echkelon

Eyes Wide Shut: With EU Oil Ban U.S. Calls the Shots in Iran Escalation

2012-02-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

When the European Union declared on Monday that it will impose an oil embargo on the Islamic Republic, it set the stage for a new escalation of the Western-created crisis over claims that Iran has an active nuclear weapons program.

In Tuesday's State of the Union address, President Obama declared amid thunderous applause and a standing ovation from Congress, "Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal."

Similar to sanctions legislation signed into law by Obama on December 31, the EU-approved measures ban imports on future and existing contracts beginning July 1 of crude oil, petrochemical products; as well, the measures forbid the export of equipment and technology to Iran's energy sector.

The EU sanctions also hit Iran's Central Bank, freezing its assets. Also on Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions on Iran's third-largest bank, Bank Tejarat; a sign that the administration intends to further isolate Iran from the global financial system.

The New York Times claimed that the EU's "phased" ban on oil purchases "was needed to help force a shift in policy and avert the risk of military strikes against Tehran."

France's Foreign Minister, Alain Juppé, told reporters that in order to "avoid any military solution, which could have irreparable consequences, we have decided to go further down the path of sanctions."

"It is a good decision that sends a strong message and which I hope will persuade Iran that it must change its position," Juppé said, "change its line and accept the dialogue that we propose."

Writing in Asia Times Online, Pepe Escobar rejected the foolish notion that the West is interested in defusing the crisis.

"The EU defends its strategy--or economic war--as the only way to avert 'chaos in the Middle East.' Yet the economic war may end up sparking the full-blown war it is theoretically trying to avert; talk about an array of unintended consequences waiting in the wings."

"The EU insists on spinning its so-called 'dual track' approach towards Iran," Escobar averred. "Stripped of spin, dual track essentially translates in practice as 'shut up, bow to our sanctions, stop enriching uranium and sit on the table to negotiate on our terms'."

"Senior EU officials," The Guardian disclosed, "concede that the move could be risky and send oil prices rocketing at a time of extreme economic difficulty in the west."

Reflecting the growing danger to the world economy by this stunt, "oil prices rose on Monday after the European Union agreed to ban imports of Iranian crude," Reuters reported.

"Brent March crude rose 72 cents to settle at $110.58 a barrel, having reached $111.36 intraday but unable to threaten front-month Brent's 200-day moving average of $112.19." One analyst warned, "heaven knows what will happen between now and the first of July" when the EU's date for full implementation of the embargo takes effect.

On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned "that global crude prices could rise as much as 30 percent if Iran halts oil exports as a result of U.S. and European Union sanctions," Reuters disclosed.

Accordingly, if the Islamic Republic stops exporting oil to the EU and other countries that join the "attack Iran" coalition of the feckless, "it would likely trigger an 'initial' oil price jump of 20 to 30 percent, or about $20 to $30 a barrel, the IMF said in its first public comment on a possible Iranian oil supply disruption."

"In addition the oil embargo, the EU also decided to freeze the assets of the Iranian central bank, arguing that the aim was to choke off funding for the nuclear programme," according to The Guardian. The EU's move against Iran's Central Bank follow policies put in place by the United States.

"The Iranian programmes are proceeding apace and represent a strategic threat," an unnamed "senior diplomat" The Guardian. "The aim is to have a big impact on the Iranian financial system, targeting the economic lifeline of the regime."

The Guardian also informed us that "David Cameron, the German chancellor Angela Merkel, and the French president Nicolas Sarkozy, issued a joint statement calling on Iran to suspend its nuclear activities."

"Our message is clear," the statement read. "We have no quarrel with the Iranian people"--a diplomatic cliché that generally means: do what we say or else--"but the Iranian leadership has failed to restore international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme. We will not accept Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon."

In a day filled with joint statements by imperial shills, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (Henry Kissinger's wunderkind in Obama's cabinet) and Secretary of State Hillary (bomb the Libyans back to the Stone Age) Clinton said that "the measures agreed to today by the EU Foreign Affairs Council are another strong step in the international effort to dramatically increase the pressure on Iran. This new, concerted pressure will sharpen the choice for Iran's leaders and increase their cost of defiance of basic international obligations."

Commenting on the slow-motion apocalypse in progress, Robert Fisk wrote in The Independent: "Bring on the sanctions. Send in the Clowns."

More Israeli Threats

How did America's "stationary aircraft carrier in the Middle East" react?

According to Debkafile, a right-wing publication privy to leaks from Israel's intelligence and military establishment, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that a "new round of sanctions will not stop Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon ... stressing that Israel's hand was always near the trigger."

Barak's comments were "aimed at cooling the optimistic notes emanating from Washington, Europe and some Israeli circles Monday after the European Union foreign ministers approved an oil embargo against Iran from July 1 and froze its central bank's assets."

The Defense Minister said "that because Iran had not stopped developing a nuclear weapon Israel had not removed any options from the table. We say this 'very seriously,' he stressed."

Barak's noxious statements were amplified in a lengthy piece published this week in The New York Times.

Titled "Will Israel Attack Iran?," Ronen Bergman, a political analyst with the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper who, like Debkafile, has cozy ties to Israeli defense mavens, wrote: "After speaking to many senior Israeli leaders and chiefs of the military and the intelligence, I have come to believe that Israel will indeed strike Iran in 2012."

Speaking at the Davos economic summit on Friday, Barak warned "that a situation could be rapidly reached when even 'surgical' military action could not block the Tehran regime from getting the bomb. 'We will know early enough whether the Iranians are ready to give up their nuclear weapons'," The Independent reported.

"We are determined to prevent Iran from turning nuclear," Barak said. "It seems to us to be urgent, because the Iranians are deliberately drifting into what we call an immunity zone where practically no surgical operation could block them."

Barak's message to Washington and the "international community": "We're ready to attack, now!"

'Europe Will Burn in the Fire of Iran's Oil Wells'

The new sanctions, coupled with escalating threats from Israel and the West are hardly "bridge builders" aimed at resuscitating stalled talks, but in fact are economic acts of war designed to force Iran into a corner.

Rejecting demands to "dialogue" with guns pointed at their heads, Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Kowsari, the deputy leader of the parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee told Press TV that "in the event of US 'military adventurism' in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will respond in the shortest possible time by making the entire world unsafe for Americans."

Kowsari reiterated Iran's long-standing promise to "definitely" close the strategic Strait of Hormuz "if there is a disruption in the sales of the country's crude, stressing that the "US and its allies will not be able to reopen the strategic waterway."

Hardly fazed by Western threats, and apparently ready to take "preemptive" measures of their own, Seyyed Emad Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran's parliamentary Energy Commission said on Friday that "Iran has the world's third biggest oil reserves and cannot be eliminated from global energy equations," Press TV reported.

Hosseini said that parliament "is considering a plan to completely stop oil exports to EU members which will initially paralyze the economies of Italy, Spain and Greece."

"Iran is powerful [as a country] and oil sanctions imposed by European countries will only harm the European Union." Hosseini added, "Europe will definitely lose its oil war with Iran because European countries are grappling with numerous domestic challenges and disruption of Iran oil flow will lead to the escalation of domestic pressure and crisis in EU member states."

On Saturday, Fars News Agency reported that "members of the Iranian parliament finalized a draft bill on cutting the country's oil exports to the European states in retaliation for the EU's oil ban against Tehran."

Nasser Soudani, the vice chairman of the parliamentary Energy Commission told Fars that "the bill has 4 articles, including one which states that the Islamic Republic of Iran will cut all oil exports to the European states until they end their oil sanctions against the country."

Soudani told Fars earlier this week when the oil cut-off bill was introduced, "Europe will burn in the fire of Iran's oil wells." Take that, Cameron, Merkel and Sarkozy!

Driving home the point, Bloomberg News reported Friday that "Fitch Ratings cut the credit ratings of Italy, Spain and three other euro-area countries, saying they lack financing flexibility in the face of the regional debt crisis."

In addition to Italy and Spain, the ratings agency also downgraded the credit worthiness of Belgium, Slovenia and Cyprus. And with Greece currently negotiating with creditors on how to avoid a default, soaring oil prices would severely impact the ability of EU countries to climb out of the economic ditch and is a further sign that the 2008 capitalist economic crisis is accelerating.

Commenting, Asia Times Online political analyst Pepe Escobar again warned: "According to the EU sanctions package, all existing contracts will be respected only until July 1--and no new contracts are allowed. Now imagine if this preemptive Iranian legislation is voted within the next few days. Crisis-hit Club Med countries such as Spain and especially Italy and Greece will be dealt a deathblow, having no time to find a possible alternative to Iran's light, high-quality crude."

"Not surprisingly," Escobar averred, "the losers lost in these Cold War tactics anachronistically applied to a global open market are the Europeans themselves."

"Greece," Asia Times pointed out, "already facing the abyss--has been buying heavily discounted oil from Iran. The strong possibility remains of the oil embargo precipitating a Greek government bond default--and even a catastrophic cascade effect in the eurozone (Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Spain--and beyond)."

Not that any of this matters to the Americans who are exacerbating the manufactured "Iran crisis," partially as a hammer to beat down their EU competitors--under the tattered flag of Western "unity"--while gambling that war and their delusional hope for "regime change" in Iran will bring them one step closer to energy hegemony in Central Asia and the Middle East.

Eyes Wide Shut

Which brings us back to Iran's "red line."

"Tehran has repeatedly said that it would close Hormuz only if--and we should repeat--only if Iran is blocked from exporting its oil," Asia Times warned.

"This would represent a deathblow to the Iranian economy--totally dependent on oil exports--not to mention the regime controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Regime change is the real agenda of Washington and its European poodles-- but that cannot be spelled out to global public opinion," Pepe Escobar noted.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told Press TV that "in the absence of Iranian supply, oil prices will go up and they (the Western states) know it. However, Iran will never allow itself to be in a situation in which it cannot sell oil but other regional states can."

And how did the global godfather react to Tehran's warning? Why with more bellicose rhetoric of course! The United States and their "partners" have pledged to "do what needs to done" to keep the strategic waterway open, U.S. ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder warned.

The ambassador added: "These situations, the choices are very, very difficult. I have not looked at the exact military contingency plannings that there are ... But of this I am certain: the international waterways that go through the strait of Hormuz are to be sailed by international navies including ours, the British and the French and any other navy that needs to go through the Gulf; and second, we will make sure that that happens under every circumstance."

The Defense Department announced last week that it will maintain a fleet of 11 nuclear-armed aircraft carriers despite budget constraints, as a threat to Iran but also to geopolitical rivals China and Russia.

Russia Today reported that "with Washington's decision to deploy a second carrier strike group in the Gulf, the EU's attempt to pressure Iran economically could greatly increase the likelihood of all-out war in the region."

Ramping things up even further, Interfax reported Thursday that the U.S. "plans to deploy a third convoy of warships led by USS Enterprise to the Gulf in March."

"The country's second aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and its battle group entered the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz last Sunday, accompanied by UK and French warships."

Last Saturday, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told sailors aboard the USS Enterprise, that "the ship is heading to the Persian Gulf and will steam through the Strait of Hormuz in a direct message to Tehran," the Associated Press reported.

While Iran reiterated its threat to close the narrow Strait, through which 20% of the world's oil passes, Tehran has done so as a defensive response to an aggressive military build-up along their borders, the assassination of scientists, terrorist bombings of defense facilities, surveillance overflights by U.S. and Israeli drones and economic sanctions by the West that could crater their economy.

"That's what this carrier is all about," Panetta blustered. "That's the reason we maintain a presence in the Middle East ... We want them to know that we are fully prepared to deal with any contingency and it's better for them to try to deal with us through diplomacy."

Yet despite Israeli threats to "go it alone," they do not possess the assets capable of mounting a decisive military offensive against the Islamic Republic.

On Thursday, Time Magazine reported that an unnamed "senior security official" told Netanyahu's cabinet last fall that the prospects for "success" were "not altogether encouraging."

"'I informed the cabinet we have no ability to hit the Iranian nuclear program in a meaningful way,' the official quoted a senior commander as saying. 'If I get the order I will do it, but we don't have the ability to hit in a meaningful way'."

Short of launching a preemptive nuclear first strike on Iran, the Israelis will heel when the master whistles. Only the United States has the requisite military assets capable of inflicting damage on the Islamic Republic, but they are well-aware of the risks an Iranian counterstrike would pose.

As Global Research analyst Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya cautioned: "U.S. naval strength, which includes the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard, has primacy over all the other navies and maritime forces in the world. Its deep sea or oceanic capabilities are unparalleled and unmatched by any other naval power. Primacy does not mean invincibility. U.S. naval forces in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf are nonetheless vulnerable."

Noting the findings of a Pentagon war game, Millennium Challenge 2002, Nazemroaya wrote that "even the small Iranian patrol boats in the Persian Gulf, which appear pitiable and insignificant against a U.S. aircraft carrier or destroyer, threaten U.S. warships. Looks can be deceiving; these Iranian patrol boats can easily launch a barrage of missiles that could significantly damage and effectively sink large U.S. warships. Iranian small patrol boats are also hardly detectable and hard to target."

During that $250 million war game, the "scenario hypothetically pitted the Blue Team (representing US warships) against a Red Team that launched a coordinated assault using swarming boats and missiles--the kind of tactics Iran might employ," The Christian Science Monitor reported.

Red Team commander, Lt. General Paul K. Van Riper, told The New York Times back in 2008 that "the sheer numbers involved overloaded their ability, both mentally and electronically, to handle the attack."

"The whole thing was over in 5, maybe 10 minutes," Van Riper told the Times. "It is not a matter of size or of individual capability, but whether you have the numbers and come from multiple directions in a short period of time," the general cautioned.

"Iran's strategy of asymmetric warfare recognizes that, since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has little chance of winning any face-to-face military contest with powerful enemies like the United States," the Monitor noted.

"Instead," journalist Scott Peterson averred, "Iran aims to 'exploit enemy vulnerabilities through the used of 'swarming' tactics by well-armed small boats and fast-attack craft, to mount surprise attacks at unexpected times and places' which will 'ultimately destroy technologically superior enemy forces,' writes Iranian military expert Fariborz Haghshenass in a 2008 study based on published doctrines of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)."

"Part of Iran's strategy includes decentralized decision-making."

A "former European diplomat" told the Monitor that "the entire [IRGC] structure--if you look at how air defense is organized, the land forces, the combination of the Basij [militia] and the [IRGC]--this is all geared toward what they call the Mosaic Strategy, where you have individual military units who have a great deal of independence to decide what they can do without referring back to the center."

"When the Red Team sank much of the Blue navy despite the Blue navy's firing of guns and missiles," the Times grimly observed, "it illustrated a cheap way to beat a very expensive fleet. After the Blue force was sunk, the game was ordered to begin again, with the Blue Team eventually declared the victor."

Nazemroaya warned, "Iran would react to U.S. aggression by launching a massive barrage of missiles that would overwhelm the U.S. and destroy sixteen U.S. naval vessels--an aircraft carrier, ten cruisers, and five amphibious ships. It is estimated that if this had happened in real war theater context, more than 20,000 U.S. servicemen would have been killed in the first day following the attack."

Undeterred by warnings from their own military experts, Washington and Tel Aviv are heading towards the edge of the cliff and seem eager to jump.

On Friday, Russia Today disclosed that the mysteriously "delayed" Austere Challenge 12 joint missile defense exercise with Israel "originally slated for this spring, will be scheduled for October 2012."

Amid conflicting reports that first had the Obama administration, and then the Israelis, postponing the exercise, allegedly because "a series of events," according to Inter Press Service, "impelled the Barack Obama administration to put more distance between the United States and aggressive Israeli policies toward Iran." On the other hand however, Debkafile averred that Netanyahu called it off "as a mark of Israel's disapproval for the administration's apparent hesitancy."

Well, it's on again.

As Russia Today reported, the drill will "signal a surge of American troops to Israel by the thousands" and Iranian authorities "fear that the exercise will try out more than just the missile capabilities of the allies. Also being put to the test is Iran's patience."

"Now after a brief delay," RT averred, "America will send thousands of troops and its anti-missile defense systems to Israel, albeit a few months later than planned."

"With the exercise back in the books, it could mean that an eventual war between the US and Iran is still in the works--and now the world has a timeline to see it through."

Indications are that Washington's timeline is shrinking as the Pentagon accelerates plans to rush new weapons into the deployment phase.

The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that "Pentagon war planners have concluded that their largest conventional bomb isn't yet capable of destroying Iran's most heavily fortified underground facilities, and are stepping up efforts to make it more powerful."

"The 30,000-pound 'bunker-buster' bomb, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, was specifically designed to take out the hardened fortifications built by Iran and North Korea to cloak their nuclear programs."

However, "initial tests indicated that the bomb, as currently configured, wouldn't be capable of destroying some of Iran's facilities, either because of their depth or because Tehran has added new fortifications to protect them."

"The push boost the power of the MOP is part of stepped-up contingency planning for a possible strike against Iran's nuclear program," the Journal disclosed.

Having already spent some $300 million for 20 bombs, designed by military-industrial-complex heavyweight Boeing, the Pentagon sought an additional $82 million this month in a secret request to Congress.

Warning of the "grave consequences" of a U.S.-led attack on Iran, last week Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described "the scenario Russia and the global community could face if things in the Middle East, especially in Iran, get out of hand," Russia Today informed us.

"As for the chances that this disaster (a military attack against Iran) could occur, this question would be better addressed to those who keep mentioning this as an option that remains on the table," Lavrov said in a comment apparently intended for Israel and the United States. "The consequences will be really grave, and we are seriously concerned about this."

Pointedly, the Foreign Minister said "this will not be an easy walk, and it's impossible to calculate all of the possible consequences."

Earlier this month, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister and former NATO envoy, Dmitry Rogozin, warned that "Iran is our close neighbor, just south of the Caucasus. Should anything happen to Iran, should Iran get drawn into any political or military hardships, this will be a direct threat to our national security."

Braggadocio aside, unlike the Millennium Challenge 2002 exercise, American forces will not have the luxury of a "do-over" if events really do spin out of control.

State Department in-depth report on Israeli kiosk vendors in U.S.A....

2012-01-25T02:21:00.000-08:00

State Dept. cites kiosk's links to organized crime and money laundering....

January , 2012 -- State Department in-depth report on Israeli kiosk vendors in U.S.

On January 25, 2010, the U.S. State Department issued an in-depth report on the operations of Israeli kiosk vendors in shopping malls across the United States. Although the report, released in the tranche of cables exposed by WikiLeaks, did not mention the links of these Israeli vendors to Israeli intelligence operations in the United States, the report does provide an insight into the vendors' ties to money laundering, organized crime, and visa violations.

The U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv recommended a ban on U.S. visas for any Israeli having just completed military service. Most of the Israelis operating in shopping malls recently completed their obligatory military service. But as numerous U.S. intelligence reports have stated on these vendors, many specialized in demolitions, signals intelligence, and counter-intelligence operations/

The kiosk vendors are also active in Canada, as cited in this CBC report from December 22, 2010:

"A man accused of bringing illegal workers to Halifax will be allowed to stay in Toronto until his next court appearance.

Iftash Jacob was released from custody Thursday after surrendering his passport and posting a $7,500 bond.

He must report to the Canada Border Services Agency every week and return to Halifax provincial court in February to enter a plea . . .

Jacob and nine others — all from Israel — were arrested Wednesday in a raid on a home in Halifax and kiosks at three shopping malls in the region.

Border Services officials arrested an 11th person on Thursday outside a courthouse.

Eight people — two women and six men — pleaded guilty Wednesday to working in Canada without authorization, and each was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. They are allowed to stay in the country but not work here."

The fact that the leaked cable on the Israeli operations was merely designated as "Sensitive" unclassified information may indicate that there was an addendum with a higher classification that discussed the intelligence angle of the Israeli kiosk operations.

On August 7, 2005, WMR reported:

“In November 2001, the INS arrested several Israelis, including some with military backgrounds, selling Puzzle Car and Zoom Copter toys from shopping mall kiosks and vending carts. Many of the malls were located near U.S. government facilities, including the Pentagon and CIA. A majority of the Israelis, arrested for visa violations instead of espionage, worked for a Florida-based company called Quality Sales. A spokesman for the company admitted the company hired vacationing Israeli students but they had thr wrong visas. The spokesman also revealed the Israelis were deemed “special interest” cases by INS – a new government designation applied to terrorism suspects in the wake of 911. Federal authorities suspect the Israelis were using the kiosks as intelligence fronts in the same manner that Israelis were using door-to-door art sales as covers. The National Counterintelligence Center (NCIX) stated in a report issued in March 2001 that, ‘In the past six weeks, employees in federal office buildings located throughout the United States have reported suspicious activities connected with individuals representing themselves as foreign students selling or delivering artwork. Employees have observed both males and females attempting to bypass facility security and enter federal buildings.’ The report was temporarily removed from the NCIX web site.

