Iran's 'Moderates': Hassan Rouhani’s defense minister was founder of Lebanese Hezbollah.

Hossein Dehghan standing alongside
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nassrallah

(OTHER NEWS) Iran's 'Moderates': Hassan Rouhani’s defense minister was founder of Lebanese Hezbollah.

NCRI,12 August 2013 - The Iranian regime’s new defense minister nominated by Hassan Rouhani is one of the founders of the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group, regime websites have revealed.

The latest details of Hossein Dehghan’s murky past come after reports he was also a former terrorist student who stormed the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979, taking 53 American diplomats hostage.

Now the regime’s news sites have told how Dehghan was a founder member of the Revolutionary Guards, and an IRGC commander in Tehran until 1982 when he played an active role in suppression of the opposition.

He was then appointed as the commander of the IRGC force in Syria before establishing the IRGC training garrison near Lebanese border to train the regime’s Lebanese agents.

He later entered Lebanon to set up the ‘Abol-Fazl Abbas Garrison’ in the Nabi-Shit region of Bekaa Valley and organized Hezbollah forces.

According regime websites, Dehghan had close relationship with Hezbollah leaders including Seyed Abbas Moussavi, the former Hezbollah chief killed in 1992, and Seyed Hassan Nasrallah, the group’s current leader.

Dehghan, born in 1957 in Shahreza, central Iran, has maintained his relationship with Hezbollah, who have also released photos of him in Lebanon alongside Moussavi.

The new minister in Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet was also among the ‘Line of Imam’ extremists who held the hostages captive for 444 days until their release in January 1981.

Details of Dehghan’s role in the US hostage crisis has been referred to on various websites of the clerical regime, including shakhsiatnegar.com and the ‘Muslim Students followers of Line of Imam’ site. However this information has been omitted from his official biography provided to the press following his nomination.Source.

More here from Carl in Jerusalem.

Report: Iranian drone fed live pictures of Dimona, preps for US-Israel anti-missile exercise

(Carl) From the beginning of the story regarding the Iranian drone that was shot down over the Northern Negev last Saturday, I said that if the IDF was telling the truth, the incident did not sound too serious, but if they were not telling the whole truth....

The Times of London is reporting in Sunday's editions (behind a paywall) that the Iranian drone flew over Israel for more than three hours before it was shot down, and sent back to Iran live pictures of Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor and of preparations for the US-Israel joint anti-missile exercise.

The three-hour drone flight was initially downplayed by Israeli officials red-faced over the shocking breach of their airspace.

Even the drone’s ultimate interception by an F-16 jet was botched — it took two tries for the pilot to down the unmanned plane.

An Israeli defense source blamed the drone’s infiltration on its “unfamiliar stealth elements.”

An Israeli military observer asked: “How could we defend this country from thousands of rockets and missiles if we can’t block a single Iranian drone?”

The drone is said to have been a new Shahed-129, unveiled by Tehran last month. It has a range of up to 1,200 miles and a flight duration of 24 hours.

Hezbollah vowed to continue drone surveillance flights.

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, a Hezbollah leader, said in a televised address that the drone was built in Iran, launched in Lebanon, and conducted a reconnaissance of “sensitive and important locations.”

He claimed the Dimona nuclear facility in the Negev desert was one of the sites it overflew.
...
Hezbollah’s TV station broadcast animated footage detailing the drone’s flight, saying it flew south over the Mediterranean, avoiding detection by Israeli radar before reaching the Gaza Strip.

The drone appears to have flown unseen over Gaza before proceeding to the Negev, where it was shot down. The aircraft had traveled 200 miles, the station claimed.

JPost adds:

Nasrallah claimed the Ayoub drone was designed and manufactured in Iran and assembled in Lebanon, denying reports that the drone was a Russian design.

The Hezbollah leader said the drone was sent as a response to what he referred to as Israel's violations of Lebanese airspace since 2006.

"This flight was not our first will not be our last, and we give assurances we can reach any point we want. We have the right to dispatch recon planes over occupied Palestine at any time," Nasrallah said.

But at least one expert is unconcerned. 

Hezbollah has been flying drones over Israel for years, said Micah Zenko of the Council on Foreign Relations, who specializes in drone technology proliferation and the Middle East.

"That it happened again is absolutely insignificant," he said.

He described Nasrallah's comments as blustering and largely empty.

"Israel usually tracks these drones as they come across the border and often doesn't bother to shoot them down," Zenko said. "They just want to see what Hezbollah thinks it can do."

Drones like the one shot down on Saturday cannot even be piloted until someone has "line control" of the device, or is at least within 50 kilometers of it, he said.

"To call them rinky-dink would be polite," he said. "The drones that Iranians display at airshows or that they tout for sale, defense industry press people describe them as crude."

These drones don't have "hard points," or brackets, on which ammunition can be fixed, Zenko said, but they do have the ability to conduct surveillance. It's unclear if the Iranians have drones that can do surveillance in real time, he added.

