West Asia News and Discussions

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 22 Oct 2009 03:07

Thanks for the map. It puts into prespective all those pirate attacks and talk of forward deploying IAF for anti-piracy role.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 24 Oct 2009 02:36

X-Post from international nuclear deal discussion ...
Yes, Virginia, There is a Mideast Nuke Deal

...
Iran's neighbor, the United Arab Emirates, has decided to skip the shadow games and enter the nuclear club through the front door, as it is now finalizing plans to spend $40 billion to build an estimated eight nuclear plants over the next several decades and become the first openly nuclear-powered state in the Middle East. And it is doing so with the blessing of the United States.

What's groundbreaking is that the U.A.E. has promised not to construct its own uranium-enrichment facilities. Instead, it will outsource the entire fuel cycle—from enrichment to reprocessing—to an established nuclear country, probably France. The program will also be subject to strict inspections from the International Atomic Energy Agency. The fact is that roughly three quarters of the countries around the world with nuclear-power plants today rely on the international market for fuel from the major producers in France, Europe, Russia, and the U.S. Only a minority actually do their own uranium enrichment and reprocessing.
...
The deal could well chart a road map for a slew of states in the Middle East that are already on their way to nuclear power. In recent years, countries like Qatar, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia have made their intentions to build nuclear-power plants clear. Though many are awash in oil, the costs, environmental concerns, and spiking demand for electricity are pushing them toward the atom. The Emirates deal sets a precedent for countries that say they want nuclear energy, but not the bomb. Why go to the expensive trouble of enriching uranium if France or the U.S. will do it for you? Nations can still insist on their right to do their own enrichment, but it's becoming much harder to convince the international community that their intentions are peaceful.
...
...
But on closer inspection, the Obama administration's more strategic aim likely is to establish a safe and replicable model for countries to roll out peaceful nuclear-power programs. A joint statement issued by the two countries late last year proclaimed that "the U.A.E. has committed to complete operational transparency and to pursuing the highest standards of nonproliferation safety and security." If there will be a number of new nuclear states in the coming years, not just in the Middle East, but around the world—Indonesia, Vietnam, and Kazakhstan are likely pioneers—the question moves from "when?" to "how?" The U.S. clearly wants to guide the process as much as possible.
...

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 29 Oct 2009 23:47

Bashar met up with KSA King Abdullah after numerous cancelled visits to Damascus. They had a lovely one on one meeting where KSA King conveyed to Bashar to stop meddling in formation of a govt in Lebanon. Syrian intel chief turned over 45 Saudi jihadi's to KSA intel chief Muqrin. They will be extradited and interrogated by KSA GID.

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49 families have been kicked out of UAE for raising money for Hezbollah. KSA is in negotiations with Syria, but has refrained from taking such harsh action. This came as a result of a meeting last month in Riyadh, the interior ministers of the six GCC countries decided to join forces in acting against the elements of Lebanese Shi’a communities living in exile which support Hezbollah.

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Mossad not worried about relations with Turkey because they have been working together for many many years since the 50's targetting pan arab movements. During the 90s, they worked together against radical Islamic groups and Iranian spy rings

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Robert McFarlane, the former national security adviser of Ronald Reagan, has been asked by Qatar to facilitate negotiations between Sudan and rebel groups in Darfur, but also bring about a reconciliation between Washington and Khartoum

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The dissappearance of a nuclear researcher called Amiri working at Natanz was a major embarresment for Ogab (a top secret agency used to keep an eye on nuclear scientists working in the nuclear establishments of Iran and to prevent them from defecting or being kidnapped).This led to a massive shakeup of the agency ordered by Ahmadinejad.

It was Ogab and not Israel’s Mossad which reportedly murdered physicist Ardashiz Husseinpour in early 2007. Working at the Natanz nuclear power plant, he was making plans to defect.

Amiri’s disappearance was orchestrated by the CIA. To thwart Ogab, the agency made contact with the scientist last year when Amiri visited Frankfurt in connection with his research work. A German businessman acted as go-between. (My comment: I'd place a big bet that the businessman was a Mossad operative) A final contact was made in Vienna when Amiri travelled to Austria to assist the Iranian representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh.

Shortly afterwards, the scientist went on pilgrimage to Mecca and hasn’t been seen since.

It was the first time Saudi Arabia served as a venue for an intelligence operation against Iran. Up to now, the American agencies preferred Dubai or Turkey, from which Ali Reza Asghari was spirited away in 2007 and, in December, colonel Mohamed Reza Aryan. He was carrying numerous documents on the way Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are organized.

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Erdogan says Lieberman(Israeli FM) threatened Gaza with nukes

Johann · Post by **Johann** » 29 Oct 2009 23:55

shyamd wrote:A German businessman acted as go-between. (My comment: I'd place a big bet that the businessman was a Mossad operative)

Why? The BND tends to have the clearest picture of what German businessmen are doing.

When it comes to Iran's nuclear programme, the Americans, Germans, British and Israelis all cooperate.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 30 Oct 2009 00:07

I don't think the businessman was a businessman. From my past experience, the Mossad uses that tactic for most of their operations conducted in Europe. I just feel the person who approached Amiri was Mossad.

They do co-operate, I am not denying that.

Johann · Post by **Johann** » 30 Oct 2009 00:25

Shyam,

Yes, the Israelis have set up dummy companies and conducted false flag operations. However you can use the same tactic against the same enemy only so many times.

The Iranian regime has been in the illegal procurement business in the West for almost 30 years now, and they are very professional at what they do.

The kind of people the Iranians do business with are real manufacturers, consultancies, trading firms, etc that have some verifiable history.

The best that intelligence agencies can do is work their way in to the procurement channels that the Iranians use. Generally they use them to gather intelligence. Very rarely, when the payoff is worth it they use them for disruption.

Again, the BND is one of the most effective at this because of Germany's position as an industrial exporter, and the enormous size of the German-Iranian trade relationship. The Iranian procurement programme must accept the risk because they have few options given the pace that their political masters have set for the nuclear programme.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 30 Oct 2009 03:18

Johann, good points.

Egypt offers India exclusive zone along Suez Canal

India, Oman still studying undersea pipeline

India and Oman are still pursuing the possibility of an under-the-sea pipeline that could cater for New Delhi’s energy requirements in a big way, Oman Ambassador Sheikh Humaid Bin Ali Bin Sultan Al-mani told The Hindu.

“According to the previous feasibility study, the gas pipeline is very costly, technically speaking. I do hope that if the technical aspects are overcome, we will be able to implement such projects. It would be good for India’s energy security. Some companies are working on it,” he said.

Analysts say the proposed 1,100-km pipeline has an extremely challenging technical dimension because at a certain point, its depth will be over 3,500 metres or four times deeper than any pipeline laid under the sea so far.

On the evolving India-Oman ties as reflected in the first-ever joint air exercises in the Gulf country, the Ambassador credited the breakthrough to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Muscat less than a year ago.

Defence ties

During the visit, both countries agreed to accelerate defence cooperation by upgrading their naval exercises, Tamar-al-Tahir (benign fruit), and renaming them Naseem-al-Bahar (sea breeze). (The upgraded naval exercises are yet to happen) With the air dimension added to military-to-military ties which have a long standing component of training Oman defence personnel in India, Sheikh Humaid believes, both countries are on track to achieve the long-term vision of strategic ties. As he pointed out, Oman was the first Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country with which India developed defence ties and its Foreign Minister, Yusuf Bin Alawai bin Abdullah, was the first from an Arab country to visit India as a mark of solidarity after the Mumbai terror attacks.

Fighting piracy

On the anti-piracy front, Oman has offered Indian naval ships berthing facilities. “Oman is keen to help the Indian Navy fight piracy. We have provided all the technology to assist the Indian Navy, bearing in mind our force limitation, to ensure that fighting piracy is our common goal,” the Ambassador observed.

The cooperation takes other forms as well. When an Indian ship encountered a problem off the northern part of Yemen, its officers were flown immediately to Muscat and from there to India.

As for business ties, Sheikh Humaid predicts a flurry of activity in the coming days, with both sides actively finalising the GCC-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA), New Delhi poised to sign a memorandum of understanding on tourism that will open the doors to hospitality majors, the Taj and the Oberoi, and Oman Oil about to announce its investment plans.

Besides, a consortium of Indian firms has been allocated Block 18 to prospect for oil and gas “but we want Indian companies to invest in a bigger way. I keep encouraging Indian businesses to use Oman as a hub to utilise our FTA with the U.S. We have created industrial zones and the port of Salana in the south handles container traffic which can be used to send goods to the U.S. and other destinations,” he pointed out.

