U.S. signs Protocol of Exchange of Ratification on the Treaties of Bilateral Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance with Lithuania

Missoula, March 9 (Al-Masakin)—U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed Protocol of Exchange of Ratification on the Treaties of Bilateral Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance along with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Vygaudas Ušackas today in Washington, D.C. the State Deartment said in a press release this afternoon.

 

“These twin agreements between the United States and Lithuania will allow police and prosecutors in both countries to employ state-of-the-art tools to cooperate more effectively to bring criminals to justice on both sides of the Atlantic,” the statement to the press said.

 

The statement went on to say that these two agreements “form part of an important network of similar agreements that the United States has reached with all the countries of the European Union.”

 

The State Department hopes to conclude 27 such agreements with all members of the EU-27

 

“The agreements represent yet another facet of the vibrant relationship the United States enjoys with Lithuania, one of our most dependable allies,” the statement concluded.

 

EHC / EHC

U.S. State Department seeks knowledge about American citizen missing in Iran for two years

 Missoula, March 9 (Al-Masakin)—“Today marks the two year anniversary of the disappearance of American citizen Robert Levinson, a retires FBI agent who went missing in Iran during a business trip to Kish Island in 2007,” the U.S. State Department said in a press release March 8.

 

The United States State Department is seeking information as to the whereabouts of missing American citizen Robert Levinson the father of seven children and the grandfather of two.

 

“In December 2007, Mrs. Levinson traveled to Iran – accompanied by her son and sister – where she met with Iranian officials who expressed a willingness to share information about their investigation into her husband’s disappearance with the family. However, to date, no information has been forthcoming. We continue to call on Iran to stand by its commitment by providing full details about their authorities’ investigation both to his family and to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which looks after U.S. interests in the absence of normal diplomatic relations.

 

“We ask anyone who may have information about the case to contact us or the Levinson family via their website: www.helpboblevinson.com,” the statement to the press said.

 

EHC / EHC

Op/Ed: Osama bin Laden must be a top priority for the White House

By Edward Campbell

Missoula, March 8 (Al-Masakin)–Killing or capturing Osama bin Laden must be a top priority for the White House, yet we have heard little or nothing from either the White House or the State Department in this regard. 

Considering the critical nature of the threat posed by al Qaeda, which committed the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington,  it appears to Al-Masakin that moving forward against that terrorist entity as quickly as possible is in the national security interest of the United States. 

The State Department has said barely anything on this issue and the American people are beginning to wonder whether America’s leadership has lost its resolve to bring the most dangerous criminal on Earth to justice as soon as possible. 

According to my sources, Osama bin Laden is in a ‘safe-zone’ in Western Pakistan.  

I have also seen a report that there has been a study by two geographers Thomas Gillespie and John Agnew of the UCLA who reportedly have exploited the genius of the American mind to pinpoint his location and from what I understand there are a number of NSEP projects moving forward and a great amount of untapped enthusiasm in this country to move forward more aggressively on this issue.

Considering the urgency of this matter it seems rather odd that we have not heard from the White House reports of any progress.

I think its important to move forward on this issue as quickly as possible and to investigate every lead.

I think the press can be helpful in this regard as well.  America is still a land of patriots who are ready, willing and able to defend American lives from transnational threats like al Qaeda to the best of our abilities and are at your service.

Yours truly,

EHC / EHC

Iran to host International Lingustics Seminar, 730 experts from 15 countries March 13-15

 

News Code: 388683

GMT: 3/8/2009 4:28:09 PM

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Fifteen countries at int’l linguistics, anthropology seminar

Tehran, March 8, IRNA — Some 730 experts from Iran and 15 other countries will take part at the International Seminar on Linguistics, Anthropology and Iranology of South and Persian Gulf to be held in Larestan, Fars province, from March 13-15.

Announcing this, head of Lar City Council, Abu Taleb Roeina told IRNA that some 67 instructors from Austria, Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Sweden, Iraqi Kurdistan, the US, Canada, Germany and India are expected to attend the event.