ID	10TELAVIV140
SUBJECT	IN DEPTH: DEAD SEA COSMETICS AND SKINCARE INDUSTRY FRAUD
DATE	2010-01-25 00:00:00
CLASSIFICATION	UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
ORIGIN	Embassy Tel Aviv
TEXT	UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000140 SENSITIVE DEPT FOR CA/FPP, SARAH SEXTON CA/FPP: PLEASE PASS DOL CA/FPP: PLEASE PASS DOJ CA/FPP: PLEASE PASS FPMS DEPT FOR DS/IP/NEA DEPT FOR DS/DO/ICI DHS FOR CIS/FDNS DHS FOR CBP DHS FOR ICE ROME FOR DHS/ICE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CVIS, ASEC, KFRD, KCRM, CMGT, PINR, IS SUBJECT: IN DEPTH: DEAD SEA COSMETICS AND SKINCARE INDUSTRY FRAUD REFTEL: A) 09 TEL AVIV 423 1.(SBU) SUMMARY: Tel Aviv has been investigating visa fraud in the U.S. Dead Sea Cosmetics and skincare industry since 2007, when it became a noticeable problem. From September 2008, Dead-Sea related fraud has been one of Tel Aviv's Fraud Prevention Unit's (FPU)and Assistant Regional Security Officer-Investigator's (ARSO-I) main foci. Since then Tel Aviv has learned a great deal about the multi-million dollar industry and its fraudulent activities. Of particular concern is that the majority of the workers in this industry are Israeli, whether they are B1B2 visa holders, LPRs or dual American-Israelis; key companies have told us that they prefer to hire Israelis instead of Americans. Of late, the industry has been using its KIOSK marketing experience to branch out into related fields: hair straighteners, hair extensions, hair accessories and other assorted items such as other types of cosmetics, perfumes, pillows, toys, wind spinners and even, roasted nuts. The Dead Sea industry has spread to more than 36 states, creating a major presence across America. This industry also operates in countries like Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Germany. Unfortunately, its U.S. presence is not entirely "clean," for there are known issues of B1B2 visa holders working illegally; illegal worker exploitation; no federal or local taxes being paid on workers' earnings; filing applications for extensions and/or changes of status as a means of continuing illegal work; bogus marriages to keep key staff in the United States; B1 in lieu of H3 letter and H3 visa scams; non-transparent corporate structures established to create distance from illegal workers; transport of huge sums of cash to Israel suggesting organized crime and money laundering; as well as an increased number of real estate ventures that suggest the same. Moreover, it is culturally acceptable for post-army Israelis to work illegally in the United States; key parts of the Dead Sea industry have been able to base a large part of their business models upon the employment of illegal workers. These issues and other important topics of concern will be delineated in this lengthy background cable. The unifying factor is that all of these issues have wider implications. Aside from the criminal aspects of this fraud, a key implication is the increased visa revocation/refusal and denial of entry rates for post-army Israelis, which among other things, complicate Israel's high-profile desire to join the Visa Waiver Program. Contact information for readers who wish to receive e-mail updates is available at the end of this cable. END SUMMARY -------------------------------------------- H2B Workers Capped - B1B2 Workers Essential -------------------------------------------- 2.(SBU)The number of H2B workers has been capped at 66,000 per fiscal year, with 33,000 to be allocated for employment beginning in the 1st half of the fiscal year. From 1 Oct-31 Dec 2009, Tel Aviv issued 283 H2Bs-all for the Dead Sea industry. Our experience tells us that there are far more than 283 Israelis working at KIOSKs across the United States--we suspect the numbers to be in the thousands; those additional, illegal workers are mainly B1B2 visa holders as that path is far cheaper and less hassle than filing petitions, and etc. The Dead Sea industry knows it cannot sustain itself with just H2B, H3, J1 SWT, E and L visa and American-Israeli workers. Thus, B1B2 workers (B1B2ers) are vital to their oft-stated plans to employ only Israelis. Further, an argument can be made that these companies are hiring in a discriminatory fashion in that their main goal is to hire Israeli workers to the exclusion of others. To illustrate how crucial B1B2ers are to these companies: say a Dead Sea company has 2-4 KIOSKs in nine medium-sized metropolitan-area malls with 2-3 workers per KIOSK. Assume 3 KIOSKs per mall and 2-3 workers per KIOSK. The number of workers ranges from 54-81 in this area with just ONE company. Now, extrapolate that scenario across the United States. With the hundreds of Dead Sea companies and thousands of KIOSKs in existence, it becomes clear that Israeli-Americans, H2Bs, Js, etc. cannot sustain the Israeli workforce plan--B1B2ers do. Given that there are many more KIOSKs now than several years ago, it becomes more obvious that the decline in H2Bs and the rise in B1B2ers enabled the H2B program to become a "fig leaf" for these companies and their illegal workers. 3.(SBU)Bolstering the above scenario is Document Benefits Task Force (DBTF) information (passed to ARSO-I) containing names of 50 Israeli B1B2 or VWP workers who had been working in the Houston area. Post is currently analyzing these 50 cases: 22 B1B2s were issued by Tel Aviv in 2008-9 alone; 11 B1B2s were issued by Tel Aviv prior to 2008; 11 are thought to be VWP nationals and, 6 names were too common to distinguish. Further, the DBTF's activities have led to a particular company's scramble to replace/move elsewhere their B2 workers with those holding H2Bs. 4.(SBU)ARSO-I has been notifying the Government of Israel (GOI) of all incoming criminal deportations from the United States. He also receives notification of all deportations and has noticed a sharp increase in young Israelis being deported for overstays or visa status violations. Though anecdotal evidence, it points to a wider problem. 5.(SBU) The list of 50 Houston-based workers is not the first or only one Tel Aviv's Fraud Prevention Manager (FPM) has received; CBP sent a list of 60+ workers who had been discovered working illegally at a Florida-based company. As part of a multi-faceted fraud strategy, FPM has since revoked (and sent revocation requests to CA) a large number of B1B2s belonging to known workers. Tel Aviv's interviewing officers are constantly trying to find ways to detect Israelis who intend to work; needless to say, coaching and other assistance has made it very difficult to detect these cases. An analysis of case notes pertaining to the applicants on both lists showed that most of these Israelis had given solid stories, thereby convincing consular officers to overcome 214b. The toughest aspect for 214b is not determining whether the applicant will return, but whether s/he will abide by their visa's terms. Tel Aviv FPU is open to ideas on improving its detection of those intending to work; we are continually brainstorming solutions, but none have proven effective thus far. 6.(SBU) H2B statistics: In the past several fiscal years, Tel Aviv's overall H2B workload has dropped from a high of 1,658 cases in FY 2008 down by more than half to 528 cases in FY 2009. Reflecting enhanced scrutiny of these applications is the increase in the FY 2010 H2B refusal rate to 45 percent from 10.9 percent in FY 2008. H2Bs FY 2006: 179 H2Bs issued; 25 refused. (204 cases) FY 2007: 997 H2B issued; 79 refused. (1,076 cases) FY 2008: 1,495 H2B issued; 163 refused. (1,658 cases) FY 2009: 381 H2Bs issued; 146 refused. (528 cases) FY 2010 to Dec 31: 283 H2Bs issued; 129 refused. (412 cases) -------------------------------------------- Recruitment of B1B2 Workers: Well-Organized -------------------------------------------- 7.(SBU) Recruitment of B1B2ers is largely peer- and Internet- oriented and occurs year-round; not surprisingly, recruiters and Dead Sea managers themselves are usually former illegal KIOSK workers. It also begins while they are still in the military; recruiters have participated in job fairs for those finishing their mandatory service. The hiring process is highly organized and done with no paper trail. 8.(SBU)Israelis preparing to leave the army generally want to earn money (whether domestically or abroad) to pay for school, travel and other life goals. Israelis have a close-knit social network and as such, it is not hard to find peers who have worked illegally and be reassured by the fact that they were not caught. FPM spoke with an Israeli who had been swept up in a raid, and he said that the vast majority of his peers obtain a tourist visa with intentions of working and that a majority are not caught. This situation creates a relatively permissive recruitment environment. While in the United States, an Israeli can walk up to a KIOSK and ask about employment; they also can utilize online social networks such as Facebook to find jobs. 9.(SBU) With a few variations, recruiters rosily promise such things as the ability to earn USD 3-4,000 per month, 20-30 percent commission, payment of half of the airfare, housing at resort-like apartment complexes and availability of a car. In some locations, rent is a token sum and in others, upwards of USD 500 per month is charged. Qualifications are minimal: strong English skills and a U.S. visa. 10.(SBU)Companies advertise in newspapers and online; an interested worker only needs to complete a questionnaire and wait until someone calls them. Typically, they are given a number to call when they land in the United States. One variation is that recruiters will meet the prospective worker at a local cafe or mall to finalize details. Others call Web-site listed telephone numbers and leave a message; someone returns their call and then convinces them to work. If they don't have a U.S. visa, recruiters have been known to coach them on how to evade our scrutiny. 11.(SBU)Prior to arrival in the United States, workers typically are given an address to write on their I-94-which may or may not exist. Upon arrival in the United States, they usually are met at the airport and taken to their housing. Should there be problems at immigration, they are provided with a number for someone closely connected to this industry. As described by a former Israeli worker, the entire process was "all well organized." Substantiating this is an I275 Q/A comment, "They know when we are coming. They come to the airport to collect us." --------------------------------------------- -- B1B2ers: Lack of Consequences Helps Dead Sea Industry and Perpetuates Israelis' Cultural Acceptance of Illegal Work --------------------------------------------- -- 12.(SBU)There is an array of reasons why post-army Israelis work illegally in the United States; a key part of this fraud problem is these young Israelis' cultural acceptable of illegal work. The prevailing perception amongst these Israelis is that selling Dead Sea products is a simple way to earn a lot of money, can be done easily and that most are not caught. One turnaround said, "people [in Israel] told me it was ok [to sell Dead Sea products]. There are a lot of people [who] sell Dead Sea products in the United States." According to another Israeli who was caught and jailed, most of his peers know they intend to work well before applying for U.S. visas and obligingly tell interviewing officers that they know this work is illegal. Illustrating the situation's pervasiveness is that some Israelis travel annually to work; others travel every two years. This Israeli also estimated that there are "thousands of B1B2 workers across the United States"; statistics and anecdotal evidence cited in this cable strongly support this estimate. He also theorized that quite a few come from the lower end of the socioeconomic scale--not poor, and not upper middle class. Post has seen cases of Israelis relinquishing good jobs, such as those with the National Police, to work illegally and cases of illegal Israeli workers with a high-profile government or corporate parent. Of note is that, due to the preference for Army service, Israeli-Arab KIOSK workers are rare. 13.(SBU)The deception by those intending to work illegally begins well before they arrive at the visa interview window and repeats at POEs. In a secondary interview with CBP, one turnaround said, "....I don't remember who told me what to say, but everyone in Israel knows about going to America to work, and they say to tell the U.S. Embassy that you're going on vacation. It's easier to get the via." Companies and recruiters have been known to advise applicants to: create a fake reason for the trip, such as attending a friend's wedding (in one case, CBP discovered the friend was already married!); and not to worry as "[After entering] as a tourist... they would take care of my paperwork." Other examples are instructions to: "...tell US consular officials that he intended to visit a friend's aunt in NYC so that he could obtain a US visa and, "...to tell POE that I was coming for "retail manager in training program" (she worked as a secretary for a Dead Sea CEO). In addition to the lies, this B1B2 applicant pool tends to write on their DS 156's "None" for their U.S. destination and contact information (they know that if they were to put Ohio, we'd know they intended to work). Interviewing officers have a hard time pinning them down to an exact U.S. address or contact as they generally say they are going to New York or some other common destination to see family such as an uncle or aunt (when they intend to work in AZ, TX, OH, TN or even in AL). By contrast, H2B applicants diligently provide this information as given to them by the companies. 14.(SBU)In general, KIOSK workers are not a static bunch. Some work several weeks or months at a KIOSK in one area, say Cleveland, and then shift to another area such as Las Vegas for a few weeks or months and so on. A strong network of Israelis paves the way for their job moves-if things do not work out at one KIOSK, an Israeli can call upon the network to help his/her transfer to a another KIOSK which could be local or out of state. -------------------- Paying B1B2 Workers -------------------- 15.(SBU) KIOSK area managers and/or U.S.-based recruiters usually take care of compensating their illegal workers. Pay tends to range from USD 1,000-3,200 per month, with the majority paid on the mid to lower end of this scale. It is rare to earn a lot of money and, as expected, the higher end is occupied by those who excel at sales. Tel Aviv is aware of situations in which workers end up owing their employers money. 16.(SBU)The most common method of payment is cash "under the table." Per I275 reports, an assortment of cash payment methods exists: having the worker establish a U.S. bank account and then depositing cash or checks; pay worker USD 1,000 for the first month while still in Israel and then thereafter, pay USD 300 per week--the USD 1,000 would be deposited into an Israeli bank account and USD 300 given in cash once state-side; having their pay wired to an Israeli bank account; having the worker open a U.S. credit card account and transferring money to the card, and etc. Some workers know that no local or federal taxes are being deducted from their pay; others are told that "that has been taken care of." -------------------------------- B1B2 Worker Exploitation Issues -------------------------------- 17.(SBU)The methods of exploitation we have seen are: a. Payment of prohibited H2B fees. Those who withdraw from H2B work early state-side or while still in Israel have been unable to receive refunds of the extra, and prohibited, monies they had paid. Exemplifying this situation is a company that is known to charge Israeli H2B applicants a $100 fee as collateral for visa approval; if denied their H2Bs that company refused to return that money to the applicants on the basis that the failure to obtain a visa was the applicants' fault, not theirs. In addition, that same company charges H2B candidates half of the $1,000 cost to petition for the visa; the candidate pays $100 prior to leaving Israel and the remaining $400 is deducted from their first four salary payments. b. "Legal" status: Company told person that s/he could work legally on the B-1; told him/her it was "ok to work and that nothing was going to happen." When that person asked the recruiter about a work visa, s/he was told "not to worry about it." One company even told B1B2ers that "[they] can work for 3 months legally and after 3 months, [they] can't." c. Job deceit: One person thought he had started a real job with an Israeli company and that he was being sent to the United States for training; he soon discovered that the "training" would be work and that there was no job waiting for him back in Israel. These companies have been known to move their employees around as they see fit. An Israeli, originally recruited to work in the logistics department, was transferred to a KIOSK when the company needed more cart workers. Another variation is to promise to send a worker to, say, Los Angeles, and upon arrival, send them to, say, El Paso. d. Long hours, little pay. Six day workweeks and 11 hr workdays are not uncommon. Some workers are paid only their commission, e.g. no minimum wage salary. The majority are not paid anywhere near the $3-4,000+ a month promised by recruiters. An Israeli who quit his H2B job this month informed us that he and his colleagues had been paid only a basic salary of $1500 a month and that their company took $500 a month from each of them to cover living expenses, such as rent. After adding in other expenses, they ended up having to pay their employer money when they left, earning nothing, contrary to what was promised. e. No local or Federal taxes paid. Given that the tendency to be paid in cash, most workers do not know that taxes must be paid on money earned. Nor do the companies enlighten them. f. Social Security Numbers (SSNs). Illegalities abound in this area as shared SSNs, fraudulent SSNs and having no SSN are not uncommon. g. Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 forms not completed for workers. Dead Sea companies have failed to complete I-9s for their workers. All U.S. employers must complete and retain an I-9 for each worker-including citizens and noncitizens. On the I-9, the company must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) a worker presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the individual and record that document information on the I-9. This documentation provision is likely the sticking point for these companies as they do not want any evidence of hiring B1B2ers. h. Organized Crime enforcement tactics: ARSO-I and FPM are aware of recruiters who threaten workers if they do not do their work as intended. One such recruiter threatened a worker's family back in Israel with harm if the worker did not continue working at the KIOSK . ARSO-I is looking into these cases for prosecutorial potential. i. Department of Labor violations. Examples include assigning workers to employment locations different from those listed on the DOL certifications. As mentioned above, companies have been known to move workers around at will, according to current needs. j. And, no doubt, there are other methods of exploitation not described here. --------------------------------------------- - I-539 Extensions Filed to Continue Unauthorized Work --------------------------------------------- - 18.(SBU)Many B1B2ers fail to disclose unlawful employment on their I539s to extend current status or switch to H2B or even H3 status. These applications are filed as a way to buy time to continue working. To reduce scrutiny, Israelis have been known to file I539s in a different state from where they had been residing. 19.(SBU)Another known tactic to keep Israeli workers in the United States is petitioning for a change of status for their workers from B2 to H3 in April since the companies have typically claimed their "peak load" occurs during the Christmas holiday season. To complicate things further, they even petition to change the same H2Bs who entered as B2s and then worked in the KIOSKs during the holiday season over to H3 trainees after they re-enter the United States as B2s again in April and May. The H3 classification is very problematic; see paragraphs 22-30. --------------- Marriage Fraud --------------- 20.(SBU) There seems to be an overwhelming indication that the owners, principal partners and area managers of Dead Sea-related companies are enlisting U.S. citizens to commit marriage fraud in order to enable their open-ended "legal" U.S. stays. These "couples" knowingly engage in fraud, with payments to the U.S. citizen and pre-organized meetings to prepare for their USCIS interviews. In October, Tel Aviv investigated a marriage fraud case on behalf of USCIS Phoenix that resulted in the withdrawal of both the I130 and I485 forms. USCIS is investigating other cases of Dead Sea-related marriage fraud and Tel Aviv is willing to assist as necessary. ---------------- Crooked Lawyers? ---------------- 21.(SBU)Lawyers appear to very much a part of the Dead Sea fraud scheme. FPU is aware of a lawyer who advised an Israeli to obtain a new PPT to hide his/her lengthy U.S. stay. Another lawyer reassured a group of B1H3 workers that they were in "legal status" whilst their I539s were pending with USCIS. Skating close to ethical "lines," one lawyer even advised a high-level Dead Sea company owner (who was denied a visa in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) as to whether attempting to cross illegally from Mexico was preferable to Canada. That individual was caught trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border by making false claim to U.S. citizenship; ARSO-I is working with DS/LAFO/DS on this case. Such is the draw for Israelis working in this industry in the United States that they are willing to risk detention and possible prison time to work there. Most tellingly, ARSO-I and Tel Aviv FPM have noticed that there are a handful of lawyers who have been filing the vast majority of the Dead Sea industry's petitions, I539s and I130s/I485s with USCIS. Sometimes, new lawyers pop up, though they, too, appear to have connections to these key lawyers. --------------------------------------- Recent Arrests of Israeli B1B2 Workers --------------------------------------- 22.(SBU)Tel Aviv CONS and ARSO-I are pleased with the uptick in attention various Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies and U.S. Attorneys have given to the B1B2er problem. In November, Houston's ICE Documents and Benefits Fraud Task Force (DBTF) arrested 11 Israeli B1B2ers as part of a wider operation; ICE Seattle (Tri-cities office) arrested 11 more in late December and another Seattle office had arrested 5 earlier. These arrests' timing has been fortuitous to Tel Aviv's ongoing educational campaign targeted to the post-army demographic about the potential consequences of working illegally in the United States. We hope these arrests and Tel Aviv's recent 214B revocations of large numbers of B1B2ers' visas will filter through the close-knit post-army community and encourage them to think twice about working illegally. On a side note, these revocations ensure that B1B2ers cannot re-enter the United States; some have been admitted despite TECS and other lookout entries for them. ------------------------------------------ B1 in Lieu of H3 Training Letter and H3 Scam ------------------------------------------ 23.(SBU) On B1 in Lieu of H3 trainee (B1H3) issues, 9 FAM 41.31 N11.9 says: a. Aliens already employed abroad, who are coming to undertake training and who are classifiable as H3 trainees. The regulations state that in order for an alien to be classifiable as H3, the petitioner must demonstrate that: (1) The proposed training is not available in the alien's own country; (2) The beneficiary will not be placed in a position which is in the normal operation of the business and in which citizens and resident workers are regularly employed; (3) The beneficiary will not engage in productive employment unless such employment is incidental and necessary to the training; and (4) The training will benefit the beneficiary in pursuing a career outside the United States. 24.(SBU)Note that ALL four conditions in 9 FAM 41.31 N11.9 must be met to qualify for H3 status. The most difficult item to overcome is condition 1. Israel does have a Dead Sea skincare and cosmetics industry in which Israelis sell to American tourists, people from all over the world and to local customers. Thus, per this interpretation, this H3 training field IS available in Israel. In addition, 9 FAM 41.31 N11.9 (4) says the training is supposed to benefit the Israeli's career abroad--however that standard is also tough to meet as these Israelis tend not to have had Dead Sea-related careers prior to going to the United States for their B1H3 "training." Their work back-grounds tend to encompass portable employment fields such as bartending, working at a gas station, cell phone sales/service, working as a secretary, etc. 25.(SBU) It is rare that young, post-army Israelis present a visa application to us requesting B1 in lieu of H3 status. In fact, Tel Aviv's Fraud Prevention Manager (FPM) is aware of only one such visa case at post since the summer of 2008--that one was refused on 214b grounds. Of concern is the situation in which Israelis in this demographic present B1H3 letters to CBP officers at Ports of Entry for admission for 3-6 months' training, misleading both CBP and Embassy Tel Aviv consular officers. 26.(SBU) Often, these Israelis apply for a visa under the guise of going to the United States on a 2-3 week vacation (it is now rare for us to see requests for trips of longer duration) to visit family, friends, travel, etc. Tel Aviv consular officers, despite the employment of a variety of interviewing tactics, have no way of knowing which ones were specifically told by local recruiting companies to not reveal their true intention to work in the United States to them. It is known that recruiters have no interest in Israelis who do not already possess a U.S. visa as that is one of two key job requirements; the other is possession of English-language skills. After they receive their U.S. visa, the company will then furnish them with B1H3 training letters and coach them to tell CBP that they are coming for "just for training," etc. so as to facilitate their entry into the United States. 27.(SBU)To combat the B1H3 letter scam, tools we employ include: the stapling of a card onto passports of those issued B1B2 visas advising against unauthorized employment in the United States; and extensive CCD notes that include a key phrase "vacation only," trip information as presented (e.g. location and duration) and job occupation. The latter is important as those who present B1H3 letters will almost always say they have been working for a local Dead Sea company for at least a short period. If they recently applied for a visa at Tel Aviv, these applicants usually do not indicate during the interview or on the application itself that they already have been working for these local Dead Sea companies. In other words, a different employer is likely listed in the CCD. 28.(SBU)Regarding remuneration of B1H3 workers, 9 FAM 41.31 N11 says: There are cases in which aliens who qualify for H1 or H3 visas may more appropriately be classified as B-1 visa applicants in certain circumstances, e.g., a qualified H1 or H3 visa applicant coming to the United States to perform H1 services or to participate in a training program. In such a case, the applicant must not receive any salary or other remuneration from a U.S. source other than an expense allowance or other reimbursement for expenses incidental to the alien's temporary stay....it is essential that the remuneration or source of income for services performed in the United States continue to be provided by the business entity located abroad, and that the alien meets the following criteria: (1) With regard to foreign-sourced remuneration for services performed by aliens admitted under the provisions of INA 101(a)(15)(B), the Department has maintained that where a U.S. business enterprise or entity has a separate business enterprise abroad, the salary paid by such foreign entity shall not be considered as coming from a "U.S. source;" (2) In order for an employer to be considered a "foreign firm" the entity must have an office abroad and its payroll must be disbursed abroad. To qualify for a B-1 visa, the employee must customarily be employed by the foreign firm, the employing entity must pay the employee's salary, and the source of the employee's salary must be abroad; and.... Going against 9 FAM 41.31 N11.9 (2) and (3), the B1H3 "training program" in reality has these Israelis engaging in unauthorized full time employment selling Dead Sea products at mall KIOSKs across the United States. In general, they are paid in cash based upon their level of sales, which can range from USD 250 to USD 800 per week. Wire transfers from the United States to workers' Israeli accounts, payments to Israeli credit card accounts, and checks deposited to a U.S. bank account are among the other known means of payment. All of these payment methods are considered U.S. source, thus not foreign as they should be. 29.(SBU)Known B1H3 letter drafters (Israel-based) are: STS (majority user and has several TECS records), AK Global Investments and Management LLC, KIT, Gaya Inc, Global Spa LTD, Ela Marketing LLC, Tal Yosifun LTD, JNS Global Israel LTD, Sol Enterprise Israel LTD, Market Trade LTD, Mor Universal Management Consultants, and Global Market Trade LTD (formerly JG Cosmetics LTD). [NOTE: Gaya Inc and Sol Enterprise Israel LTD have residential addresses.] 30.(SBU)Known US counterparts to above Israeli comapnies: A&B United, Coral Cosmetics, E-Marketing, Enias Beauty, Everesteam, Feel Free LLC, Gill Cosmetics, Gizbo Trading, JNS Global, Lali Beauty (aka Cart Planet), Libra LLC, LMD 4 Florida, Lucidity Enterprises, Mall Security Enterprises, MDS, Micaella, Nine DEC, Sound Creation, Spa to Go (MI), Stanga and Suns Inc. 31.(SBU) H3 Statistics: Of note is Tel Aviv's dramatic drop in H3 cases between 2008 and 2009--likely due to the B1H3 letter scam and submission of I539 applications to change status to H3. H3s FY 2006: 15 H3s issued; 4 refused. (19 cases) FY 2007: 49 H3s issued; 22 refused. (71 cases) FY 2008: 47 H3s issued; 19 refused. (66 cases) FY 2009: 8 H3s issued; 4 refused. (12 cases) FY 2010 to Dec. 14: 0 H3s issued; 1 refused. (1 case) -------------- E and L Visas -------------- 32.(SBU)E visas: Shell companies have been known to be established in order to "qualify" an Israeli for E1 status. E1 visas, in general receive close scrutiny in Tel Aviv; Dead Sea-related cases, due to their non-transparent corporate structure, receive even further scrutiny. As a fraud prevention measure and, mainly because of their low volume, ConGen Jerusalem agreed to transfer their E cases for Tel Aviv to process. Of its own cases, Tel Aviv approved eight and rejected six such E1 visa cases; rejections were due to lack of qualifications. 33.(SBU)L visas: Tel Aviv recently returned to USCIS a Dead Sea company's L petition because additional information that we received revealed there was no intra-company connection between the Israeli entity and the U.S. entity other than a distributor relationship. As with E visas, Tel Aviv will be keeping a close eye on these cases. ----------------------------------- Q4 Visas for Israeli KIOSK Workers? ----------------------------------- 34.(SBU) A Dead Sea company, one that may have organized crime (OC) connections, continues to tell us they are pushing for the creation of a Q4 visa category to permit Israelis to work at U.S. KIOSKs selling Dead Sea products. FPM first heard of this idea back in the fall of 2008 from this company's owner and continues to hear about Q4 plans. The argument for the Q4 visa rests upon the "uniqueness" of having an Israeli sales force within the Dead Sea industry. Tel Aviv does not view this proposed visa category as credible, for it could be used as a way to legitimize B2 workers and continue the pattern of not being open to hiring U.S. citizens. 35.(SBU)Moreover, there is nothing intrinsic to the Dead Sea that Israelis are privy to that other people in the world cannot find out. In fact, company representatives repeatedly have stated to ARSO-I and FPM that only Israelis are capable of working for them and that they do not hire Americans because they are lazy. Their attitude has more to do with high pressure sales techniques and controlling a vulnerable work force; ARSO-I and FPM have seen these elements in these companies' instruction manuals. -------------------------------------- I275s - Dead Sea Information Goldmine -------------------------------------- 36.(SBU)Dead Sea-related denials of entry easily top Tel Aviv's list of reasons for POE turnarounds. Two hundred and sixty-one (261) such I275s have been received here since October 2007. In Jan-Nov 2009, FPM received 162 I275s, reflecting POEs' increased scrutiny of post-army Israelis--the group that is most likely to work without authorization. Since we probably do not receive every Dead Sea-related I275 from each and every POE, the total number we have likely does not represent the total number of Israelis denied entry. Newark, with 65 cases, processed the most I275s in Jan-Nov 2009; Atlanta Hartsfield and Chicago O'Hare are second and third, respectively, for the same period. The November 2009 CBP Travel Industry Bulletin spotlights Atlanta, which is one of the busiest airports in the world, and the mention of Israeli fraud on page two says something about the level of their concern regarding this issue. Previously, as described in reftel A, Israelis intending to work were advised by their companies and recruiters to avoid Atlanta. Disseminating this type of information has become more sophisticated due to online videos advising which airports to avoid, and etc. As with Atlanta, Israelis are beginning to avoid Newark. Where will they go next? 37.(SBU)To help close the communication gap, FPM has reached out to POEs that handle Israeli arrivals and shared information in the attempt to maintain an "advantage." The outreach is done via the FPM's ad-hoc Dead Sea e-mails that share trends/data and information with CBP, FDNS, ICE, USCIS and others. FPM maintains several e-distribution lists. Represented in the CBP POE list are: ATL, BOS, CHI, DET, HOU, IAD, JFK, LAX, MIA, MSP, NEW, PDX, PHI, PHX, SEA and SFO. If you would like to receive these Dead Sea e-mails, please write to vincentwm@state.gov. 38.(SBU) All 261 of our I275 cases have been analyzed extensively for intel- and data-gathering purposes, and shared internally and externally. What's noteworthy? 21-24 is the main age cluster; 57.5 percent are females and 42.5 percent males; 46 percent are from central Israel (interesting as the north and south are less well-off areas); 75.5 percent applied for B2 status upon entry; 16.9 percent presented B1H3 letters; POE denials: 52.5 percent worked on a previous trip; 31 percent intended to work if admitted to the United States; 47.9 percent were caught on the second entry attempt due to having worked on the first entry; and POE denial grounds per INA: 77.4 percent were 7A1, and 17.6 percent were 6C1 in addition to 7A1. 39.(SBU) We suspect that quite a few Israelis manage to evade CBP successfully and, for every I275er caught, there are likely several B1B2ers. Via word of mouth, the smart ones come for a short, 1-2 month stay to work, earn money and leave. They then return the following year for the holidays, which is the principal money making season. According to our CBP contacts, these individuals are much harder to catch. 40.(SBU) FPM encourages POEs to send via e-mail or snail/express mail copies of Dead Sea-related I275s for intel and analytical purposes; Please see paragraph 75 for Tel Aviv's mailing address details. ---------------------------- Validation Studies Underway ---------------------------- 41.In October 2008, Tel Aviv implemented changes in its evaluation of post-army visa applicants, and as a result, its refusal rate began to climb sharply. FPM requested an ATS/ADIS validation study of B1B2ers in April 2009. The results indicated it was too early for an informative study as many of these Israelis were still in the United States. We plan to follow up on this group at the 18 month mark; we suspect we'll see lengthy stays, numerous extensions and changes of status. Meantime, we continue to flag issued cases within this demographic by adding particular phrases into NIV case notes for additional validation studies. ------------------------------------------ Transport of Cash Connected to Dead Sea Industry ------------------------------------------ 42.(SBU) Transport of cash from the United States to Israel has long been a concern of FPM and ARSO-I as it not only implies illegal employment, but also money laundering, and thus, potential organized crime connections to the industry. Information gathered from the I275s and from CBP show that Israelis, including relatives or friends of illegal workers, have been caught outbound transporting large sums of money back to Israel. In one case, a young Israeli couple was discovered transporting over USD 26,000 for their illegal worker friends to Israel; they had lied about the amount to prevent the money's seizure. Further, ARSO-I has discovered through a source that young Israeli workers returning to Israel have been tasked with carrying back money for the company. These workers are then met by a contact in Israel; the money is collected at or near the airport and is delivered to a local company representative. 43.(SBU)At Newark, Israelis regularly have been caught by its Outbound Currency Enforcement Team (OCET). Generally, these Israelis have been in the United States for four to six months and are carrying about USD 8,000 to USD 9,800, just under the reporting limit. In addition to carrying cash for the companies, these workers also have been known to wire some of the money to Israel or have someone carry some of it home for them or buy items with their illegal earnings such as laptops, i-Phones, clothing, etc. OCET places long-term lookout on these cash-carrying individuals and reports those who admit to and/or have proof of working illegally to Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv FPM then evaluates these individuals for 214B visa revocations and adds corporate intel gleaned by OCET from these cases to the Dead Sea Excel file. Tel Aviv welcomes submissions from other OCET teams. 44.(SBU) There is a catch-22 situation in which CBP knows that Israelis had worked illegally, with or without proof of employment and/or admission of unauthorized employment. If the Israeli declares under $10,000 or over that amount--as long as they declare, they are free to return to Israel. Per Newark's OCET's experience and TECS records, Newark estimates that roughly 800 Israelis who carried $5,000 or more and stayed four to six months were either stopped, interviewed and/or had outbound examinations in CY 2009. The scale of this cash transport is not small-for just one POE: 800 Israelis multiplied by $5000 minimum, equals a lot of money--at least $4 million! --------------------------------- Dead Sea and Organized Crime (OC) --------------------------------- 45.(SBU) Organized Crime in the Dead Sea industry is a real concern. Tel Aviv has consistently received information that large sums of money are allegedly being laundered and transported between the United States and Israel. Due to the amount of money being laundered and transported, Tel Aviv has long suspected a link between the Dead Sea industry and OC. In early December, FPU received an e-mail from an informant who said he had information alleging that a key Dead Sea company is connected to OC. ARSO-I and FPU subsequently interviewed this informant; the ARSO-I's report of this interview states: "The SUBJECT stated that s/he is in possession of computer disks with all of this company's accounts, money totals, smuggled bulk cash from the United States to Israel and has a complete understanding of the alleged illegal activities to include the employing of illegal workers, suspected drug smuggling, money laundering, intimidation, threats, extortion, and tax evasion. The SUBJECT also claimed that this company is allegedly owned by a major organized crime family in Israel that has threatened SUBJECT'S life, extorted money from SUBJECT, and has sent people to physically assault SUBJECT." Due to the ongoing criminal investigation in the United States, no additional details can be released at this time. 46.(SBU)Further adding credibility to our suspicions, is an arrest case from this past summer in Japan where KIOSKs run by young Israelis were allegedly being used by an OC organization to launder its drug money and real estate investment deals. As noted above, some Dead Sea companies have real estate and investment companies as part of their overall structure. 47.(SBU)Shell and holding companies are all part of the industry's corporate strategy, designed mainly to distance themselves from the illegal workers at the KIOSKs. To exemplify, one Dead Sea holding company has 60+ companies under it. Now, assume that one of those 60+ companies has a contract with another company and that other company then hires the illegal workers. This scenario is quite common, complicating our efforts to combat and uncover Dead Sea fraud. Furthermore, once a company is found to be employing illegal workers it merely changes its name or creates a new owner for a shell company and applies for H2B petitions. As mentioned earlier, there are a handful of attorneys who have been filing the majority of the Dead Sea industry's petitions and I539s. They appear to be passionate lobbyists for these new companies--almost as if there had been a previous working relationship (as in, with the "old" company). 48.(SBU) Sometimes, key Dead Sea players have been "caught-out" by their own non-transparent corporate structures. Recently, Tel Aviv received an e-mail complaint from one of the known Dead Sea lawyers that also included the CEO's angry e-mail to that lawyer. Problem: that CEO had, in theory, nothing to do with the petitioning company as he was the CEO of a different company. FPM investigated and discovered that the CEO's company sub-leases the KIOSKs to the petitioning company. Furthermore, the CEO's company has a TECS record that says it doesn't exist. 49.(SBU) As a side note: Tel Aviv FPU has a large and growing list of known OC figures identified through open source materials and confirmed by ARSO-I through Israeli Law Enforcement sources. Tel Aviv FPU and ARSO-I are working with the Legal Attach on possible strategies to combat OC in conjunction with FPU's revocation of visas for convicted OC members. ---------------------------------- Dead Sea Industry and Real Estate ---------------------------------- 50.(SBU)Increasingly, we are seeing signs of involvement in real estate by many of the key Dead Sea players. One example is the recruiter mentioned in the 6E deterrent section. In addition, our ARSO-I recently interviewed someone with extensive knowledge of a particular Dead Sea company; this person alleged that money laundering is occurring through the real estate arms of these companies. The real estate arms of these companies are also involved in employing young Israelis to work for them in violation of their visa status. Further, substantiating this trend, ARSO-I reported that his source stated that the real estate business was becoming as important as the KIOSKs. 51.(SBU) Another aspect of the real estate issue is these companies' provision of housing for their workers, whether legal or not. Industry-wide, there are a large number of apartments and, increasingly, houses, located near the malls where they work. Placing at least four or more workers in a two bedroom place and charging each person USD 500 a month has made housing another potential money-maker. As the addresses of these apartments/houses may indicate intent to work, Tel Aviv FPM has been tracking them in an Excel document that contains comprehensive information on the Dead Sea industry. Addresses are gleaned from I275s, H2B DS 156s, and received from other inter-agency sources. --------------- Made in Israel? --------------- 52.(SBU)Given the shrinking Dead Sea, labor/shipping costs and the increasing volume of products being sold, Tel Aviv FPM and ARSO-I suspect that some of these "made in Israel" cosmetic and skincare item are actually made elsewhere. Supporting this is ARSO-I's development of a source who informed him that one of the larger corporate groups was manufacturing soaps in the United States using possible illegal workers from Central America and then selling the product as from the Dead Sea, i.e. made in Israel. Another likely source is China, which has both "dead seas" and cheap labor. Last but not least, ICE Rome reported to ARSO-I and Tel Aviv that they suspect these companies may be importing soaps and creams in bulk to Israel and labeling them here before shipping to the United States using Israel's "most favored trading nation" status to save money. -------------------------- Interagency Success Story -------------------------- 53.(SBU) In November, Houston's DBTF executed search warrants on a particular Dead Sea company. The result: ten Israelis were arrested for working on B2 visas; numerous boxes of evidence were seized along with USD 70,000. The company's H2B contract, translated by Tel Aviv FPU at the DBTF's request, was found to violate DOL and USCIS provisions. ARSO-I and FPU have assisted DBTF with identifying people, detailing connections between individuals/companies and provided requested information whenever possible. 54.(SBU)It is now rumored that the company being investigated by DBTF Houston has shuttered operations; Tel Aviv continues to monitor chat rooms and message boards for Dead Sea workers. Indications are that this company's B1B2ers already have been moved to other areas and new companies (including shells) have been created to fill this corporate gap. Moreover, Tel Aviv discovered that this Houston-based company has very close ties to another Dead Sea operation in Arizona. ARSO-I has passed information to DBTF Houston as part of their ongoing investigation. 55.(SBU)ARSO-I, ICE Rome and Tel Aviv have consistently waged an information campaign to enlist other regulatory and law enforcement entities to investigate this seemingly fraud-riddled industry on a nation-wide basis. However, given the lack of interest in a national investigation, ARSO-I and Tel Aviv highly recommend that DBTFs nation-wide consider duplicating the Houston-based DBTF's recent successful efforts. 56.(SBU) Tel Aviv believes that interagency efforts are crucial to combating and preventing Dead Sea Fraud. FPM has developed a network of working contacts across the United States with various agencies such as CBP, ICE, FDNS and USCIS. Tel Aviv greatly appreciates CBP's inclusion of its fraud prevention efforts in their official publications such as the New York/Newark Tactical Analytical Unit (TAU) Weekly Intelligence Brief and the Office of Intelligence and Operations Coordination's Weekly Intelligence Notes. As one prong of a multi-faceted fraud situation, our continued inter-agency sharing of information, trends and analyses have and will continue to tighten the noose on Israelis working illegally. Complementing the FPM's efforts is the ARSO-I's ongoing communications with Law Enforcement entities to facilitate information-sharing and to track a growing number of arrested Israelis and Dead Sea companies under investigation. ----------------------------------------- 6C and 6E Ineffective: Stronger Deterrents Needed ----------------------------------------- 57. (SBU) 9 FAM 40.65 INA 212(A)(6)(E) (6)Illegal entrants and immigration violators. (E) Smugglers. (i) In general.-Any alien who at any time knowingly has encouraged, induced, assisted, abetted, or aided any other alien to enter or to try to enter the United States in violation of law is inadmissible. Per 9 FAM 40.65 N5, 6E could be incurred for offering an alien a job under circumstances where it is clear that the alien will not enter the United States legally in order to accept employment. 58.(SBU)Post is looking into either P6E- or 6E-ing known Israeli recruiters of B2 workers. One recruiter recently applied for a visa, saying that he was in real estate and no longer in the Dead Sea business. The applicant, because of his prior Dead Sea history, was vetted more closely by FPU. FPU discovered that he had recruited B2 workers and was still doing so; a second interview by the ARSO-I and FPU resulted in a 6E finding. Using the 6E provision can deter recruiters from traveling to the United States, however they would still be free to recruit B2 workers in Israel and online. 59.(SBU)Per the above I-275 analyses, almost 18 percent of those denied entry are found ineligible under 6C1. Israelis 6C1'd tend to be recent cases in which they obtained a visa from Tel Aviv telling one story (vacation) to the interviewing officer and another story (work) to CBP officers--misrepresentation. Post has seen cases in which CBP could have and, for their own reasons, did not do so. Post is unable to make 6C1 findings unless the applicant was determined to have cut off a line of questioning with a material fact-in reality, this determination is made after the visa's issuance. Due to Tel Aviv's lack of information as to when B1B2ers start work, it is difficult to apply the 30/60 day rule per 9FAM 40.63 N4.7-1 and 9FAM 40.63 N4.7-2. It is also not yet clear whether 6C1 will be a strong deterrent as most of those recently denied entry have been barred for at least five years. After five years, they'll certainly learn first-hand the severity of the lifetime consequences of their 6C1 ineligibility when they apply for a new visa. -------------------------------------- New, Old Deterrent: Limit B1B2 Validity? -------------------------------------- 60.(SBU)The essence of Tel Aviv's 214b problem is not whether the applicant will return, but whether the applicant will abide by the terms of his/her B1B2 visa. This cable presents strong evidence that many post-Army Israelis violate the terms of their visas. As this practice is culturally acceptable, Tel Aviv thus far has been unable to determine a pattern that would help interviewing officers identify mala-fide applications. Several years ago, Tel Aviv limited visas issued to middle- and high-school aged students to the approximate end of their military service so as to prompt a look at their post-army situations. Per CA's request this practice stopped. Being able to review the applications of Israelis who previously received limited visas has been helpful in identifying patterns and in collecting crucial information about illegal recruitment and work practices. This, combined with the large number of post-army Israelis who work illegally on their B1B2 visas, has led Tel Aviv to re-examine the efficacy of limiting young Israelis' visas, with a focus on those who recently finished their military service. We look forward to a dialogue with CA on this issue. 61.(SBU)There are a variety of reasons described in this cable for Tel Aviv to re-consider limiting visas of those in the post-military service age group. Of note is that, while in the military, Israelis must obtain special permission to vacation abroad and return to military service or face being charged as a deserter. And for post-army Israelis, given the widespread and culturally accepted intentions to work illegally, the idea would be to limit post-army issued visas to one- or multiple- entry for one year (un-annotated), sharply reducing the time and opportunities to work illegally. This one year visa limitation idea would also give us more information about their actual travel versus their stated plans, helping us better identify mala-fide first time applicants. It should be noted that Tel Aviv's interviewing officers have been consciously evaluating each applicant as an individual and trying not to discriminate against a broad age-group category. Frustratingly, we regularly receive reports on Israelis known to be working who appeared to be solid visa issuance cases during their interviews, which were based on the best available information regarding their ties. --------------------------------------- Visa Waiver Program (VWP) Implications --------------------------------------- 62.(SBU) While security and biometric requirements are Israel's key hurdles to joining the VWP, it now has the added complication of being over the three percent refusal rate threshold due to post-army Israelis' tendency to abuse their visas. Predictably, dual national Israeli workers with VWP country passports have bypassed Tel Aviv and entered the United States on their VWP passports. Tel Aviv's adjusted refusal rate for host country nationals for B1B2 visas increased from 1.27 percent in FY 2007 to 4.38 percent in FY 2009. It appears this rate will climb further; for FY 2010, as of December 30, it was 5.91 percent. Worldwide, the refusal rate for all Israelis is higher yet. Although our refusal rate continues to rise, we are still taking great pains to interview each applicant as individual cases. -------------------------------------------- Annotations as a Fraud Prevention Tool: Israelis Prove to be Clever and Adaptable -------------------------------------------- 63.(SBU)As an innovative fraud prevention tool, Tel Aviv, in consultation with 9FAM 41.113 PN6, 9FAM 41.31 N19 and CBP officers, began adding a particular, positive annotation on some full-validity B1B2 visas issued to those within this problematic demographic. Due to a lack of "tells," Tel Aviv has not been able to distinguish definitively between those who intend to abuse their visas by working illegally from those who do not; as mentioned above, recruiters are coaching applicants on what to do/say in their interviews. Our annotations were intended to give CBP officers, who are able to talk to our applicants several weeks/months post-interview, an opportunity to prevent B1B2 visa abuse. All applicants in this age group are potentially "at risk" for recruitment, especially after being granted B1B2 visas; because of this risk, CBP officers have told FPM that they appreciate our use of such annotations. It should be pointed out that only a minority of visas for this demographic were annotated. 64. (SBU) The first annotation employed was "First Trip: travelling to XYZ with XYZ relative." This proved ineffective, for Israelis learned to create stories to cover discrepancies with the annotation and it applied only to the first trip. To replace this, the more generic "B2 CCD" annotation informed CBP that the Israeli has sufficient ties to qualify for visa and told us their trip's intent was B2 purposes, tourism. At any rate, clever Israelis figured out that B2 CCD meant they needed to be consistent with the false tourism story sold to Tel Aviv with CBP. Given CA's aversion to annotations, we have ceased the use of B2 CCD annotations. 65.(SBU) Predictably, Israelis are chatting online at sites devoted to working in the United States about perceived patterns of Tel Aviv's actions, including annotations. While reviewing "Forums for Job Advertisements in the U.S.," FPU discovered this posting: "I have an important question: I got a visa in the mail for 10 years and the visa was annotated 1st trip with parents. I am really not planning on traveling with my parents. Can anyone help? Tell me what can I do?" The response was: "you have been busted...this is a new policy that the Embassy has taken in order to make sure no one fools them. Applicants say they are traveling with parents in order to maximize their chances in getting a visa. No way in getting around this cause it appears in their computers. Best idea for you is to ask your mother if she wants to join you in this trip." ------------------------------------ Facebook as a Fraud Prevention Tool ------------------------------------ 66.(SBU)The Internet has "gifted" us with new fraud tools for our toolbox. Facebook (FB) is a prime example as we use it in many ways. 67.(SBU) Confirming Identities and/or Affiliations (assumes public access): Not surprisingly, Dead Sea-related FB pages exist-most are in Hebrew: two examples are "Carts in San Diego" and "Dead Sea in Miami." FPU checks which "location" or "network" with which the person in question might be associated. If an applicant signed up for the Houston network (or other area known for Dead Sea workers), it raises a red flag that they should be interviewed more thoroughly as to the trip's true purpose. FPU also trawls through FB's Dead Sea-related groups to spot-check members or "fans" of a particular page against the CCD to see what type of visa, if any, they received. Likewise, surfing through an applicant's list of "friends" for familiar Dead Sea names and/or for that person's U.S. contact's listing as a "friend" can be fruitful. These searches help determine whether or not the applicant or the applicant's contacts are connected to Dead Sea-related activities. 68.(SBU) FB pages have helped official investigations, too. At the request of ICE, Tel Aviv, armed with some bio data, was able to verify the identity of a person who was working at a KIOSK by finding that person's FB page photo and comparing it to his/her CCD photo. 69.(SBU) Recruiters and job listings: FB has pages for Dead Sea job listings and one such site is "Nova USA." To investigate, the FPU visits that page and looks at the names of the administrators and the contact e-mail addresses for job listings (which can lead us to recruiters) and then checks the information against the CCD via a text search. If there are "hits," then the information within these cases, such as other e-mail addresses are text searched to see where the information trail leads. Ultimately, all key information is watch-phrased. ------------------------------------ Outreach as a Fraud Prevention Tool ------------------------------------ 70.(SBU)In September, Tel Aviv publicly launched a consular video, "Illegal Work in the U.S.: Price is Too High" (usembassy-israel.org.il/consular/niv/index.a spx). This video has been viewed on the Embassy's You-Tube channel over 5,700 times, easily making it Tel Aviv's most popular one. In addition to also posting it on the consular section's FB page, the video is being played in the visa waiting room in a loop, along with a video that explains the application process. Some Israelis who have been denied entry told CBP that they had seen the video while in the waiting room and that they still intended to work despite its warnings! 71.(SBU)The video's debut launched an active, ongoing campaign by FPU to educate post-army Israelis about how to work legally in the United States. The video was publicized on national radio, leading to a spate of national media articles on Israelis working in the United States. In November, Channel 2, a key TV channel, picked up on this issue and invited two Israelis who had been denied entry to tell their stories in a live, five minute segment. The moral: the consequences (barred from entering the United States for at least five years) are not worth the illegal work. Right after their TV segment aired, FPU and ARSO-I met with one of these two Israelis. This meeting was an eye-opener, for we learned more about how young Israelis lie in their visa interviews. FPU is currently scheduling additional individual meetings with I275ers to glean more information on how they succeeded in obtaining B1B2s when their true intent was to work. As a counterfoil to meetings with I275ers, FPU has requested through ARSO-I to meet with several Embassy local guard force (LGF) staff, who also belong to this problematic age group; the RSO's office is currently reviewing this request. 72.(SBU)Post has had positive results from its campaign against illegal work. FPU has received e-mails from numerous Israelis inquiring as to whether the work opportunities that they have been given are legal or not; most have not been. Also, we have received e-mail from informants, one of whom may crack a high-profile Dead Sea company wide open. Still others have e-mailed to let us know they had quit their H2B jobs as they either didn't like the work or suspected the employer was not legitimate. ARSO-I and FPU have followed up on every email and contact in the attempt to glean as much information as possible from those actually recruited by or working for these companies. 73.(SBU)Phase II of the campaign is about to commence. Included in this phase is the production of a second video. Instead of having the Embassy produce, it will be produced by a group of students from a noted Israeli film school. These students are in the same age demographic as Dead Sea workers, and, because of this, we hope this video will resonate even more strongly with post-army Israelis. The November and December 2009 arrests of Israelis working at KIOSKs in Houston and Seattle also will reinforce the video's message. 74.(SBU) As in phase I, Tel Aviv continues to work with our Public Diplomacy colleagues to alert Israelis to the consequences of working illegally via mainstream media outreach. Thus far, several articles have been published and received wide distribution. Previously, journalists from papers such as the Wall Street Journal have reported on this industry (and quoted illegal Israelis); additional, mass-audience articles should also help push this campaign forward. -------------------------------------- New Mailing Address for Official Mail -------------------------------------- 75.(SBU) The Department of State and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) changed the unclassified Diplomatic Pouch regulations for sending and receiving official mail. No longer are we to use the Diplomatic Post Office (DPO/APO) for sending and receiving official mail. All official mail sent to Tel Aviv should use this Diplomatic Pouch address: Wendy Vincent, Fraud Prevention Manager Consular Section 9700 Tel Aviv Place Department of State Washington, DC 20521-9700 For security reasons, please do not write "U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv." For those who prefer to use express mail: Wendy Vincent, CONS 71 Hayarkon Street Tel Aviv, Israel 63903 ----------- Conclusion ----------- 76.(SBU) The Dead Sea industry is continually adapting to new economic opportunities in addition to playing their corporate "games." Prior to the establishment of the Dead Sea industry, Israelis were known to work illegally for moving companies. Though not as widespread as the Dead Sea industry, as mentioned in reftel A, B1B2 locksmiths also are of concern. Tel Aviv's dedicated, motivated fraud team and ARSO-I are working hard to stay on top of fraud trends--it is not easy. Tel Aviv greatly appreciates its close ties with numerous DHS agencies and officers--together we form part of the "global" effort to combat fraud within this fraud-riddled industry. As part of these closer ties, we thank those CBP and USCIS officers who contributed important text and statistics to this cable. For future fraud efforts on this issue, Tel Aviv looks forward to working with additional partners from the law enforcement community. 77.(SBU)Tel Aviv's FPM, Wendy Vincent, looks forward to hearing from others who have been working on Dead Sea industry fraud and is willing to share information accordingly. As mentioned above, she maintains a distribution list for Tel Aviv's ad-hoc e-mails on Dead Sea trends, issues and data updates to her extensive Excel document on the Dead Sea industry. Should you wish to join this e-distribution list or establish contact with Tel Aviv, please e-m
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Kazakhstan stirs Al-CIAda's terror nests....