Indeed folks this is going to become an arab winter. MMS is expected in KSA I believe. HM Sultan Qaboos is expected in New Delhi, its a big deal because he doesn't travel outside the country very often. Possible GCC-India FTA promised by MMS to HM Sultan Qaboos last year. Naval exercises possibly.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 01 Nov 2009 23:28

Every once in a while, we get an interesting email directed at admins, asking questions like "why don't you just leave the Kashmiris alone?" or "why is it that Kashmiri carpets are no longer on sale in Hauz Khas village"? Usually, they are from Pakistanis or POKashmiris pretending to be Pakistanis. But recently we got one from someone claiming to be Saudi. For some reason the urge to respond was irresistible. So here is the Q&A:

__________________________________________________________________
From: Ahmed Ali Usman
i belong to KSA. I just have a question to you people that why are you in Kashmir? Y you are killing the people? Why the people of Kashmir are in so trouble
Please leave them free ! thanks
__________________________________________________________________

And this was the response:

Dear Mr. Usman,

Thank you for your mail. Normally, admins do not respond to such emails which are numerous and tiresome. However, this is one of those rare occasions when an email from Saudi Arabia pops into the box. As one of the admins, I feel an urge to respond. Maybe it is simply that it is a nice morning where I am, coffee is nearby and an interesting opportunity presents itself. I'm going to deconstruct your email, if you don't mind of course.

You say you "belong to KSA". What does that mean? Are you a citizen of Saudi Arabia. While that's possible, I'm inclined to think that you are not - and I can, most probably, pinpoint your national origin. But let's say you are a citizen of KSA. In that case shouldn't KSA belong to you, rather than the other way around? A country, after all, belongs to its citizens. Countries do not own their citizens do they? But, I forget, if you are a Saudi "citizen" then you are a property of the House of Saud, effectively. KSA,is, strictly speaking a family property after all.

Now, you ask, a question to "you people" - meaning us, I suppose the people who run and administer this website in particular, and Indians in general. Out of curiosity, may I ask you whether you include Indian Muslims in this "you people" group? Let's assume, charitably, that yo do. Do you know that there are about seven times more Muslims in India than in Saudi Arabia? Do you still want to refer to us as "you people"? Not that we mind, you can refer to us as anything you want. It simply clarifies your mindset for us. We will give it due respect.

And now comes the clincher: "why are you in Kashmir"? I could have told you that it really is none of your business, which of course it isn't. I could have asked you "why are you in Saudi Arabia" - no doubt to you a meaningless question, but the relevance of your question is similar to us people. But let me be polite to a guest, and say we are not in Kashmir, rather Kashmir is in us. Kashmiris have a claim to each and every inch of India, just as each and every Indian has a claim to every inch of Kashmir. You see, India belongs to Kashmiris just as much as it belongs to anyone else who is Indian. Do you understand the answer? If not, read it again or get it translated by a Pakistani friend you might have. That will help.

"Y you are killing the people"? No one is killing the Kashmiri people, other than terrorists. And we are killing the terrorists, just as Saudi police and military and national guard are killing terrorists all across KSA. If you were Indian, will you not do the same? Please remember Jammu & Kashmir is a part of India, just like Najran and Jizan are a part of Saudi Arabia. Will you allow terrorists to come from Yemen and operate in Najran and Jizan? If you are inclined to research the subject do so. There is plenty of material online, but you must go to non-Jihadi websites as well, to get a balanced point of view. The people of Kashmir are in "so trouble" because of these terrorists.

"Please leave them be free", you demand. You will be suprised at the amount of freedom the Kashmiris have. Much more than you in fact. When did you last elect a government? When did you last have any role in your country in choosing its leadership? Are you free? Do you have any independent newspapers? Can you challenge any decision that your government makes? You can do none of these things. What do you mean, therefore, by "free"? Freedom to do what? Freedom from what? Please use your own brain, and you will see that you are not right. Kashmiris have recently had elections and chosen their own government.

Free your mind. Think, man. Think. Look at the world beyond your little kingdom and see what is happening. I challenge you to do it, if you have the courage to do so. Look at the world with objectivity, if you can.

Regds
Admin

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 02 Nov 2009 23:12

From the same Saudi arabian country

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section ... =11&y=2009

Saudi-India ties enter new era
Mohammed Rasooldeen | Arab News

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah holds talks with Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Saturday. (SPA)

RIYADH: Both Saudi and Indian businessmen will now get long-term multiple entry visas to visit each other’s country — this was one of the major decisions taken at the 8th meeting of the Indo-Saudi Joint Commission which concluded at the Royal Conference Palace here on Saturday.

Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah Zainal Alireza and Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee led the discussions on behalf of the Saudi and Indian teams respectively. Others who attended the meeting were M.O.H. Farook, Indian ambassador, Rajeev Shahare, deputy chief of the mission, and Faisal Al-Trad, Saudi ambassador in New Delhi.

The new scheme would facilitate frequent business visits from both sides and enhance bilateral economic and commercial exchanges, a spokesman from the Indian team said.

Other developments included an understanding for cooperation between the two countries in customs, oil, gas, minerals, science and technology. New areas of cooperation were also introduced for the first time in engineering, agriculture and higher education.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 02 Nov 2009 23:40

Six Questions for Desmond Travers on the Goldstone Report

By Ken Silverstein

Desmond Travers was one of the four members of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, which produced the controversial Goldstone Report. Travers is a retired Colonel of the Army of the Irish Defence Forces. His last appointment was as Commandant of its Military College. He also served in command of troops with various UN and EU peace support missions. I recently spoke to Travers by phone about the report. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

We found no evidence that Hamas used civilians as hostages. I had expected to find such evidence but did not. We also found no evidence that mosques were used to store munitions. Those charges reflect Western perceptions in some quarters that Islam is a violent religion. Gaza is densely populated and has a labyrinth of makeshift shanties and a system of tunnels and bunkers. If I were a Hamas operative the last place I’d store munitions would be in a mosque. It’s not secure, is very visible, and would probably be pre-targeted by Israeli surveillance. There are a many better places to store munitions. We investigated two destroyed mosques—one where worshippers were killed—and we found no evidence that either was used as anything but a place of worship.

Huge Saudi-Russian S-400 missile deal stalled over Israeli objections

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

November 2, 2009, 7:27 PM (GMT+02:00)
Russian S-400 missile interceptor

A multibillion transaction for the sale of highly sophisticated Russian S-400 Triumf (NATO codenamed SA-21 Growler) missile interceptors to Saudi Arabia is hanging fire over Israel's objections to their deployment within easy range of the Negev and Eilat port, DEBKAfile's military sources report.

The $7 billion deal was brokered by Washington with a view to tempting Moscow to withhold S-300 air and missile defense batteries from Iran and denying the Islamic republic this key item for defending its nuclear sites. This quiet spat between Washington and Jerusalem, DEBKAfile's Washington sources report, prompted last week's demand for prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and defense minister Ehud Barak to "line up with Washington on the nuclear issue."

As a major incentive for reneging on its missile contract with Iran, the Obama administration offered Moscow the prime incentive of opening the Saudi market to Russian arms, followed by outlets in the Persian Gulf. For granting the Russians their first foothold in half a century in this strategic region, Washington hoped for Moscow's expanded cooperation in the campaign to bring Iran to heel on its nuclear program.

Netanyahu knew about this US plan and did not demur, despite the S-400 interceptor's highly advanced features: the ability to simultaneously strike six targets within 400 km, including fighter-bombers, stealth warplanes, cruise and ballistic missiles, and detect them up as far away as 3,500 km.

But when the details came to the knowledge of Israel's chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi and Air Force commander Brig. Ido Nechustan, they protested that the Growler's deployment in northern Saudi Arabia would subject all of Israeli Air Force flights in the center and south of the country to Saudi radar exposure and place every plane taking off or landing at its Negev Air Force bases within range of its missiles.

Jerusalem accordingly asked the Americans for some sort of guarantee that Saudi Arabia, which never signed peace with Israel, would not position the new missiles in central and northern bases (Tabuk is only 240 kilometers away from Israel's Red Sea port) - only in the east opposite Iran and Iraq.

Riyadh has not made any answer to this request.

That being so, our military sources report, defense minister Barak lined up behind the generals in opposing the Russian missile deal with Saudi Arabia and differing with Netanyahu's position, which maintains that the first priority is to thwart Russia's sale of S-300 missiles to Iran; the Saudi-Russian arms deal can be left for later.

When President Ronald Reagan agreed to sell the Saudi air force its first US-made F-15 fighter jets in 1981, he obtained a pledge from Riyadh not to deploy them in northern air bases just across the Gulf of Aqaba from Israel. But the Saudis never honored this commitment and their warplanes are deployed in Tabuk to this very day.

Mukherjee terms visit to Kingdom ‘fruitful’

M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan I Arab News

DAWN OF NEW ERA: Minister of Commerce and Industry Abdullah Zainal Alireza and India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee sign the minutes of the joint commission meeting in Riyadh Saturday. (AN photo)

RIYADH: Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee discussed with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah the geopolitical situation in South Asia, particularly Afghanistan, in their meeting on Saturday.

“I mentioned the need of lasting peace in Afghanistan,” where Saudi Arabia and India have interests, said Mukherjee. He added that his talks with Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Commerce and Industry Abdullah Zainal Alireza, and his counterpart Ibrahim Al-Assaf, were very fruitful.

The minister was speaking after signing the minutes of the Indo-Saudi Joint Commission meeting here on Saturday. Among regional and international issues discussed with Saudi officials, Mukherjee expressed concerns about the volatile situation in Afghanistan.

“Unless economic development takes place, it will be extremely difficult to sustain the campaign against the Taleban ... They have to be totally isolated so that peace and tranquility can be restored on a permanent basis in that country and the region,” he said, while apparently referring to the deteriorating situation in Pakistan.