He added that the event seeks to develop a principled knowledge about Lari language, promote Persian language and acquaint the present generation with indigenous culture.

UNESCO, Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, Iran’s Linguistics Association, Iran’s Anthropology Association and International Arya University are among the sponsors of the event.

8072**2322

End News / IRNA / News Code 388683

Tehran nominated for World Book Capitol City of the year for 2011

View Rate : 250 #            News Code : TTime- 190722        Print Date : Sunday, March 8, 2009 Tehran nominated for World Book Capital City 2011 Tehran Times Culture Desk TEHRAN — The Tehran Municipality has recently been nominated as the city for the World Book Capital City for 2011, which is annually selected by UNESCO. “A special committee has been set up to provide the necessary documents and programs for Iran’s nomination,” deputy director of the Art and Cultural organization of Tehran Municipality Mohammad Moshari announced on Saturday. The committee includes four groups of experts on books and other cultural fields, he added. A UNESCO selection committee comprised of one representative each from the International Publishers Association (IPA), the International Booksellers’ Federation (IBF), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and UNESCO, all under the chairmanship of the President of IPA, will choose the next World Book Capital. “The candidate programs shall be aimed at promoting books and fostering reading during the period between one World Book Day and Copyright Day and the next. Previous World Book Capital Cities have been Alexandria (2002), New Delhi (2003), and Antwerp (2004). Montreal was the World Book Capital City in 2005, succeeded by Turin (2006), Bogotá (2007), Amsterdam (2008), Beirut (2009) and Ljubljana (2010). Photo: An Iranian visits a pavilion at the 21st Tehran International Book Fair held in May 2008.

News number: 8712180986 15:17 | 2009-03-08 Nuclear

Iran to Open Bushehr N. Plant for Tourists TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has decided to open its first nuclear power plant in Bushehr for Tourist in an effort to highlight Tehran’s peaceful nuclear drive.

“Tourists, interested in visiting the country’s nuclear site, are allowed to visit the facilities during the Nowrouz holidays,” Secretary of Southern Region at Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Alireza Dejband said. Nowrouz marks the first day of spring in Iran and is the start of the Iranian New Year on March 21st. “The whole plan aims to further highlight the peaceful nature of Tehran’s atomic work,” Dejband noted, press tv reported. Iran’s nuclear power plant located in the southern port city of Bushehr was pre-commissioned in February in the presence of the Head of the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency, Sergei Kiriyenko. During the test-run, the facility was tested by virtual fuel. Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry. Meantime, International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Director General Mohammad ElBaradei, in his recent report for the agency’s Board of Governors, once again confirmed Iran’s non-diversion from peaceful to military nuclear activities.

Iran asks Interpol to Arrest 25 Israeli Criminals

News number: 8712181332 17:46 | 2009-03-08 Politics

Iran Asks Interpol to Arrest 25 Israeli Criminals TEHRAN (FNA)- Tehran’s Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi Sunday asked the Islamic Republic international police department to request the Interpol to issue arrest warrants for 25 Israeli officials who had committed war crimes during the regime’s 22-day onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza.

The international department of the Iranian police (NAJA) is due to take appropriate measures for pursuing the Israeli criminals in accordance with the request filed by the prosecutor general. The Iranian police also issued a Red Notice in a request extended to the Interpol and asked the international police force to issue arrest warrants for the 25 Israeli officials. Iran, on Thursday, announced that it would present the Interpol with a list of names of over 100 Israeli commanders and officials who had committed war crimes in the recent 22-day onslaught against Gaza. “A fresh list of the Zionist criminals who played a role in the genocide of the Palestinian people has been compiled which will be gradually presented to the Interpol for legal action after each case is completed,” Tehran’s Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi told reporters on the sidelines of the 4th international conference on support for Palestine. Mortazavi was appointed by Iran’s Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi to prepare the list in the midst of February after more than 5700 Iranian lawyers submitted an appeal to Shahroudi to indict Israeli Leaders for their war crimes and genocide in Gaza onslaught based on domestic and international laws. Israel’s recent military operation in Gaza killed some 1,400 Palestinians and wounded over 5,500 others. Over 50,000 people were also left homeless in the enclave of 1.5 million.