That's easy for him to say. He's thousands of miles away....

Hezbollah confirms it sent drone downed over Israel

Reuters:

A still image taken from Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) video footage shows what they say is a small unidentified aircraft shot down in a mid-air interception after it crossed into southern Israel October 6, 2012. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged on October 11, 2012, sending a drone aircraft which was shot down last weekend after flying some 25 miles (55 km) into Israel. Image taken October 6, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/IDF via Reuters TV

By Mariam Karouny
BEIRUT | Thu Oct 11, 2012 4:49pm EDT

(Reuters) – Lebanese Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged on Thursday sending a drone aircraft that was shot down last weekend after flying some 25 miles into Israel.
Nasrallah said in a televised speech that the drone’s parts were manufactured in Iran and it was assembled by members of the Shi’ite Muslim militant movement in Lebanon. He confirmed a statement by Israel’s prime minister earlier in the day saying that Hezbollah was behind the drone flight.

Click to continue:

via vladtepesblog.com

Time to Remove Brussels's Hezbollah Blinders

Daniel Schwammenthal..
Wall Street Journal..
02 August '12..
When terrorists struck in Bulgaria last month, killing five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver, Jerusalem immediately accused Hezbollah and its Iranian paymasters of the crime. Tehran and Hezbollah, as always, denied it. But no matter who carried out this atrocity on European Union territory, the EU's continued refusal to put Hezbollah on its terror list is simply indefensible.
Not designating the group as a terrorist organization gives the pioneers of Islamist suicide bombings the opportunity to organize, recruit and raise funds throughout the Continent. There are about 950 Hezbollah members and supporters in Germany alone, according to Berlin's domestic intelligence service. Hezbollah has also sent operatives from Europe to Israel for terror attacks.
Placing the group on the EU's terrorist list would allow authorities to freeze Hezbollah assets and increase cross-border cooperation in fighting their crimes. Raising or providing funds for Hezbollah terrorists within EU territory would become a criminal offense. Police and judicial authorities would have greater powers to work with their colleagues in other member states, for example in sharing evidence or information about movements and activities of Hezbollah operatives. Law enforcement agencies would also have more possibilities to investigate and curtail Hezbollah activities in the EU, such as by suppressing the recruitment of new members.
When Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman last week urged Europe to finally do the right thing, the foreign minister of Cyprus, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, had the unenviable task of having to enunciate the EU's incomprehensible position: "Should there be tangible evidence of Hezbollah engaging in acts of terrorism, the EU would consider listing the organization," Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis said during a joint press conference in Brussels.
Can there really be any reasonable doubt among EU officials about the true nature of Hezbollah? Back in 1983, 58 French peacekeeping troops alongside 241 U.S. marines were butchered in Hezbollah suicide bombings in Beirut, followed by the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in the Lebanese capital, according to U.S. officials. Argentina accused the group of killing 85 people in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, underscoring its global reach.
Hezbollah also supports organizations that are already on the EU terrorist list, such as Hamas. In addition, Syrian regime defectors have revealed that thousands of Hezbollah men (and Iranians) are in Syria as "military consultants" for President Bashar Assad, keeping themselves busy killing protestors. They supplied the same murderous services to Iran to put down the 2009 "Green Revolution." And for decades Hezbollah has terrorized hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians, indiscriminately raining missiles on men, women and children, murdering scores in the process.
This is why the U.S., Canada and Australia, as well as the Netherlands and the U.K.—two EU "renegades"—have already added Hezbollah to their terror lists. Likewise, the European Parliament passed a resolution in 2005 by a vote of 475 to eight, stating "that clear evidence exists of terrorist activities by Hezbollah. The [EU] Council should take all necessary steps to curtail them."
That the EU still hasn't done so must be due to a lack of political will, rather than a lack of evidence. Hezbollah is "an organization that comprises a political party and a social services network as well as an armed wing," Ms. Kozakou-Marcoullis said last week, recounting official EU policy. "Hezbollah is active in Lebanese politics, including the parliament and the government, and plays a specific role with regard to the status quo in Lebanon."
Let's have a quick look at that "specific role." Last year, the United Nations tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri issued arrest warrants for four Hezbollah members for carrying out the truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 other people. In 2008, Hezbollah took over Western Beirut in what the government at the time called a "bloody coup." In the ensuing fighting, about 100 people, many of them civilians, were killed.
Is this really the sort of "status quo" the EU wants to continue validating? Created and funded by Tehran, Hezbollah serves the interest of the two most oppressive regimes left standing in the region: Iran and Syria. How does this square with the EU's "New Strategy for a Changing European Neighborhood," which promises Arabs that their "struggle for democracy, dignity, prosperity and safety from persecution would be supported by Europe?"
The artificial distinction between Hezbollah's "armed wing," as the EU so delicately puts it, and the organization's "political" or "social" activities is meaningless. Hezbollah is a terror group to its core. Even when pretending to play the political game, it doesn't operate like a democratic party but like the terrorist gang it is, intimidating voters and murdering and torturing rivals to advance the interests of Tehran and Damascus.
By adding Hezbollah to its terror list, the EU could thus simultaneously strike a blow against international terrorism and for Arab democracy. It would not only undercut its fundraising but also its claims for respectability. The EU's continued engagement with Hezbollah confers on the group undeserved international recognition, which helps it to sell its terror as "resistance" and its service to Tehran as legitimate Lebanese politics. By naming and shaming Hezbollah, the EU would help isolate it, diminishing its attraction both at home and abroad.
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah himself said a few years ago that such a move would "destroy" the organization as "[t]he sources of our funding will dry up and the sources of moral, political and material support will be destroyed." Europe has the power and moral obligation to finally facilitate this destruction.
Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443866404577563151864043044.html
Mr. Schwammenthal is director of the AJC Transatlantic Institute in Brussels.

via calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com

Nasrallah: Iran has been giving us material support since 1982

Right Said Fred says:
I'm too sexy for my Turbin... Too sexy for my Turbin!

(Carl) Hezbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah has told his people that Iran has given Hezbullah material support since 1982 - and has demanded nothing in return. The second half of that statement is an exaggeration: Hezbullah thugs helped put down the Iranian revolution in 2009 and are currently in Syria helping their old friend Bashar al-Assad out.

(CalevBenYefuneh)(Israel bombed its own embassies to "tarnish Iran's friendly ties with the host countries)
A Reuters report some hours ago quoting the Iranian government-controlled Islamic Republican News Agency said the Iranians reject as "sheer lies" accusations that they were involved in today's bomb attack on the Israeli embassy in India. The Ayatollah-rich regime's ambassador to New Delhi, Mehdi Nabizadeh, said:

"Any terrorist attack is condemned (by Iran) and we strongly reject the untrue comments by an Israeli official. These accusations are untrue and sheer lies, like previous times."

Iran recently cut its financial aid to Hezbollah by 25% due to international sanctions

(h/t @ChallahHuAkbar / YNet) According to the article, which was based on information obtained by French intelligence agencies, the civil uprising against President Bashar Assad in Syria has significantly reduced the flow of money to the Lebanese terror group.

Moreover, the report said, Iran has recently cut its financial aid to Hezbollah by 25% due in part o the international sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program.

Nasrallah during recent public appearance (Photo: AFP)

Le Figaro said the financial crisis has led some Hezbollah terrorists to deal drugs in north Lebanon. Just last week US prosecutors indicted a Lebanese national who they said led a massive international drug smuggling ring with links to Hezbollah.

The US Treasury and the FBI have banned American organizations from donating to Hezbollah, which is designated under US law as a terrorist organization.

Last month Nasrallah claimed Hezbollah had unraveled a web of CIA informants and officers in Iran and Lebanon. According to Le Figaro's report, the network caused significant damage to the Shiite group.

Hezbollah's financial woes are also the result of corruption, the report said. According to Le Figaro, the terror group's investment manager had embezzled close to $1.6 billion.

The report said that during a speech in Beirut two weeks ago Nasrallah chastised the organization's female members for becoming, as he put it, too "bourgeois" and spending too much of the organization's money. Le Figaro said this was yet another indication of Hezbollah's dire financial situation.
The French daily claimed that the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 was planned by top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, without Nasrallah's knowledge

Hariri: I openly and proudly support Syria’s uprising

I hate to say this, but Nasrallah has so much more credibility then Hariri. Lebanon is the middle East's confused and abused fickle whore who changes her mind everytime the wind blows. It is impressive that Nasrallah would stick by Assad even now. I notice even Hamas is trying to distance themselves from the Allawites. The odd thing is that I was led to believe Assad's religion is a heresy to Islam, but if it is... the religious Shiites are very loyal to it. Perhaps it isn't as heretical as I thought. To be loyal to Assad at this juncture takes a certain amount of religious blindness.