Mukherjee, who wrapped up his two-day visit to the Saudi capital on Sunday, said that many countries, particularly India, have been affected by the US-led war against Afghanistan. There was initial hope that the war would stamp out the terrorism plaguing India but this was soon belied, and the Afghan situation remains highly unpredictable, he added.

Mukherjee also discussed with Saudi officials ways to finalize the ambitious plan to set up a $750 million Saudi-Indian Joint Investment Fund. The fund will extend support in the form of seed money to boost investment relations between Riyadh and New Delhi.

In his meetings with King Abdullah and other high-ranking Saudi officials, Mukherjee sought more Saudi participation in boosting commercial relations and more participation in the infrastructure sector besides changing the current buyer-seller relationship in the petroleum sector to a more participatory one.

“Indian and Saudi businessmen would like to participate in the petrochemical industry,” he said.

He added that “it was also decided earlier to have a joint fertilizer project that would be gas-based.” The minister said that Riyadh and New Delhi were looking for the allocation of gas for this project.

Regarding the global financial crisis, he said that he shared information with Saudi officials in this regard, particularly with regard to the forthcoming G20 finance ministers meeting to be held in Scotland on Nov. 7.

He also pointed out that the G20 finance ministers meeting would “work out an action plan, particularly with reference to the financing of climate change.”

Asked about the new dates of the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Saudi Arabia, the Indian minister said that the new sets of dates, in February and March next year, would be formally proposed and communicated through diplomatic channels to the Saudi side.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 04 Nov 2009 01:56

India strengthens military in Persian Gulf

By Saurav Jha
Column: The Estranged Analyst
Published: November 03, 2009
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Kolkata, India — Indian strategic planners often talk about the country’s area of privileged interests extending from the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Malacca. The Persian Gulf in particular is of crucial importance. India sources most of its oil from the potentially unstable region, and so has been raising its military profile there.

After successful anti-pirate patrols in the Horn of Africa by the Indian Navy, it was the turn of the Indian Air Force to mark its military reach in the region. In September 2008, India conducted its first joint air force exercise with the United Arab Emirates at the Al Dhafra base in Abu Dhabi.

This year it conducted a similar joint exercise with Oman from Oct. 22-29, codenamed Eastern Bridge, at the Royal Air Force of Oman base at Thumrait. The IAF fielded six single-seat Darin-I Jaguars alongside Omani Jaguars and F-16s. It also flew two IL-78 MKI air-to-air refueler aircraft for fuelling the Jaguars en route to Oman.

The exercise, though ostensibly conceived to increase interoperability between the RAFO and the IAF, also served to underline the strategic reach of the Indian Air Force.

India and Oman are the last remaining operators of the Jaguar strike aircraft, so it was felt in both quarters that cooperation between the two air forces would allow high serviceability rates. RAFO fighter pilots in any case have been training at the IAF’s Jaguar simulator training center in Gorakhpur in India’s Uttar Pradesh state for some time now.

Cooperation is the buzzword for India’s engagement in the Gulf region, and it has painstakingly convinced the Gulf countries that its intentions in their region extend only to its legitimate economic interests and preventing acts of terrorism against its soil. This diplomacy seems to have worked, as countries like Oman now view India as a force for enhancing stability in the region.

Oman, after all, also hosts over 550,000 Indian nationals in its territory and has received major investment in the vicinity of the Thumrait airbase from Indian majors such as Larsen and Toubro, India's largest engineering and construction conglomerate, and Punj Llyod, which provides integrated design, engineering, procurement, construction and project management services in the energy and infrastructure sectors.

The Indo-Omani strategic undertaking is guided by a defense agreement signed by the two countries in 2006, which incidentally was the first of its kind signed by India with a Middle Eastern country. The agreement serves as a model for Indian defense engagement in the Persian Gulf region. As part of the agreement, Oman offered berthing facilities to Indian Navy warships patrolling the piracy-hit waters off the coast of Somalia.

Oman has also been seeking help from the Indian armed forces to set up credible supply systems for its military equipment. However, it must be said that much more progress needs to be made on this front.

Oman features on the IAF’s list of top-priority countries for defense cooperation. RAFO airbases such as Thumrait serve as refueling and maintenance points for transiting IAF aircraft. Apart from making its presence felt in the region, the IAF is also familiarizing itself with the terrain.(Balochistan/Afghanistan?)

As the IAF vice chief, Air Marshal P.K. Barbora, told reporters a week prior to the Indo-Omani exercise, “The bilateral exercise would also be cost-effective in terms of benefit realization of operational and tactical preparedness over an unknown mixed terrain of land and desert."

Indeed, the exercise may also serve as a pathfinder to the IAF joining the Indian Navy in the anti-pirate fight. Specifically, "The IAF may be called upon to conduct aerial surveillance of the swathe of the Gulf of Aden region, where pirates are widening their area of operations fast," said Barbora.

However, the IAF is at pains to make it clear that it is not about to embark on an offensive against pirates but will essentially assist the navy to overcome speed and manpower constraints in their operations against the pirates, if called upon to do so.

It seems the IAF is keen to tell the navy that the anti-piracy fight will continue to be the navy’s show, while it will only play a supplementary role. The IAF and the Indian Navy have had tiffs in the past over the exercise of air power in the naval domain.

Almost a decade ago the navy was enraged when air headquarters proposed the induction of more land-based long-range Sukhoi flanker aircraft, backed by air-to-air refueling, as an alternative to building aircraft carriers for the purpose of providing air cover at sea.

However, at this juncture the navy will in all probability welcome the IAFs involvement, since both are undergoing development. India’s third carrier force is now 50 years old and has just undergone its fourth mid-service refit.

In any case it is absolutely important that the IAF and the navy remain committed to the mantra of “jointness” – a euphemism in the Indian military for joint operations by various wings of the Indian armed forces – if India is to become a significant player in the foreign arena in its declared zone of privileged interests.

--

(Saurav Jha works as an independent consultant in the energy sector in India. He is consulting editor of India Power magazine and author of a forthcoming book on nuclear power. He can be contacted at [email protected]. ©Copyright Saurav Jha.)

My ears in the sultanate tell me that this exercise was certainly about building bridges and "blowing up pirates"

There were also some gora's involved in this exercise, possibly F-16 drivers.. All in all, from someone who participated, the IAF and RAFO boys had soooo much fun and will be coming to India next year.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 04 Nov 2009 07:52

Iraq Swears by Bomb Detector U.S. Sees as Useless

The small hand-held wand, with a telescopic antenna on a swivel, is being used at hundreds of checkpoints in Iraq....Iraqi government has purchased more than 1,500 of the devices, known as the ADE 651, at costs from $16,500 to $60,000 each.

ATSC’s promotional material claims that its device can find guns, ammunition, drugs, truffles, human bodies and even contraband ivory at distances up to a kilometer, underground, through walls, underwater or even from airplanes three miles high. The device works on “electrostatic magnetic ion attraction,” ATSC says.

Proponents of the wand often argue that errors stem from the human operator, who they say must be rested, with a steady pulse and body temperature, before using the device. Then the operator must walk in place a few moments to “charge” the device, since it has no battery or other power source, and walk with the wand at right angles to the body. If there are explosives or drugs to the operator’s left, the wand is supposed to swivel to the operator’s left and point at them.

During an interview on Tuesday, General Jabiri challenged a Times reporter to test the ADE 651, placing a grenade and a machine pistol in plain view in his office. Despite two attempts, the wand did not detect the weapons when used by the reporter but did so each time it was used by a policeman.

“You need more training,” the general said.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 04 Nov 2009 09:01

Seeking deportation, Indian workers protest in Saudi

Over the last two days, nearly a thousand Indian workers have marched on the Indian consulate in Jeddah demanding they be sent back home.

Mostly from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, these workers have been living under the Sharafiyah flyover in Jeddah for the last three months, waiting for deportation. Some of them had been overstaying after their visas expired while some others had valid passports, without sponsors' clearance.

...
...

Sudip · Post by **Sudip** » 05 Nov 2009 15:31

Israel tension begins again http://www.world-check.com/articles/200 ... justment-/

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 07 Nov 2009 15:17

ANALYSIS-Saudis bomb rebels, but wary of Yemen entanglement

Proxy war of KSA and Iran is intensifying (call it Sunni versus Shia).

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 08 Nov 2009 02:17

Came across Khalid Al Khalifa's twitter page.

He says Shashi Tharoor converted him to twitter. Asks about places to stay in Kerala. He writes... Indira Gandhi is a great source of inspiration. A lot of posts related to India. Worth a look

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U.S. State Department: Israel is not a tolerant society

Despite boasting religious freedom and protection of all holy sites, Israel falls short in tolerance toward minorities, equal treatment of ethnic groups, openness toward various streams within society, and respect for holy and other sites.

The comprehensive report, written by the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, says Israel discriminates against groups including Muslims, Jehova's Witnesses, Reform Jews, Christians, women and Bedouin.
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The report says that the 1967 law on the protection of holy places refers to all religious groups in the country, including in Jerusalem, but "the government implements regulations only for Jewish sites. Non-Jewish holy sites do not enjoy legal protection under it because the government does not recognize them as official holy sites."