U.S. State Department silent on detained CIA assests, question taken?

Missoula, March 7 (Al-Masakin)–Fars News Agency (FNA) reported Jan. 27 that it detained four of a suspected ten member plot in an alleged ‘Velvet Revolution’ to topple the Iranian government and has sentenced the alleged ring leader to six years in prison.  Iran has released the names of two persons alleged to be involved in the plot, Dr. Arash Alaei and Dr. Kamyar Alaei.

“Four persons were put on trial, some others were pardoned, and some others were acquitted due to lack of sufficient evidence…These four persons confessed and videotapes of parts of their confessions will be released soon,” the Tehran Times reported Jan. 20.

“According to Jamshidi, the four were paid by the White House, the State Department and the CIA, to expand their network and topple the Iranian government…the 1981 Algiers Accords signed between the US and Iran in the aftermath of the US embassy takeover in Tehran obliges Washington to refrain from interfering in Iran’s ‘internal affairs’.

“The United States pledges that it is and from now on will be the policy of the United States not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran’s internal affairs,” reads Point 1 of the accords, which led to the release of the American hostages.

Despite the 1981 treaty, under the Bush administration the US opened an Office of Iranian Affairs (OIA) in the State Department and tasked the unit with drawing up plans to overthrow the Iranian government,” Iran’s Press TV reported Jan. 17.

According to the Tehran Times and other media sources the plot was organized in Dubai and the ring leaders were to induce individuals associated with labor unions, NGOs, and scientific and cultural organizations to travel to Dubai where they were granted visas to come to the United States and then later returned to Iran to organize civil unrest with the hope of toppling the Islamic regime there.

“[They] wereinvited to the United States in groups of 10-15 people, with visas issued for them in Dubai in the shortest possible time, and according to their professions, they participated in scientific seminars and toured various states, and when they returned home they were asked to write “analyses” of the situation inside Iran,” the Tehran Times reported.

Iranian press broadcast the confessions of three alleged plotters July 21, 2007.

Al-Masakin has noted the State Department’s vocal support for jailed Indy reporter Roxana Saberi and has asserted support for seven jailed members of the Iranian Baha’i community: Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mr. Vahid Tizfahm and Mrs. Mahvash Sabet; and for three Christians: Jamal Ghalishorani, Nadereh Jamali and Hamik Khachikian, inter alios.

But the State Department remains silent on this current round of arrests, neither denying that they are associated with the CIA nor acknowledging that these people have indeed been detained.

EHC / EHC

RELATED: Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami says US seeks ‘velvet revolution’ in Iran; “In Name of Democracy” reveales US plots; IRANIAN TV BROADCASTS CONFESSIONS BY IRANIAN-BORN US AGENTS

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President Obama to attend EU summit in Prague April 5, U.S. seeks Russian cooperation on Czech-Poland missile defense system to pressure Iran

Missoula, March 6 (Al-Masakin)—American President Barak Obama will attend the European Union (EU-27) summit in Prague April 5 according to a press release received by Al-Masakin today.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg in Brussels today.  At a press conference after the meeting Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg said that American participation in the summit will be an important milestone in U.S.-EU relations.  He said that he and the Secretary discussed the main topics of the summit such as Afghanistan, energy security, climate change, regional issues from the Mediterranean to the Caspian Sea, and the Balkans, the global financial crisis, Russia, the crisis in Georgia, the need to diversify the gas and oil resources, and the Middle East.

 

He said that the reform of the Afghan National Police (ANP) will be a top priority for the EU at the summit and that “Europe will maximize its efforts in stabilizing Afghanistan.”  He went on to say that he and the Secretary were in agreement on the question of Iran, that the Iranian nuclear program is to them “unacceptable,” with respect to Palestine they agreed on the “two-state solution,” the Egyptian initiative, and the role of the Quartet.