(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb BEIRUT): Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Wednesday that he “openly and proudly” supports the uprising of the Syrian people, one day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah repeated his support for the Syrian regime.
“If Hezbollah openly supports the Syrian regime, we openly and proudly support the Syrian revolution and the Syrian people,” Hariri told his Twitter followers.
Meanwhile, lawmakers from Hariri’s Future bloc said that Nasrallah’s speech and rare public appearance were aimed at boosting the dwindling morale of his supporters since his regional allies “are falling” and after the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which the party had strongly opposed.
“He felt that there was a need to boost the morale of his supporters after a Cabinet, which his party dominates, had financed the tribunal,” Minieh MP Ahmad Fatfat told Future News.
“What’s more important in Nasrallah’s speech was the [part] on Arab affairs,” Fatfat said. “He will clearly fight by the side of President Bashar Assad and his regime and he accuses the [Syrian] opposition of treason, which is clear interference in Syrian affairs.”
Following a rare and short public appearance Tuesday, Nasrallah said that his group was continuing to arm itself and would stand by Assad who is facing a popular uprising nearing its ninth month.
“Our forces have increased and so have our arms day after day,” Nasrallah said in a video link on the occasion of Ashura, one of the holiest occasions in Shiite Islam which marks the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.
“This resistance and its weapons will continue to exist and your conspiracies as well as your psychological, political and intelligence wars will not destroy us,” Nasrallah told crowds at a packed stadium in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Thousands of men dressed in black applauded as Nasrallah yelled: “The resistance in Lebanon, with its weapons and mujahideen, God willing, will continue to exist. We will hold onto our arms … our weapons do not rust. They are being upgraded.”
Fatfat said that Nasrallah had torpedoed dialogue when he refused to discuss the party’s arms.
Beirut MP Serge Torsarkissian, Fatfat’s colleague in the Future bloc, commented on Nasrallah’s statement that Hezbollah’s arms would not rust.
“We say that arms will rust because when they are not used domestically, what will they be used for? To launch a war against Israel, this is unrealistic,” he told al-Jadeed TV station.
During the appearance, Nasrallah, speaking from an open-air podium, told the cheering crowd: “I wanted to be with you for a few minutes … to renew our pledge with [Imam] Hussein who stood at this day alone in the face of 30,000 individuals.”
Nasrallah said his public appearance was a message to those who believe they can intimidate Hezbollah.
“We tell all those who bet on scaring us or threatening us that we are the companions of Imam Hussein, who says he will never be humiliated,” he said before he was whisked out of Al-Raya Stadium in the southern suburb neighborhood of Sfeir.
A good section of Nasrallah’s speech was devoted to Syria, saying that while he supported reforms, he would “stand by a regime that has stood by the resistance for a long time.”
“There are some who don’t want civil peace or stability and want to destroy Syria. There are some who want to make up for their defeat in Iraq and their inevitable loss in any change in the situation in Syria for the benefit of Israel,” Nasrallah told the packed stadium in reference to the U.S.
“What some seek for in Syria is not reforms … but an Arab regime which is ready to rubber stamp anything for the U.S. and Israel,” he said.
He also slammed the Syrian National Council, the main anti-Assad opposition group, for seeking to “destroy” Syria while moving closer to the U.S. and Israel.
“The so-called Syrian National Council, formed in Istanbul, has a leader, a university professor by the name of Burhan Ghalioun who said a few days ago that he wants to cut ties with Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas if they [Syrian opposition] were able to change the regime and take over power in Syria … they are trying to present their credentials to the Americans and the Israelis,” Nasrallah said.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an interview with Ghalioun in which he said “Our relations with Iran will be revisited as [will those of] any of the countries in the region, based on the exchange of economic and diplomatic interests, in the context of improving stability in the region and not that of a special relationship. There will be no special relationship with Iran.”
He said breaking the exceptional relationship with Iran after the fall of the Syrian regime would change its relationship with Hezbollah.
Speaking to a local radio station, West Bekaa MP Amin Wehbe, from the Future bloc, said that Nasrallah was mobilizing his supporters “which is understandable in these circumstances when he feels that his allies are falling under the pressure of people who are demanding freedom, and particularly in Syria.”
Wehbe said he was pained that Nasrallah congratulated the Libyans and other Arab people for their revolutions and victories “but when speaking about Syria, he behaved as if the Syrian people do not have the right to enjoy freedom.” He said that Nasrallah had overlooked the fact that NATO had supported the Libyans to oust late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
On local matters, Nasrallah touched on the issue of “false witnesses” in the case of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Nasrallah said the issue had caused tensions in ties between Lebanon and Syria and called on the government to address the divisive topic.
“There is a need to resolve the issue of ‘false witnesses’ and that of the four officers who were jailed,” Nasrallah said, referring to the four generals who were held without charge for nearly four years before the STL probing Hariri’s assassination ordered their release.
The Hezbollah leader also reiterated his support to the Free Patriotic Movement’s demands to the Cabinet.

The crisis of the Assad regime in Syria has already reduced Hezbollah's power #Syria #Hezbollah #Lebanon #Assad

Council on Foreign Relations is trying to spin the leadership of Lebanon as trustworthy. this is bullshit. we should not give arms to Lebanon again. They are not to be trusted. bullshit follows...

Council on Foreign Relations seems to want to push the idea that Jumblatt is reformed.
This is bullshit. This guy is Assad's ally...
and is trying to stay in power. Here is Jumblatt pictured with his daughter.

March 16, 1977: 

h/t (@ChallahHuAkbar) by Elliott Abrams

On July 2, the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had this to say about the UN’s Special tribunal on Lebanon, which is investigating the murder of former prime minister Rafik Hariri:

the tribunal is part of the war against us, because we are leading a confrontation against Israel….The most dangerous goal of this tribunal is to create strife, a civil war in Lebanon, or especially a division between the Sunni and Shiite in Lebanon.

