombing on “America and the criminal Zionist regime.”close quote (Read more)

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This isn’t the most reliable source, as it may be under Iranian government influence, but it’s easy to imagine this happening when people are threatened by a secretive, powerful enemy:

Over 1000 students apply to change major to nuclear physics, engineering
open quoteTEHRAN, Jan. 16 (MNA) – A number of students at the Sharif University of Technology have announced their readiness to work in the nuclear industry promising to rob the enemies of sleep, Mehrdad Bazrpash, an official at the university, said on Monday.

The news came five days after Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, a graduate of Sharif university in chemical engineering and an official at the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, was assassinated in Tehran. close quote (Read more)

Iran, US and Israel announce new war games as tensions rise in the Gulf

(January 6th)
open quoteTensions on the oil shipping lanes in the Gulf have escalated with the announcement of new naval exercises by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and news that Israel and the US are planning to carry out extensive joint manoeuvres in the region.

The naval commander for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, said the drill in February would be “different compared to previous exercises held by the IRGC”. The Iranian navy finished 10 days of exercises in the Gulf on Monday, during which it tested a range of new missiles. It warned that Iran could close the strait of Hormuz, the narrowest point in the Gulf, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes.

On the same day, the Israeli military said it was preparing for joint exercises with the US to rehearse missile defence and co-operation between the forces.close quote (Read more)

Iran Threatens Retaliation If US Carrier Returns To Persian Gulf, Where 5th Navy Is Stationed

(January 3rd)
open quoteDon’t look now but oil is spiking as the market is finally realizing that the escalation in the Persian Gulf is more than just for show (which curiously was once again set off by Obama establishing a full financial embargo of all Iranian activity on New Year’s Eve, leading the Rial to plunge to a new record low, and about to set a brand new scramble for physical gold in the country on the verge of hyperinflation). At last check WTI was up over $2.50 with the market realizing that either Dalio will be right (central banks going into overdrive) or the Iranian escalation will finally pass the trigger threshold, and Brent was over $110. Today’s escalation, just as requested by the US, is not another missile launch but a threat by the Iran military to retaliate if the US carrier John Stennis were to once again cross the Straits of Hormuz and return to the Gulf. As a reminder, as of December 23, as was observed by Stratfor before the hacker takedown and reported here, the Stennis was within shouting distance. From Reuters: “Iran will take action if a U.S. aircraft carrier which left the area because of Iranian naval exercises returns to the Gulf, the state news agency quoted army chief Ataollah Salehi as saying on Tuesday. “Iran will not repeat its warning … the enemy’s carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill. I recommend and emphasise to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf,” Salehi told IRNA.”close quote (Read more)

The Atlantic does its part to make Iran war normal

The Plane That Would Bomb Iran
open quoteIn June of last year, I went to Andersen Air Force Base, in Guam, to be embedded with the squadron flying the Air Force’s top-of-the-line strategic weapon: the B-2 Spirit, a massive, nuclear-capable stealth bomber that looks like a jagged boomerang and, with a price tag of nearly $1.2 billion, makes other planes seem cheap. It was my third visit in two years to Guam, an island of growing significance in America’s military-deployment strategy. The occasion for my visit was Valiant Shield, a military exercise—and the largest display of U. S. military power in the Pacific since the Vietnam War—in which several B-2s would be participating. Valiant Shield 2006 featured three aircraft-carrier strike groups, with all of their attendant destroyers, cruisers, frigates, submarines, and aircraft—290 aircraft in all, including B-2s, Marine F-18Cs, Navy F/A-18Es, and Air Force F-15Es. Never mind the official rhetoric—the point of this show of force was to impress adversaries like North Korea and competitors like China. (China had been invited to send a military delegation; the day before I arrived, Chinese officials were inspecting the bombers from the outside.)

Andersen Air Force Base has long had a squadron of heavy bombers, deployed there to be close to Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula. On one of my previous visits to the base, in the autumn of 2004, I’d spent time with B-52 pilots from Barksdale Air Force Base, near Shreveport, Louisiana. They were young, happy-go-lucky, uncomplicated. I was profoundly curious about the B-2 pilots. For a host of reasons, they had to be different. close quote (Read more)

U.S. District Court Rules Iran Behind 9/11 Attacks

open quote U.S. District Court Rules Iran Behind 9/11 Attacks

PR Newswire

NEW YORK, December 23, 2011

NEW YORK, December 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ —

A federal district court in Manhattan yesterday entered a historic ruling that
reveals new facts about Iran’s support of al Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks. U.S.
District Judge George B. Daniels ruled yesterday that Iran and Hezbollah
materially and directly supported al Qaeda in the September 11, 2001 attacks
and are legally responsible for damages to hundreds of family members of 9/11
victims who are plaintiffs in the case.

Judge Daniels had announced his ruling in Havlish, et al. v. bin
Laden, et al. , in open court on Thursday, December 15, 2011, following a
three-hour courtroom presentation by the families’ attorneys. Judge Daniels
entered a written Order of Judgment yesterday backed by 53 pages of detailed
Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

Fiona Havlish, whose husband Donald perished in the World Trade Center North
Tower on 9/11 said, “This is a historic day. For ten years we’ve wanted the
truth to be known about who was responsible for our losses. Now we have that
answer.”