Among other examples, the report notes that more than 300,000 immigrants who are not considered Jewish under rabbinical law are not allowed to marry and divorce in Israel or be buried in Jewish cemeteries.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 10 Nov 2009 01:46

Al Qaeda may be fighting with Yemeni rebels against Saudi Arabia

DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis

November 8, 2009, 10:35 PM (GMT+02:00)

Saudi Prince Khaled bin Sultan inspects troops on Yemen border

Saudi Arabian and Iran-backed Yemeni rebel spokesmen agree on two aspects of their clashes on the Saudi-Yemen border: Sunday, Nov. 8, was the fifth day of their battle and both sides had taken dead and wounded. Otherwise, DEBKAfile's military sources report, the state of combat is hard to pin down in one of the most desolate, sparsely populated and vast desert regions in the world.

Sunday, Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, assistant Saudi minister for defense and aviation, stated on a tour of the high Jebel al-Dukhan that the three villages captured by the Yemeni Houthi rebels in a cross-border incursion last week had been retaken and calm restored. (Prince Khaled led the Saudi force which along with US units recaptured Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's army in 1991.)

The prince stressed the kingdom "has not, and will not interfere inside Yemeni borders." The Yemeni rebels, called Houthis after the clan of their leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, said they had killed many Saudi troops and taken some hostage. To refute Khalid, they circulated a video clip showing Saudi commandoes inside Yemen.

DEBKAfile reports from independent military sources that on this point at least the Houthis are correct. Last Thursday, Nov. 5, a substantial Saudi force struck 5-10 kilometers into northern Yemen. Their immediate concern was to cut off the rebels' supply lines to the captured villages of Jabal Dukhan and their routes for bringing in reinforcements. But they also had a broader mission -not just to defeat the Houthi invaders or drive them south, but to destroy them. A trap was accordingly set up to catch the invading rebels from the north and south on both sides of the border. To set this trap, a Saudi force was needed inside northern Yemen.. But the topography of this region is such that both sides can claim the upper hand while their armies move around without coming into contact.

For the moment, the conflict appears to be spreading rather then winding down to a solution.

Abdullah Salah's regime in Sanaa has been increasingly shaken by the Iran-backed Houthi insurrection in northern Yemen centered on Saada and the threat of an al Qaeda resurgence in the south. The instability of its southern Arabian neighbor directly affects the royal throne in Riyadh.

It now looks as though some Al Qaeda fighters have crossed the border into Jizan to fight the Saudi army alongside the Houthis. Riyadh is deeply concerned lest the pro-Iranian Yemeni revolt spill over and infect the Shiite tribes of the south. Al Qaeda could well ride into the kingdom on the Houthis' backs.

To flush out any Houthis hiding among the Shiite villagers of the Jizan border district, the Saudi authorities have begun evacuating the civilian population and registering them by name. But even after this round is over, the oil kingdom will still find it impossible to seal of itself off from Houthi encroachments from Yemen because of the wild, rugged nature of the region.

In the last two weeks, Saudi airplanes have been pounding rebel positions in northern Yemen and its warships helping the Yemeni navy apprehend ships from Iran bring the Houthis fresh arms supplies by the same method as Tehran arms supplies reach Hizballah and Hamas.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 10 Nov 2009 16:32

2 rebels captured by KSA armed forces. They look like kids to me.

Kuwait has offered its military to KSA to fight against the rebels today.

Japanese builders owed billions for Dubai work - official

Japanese construction companies are facing "serious debt problems" amid issues with being paid for work done in Dubai, a top ranking official has said.

The Hawthi rebels captured a Saudi vehicle (seen above). The Houthisign captures the slogans of the movement; it says (from above): "God is Greater. Death to America. Death of Israel. Damn the Jews. Victory to Islam." They have expelled Jews in areas under their control in recent years. (Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper)

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 11 Nov 2009 18:57

Bored at uni....IOL issue just came out a few mins ago...Anyway here goes:

UAE has set up a soverign nuclear fund called Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp is going to also be allowed to invest in foreign companies.
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Former CP of RAK in UAE who is pretty much exiled in the US is making noise and has denounced RAK's links with Iran.

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Mossad maintains a few discreet links with Iran, to exchange messages.

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Egyptian intelligence played a key part of Israeli Navy interception of a boat with arms going towards Hezbollah. (My comment: Whats new? The boat had stopped over at an egyptian port. They supposedly found Katyusha Rockets. Why do I smell a Israeli/Egyptian propaganda attempt here. Everyone knows how to make Katyusha's. Hamas makes them at factories)
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Secret Oil Project in Caspian Sea Area
Following a rapprochement between Riyadh and Moscow, Intelligence Online revealed that oil companies owned by members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family were thinking of investing in Central Asia
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A former Iranian General has been named as the head of a new group called Democracy in Iran.

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Abdul Kalam in Muscat

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Erdogan promises Iran Turkish intelligence aid against Israel

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

November 10, 2009, 5:04 PM (GMT+02:00)
Turkish PM and Iranian president: Close friends

In the secret part of their talks in Tehran on Oct. 28, DEBKAfile's military sources reveal that Turkish prime minister Tayyep Recep Erdogan and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struck military cooperation deals which promised Iran Turkish military intelligence and air force assistance against a possible Israeli attack on its nuclear sites.

Their understandings have bound Turkish to pass intelligence data to Tehran on potential Israeli preparations for a strike and on US military movements in the Middle East for providing backup. Our sources report that the details finalized in meetings between the Turkish and Iranian military specialists in Istanbul Monday, Nov. 9, were due to be sealed by presidents Abdullah Gul and Ahmadinejad Tuesday. The Iranian president is to be in Turkey as guest of the Islamic Conference.

The Turkish prime minister has not only buried his country's longstanding military and intelligence ties with Israel but climbed aboard the adversarial axis confronting the Jewish state. Turkey has agreed to round out the forward surveillance outposts encircling Israel's borders: Hamas from the southwest in Gaza, Syria in the east, Lebanon in the north and now Turkey from the northwest. Tehran is banking on this encirclement for early warning of an approaching Israeli strike and any supportive American movements.

According to Western intelligence sources in Ankara, heads of the Turkish army objected to their government's strategic turn to Iran and the cutoff of its ties with Israel. However its pro-Islamic leaders, which have gradually eased the army out of policymaking, have forced them to accept operational ties with the military of an anti-Western Middle Eastern nation as being in the nation's best interests.

Erdogan's most compelling argument is that President Barack Obama's secret proposal for Iran to deposit 400 kilos of its enriched Iran in Turkey for safekeeping in charge of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, had elevated Turkey to an enhanced role as a broker between the US and Iran, sanctioned by Agency director Mohamed ElBaradei. If Turkey, a member of NATO, was able to gain the Iranian regime's trust, the Turkish prime minister maintained, it was only thanks to the military understandings he reached in Tehran.

DEBKAfile's military sources report that word of the Turkish-Iranian military collaboration deal landed with shocking effect in Washington and Jerusalem. They had not forewarned by their intelligence services that Erdogan was willing to go as far as this to ally Turkey with the Islamic regime.

Mossad ain't worried apparently

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 11 Nov 2009 22:02

shyamd, I think a major re-alignment of inter Islamic factions is taking palce under the radar. In a few years the picture will change radically and we wil all be gasping.

Frmo Nightwatch 11/10/09

Iran- Arab states: Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that regional interference in Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan could affect the entire region, Press TV reported 10 November. He warned against providing support for "extremists and terrorists" and that oppression and military attacks against civilians "will have negative consequences."

Mottaki said Yemen's troubles center on separatism, al Qaeda support to rebels and tension between the Yemeni Shia, who make up almost half of the population, and the government. Mottaki called for Yemen to rebuild trust with the population, particularly the Shia, adding that he respects the nation's territorial integrity. Yemen has agreed to meet with Iranian officials on a date not yet decided, Mottaki said.

The al Huthi tribe, in rebellion, is Shia. With today’s declaration Iran has staked its interest in the Yemeni ethnic insurgency, on the side of the al Huthi tribe. That pits Iran as the protector of Shiites against the governments of Yemen and Saudi Arabia in an ethnic squabble.

The phenomenology of insurrection begins to resemble the Spanish Civil War, a proxy for the real war to come a few years later.

Iraq: Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki denied that he will create an election bloc with the Shia of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council and Muqtada al-Sadr's followers, The Associated Press reported 10 November. Al-Maliki invited all parties to join his party for the January vote.

Al Maliki’s consolidation of Shiite political interests is cautious but relentless. Baghdad is under a pro-Iranian Shiite government.

Iraq-Saudi Arabia: Prime Minister al-Maliki criticized Saudi Arabia for its negative stance toward Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, AFP reported. Al-Maliki said that there were no positive signs from Saudi Arabia, but added that Iraq wants to maintain good relations with the Saudi government.

Al Maliki’s statement would leave only Iran as a regional ally and would provide further justification for closer ties to the Ayatollahs in Tehran, as if the Shiite Arabs needed more incentives.

Lebanon: This weekend, after five months of political deadlock, the Lebanese political parties agreed on a cabinet to govern the country. Sa'ad-al-Din al-Hariri is the prime minister, replacing Fouad Sinyorah.