 

“On Iran, we both agreed that only firm, united, and coordinated approach of the international community may lead to a tangible result. Continuation of the Iranian nuclear program and uranium enrichment is unacceptable.

 

“On the Middle East we have reiterated the importance of a two-state solution. The EU will continue to support the Egyptian efforts in the peace process. The role of the Quartet remains instrumental for reaching the solution. We are pleased that the new United States Administration reconfirmed its role in the Quartet,” the Czech Foreign Minister said today.

 

He went on to say that the EU looked forward to active engagement with the United States on climate change and hopes to secure an international agreement.

 

For her part, the Secretary aid she and the President hope to “energize the transatlantic relationship and to promote a strong European Union.”  She said that both her and the President believe in a strong NATO.  She said that the Administration supports EULEX Kosovo.

 

“We cannot afford to waste energy or resources. We all must be focused on the same agenda. We have embraced the EU’s new missions, like EULEX in Kosovo, where the United States is participating for the first time in an operation led by the European Security and Defense Policy. We are also committed to listening, consulting, and working in concert to deliver smart solutions to our shared challenges,” the Secretary said.

 

The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) is the largest civilian mission ever launched under the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). The central aim is to assist and support the Kosovo authorities in the rule of law area, specifically in the police, judiciary and customs areas.

 

The Secretary went on to say that America supports “EU initiatives to build a single energy market and to diversify gas supplies. EU leadership and unity were pivotal in resolving Russia’s recent gas cutoff to Ukraine and Europe, and that leadership may be needed again in the future.”

 

She went on to say that in order to resolve the global financial crisis America and the EU need coordinated strategy in advance of the G-20 summit in London April 2. 

 

Taking questions from the press, the Secretary said that the Administration had already begun START talks with the Russian Federation.  The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russian will expire at the end of this year.  She went on to say that missile defense is an element of American and European joint defense posture and was intended to pressure Iran and said that Russia and the United States have an opportunity to cooperate on missile defense.

 

“It obviously has to be proven to work and be cost-effective for it to be deployed in the Czech Republic and in Poland, but it is intended to be part of a deterrent and a defensive response vis-à-vis Iran and other actors that might obtain and determine to use missiles against Europe.

 

“We believe that Russia and the United States have the opportunity to cooperate on missile defense, to do joint research and joint development, and even eventually –assuming we can reach such an agreement – joint deployment,” Secretary Clinton said.

 

She went on to say that Iran was a threat to Europe and if were not for Poland and the Czech Republic stepping forward on America’s missile defense  project, it would not be possible for the United States to engage with Russia on this issue.

 

“There are new threats that need to be addressed in new ways in order for us to guarantee the safety and security of Europe against these actors, whether it be Iran or a terrorist network, whatever it might be. So that is the argument and the case that I’m taking to Russia.

 

“But were it not for Poland and the Czech Republic being willing to step up and be part of this new defense posture, we would not be able to engage with Russia on this,” Mrs. Clinton said.

 

She said that both her and the President were working “aggressively” on the issue of the detainees imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay and that they are already in the process of reviewing “every single file.”

 

The Secretary of State will accompany President Obama to the E-27 summit.

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 member states, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993. The EU-27 is composed of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

 

EHC / EHC

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IFJ launches ‘Ethical Journalism Initiative Campaign’

March 04, 2009

IFJ Launches Website to Promote Ethical Journalism Initiative Campaign

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has today launched a new website to promote its Ethical Journalism Initiative (EJI) Campaign about making core values of journalism an integral part in today’s media worldwide. The website( ethicaljournalisminitiative.org) will host information about the campaign which is framed around key tenets of journalism such as truth telling, independence and fairness as well as humanity and solidarity.

“The EJI website is an important source of information for journalism practitioners and researchers,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “It provides access to key documents for the profession and showcases best practices by journalists and their unions across the globe.”