Ellen Saracini, the wife of United Airlines 175 pilot Victor Saracini, which
the hijackers crashed into the WTC South Tower, said after the hearing last
Thursday, “We just came from Judge Daniels’ court where he ruled in favor of
holding accountable those who perpetrated the attacks of 9/11… I just smiled
up to Victor and I said we’re still thinking about you … we’re there for you
… we’ll always be there for you. But today’s very special.”

In Havlish, et al. v. bin La den, et al. , Judge Daniels held
that the Islamic Republic of Iran, its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini
Khamenei, former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Iran’s
agencies and instrumentalities, including, among others, the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”), the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and
Security (“MOIS”), and Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah, all materially aided
and supported al Qaeda before and after 9/11.

“The families have waited a very long time for this day and they have been
through a lot. close quote (Read more)

Looks like there’s a website dedicated to this nonsense.

France and Germany push to eliminate competition from low-tax countries

From today’s Open Europe news summary (my emphasis in italicized bold lettering):

France and Germany push for greater “tax coordination” in the EU and swifter negotiations on FTT
France and Germany yesterday unveiled a set of joint proposals which they say would boost growth in the EU. The proposals will be submitted to European leaders at their meeting on 30 January. The document reads, “European institutions and member states should accelerate the process of tax coordination…In particular, the negotiation of the European Commission proposals on Energy Tax Directive, Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base and Common System of Financial Transaction Tax should be accelerated.”

In an interview with Bild, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán argues, “We support the initiative of Chancellor Angela Merkel on the fiscal union. But we strictly reject a Europe-wide harmonised tax system. Hungary’s low tax rate is for us a competitive advantage that we cannot do without.” Handelsblatt notes that the Czech Republic has voiced opposition to the introduction of an EU-wide FTT.

GoDaddy and SOPA

GoDaddy not only helped write #SOPA they are also exempt from it.
open quoteYou may have heard about the mass exodus of customers from GoDaddy due to their support of SOPA. You may have also heard that GoDaddy no longer supports SOPA. The problem is, only one of those things is true. While GoDaddy no longer publicly supports SOPA, that is just a PR move. They have not withdrawn official support for the bill, let alone actually come out in opposition to it. But it gets worse. According to [THIS ARTICLE], not only did GoDaddy help write the damn thing, they are also exempt from complying with the law!close quote (Read more)

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Imgur to Boycott GoDaddy Over SOPA Support
(Read more)

www.carbonated.tv/biztech/wikipedia-boycotts-godaddy-over-sopa
(Read more)

How to Jump Ship from GoDaddy to a Better Web Host and Registrar
(Read more)

Boycott forces GoDaddy to drop its support for SOPA (Read more)

GoDaddy Boycott Fizzles; Twice As Many Domains Transfer In As Out
(Read more)

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List of Companies behind SOPA

List of Companies behind PIPA

AP: CIA eyes up to 5M tweets a day

open quoteThe Central Intelligence Agency is systematically monitoring Twitter, following up to 5 million foreign tweets a day, according to a new report.

The CIA’s Open Source Center reviews and analyzes information widely available to the general public, including Twitter and Facebook, and keeps eyes on everything from blogs to tweets to more traditional media, The Associated Press says in a feature article on the unit.close quote (Read more)

US Threatened To Blacklist Spain For Not Implementing Site Blocking Law

open quoteIn a leaked letter sent to Spain’s outgoing President, the US ambassador to the country warned that as punishment for not passing a SOPA-style file-sharing site blocking law, Spain risked being put on a United States trade blacklist . Inclusion would have left Spain open to a range of “retaliatory options” but already the US was working with the incoming government to reach its goals.

United States government interference in Spain’s intellectual property laws had long been suspected, but it was revelations from Wikileaks that finally confirmed the depth of its involvement.

More than 100 leaked cables showed that the US had helped draft new Spanish copyright legislation and had heavily influenced the decisions of both the government and opposition.

Now, another diplomatic leak has revealed how the US voiced its anger towards outgoing President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero last month upon realizing that his government was unlikely to pass the US-drafted Sinde (site blocking) Law before leaving office.close quote (Read more)

Assange: ‘iPhone, BlackBerry, Gmail users – you’re all screwed’

open quoteSurveillance companies can use your iPhone to take photos of you and your surroundings without your knowledge, said a representative from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism at a panel chaired by Julian Assangeâ„¢ today.

Companies also sell products that will let them change the messages you write, track your location and nick your email contacts, claimed speakers on the panel that included representatives from Privacy International and the aforementioned bureau.

The privacy campaigners, speaking in London, pulled out some of the most sensational revelations in the 287 documents about the international surveillance industry published today by WikiLeaks (but you read it here first). The documents cover a total of 160 companies in 25 countries.

“Who here has an iPhone, who has a BlackBerry, who uses Gmail?” Assange asked. “Well you’re all screwed,” he continued, “the reality is that intelligence operations are selling right now mass surveillance systems for all those products”.close quote