He has also said the Tribunal is “trying to destroy the human and social fabric of Lebanon,”  and called on all Lebanese to boycott it:

I call on every official and every citizen in Lebanon to boycott those investigators and not to cooperate with them … because all that is being offered to them reaches the Israelis. Continuing cooperation with those encourages more violations of the country and helps with the aggression against the resistance.

In January of this year, “Mr Nasrallah told a TV audience that Lebanese judges, funding and obligations to the tribunal must be removed.” Now something has changed. Today’s press in Lebanon reports that:

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah Thursday said the party will not trigger a crisis over the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon despite its continued opposition to the move. ‘In a bid to preserve political stability and to keep the government intact while reaffirming our opposition [to the court] … We don’t accept the funding but we will not create a problem, Nasrallah said during a televised speech.

What happened to those fiery words of yesteryear? Simple: the Syrian uprising. Nasrallah and Hezbollah will be among the great losers if the Assad regime is toppled, along with Iran and of course the Assad clan itself. Without Syrian support and the use of Syria for storage and delivery of weaponry from Iran, Hezbollah will be weaker.
We can also see this in the maneuvering of Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, once a Syrian ally. As recently as January the headlines were “Lebanon Druze leader Walid Jumblatt sides with Hezbollah in crisis.”
As one report summarized, “Just a year ago, Jumblatt was Syria’s most vocal critic, a man who dared, long before others, to call for the downfall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose father most likely ordered the assassination of Jumblatt’s dad during Lebanon’s civil war. Then, last January, Jumblatt did a spectacular about face, siding with the Syrian and Iranian-backed Hezbollah against his former West-leaning allies.”
But by October, “Walid Jumblatt severely criticized the Syrian regime during a concert that he hosted for his friends in the city of Jbeil. Jumblatt reportedly picked up the microphone and addressed his guests by saying: “Unfortunately, we are now enjoying music while the Syrian people are revolting against oppression and tyranny.” And Jumblatt has now applauded the funding of the Tribunal, which is another step away from Syria and Hezbollah.
When the Hezbollah leader, who has repeatedly plunged Lebanon in to crisis and into war, now has to say “we will not create a problem,” tectonic plates are moving in the Middle East. Without understating Hezbollah’s strength and viciousness, the crisis of the Assad regime in Syria has already reduced its power. Assad’s fall will reduce it more. This is yet another reason why the United States should be doing all we can to bring Assad down, the sooner the better.

via blogs.cfr.org

This is news. Jumblatt changed sides this week. don't believe what CFR says. The reason CFR wants to picture Jumblatt as reformed so fast is because like the Democrats, CFR wants to give arms to the lebanese soldiers (which is like giving it directly to Hezbollah). The CFR post here is a lie. The game plan is that if America doesn't give the arms then the Russians will.

Kamal Jumblatt, 60, leader of Lebanon’s Druze community, a member of the Lebanese Parliament and a Socialist-nationalist supporter of Palestinians, is assassinated by the Syrian Social Nationalist Party — which Jumblatt had legalized as interior minister some years earlier. Jumblatt was also the founder of the Progressive Socialist Party. He was the leader of the Palestinian-Muslim alliance in the Lebanese civil war, opposing Christian militias. His was assassinated likely by orders of Syria’s president, Hafez el-Assad, who briefly feared that a Palestinian-Muslim alliance in Lebanon would tip the balance of power too much in their favor in the civil war. Jumblatt is succeeded by his son, Walid. 

The Guardian’s “Respected American Academic”: Noam Chomsky

“The respected (?????) American academic Noam Chomsky has written to the Guardian to condemn government plans to deport the Palestinian activist Sheikh Raed Salah.”

Chomsky’s record is famously rich, but one of his more egregious actions was his decision to spend a week visiting Hizbollah in Lebanon in 2006, which included a meeting with Hassan Nasrallah who, weeks later, rained over 4,000 rockets down on northern Israel, killing dozens of civilians. During the visit, Hizbullah’s ‘Al Manar’ TV station quoted Chomsky as saying:

“Hizbullah’s insistence on keeping its arms is justified… I think Nasrallah has a reasoned argument and [a] persuasive argument that they [the arms] should be in the hands of Hizbullah as a deterrent to potential aggression, and there is plenty of background reasons for that. So until, I think his position [is] reporting it correctly and it seems to me [a] reasonable position, is that until there is a general political settlement in the region, [and] the threat of aggression and violence is reduced or eliminated, there has to be a deterrent, and the Lebanese army can’t be a deterrent.” h/t cifwatch.com

...and the Leftists I meet keep telling me that Chomsky is too old to take seriously and irrelevant.
image via Noam Chomsky on Venezuela @guardian.co.uk

"When human rights came, they saw our jails, they left, and they
said: Jails are good. Civilized, in accordance with democratic, because
the logic is Islamic logic." -Ayatollah Khomeini (Qom, August 19, 1979) note this was found in a place that has quotes that contradict in many issues. 