The EJI website will have information about important events to promote the campaign with facilities to download material from the site. At the time of the launch, the site contains a book, To Tell you the Truth, which is an introduction to the background and some of the key themes to consider in building an ethical environment for journalism.

There is also information about current project activities and programmes, some key texts and links to a network of campaigns and groups striving to make journalism work for democracy.

“The role of media in helping to build democracy has never been more important,” added White. “Journalism provides the analysis, context and commentary that keep citizens informed and allows them to play their part in the life of society.”

 

For all information concerning the EJI campaign, please contact Ms Pamela Morinière on pamela.moriniere@ifj.org

For more information contact the IFJ at +32 2 235 2207

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 123 countries worldwide

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MAP: Morocco severs ties with Iran, gives diplomats one week to depart

Morocco severs diplomatic relations with Iran

Rabat- Morocco has decided to sever its diplomatic ties with Iran, starting Friday March 6, 2009, a statement of the Foreign Affairs announced.

 

   The document cites the “inadmissible attitude” of the Iranian authorities against Morocco, and the activities of its representation in Rabat to alter the religious fundamentals of Morocco as causes of this decision.

   Morocco has recalled on February 25 its interim chargé d’affaires in Tehran for consultations for a week, says the document.

   Morocco has also demanded explanations from Iran after it issued a communiqué that included “unacceptable” language following Morocco’s solidarity, like many other countries, with the territorial integrity of Bahrain, the document adds.

   According to the foreign ministry, Iran’s diplomatic representation members were trying to alter the fundamentals of the identity of the Moroccan people, and to undermine the uniqueness of cult and of the Sunnite Malekite rite adopted in the north African kingdom.

   Such activities constitute an unbearable interference in the domestic affairs of Morocco, and run contrary to the diplomatic rules and ethics, it stresses.

   For these reasons, and as the one-week deadline expired without the Iranian authorities providing any explanation, the Moroccan authorities have decided to cut diplomatic relations with Iran, the release concludes.

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CIA to cooperate with Senate Intelligence Committee probe into interrogation program

Missoula, March 6 (Al-Masakin)–CIA Director Leon Panetta told employees of the agency today that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will conduct a thorough review of CIA’s interrogation program.

“I have discussed this with the Chairman of the committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and the Vice Chairman, Senator Kit Bond. They assure me that this review is a way for the committee to assess lessons learned from the program while our government devises a new interrogation policy,” Mr Panetta said in a statement released on the agency’s website March 6.

Mr. Panetta has directed CIA employees to gather together the historical information demanded by the Senate committee, but said that he would not cooperate with the Department of Justice.

“As I have said publicly, what I will not support is an inquiry designed to punish those who acted in accord with guidance from the Department of Justice. Senators Feinstein and Bond have made it clear to me that this is not the goal of this review,” he said.

He  also reiterated President Obama’s Executive Orders to the CIA obligating the agency to end the practice of torture and concluded that under those guidelines he is confident the CIA will be able to fulfill its mission.

“Under this Administration, the guidelines for detention and interrogation have been made clear by the President’s Executive Order: we will adhere to the Army Field Manual for interrogation, close the detention facilities, and abide by the law as it stands,” CIA Director Leon E. Panetta said today.

EHC / EHC

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Mauritania gives Israeli embassy staff 48 hours to leave the country

Mauritania sets 48 hour deadline for Israeli embassy staff to leave country

Date: 06 / 03 / 2009  Time:  17:19

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Mauritania gave its Israeli ambassador 48 hours to leave the country, Israeli sources confirmed Friday. The ambassador has been asked to leave following a freeze in relations between the two countries in the wake of the Israeli war on Gaza which killed 1,455 and injured more than 5,000. As staff at the embassy packed their belongings Mauritanian police were seen removing the security barriers from around the building, opening the road for regular traffic. In a statement on the issue the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said “the procedure was taken upon Mauritania request after the decision in January to freeze relations with Israel over the assault on Gaza.”

