DUGIN TAKEN OFF AIR AFTER SAYING
‘A GOOD LIBERAL IS A DEAD LIBERAL.’
Sergey Dorenko, the chief editor of the Russian News Service removed the outspoken Eurasian leader Aleksandr Dugin from the air after the latter made what Dorenko said were a series of “absolutely unacceptable extremist statements.” Among them was Dugin’s suggestion that “a good liberal is a dead liberal.” (source)
Dion sacks Winnipeg candidate over 9/11 beliefs
Canwest, Sep 26 2008
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has asked Lesley Hughes, the party’s candidate in the Winnipeg riding of Kildonan-St. Paul, to step down following controversial reports of Hughes’s belief in conspiracy theories alleging the US government was behind the Sep 11 2001 terror attacks and that Israeli businesses had advance warnings. “While I appreciate her apology, I cannot condone those sentiments in any way,” Dion said. “I have, therefore, asked Ms. Hughes to step down as the Liberal Party candidate in Kildonan-St. Paul.” Dion originally defended his candidate, accusing NDP Leader Jack Layton of attracting Sep 11 conspiracists. “He has a coalition with the nudist’s party. He has a coalition with the marijuana party and maybe now with the Sep 11 conspiracists’ party.” By Friday, Dion had changed his mind.
Syria: A Car Bomb in Damascus and the Hezbollah Connection
Stratfor, Sep 27 2008
(Kuwait Times has already copied this farrago of nonsense as if it was unimpeachable inside dope. But, I’m happy to say that at least AP isn’t buying into this childishly transparent attempt to set Hezbollah and Syria at one anothers’ throats – RB)
A car bomb exploded in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Sep 27, killing 17 people and wounding 14 others. The car bomb was reportedly packed with 440 pounds of explosives and was placed near the Sayida Zeinab shrine, an important shrine for Shiite Muslims. Thus far it is unclear whether any individual was specifically targeted in the blast. Car bombs in Syria are extremely rare — the last one occurred in February when Hezbollah’s top commander Imad Mughniyah was killed. Stratfor has reason to believe that assassination was the result of a strategic decision by Damascus to pursue serious negotiations with Israel and prove its commitment to those talks by moving against Hezbollah. Since then, Syria’s relationship with Hezbollah has unraveled, with the latter losing trust in Damascus’s intentions for its former Lebanese ally. As Stratfor discussed, Syria’s current troop buildup on the Lebanese border is likely part of a strategy by the Syrian regime to set the stage for direct military intervention in Lebanon, where it aims to reassert physical control. No Lebanese group was more worried about this prospect than Hezbollah, which has been busy reaching out to its enemies in Lebanon in an attempt to build a coalition against Syria and stave off a Syrian invasion of Lebanon.
Stratfor sources (i.e. his Mossad briefers – RB) have indicated that this latest car bombing in Damascus was a warning by Hezbollah and its patron Iran to the Syrian regime not to move ahead with such a plan. Iran does not wish to lose a strategic partner in the Levant, and Hezbollah does not wish to see its military unit degraded by the Syrians. Intimidation tactics such as the large car bomb that exploded in Damascus on Sep 27 fit quite nicely into the Iranian and Hezbollah modus operandi. But it is not guaranteed that Syria will buckle under pressure from Iran and Hezbollah. Stratfor sources have indicated that despite Israel’s state of political limbo, indirect backchannel talks between the Syrians and Israelis are continuing and progressing. The Syrians can now use this attack to apply pressure on Turkey and France — the two main mediators in the peace talks — to do their part in meeting Syrian demands and moving these negotiations along so Damascus can have the confidence and incentive to more forcefully against Hezbollah in Lebanon. In any case, the Syrians will have to respond, and that response will likely first come Hezbollah’s way.