"Can an interrogator rape the prisoner in order to obtain a confession?" was the follow-up question posed to the Islamic cleric. Mesbah-Yazdi answered: "The necessary precaution is for the interrogator to perform a ritual washing first and say prayers while raping the prisoner. If the prisoner is female, it is permissible to rape through the vagina or anus. It is better not to have a witness present. If it is a male prisoner, then it's acceptable for someone else to watch while the rape is committed." This reply, and reports of the rape of teen male prisoners in Iranian jails, may have prompted the following question: "Is the rape of men and young boys considered sodomy?" Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi: "No, because it is not consensual. Of course, if the prisoner is aroused and enjoys the rape, then caution must be taken not to repeat the rape.""  Islam really is the Religion of Piece (of Ass)! One aspect of these permitted rapes troubled certain questioners: "What if the female prisoner gets pregnant? Is the child considered illegitimate?" Mesbah-Yazdi answered: "The child borne to any weakling [a denigrating term for women - ed.] who is against the Supreme Leader is considered illegitimate, be it a result of rape by her interrogator or through intercourse with her husband, according to the written word in the Koran. However, if the child is raised by the jailer, then the child is considered a legitimate Shi'a Muslim."" 

"Asked if a confession obtained "by applying psychological, emotional and physical pressure" was "valid and considered credible according to Islam," Mesbah-Yazdi replied: "Getting a confession from any person who is against the Velayat-e Faqih ("Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists", or the regime of Iran's mullahs) is permissible under any condition." The ayatollah gave the identical answer when asked about confessions obtained through drugging the prisoner with opiates or addictive substances. "Can an interrogator rape the prisoner in order to obtain a confession?" was the follow-up question posed to the Islamic cleric. Mesbah-Yazdi answered: "The necessary precaution is for the interrogator to perform a ritual washing first and say prayers while raping the prisoner. If the prisoner is female, it is permissible to rape through the vagina or anus. It is better not to have a witness present. If it is a male prisoner, then it's acceptable for someone else to watch while the rape is committed." This reply, and reports of the rape of teen male prisoners in Iranian jails, may have prompted the following question: "Is the rape of men and young boys considered sodomy?" Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi: "No, because it is not consensual. Of course, if the prisoner is aroused and enjoys the rape, then caution must be taken not to repeat the rape.""

...it is almost like the Iranians were Liberals. it's only marriage after all.

"In the Islamic Republic it is illegal to execute a young woman, regardless of her crime, if she is a virgin, he explained. Therefore a "wedding" ceremony is conducted the night before the execution: The young girl is forced to have sexual intercourse with a prison guard - essentially raped by her "husband." "I regret that, even though the marriages were legal," he said. Why the regret, if the marriages were "legal?" "Because," he went on, "I could tell that the girls were more afraid of their 'wedding' night than of the execution that awaited them in the morning. And they would always fight back, so we would have to put sleeping pills in their food. By morning the girls would have an empty expression; it seemed like they were ready or wanted to die. "I remember hearing them cry and scream after [the rape] was over," he said. "I will never forget how this one girl clawed at her own face and neck with her finger nails afterwards. She had deep scratches all over her." "

...Ahmadinejad's Spiritual Advisor says, "Raping Prisoners Is OK But Wash Your Hands First".

Syrians burned photos of Nasrallah (video)

An editorial in Asharq al-Awsat:

The Syrian people quickly responded to the calls made a few days ago by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah for the demonstrators to stand with the Syrian regime "of resistance", and the popular Syrian response to this was to burn pictures of Nasrallah on what was dubbed the "Friday of the Guardians of the Homeland."
This is not the first response of its kind from the Syrian protestors, indeed a slogan that was previously being chanted by the Syrian demonstrators was "No to Iran, No to Hezbollah…we want somebody who is God-fearing!" This means that Hezbollah, and its leadership's reading of the Syrian uprising has been wrong, as has been their reading of all other events in the region. It is clear that Nasrallah's reading of the situation in Syria was wrong, for just a few days after he came out to call on the Syrian people to "preserve their country" and maintain al-Assad's "regime of resistance", the Syrian people came out to burn his picture!

When are we going to see similar videos coming out of Lebanon? via elderofziyon.blogspot.com

Got a Public Relations problem with HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES? No problem... Syria Attacks Israel, but...

The situation in Syria is terrible.

Syria Murders Hundreds; "Pro-`Arab Spring'"
West Yawns or Supports Syrian Regime

Will bin Laden killing pave way for similar moves by Israel?

Former top IDF intel official talks to Haaretz about a gradual change in the rules of confrontation in the framework of the global war on terror.