Most political commentators conclude that the big winner is Lebanese Hezbollah, the anti-Israel, Iranian proxy that controls southern Lebanon. It gained a large presence in the cabinet. Pro-Syrian political interests, separate from Hezbollah, also made gains in the new cabinet.

Saudi Arabia-Yemen: Update. The Kingdom has no plans to stop air strikes on Yemeni al-Huthi rebels until they have retreated back deeper into Yemen away from the Saudi border, Saudi Assistant Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Sultan said 10 November, Al Arabiya news agency reported.

The Saudi government also has contracted the European Aeronautic Defense and Space company to build a security fence between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, Asharq Al-Awsat reported. In addition, Saudi warships have been ordered to search any ship coming from the northern Yemeni Red Sea coast in an effort to combat the Shiite rebels along the border, The Associated Press reported.

Yemeni rebels said they had taken control of more territory on the border with Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported. A rebel statement announced that full control was taken over Qatabar Directorate and control of all supplies and ammunition as well as buildings and other military sites.

While it is difficult to determine winners and loser, what is clear is that Saudi Arabia is involved in fighting an insurgency. Yemen and insurgency are old friends, but the Saudis have sided with the Sunni government of Yemen against Shiite tribal rebels. They do not seem to be doing well, which raises the question who should bail them out, or try to bail them out?

Al Qaida: Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Rashid, leader of al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, said Iran and Shiite militants are a greater threat to Islam and its people than are Jews and Christians, Agence France-Presse reported, quoting an audio recording carried by U.S. monitoring group SITE. Al-Rashid said the Yemeni Shiite al-Huthi militants were against Sunnis. He also said Shiite militants "are being driven by a greed to take over Muslim countries, and they are full of a wish to annihilate Sunnis."

This statement is a call to internecine warfare within Islam. Might be time for Christians and all others to step back and watch for a change.

Egypt: Too good to omit. Armed Bedouins ambushed an Egyptian patrol that had seized 200 tons of contraband cement destined for the Gaza Strip, The Associated Press reported on 5 November.

The security force received a tip about a smugglers' warehouse in the mountainous area south of the border town of Rafah in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Local tribes connected to the contraband heard about the raid and ambushed the force. The standoff lasted more than four hours and left one officer and five troops wounded, according to security officials.

The significance of this is that Sunni Bedouin tribes depend on smuggling into the Gaza Strip for their livelihood. A large portion of the smuggled goods comes up the Nile Valley from Sudan with the active and knowing assistance of the Bedouins.

To recap, Shiite Iran sends aid to Sunni Sudan to help Sunni Hamas. Sunni Bedouin tribes, in it for the money, smuggle the goods to Hamas in Gaza but are fought by Sunni Egyptian security forces, whose efforts aid the security of the Jews of Israel. Hmm… confusing.

What we are seeing is a resumption of centuries old Sunni-Shia conflict which colonialism put at rest for a few hundred years.

We need to envision our worldview of the events as they unfold.

Johann · Post by **Johann** » 11 Nov 2009 23:27

You know back in the 1960s the Saudis supported the Zaydi tribes under their Imam in an insurgency against the Nasserist military government that took Sanaa in a coup.

Nasser then sent in the 50,000 Egyptian troops to chase the tribes around. It was largely fruitless, and even Egyptian use of gas made little difference.

Ultimately Nasser was forced to withdraw his forces, and the Saudis withdrew backing from the rebels, and a political compromise was reached.

Today Saudi Arabia is close to making the same mistake of Nasser's Egypt by getting itself bogged down.

The Zaydis are not going to take over, but they cant be suppressed either.

It should be noted that the Zaydis are *not* Twelver Shia like the Iranians or Lebanese or Iraqis, etc or the Ismailis. It diverged at a far earlier point, and is far less differentiated from Sunni Islam.

There's nothing inevitable about them working with the Iranians - they will just as happily work with the Saudis, both being considered at best equally distant from the Zaydis.

The Saudi escalation may have a lot to do with the jockeying between the interior and defence ministries, that is between Naif and Sultan's people over who is the tougher more decisive leader, and winning points in the competition to be named Crown Prince to King Abdallah

However, for all their posturing the Saudis don't like to do much fighting themselves. They'll eventually get smarter.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 11 Nov 2009 23:52

Johann wrote:
It should be noted that the Zaydis are *not* Twelver Shia like the Iranians or Lebanese or Iraqis, etc or the Ismailis. It diverged at a far earlier point, and is far less differentiated from Sunni Islam.

There's nothing inevitable about them working with the Iranians - they will just as happily work with the Saudis, both being considered at best equally distant from the Zaydis.

Got to it before me! The Houthi aren't your ordinary shia you find in Iran/Iraq.

Supposedly the hardcore rebels are actually "Anti Shia". Some of the soldiers supposedly think that Hezbollah is a sunni organisation and don't believe that Nasrallah is Shia either!! This was posted by a humanitarian person inside the war zone.

Ramana, with respect to nightwatch. I think the article leaves a lot of stones unturned in the analysis.

KSA-Iraq: Well, I had said earlier that both Kuwait and KSA are extremely pissed at the US for whats gone on in Iraq. They are angry that a shi'ite govt is in power, then there is some oil politics going on. Iraq has a lot of oil and is NON-OPEC. If Iraq gets to full production it could be producing as much as KSA, and because IRaq is non opec, KSA has no influence over Iraq.

Iraq doesn't like the Iranians too much, but as nightwatch quite rightly points out, if KSA doesn't engage with Iraq, then Iraq will be left with only one ally.

Lebanon: Hezbollah has proved that it can defeat and fight the Israeli's. The people in Lebanon like Hezbollah due to their honesty etc etc.

Egypt: The bedouins are used by both Iran and Israel. They are just in it for the money. Iran is willing to work with anyone, regardless of religion, if they can take on western interests.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 13 Nov 2009 00:32

Lebanese intelligence agency discovered 2 sensors buried 2 km from Israeli-Lebanese border. The sensors transmitted data to Israeli UAVs that regularly fly over southern Lebanon. They had just been found when a a remote-controlled explosion destroyed one of the devices. The other didn’t explode and is currently been examined by Renseignement Militaire, which has been working for over a year to track down networks operated by Israeli intelligence agencies in southern Lebanon.
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PKK is taxing all drugs passing from Afghanistan through its territory into Turkey.
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The central asian countries are going to vote against sanctions on Iran. As a lot of them trade heavily with Tehran. Baku has become a base for Iranian finances. Sarkozy's advisors adviced Sarko not to bring up sanctions on a recent visit to the region.
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Nouri Al Maliki cleared out 12000 Defence department and Interior ministry officials suspected of having links with the Baathists. He now virtually controls Iraqi Intelligence services.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 13 Nov 2009 00:52

More from Nightwatch, 11/11/09
LINK

Johann · Post by **Johann** » 13 Nov 2009 01:26

Shyam,

- The propaganda war between Israel and Hezb'allah continues. On the previous page you can see Israeli sources insisting that they're destroying Hezballah communications infrastructure, while Hezb'allah claims they're destroying Israeli surveillance infrastructure!

Both sides agree that the IDF continues to be able to operate covertly on Hezballah's front porch, while Hezballah rockets stay silent. Overall propaganda victory for now goes to Israel which claimed the 2006 war succeeded in deterring Hezballah.

- The PKK like most insurgent groups has been in the drug trade for decades. The bulk of opiates travel Afghanistan->Iran->Turkey->Balkans.

The Kurds have always controlled most smuggling in the mountains between Iran and Turkey, and when drugs came in to the picture in the 1970s, and the PKK came to dominate the Kurds of Turkey, the results were inevitable.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 13 Nov 2009 01:28

X-post....

Johann wrote:.....

Gagan wrote:In spite of all the gaali galoch between unkil and Iran, there has always been some track II diplomacy going on. Ombaba said so when he stated that he was willing to talk to anyone.
There was track II diplomacy between the US and Iran since 2006, and Bob Gates was the driving force behind it.

The result was that both Iran and the US began to cooperate in Iraq, since both agreed that civil war and collapse was not in either country's interests. Both wanted the Maliki government to survive.

The notable thing is that this took place Ahmadinejad's government and the Bush Administration which elevated mutual hostility to levels that hadnt been seen since the 1980s.

More than anything else, it is US-Iranian cooperation in Iraq despite hawkish administrations in Tehran *and* Washington DC that has convinced Sunni Arab states that they are going to be sidelined by America sooner or later.

Johann is the demographics going to favor the Shia in ME? I see a lot of non-12er (Zaidis) Shias seen here and there in Gulf countries.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 13 Nov 2009 04:01

Johann, I don't think this incident had anything to do with Hezbollah, it was Lebanese intelligence that discovered these devices and have been instrumental in shutting down a number of Israeli intel cells. But who knows...Hezb and Leb intel do co-operate. I would have thought Hezbollah have won, as its been a major propaganda victory for them. Israel admit that they were pretty much defeated in the last war.
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Extraordinary US-Israel-Egyptian-Jordanian intelligence summit held in early November

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

November 12, 2009, 11:34 PM (GMT+02:00)
Mossad chief Meir Dagan

The crisis over Iran's nuclear program and possible outbreak of a regional war occasioned an extraordinary secret conclave of the intelligence chiefs of four nations in Amman in the first week of November, DEBKAfile's military and intelligence sources disclose. Hosted by the chief of Jordan's General Intelligence Service, Gen. Muhammad Raqed, it was attended by senior officials of the American CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency, Israel's Mossad chief, Meir Dagan and military intelligence head Brig. Amos Yadlin and Egypt's intelligence minister, Gen. Omar Suleiman. As soon as the meeting ended, Suleiman set out for Riyadh to brief the head of Saudi general intelligence Prince Moqrin bin Abdul Aziz.