2012-01-19T03:13:00.000-08:00

Kazakhstan stirs Al-CIAda's terror nests....
By Jacob Zenn

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the people of Kazakhstan, like those in the rest of the former Soviet Republics, experienced a revival in religious affiliation.

In some sectors of Kazakh society, the repression of spiritual life in the Soviet days was reversed when Kazakhstan became independent in December of that year. Previously non-existent elements of Saudi-Wahhabi inspired crazy Salafism crept to the surface in Kazakhstan and are now apparent, especially in the southern and western regions of the country located near the Caspian Sea and the volatile North Caucasus....

http://www.american-buddha.com/911.howoilintploutinbombafdrill.htm

Salafism is a reform movement of Islam in which followers believe that the life of their Prophet Mohammad and the earliest Muslim community constitutes a universal paradigm for interpreting world events and history. Salafists consider the founding years of Islam to be the prototype for their cultural and religious validation and use examples from that era as a template to build relationships with "infidel" or non-Salafist Muslim communities in the contemporary world.

"Jihadi-Salafists" see historical evolution as the unfolding of a single contest: the struggle of Good (true Islam) versus Evil (false Islam and Disbelief). [1] Although Salafist doctrine is largely rejected by the Islamic world, Saudi Arabia and Qatar stand apart as the leading country that preaches the doctrine.

Although "Salafists", or "Wahabbis" - as Central Asians and Russians commonly call them - are still a small minority at less than 1% of the population in Kazakhstan, they are having a more significant impact on the country than this would suggest.

Increasing numbers of Salafists in Kazakhstan are being influenced by calls to violence from jihadis in the North Caucasus and from Jund al-Khilafa (JaK - Army of the Caliphate), a terrorist group led by Kazakhs based in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.

According to its online statements, JaK is comprised of "mujahideen from different nationalities, but is made up 90% Kazakh nationals who are interested in the military, faith, intellectual, and political support for our brothers in order for them to rise to an acceptable level of ability to wage the fight" against the regime of President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Three videos that JaK released in 2011 attest that the group has operated in Khost province, Afghanistan, against US forces along with Taliban-supported foot soldiers.

While not all Salafists promote violence and not all aspiring jihadis are Salafists, there is a link between Salafist fundamentalist interpretations of Islam and terrorist attacks that have been carried out in Kazakhstan. In 2011, three terror incidents in claimed by JaK - in Atyrau, Taraz and Boraldai, Almaty - bore the mark of Jihadist-Salafist influence.

Terror let loose
On November 12, 2011, in Taraz, southeastern Kazakhstan, Maksat Kariyev went on a noontime rampage killing five security officers, one gun shop guard, and himself in a suicide bombing that he detonated when a police commander approached him.

The interrogation of six members of the cell that prepared Kariyev for the attack revealed that one was a "spiritual mentor" who drew up the attack plan for Kariyev and helped purchase and store the RPG-26 grenade launcher, RGD-5 grenade, Makarov pistol and two sawed-off shotguns that Kariyev used in the attack, which lasted several hours.

Kariyev, who has a background as former senior rifleman in the Kazakh army, was an ideal fighter to carry out the attack from an operational standpoint. However, from an ideological standpoint, Kariyev was weak. He was a drinker who suffered from fits of temper tantrums and could not hold a job or live in a permanent residence after leaving the army.

Kariyev consulted with local imams prior to his attack and asked about the consequences of him committing a suicide attack to kill infidels. The cell’s "spiritual leader" ultimately persuaded Kariyev and the other cell members to conduct jihad and kill police officers in order to establish an Islamic caliphate. When Kariyev carried out the attack, he drugged himself up on narcotics and followed those orders.

JaK said in a statement the day after the attack that:

In Taraz, you saw with your own eyes what one soldier did to you, and God willing you will see horrors by the hands of men who don't fear death and give their souls easily to support the religion of Islam and defend the honor of the Muslims.

On October 31, in Atyrau, a port city on the Caspian Sea in western Kazakhstan, a terrorist blew himself up next to an apartment building near the intended target - the Prosecutor-General's office - and another bomb detonated in a garbage can blocks away. The terrorist who blew himself up did so by mistake. A claim of credit by JaK following the attack stated that:

We refute that the last attack was carried out as a martyrdom-operation. It seems that the bomb exploded accidentally, which led to the martyrdom of its carrier. We ask Allah to accept him among the martyrs.

The cell responsible for the two explosions in Atyrau was formed in 2009 by 20-year-olds who were inspired by the ethnic Buryat Russian-born Islamic convert Said Buryatsky, who became a jihadi leader in the North Caucasus before Russian forces killed him in 2010.

In 2011, the Atyrau cell connected with JaK's leadership in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region and received orders to carry out the bombings.

That Atyrau was the site of the October 31 explosions is symptomatic of the growing extremism in the province. According the Director of Religion Department in Atyrau, 90% of Atyrau province's 8,000 practicing Muslims are between the ages of 13 and 30 and 70% of those 8,000 young people are influenced by Salafism. If those numbers are correct, then there are more than 5,000 Salafists in Atyrau alone. In the case of these Atyrau bombings, it required only four of those young Salafists to carry out what could have been a deadly attack.

In Boraldai Village outside of Alamaty, five JaK fighters were killed on December 3, 2011, when Kazakhstan security forces surrounded them inside their safe house. Kazakh authorities suspected the cell of carrying out a drive-by shooting that killed two police officers on November 8 and possibly another November 11 shooting in Almaty in which two other police officers were killed.

The cell was reportedly planning additional terror attacks in Almaty before its elimination.