 

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Photos: Fourth International Conference for the Support of Palestine in Tehran

 

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Photos: Friday prayer in the Holy Land

Fri Mar 6, 8:53 AM ET

Palestinians pray during Friday prayers in the Ras Khamis neighborhood in Jerusalem, Friday, March 6, 2009. More than fifty homes in the Ras Khamis neighborhood have recently received possible demolition orders issued by the Israeli government. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday promised vigorous and personal involvement in stalled Mideast peace efforts and criticized Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem as ‘unhelpful.’ (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

Fri Mar 6, 8:51 AM ET

Palestinians pray during Friday prayers in the Silwan neighborhood in Jerusalem, Friday, March 6, 2009. Eighty-eight homes in the Silwan neighborhood are slated for demolition by the Israeli government who says that they were built illegally. Local Arab residents say that they cannot obtain proper permits. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday promised vigorous and personal involvement in stalled Mideast peace efforts and criticized Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem as ‘unhelpful.’ (AP Photo/Dan Balilty)

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Fourth International Conference for the Support of Palestine concludes, calls for prosecution of “Israeli warlords”

Tehran’s int’l conference on Palestine issues joint statement on final day Service: Foreign Policy 1387/12/16 03-06-2009 11:26:12 News Code :8712-08339

ISNA – Tehran Service: Foreign Policy TEHRAN, Mar. 06 (ISNA)-The International conference on Palestine held in Tehran ended Thursday after 80 participant countries issued a statement.     The statement emphasized Israel is a serious threat against international peace and security and defined Palestine problem as the common issue between the world of Islam and the human community. It then called for free nations and governments of the world to cut all economic, military and political ties with Israel’s occupying regime and condemned all out support of some powers for its loathsome measures. The statement finally called for an all out global consensus and measure in order to make Israel accept and implement international regulations. The conference also termed Israel’s measures in Gaza as war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity and called for prosecution of the Israeli warlords at an international court. The participants also studied the ways to strengthen the resistance of Palestine, rebuild of Gaza, political, economic, cultural and sport boycott on Israel by Islamic and Arab countries. Iran’s judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi condemned Sharm el-Sheikh international conference on Gaza saying those countries that had agreed on destruction of Hamas and used their whole possibilities to wipe out Palestinians in the West Bank gathered in Egypt to aid reconstruction of Gaza. Oman Deputy Parliament speaker on his part emphasized Palestine issue must not be confined to Arab countries. “We all must prepare the ground for unity and cooperation among Muslims in one single front against the Zionist regime,” noted Sheikh Naser al-Mamouli. Iran’s former Prime Minister and a potential candidate for June presidential elections, Mir Hossein Mousavi, said at the conference “Israel has never been this much accused of violating international regulations” and that has led to a great movement in the world. End Item News Code: 8712-08339

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Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) releases annual report on Data Mining

Missoula, March 6 (Al-Masakin)–The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released an 8 page report on ‘Data Mining’ today.  The report issued in pursuant to the Data Mining Reporting Act covers data mining activities by the Federal Government between Jan. 31, 2008 and Jan. 31, 2009.  The report covers data mining activties carried out only by the ODNI, other constituents of the Intelligence Community (IC) report their own data mining acrivities to Congress through their own departments or agencies.

 

Data mining is a program involving pattern-based queries, searches or other analyses of 1 or more electronic data bases in order to discover or locate a predictive pattern or anomaly indicative of terrorist or criminal activity.

 

Aside from ‘pattern-based’ tools, the ODNI also used ‘link based’ tools.  Link based tools target specific individuals and their associates.  Link based tools start with known or suspected terrorists or other subjects of foreign intelligence interest, their potential associates, or other persons with whom that subject is or has been in contact.

 

The Data Mining Reporting Act does not require the ODNI to report link based searches, because those queries are not ‘pattern-based.’  Those searches rather use “personal identifiers of a specific individual, or inputs associated with a specific individual, or inputs associated with a specific individual or group of individuals,” the report said.  The ODNI does not engage in pattern-based searches or queries.