– and from the NYT:
The bombing comes at a time of intense diplomatic activity for Syria, which has been holding indirect negotiations with Israel on a possible peace deal. Those negotiations are widely believed to have caused tensions between Syria and its ally Iran. They are also said to be causing tensions with Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese Shiite group that Syria and Iran have helped to arm. Any peace deal with Israel would probably require Syria to break or at least limit its military cooperation with Iran and Hezbollah. After the killing in February of Mr. Mughniyah — one of Israel’s chief targets — there was widespread speculation that Syrian officials may have been involved.
– from Bob Herbert, NY Times
When asked again this week about her puerile linkage of foreign policy proficiency and Alaska’s proximity to Russia, this time by Katie Couric of CBS News, here is what Ms. Palin said she meant:
Palin: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land — boundary that we have with — Canada. It’s funny that a comment like that was kind of made to — cari — I don’t know, you know? Reporters …
Couric: Mocked?
Palin: Yeah, mocked. I guess that’s the word. Yeah.
It is not just painful, but frightening to watch someone who could become the vice president of the United States stumbling around like this in an interview. Ms. Couric asked Ms. Palin to explain how Alaska’s proximity to Russia “enhances your foreign policy credentials”:
Palin: Well, it certainly does, because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of. And there—
Couric: Have you ever been involved in any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?
Palin: We have trade missions back and forth. We do. It’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to our state.
It was surreal, the kind of performance that would generate a hearty laugh if it were part of a Monty Python sketch. But this is real life, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. As Ms. Palin was fumbling her way through the Couric interview, the largest bank failure in the history of the United States, the collapse of Washington Mutual, was occurring.
– and from NY Sun:
Palin: ‘Only Flag in My Office’ Is Israeli
On Sep 25, President Peres of Israel met for the first time with Governor Palin and with Senator McCain, who called the veteran Israeli statesman “my old friend.” The warm handshake and exchange of broad smiles occurred during an international gathering known as the Clinton Global Initiative, hosted by President Clinton. “I wanted to meet you for many years,” Ms. Palin told Mr. Peres, according to an aide to the president. “The only flag at my office is an Israeli flag,” she was quoted as saying, “and I want you to know and I want Israelis to know that I am a friend.”
– from Fact International (Jordan)
CAIRO – The Israeli government decision to resettle about 5000 Darfur refugees in the Negev Desert in occupied Palestine raises many questions about its real objectives and the effect of this decision on central Arab issues as well as on the Darfur crisis. Members of the Egyptian People’s Council have already informed the Egyptian Prime Minister on the dangerous consequences of this plan on Egypt’s national security. Fact International (FI) sought viewpoints of some Egyptian politicians and experts on the Darfur crisis.
Hani Arslan, Head of the Sudan and Nile Basin at the Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, said that this issue has far reaching consequences and that, from the beginning, the Zionist role in this is quite clear. Arslan told FI that Zionist organizations had played a crucial role in stirring the world media in a campaign of accusing the Sudanese government of carrying out ethnic genocide. The Darfur crisis was first highlighted at the Holocaust Museum in Germany. The Darfur Salvation Alliance, which comprised of groups of a number of Zionist organizations, was the activist party in this campaign. These organizations collected billions of dollars of donations, but nothing of this money was spent on the Darfur refugees. The money was used to finance an international media campaign designed to exert pressure on the Sudanese government and to push the US Administration to impose tougher sanctions on Sudan. Arslan said that US President George Bush himself noted the role of this Alliance when he announced the ‘Sudan Punishment Law.’
According to Arslan one of the objectives of the Zionists is to exploit the Darfur refugee crisis for the benefit of Israel. By planning to resettle the refugees Israel will show the world that it is performing a ‘humanitarian duty’ and is protecting them from the tyranny of the undemocratic Arab and Muslim states. Another objective is to ‘pour more fuel into the fire’ of the Darfur crisis. Besides, by exploiting the refugees ‘Arabic language capability and their good physiques’ Israel will gain by choosing the most qualified and will recruit them as Israeli agents and send them to Arab and Islamic countries. Other refugees will be used as cheap labour in menial jobs and will be resettled in remote areas that are unacceptable for Jews to live in. Israel’s strategic objective by resettling the refugees is to fragment the country. Arslan concluded that this Israeli strategy is from the days of Ben Gurion and it is aimed to keep the Arabs embroiled in internal conflicts.