Our sources add that the unpublicized get-together took place just a few days before Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US president Barack Obama conversed at the White House Monday, Nov. 9. They therefore had its conclusions before them when they talked. Two days later, Netanyahu passed input from the intelligence summit to French president Nicolas Sarkozy when he stopped over in Paris.

It was the first time Israel had taken part in a secret meeting of Middle East intelligence chiefs whose purpose was to coordinate their steps.

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Latest DNW issue:
Israel's Military Strike Draws Nearer
Obama Thinks Ahead to Repercussions
Barack Obama opposes Israeli military action but accepts that there is no recourse after chances drop to nil for a negotiated accommodation with Tehran. He and Binyamin Netanyahu turned to discussing military coordination.

Joint US-Israeli Juniper Cobra 10 Exercise
Israel's Largest Urban Center Shown Unprotected against Iranian Missiles
The departing US forces left some gear behind expecting to be back soon. The massive array of US and Israeli intercept weaponry used in the exercise were shown to be unequal to shielding Israel's largest population centers, only military and strategic

How Vulnerable Is US to Internal Islamic Terror?
Neither US Military nor Intelligence Admit to Home-Grown Threat
Major Malik Nidal Hasan does not share the rare talents of the triple agent Ali Muhammed who for two decades served al Qaeda while employed by the CIA, FBI and US army. But both their overt Islamist extremist and terrorist proclivities were long ignored

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A diplomat in Pakistan, a purchasing agent in Georgia

Amiri and Asgari are not the only missing high-profile Iranians.

One of their diplomats in Islamabad has vanished, apparently kidnapped by a radical Sunni group.

His name has never been disclosed, but his alias in Pakistan was Mahmoud Ziaee and his job, DEBKA-Net-Weekly reveals, was the supervision of clandestine liaison between Tehran and Pakistani nuclear scientists.

The third Iranian official to vanish is Mohammad Ardebili. He has not been seen since he was sent to Georgia to buy enriched uranium and processing equipment. Iran still does not know whether the man defected willingly or was abducted by CIA agents.

Tehran lost a second Iranian scientist two months ago. Under the alias of Heidar Samari, he was employed at the nuclear facility in Isfahan at which raw uranium is converted into a gas before its transfer to Natanz for enrichment by centrifuges.

Tehran is deeply concerned that US or Israeli intelligence has identified some of Iran's senior nuclear scientists and is targeting them for possible abduction or as defectors. In recent months, severe restrictions have been placed on their movements even inside the country. They only travel abroad under close supervision. The scientists and their families have been moved to special living quarters which are kept under constant surveillance.

Tehran was deeply shocked by reports that Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu provided Moscow with a detailed list of Russian scientists assisting the Iranian nuclear program. Heads of the regime were not reassured by the denial issued Tuesday, Oct. 6, in a statement by a very senior Russian, National Security Council Chairman, Nikolai Patrushev, former chief of the FSB, the Russian secret service.

Tehran is leaning hard on Moscow for a copy of the list, but continues to encounter blank denials of its existence.

40-meter concrete ceilings

As additional precautions, the equipment including the centrifuges has been placed in large chambers hollowed out in the mountainside or sunk 80 meters underground. Their ceilings are lined with concrete layers 40 meters thick (!) for protection against American bunker busters. DEBKA-Net-Weekly's military experts report that the latest US GBI-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrators can penetrate 60 meters underground before exploding.

For further concealment, the Iranian workmen are throwing up new walls to seal sensitive machinery from sight. Physicists are making sure no radioactive traces leak out. The Iranians have long experience in hiding components of their nuclear program from IAEA inspectors and are familiar with their detection devices.

When the Fardou site came to light, Tehran claimed that no more than 3,000 centrifuges would be installed there because it was just a research center and the bulk of its uranium enrichment operations remained in Natanz. But our intelligence sources report that the Fardou plant was planned to secretly accommodate up to 60,000 centrifuges, including a new generation of the machines. The technology purchased on the black market enabled Iran to manufacture centrifuges which are faster than the P-1 P-2 models purchased under the counter from Pakistan's Abdul Qadir Khan and installed at Natanz

.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 13 Nov 2009 04:37

US & Russia in Harness - II
Obama Opens Middle East Door Wide to Russian Arms, Bases

De-containment is the name of President Barack Obama's strategy for bringing Russia aboard as a necessary partner in his moves for isolating Iran. He is opening the door to Russian trade and military presence in at least one hitherto barred world region, banishing Washington's last Cold War inhibitions.

Already, the US president has given Moscow a prime incentive for withholding S-300 anti-missile missiles from Iran. Sept. 3, the French news agency quoted Paris sources as revealing that the Saudis were bidding for advanced Russian missile systems, proposing to purchase the S-400 air defense, anti-missile weapon which is a cut above the S-300 sought by Iran.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly's Gulf sources confirm that a multibillion Russian-Saudi weapons transaction is close to fruition.

Riyadh would not have opened negotiations to buy arms from Moscow - much less the cutting-edge S-400 - without Washington's nod, which would have depended in turn on a French and Israeli go-ahead. This missile is capable of detecting and simultaneously engaging six targets from a distance of 400-3,500 kilometers at a speed of 4.5 kilometers per second.

To bring the sale forward, France was asked to give up some of its weapons trade with Saudi Arabia, including an air-defense shield for the oil kingdom's long coastlines, and Israel was asked to refrain from lobbying against the deal in Washington and Europe, despite its defense chiefs' misgivings over the installation of the last word in Soviet anti-missile hardware not only on Saudi Arabia's eastern shore facing Iran, but also on its western Red Sea coast.

This would bring those missile batteries uncomfortably close (20 kilometers) to Israel's southernmost port of Eilat and the Negev with its air force bases and US military installations within easy range.

Obama promises the Russians a Gulf shopping spree for arms

Both Paris and Jerusalem were persuaded to drop their objections on the grounds that, if nothing else, the Russian-Saudi deal would keep Russian S-300 missile systems out of Iranian and Syrian hands.

In any case, the S-400 missiles will not reach Saudi Arabia any time soon. Deliveries will take years and meanwhile, Riyadh will still have need of French-made munitions.

As for Israel, prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's mind was set at rest by the personal pledge to withhold the S-300 missiles from Iran which he received from his opposite number Vladimir Putin during their talks in Moscow on Sept. 7.

Obama has added another twist to the circular arms deal. He has rewarded France by arranging for Russia to purchase a French helicopter-carrier.

That was how Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin came to inform the Echo of Moscow radio on Sept. 19: "We are carrying out negotiations for the purchase of the Mistral naval ship."

The deal should be in the bag this month, according to sources in Paris. The vessel which can carry 16 heavy helicopters, 470 airborne troops and other gear should net the French treasury 700 million euros ($995 million) and sweep away any objections Paris might have to the Obama administration's ongoing door-opening moves for Moscow at the expense of the French arms industry.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly's strategic analysts stress that opening Saudi Arabia up for Russian arms exporters to compete for arms contracts worth $7-10 billion is just the beginning; the Obama administration plans to open up the entire Gulf market to Moscow. Kuwait and Qatar are already Russia's customers. But if the S-400 deal goes through with Riyadh, the rest of the Persian Gulf will follow suit and go shopping for prime Russian missiles and other weapons.

Exacerbating the Russian-Iranian bone of contention over the Caspian

These transactions would bring thousands of Russian military advisers and instructors flooding into the Gulf region in their wake and pave the way for the establishment of Russian naval bases there too. President Obama appears to be willing to grant Russia its historically-coveted warm water ports, the biggest prize he could offer the Kremlin, beyond even giving up US missile shield bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.

This would be meant as a short cut to trust and the speedy melting of obstacles in the way of a close and active strategic understanding over common goals.

The Obama administration's decision to play the odds with Moscow rests on certain assumptions:

1. The Russian arms industry will lose its appetite for markets and influence in Iran after netting much bigger customers in the Gulf, with Washington opening the door to Saudi Arabia. The US president hopes thereby to buy Moscow's active role in spinning a web of isolation around Iran. This tactic has superseded sanctions, a term which has given way in Obamaspeak to "isolation" and "pressure track."

2. The US administration is developing the Caspian region as its second joint anti-Iran front with Moscow. This too is a radical break with the past. The US and Russia traditionally compete, often bitterly, for footholds in Caspian Sea littoral states, through the leasing of military bases and efforts to control the gas and pipelines crisscrossing the region. Washington now proposes to cool the contest and develop cooperative ties with Moscow on a state-by-state basis, particularly over Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

Russia and Iran are natural rivals in this region, competitors for control of the Caspian Sea and its rich resources. A large Russian naval fleet cruises in the Caspian Sea; Moscow controls 90 percent of all maritime shipping in this strategic inland water and dominates its fishing grounds. Moscow wants to keep it this way and Washington will be glad to lend it a helping hand and further exacerbate Russian-Iranian differences in the Caspian.