Only the leader of the cell, Yerik Ayazbayev, escaped from Boraldai at the time of the shootout, but he was killed on December 29 in Kyzylorda, southern Kazakhstan after police investigated what appeared to be an accidental explosion that Ayazbayev set off in his apartment building.

Like Kariyev's cell, the Boraldai cell also had a "spiritual mentor", Aghzan Khasen, who died in the shootout in Boraldai. This appears to be a standard model of Jak cells in Kazakhstan: six or seven fighters under the lead of a "spiritual mentor" who is a Jihadist-Salafist.

On December 6, three days after the Boraldai shootout, JaK issued a statement saying that JaK fighters were "ready to be killed in the thousands in order to support [Islam]" and that "losing our lives is a cheap price that we pay for this cause". JaK asked that "God give glory" to the fighters who were killed by "the apostate forces of the Nazarbayev regime" at "a base where the five lions of the al-Zahir Baybars Battalion of Jund al Khilafa were gathered".

Members of the Salafist community in western Kazakhstan, were also suspected of killing policemen in the Aktobe region on July 1, 2011, and another special unit officer on July 2 during the raid to capture the killers. Although no connection with JaK has been proven, six suspects were alleged to have taken part in the attacks, which is consistent with the size of JaK cells.

In an effort to curb Salafist influence in the country, Nazarbayev introduced a bill in September, 2011, to combat religious extremism, but one that also restrains basic religious freedoms. The bill, which has been approved by the lower house of parliament and the senate, requires religious organizations to dissolve and register again through a procedure that is virtually guaranteed to exclude smaller religious groups, including most Muslim groups and also minority Christian groups.

Trying to turn the tide
The merits of clamping on down on religion in the wake of the rising Jihadi-Salafist undercurrent in Kazakhstan needs to be weighed against the risks of alienating practicing Muslims with new religion law. But regardless, one thing is for certain. Any policy or law that affects religion will become propaganda for JaK and possibly a recruiting boon for the terror group.

On October 26, 2011, JaK released a video in which it said:

We call upon you to abolish these laws, and we also demand that you offer an apology to the people for that mistake. We demand complete freedom for Muslims to carry out their rituals of worship. In the event you insist on your position, then we will be forced to make a move against you. Know that the policy that you are following is the same that was applied in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt; however, as you have seen, it only caused loss to those who exercised it.

Five days after delivering this message, the Atyrau bombers attempted their attack. This showed that JaK could follow up on its warnings and that its words were not hollow. With JaK cells entrenched in Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev will have to add JaK's capabilities to his calculus when he considers other measures to combat the growth of Salafism in his country.

Notes 1. See Stephen Ulph. Towards a Curriculum for the Teaching of Jihadist Ideology, Part III: The World Through a Jihadi Lens. Jamestown Foundation, October 2010.

Atambayev's Turkish affair needs domestic peace....
By Fozil Mashrab

TASHKENT - When newly elected Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev traveled to Turkey for his first official bilateral visit from January 12 to 15, many Kyrgyz watchers were looking for clues on Kyrgyzstan's future foreign policy course in the next six years - the duration of the single term allowed for a Kyrgyz President.

Others immediately criticized former prime minister Atambayev, who took over as president on December 1, for making his first blunder by not traveling to Russia, which Atambayev has often in the past called Kyrgyzstan's "main strategic partner".

Since the first foreign visit of any newly elected president carries with it great symbolic meaning, should we also expect the resurgence of Turkey's influence in Central Asia in general and in Kyrgyzstan in particular in the near future, in a rerun of the heady early 1990s? Then, Turkey unsuccessfully attempted to position itself as a "big brother" for newly independent Turkic countries of Central Asia, only to abandon such ambitions when it became clear that Turkey was trying to punch above its weight given the limitations of its economic strength.

Turkey's foremost priority and preoccupation for the past 40 years or so has been integration into the European Union, so Ankara's periodic surges of interest in other regions, including Central Asia, have waxed and waned based on the progress or lack of thereof in its talks with the EU.

This time, the new-found love between Kyrgyzstan and Turkey seems to suggest that it is not Turkey that is trying to reengage its Central Asian cousin more strongly; rather, President Atambayev is attempting to diversify Kyrgyzstan's foreign policy away from superpowers such as Russia, the United States and China and thus lessen his country's heavy dependence on them. Cultivating the so-called second-tier countries like Turkey may look a better bet, as they emerge as strong economies with increasing technological and investment potential.

In the past, the main foreign policy strategy of former Kyrgyz presidents has been to play one superpower against the other in order to gain maximum benefit for Kyrgyzstan and its ruling regimes. Such political brinkmanship and attempts to juggle superpower interests have been detrimental for Kyrgyzstan. They have led to two forced regime changes in a decade, each time as the balance was perceived to be tilting too much towards one superpower at the cost of the other.

It is widely believed that US threw its weight behind the so-called bloodless "Tulip Revolution" in May 2005, when president Askar Akaev was ousted - he then found asylum in Russia. The bloody overthrow of Kurmanbek Bakiev in April 2010 was the result of a combination of economic sanctions and political pressure from the Kremlin.

In the aftermath of the violent regime change in 2010, former president Bakiev's all-powerful son, Maxim Bakiev, who was the central figure in his father's regime, found safe haven in London, while Kurmanbek himself is believed to have fled to Belarus.

Superpowers like Russia, US and China have looked at Kyrgyzstan with a view of furthering their own strategic and geopolitical aims. As such, the US has not really been interested in investing much into the Kyrgyz economy, largely limiting itself to securing its strategic and geopolitical interests related to continued access to the Manas airbase near Bishkek; Russian investments and economic assistance came with political and economic domination.

Politically, China has sought the Kyrgyz government's support for its repression of ethnic Uyghurs in its restive western Xinjiang province, and economically it has been interested in marketing its products in Kyrgyzstan and using the country Kyrgyzstan to penetrate the markets elsewhere in the region.

The week before traveling to Turkey, President Atambayev played host to Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister, who was in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, as part of a bilateral exercise to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Atambayev and Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov spared no effort in trying to convince their Japanese guests that Kyrgyzstan was safe for foreign investments in various sectors, including, first and foremost, mining.

Therefore, Kyrgyz government's recent attempts at courting Japan, Turkey and other second-tier countries are meant to diversify Kyrgyzstan's foreign partners and aim at attracting much-needed foreign investments into the economy, which was severely damaged by the violent regime change and bloody ethnic clashes in 2010.

A similar foreign policy strategy has benefited neighboring Uzbekistan, whose best friends in terms of economic and investment cooperation and transfer of technologies are South Korea, Germany, India, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Turkey, Oman and some other countries which have been courted and cultivated by Uzbek government over many years.

Uzbekistan has a number of inherent advantages over Kyrgyzstan, such as vast natural gas reserves, a rich mineral base, a larger market, relatively better infrastructure and internal transportation system - and most importantly political stability, which is the bedrock for attracting foreign direct investment.

Therefore, even if Uzbekistan's humble success is used as a yardstick, Kyrgyzstan will still have a tall order to follow since successful implementation of such a strategy will require many years, if not decades, of patient and persistent work and maintenance of political stability and continuity of reforms in Kyrgyzstan. A single six-year term is not really enough to see through such a long-term strategy.

To translate the political goodwill and warm inter-personal relations between the two leaders, President Atambayev and Turkish President Abdullah Gull have agreed that both sides will work towards increasing bilateral trade turnover between the two countries to US$1 billion by 2015 from $300 million in 2011. It is an ambitious plan given the size of the Kyrgyz economy and small total volume of its foreign trade, which reached $4 billion last year.

The Turkish president also promised to help Kyrgyzstan to attract Turkish investments to the amount of $450 million in the next few years - provided the Kyrgyz authorities create favorable conditions for foreign investors.

Foreign investors' confidence in Kyrgyz economy has been shaken recently not only because of the political instability in the country but also as a result of the weak government protection of foreign investments. Some businesses established with the participation of foreign direct investment during the rule of Kurmanbek Bakiev fell prey to the Kyrgyz authorities' "nationalization campaign" carried out in the aftermath of his violent overthrow.

This campaign targeted all businesses considered to have enjoyed too cozy a relationship with the former regime or which were illegally seized by the Bakiev clan and cronies. The new Kyrgyz authorities have refused to acknowledge that it was not possible to establish and run a successful business in Kyrgyzstan during the time of Bakiev without entering some kind of deal with Maxim Bakiev or some other high-profile representatives of the regime.

Some critics of the Kyrgyz government have accused the new authorities of "flagrant disrespect for private property and asset grabbing", which was actually just history repeating itself - since former president Bakiev and his team used the same tactic in taking over various businesses and property after the overthrow of the former Askar Akaev in 2005.

If President Atambayev's pronouncements made in Turkey are any indication of what might be in store for foreign investors, then we can expect that the biggest and most lucrative foreign investment in the country - the Canadian-owned Kumtor gold mine, which contributes around 60% of Kyrgyzstan's exports - might become the next target for Kyrgyz authorities in the near future.

While addressing the Turkish Parliament, Atambayev said that in the last 10 years gold worth of $10 billion was extracted from the Kumtor mine while Kyrgyz state coffers received only 3% of that money. Such coded accusations usually precede some real arm-twisting at a later stage.

As Turkey engages Kyrgyzstan more strongly both economically and politically, its immediate responsibility will be to apply strong but well-meaning brotherly pressure on Kyrgyz leaders to bring about genuine reconciliation among the ethnic majority Kyrgyz and Kyrgyzstan's largest ethnic minority Uzbeks. Both are Turkic speaking Muslim people.

So far, Turkish leaders have conveniently chosen not to raise this issue in their bilateral talks; or if it was discussed during the recent bilateral summit, that was not publicized.

If Turkey continues to remain an indifferent bystander and look the other way when it comes to the repression and systematic violence against ethnic Uzbeks by the Kyrgyz state in the southern provinces of Osh and Jalalabad, such a policy will be short-sighted and ultimately untenable.

So far, Turkey has only sponsored one conference on the 2010 ethnic clashes in the southern part of Kyrgyzstan, which was held in the Kyrgyz Issik-Kul lake resort in their immediate aftermath. That is definitely too little for a country that considers itself as the champion of the unity and brotherhood of Turkic peoples.

Turkey will not be able to replace Russia as Kyrgyzstan's "main strategic partner" any time in the future, and Turkey does not seem to entertain any such plans. But if Turkey does indeed start to invest in the Kyrgyz economy and assist Kyrgyzstan in capacity building and military training with the prospect of establishing a complete visa-free regime between the two countries in the future, as was announced during the bilateral meetings, then Kyrgyzstan will definitely be able to lessen its dependence on Russia or any other superpower.

For that to happen, President Atambayev will be expected to ensure political stability, and a transparent and predictable environment for foreign investment in the country.

Fozil Mashrab is a pseudonym used by an independent analyst based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Chilean native Americans wrongly blamed for forest arson to shift blame away from Israelis....

2012-01-17T04:14:00.000-08:00

Mapuche being scapegoated to shift blame away from Israelis....

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

January , 2012 -- Chilean native Americans wrongly blamed for forest arson....

Chile's native Mapuche people are being wrongly blamed for starting fires that have destroyed pristine forests in Chile's southern Araucania region in Patagonia, including fires that ravaged the Torres del Paine national park. The Mapuche, who have status as an unrecognized nation by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) in The Hague, consider the forests sacred according to their religious beliefs. There are one million Mapuche living in Chile, mostly in the nation's southern region.

The accusations against the Mapuche and a radical faction of the natives, the Coordinadora Arauco Malleco (CAM), is an obvious attempt to steer suspicion away from an Israeli camper in the Torres el Paine park who has been criminally charged with setting one of the blazes by lighting a roll of toilet paper. The Mapuche have been fighting against logging companies that are encroaching on their lands. CAM has denied setting any fires as alleged by the Chilean government.

Although Israeli national Rotem Singer faces a maximum of 60 days in prison and a fine if convicted of starting the Torres del Paine fire, Mapuche leaders face possible years in prison under Chile's draconian anti-terrorism laws, enacted by the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship and which allow for indefinite detention of terrorist suspects. The move to shift blame to the Mapuches from the Israeli is largely the work of Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter, who is Jewish. Hinzpeter and billionaire President Sebastian Pinera are members of the political party that enshrines the fascist policies of Pinochet, who overthrew democratically-elected President Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973 (Chile's 9/11) with the backing of the CIA.

While Mapuche Chief Jose Santos Millao was attending the funerals of seven firefighters killed in the forest blazes, his own home was destroyed in a suspicious terrorist attack. Pinera, like Hinzpeter, attempted to shift blame away from the Israeli camper. Pinera even suggested that an "international criminal" was responsible for setting the fires but the only evidence her offered was "information" the government received from an unknown source.

Pinera, who is owned and operated by Chile's Israel Lobby, may have been trying to suggest that "Arab terrorists" were responsible for the arson. Some Chilean legislators, including Environmental Committee chair Senator Alejandro Navarro, responded by demanding that Israel compensate Chile for the fires. Other legislators, including Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eugenio Tuma of the Party for Democracy and Congressman Fuad Chahine of the Christian Democratic Party, said Israeli military and intelligence personnel were responsible for the forest arson. They were immediately condemned as "anti-Semites" by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League apologist for Israeli atrocities, Abe Foxman.

Chilean media commentators and some lawmakers suggested that the fires were deliberately started by Israeli backpackers as a harbinger for an Israeli attempt to take control over Chile's Patagonia region. Modern Zionism founder Theodore Herzl suggested Patagonia as an eventual homeland for Jews and the scheme, known as the "Andinia Plan," reportedly had a green light from the British government for such a scheme. Chile's Jewish community immediately called such commentary "anti-Semitic," the usual refrain from the Zionist chorus any time Israel is caught red-handed in covert scheming and false flag terrorist attacks.

The Israeli media and Israel's hasbara propagandists around the world failed to mention that Singer's two Israeli companions fingered Singer as being responsible for starting one of the fires.

The Israeli media suggested that Chile was a haven for a number of post-World War II Nazis and, therefore, Chileans were Nazi-like. It has been a usual practice by Zionist organs to label entire nations as "Nazi," and the tactic has been used against Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Switzerland, Brazil, and Ireland....

Zioconned Homeland Security monitoring media and dissident groups.

2012-01-16T08:42:00.000-08:00

Homeland Security monitoring media and dissident groups.

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

On the monitoring list are Infowars.com and Stormfront. DHS consults with SPLC's Hatewatch.org, which lists many as a "hate site." Don Triner, DHS/OPS Current Ops Branch Chief, will be reading all the "Guardian" reports produced by General Dynamics. We in the media will be keeping a close watch on you also Mr. Triner. The DHS media monitoring is contracted to General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, 12450 Fair Lakes Circle, Fairfax, Virginia. There is a Marriott across the street where the GD contractors, most of whom drink and some to excess, gather at the bar for happy hour to swap "war stories." Two can play at the monitoring game DHS!

Listen VERY carefully… “Anonymous” and Wikileaks are nothing but an FBI/CIA psy-op. Yes there are members of “anonymous” who are not part of this and are genuinely trying to do their part. But if you think a huge group of computer hackers couldn't and wouldn’t be watched, infiltrated and then “managed” by these alphabet agencies, feeding ideas to “useful idiots” who follow through on the plans and help push the Establishment’s “cyber war” agenda. Any so called “movement” that gets it’s own CNN docudrama episode about it, you KNOW it’s part of the establishment, because they wouldn’t want you knowing about anybody who REALLY challenges the government. Just look at the TIMING of this so called attack. … the EXACT thing the establishment needs to tighten the noose on the internet.

This is just another group co-opted being “managed” to off convenient attacks that only further freedom crushing agendas… Anonymous is a FRAUD. Just like OWS, Alex Jones, just like Obama/CIA… just like Romney/CIA.

Wake up....

Any hacker (or Corporate Software Contractor) can call himself “Anonynous” or Wikileaks, , just as anyone with a bomb can call themselves Al-Qaeda.... I.E. Al-CIAda and the inside Job of 9/11.....

If they have an agenda, hijack another groups’ name to make themselves more powerful....

Obama's strategy, courtesy of Susan Rice, is to fragment Sudan into neo-colonialist vassal states beholden to the Zioconned West....

2012-01-12T07:37:00.001-08:00

Obama's strategy, courtesy of Susan Rice, is to fragment Sudan into neo-colonialist vassal states beholden to the Zioconned West....

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

January , 2012 -- America's affectation with supporting "Souths" in civil wars....

The United States suffered 33,651 war dead defending South Korea in its fratricidal war, called a United Nations "peacekeeping" action, with North Korea. In a war started by the introduction of U.S. military "advisers," the United States suffered 47, 369 military dead in the civil war in South Vietnam. Now, President Obama is sending U.S. "advisers" to South Sudan during its border war with north Sudan. Although Obama is officially sending five U.S. military personnel to South Sudan, he also exempted them from prosecution by the International Criminal Court for war crimes... One Pentagon observer noted that "five" should be read as "fifty."

Obama's decision to commit "advisers" to South Sudan comes at the same time U.S. oil companies are moving into the country, which also has established close links with Israhell....

When it comes to Sudan, Obama's policies are a direct reflection of the anti-north Sudan biases of his ambassador to the UN Susan Rice. Rice has been a supporter of South Sudan, as well as Uganda's dictator Yoweri Museveni, Ethiopia's brutal dictator Meles Zenawi, and Rwanda's megalomaniac dictator Paul Kagame, since she served in the Clinton administration. Obama has also authorized the dispatch of U.S. troops to Uganda to fight the Lord's Resistance Army in the north of the country, an area that borders South Sudan.

Obama, who is half-Kenyan, has taken steps far beyond those of his predecessor to militarize U.S. involvement in African affairs, long a domain of the Zioconned State Department....

Rice and her Neocon friends see the eventual dismemberment of Sudan into western vassal states, with South Sudan being the first breakaway region, one that will eventually be followed into "independence" by Darfur, Abyei (which may eventually join South Sudan), the Blue Nile state, South Kordofan, North Kordofan, and possibly, parts of the strategic Red Sea state with its maritime center of Port Sudan. All the potential Sudanese breakaway regions are known to have substantial oil resources.

For Africa, America's first African-American president, one with ties to east Africa's tribal politics -- Obama is one-half ethnic Luo from Kenya -- has meant an increase in U.S. military intervention and an increase in Pentagon and CIA drone activity. That can only mean that more misery and bloodshed are in store for MENA, EURASIA and Africa's future....

THE TRUTH ABOUT 9-11 AS TOLD BY AN EYE-WITNESS......

2012-01-11T03:46:00.000-08:00

Listen to this interview he recently gave to learn the truth of US government involvement.

According to Jim, the word government means to control the mind/mental control.

Govern = to control. Mento = mental.

http://septemberclues.info/

ALL Mobile devices, Laptops, Ipads, PCs etc. have Back-doors for spying by intrusive Governments Worldwide.

2012-01-10T02:42:00.000-08:00

ALL Mobile devices, Laptops, Ipads, PCs etc. have Back-doors for spying by intrusive Governments Worldwide...., courtesy of the crooked NSA...

Leaked memo suggests India sought backdoor access from mobile device firms to spy on U.S.
By Muriel Kane

An internal memo from India’s Military Intelligence that hackers have posted online suggests that manufacturers of mobile devices have provided “backdoor” access to the Indian government in exchange for access to the Indian market. The manufacturers, referred to collectively in the memo as “RINOA,” include RIM, Nokia, and Apple.

Indian blogger Manan Kakkar, who may have been the first to realize the implications of the memo, wrote late on Friday, “Earlier today I came across scans of a set of documents that are internal communications between the Indian Military. The documents claim the existence of a system known as RINOA SUR. While I did not find what SUR stands for but RINOA is RIM, NOkia and Apple. And this is where things start to get very interesting, according to the set of documents, the RINOA SUR platform was used to spy on the USCC—the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.”

Scans of the memo can be viewed here.

According to its website, “The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission was created by the United States Congress in October 2000 with the legislative mandate to monitor, investigate, and submit to Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, and to provide recommendations, where appropriate, to Congress for legislative and administrative action.”

The USCC has taken a particular interest in cybersecurity threats emanating from China, which may explain the Indian government’s interest in its deliberations. A story published by the India Times in October, for example, noted that “the bipartisan commission typically goes much further in publicly outlining perceived cyber threats to national security from Beijing than have U.S. administrations, which must deal with other issues on which China’s cooperation is critical.”

Kakkar also suggested a connection between the leaked memo and earlier reports of an attack onSymantec — the makers of Norton Antivirus — by a group of Indian hackers calling itself the Lords of Dharamraja.

A member of the group, known as Yama Tough, boasted at Google+ and Pastebin, “As of now we start sharing with all our brothers and followers information from the Indian Militaty (sic) Intelligence servers, so far we have discovered within the Indian Spy Programme (sic) source codes of a dozen software companies which have signed agreements with Indian TANCS programme and CBI.”

Romney's Israeli Handler and the Iowa Caucus....

2012-01-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

Romney's Israeli Handler and the Iowa Caucus...., what a horrible despicable creature, it's all in the face.....

Added material on Mitt Romney's Israeli Handler....

http://www.webcasts.com/kingofbain/

ROMNEY'S ISRAELI HANDLER - Orit Gadiesh, the daughter of a Berlin-born Israeli general (Falk Gadiesh) and his Ukrainian-born wife, is chairwoman of the management consulting firm Bain & Company, the parent company of Bain Capital. Gadiesh, born in Israel in 1951, served in Israeli military intelligence and has worked closely with Romney since at least 1993. Romney appointed Gadiesh to his transition team when he was governor of Massachusetts. Romney's close relationship with Gadiesh and Israeli military intelligence is the real reason he is the chosen candidate of the Zionist establishment. Romney is being supported by high-level Zionists and their controlled media network, a fact that should be of great concern to all Americans.

EVIDENCE OF VOTE FRAUD SURFACES

WHO STOLE THE IOWA CAUCUS? - Edward True, 28, helped count the 53 votes in his precinct and jotted down the results. When he checked to make sure the Republican Party of Iowa got the count right, he said he was shocked to find they hadn't. "When Mitt Romney won Iowa by eight votes and I've got a 20-vote discrepancy here, that right there says Rick Santorum won Iowa,"

WHO REALLY WON IN IOWA?

There are alarming news reports that show that the tally of the Republican caucus in Iowa was manipulated giving fraudulent additional votes to Mitt Romney. In one precinct alone, where Romney received only two votes, the tally showed twenty-two, an increase of 1,000 percent! If such egregious vote fraud happened in one precinct, it most likely happened in others:

Des Moines TV station KCCI reported that a Ron Paul backer attending his first precinct caucuses in Appanoose County, in southern Iowa, said the vote from his precinct was inaccurately reported and gave Romney 20 more votes than he actually received.

The Paul supporter, Edward True of Moulton, told The Associated Press that he helped count the ballots cast at his precinct caucuses and that Romney received two votes. True said he was shocked to see the official results on the Republican Party website showed Romney with 22 votes in the precinct.

"I assume somebody made a typographical error," he said in a telephone interview. True said that when he contacted local Republican officials, "They said they would sort it out in the next couple of weeks, but how many primaries will have happened by that time?"
- "Santorum shrugs off report of Iowa vote errors" , 6 January 2012

IMMEDIATE AUDIT OF IOWA RESULTS REQUIRED

Edward True, 28, said at his 53-person caucus at the Garrett Memorial Library, Romney received only two votes. According to the Iowa Republican Party's website, True's precinct cast 22 votes for Romney. "This is huge," True said. "It essentially changes who won." While the mainstream media portrays this as a single typographical error it may simply be an indication of a much more serious problem. The True case is clear evidence of vote fraud and a complete audit of the Iowa tally must be done to determine if the caucus results were manipulated on a statewide scale.

When I began this article about Ron Paul and the Iowa caucus, a week before it happened, I was strongly inclined to predict that Mitt Romney was going to win, based solely on my knowledge that he is supported financially by the Crown family of Chicago, a family of high-level Zionist weapons dealers closely tied to the state of Israel. The Crown family, which profits directly from war and defense spending, also supported Barack Obama and is one of those highly-connected Zionist clans that knows how to make their candidates win elections - one way or another.

ROMNEY'S ISRAELI HANDLER

Orit Gadiesh is an Israeli military intelligence agent at Bain & Co. who has worked with Romney since 1993.

Romney's support from the Crown family, which is closely tied to the state of Israel and its military intelligence agencies, is most likely based on his decades of working with Bain & Company, which is headed by Orit Gadiesh, an Israeli military intelligence agent. Romney and Gadiesh have worked together at Bain since at least 1993. Gadiesh is the Israeli intelligence agent who steers Bain & Co., and who probably advises Mitt Romney on the Middle East and other matters. She served on Romney's transition team when he became governor of Massachusetts.

The following extracts provide some basic information on the Israeli agent who controls Mitt Romney:

Founded in 1973 by former Boston Consulting Group vice president William H. Bain, Jr., Bain & Co., based in Boston, has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto and San Francisco. After experiencing a serious crisis in the 1980s and 1990s, Bain rebounded under the leadership of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (who had previously worked with Bain Capital, a separate company) and Orit Gadiesh, one of the few women to head a top consulting firm. It had revenues of $1.6 billion and over 4,000 employees in 2007.
Source: http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/organization/bain-company

Orit Gadiesh
52, Chair, Bain & Company
She stands over 6 feet tall in heels. She worked in military intelligence in her native Israel. And she runs one of the world's largest, most elite business-consulting firms, with big-hitter clients like De Beers, ITT, and Dell. Twelve years ago, Gadiesh succeeded Mitt Romney as head of what was once called the KGB of consulting firms. Given her connections to the governor, it was no surprise when he named her to his transition team. Gadiesh was one of only two Bostonians listed the last time Fortune magazine published its female power list in 2000.
Source: http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/power_the_100_women_who_run_this_town/page2

A Romney victory in Iowa, I wrote, would have certainly been the result if the Republicans were to use the same dodgy telephonic tally system (Voxeo, a firm tied to Israeli military intelligence) which had been used by the Democrats of Iowa in the two previous elections. I have written extensively about how the Israeli-linked Voxeo system was used to manipulate the tallies of the Iowa Democrat caucuses of 2004 and 2008. The rigging of the Iowa caucus allows for the presidential election to be stolen at the beginning - like a baby from its crib. It now appears very likely that the Republican caucus of 2012 was also manipulated and stolen. The national importance of the Iowa caucus means that we have a right to demand an independent audit of the results. The evidence indicates that the Republican Party of Iowa is not able to provide verifiable results in a timely manner. We should not have to wait two weeks to have the results from such a simple, but important poll.