 

The ODNI does however engage in one research program within the Office of Incisive Analysis that is exploring techniques for identifying patterns that may be associated with terrorist activity called the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA).  According to the report the IARPA’s mission is to “invest in high-risk/high payoff research programs that have the potential to provide the U.S. with an overwhelming intelligence advantage over its future adversaries.”  IARPA is still in its experimental stages, does not deploy its technologies in the field, and is not expected to be fully operational for a number of years.

 

The ODNI is however operating another program, through it does focus on data mining per se, that does meet the criteria for reporting under the Data Mining Reporting Act called Video Analysis and Content Extraction (VACE).  The VACE program is a program designed to automate the process of reviewing video content.  “VACE involves subject-based queries of video data bases.” 

 

The video data used by the VACE program consists of data collected from public places outside the United States and from information from public media sources. 

 

The report of the ODNI its data mining related activities is unclassified and may be obtained from the ODNI’s website.

 

EHC / EHC

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NSEP panel discussion debates ‘Middle East disengagement or limited reengagement’ at the University of Montana

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/03/05/18575136.php

Defense Critical Language and Culture Program discusses the future of America’s role in Afghanistan

u_of_m_nsep_program_5march09.pdf
download PDF (53.9 KB)

By Edward Campbell

Four distinguish scholars on Middle East affairs, Rochelle A. Davis, Clement M. Henry, Marvin G. Weinbaum, and Hekmat Karzai discussed America’s future in the region this morning at a University of Montana sponsored NSEP program Defense Critical Language and Culture Program of the University of Montana’s Mansfield Center. The panel discussion was moderated by retired Brigadier General Russell Howard.

Rochelle Davis

The first speaker, Rochelle Davis, Assistant Professor of Arab Culture and Society at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, read from a paper she has written ‘Through the Occupiers Eyes’ which examined how American GIs in Iraq perceived Iraqi loyalties, and how those loyalties differed from American expectations. Her report is based on interviews of both American soldiers and Iraqi civilians.

Ms. Davis’ presentation presented a picture of an Iraqi civilian population whose loyalties are far from the politics which are being trotted out by certain elements of the extreme left who typically frame the Iraqi politics under a rubric of extreme nationalism and Arabism under slogans such as “the Iraqi nation,” or “the Arab nation,” the Iraqi population indeed lacks a national focus. Instead loyalties among the Iraqi

population are primarily to family, tribe, and religion.

According to Ms. Davis, American GIs inculcated with national patriotism under the rubric of Truth, Faith, and Allegiance; which extend vertically through the Chain of Command and horizontally to their fellow soldiers.

The Iraqi people on the other hand were more concerned with who they believed would be able to solve their immediate problems, to who would be able to provide safe guards and services; Order, Security and Fear.

What Americans typically understand as ‘national identity’ is effectively non-extant. She learned that Iraqis found discussions of central nationalism irrelevant whereas Americans tend to believe that national identity is paramount.

Ms. Davis believes that America, if it is to succeed in Iraq, must replace family, tribal, and religious loyalties with state loyalties.

It would be difficult not to conclude from this theory that if the vacuum created at the national center, by the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which caused a reversion to the more fundamental loyalties, were to be over come it would very likely need to rely on the principles of Order, Security, and Fear which gave Iraq a national center under Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime, because Iraqi national identity before the war was founded on that. Ms. Davis believed that cultural training could aid in occupation and state building.

Clement M. Henry

Clement M. Henry, Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at Austin spoke second. Mr. Henry was the strongest proponent for disengagement. Mr. Henry began his part of the panel discussion with a quotation from Mark Twain’s ‘Our Flag is not Polluted:’

“I am not finding fault with this use of our flag; for in order not to seem eccentric I have swung around, now, and joined the nation in the conviction that nothing can sully a flag. I was not properly reared, and the illusion that a flag was a thing which must be sacredly guarded against shameful uses and unclean contacts, lest it suffer pollution; and so when it was sent out to the Philippines to float over a wanton war and a robbing expedition I supposed it was polluted, and in an ignorant moment I said so. But I stand corrected. I conceded and acknowledge that it was only the government that sent it on such an errand that was polluted. Let us compromise on that. I am glad to have it that way. For our flag could not well stand pollution, never having been used to it, but it is different with the administration.”