Assad Abbud, a member of the Egyptian People’s Council, told FI that the plan to resettle the Darfur refugees will be very harmful to the Palestinian cause and to the future of the crisis in Darfur as well. “They are not Jews. They will be included in the Israeli military and intelligence services and this is a dangerous move, if not now, certainly it will be in the future,” said Abbud. Brigadier Adel Suleiman, a strategic expert and head of the Center for Political and Future Studies, said that the Israeli plan reveals the hidden intentions of the Zionists and their continuous hostility towards Arabs and Muslims. Suleiman said that the Zionists always wait for the opportunity to fuel sedition and internal conflicts inside the Arab world. He added that this clearly illustrated the Zionist conspiracies in Sudan, Lebanon and Iraq because they believe that this is essential to keep the Israeli state secure within the Arab region.
EuCom deploys radar, troops to Israel
Gayle S. Putrich, Army Times, Sep 26 2008
US European Command has deployed to Israel a high-powered X-band radar and the supporting people and equipment needed for coordinated defense against Iranian missile attack, marking the first permanent US military presence on Israeli soil. More than a dozen aircraft, including C-5s and C-17s, helped with the Sep 21 delivery of the AN/TPY-2 Transportable Radar Surveillance/Forward Based X-band Transportable, its ancillary components and some 120 EuCom personnel to Israel’s Nevatim Air Base southeast of Beersheba, said sources here and in Stuttgart, Germany. Among the US personnel is at least one representative from the Missile Defense Agency, although officials said the agency had little to no say in the deployment decision. MDA involvement has been confined to providing equipment and advice on technical aspects of its deployment, one official said. The Raytheon-built FBX-T system is the same phased-array radar that was deployed to northern Japan with the US Pacific Air Forces in 2006. The high-powered, high-frequency, transportable X-band radar is designed to detect and track ballistic missiles soon after launch. Its ancillary gear included cooling systems, generators, perimeter defense weaponry, logistics supplies and dozens of technicians, maintenance specialists and security forces to operate and defend the US installation. EuCom has repeatedly deployed troops and Patriot air defense batteries for joint exercises and Iraq-related wartime contingencies but has never before permanently deployed troops on Israeli soil.
In previous interviews, US and Israeli officials confirmed that the X-band deployment plan was approved in July, first by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his Israeli counterpart, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi; and then by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The radar will be linked to the US Joint Tactical Ground Station, which receives and processes threat data transmitted by US Defense Support System satellites. According to US and Israeli sources, JTAGS will remain in Europe, but its essential cueing data will stream into the forward-deployed X-band radar, where it instantaneously shares information with Israel’s Arrow Weapon System. Once operational, the combined US and Israeli system is expected to double or even triple the range at which Israel can detect, track and ultimately intercept Iranian missiles, according to Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, director of the MDA. A US government source said the X-band deployment and other bilateral alliance-bolstering activities send parallel messages: “First, we want to put Iran on notice that we’re bolstering our capabilities throughout the region, and especially in Israel. But just as important, we’re telling the Israelis, ‘Calm down; behave. We’re doing all we can to stand by your side and strengthen defenses, because at this time, we don’t want you rushing into the military option.’”
TTP asks Fidayeen-e-Islam to change name
Daily Times Monitor, Pakistan, Sep 27 2008
LAHORE: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has demanded the Fidayeen-e-Islam, a militant outfit that has claimed responsibility for the September 20 bombing of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, change its name, the BBC Urdu service reported. Taliban spokesman Zulfikar Mehsud told BBC from an undisclosed location that the TTP already had an organised subsidiary branch with the name of Fidayeen-e-Islam, which he said had nothing to do with the Marriott bombing, and it would be better for the group calling itself Fidayeen-e-Islam to use another name. According to BBC, the TTP announced the establishment of Fidayeen-e-Islam in February 2007. The organisation was, however, not heard of following the announcement.
Niqnaq 