One week before the caucus I contacted the Republican Party of Iowa and spoke with three different people in their communications department about how the results would be tallied. Patrick, the first person I spoke to about the vote counting process, told me that he could not reveal how the tally would be done "for security purposes." Ryan, the second person, told me that the precincts would communicate the results to caucus headquarters in Des Moines but the way in which the precinct results were to be sent was being kept secret for security purposes.

Finally, I spoke to Nicole Sizemore, the assistant director of communications. Sizemore told me that there was no outside agency involved in the tally process and that it would be "very transparent" with oversight by observers from the different campaigns. The complete tally with "total breakdown" by precinct, she said, would be released within 14 days of the January 3 caucus. I was glad to hear this and decided not to come out with a gloomy prediction that Mitt Romney would win. With the information I had from the Republican Party of Iowa it seemed that there was a good chance for a honest and transparent caucus. It now seems that my trust was misplaced and that my instinct that vote fraud would give Romney a victory in Iowa was correct after all.

If the statement of Edward True is true and correct, the tally numbers for Mitt Romney were manipulated. If vote fraud happened in True's precinct, it probably happened in others all across the state. The tally from the Iowa caucus must be examined to see if the statewide results match the precinct results for each of the 1,774 precincts. Now that the Iowa caucus is over, the method by which the results were communicated to caucus HQ needs to be exposed and examined because, just like the Voxeo telephonic vote-counting system, this appears to have been the weak link through which the results were manipulated giving Mitt Romney his victory in Iowa.

* * * * *

To those who believe that America has a "free press", impartial and unbiased, just watch the following short video in which CNN blatantly censored the comments of Corporal Jesse Thorsen, a U.S. Army soldier from West Des Moines who has served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan - and who supports Ron Paul because he is tired of war and would like to have some "peace time" duty:

"I’m really excited about a lot of his ideas, especially when it comes to bringing the soldiers home. I’ve been serving for ten years now and all ten years of those have been during wartime. I would like to see a little peace time army."
- Corporal Jesse Thorsen to CNN

Corporal Jesse Thorsen to CNN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3TSxm2V8aVQ

Ron Paul came in third place in Iowa behind the two Zionist-supported pro-war candidates, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. Santorum recently stated on "Meet the Press" that he would bomb Iran's nuclear reactors if elected president. Is that an acceptable policy statement from a candidate for president? Does 50 percent of the Republican Party of Iowa truly want to wage yet another disastrous and costly war in the Middle East, i.e. against the Islamic Republic of Iran, or is there another explanation for these results? These results are from the Washington Post and are not final.

I had always believed, and still believe, that oppressive forces draw much of their strength from their ability to wield their power in secret.
- Julian Assange - The Unauthorized Autobiography (2011)

Israeli general Amos Yadlin traveled to Chicago in an effort to enlist [Lester] Crown’s help in convincing the administration to attack Iran.
- "Israel, Big Money and Obama", 20 August 2010

The Crown family supports candidates from both parties, depending on their strategic goal. Susan Crown, for example, who gave at least $12,300 to candidate Obama between 2003 and 2007 is now supporting the Republican Mitt Romney's bid for the White House.
- "Chicago's Elders of Zion and Obama's War for Profit", October 2011

The final report of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan said that somewhere between $31 and $60 billion has been lost through contract waste and fraud in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Put another way, war profiteers took as much as $60 billion from taxpayers and didn't give us anything in return.
- "No Success in Iraq - Unless You're a War Profiteer" by Robert Greenwald and Derrick Crowe

The ongoing cover-up of 9/11, the fraudulent "War on Terror", and the trillion-dollar U.S. military intervention in the Middle East are the key elements coloring the political context of the U.S. presidential election of 2012. The false-flag terror attacks of 9/11 and the U.S. military aggression in the Middle East are two sides of the same counterfeit coin which has been used for the past decade to deceive and defraud the American people - and the world. The massive fraud that began with 9/11 and which has been used to rob the nation of untold billions could not possibly be maintained were it not for the utterly corrupt political establishment of Washington, D.C. and the controlled media. This ongoing deception is the real background against which the Iowa caucus, the first poll of the 2012 presidential election, needs to be viewed.

The Republican caucus in Iowa on January 3 is of great importance because it is the first poll to determine which candidate will challenge Barack Obama for the presidency. A CNN/Time poll indicates that Ron Paul and Mitt Romney are currently the front runners polling about 25 percent each. Two days earlier Ron Paul was the clear front runner, several points ahead of Romney and Newt Gingrich, who has now fallen further behind. Despite Paul's common sense positions and popularity with voters, the paid pundits of the controlled media outlets constantly attack his positions as "out of the mainstream".

Paul, who is a very popular candidate, is treated most unfairly by so-called alternative media outlets such as Salon and the Huffington Post. When one reads, for example, the first sentence of the Bob Cesca piece on the Huffington Post in which he says progressives that support Ron Paul are "out of their blessed gourds", it is worth remembering that the Huffington Post was acquired by AOL in February 2011 for $315 million. There is always a political reason for such media acquisitions and the Ron Paul candidacy is that reason. This is a perfect example of how, and why, the so-called alternative media is controlled by the same sinister forces that control the "mainstream" press. What better way is there to control the thoughts of progressive voters than to control the websites they rely on for information?

Ron Paul is opposed to waging war against Iran.

I am just absolutely convinced that the best formula for giving us peace and preserving the American way of life is freedom, limited government, and minding our own business overseas.
- Ron Paul

A CNN/ORC poll released in November found that 68 percent of Americans opposed the war in Iraq and 63 percent are against the one in Afghanistan. Yet, we keep hearing that only hawks have a chance to be elected president… Dr. Ron Paul is firmly anti-war, anti-empire, and anti-torture. He has been drawing large crowds in Iowa. He has legions of volunteers and a steady source of money through Internet fundraising. His supporters are willing, as one said, to "crawl over broken glass" for him. So if there is snow in Iowa or New Hampshire, that should be no problem.
- Ron Paul, the anti-war candidate” by Mary Meehan, The Baltimore Sun, 2 January 2012
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-antiwar-20120102,0,6340945.story

One of the key issues, perhaps the most crucial issue, in the GOP Iowa caucus is the position of the candidates regarding the Zionist war policy against Iran. Ron Paul is opposed to waging war against Iran while Romney and most of the others are eager armchair warriors against the Islamic Republic of Iran. With the new U.S. sanctions seeking to strangle Iran financially having brought counter threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. position vis-a-vis Iran is now of the utmost importance as the chances of war are greater than ever.

Iran has been the subject of a Zionist war strategy for years in the same way that organized Jewry declared war on Germany in the early 1930s, long before the invasion of Poland in 1939. The punitive sanctions against Iran are war by other methods and unless the United States changes its approach to Iran it will find itself in another major war in the Middle East, one with drastic and unforeseeable consequences.

Henry, Lester, and Susan Crown of Chicago. A family of Zionist war profiteers, the Crowns became rich on U.S. defense spending in World War II and have profited on every war since. The Crowns are big financial supporters of Republican Mitt Romney and the Democrat Barack Obama - both Zionist-controlled pro-war candidates.

The Crown family of Chicago is one of the key Zionist supporters of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. As a major shareholder of General Dynamics, the Crown family profits from U.S. defense spending and war. As a leading Zionist family, the Crowns support sanctions and the Israeli warmongering against Iran. The Crowns have invested in Mitt Romney because he is willing to wage war to please his Zionist supporters. To push the nation into war to serve a foreign state is treasonous.

Mitt Romney is hawkish on Iran because he is supported by Zionist warmongers like the Crown family of Chicago.

Mitt Romney would most likely win the caucus if the Republican Party of Iowa were to tally the caucus results using the dodgy telephonic tally system (Voxeo) used by the Iowa Democrats in 2004 and 2008. But after having intensively queried the Republican Party of Iowa about how the results will be tallied it seems to me that the Republican Party of Iowa will be tallying the results themselves in Des Moines.

Nicole Sizemore, assistant communications director for the GOP of Iowa, told Bollyn.com that there is no outside contractor involved in the tally and that it will be a "very transparent" poll with multiple observers. Although Sizemore could not reveal the specifics about how the results would be communicated to headquarters, she confirmed that a complete breakdown of the 1,774 precinct results would be published within 14 days. These are the key elements of an open and transparent poll.

This is good news because it suggests that the results of the January 3 Republican caucus are likely to be more representative, honest, and accurate than the Democratic caucus in 2008 that helped bring the dark horse candidate Barack Obama to power. In 2004 another dark horse candidate, John Kerry, came from behind to run against George W. Bush. In both cases, pro-war candidates from the back of the pack won the rigged caucus, effectively removing the question of the illegal war policy from the debate. Let's hope Ron Paul wins Iowa in a truly honest and transparent caucus on January 3. We certainly don't need anymore illegal Zionist wars for profit and the people of Iowa know that as well as anyone. Iowa has lost 69 servicemen in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with more than 477 wounded, according to iCasualties.org.

In the following video clips from a Republican debate Ron Paul explains his position on Iran. Rick Santorum recently stated that he would bomb Iran's nuclear facilities if elected president. Iran is the central foreign policy question facing the presidential candidates. The U.S. has been at war in the Middle East for 21 years, since January 1991, when President George H.W. Bush went to war against Iraq over Kuwait...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhxwJnPbzt4&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7NWxf-jh2I&feature=player_embedded

Sources and Recommended Reading:

Bollyn, Christopher, "Chicago's Elders of Zion and Obama's War for Profit", 14 October 2011
http://www.bollyn.com/occupy-dc

Bollyn, "ELRON - VOXEO: The Israeli Defense Firm That Tallies the Iowa Caucus", 31 December 2007
http://www.bollyn.com/elron-voxeo-the-israeli-defense-firm-that-tallies-the-iowa-caucus

Bollyn, "Voxeo's Ties to 9-11 and the Israeli Military", 5 January 2008
http://www.bollyn.com/voxeos-ties-to-9-11-and-the-israeli-military

Bollyn, "Bollyn Responds to Voxeo", 7 January 2008
http://www.bollyn.com/bollyn-responds-to-voxeo

"Israel, Big Money and Obama - Mr. Crown and the President", by Margaret Kimberley, CounterPunch.org, 20 August 2010
http://www.counterpunch.org/2010/08/20/israel-big-money-and-obama/

"No Success in Iraq -- Unless You're a War Profiteer", by Robert Greenwald and Derrick Crowe, Huffingtonpost.com, 15 December 2011
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-greenwald-and-derrick-crowe/no-success-in-iraq--unles_b_1151171.html

MORMONS MOSSAD AND THE CIA....

Mormons wear special underwear - Website for this image

Mitt Romney is the candidate of the rich (Exit poll fun: Catholics, Mormons, and the Rich)

Mitt Romney is a Mormon.

Mitt Romney founded Bain Capital, which allegedly could be a front company for Mossad.

Bain Capital owns CLEAR CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS, "which owns virtually ALL of those fat bloated Neocon windbags." (Does Mitt Romney work for the Mossad?)

OpEdNews has reported on the Mormon-Mossad-CIA Connection:

"The first public awareness of the nexus between Mossad and Mormon secret agents was published by Norman Mailer in A Harlot High and Low in the 60's when a reconditioned WWII Liberty ship was hijacked on the Thames River in London by Mossad.

"The ship had a cargo of uranium ore that had been originally mined in southern Utah.

"The details of that intrigue were published in an article on OpedNews click here".

According to the OpEdNews article on the Mormon-Mossad-CIA Connection:

Mormons believe that "Zion will be built upon the North American continent at a place specific in Missouri and that Mormon leaders will become vice Regents of Christ ruling earth

The law shall go forth from Zion (in America) and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem!

In 1843 the Mormon Church sent an emissary, Orson Hyde, to Palestine to dedicate the land for the return of Jews.

The establishment of a branch of the Mormon's Brigham Young University in Israel created a front for covert activities of the CIA element of the church....

The Mormon entrance to the Salt Lake City, Utah, Temple (notice the all-seeing eye). Mormon founder, Joseph Smith, was a 33rd degree Freemason. See, Mormonism and Freemasonry. Mormonism EXPOSED! - SodaHead

The Pastor of the First Satanic Church, and the author of the Satanic Bible, is Anton LaVey.

In his Satanic Bible, under "In fernal Names," LaVey refers to "Mormo," the God of the living dead, and the king of the Ghouls.

The followers of Mormo are called Mormons.

Rory, at Rys2Sense.com, has written about Mormons.

http://www.rys2sense.com/anti-neocons/viewtopic.php?f=11& /

Joseph Smith, in the 1800's, supposedly had God and Jesus appear to him in some forest...

Before he started polygamy and stealing other members wives (another "vision" of course), the pre-church history of Joseph involves him being thrown in jail for selling a "gold finding device" but like lots of things these records have been covered up by the church....but I digress.

In the vision, God told Joseph all the religions were wrong and to start his own...

Visions told him where to find some buried gold plates in Illinois ... Of course, the "plates" were never found and there's some BS story where god "took them up"....

OK, I have read this crap cover to cover in my youth....

Bottom Line: The Book of Mormon is a chronicle of how people came from Israel ... on some boat god made them make (noah again) and one of the brothers became "evil" and so god made his skin dark...

So you get Lamanites (evil dark skinned Indians... just like everyone knew Indians were evil in the 1800s).

It then goes on to chronicle CONSTANT wars, condoned by god, between the GOOD GUYS and the BAD GUYS ad nauseum...

As soon as the good guys get a little bit bad....they get their ASSES KICKED by their enemies...

Well after all these constant wars there is only one good guy left, (white of course) and because all his "brethren" (vomit) were bad guys they got wiped by the dark skinned heathen.

Well this one guy of course was instructed to bury the plates which were the diaries of his people...

There is ZERO archaeological or historical evidence for these claims...

Don't mention brainwashing.

Rory continues (http://www.rys2sense.com/anti-neocons/viewtopic.php?f=11& /):

1. Mormons did NOT allow blacks into the church until around the 1970s, when (you guessed it) some church leader had a vision from god telling him to do so.

In fact, there are official writings (hushed up somewhat) that state that god marked Cain (the evil one) by making him black.

2. Yes they practiced polygamy and yes some (not officially condoned) still do today, in fact Joseph made some early followers give them his wife and daughters because "god" told him to do so.

3. I grew up mormon for a short while until I managed to free myself... but bottom line is, if you aint... mormon you ain't going to heaven.

The elite have decided that Obama is to be re-elected and the unpopular Romney is to be the loser?

According to an article at Scoop, ( Scoop: Suzan Mazur: Bush And The Mormons)

1. The Carlyle Group, which has links to the Bush (and bin Laden) families, was reportedly founded by people linked to the Mormons.

2. Mormons have had 'a disproportionate representation in the CIA and FBI through the years, and J. Edgar Hoover started the FBI with Mormon agents'. In the last 2 decades there was a tremendous increase of mormons' presence within CIA, as well as that of the Scientology cult.....

3. Karl Rove, of the infamous White House Murder INC,....although not a Mormon, 'was nurtured in the Salt Lake City Mormon culture and educated at the University of Utah.'

4. Mormon Timothy E. Flanigan helped organise the Bush case in the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court legal argument. Flanigan also helped organise the Homeland Security department.

5. Mormon Orrin Hatch has chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee that oversees the Department of Justice and the FBI.

6. Dawin A. John who was managing director of information and communication systems for the Mormon Church, was given the job of reorganising the FBI's computer files.

Romney supported the Vietnam War, but avoided fighting in Vietnam.

SEX

Salt Lake City is one of the top 51 'gay-friendly places to live' in the U.S. [45]

The city has a large gay community. (Salt Lake City, Utah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

In the 2004 election, 63% of the city population voted against banning same-sex marriage. [49]

Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 by a group of Mormons led by their prophet, Brigham Young.

It was Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith who married a 14 year-old. (Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith and Helen Mar Kimball age 14)

According to an article Mormonism For Children? "Many Mormon women (as well as men) suffer terribly from depression."

"Utah residents are among the highest users of anti-depressant medication in the United States, as documented in a CBS news story June 3, 2002,"Unhappy In Utah" and in the article "Mormon Women, Prozac, and Therapy" by Dr. Kent Ponder. -Mormonism For Children?

"The frequency of child abuse and spousal abuse in Utah is also extremely high."

According to : Issue 80 - Salt Lake City Messenger :

"In a highly controversial trial, which took place in 1987, a man by the name of Alan B. Hadfield was convicted on seven counts of "sodomizing and sexually molesting his son and daughter." (Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 13, 1988)

"In the same newspaper, under the date of Dec. 16, 1987, we find the following: 'PROVO—As many as 40 people in the same Lehi neighborhood were implicated as child sex abusers by their own offspring and other children in the area, a therapist testified Tuesday.

"Dr. Barbara Snow, the principal therapist who broke an alleged widespread pattern of child sexual abuse centered in one ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spent nearly six hours on the stand during the second day of the trial of Alan B. Hadfield."....

Israeli intelligence agents on the move in Latin America....

2012-01-05T06:38:00.001-08:00

Indications and warnings point to something "big" possibly involving another Israeli false flag attack on the United States or on U.S. targets in Latin America....

January , 2011 -- Israeli intelligence agents on the move in Latin America....

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

WMR has received information and documentation from foreign intelligence sources in Latin America that the Israeli intelligence service Mossad and its extensive network of non-official cover agents in Latin America are now on the move and are engaged in "something big."

The impending trip of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Latin America has seen an increase in activity of Mossad and Sayanim (resident Latin American Jewish agents of influence) in Latin America and especially in Costa Rica... Ahmadinejad is expected to attend the inauguration of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega on January 10.

Israeli propaganda efforts against Iran and its diplomatic allies in Latin America have included spinning a dubious story that Iranian Al-Quds Force personnel and military and diplomatic personnel have been working with Lebanese Hezbollah operatives and drug cartels to carry out drug smuggling operations into the United States as well as a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington....[ A crude Hoax of course ] The Israeli propaganda blitz has also attempted to link Iran to the 9/11 inside Job attacks in the United States.

Israel has been active in destabilization efforts, using bases of operations in Costa Rica, along the Costa Rican-Nicaraguan border. As previously reported by us on November 2, 2010, "Ex-Israeli commandos operating in Costa Rica with the blessing of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman operate under the cover of the Mossad-linked security firm Bitajon Shar, which has been connected, according to our Central American sources, to the destabilization efforts on the Costa Rican borders with Nicaragua and El Salvador. Bitajon Shar has also been described as a Mossad pass-through to infiltrate Israeli security personnel into the counter-narcotics apparatuses of Colombia and Mexico, as well as Costa Rica." The Mossad agents in Costa Rica enjoy the protection of Costa Rican Vice President Luis Lieberman, who is Jewish.

A suspected Mossad cell operating in San Jose, Costa Rica was found to have in its possession a list of contract security guards assigned to protect the U.S. embassy in San Jose. The 90 security personnel work for the U.S. private security company EOD Technology, Inc. (EODT) of Lenoir City, Tennessee, which has been contracted to the U.S. State Department to provide security for U.S. embassies in Costa Rica, Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. The Mossad cell had computerized files containing personal details on all the security guards. EODT maintains overseas offices in Lagos, Nigeria; the Radwaniya Palace Complex in Baghdad; Kabul, Afghanistan; Kampala, Uganda; San Jose, Costa Rica; and Pretoria, South Africa, as well as stateside offices in Huntsville, Alabama; Reston, Virginia; and Tucson, Arizona. EODT has also provided services for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq; and mine clearing operations for international and commercial clients.

Other computer files contained on the Mossad cell's computer are in the Russian language. Many Mossad and Sayanim operatives in Latin America hail from Russia and Ukraine and are not conversant in Hebrew, thus they rely on Russian, in addition to languages like English and Spanish. Contained in the files on the Mossad kingpin's computer were details on the U.S. embassy's security detail, vehicles and routes used by U.S. embassy personnel en route to and from San Jose's Juan Santamaria International Airport. In addition, files containing U.S. embassy vehicles and routes to and from airports for U.S. diplomatic posts in Panama, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and Argentina were contained in the computer files.

The cell's kingpin has traveled on a U.S. passport to Belarus, Ukraine, and Brazil. A few months ago he was detained at the Panamanian-Costa Rican border with $20,000 in cash. The kingpin is suspected of smuggling Mossad agents into the United States under the J1 temporary worker program. Soon, the temporary workers, all Jews bearing Israeli passports from Russia and other eastern European countries, were given new identities and were inserted into various positions throughout the United States. The Mossad kingpin also recruited agents in the Brazilian government and double agents inside Peru's Shining Path terrorist movement. Over the past five years, the Mossad network also inserted agents inside various U.S. embassies throughout Latin America.

Belarus, Ukraine, and Brazilian visas in suspected Mossad kingpin's U.S. passport.

There is a strong possibility that shopping mall kiosk operations in the United States involving Israeli vendors are linked to the J1 visa smuggling operation. The profile of one such kiosk operator active in the Fort Lauderdale and Orlando regions is a case in point... The individual entered the United States illegally and lived for a while in California. The Israeli, a veteran of the Israel Defense Force and known to have links to the Russian-Israeli mafia, does not have a valid U.S. visa but runs a number of mall kiosks, as well as a jewelry store. Although he was robbed on numerous occasions, the Israeli, who often disappears for long periods of time, avoided contacting the police.

The main base for the Mossad infiltration operation in Latin America was San Jose, Costa Rica. However, over the past two months, all of the Mossad personnel, individuals masquerading as security trainers and Israeli Krav Maga self-defense instructors have disappeared, except for one. A Russian national by the name of Dmitri is in prison for shooting a Nigerian model in Costa Rica. Two of the Mossad agents are known to have used the code names of "Cowboy" and "Rabbit." The Mossad cell also worked with two former CIA personnel, one based at Nosara, Costa Rica and the other, a Cuban national who has been involved in anti-Castro operations for decades and who, in 1968, flew a Russian-made plane to Homestead, Florida from Varandero, Cuba along with 13 passengers, many of them armed. The semi-retired Cuban, who now heads a security firm in Costa Rica that, among other services, imports and exports ammunition, was involved in the CIA's contra war against Nicaragua in the 1980s.

Some of the weapons that ended up in the hands of the Mossad cell were wrapped in plastic and dug up from a Costa Rican farm near the Nicaraguan border. It is suspected that the weapons, which included Russian-made AK-47s -- discernible by their wooden stocks with the Russian star -- pistols with silencers, and tracer ammunition for the AK-47s, were stockpiled by the CIA during the contra war with Nicaragua.

In 1999, the Mossad kingpin wrote in his computer journal that he "dreamed of an attack on the United States" that would result in a war.... Some of the Israeli "art students" active in the United States in the months before the False Flag 9/11 attacks had links to Latin America, particularly Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico....

The Mossad operatives in Costa Rica were identifiable by the black bags they carried. Inside the bags were $20,000 in cash, multiple passports, an Uzi and a Glock, extra ammunition, changes of clothes. Attempts by the Costa Rican judicial police, the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), have been spiked by interference from higher levels, like Vice President Lieberman and other Israeli agents-of-influence in the administration of President Laura Chinchilla.....

Lockheed Martin goes to bat for oppressive Bahrain....

2012-01-05T05:44:00.000-08:00

Lockheed Martin goes to bat for oppressive Bahrain....

"...As Ken Silverstein reported in Salon last month, the kingdom is stepping up its Washington lobbying efforts. Here’s the latest example, as far as I can piece together from lobbying disclosures filed by Bahrain’s “strategic communications” firm, D.C.-based Sanitas International.

On Nov. 30, the Washington Times published an Op-Ed under the headline “Bahrain, a vital U.S. ally: Backing protesters would betray a friend and harm American security.” It was written by Vice Adm. Charles Moore (retired). Moore was formerly commander of the Navy’s Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet. From 1998 to 2002, Moore notes in his Op-Ed, he “had the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s leader, as well as many senior officials in his government.” Moore passed through the revolving door and is now regional president for Lockheed Martin for the Middle East and Africa.... ... ...

To sum up: Bahrain paid a Washington lobbying firm to get an independent-seeming Op-Ed published in an American newspaper and then touted the Op-Ed in its official news agency...

In the past decade or so, Lockheed has done hundreds of millions of dollars of business with Bahrain, including selling the nation 10 F-16 jets, hundreds of extended-range rockets, tactical surface-to-surface missiles, and a ballistic missile defense radar system. The company has also had an $87 millioncontract to do tech support for the U.S. military in Bahrain and elsewhere. So it’s clearly in Lockheed’s interest to keep the U.S.-Bahrain relationship healthy, and the company appears to be working directly with the regime to accomplish that goal.

Lockheed spokeswoman Jennifer Whitlow told Salon in a statement that Moore’s views are his own:

As stated in the opinion piece, the views expressed by Mr. Moore are his own as an individual, not as a representative of Lockheed Martin, and are based on his experience as former U.S. Navy 5th Fleet Commander.

In fact, the piece does not state that Moore’s views are “his own as an individual”; he is identified as a Lockheed executive in his bio line...."

Most people could be forgiven for being unfamiliar with JSOC. The Joint Special Operations Command is part of the U.S. military's Special Operations Command, for which it oversees certain special operations. Established in 1980 following the unsuccessful rescue of American hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, it has remained an obscure and secretive corner of the military's hierarchy. But JSOC has enjoyed a rapid expansion of authority and notoriety beginning in the latter years of the Bush administration. Under President Obama, JSOC appears to be playing an increasingly prominent role in national security, counter-terrorism and the war in Afghanistan. If Obama's first ten months in office are any indication, it may not be so obscure for long.

A series of reports has shown JSOC taking on greater responsibility, especially in areas traditionally covered by the CIA. As recently as this weekend, The New York Times reported a secret "black jail" facility run by "military Special Operations" in Afghanistan. Descriptions of the detention center are strikingly similar to those of CIA "black sites," which Obama ordered closed in his first week in office. In Pakistan, JSOC reportedly runs a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle, or predator drone) program that rivals or exceeds that of the CIA. It may even be responsible for many of the UAV strikes attributed to the CIA. An unnamed military intelligence official told The Nation's Jeremy Scahill, "So when you see some of these hits, especially the ones with high civilian casualties, those are almost always JSOC strikes." The New Yorker's Seymour Hersh reported that the task of securing Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, should it be compromised by extremists, falls to JSOC.