At the height of the second intifada, until the middle of the last decade, Israel developed and enhanced a system of assassinations of terrorists which was euphemistically referred to as "pinpointed assassinations." Maj. Gen. Aharon Ze'evi (Farkash ) headed the IDF General Staff intelligence branch at that time. While the American assault force's operation against al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was an operation on a much bigger scale than the Israeli actions and took place far from the borders of the United States, to a large extent it employed a similar format to that used previously by the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security service.Aharon Ze'evi (Farkash ), Will the assassination of bin Laden at the hands of the United States pave the way for similar moves by Israel in the future, against [Hezbollah leader] Hassan Nasrallah or even [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad?
We must not forget that we are not a power. Not everything that is permitted to the Americans is permitted to us as well. But nevertheless, there is a gradual change in the rules of confrontation in the framework of the war on terror. A wider maneuvering space has been opened. Nassrallah understands that too. It is no coincidence that he so seldom leaves his bunker in recent years.
Is there greater legitimacy today, for Israel also, to make moves against heads of terrorist organizations that refuse to hold any kind of negotiations?
In the past, the countries of the West were opposed to the Israeli claim that no distinction should be made between the so-called political echelon and the "military" echelon in the terrorist organizations. There is an important message in the Americans' decision to do away with bin Laden. It is not possible to distinguish between the leader and the operational echelon subordinate to him. The decision-makers have to be dealt a blow. Seven years ago, when we killed the senior Hamas officials such as Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi, our approach was not accepted by the international community.
In retrospect, did the Israeli policy of assassinations prove itself at all? Did it not merely provide encouragement for revenge attacks and the continuation of the cycle of bloodshed?
Since Israel unfortunately suffered more terrorist attacks, it became a kind of experimental laboratory for the front line in this struggle. The assassinations were an important tool. It can't be helped. These leaders don't like committing suicide. It's different than sending other people to carry out suicide missions for them. When they are being chased, they are less effective. The pinpointed assassinations are still a very important deterrent tool against senior leaders of the terrorist organizations. It is true that every terrorist leader can be replaced. Bin laden will also have a replacement. What is important is the continuum of assassinations that is directed at the heads of the organization and indicates to them that they too have something to lose.

The immediate question that a lot of Israelis asked themselves, following the reports of the American success, was: Why do we not succeed in locating Gilad Shalit who is not hidden at the other end of the world but just a few kilometers from our border?
Organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah have successfully learned our strengths and weak points. They understand what precautions must be taken in order to safeguard an asset like an abducted Israeli. I think that Israel shares the same determination to bring Gilad back home that the Americans demonstrated in striking bin Laden.
Here too we must find the right combination of circumstances - precise intelligence information, the ability to organize an operation within a few hours while the target is "hot," a reasonable ratio between the chances of success and the risk that there will be losses - we still remember the failed attempt to rescue [kidnapped soldier] Nahshon Waxman - and the possibility of avoiding excessive collateral damage. To my regret, this is a combination that occurs very rarely.
I don't agree with the claim that the Shalit affair is a resounding failure on the part of intelligence. If you had asked me about the American efforts to hit at bin Laden a month ago, what would we have said? We would certainly have described them as terrible schlemiels. I can safely say that tremendous efforts are being made and that it is possible that the right timing will enable such an operation to be carried it out in the future. Israel has excellent intelligence capability but things have to fall together. One cannot carry out a rescue operation at any price. If they had told President Obama that there was a great risk that the entire American force would be harmed, he would not have sent the troops to kill bin Laden this week.
Everyone is praising the Americans for their intelligence work in this operation. What does it actually mean?
We must give credit to the American intelligence agencies for their sustained effort. I know the significance of chasing a terrorist for years. The people who head the agencies change every few years. One needs a great deal of determination, perseverance, and a high level of organization in order to continue running an operation like this until it succeeds. In this era, there must be a combination of exact information, cooperation between the various intelligence arms and sometimes also with foreign services, and a very sharp capability on the part of the force that carries out the operation. Consider the ability shown here by the American forces: tremendous firing power, accuracy, self-confidence, the ability to hit those you have come to kill and to leave without a scratch. Zero casualties is not a result that is achieved by chance.
TV programs like "24" actually present these kinds of operations in a fairly realistic way. They are not science fiction. There is a never-ending puzzle of information that has to be collected and collated. Without a fusion of this information, the operation won't work. Even what appears to be the most minute bits of information have tremendous importance. We saw that in the media reports: The fact that the compound in which bin Laden was living did not have Internet activity increased the Americans' suspicions. Various kinds of intelligence gathering are in operation here: human intelligence, visual information gathering, and wiretapping and other signal intelligence. In the end, this combination of intelligence enables a warning to be issued to the fighter heading the force: "Don't go into the yard now, there is suspicious movement there."
By the way, I was somewhat surprised to see the presence of President Obama in the war room in real time, with the ability to watch on the screens what appeared to be the force in the field. As the head of the intelligence division, I didn't want leaders and senior officers to enter the war room of the unit that was instructing the advance guard. I also tried not to go there. The commanders don't need too many kibitzers giving them advice while the business is still going on. That could influence the effectiveness of the fighting force.