Russian special ops raids could ease US burdens in Afghanistan

3. The administration is looking forward to Moscow very soon expanding its support for the US-led international war effort in Afghanistan. Russian ports and airfields are already available for transporting supplies to US forces in Afghanistan and a start has been made on the transmission of Russian intelligence to Washington. Now, the Americans want the Russians to apply direct military pressure on Taliban and al Qaeda forces by sending special operations units based in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on covert cross-border raids against their forces.

Those raids, say DEBKA-Net-Weekly military sources, staged in Northern, Central, and Eastern Afghanistan, would immensely relieve the burden weighing on US and Pakistani commanders and troops by forcing the enemy to fight on a third front.

In late 2001, when the Bush-Putin understanding over the war on Islamist terror was still going strong, Russian and Uzbek armored divisions took part secretly in the US invasion of Afghanistan. Nine years later, the Obama administration aims at reviving this military cooperation between the two powers and bringing it to the same level.

This would make sense were it not for the Obama administration's lack of clear direction on its objectives for Afghanistan. Hopes for NATO partners to contribute more troops proved hollow, partly for that very reason, and Moscow too may hold back on support until Obama comes up with a coherent, practicably strategy for conducting and winding down the conflict. Above all, he needs to stop the war's goals sliding back and forth between keeping America safe from terror and nation-building for the Afghan people.

NATO secretary is all in favor of co-opting Russia

The budding US-Russian alliance surfaced briefly in public last week when the new NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, speaking in Washington, remarked that practical cooperation with Russia on Afghanistan, Iran and the broader Middle East was both necessary and possible, a conclusion he shared following a recent visit to Russia. "That view is not rooted in any belief in the angelic intentions of Vladimir Putin, which certainly do not exist," said Rasmussen, "but in Russia's unavoidable self-interest in working its way out of economic peril and political irrelevance."

Echoing Margaret Thatcher's assessment of Mikhail Gorbachev, Rasmussen, who is a former prime minister of Denmark, estimated that "the outside world can influence the Russian leadership." He promised to pursue "a dual track" of firmness on NATO core missions and openness to cooperation on "new threats we all face," especially transnational terrorism.

The NATO secretary added a comment on the Netanyahu-Putin interview in Moscow of Sept. 7:

“Coupling that move with private but serious understandings between Russian and Israeli leaders on Iran could provide a foundation stone for a new global security architecture,” he said.

4. The early steps the Americans and Russians have made toward working together on Iran and in other global arenas have already rendered Beijing's cooperation in the Middle East extraneous although it is still necessary for dealing with North Korea. Washington can also manage without the help of most European Union countries, the exceptions being Germany and France.

This is the background to the consent of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a close friend and ally of Vladimir Putin, to bringing forward the delivery to Israel of two submarines following an American request.

The submarines, which put in to an Israeli port last week, raised to five the size of the Israeli Navy’s fleet of U212 Dolphin-class submarines, which are capable of carrying nuclear cruise missiles having a 1500 km range.

Johann · Post by **Johann** » 14 Nov 2009 01:03

Johann is the demographics going to favor the Shia in ME? I see a lot of non-12er (Zaidis) Shias seen here and there in Gulf countries.

12r Shia are the largest group in Iraq and Lebanon. They're running the show in Iraq, and their share of political power in Lebanon continues to grow.

The other place they've got a majority, but have yet to make a political breakthrough is Bahrain. Should that happen you would probably see Shia assertiveness in eastern Saudi Arabia.

There are no Shia in North Africa or Egypt to speak of.

The three most populous countries in the Middle East are Egypt, Turkey and Iran in that order, and its likely to stay that way.

Yemen's population is exploding, but the relative growth of Zaydis vs. the rest is not clear.

Syria is a relatively secular place because of a coalition of Alawi, Druze and Christians with secular Sunnis - however the Sunni population is 3/4 of the total. Just as in Iraq minorities (in Iraq it was the Sunni Arabs) rule over the majority through Ba'ath Party, despite numerous failed uprisings. Should the Baathists fall, the majority is likely to reassert itself. This is one of the underlying reasons the Alawi leadership of the Syrian Ba'ath has maintained a close relationship with Iran since the early 1980s, when the Sunni threat was at its height.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 15 Nov 2009 11:21

Time of radical changes

Amir Ahmad Alawi set out on the hajj pilgrimage from Lucknow exactly 80 years ago and maintained a personal account of all that he witnessed on the journey. As another hajj season comes around, his narrative takes on both a topical and timeless appeal…

Shows the wahhabi intolerance blooming.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 17 Nov 2009 00:09

Bahraini FM asks when will there be a bollywood event in Bahrain?
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Top US intelligence teams in Israel to discuss Iran

Two high-ranking teams of American CIA and DIA intelligence officials are conferring with their opposite numbers in Israel, in line with President Barack Obama's strategy for applying military heat to Iran as well as diplomatic pressure for an accommodation on its nuclear program, DEBKAfile's military and intelligence sources report. The US teams arrived shortly after they attended a four-nation intelligence summit in Amman earlier this month together with the heads of Israeli, Egyptian and Jordanian clandestine services (first revealed by DEBKA Friday, Nov. 13) For item, click HERE.

Our intelligence sources report that frequent Middle East visits by high-ranking American intelligence teams are rare occurrences. Worthy of note is they are immersed in a second round of talks with their Israeli colleagues in the first half of November, in between two other related events: the joint US-Israel Juniper Cobra 10 ballistic defense exercise which ended last Tuesday and the publication of the much-awaited UN nuclear watchdog's next report due out Monday, Nov. 16. This report should lay out the findings of the IAEA inspectors at Iran's uranium enrichment plant near Qom.

DEBKAfile's sources say that the US-Israel intelligence conferences ongoing at present are the final touches to the process the Obama administration has instituted of strategic give-and-take with Israel ahead of a possible outbreak of war with Iran. The alignment has been going forward on four levels:

1. Communications between the White House and the Israeli prime minister's office, which are handled at the Washington end by Dep. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, who enjoys ready access to the president.

2. An open line to defense secretary Robert Gates which defense minister Ehud Barak set up when he visited the Pentagon last week.

3. Direct interchanges between the two army chiefs, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi.

4. Frequent conferences between US and Israeli intelligence heads.

Political, military and intelligence integration between the US and Israel on this comprehensive scale has been practically unknown in recent years. It serves the dual purpose of a demonstration of close American-Israel military cooperation while at the same time safeguarding the Obama administration against Israeli surprise moves in relation to Iran.

Sunday, Nov. 15, President Obama and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said in Singapore that time was running out for diplomacy to resolve the crisis over Iran's nuclear program. Medvedev added that if discussions failed to yield results, "other means" could be used.

Tehran delivered its comeback the same day: Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared grandiloquently: "Iran is a great world power whose strength is unlimited and on whom no other state would dare impose sanctions," while parliament speaker Ali Larijani blasted America whom he accused of backing the Saudi bombardments killing Muslims (Shiites in Yemen). Obama is worse than George Bush, said Larijani: "His promise to change US policy toward Tehran amounts to nothing." He flatly rejected the latest Western proposal to resolve questions about Iran's nuclear program (overseas processing of enriched uranium) as "unimportant" and "irrational."

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Arab leaders worried as Iran criticises Saudi offensive in Yemen

Iran’s support for the Houthis so far appears to be mainly financial and non-governmental. According to Gulf States Newsletter, the “rebels get financial and logistical support through local Shia religious taxes and overseas contributions from the diaspora, particularly Kuwait and United Arab Emirates. This money is spent at arms souks in Yemen and, increasingly, in the Horn of Africa.”

The newsletter also offered an insight as to why the Saudis are reportedly mounting naval interdiction on the Yemeni coast. “Money and arms reach the Houthis via the harbour at Midi in north-western Yemen,” the newsletter reported.

“It was in this area,” it added, “that the Yemeni coast guard boarded and searched the Monady, a small Iranian registered trawler that was allegedly found to contain RPGs and 107mm rockets. The government said the vessel, which originated in Sharjah and crossed Oman and Eritrea, was proof of its long-standing claims of Iranian support for the Houthis.”

The newsletter also supported rebels’ claims of Saudi support for the Yemeni government’s latest push to suppress the rebellion, saying that Riyadh had been giving Yemen about US$1.2 million (Dh4m) a month since August, as well as intelligence support.

The newsletter added that the Saudis had “for the first time on 19 October, used artillery and helicopter gun ships to strike Houthi groups on the border”.

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UAE takes control of Gulf naval task force
This is the US, UK and GCC naval task force.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 18 Nov 2009 06:18

Maliki bars Qatari prince from hunting in Iraq

Iraqi border police turned a Qatari Emir home as he tried to enter the country for a hunting spree.
Sheikh Jaber al-Khalifa al-Thani reached Iraq’s border in the southern city of Basra with a motorcade of more than 20 vehicles but was not allowed to enter.
The Sheikh had obtained approval from the ministries of interior and foreign affairs but the permission was later overruled by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki without notifying the Qatari government in advance.
Qatar and other oil-rich Gulf princes take hunting as a hobby and have traditionally used Iraqi desert west of Baghdad as their main hunting ground.
It is not clear why Maliki had revoked the permission for the Qatari prince to hunt in Iraq.