The military at large has also felt the growing influence of JSOC. Indeed, General Stanley McChrystal, now the top military commander in Afghanistan, led JSOC from 2003 to 2008. McChrystal's extensive special operations in Iraq, credited as crucial in the country's stabilization, earned both him and JSOC wide support in the military and in Washington. In his high-powered role in Afghanistan, McChrystal is increasingly turning to his old command. Spencer Ackerman reports that JSOC's current leadership is "playing a large and previously unreported role in shaping the Obama administration's Afghanistan and Pakistan strategy." That new influence includes strategic decision-making and direct involvement in the more traditional warfare conducted by the conventional military. Ackerman writes:
In his Afghanistan review, McChrystal said that a key goal for him would be to increase coordination between his NATO command and the independent command of JSOC, which suggested that the dichotomy between using Special Operations Forces for counterterrorism and conventional forces for counterinsurgency was eroding.
More evidence of the the growing special operations footprint can be found in the Special Operation Command's latest budgetary requests, which include 2,000 all-terrain vehicles and $7 million in training for handling detainees. All of which begs the question, Is JSOC an intelligence agency or a branch of the military? It is technically part of the military hierarchy, but its de facto status may be more complicated. Though it's unclear who JSOC currently reports to, it developed under McChrystal as a tool of the Bush White House. In a story on JSOC's contracting of private military firm Blackwater, Scahill quotes former Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, the former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell:
"What I was seeing was the development of what I would later see in Iraq and Afghanistan, where Special Operations forces would operate in both theaters without the conventional commander even knowing what they were doing." ... Wilkerson said that almost immediately after assuming his role at the State Department under Colin Powell, he saw JSOC being politicized and developing a close relationship with the executive branch. He saw this begin, he said, after his first Delta Force briefing at Fort Bragg. "I think Cheney and Rumsfeld went directly into JSOC. I think they went into JSOC at times, perhaps most frequently, without the SOCOM [Special Operations] commander at the time even knowing it. The receptivity in JSOC was quite good," says Wilkerson. "I think Cheney was actually giving McChrystal instructions, and McChrystal was asking him for instructions. ... At that point you had JSOC operating as an extension of the [administration] doing things the executive branch--read: Cheney and Rumsfeld--wanted it to do. This would be more or less carte blanche. You need to do it, do it."
It's hard to say exactly why JSOC's authority is being expanded so rapidly. It could be little more than internal politics. The CIA was widely disgraced by revelations that it was funding Ahmed Wali Karzai, brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a big player in the opium trade that indirectly funds the Taliban. The CIA has also been embattled in a politically contentious turf war with the Director of National Intelligence, as Marc reported. Or, McChrystal may simply be giving his former colleagues a leg up, or any number of back-room political machinations. But I have a hunch this bit from Scahill's story could have something to do with it:
The military intelligence source says that the CIA [predator drone] operations are subject to Congressional oversight, unlike the parallel JSOC bombings.
President Obama has had a tough time surrendering Bush-era executive powers on national security. The use of JSOC as an independent intelligence and military force run out of the White House and unconstrained by congressional oversight would be tough to resist for any criminal US Zioconned president, hellbent on using the infamous White House Murder INC, in the Levant, ever-since January 24th 2002, at 9.40 AM and Worldwide.....

Business as usual in the Zioconned US judiciary....

2012-01-05T03:04:00.000-08:00

Business as usual in the Zioconned US judiciary....

It would seem that USA's ZOG thuggish propaganda is not just for the Legislative and Administrative branches of government anymore.....

Want a clue about justice in America? Search ‘Court Registry Investment System’....

All courts in America are for-profit corporations who enforce statutory jurisdiction and collect fines. As the US and its incorporated political sub-divisions (states) have been in Chapter 11 receivership since 1933, all are administrative courts conducting bankruptcy proceedings. In all court cases, attorneys-at-law (BAR), judges, etc. are forbidden by the BAR from revealing the true nature of the proceedings, (it’s a bankruptcy proceeding), and the identity of the true creditor (Fed/IMF)....

You have no constitutional rights in these courts as they are operating under Admiralty/Maritime/Commercial law since 1938 (UCC)....

Federal courts function with integrity, according to a self-serving annual report on the judiciary that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued over the weekend.

His annual report issued on Dec. 31 in the middle of the New Year’s holiday weekend focused heavily on the need for public confidence. But he recommended nothing more for reform than current procedures, despite increasing calls for recusal or even impeachment because of conflict issues.

Chief Justice John Roberts

Noting at the outset baseball’s disgrace from player bribery in the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal, Roberts said he had “complete confidence” in the integrity of judges, including his Supreme Court colleagues.

That’s not good enough from the chief justice, who presides over both the nine-member high court and the Judicial Conference of the United States, which supervises the federal court system nationally.

It’s doubtless true that the vast majority of judges work honorably. But there’s lots of evidence of judges who have been enriched or otherwise co-opted by benefactors and political allies while protected by cronies and toadies. Here is a sample commentary Jan. 3 in Alabama, for example. It referenced the chief justice’s report in terms far different than the report’s coverage from Supreme Court beat reporters in the mainstream media, who necessarily must maintain access to judges and prosecutors.

More generally, critics increasingly suspect dire shortcomings in all manner of federal institutions, courts included.

U.S. Supreme Court

So far, for example, 52 House Democrats have requested a House Judiciary Committee impeachment investigation of Republican Justice Clarence Thomas for false statements on his annual financial disclosure statements covering up a reported $1.6 million in payments and gifts, mostly to his wife, Virginia.

This is one basis for an effort by some Democrats to prevent Thomas from sitting on the Court’s upcoming review of the Obama-supported health care law. Democrats focus especially on his 2010 vote in a 5-4 ruling enabling corporation donations in federal elections that was won by the same Citizens United group that advocated for his confirmation in 1991 with massive television ads. The Citizens United ruling was central to planning by Virginia Thomas to lead a new non-profit called Liberty Central funded by conservatives to help corporations make political donations enabled by her husband’s vote with the court majority and to position herself as a key opponent of Obama’s health care law that her husband could help overturn.

In response, Republicans seek to target Elena Kagan, a Democrat, from reviewing the law’s constitutionality because of her work as solicitor general for the Obama Justice Department.

Foreseeing some of these problems, the non-partisan Justice Integrity Project I lead opposed her confirmation on civil rights grounds. We feared she was too closely aligned with the president on executive power issues. One such controversial Obama action that’s in the news since the weekend is the defense appropriation law he signed Dec. 31. It enables, among other things, military detention indefinitely without trial of U.S. citizens suspected of supporting terror.

Recusal issues are clearly on the court’s radar, as indicated by a landmark 5-4 ruling in 2009 that a West Virginia state Supreme Court justice who had received millions from a mine owner must recuse from a high-profile case involving the donor.

I wrote about a similar situation that year involving the notorious federal prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, his state’s leading Democrat. His federal trial judge made many controversial pro-prosecution rulings while controlling a company that received some $300 million in federal contracts from the Bush administration. Whistle-blowers, including one swearing she was in on Republican planning to frame Siegelman, have alleged that the Bush Justice Department orchestrated the still-ongoing prosecution to remove Siegelman from politics, in part to help facilitate massive federal contracts and legalized gambling revenues for well-connected Republicans.

Just last week, new allegations arose in in Wisconsin regarding a Supreme court justice who received cut-rate legal services from an attorney frequently litigating before the justice.

Roberts cited no specifics in his report, whose release at 6 p.m. Saturday night on New Year’s Eve suggests a message more from duty than for public education. In it, the chief justice says:

I have complete confidence in the capability of my colleagues to determine when recusal is warranted. They are jurists of exceptional integrity and experience whose character and fitness have been examined through a rigorous appointment and confirmation process. I know that they each give careful consideration to any recusal questions that arise in the course of their judicial duties. We are all deeply committed to the common interest in preserving the Court’s vital role as an impartial tribunal governed by the rule of law.

To be sure, the Roberts mention of ethics provides a public service since the courts rarely comment on the topic at all during the year and also make it difficult for litigants and the rest of the public to obtain reliable and timely financial information on judges. Disclosures are in generalities and with a time-lag on the forms, which are primarily available courtesy of the conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch.

Here’s what Roberts should have recommended:

Specific ethics standards and enforcement for Supreme Court justices, not just for judges on lower courts.
Reassessment by the court’s administrative office of financial disclosure procedures, which are heavily dependent on voluntary compliance by judges and opaque procedures for the public; and
Support, at least in general, for FBI and congressional investigations as oversight on well-documented criminal allegations against judges. These would include scrutiny of instances of clear-cut perjury during confirmation hearings.

Instead, the Bush-appointed Republican Roberts argues in essence that increased oversight is neither needed nor permissible under judicial independence mandated by the Constitution. But in a democracy, surely some reform must be Constitutionally permissible.

Recently, the presidential campaign of Newt Gingrich tapped into public concern about activist and otherwise unaccountable judges. His solution is fatally flawed because it relies, in essence, on politicians seeking reprisals against judges based on highly subjective standards.

The better reform is bipartisan commitment to improved procedures that increase accountability, whether the targets are high or low, Democrat or Republican. Little scrutiny exists currently except for the most obvious crimes.

“The Supreme Court affects the life of every American every day,” says former court clerk Edward Lazarus in his iconic study, Closed Chambers. Yet the court is an insular, self-protective body. Presiding over a vast nation, all nine attended Harvard or Yale Law School (although Justice Ruth Ginsberg transferred from Harvard to Columbia for her degree). All but Thomas are from the metro New York region. Its members socialize with one another, generally refrain from self-criticism or reform, and otherwise protect one another under a theory the Constitution makes them accountable to no one, not even their colleagues.

Roberts could help initiate better oversight procedures if he wanted. But his report proves, if nothing else, that it’s still business as usual in the judiciary — unless or until the public demands reform....

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

South Sudan, Israel's latest Tribe with a Flag in MENA/Africa...., many more are sought since 1917.....

2012-01-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pilMlUWlwhk

South Sudan, Israel's latest Tribe with a Flag in MENA/Africa...., many more are sought since 1917.....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123275572295011847.html

"... Mr. Kiir acknowledged this contribution in Jerusalem, noting that “Israelhas always supported the South Sudanese people. Without you, we would not have arisen. You struggled alongside us in order to allow the establishment of South Sudan.” In reply, Mr. Peres recalled his presence in the early 1960s in Paris, when then-Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and he initiated Israel’s first-ever link with southern Sudanese leaders. Sudan’s civil war continued intermittently from 1956 until 2005...... in January 2011, when 98 percent voted for secession from Sudan, leading to the formation of the Republic of South Sudan six months later, an event hailed by Mr. Peres as “a milestone in the history of the Middle East.”

Israel’s long-term investment has paid off. South Sudan fits into a renewed periphery strategy (Read: potentially hostile to Arabs!) that includes Cyprus, Kurds, Berbers and, perhaps one day, a post-Islamist Iran. South Sudan offers access to natural resources, especially oil. Its role in Nile River water negotiations offers leverage vis-a-vis Egypt. Beyond practical benefits, the new republic represents an inspiring example of a non-Muslim population resisting Islamic imperialism through its integrity, persistence and dedication. In this sense, the birth of South Sudan echoes that of Israel.... A successful South Sudancould eventually become a regional power and a stalwart ally not just of Israel but of the West...."

The criminal Israeli assassins no longer have any justification for maintaining their highly provocative foreign policy based on superior military strength. Now they can rest confident that U.S. power will give them security, so they no longer need to maintain nuclear arms, no longer need to push us into a war with Iran, no longer need to colonize their neighbors. Israel can now be a good neighbor, share water resources, respect international boundaries, stop aggressing neighbors and faraway lands..., share Palestine with the Palestinians, safe behind the wall of U.S. troops.

Now we will find out if the regime in power in Israel truly wants peace or is just another bunch of bullies trying to build an empire. Now we will find out if alliance with Israel as currently ruled is compatible with U.S. national security and democracy or a threat with which the U.S. will have to deal. Now we will find out if the Israeli ruling elite shares American values and deserves American support...or not.

La France est devenue une pseudo-democratie, ou regnent les mediocres....

2012-01-03T03:14:00.000-08:00

La Ripoublique Francaise: Fascisme de gauche ou fascisme de droite, même combat....

l’ etatisme-colbertisme a la française qui produit depuis 1974 ( l’ infame VGE ) le desastre actuel....

La France est devenue une pseudo-democratie, ou regnent les mediocres contre le peuple, contre le pays, contre le bon sens, contre les valeurs morales les plus essentielles. Le regne des mèdiocres doit finir en mai 2012. SEULE UNE ABSTENTION MASSIVE VA LEUR OTER LEUR SOI-DISANT LEGITIMITE. Sous les 40% de votants ils savent qu’ils sont nus, que leurs discours sont indecents, qu’ils doivent se taire et partir. Epargnez vous cette fatigue, allez vous balader, meprisez les tous comme ils vous meprisent....

Vouloir réformer la "Ripoublique" France? Autant tenter de faire flotter un iceberg sur sa pointe! Instabilité et coups fourrés vous seront garantis pour faire échouer toute tentative sérieuse. Les bruits de la rue l’ont démontré à foison. Les troupes syndicales (8% de nos travailleurs) suffisent à tuer dans l’oeuf toute tentative courageuse et lucide de changer l’état déplorable de la chose publique ou même d’entreprises (leur patron étant neutralisé dans maintes tentatives)....

Interview exclusive avec Carla CIA Bé, Première Dominatrix de France.....

Notre reporter fouineuse aura passé de longs moments à interviewer la célèbre
dominatrix. Condition acceptée avec joie par la Maîtresse et chanteuse: aucune
question n'était tabou. Entre femmes, quand on accepte d'échanger sur le ton
de la confidence, les scoops ne manquent jamais. Extraits et morceaux choisis.

Sur les conditions de leur association: "J'ai été claire depuis le début. Je
lui ai dit: si tu veux pouvoir utiliser mon image, c'est tant par mois, jamais
je n'habiterai avec toi et je prendrai autant d'amants qu'il me plaira, sans
chercher à me cacher. Il a accepté tout de suite, le deal lui a semblé casher."
(rires)

Sur le choix de Nicolas MOSSAD Sarkozy

d'aller habiter à la Lanterne: "Au début, je ne savais pas trop ce qui
le motivait. Et puis, j'ai compris ses motivations inconscientes. Enfant, il a
eu une nourrice qui lui chantait tout le temps: "Ah, ça ira, ça ira..." Il a beau
être déjà vraiment petit, il rêve de se faire raccourcir. C'est une dimension de
son immense complexe d'infériorité envers son père, je pense. Enfin, je ne suis pas
son psy, je ne mélange pas les genres. Mais en tant que chanteuse de variétés à
mes heures, je suis très bien placée pour comprendre les dégâts que peut engendrer
une chanson dans la tête d'un simple d'esprit."

Sur la remarquable durée de leur relation: "Vous voulez savoir pourquoi ma relation
avec Nicolas dure? Oh, c'est assez simple. C'est un soumis masochiste, je suis une
dominatrice née et je pratique des formes de sadisme particulièrement raffinées, en
particulier l'humiliation publique. Avec moi, il en a pour son argent. Et puis,
quand on voit ce que j'en ai fait, quelle référence! Je suis ainsi assurée d'avoir
des clients de choix jusqu'à ce que je décide de prendre ma retraite." (sourires)

Sur l'identité du père de sa fille: "Vous savez, une bonne pouliche comme moi
sait très vite faire la différence entre un hongre et un étalon. Il est tellement
shooté qu'il sue et pue en permanence... Alors mon choix a été vite fait: je me
suis trouvée un reproducteur convenable, 1m92, mince, musclé, beau gosse, cultivé,
intelligent, galant et de fort agréable compagnie. Bref, tout le contraire de ce
pauvre Nicolas! Je pense que je me suis assez affichée au bras de mon amant dans
le tout-Paris pour qu'aucun doute ne soit plus permis sur l'identité du vrai père
de l'enfant, même avec un simplet comme Nicolas."

Pour terminer, voici un petit secret en exclusivité pour nos lecteurs, un truc
infaillible pour dominer son client avec art: "C'est Cécilia qui m'a raconté comment le
faire ramper à ses pieds en moins de dix secondes: se refuser à lui avec éclat, et
s'offrir à une autre sous ses yeux. Elle était devenue une grande spécialiste de
la chose grâce à sa complice de l'époque, Rachida, une beurette qui avait toujours
le feu aux fesses et une sacrée gougnotte, vous pouvez m'en croire." (rires complices)

J'ai failli oublier les bonnes résolutions de Carla CIA Bé pour 2012:
"Je me prépare à une année de jouissances et de réjouissances qui sera pour moi, si
j'en crois tous les astrologues que j'ai consultés, placée sous le signe de la Veuve
Joyeuse. J'ai déjà préparé ma garde-robe en conséquence. Oui, mes tenues de printemps,
et aussi d'hiver, bien sûr; au train où vont les choses! Je m'apprête à être inconsolable
pendant au moins trois jours. Mais pour les nuits, il ne faudra pas trop me demander."....

Narkozy s'est conduit avec la France comme avec Cécilia, son ex- qui l'a publiquement
bafoué et quitté malgré ses supplications - conduisant cette dernière à partir vivre
bien loin afin d'échapper aux persécutions manigancées par ce pervers narcissique en
situation de rejet explicite, ce qui est la pire situation pour ce type de malade.

C'est ainsi que nous assistons présentement à l'aboutissement ultime du comportement de
pervers narcissique d'un Narkozy qui a voulu faire de la France sa chose personnelle. Il
a fini par faire son travail de deuil face à l'inéluctabilité de sa défaite personnelle,
constatant et admettant qu'il ne sera donc jamais reconduit dans ses fonctions de chef
de l'état.

Comme Attila le Hun, il met donc en oeuvre une politique de terre brûlée, se fichant
de laisser crever son clan, son parti, les institutions du régime, la population et la
France, qu'il accable désormais d'une pluie d'exigences contradictoires au mépris de la
plus basique recherche de préservation et de développement de sa popularité.

Ce faisant, ll laissera donc du même coup la France perdre son restant de souveraineté,
rentrer dans le rang et rejoindre le bloc de l'alliance multipolaire plutôt que de laisser
à quiconque de son propre camp, la moindre possibilité de gagner là où il a perdu, et
toute chance de poursuivre la résistance au changement planétaire qui est sur le point
d'être finalisé....

La puissance d’un pays est comme le produit de trois facteurs : la puissance économique, la puissance militaire et la puissance morale. Il ajoutait que si l’un des trois facteurs était égal à zéro, le produit l’était aussi.... On est tenté d’appliquer la « loi d’Eisenhower » au monde présent, et plus particulièrement à trois acteurs : l’Amérique, l’Europe, Canada, Australie, New Zealand, Israel, les dictatures et la Chine....

Cela évoque aussi l’idée que tous les peuples, toutes les personnes, doivent avoir dans leur ciel culturel ou idéologique des signes qui peuvent les mettre en chemin vers l’accomplissement de leur vie, dont la Parole de Dieu est la meilleure voie d’humanité....

Avec l’Epiphanie, le temps de Dieu devient le temps de l'humain. Alors que notre environnement culturel et spirituel est envahi aujourd'hui par des stars de toutes sortes qui nous vantent des paradis de pacotille, l'étoile de Bethléhem scintille d'une lumière régénérante et apaisante dans nos nuits de plus en plus assombries de fléaux multiples en France et partout ailleurs....

Matthieu insiste pour appeler l’enfant Jésus « roi des Juifs », il souligne par là la différence fondamentale avec Hérode, le roi officiel, moins juif et moins royal que le fils de Marie. Car Hérode est un homme de paille qui tire artificiellement son pouvoir des Romains, tandis que Jésus couché sur la paille d’une étable est le visage d’une royauté de l’Esprit et de ses vraies valeurs existentielles.

Noël n’a pas pour but de célébrer la date de naissance de Jésus, impossible à connaître, mais essentiellement l’événement de sa venue au sein de son peuple au service de toute l’humanité. L’Epiphanie, qui a été quelque temps une fête plus importante que Noël, célèbre la manifestation au monde païen d’un message de paix spécifiquement biblique que la France oublie de plus en plus.....

Originellement, Epiphanie est le terme que l’on utilisait dans l’antiquité lorsqu’un roi venait rendre visite à son peuple, et cette démarche s’accompagnait de festivités, d’illuminations, de banquets, de cadeaux et d’octroi de privilèges à la foule rassemblée.

La fête chrétienne de Noël-Epiphanie est plus une Théophanie qu’une Epiphanie : elle reprend l’expression biblique selon laquelle « Dieu vient visiter son peuple » pour que progressent la fraternité, le respect mutuel, le partage, l’équité, autour de valeurs sûres.

Quel programme, pour la France et pour le monde entier.... !

Bi-partisan laws passed in the smug USA, removing more constitutional rights?

2012-01-02T02:03:00.000-08:00

Bi-partisan laws passed in the smug USA, removing more constitutional rights?

Obama signed the NDAA – including a provision allowing the indefinite detention of Americans - on New Year’s eve.

Obama issued a “signing statement” with the bill, which – at first blush – appears to say he won’t indefinitely detain Americans. Specifically, Obama wrote:

My administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens … Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a nation.

But a closer reading shows that the signing statement is just smoke and mirrors.

Specifically, it was Obama - not Congress – who originally requested that an exception for American citizens be removed from the bill. As such, his professed reluctance is wholly disingenuous.

Moreover, Obama signed a bill which would allow future presidents to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens, and his signing statement in no way limits their power to run roughshod over our rights.

As the ACLU notes:

The statute contains a sweeping worldwide indefinite detention provision. While President Obama issued a signing statement saying he had “serious reservations” about the provisions, the statement only applies to how his administration would use the authorities granted by the NDAA, and would not affect how the law is interpreted by subsequent administrations. The White House had threatened to veto an earlier version of the NDAA, but reversed course shortly before Congress voted on the final bill.

“President Obama’s action today is a blight on his legacy because he will forever be known as the president who signed indefinite detention without charge or trial into law,” said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU executive director. “The statute is particularly dangerous because it has no temporal or geographic limitations, and can be used by this and future presidents to militarily detain people captured far from any battlefield. The ACLU will fight worldwide detention authority wherever we can, be it in court, in Congress, or internationally.”

Under the Bush administration, similar claims of worldwide detention authority were used to hold even a U.S. citizen detained on U.S. soil in military custody, and many in Congress now assert that the NDAA should be used in the same way again. The ACLU believes that any military detention of American citizens or others within the United States is unconstitutional and illegal, including under the NDAA. In addition, the breadth of the NDAA’s detention authority violates international law because it is not limited to people captured in the context of an actual armed conflict as required by the laws of war.

“We are incredibly disappointed that President Obama signed this new law even though his administration had already claimed overly broad detention authority in court,” said Romero. “Any hope that the Obama administration would roll back the constitutional excesses of George Bush in the war on terror was extinguished today. Thankfully, we have three branches of government, and the final word belongs to the Supreme Court, which has yet to rule on the scope of detention authority. But Congress and the president also have a role to play in cleaning up the mess they have created because no American citizen or anyone else should live in fear of this or any future president misusing the NDAA’s detention authority.”

In addition, Obama has claimed the power to assassinate American citizens without any trial or charge. Obama’s signing statement doesn’t even pretend to limit that power.....

It was one of the most bi-partisan laws passed in this session.

Why is it that they can only agree when it comes to removing constitutional rights?

NDAA 2012 (National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2012) explicitly states dictatorial authority of the US executive branch to order US military to seize any person, including US citizens, for unlimited detention and without rights.

This repeats explicit language in the 2006 Military Commissions Act.

Because US government’s 1% “leadership” has tortured, refused to stop or prosecute torture under “new” “leadership” of Obama, now assassinates American citizens upon the dictation of the president, and repeats legislative language in NDAA 2012 again to “disappear” American citizens, Americans’ choice in 2012 seems clear: either arrest the criminal 1% “leadership” for obvious War Crimes, or suffer the torture of your neighbors, friends, family, and yourself in 2012.....

Prophet Mohammad’s letter to the Christians....

2011-12-31T03:51:00.000-08:00

LETTER TO THE MONKS OF ST. CATHERINE MONASTERY....

In 628 C.E. Prophet Muhammad (s) granted a Charter of Privileges to the monks of St. Catherine Monastery in Mt. Sinai. It consisted of several clauses covering all aspects of human rights including such topics as the protection of Christians, freedom of worship and movement, freedom to appoint their own judges and to own and maintain their property, exemption from military service, and the right to protection in war.

An English translation of that document is presented below.

This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them.
Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries.
No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight.
The Muslims are to fight for them.
If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray.
Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world)....

Syrian special intelligence services: Epic fail and utter corruption....

2011-12-28T08:19:00.000-08:00

Syrian special intelligence services: Epic fail and utter corruption....

One of the true revelations of the Arab spring in Syria is the extreme inefficiency of its special services. In the past, legends about the power of Syrian special services were known far beyond the country's borders. The reason to write about them appeared again after the double terrorist attack, carried out in Damascus on December 23, near the headquarters of local special services. Car bombs killed dozens of people, including many workers and security officers.

It is an open secret that there are several types of special services in Syria, the Mukhabarat, the military intelligence, is the most important one of them. It would seem that the situation is under their control. In Syria, there is a grim joke, which says that every other Syrian national is a secret agent. However, the Syrian "knights of the cloak and dagger" were completely inconsistent in resisting the current attacks against the regime. Who else is supposed to prevent the attacks before they happen?

There are legends about the widespread corruption inside the special services of the country. However, it is fair to say that when the author of this article was staying in Aleppo and decided to make a night trip "without armed escort," the next day he received a fairly detailed report on where he was, how much money he spent and for which purposes. I was given a clear hint that the "big brother was watching over me."

It appears that I had a chance to experience the work of local security officers. But there is nothing supernatural there. Every taxi driver and every restaurant owner serve for Syrian special services, because they get to meet many people as they work. It's a piece of cake for them to keep tabs on foreigners, who are not numerous in today's Syria at all.

However, for some reason, they fail to detect the real enemies of the regime. It is not their first failure in Damascus. Suffice it to say that the Syrian intelligence services failed to prevent all large plots (Dera'a, Jisr al-Shougour, Der az-Zor, Hama, Lattakia, Homs).

Ali Salim Assad, one of the leaders of the Syrian National Committee, shared his views about the situation in Syria with Pravda.Ru.