Amos Harel  - Haaretz 05 May '11 via calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com

Posted via email from noahdavidsimon's posterous

a unique gift in Lebanon — an Israeli assault rifle captured during the militant group's 2006 war with the Jewish state.

Hizbullah Leader Nasrallah Presents Israeli Weapon To Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

via thememriblog.org

via news.yahoo.com

Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah presents Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with an Israeli weapon taken from an Israeli soldier.
Ahmadinejad is currently visiting Lebanon.

Hezbollah accuses Israel of killing Hariri

I have information. We accuse Israel of killing Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005.
I will present during the press conference information that will help lead to conclusions on the Rafik Hariri investigation.

We will manage to uncover the real criminals behind the Rafik Hariri murder.

via elderofziyon.blogspot.com  

That last line sounds a lot like OJ Simpson, doesn't it?
via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

Simpson said that he would look for the real murderer, who he said he believed was a hitman.

via en.wikipedia.org

did he say that with a straight face?

noahdavidsimon's posterous

Assad: Do not Dare Blame Hizbullah for Hariri Murder

AP Photo 1 day ago From left, Syrian President Bashar Assad, Saudi King Abdullah, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri meet at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, July 30, 2010.

via bokertov.typepad.com

Goldstone Report... prosecute, but Hariri Murder should be covered up... ok Assad. Care to elaborate?

noahdavidsimon's posterous

At a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and Saudi King Abdullah, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called for an immediate end to the activity of the United Nations international tribunal investigating the death of former Lebanese leader Rafik al-Hariri. Assad said that the tribunal had become a “burden” on Lebanon, and threatened the country's stability.
Assad warned the tribunal against finding Hizbullah guilty for Hariri's murder; such a decision could “destroy” Lebanon, he said.

A report in the Lebanese press quoted Assad as warning the tribunal against finding Hizbullah guilty for Hariri's murder; such a decision could “destroy” Lebanon, he said, adding that the tribunal has  “nearly caused a tragedy in the Middle East.” He said that the tribunal had attempted to falsely blame Syria as well. “We cannot accept the same results regarding Hizbullah,” he said. If, at one time, the tribunal was attempting to find the parties guilty for Hariri's death, today it had become a tool by which to persecute countries that were not pro-American, he claimed. Hizbullah top terrorist Hassan Nasrallah is set to make a speech Tuesday, in which he will discuss the investigation.
According to the report, Abdullah said that it was doubtful that the tribunal could be stopped at this point, since it had major international backing. The meeting was seen as an attempt by Assad to deliver a message to Sa'ad Hariri, Prime Minister of Lebanon, with whom Abdullah has close ties. Sa'ad is the son of Rafik Hariri.

via israelnationalnews.com

a burden?  I suppose the Nazis were a burden on Germany... but that isn't what Assad means

 

Hassan Nasrallah Play

I'm willing to bet that Israel will not wait and give Iran it's discretion on when they will attack Israel through Lebanon. Hezbullah is clearly part of the Lebanese government and they are building up forces in contradiction with UN 1701.

Sadly unless the world itself acts and does the right thing... Israel will be making a sacrifice play. Attacking Lebanon will not only cost Israel Lebanese lives, but many Jewish lives. There is no alternative to survive.

Israel may pre-emptively strike at Lebanon. This could happen under one of two scenarios: either that Israel decides to take care of Hezbullah before it feels it has to strike Iran's nuclear capability, or that Israel decides that Hezbullah's rocket supply is getting too big to ignore. I don't believe the second scenario is likely because if that were the case, I believe it would have happened already. But it's entirely conceivable that Israel would pre-emptively strike Hezbullah to remove that threat before it has to go after Iran. In that case, Israel would be looking for at least a month of lead time before Iran's nuclear capability is scheduled to go on line. The delayed international effort to stop Iran is bringing the day that Israel may have to take matters into its own hands much closer. When it comes to its own survival, Israel will not defer to the international community. The nearly wall-to-wall support for Operation Cast Lead a year ago (91% of the Jewish population) proves that.

Ahmadinejad may never have a chance to play the Hezbullah card.

For once, the Obama administration did the right thing.

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton sent a message to Beirut that Washington cannot prevent an Israeli strike in Lebanon as long as arms smuggling to Hezbollah continues.

via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

It is just a matter of time before Israel's hand is forced... Much like the War of Attrition, and every other war with the Arabs, the enemy builds up it's forces onthe border. This is a pattern from history and whenever you read it online that Israeldid indeed attack first they always deny the correlative fact that the enemy had put their forces into position form attack through numbers. This time with missiles. The attack on Lebanon will destroy much of Northern Israel, but it also will flatten Lebanon. This could be a very good thing for Israel because if Iran has a WMD they will certainly attempt to put it North of Israel's border. Israel does not have the liberty to wait to be attacked.