United Arab Emirates UAVs Flying in Helmand Province

Posted by Robert Wall at 11/14/2009 5:49 AM CST

The United Arab Emirates’ air and air defense force has been quietly supporting NATO operations in Afghanistan.

The UAE military has deployed tactical unmanned aircraft to Afghanistan to work with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, says Royal Air Force Air Marshal Stephen Dalton. The UAV is currently operational in Helmand Province, working with the British military, Dalton revealed at the Dubai Air Chiefs Conference today.

The specific UAV type wasn’t disclosed, but Dalton says it was a ScanEagle-sized vehicle, although not the Boeing UAV specifically.

Dalton heralded the deployment as a sign of what contributions even non-NATO allies can make when they ensure their systems are interoperable with allies.

The deployment fits in with a broader relationship with U.K. and UAE have, with U.K. officers also in the UAE’s Air Warfare Center.

Dalton says he’s keen to keep the relationship healthy through exercises. And despite the heavy tasking on British forces, he’s hoping to extend an invitation to Gulf Cooperation Council forces for training opportunities in the U.K. in the next 12-18 months.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 18 Nov 2009 19:47

Police brace up to bring Bannanje Raja from Dubai

BANGALORE: After repeated attempts to bring Dubai-based underworld gangster Bannanje Raja to Karnataka, a police team from the state is on its way to Dubai with the corrected version of an Interpol red corner notice.

It is said that the state police teams went to Dubai twice and returned without managing to extradite Raja, due to an incorrect version of the red corner notice on the gangster.

The translated version of the red corner notice issued by the CID, the nodal agency of Interpol in the state, through the CBI’s Interpol wing, was prepared by the state police. It had not fulfilled the legal requirements of the Dubai prosecution.

“The police were expecting Bannanje Raja’s deportation last week,” an IPS officer said.

The CBI had sent back the copy of the red corner notice to Dakshina Kannada police through CID for correction. Now, after the correction, which is expected to fulfil the legal requirements of the Dubai court, inspector Venkatesh Krishna of district crime intelligence bureau (DCIB), Mangalore, has led a team to Delhi to meet CBI’s Interpol wing and then would proceed to Dubai, sources said.

According to police sources, Bannanje Raja was arrested twice in Dubai. The dreaded gangster who masterminded an extortion racket in Bangalore and coastal Karnataka, was arrested on October 11 in a fake passport case. He was released by the local court on bail in a few days.

They arrested him again after the Interpol issued a red alert.

It is said that the United Arab Emirates police can keep Raja in their custody only till November 18. So, pressure has mounted on the state police to detain him and bring him to India.

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Jewish woman arrested over shawl

Israeli police have arrested a Jewish woman for wearing a prayer shawl at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Police said wearing the shawl - known as a tallit - was a violation of a High Court ruling that a dress code must by abided by at the Jewish holy site.

Atri · Post by **Atri** » 21 Nov 2009 20:31

Ram Jethmalani's comments anger Saudi ambassador

Video - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/vide ... 255368.cms

AoA..

Jethu finally finds the guts to say the obvious about KSA... very unlikely man to do so, but he pissed off KSA ambassador with his comments on Wahabi islam..

NEW DELHI: Senior lawyer and former Union minister Ram Jethmalani's charge that Wahabi sect was responsible for terrorism provoked a walkout by Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to India Faisal-al-Trad from an international conference of jurists on global terror here.

Jethmalani alleged that "Wahabi terrorism" indoctrinated "rubbish" in the minds of young people to carry out terrorist attacks. The senior lawyer lamented that India had friendly relations with a country that supported Wahabi terrorism.

Following Jethmalani's speech, Saudi Arabia's ambassador Faisal-al-Trad was seen walking out of the conference, apparently taking offence at the remarks.

Organiser of the event Adesh Aggarwala said the Ambassador had walked out but returned after law minister M Veerappa Moily's statement that the views expressed by Jethmalani were not that of the government.

Moily, in his address, said that terrorism cannot be attributed to any particular religion.

It was unfortunate that the entire Islam as a religion was being blamed for terrorism, Jethmalani said, adding that "there are also Hindu terrorists and Buddhist terrorists."

Terming Non-Aligned Movement and Panchsheel as evil, the former Union Minister said India should align with forces of good to combat the forces of evil. "India and its foreign ministers must learn to reassess the doctrines of past."

He said India's foreign policy establishment should be courageous to shun country's relationships with its "enemies".

Referring to Jethmalani's comments, Justice Awn S Al-Khasawneh, a judge of the International Court of Justice, asked him not "to make sweeping statements."

ashkrishna · Post by **ashkrishna** » 21 Nov 2009 20:54

Saw the speech...he was very categorical...Just stopped short of saying 'nothing good ever came out of nejd'

His rant on the NAM put the babooze in a quandry...

Two people have made my week...

Mr. Barbora
Mr. Jethmalani.

keep em coming

sum · Post by **sum** » 21 Nov 2009 21:41

It was unfortunate that the entire Islam as a religion was being blamed for terrorism, Jethmalani said, adding that "there are also Hindu terrorists and Buddhist terrorists."

Wonder why the Jain terrorists were forgotten?

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 Nov 2009 08:21

For the first time, I have heard a prominent personality speak the truth. From The Hindu

“Unfortunately in the 17th century, they produced an evil man in Saudi Arabia by the name of Wahab, who was concerned about the decline of the Muslim world, but he hit upon a wrong remedy.”

I hope many more truths will be spoken in due course of time.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 22 Nov 2009 18:50

Denied Russian S-300 missiles, Iran cannot protect nuclear sites

Egypt's abrupt shutdown of operations against tunnels revives missile flow to Gaza

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

November 20, 2009, 1:12 PM (GMT+02:00)
A "strategic" smuggling tunnel for arms

Tuesday, Nov. 18, Egypt's special forces and engineering units suddenly shut down operation against the smuggling tunnels to Gaza without warning to Washington or Jerusalem, DEBKAfile's military sources report. US and Israeli requests for clarifications from Cairo, which must have ordered the stoppage, were not answered. So the Obama administration signaled Egypt that if it continues to violate the international accords governing the status of the Egyptian-Gazan border, there will be consequences.

Washington is put out particularly because Cairo did not bother to notify the American engineering corps officers and men working with Egyptian troops in Sinai since early 2009 in a concerted effort to eradicate the tunnels that their mission was cut short.

DEBKAfile's Washington sources report that the congressional subcommittees responsible for approving US economic and military aid appropriations to Egypt have been informed of the Egyptian violation.

Our military sources report that the stoppage is pretty comprehensive:

1. Egyptian forces have been pulled out of northern Sinai and Rafah, the town split down the middle between Egyptian Sinai and the Gaza Strip and under which most of the smuggling tunnels run. The trucks carrying heavy weapons for the Palestinians in Gaza can now unload directly into the tunnel openings without interference.

2. The network of sensors and security cameras installed with the help of American military engineers in northern Sinai and along the Philadelphi border corridor were all deactivated as of last Tuesday.

3. The Egyptians discontinued a major project for driving huge iron beams 16 meters deep into the tunnels as an obstruction to traffic. Some of the shafts caved in.

4. Those beams were effective for disabling the 200-250 tunnels used to smuggle mostly civilian merchandise into the Gaza Strip because they are no more than 10-15 meters deep.

However, the roughly 50-60 "strategic tunnels" for the transportation of military hardware including heavy guns and missiles run 50-60 meters underground and are outside the range of the iron beams. They are moreover strong structures with reinforced concrete walls and ceilings, electric wiring, ventilation and safety hatches. Since the Egyptian troops' unexplained pullback from their border positions, hardware has been passing through those conduits freely and straight into the hands of Palestinian terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 24 Nov 2009 02:24

It is time that two nation theory is put in practice soon. We cannot solve all the problems first before establishing a Palestinian nation. I think Obama has to make sure that there is a nation established. Then it is Palestinians' responsiblity that they remove terror from their country. This will protect in manyways Jewish people and make sure that terrorist will loose their arguments against Israel and against West. In order to protect Isralis, Israel has to agree to the setting up of this Palestinnian nation and then they will kill their own terror groups. If not UN peace keepers can come and kill them. Why Israel wants to fight with the terror in Palestine. But there needs courage to establish two nations and then go for protection of Israelis specially an assurance from Palestinians. Also make sure that these two nations exist in peace. Then other problems around Israel can be sorted out one by one. This will make sure that Obama is not merely talking but also doing something good.

Sadler · Post by **Sadler** » 24 Nov 2009 11:51

SSridhar wrote:For the first time, I have heard a prominent personality speak the truth. From The Hindu
“Unfortunately in the 17th century, they produced an evil man in Saudi Arabia by the name of Wahab, who was concerned about the decline of the Muslim world, but he hit upon a wrong remedy.”
I hope many more truths will be spoken in due course of time.

I think this "truth" is off by about a millennia.