"The Syrian security forces have shown the worst of them. The chief of state security of Homs and 90 percent of his employees have been arrested. It turns out that he helped the bandits and, apparently, he did it for money. Unfortunately, the system is rotten, corruption is everywhere. In fact, security agencies became a mafia structure, and it happened because they have been holding limitless power in their hands.

The things that happened in Dera'a and Homs, are not one-off events. Wherever there were armed uprisings, treason was there in varying degree. How could more than a hundred people get in a deadly trap in Jisr al-Shougour? There was a traitor among the state security employees, who delivered an unspoken order to the gunmen. The order, which was in effect before the beginning of summer, banned the use of weapons against those who take to the streets.

The power still hoped that the outbreak could be suppressed without much bloodshed, and that the situation would be resolved without excessive use of force. And a crowd of several hundreds of people, who believed in their own impunity, broke into the building occupied by security forces and brutally massacred the captured people. Such traitors could be found everywhere.

To remedy this situation, it is necessary to radically reform the system and clean it from similar elements. This is a major problem for the president, and he needs to make a willful decision for it.

The country found itself helpless in its hour of need. The security system was defunct. Its omnipotence, as it experience showed, was a myth, inspired by repressions and terror of the past.

I must say that the problems in this most important sphere of the country appeared before too. For example, in 2008, Hezbollah's second most important man, Imad F. MOUGHNIEH, was killed in Damascus. He was the military chief of the organization. He and his whereabouts were classified. He seemed to be invincible, because very few people knew him by sight. However, he was assassinated by the barbaric monster Asef SHAWKAT and his military intelligence goons, on behalf of CIA/MOSSAD/DGSE creeps..... And this happened in a specially protected area, which was controlled by Syrian intelligence services....

The Mukhabarat launched investigation and arrested many "sleepers" who cooperated with intelligence agencies of Saudi Arabia and the infamous Prince Sultan, who directed Riyadh's covert operations."

To this we must add that in some cases (such as in Dera'a), it is the activities of special services that gave rise to people's unrest. The riots sparked armed clashes across the country. The mutiny in Dera'a on March 15 started after state security services detained the boys, who spray-painted anti-governmental slogans on walls.

Local elders came to the services and asked to release the silly kids. The elders were told that they would no longer see them. Moreover, agents told the elders to bring them their wives if they wanted to have more children.

The government had a chance to begin a dialogue with the local population. They had to punish the perpetrators for it. However, the perpetrators, according to local sources, only lost their positions. They were not even jailed. It looked as if the regime covered the dark and heinous acts of its fosterlings. And the people rose up in Dera'a.

Sooner or later, they have to pay for such actions. Many may probably recall the events in Hungary in the autumn of 1956, when rebellious people would capture state security officials and hang them on trees and lampposts.

However, there are much more recent examples from Syria, with its inherent local "flavor." The events in Jisr al-Shougour in early June 2011 is a bright example. The whole world could see cell phone camera videos showing local residents dragging disfigured, mutilated and eviscerated bodies of yesterday's Mukhabarat officers. In Syria, you can hear many stories about the atrocities committed by the Mukhabarat. Even the people loyal to the regime say that those atrocities were "wild."

Sergei Balmasov

Pravda.Ru

French parliament passes Armenian genocide bill. ....it was the Turkish Donmeh........

2011-12-23T02:21:00.000-08:00

http://www.kurdmedia.com/article.aspx?id=16835

Now a crime in France to deny Armenian genocide. But is it a crime to accept the genocide as fact but state that it was the Turkish Donmeh, or crypto-Jews, all leaders of the Young Turks, who carried out the genocide of Armenian, as well as Greek, Christians? Or is that a breach of French anti-Semitism laws? Political correctness c'est fou a Paris.... And why does Cenk Uyger call his program the Young Turks? If he was German, would he call it the Young Nazis...?

Turkey is fuming over French legislation that would criminalize any public denial of what the bill calls the Armenian genocide last century in Ottoman Turkey.

"We are reviewing our relations with France," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after the French National Assembly passed the so-called Armenian genocide bill. "We will take our measures phase by phase depending on France's behavior from now on.

Erdogan said Turkey is recalling its Paris ambassador for consultations to Ankara, is canceling bilateral visits, and won't cooperate with France in joint projects within the European Union.

"We are stopping all kinds of political consultations with France. We are canceling bilateral military activities and joint exercises from now on. We are canceling the permission granted annually for all military overflights, landings and take-offs. We are starting permission process for every military flight individually. From today on, we are rejecting the permission requests of military ships to visit ports. We will not attend and held the bilateral Turkey-France joint economic and trade partnership committee meeting that was planned for January 2012 under the co-chairmanship of the economy ministers of the two countries," Erdogan said.

"I am underlining this. This is the first phase."

The bill -- applauded by Armenians -- must now be voted on by the country's senate. Erdogan said he hopes the French Senate will vote down the bill.

"New measures will come to the agenda depending on the progress of the bill in France and we will apply them with determination without any hesitation."

Armenian groups and many scholars argue that starting in 1915, Turks committed genocide, when more than a million ethnic Armenians were massacred in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire.

But modern-day Turkey officially denies that a genocide took place, arguing instead that hundreds of thousands of Armenian Christians and Muslim Turks died in intercommunal violence around the bloody battlefields of World War I.

The genocide debate is an annual source of tension between Turkey and the United States, two NATO military allies.

The White House annually beats back efforts in Congress to pass a resolution which would formally recognize the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide.

"The issue should be researched not by politicians, but by historians," Turkish Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek said.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told Turkish lawmakers Thursday that Turkey is a friend and ally of France and strives to maintain a dialogue.

Armenia's foreign minister, Edward Nalbandian, hailed the move, saying France "reconfirmed its high place of being the cradle of human rights and once again proved its commitment to universal human values."

"The French people showed that human rights are highest value, and today by adopting this bill," he said, indicating that crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations and deserve condemnation.

According to official Turkish statistics, the volume of trade between Turkey and France from January to the end of October this year was more than $13.5 billion....

Witnesses to CIA and Bush drug smuggling muzzled.....

2011-12-22T03:17:00.000-08:00

Witnesses to CIA and Bush drug smuggling muzzled.....

December , 2011 -- Amnesia defense and jail for elderly ex-dictator all to protect Bush drug links...

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

Sir Allen Stanford, the former Texas and Florida billionaire who owned Antigua-based Stanford International Bank and the global Stanford Financial Group before he was charged with bilking investors out of $7 billion in a Ponzi scheme, is pleading amnesia in his trial in the U.S. District Court in Houston. Stanford claims he does not remember anything before he became hooked on pain killers after he was beaten by another inmate in federal prison...

Meanwhile, ex-Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is sitting in languishing in a Panamanian prison cell, not eligible for house arrest usually afford those who are over 70 years of age. Noriega was transferred from France, where he served a prison sentence for money laundering. Noriega spent 22 years in prison in the United States and France for drug smuggling and money laundering after being arrested by U.S. troops who invaded Panama in 1989. Noriega was captured after being granted asylum in the Vatican Apostolic Nuncio in Panama City, however, President George H. W. Bush, who ordered Operation Nifty Package, the military invasion of Panama and arrest of Noriega, ignored the Vatican chancery's diplomatic status when he ordered U.S. troops to apprehend Noriega on legal Vatican territory.

After several Panamanian banks were cited as laundering money for the Colombian cartels, the drug money launderers began to shy away from Panama. It was about the same time that Allen Stanford, chased from Montserrat after a crack down there on money laundering, moved his operations to Antigua, where he changed the name of his original Montserrat operation, Guardian International Bank, to Stanford's CIA International Bank....

CIA sources told us that Stanford's Antigua bank began laundering money for the Colombian and Panamanian drug cartels after it was discovered that the regime installed by Bush in Panama, headed by President Guillermo Endara and Vice President Guillermo "Billy" Ford, was deeply involved in drug money laundering using a network of banks in Florida that were, in turn, linked to Jeb Bush, Bush's son and future governor of the state.

Endara was a director of one such bank, First Interamericas Bank. His vice president, Ford, was co-founder of Dadeland Bank in Miami. Endara, a corporate attorney, represented Panamanian corporate tycoon Carlos Eleta, who acted as the go-between for a $10 million transfer from the CIA to the Endara-led opposition against the Noriega-selected presidential candidate in the 1989 election.

Eleta, who was arrested in the United States for drug smuggling, was released with all charges dismissed after Bush ordered the invasion of Panama. The New York Times was a champion for the Bush invasion of Panama and the arrest of Noriega. However, the paper was forced to eat crow when it was forced to run the following headline on June 12, 1990: "A Thin Paper Trail in Noriega Inquiry -- U.S. Finds Few Documents Tying Ex-Leader to Drugs."

The Spanish government asked the Endara regime to allow it to investigate over 100 companies in Panama suspected of laundering drug money for Spanish drug syndicate heads. Panama ignored the Spanish request. Endara also ordered his government not to cooperate with a U.S. Senate investigation of a shipment of weapons in 1989 by Israel's Mossad through Panama to the Medellin cartel in Colombia....

Noriega was arrested and imprisoned by the United States and France because of the knowledge he had of the Bush family's ties to CIA drug smuggling involving the two major Colombian cartels -- Cali and Medellin. In fact, the First Interamericas Bank, for whom the U.S.-installed Endara served as a director, was owned by Gilberto Rodrigues Orejuela, the leader of the Cali cartel. The bank also laundered money for Jorge Ochoa of the Medellin cartel. While the United States could never find any documentation linking Noriega to drug money laundering, for which he was sentenced to prison in the United States and France, it had ample evidence of the CIA and Bush connection to the Colombian cartels through the Panamanian and Florida banks. Other CIA banks in Florida that facilitated drug money laundering included Great American Bank of Miami, City National Bank of Miami, and National Bank of Homestead.

In 1982, Vice President Bush headed the presidential task force on drugs. In what could be likened to the fox guarding the hen house, Bush immediately began facilitating the importation of drugs to bolster the CIA's off-the-books slush funds for such operations as arming the Nicaraguan contras, feathering Noriega's nest in Panama, and dealing with the Cali and Medellin cartels. Jeb Bush was the main go-between for the CIA and the Nicaraguan contras who were funded with drug proceeds from key Cuban-Americans in Florida. A few military officers assigned to Bush's White House drug task force resigned in disgust when they discovered the true nature of Bush's drug running operations.

Two people alive today are intimately familiar with the Bush family's links to CIA drug smuggling, however, Stanford says he has amnesia and 77-year old Noriega is sitting in a Panamanian military prison unable to tell his side of the story to the world.

President Obama is comfortable with the status quo. Stanford was a major contributor to his 2008 presidential campaign, while Noriega may have some information on one suspected CIA drug money launderer, Donald Beazley, the president of one of the CIA-and Jeb Bush-linked banks in Florida, Colombian-owned City National Bank of Miami. The bank ultimately collapsed in a major fraud scheme. Beazley was also a principal officer of the CIA's drug money laundering Nugan Hand Bank based in Australia. Coincidentally, Madelyn Dunham, a vice president for the Bank of Hawaii for escrow accounts and hush-hush CIA payments to America's favorite Asian dictators, was aware of the Nugan Hand pay-offs and dubious other transactions. Dunham's grandson is Barack CIA Obama.....

Was CIA behind attempted assassination of powerful oversight senator?

2011-12-21T04:35:00.001-08:00

Was CIA behind attempted assassination of powerful oversight senator?

Add the name John Stennis to the list of many possible MK-ULTRA targets....

December , 2011 -- Was CIA behind attempted assassination of powerful oversight senator?

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

Sailors aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS John Stennis may be surprised to know that the person for whom their ship is named, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis of Mississippi, ordered his committee to conduct a full review of the CIA's 1947 charter to prevent the agency from ever again engaging in secret wars, illegal surveillance as it did during Watergate, and political assassinations.... Stennis apparently agreed with his Senate colleagues who believed that the 1947 National Security Act, which created the CIA, was too vague...., hence the infamous White House Murder INC, in the Levant and Worldwide....

Stennis was also spurred into action by the revelation of a memorandum from Secretary of State George C. Marshall to President Harry S Truman, dated February 7, 1947, that urged Truman to think again about signing the National Security Act because the CIA, created by the act, would have "almost unlimited powers" and that the agency's proposed powers needed clarification. Marshall was concerned that the proposed CIA would exercise peacetime powers that would diminish the role of the Department of State.

Stennis was adamant about reviewing and possibly amending not only the 1947 National Security Act but also the 1949 CIA Act, which exempted the CIA from the limitations applied to other federal agencies in the expenditure of federal funds and permitted the CIA to keep its salaries, position titles, organization chart, and number of employees classified. Stennis and other senators also wanted access to National Security Council Intelligence Directives (NSCIDs), including the classified NSCID that created the CIA.

Senator Stennis, confident that he had gotten the CIA's attention, was on his front lawn entering his 3609 Cumberland Street, Northwest Washington, DC, home at 7:40 pm on January 31, 1973, when he was approached by two men who demanded the 71-year old senator hand over his wallet, gold watch, and 25 cents in change.... They then said, "Now we're going to shoot you any way." Stennis was struck by the first bullet, fired from a .22 caliber pistol, in his thigh and a second bullet hit his chest, close to his heart. The two assailants, reported to be black by the police, fled and were never apprehended. Stennis crawled to his front door and his wife called the police. The news media dutifully reported, without any evidence to the contrary, that the shooters likely did not realize they had shot Stennis....

At first, doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center did not give much chance for Stennis surviving the double shooting but he miraculously pulled through. However, the momentum in bringing about a review of the CIA and its charter stalled in the Senate during Stennis's absence. Stennis's acting replacement, Stuart Symington of Missouri, was stonewalled by the CIA in getting access to classified NCSIDs.

There was an effort to derail the confirmation of William Colby as CIA director but that effort by liberal Democrats failed. Colby had been a veteran CIA clandestine services officer who met his own suspicious end in a canoeing "accident" on the Chesapeake Bay on April 17, 1996. One of Colby's CIA colleagues, Miles Copeland Jr., said that Colby had not come clean with Congress on the true nature and purpose of the MK-ULTRA program, which included using mind-controlled political assassins....

Only 13 senators, all Democrats, voted against Colby's nomination as CIA director on August 1, 1973. They were Majority Leader Mike Mansfield of Montana, Alan Cranston of California, Harold Hughes of Iowa, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Joe Biden of Delaware, Mike Gravel of Alaska, Philip Hart of Michigan, Floyd Haskell of Colorado, William Hathaway of Maine, George McGovern of South Dakota, and Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin.

While in the hospital still recovering from his gunshot wounds, Stennis said, "The experience of the CIA in Laos, as well as in more recent disclosures of matters here at home, have caused me to definitely conclude that the entire CIA Act should be fully reviewed...." and the infamous White House Murder INC, in the Levant, which assassinated Mr. Elie HOBEIKA January 24th 2002 in Beirut, makes the GWB team, a bunch of killers/assassins for hire....on behalf of Israhell.

U.S. scoffs at bio-assassination weapons when history proves otherwise.....

January , 2012 -- Bio-assassination weaponry used on Kim Jong Il....

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he was thinking aloud when he speculated that diagnoses of cancer affecting Latin America's most notable progressive leaders may have been the result of a U.S. plot through technological means. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland, the wife of neocon and Zionist foreign policy adviser Robert Kagan, immediately called Chavez's remarks "horrific and reprehensible."

However, the State Department may or may not be aware of what has been gleaned by WMR from Japanese intelligence sources in Pyongyang: that North Korea's late leader Kim Jong Il, who we previously reported was assassinated by rebellious military officers, met his demise from the use of a sophisticated bio-weapon. Kim Jong Il, whose only medical problems were periodic blackouts and the early onset of dementia, did not die from a heart attack, according to Japanese military intelligence sources. North Korean official news reports claimed that the late Dear Leader died from a heart attack aboard a train outside of Pyongyang. Neither of these reports was correct.

Kim Jong Il, while not in perfect health, was on a strict diet, exercised regularly, and was frequently examined by doctors.

However, the military coup plotters arranged for Kim Jong Il to be administered a series of doses of toxins. The toxins ultimately built up in Kim Jong Il's vital organs, causing renal failure and heart stoppage. The plot by North Korean military officers resulted from a major split over a secret deal made by some North Korean officials with Israel. The secret compact was for North Korea to stop missile shipments to Syria, Iran, and Egypt in return for Israel supplying low-grade enriched weapons-grade uranium to the North Koreans.

It is not certain what Chavez based his fears on, however, Cuba enjoys close relations with North Korea. Chavez cited a warning he once received from former Cuban President Fidel Castro, who, himself contracted a mysterious and almost fatal stomach disorder after visiting Argentina, that he should "take care. These people have developed technology . . . Take care of what you eat, what they give you to eat . . . a little needle and they inject you with I don't know what." Chavez went on to say, "It would not be strange if they developed the technology to induce cancer and nobody knew about it until now."

Progressive Latin American leaders, including Chavez, have recently been diagnosed with cancer. The latest to fall victim to cancer is Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who recently won re-election in a landslide. Others contracting cancer include Paraguay's President Fernando de Lugo, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, and former Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva. Chavez said other Latin American leaders should exercise caution, including Bolivia's Evo Morales. Former Argentinian President Nestor Kirchner, Fernandez de Kirchner's husband, died from a sudden heart attack before running again for the presidency. Fidel Castro contracted an almost fatal stomach disease after meeting with Nestor Kirchner and Chavez in Argentina.

Castro's warning to Chavez about being stuck with a fatal needle comes from someone who was on the receiving end of such assassination plots. Tulane Medical School researcher Dr. Alton Ochsner, a friend of such notorious Latin American right-wing leaders as Juan Peron, Panama's Tomas Gabriel Duque, and Nicaragua's Anastasio Somoza, was known to be conducting CIA-sponsored research to develop weaponized cancers from monkey viruses. The prime target for such a weapon was NEVER Castro...., because he was a CIA recruit from his inception and his stint at Yale....

When it comes to U.S. bio-assassination weaponry, Chavez had the best source of information in Castro. Nuland and her neocon associates in the Obama administration and corporate media would rather ridicule the messenger, in this case Chavez, than in recognizing the fact that the United States is one of the few countries in history to conduct medical research for the purpose of assassinating perceived foreign and domestic threats including Castro; Congo's Patrice Lumumba; Iraq's Abdul Karim Qassem, Yugoslavia's former President Slobodan Milosevic; Jack Ruby, the slayer of Lee Harvey Oswald; and, quite possibly, U.S. ambassador to the UN Adlai Stevenson who died of a sudden heart attack in 1965 on a street in London located near the U.S. embassy.....

Obama administration violates its own sanctions on Iran....

2011-12-20T00:28:00.001-08:00

December , 2011 -- Obama administration violates its own sanctions on Iran....

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

U.S. Iran sanctions: importing Iranian pistachios and caviar illegal, export of weapons to Iran legal.

As the Obama administration prepares to unleash another crippling round of economic sanctions on Iran, including applying congressional legislation blacklisting the Iranian central bank, Bank Markazi, top congressional sources have reported to us that in May 2010, the Obama White House approved the lifting of sanctions for the state-owned Russian arms exporting firm, Rosoboronexport. The Russian firm was on a 2008 blacklist imposed by the Bush administration for selling nuclear and military technology to Iran. However, the Bush administration had conducted business -- buying 22 Mi-17s in a rush order for the reconstituted Iraqi air force -- with the Russian firm as late as December 2007.

The reason for the lifting of the ban on Rosoboronexport was the decision by the Obama administration to purchase Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters for use by U.S. special operations forces for "low visibility" operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The purchase of the Russian helicopters, facilitated by a circuitous deal involving the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, the U.S. Army’s Threat Systems Management Office in Huntsville, Alabama; the sole-source contractor, Arinc, of Annapolis, Maryland; Arinc's Russian go-between, Air Freight Aviation, Ltd., a Russian firm in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and Rosoboronexport, which manufactures the Mi-17s bought by the Pentagon in Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Siberian republic of Buryatia. Other Mi-17s are manufactured in Kazan, the capital of the autonomous republic of Tataristan. It is noteworthy that some of the aviation firms owned by Russian arms merchant Viktor Bout, convicted by the United States of aiding Colombian terrorists and now imprisoned awaiting sentencing, were headquartered in Sharjah.

The Pentagon stated that the reason for the purchase of the helicopters from a Russian state firm that had been on a U.S. Treasury Department black list was that the program was "part of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan" that required DoD to procure "Mi-17 helicopters, parts, and services and provide training in both initial skills and combined operations."

The delivery of 22 Mi-17s to Iraq was conducted jointly by the Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq (MNSTC-I) and the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. Eight of the helicopters were procured from DoD funds at $156 million and fourteen were procured with government of Iraq funds at $189 million. The 22 helicopters, according to the Pentagon, were delivered by the Russian manufacturer to "Air Freight Limited in the UAE."

The decision to procure Mi-17s for the Afghan National Army Air Corps was made by the U.S. Central Command. Thirty-one Mi-17s were procured by DoD for Afghanistan at a cost of $648 million. Eleven other Mi-17s were donated to Afghanistan by the Czech Republic and the UAE.

The Pentagon bought and delivered four new Mi-17s to Pakistan Army Aviation and loaned an additional six from inventory at Fort Bliss, Texas.

The Pentagon said similar programs to supply "priority" countries having legacy Mi017 fleets with new Mi-17s existed with regard to additional nations, for example, Yemen.

According to congressional briefing papers prepared by Robert Martinage, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict, the Russian helicopters were also procured to "provide a realistic 'opposition force' for U.S. training." In what may have been a clue as to future "opposition force" targets for U.S. special operations forces, the Mi-17 is used by the armed forces of North Korea, Pakistan, Syria, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Egypt, Laos, Indonesia, Bolivia, Myanmar, Belarus, Algeria, China, Cuba, Burkina Faso, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Eritrea, among other nations. Libya, under the Qaddafi government, also used Mi-17s.

The Obama administration and the Pentagon have not adequately explained why it is illegal for companies to financially facilitate the importation of Iranian pistachio nuts and Caspian Sea caviar while it is legal for once-blacklisted companies to export weapons to Iran....

White ribbons come to China protests....The Soros/Rothschild/CIA plan plays out.

2011-12-17T10:31:00.000-08:00

The Soros/Rothschild plan to seize the rest of the world begins in earnest.... The world needs to take a giant insectiside spray can to the Rothschilds, Soroses, and their minions.... China reacts....

By MICHAEL WINES

WUKAN, China — Each day begins with a morning rally in the banner-bedecked square, where village leaders address a packed crowd about their seizure of the village and plans for its future. Friday’s session was followed by a daylong mock funeral for a fallen comrade, whose body lies somewhere outside the village in government custody.

It has been nearly a week since the 13,000 residents of this seacoast village, a warren of cramped alleys and courtyard homes, became so angry that their deeply resented officials — and even the police — fled rather than face them. Now, there is a striking vacuum of authority, and the villagers are not entirely sure what to make of their fleeting freedom.

“We will defend our farmland to the death!” a handmade banner proclaims, referring to a possible land deal they fear will strip them of almost all their farmland. “Is it a crime,” another muses, “to ask for the return of our land and for democracy and transparency?”

How long they will last is another matter. As the days pass, the cordons of police officers surrounding the village grow larger. Armored trucks and troop carriers have been reported nearby. On local television, a 24-hour channel denounces the villagers as “a handful of people” dedicated to sabotaging public order, with the names of protesters flashing on a blue screen, warning that they will be prosecuted. Many here fear this will all end badly. “The SWAT teams and the police here are acting like they’re crime organizations, not police forces,” said Chen Dequan, a 50-year-old farmer and fisherman. “The entire village is worried.”

The dispute that emptied Wukan of its government officials is, on its face, like hundreds — if not thousands — of others that inspire protests here each year: villagers who believe their land was taken illegally take to the streets when their concerns are ignored.

But the suspicious death of a well-liked villager, who was selected to negotiate on the citizens’ behalf, appears to have turned this long-simmering grievance into a last-straw standoff with the authorities.

The land deal inspiring the protests involved one of China’s largest property developers, a Hong-Kong listed company called Country Garden that prides itself on fast-paced construction in mostly suburban areas. Yang Huiyuan, described by analysts as the company’s chairwoman, is often listed as one of the richest women in China.

The company has faced controversy before. Xinhua, China’s official news agency, said this year that it had bought Anhui Province land to build a golf course in a deal that smacked of “the typical collusion of real estate business and local government.” The agency’s signed commentary said more than 10 government officials had been punished after that transaction and other cases of illegal purchases and use of land there.

Here in Wukan, many residents believed that the national government had not yet intervened to resolve matters simply because it had been misled by nefarious local officials to believe that all was well.

So far, however, it seems from inside this locked-down village that government leaders at all levels are flummoxed at their blue-moon, if temporary, loss of control.

Lin Zuluan, 67, a retired businessman who is now the village’s de facto leader, said that officials had approached him to negotiate an end to the protest, but that talks had gone nowhere, in part because the officials would not meet villagers’ demands to return all their land.

“I do have concerns” over the lack of progress, he said. “But I do believe this country is ruled by law, so I do believe the central government will do whatever it has to do to help us.”

In the meantime, life here goes on in an aura of unreality as much as uncertainty, a mixture of grief and optimism and somewhat willful ignorance of the hints of trouble at every police roadblock and on every news broadcast.

Inside the village, citizens hail foreign journalists as visiting saviors, bombarding them with endless cigarettes, bowls of rice-and-seafood porridge and free rides on the backs of scooters. The villagers bristle at the government’s suggestion that they are being financed by unnamed foreigners, but are convinced that only reporting outside the state-run press will bring word of their plight to leaders in Beijing.

Corruption accusations against Country Garden, the developer, go back for years. In 2007, the Southern Weekly newspaper alleged irregularities in a hotel construction contract awarded to the company by a district government in Zhangjiajie, in Hunan Province. The paper suggested that the government heavily discounted the project’s land cost because most of Country Garden’s payment was secretly diverted to a company in which two Country Garden officials had invested.

In a faxed statement Friday, Country Garden said both the other projects in Anhui and Hunan were wholly aboveboard. The firm said the Anhui deal was free of corruption and the Zhangjiajie contract was awarded through open, transparent bidding. Officials have contended that the money supposedly diverted was in fact spent for legitimate public purposes related to the project.

In Wukan, two people familiar with the Country Garden proposal said the company planned to buy at least 134 acres of land for villa homes and shopping centers here. About half of that land is controlled by Fengtian Livestock, a pig-raising firm that holds a 50-year lease issued by the government; the rest is apparently in villagers’ hands.

Chen Wenqing, the livestock firm’s owner, said Country Garden was negotiating directly with the local authorities last spring when the deal fell through over a difference on price. Country Garden said it had intended to build a project but has signed no agreements.

But Mr. Lin, the retired businessman, said villagers became angry in September when they saw construction work at the pig-farm site. Officials of Lufeng city, a district that controls Wukan, ordered the building stopped, he said, and asked villagers to select a committee of locals to settle the controversy.

Negotiations to return the land to villagers produced little, however. On Dec. 9, unidentified men abducted one of the negotiators, a 42-year-old leather worker named Xue Jinbo, and four other men from a local restaurant.

The other four soon turned up in nearby jails, accused of inciting villagers to subvert the government. Mr. Xue was seen only on the night of Dec. 11, when local government officials summoned relatives to view his body at a mortuary.

They said that he had died of a heart attack in a hospital and that medical records of his care would be provided.

But family members say officials confiscated their mobile telephones before allowing them into the funeral home, apparently to prevent them from taking photographs. Mr. Xue’s nose was caked with blood, his body was black with bruises and his left thumb was broken, apparently pulled backward to the breaking point, one of them, a nephew named Xue Ruiqiang, said on Friday in an interview.

Word of Mr. Xue’s death brought the villagers into the streets and sent members of the village committee that was involved in the land negotiations fleeing.

Mr. Xue’s 21-year-old daughter, Xue Jianwan, said before the service that her father “was a straightforward man who always stood up for people.”

“Mom said that if he hadn’t been such a straightforward person, he probably wouldn’t have ended up like this,” she added.

The Soros/Rothschild/CIA plan plays out... Beijing Imposes New Rules on Social Networking Sites....

2011-12-16T07:30:00.001-08:00

The Soros/Rothschild/CIA plan plays out... Beijing Imposes New Rules on Social Networking Sites....

BEIJING -- "Batman" star Christian Bale was roughed up by security guards who stopped him visiting a blind activist living under house arrest in China.

Video footage of the scuffle was shot by a camera crew traveling with the Hollywood actor as he promoted a film he has made in the country.

CNN posted scenes of the confrontation between Bale and the guards on its website Friday.

The run-in and publicity is likely to cause discomfort in China's government-backed film industry, which hopes Bale's movie "The Flowers of War" will be a creative success at home and abroad.

Behind The Wall: Video reveals blind Chinese activist's plight

The star's actions are sure to focus attention on the plight of Chen Guangcheng, guarded around the clock by plain-clothed and uniformed workers who have blocked dozens of reporters and fellow activists trying to see him in the past.

Bale was to leave China on Friday and his representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

Oscar-winning actor Christian Bale and his wife Sibi are escorted by security guards as they arrive for the premiere of the "Flowers of War" in Beijing on Dec. 12.

Bale, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for last year's "The Fighter," traveled Thursday with a crew from CNN to the village in eastern China where Chen, the blind lawyer, lives with his family in complete isolation.

They were stopped at the entrance to Dongshigu village in Shandong province by unidentified men.

'An inspiration'
The video footage shows Bale asking to see Chen, with a CNN producer providing interpretation, but being ordered by one of the guards to leave. He then asked why he was unable to pass through. The guards responded by trying to grab or punch a small video camera Bale was carrying.

"What I really wanted to do was to meet the man, shake his hand and say what an inspiration he is," Bale was quoted as saying by CNN.

Chen's case has been raised publicly by U.S. lawmakers and diplomats, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, all to no response from China.

CNN said Bale first learned of Chen from news reports when he was in China filming "The Flowers of War," China's official submission this year for best foreign language film Oscar.

"Chen Guangcheng is a newsworthy figure ... and as such it is in the interest of CNN's global viewers to hear from him," CNN said in a statement. "Mr. Bale reached out to CNN and invited us to join him on his journey to visit Chen."

Rebellious Chinese village under siege by police

Chen, a self-taught lawyer who was blinded by a fever in infancy, angered authorities after documenting forced late-term abortions and sterilizations and other abuses by overzealous authorities trying to meet population control goals in his rural community. He was imprisoned for allegedly instigating an attack on government offices and organizing a group of people to disrupt traffic, charges his supporters say were fabricated.

Although now officially free under the law, he has been confined to his home in the village eight hours' drive from Beijing and subjected to periodic beatings and other abuse, activists say.

Story: 10 prominent Chinese activists jailed ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize

While Bale's visit focuses new attention on Chen's case, CNN's role raises questions about activism and advocacy among reporters, said David Bandurski, editor of the China Media Project website at the University of Hong Kong.

"It made me instantly uncomfortable, wondering how it all came together. It raises questions about where the lines are drawn," Bandurski said.

Politically sensitive subject
The incident also drew strong interest — most of it highly positive — on social networking sites such as Twitter and its Chinese equivalent, Weibo.

Having their star's name pinging across the Internet in connection with such a politically sensitive subject puts promoters of "The Flowers of War" in a bind. The film opens in China on Friday and next week in the United States.

Directed by the renowned Zhang Yimou, it is also the most expensive Chinese movie ever made, at $94 million, some of which came from the state-owned Bank of China.

The movie centers on the 1937 sacking of the eastern city of Nanjing, a central event in China's pre-revolutionary "century of humiliation" and has been described by some critics as hewing to official propaganda portraying Chinese as heroic victims and Japanese as one-dimensional cartoon villains.

While China has the world's third-largest film industry — both in box office and output — it has made relatively little global impact. Story lines are often heavily influenced by the ruling Communist Party, whose culture commissars must approve scripts and have final say over whether a film gets released....

Beijing Imposes New Rules on Social Networking Sites....

By EDWARD WONG

BEIJING — Officials announced new rules on Friday aimed at controlling the way Chinese Internet users post messages on social networking sites that have posed challenges to the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda machinery.

For many users, the most striking of the new rules requires people using the sites, called microblogs, or weibo in Chinese, to register with their real names and biographical information. They will still be able to post under an alias, according to a report by Xinhua, the state news agency.

Some analysts say the real-name registration could dampen some of the freewheeling conversations that take place online, and that sometimes result in a large number of users criticizing officials and government policy.

The rule on real-name registration had been expected for several months now by industry watchers, and Internet companies in China had already experimented in 2009 with some forms of this. It was the ninth of 17 new microblog regulations issued on Friday by Beijing government officials, who have been charged by central authorities with reining in the way microblogs are used.

The regulations also include a licensing requirement for companies that want to host microblogs and prohibitions on content, including posts aimed at “spreading rumors, disturbing social order, or undermining social stability.” But officials have long put pressure on microblog companies to self-censor, and the lists of limits on content is more an articulation of the boundaries already in place.

The regulation announced by the Beijing officials only apply to companies based in the capital, where several of the largest microblog platforms, including Sina and Sohu, are based.

One large rival, Tencent, is based in Shenzhen, a special economic zone in the south, and an editor there said Friday that the authorities had yet to issue any new regulations that would affect the company. But analysts expect that that city and others across China will soon put in place rules similar to the ones announced by Beijing.

“It’s just a further sign of the way things are going,” said Bill Bishop, an analyst and businessman based in Beijing who writes about the Internet industry on a blog, Digicha. Some Internet users, he added, might now ask themselves “why bother to say something? You never know.”

There were many comments of outrage on Friday from those posting on microblogs. “Society is going backwards,” wrote one user by the name of Cheng Yang. “Where is China’s path?”

Many prominent commentators and writers with influence over public opinion already post under their real names. For example, Pan Shiyi, a wealthy real estate developer who posts regularly, has more than seven million followers. He recently used his platform to advocate for stricter air pollution reports from the Beijing government.

"In fact, serious weibo users have already opted to use their real names out of their own interests,” said another editor at Tencent who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of talking about government policy.

Internet companies hosting microblogs have been told to comply with the new rules within three months. Sina and Tencent each have more than 200 million registered users; it is unclear how the companies will go about ensuring that each user has registered with real data.

But Mr. Bishop said the technology was already in place and had been used by one large Internet company, Baidu, when it ran its own version of a microblog, which no longer exists. The registration information that users enter online can be matched up against a police database, he said.

Leaders here have long discussed how to better control the Chinese Internet, which has about 485 million users, the most of any country. Most vexing for officials has been the speed with which information can spread on microblogs. This year, several incidents highlighted the reach of microblogs, including posts that ignited mass anger over both the Wenzhou high-speed train crash and the hit-and-run death of a two-year-old toddler, Yueyue.

China has for years blocked Twitter and Facebook, and officials here carefully monitored the rebellions this year in the Middle East to see how they were organized and what role social networking sites played.

But Chinese officials also see the microblogs as useful. The sites allow people to vent anger, and officials can track posts to see the direction of public opinion. More and more officials are also being encouraged to use microblogs for propaganda and to mold discussions. Talk within the party about controlling the Internet accelerated after a policy meeting of the party’s Central Committee in October that focused on culture and ideology.

In the announcement Friday, Beijing officials said micro-blogs should “actively spread the core values of the socialist system, disseminate socialist advanced culture, and build a socialist harmonious society.”

Zioconned America Mimics Russia, China, North Korea and Malaysia....

2011-12-16T02:47:00.001-08:00

Zioconned America Mimics Russia, China, North Korea and Malaysia....

Leading American Internet businessmen warn that the draconian copyright bill on the verge of being passed by Congress would let the US government use censorship techniques “similar to those used by China, Malaysia and Iran.”

If you want to know what the United States would look like after this bill is passed, just look at what’s been happening in Russia: The Russian government has been crushing dissent under the pretext of enforcing copyright law.

As the New York Times noted last year:

Across Russia, the security services have carried out dozens of similar raids against outspoken advocacy groups or opposition newspapers in recent years. Security officials say the inquiries reflect their concern about software piracy, which is rampant in Russia. Yet they rarely if ever carry out raids against advocacy groups or news organizations that back the government.

***

[A] review of these cases indicates that the security services often seize computers whether or not they contain illegal software. The police immediately filed reports saying they had discovered such programs, before even examining the computers in detail. The police claims have in numerous instances been successfully discredited by defendants when the cases go before judges.

***

The plainclothes officers who descended upon the Baikal Wave headquarters said they were from the division that investigated commercial crime. But the environmentalists said they noticed at least one officer from the antiextremism department, which tracks opposition activists and had often conducted surveillance on the group.

***

Baikal Wave’s leaders said they had known that the authorities used such raids to pressure advocacy groups, so they had made certain that all their software was legal.

But they quickly realized how difficult it would be to defend themselves.

They said they told the officers that they were mistaken, pulling out receipts and original Microsoft packaging to prove that the software was not pirated. The police did not appear to take that into consideration. A supervising officer issued a report on the spot saying that illegal software had been uncovered.

Before the raid, the environmentalists said their computers were affixed with Microsoft’s “Certificate of Authenticity” stickers that attested to the software’s legality. But as the computers were being hauled away, they noticed something odd: the stickers were gone.

In all, 12 computers were confiscated. The group’s Web site was disabled, its finances left in disarray, its plans disclosed to the authorities.

The police also obtained personnel information from the computers. In the following weeks, officers tracked down some of the group’s supporters and interrogated them.

“The police had one goal, which was to prevent us from working,” said Galina Kulebyakina, a co-chairwoman of Baikal Wave. “They removed our computers because we actively took a position against the paper factory and forcefully voiced it.”

“They can do pretty much what they want, with impunity,” she said.

***

Mr. Kurt-Adzhiyev said he now realized that the authorities were not so much interested in convictions as in harassing opponents. Even if the inquiries are abandoned, they are debilitating when they require months to defend.

Since the American copyright bills (SOPA and PIPA) target online activities, the same thing happening to Russian critics’ computers could happen to the websites of any Americans who criticize the government, the too big to fail banks, or any of the other powers-that-be.

Indeed, the American copyright bill is modeled after the Chinese system. :

Given that Joe Lieberman said that America needs an internet kill switch like China, that the U.S. economy has turned socialist (at least for friends of those with control of the money spigot), and that the U.S. government used communist Chinese torture techniques specifically designed to produce false confessions in order to sell the Iraq war, I guess that the bill’s Chinese-style censorship is not entirely surprising.

Of course, it might seem over-the-top to worry about copyright laws being used to stifle government criticism in America … if it weren’t for the fact that:

Some folks have alleged that copyright infringers are terrorists. See this, this, this and this

The U.S. government has been using anti-terrorism laws to crush dissent

In modern America, questioning war, protesting anything, asking questions about pollution or about Wall Street shenanigans, supporting Ron Paul, being a libertarian, holding gold, stocking up on more than 7 days of food, or liking the Founding Fathers may get you labeled as a suspected terrorist

We’ve gone from a nation of laws to a nation of men making laws in secret....

Man of steel, Park Tae-joon...

2011-12-15T22:23:00.000-08:00

Man of steel, Park Tae-joon...
By Yong Kwon

http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20111214000764

On December 13, a modern-day miracle-maker passed into history. His contribution to South Korea's epic economic ascension has been largely overshadowed by the legacy of president Park Chung-hee.

However, those who only see the achievements of the late dictator should note that without the tireless effort of another Park, the drive for economic development could have been scuttled at its very inception. The late hero's name was Park Tae-joon.

He was born in 1927 near the growing port city of Busan. In 1933, he crossed the Korea Strait to join his father, who had emigrated to Japan for better job opportunities. Excelling in school, he began studying mechanical engineering at Waseda University in 1945, but dropped out and repatriated to Korea at the end of World War II.

In the midst of the post-liberation political chaos, Park entered the Korea Military Academy and met Park Chung-hee, who was at the time a ballistics instructor. Park Tae-joon described his first encounter with the future president as having felt "like the chill of the morning air blowing through the front door". It was the beginning of a dynamic partnership.

After serving with distinction in the Korean War in the early 1950s, Park Tae-joon reunited with Park Chung-hee and served under him as his chief of staff. Praising his work ethic and obsessive perfectionism, then-Colonel Park Chung-hee described him as a "piece of iron".

The close bond between the two Parks was evident in the run-up to the 1961 coup d'etat. According to anecdotes, Park Chung-hee asked his former pupil to not participate in the military uprising so that he would be able to take care of the elder Park's family if the coup failed. Nonetheless, as Park Chung-hee's forces marched into Seoul early on May 16, 1961, Park Tae-joon was present at the headquarters of the anti-government forces, throwing in his lot with his superior.

This act of defiance firmly placed Park Tae-joon in the inner circle of the new regime, and he was soon elevated to a significant position in the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, the new junta's governing body that paved the way for Park Chung-hee's Third Republic.

After helping design president Park Chung-hee's first Five Year Plan (1962-1964), Park Tae-joon turned from commanding soldiers to nurturing Korea's nascent industry. In 1964, he became the head of Korea Tungsten Company, forerunner of today's TaeguTec, and managed what was then one of a handful of frail companies that exported abroad.

As gifted of a soldier and economic planner he was, it was in the corporate world that the full extent of his skills became truly evident. President Park's economic planners decided that South Korea needed to achieve self-sufficiency in steel to establish the foundations of other industries.

However, the astronomical cost of constructing the infrastructure and the sheer magnitude of the project baffled many domestic industrialists. Was it truly feasible for a country with an individual per annum income of US$100 to engage in such a massive gamble? President Park turned to Park Tae-joon.

Park Tae-joon was also a deep believer in steel self-sufficiency, calling it the "rice of industry". In 1965, he began studying foreign steel industries, and by 1968 Park Tae-joon was travelling to various countries actively seeking the necessary funds and technology to begin constructing steel mills in South Korea.

Objectively, it was difficult for any organization to lend or invest the required vast sums to a hopelessly underdeveloped Third World economy. Summing up the sentiments of others, the president of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development told Park Tae-joon that it was too premature for South Korea to engage in such a high-tech industry and suggested concentrating his efforts in labor-intensive manufacturing. Turned down by the world, Park Tae-joon decided to turn to another source.

A few years' earlier, Seoul and Tokyo had signed the "Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea", with Japan promising millions of dollars in grants and soft loans to the Korean government. Park Tae-joon consulted with Park Chung-hee and persuaded him to divert a portion of the funds set aside for agricultural development to construct steel mills in the sleepy seaside town of Pohang.

It was extremely controversial. Bureaucrats in Seoul questioned his every decision and looked at the enterprise with doubt. Tokyo was also wary of changing the already agreed upon financial arrangements. Even Park Chung-hee disagreed with him on the level of government involvement in the would-be steel company. Nonetheless, Park Tae-joon managed to dog all his detractors into agreeing with his plan.

Recognizing what the funds represented, he made an ultimatum to his workers on the day that the steel mill construction began: "We are using the funds from Japan that contain the blood and sweat of our forefathers. If we fail to complete this steel mill ... let us all drown ourselves in the East Sea!" This was the beginning of the Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO).

It was an endeavor on which South Korea's future was riding, and no one took the project more seriously than Park Tae-joon. Visiting the construction site, he wore his military uniform and carried with him a commander's baton. He considered military discipline to be essential; after all, he was jump-starting a nation's heavy industry in an empty field with people who had little to no experience.

The international community looked at the steel mill enterprise with skepticism. Japanese companies that provided the essential technology for steel-making doubted South Korea's ability to produce a competitive industry. Korean economists were also nervous - many already considered President Park's highway project a waste of public funds and the budget for the steel mill in Pohang was three times the entire cost of the Seoul-Busan highway.

In April of 1971, Park Tae-joon inaugurated the first steel mill, and by 1973 he surprised every detractor. POSCO laid the foundations for South Korea's shipbuilding industry, which began in pits dug in the beaches near Pohang. Within a few decades, South Korea was dominating the global share of ship-making, beating out Japan and Britain.

In addition, POSCO acted as the engine that drove forward the growing automobile industry, whose exports also gave momentum to South Korea's rapid economic ascent.

People began calling Park Tae-joon the Andrew Carnegie of South Korea - but this may be an unfair comparison. Carnegie built his steel mills in a country that already had the technological know-how and the industrial basis for creating the necessary infrastructure.

Park Tae-joon created the infrastructure out of brute force of will, and POSCO under his chairmanship produced 21 million tons of steel, nearly twice what Carnegie's mills produced in 35 years. By the time Park Tae-joon left POSCO's chairmanship in 1992, the gamble had turned into the third-largest producer of steel in the world.

His accomplishments had by the late 1970s already earned him a legendary status among industrialists. In 1978, while touring a steel mill in Japan, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping asked chairman Yoshihiro Inayama of Nippon Steel Corporation whether he could build a similar steel mill in China. Inayama replied that such an undertaking would be impossible because China did not have Park Tae-joon - to which Deng jested in return that he only needed to import Park.

On top of his industrial contributions, Park Tae-joon was acutely aware of the importance of educating future generations and established the Pohang University of Science and Technology in 1986 and the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology in 1987, both foremost facilities for education, research and development in South Korea.

After the assassination of Park Chung-hee in 1979, Park Tae-joon entered politics as a member of the National Assembly and became a crucial member in the coalition government that brought about both the Roh Tae-woo and Kim Dae-jung governments.

He was forced out of politics in 1992 under scrutiny from president Kim Young-sam over alleged corruption charges, which later turned out to be false. He returned to government during the economic fallout in 1997, working to resolve the economic crisis, and briefly served as prime minister in 2000 before being forced out over charges of real estate speculation.

Nonetheless, nothing so far suggests that he abused his deep connections in government or industry for personal gain.

Those who knew of him understood his significance - someone said of Park Tae-joon that "when Korea needed an army, he was an officer; when it needed to raise its economy, he was a businessman; when it needed a vision, he was a politician".

It would not be an overstatement to suggest that he embodied the political and economic transformation in South Korea since its founding. He lived life without a moment's breath wasted; many of his close colleagues said that the only thing hotter than the molten steel in the mills of Pohang was Park Tae-joon's passion, the epicenter of the industrial complex - and today his Herculean heart continues to forge South Korea's future.

He is survived by his wife, five children and a more prosperous country.

Yong Kwon is a freelance writer for Korean, Russian and Central Asian affairs.

Global Military Balance Shifts as Economic Winter Hastens Western Decline...

2011-12-15T10:08:00.001-08:00

Global Military Balance Shifts as Economic Winter Hastens Western Decline...

By Dr. Jacob....

An eventual shift in the global military balance is one of the inalienable fallouts of the economic winter experienced by the Western world. While military spending in the U.S., the reigning super power, is increasingly coming under the scanner, the extended defense holiday in Europe signals that the continent's global influence is on irreversible decline.

Even as the U.S. and Europe tend to spend less on military, China, serious contender for the superpower status, is ramping up spending. Russia is aggressive in its defense strategy despite the fact that a weary NATO looks a lesser threat than before.

"With the eurozone economy still sluggish and governments fixated on containing the sovereign debt brushfire that has consumed three member states, defense continues to be an afterthought in Europe," Forecast International said in a media release.

The leading defense intelligence provider said it expects that total European defense expenditure will barely reach $280 billion by 2015. That amount will soon be dwarfed by the combined spending of China, India, the rest of the emerging world and the highly aggressive Gulf Arab nations.

Defense spending as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) paints a skewed landscape. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) data, the U.S. spends 4.8 percent of its GDP on military while China spends 2.1 percent. However, in terms of value, China's military spending has risen nearly 200 percent in the last decade to reach the 2010 spending of about $200 billion.

The U.S. could remain the undeniable military super power in the foreseeable future by virtue of its ability to funnel massive amounts of money into this sector. According to SIPRI, at $700 billion per year, the U.S. military spending is larger than the combined spending of the next 17 countries.

Europe pales in comparison. France and Britain, pre-eminent European military powers, spend only 2.3 and 2.7 percent respectively on defense. Germany's military spending is pegged at 1.3 percent while Italy spends 1.8 percent of GDP. Russia spends 4 percent of GDP on defense.

"Little in the near-term environment lends hope that a rethink toward defense prioritization is in the offing," says Forecast International. "Austerity programs are draining government ministries of funding and any reversals of this trend will first be felt in areas outside defense."

And the results are already visible.

Commenting on the NATO mission in Libya, the then U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in June that the vast majority of the military bloc's European members did not have the capability to carry out air attacks. "Frankly, many of those allies sitting on the sidelines do so not because they do not want to participate, but simply because they can't ...The military capabilities simply aren't there," Gates said.

Gates also issued a stern warning for the European allies, suggesting that if Europe didn't live up to its responsibility it would lose its position as America's favored military ally. "...if current trends in the decline of European defense capabilities are not halted and reversed, future U.S. political leaders-those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me-may not consider the return on America's investment in NATO worth the cost," Gates said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

While the U.S. still managed to spend a large share of its GDP on defense in 2010, the European members of the military bloc spent only 1.7 percent of GDP. According to IHS Jane's, Europe's military spending will decline even further in the coming years. It estimates that between 2010 and 2015, the military spending of the European members of NATO will decline to decline by 2.9 percent.

"The end result of the ongoing decline and flattening of already-limited defense allocations will be armies that struggle to project power, conduct training exercises, maintain combat readiness, and entice new recruits. Modernization programs will be postponed or forsaken entirely," Forecast International adds.

Dragon Moves up in Defense Pecking Order

According to the ZIOCONNED CIA World Factbook, Gulf Arab countries traditionally top the chart of military spending. As of 2005 Oman spent 11.4 percent of GDP on defense while Qatar and Saudi Arabia spent 10 percent. Israel's defense spending was 7.3 percent. Among emerging powers, India spent 2.5 percent while Brazil spent only 1.7 percent.

However, China's ascendance in the defense pecking order has been the most stupendous in recent times. Earlier this year, the Pentagon had warned that China's aggressive military build-up and modernization will make it a formidable power by 2020 and change for once and all the military balance in the Asia Pacific region.

In an annual report submitted to Congress, the Pentagon said though China was unlikely to wield global reach and match up to the U.S. in terms of the ability to handle high-intensity combat operations far abroad, it will become an unquestionable regional military power in the years ahead.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is sprucing up its conventional military capabilities by developing better missile technologies. China is also well on course to developing its JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile. The Pentagon had calculated that JL-2 would be operational by 2010, but continued delays have hit the program to develop this lethal weapon.

"Most reports agree that the JL-2 will have a range of about 8,000 km, while some reports suggest that the missile will have an estimated range at least 9,000 kilometers," according to global security.org.

There were also reports that China would start building a fully indigenous aircraft carrier this year. If the program goes ahead as expected, China will have a second aircraft carrier by 2015.

China's stealth fighter, J-20, had created a lot of ripples in the defense world this year when it conducted its celebrated test flight. According to the Pentagon, the J-20 "highlights China's ambition to produce a fighter aircraft that incorporates stealth attributes, advanced avionics and super-cruise capable engines over the next several years."

Moreover, China is actively harnessing technologies to develop lethal space and counterpace capabilities. The Pentagon also has said PLA has set up "information warfare units" in a bid to gain upper hand in cyber warfare, the modus operandi of the future. The Pentagon report had pointed out that targets inside the United States had been victims of cyber attacks that took origins in China in the recent past.

In stark contrast, the images from the United States and Europe are less than upbeat. In August this year, the U.S. announced massive spending cuts in the defense sector as part of the debt deal unveiled by the White House.

The White House fact sheet said defense spending will be reduced by a whopping $350 billion in ten years, a decision that would deal a crippling blow to many of Pentagon's vaunted weapon programs.

The U.S. could be eying to cut down military spending in future by slimming down its nuclear arsenal and being choosy about weapon purchases, besides reducing personnel costs. There is also the risk of really big ticket projects like the aerial refueling tanker getting sidelined or slowed down.

And in Britain, the country's only aircraft carrier was decommissioned recently because of budget constraints.

Analysts say Europe faces the dire threat of becoming a fringe player if it continues to undermine the importance of sheer military power. "The shrinking of (defense) assets and degradation of capabilities happened over an extended period of time. Defense investment in Europe has steadily declined since the early 1990s as governments placed a premium on 'soft power' alternatives over military strength," says Forecast International's Europe Military Markets Analyst Dan Darling.

"Europe needs to summon the political willpower to strengthen defense or accept that out-of-area operations going forward will have to be limited in number and restricted in scope. There is already a finite capacity regarding further Libya-type operations, let alone a similar mission to the one still going on in Afghanistan. A decline in ability to project power comes with a decline in global influence. Such decline may be relative, but it is a decline nonetheless."....LOL the skewing by Zioconned Western World knows no bounds....LOL