He spent the remainder of his part of the discussion relating the history of failed imperialism and colonialism in the region focusing on the defeat of the British by the Atatürk and their failed occupation of Iraq in the 1930’s, the failure of Napoleon in Egypt, the failure of the French in Algeria, including their brutal pacification campaigns which ended in disaster for themselves, the failure of the Italians in Libya, and the failure of the French in Morocco.

He said the region is so sensitive to occupation that we could not be greeted as liberators and said: “Its been a very destructive enterprise…we have to get out as soon as possible.” And went on to say that America needed to figure out how to have a positive influence “without being tarred with the imperialist brush.”

On the question of Palestine he said that even if we fully withdraw from Iraq we’re going to be tarred with the brush “of being an accomplice to a little imperialist settler colonialist Israel.”

Hekmat Karzai

The third part of the presentation was delivered by Hekmat Karzai, an Afghan native, who called himself “a big fan of the United States, and the Founder and Director of the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies (CAPS) in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Mr. Karzai said that the security situation in Afghanistan is rapidly deteriorating indicating the rapid rise of suicide bombing terrorism in the country which went from zero in 2004 to 25 in 2005, 116 in 2006, 143 2007, 118 in 2008.

He said there is no comprehensive strategy to bring things together and that the NGOs remain in Kabul whereas 80% of the Afghan population in Afghanistan is rural. He underscored the fact that the allied forces do not consult the Afghan people before acting and stressed the need to engage the Afghan people in the decision making process. Mr. Karzai advanced a two pronged approach: Military and Political.

Military: Train the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National police; stop using air power and heavy handed tactics.

Political: Involve the Afghan people in a lead nation strategy where the lead nation is Afghanistan itself along with continuous internal engagement; develop a strategy for Pakistan including addressing the ‘safe haven’ there; engage the moderate Taliban 80 to 85% of whom only fight because it’s the only culture they know; create jobs and opportunities particularly in agriculture.

Marvin G. Weinbaum

The final speaker was Marvin G. Weinbaum, Scholar-in-Residence at the Middle East Institute in Washington D.C. Mr. Weinbaum stressed the deteriorating security situation, the need for change, and the need for a new strategy for Afghanistan. Mr. Weinbaum was a proponent of limited reengagement with an exit strategy.

He said that the United States overloaded the Afghan systems with systems that they don’t understand, but thinks if America were to leave it could become easy prey to other extremist forces. “Whatever was possible 5 and 6 years ago, I would argue, is not less important, but more difficult.”

After noting the rise of the suicide bombers in 2005 he said America needs to do is clarify its objectives understanding that the war in Afghanistan is not an anti-terror campaign, but a counter-insurgency campaign which can only be defeated when the native people themselves want it. He underscored four types of engagement which thinks are necessary: Military, Broad, Local, and Regional. He said that the United States needs to convince Afghan neighbors that they will be better off with a peaceful Afghanistan. He stressed the need for a strong central government.

“What we need is a fresh start…we need a game changer,” he said.

He said that American forces should work from the counter-insurgency textbook: Clear, Hold, and Build. He went on to say that on account of the terrain the war in Afghanistan is much more difficult than the war in Iraq. “We do need more forces,” he said.

Mr. Weinbaum went on to say that in addition to a new strategy and more forces America needs a new contract with its partners there who are planning to leave in two years.

He said America needs to develop assistance for the Afghan people, stressing Agriculture, and that America needs a dual strategy which includes community policing to deal with crime and a strong central government to combat the insurgency along with better communication between the center and the periphery.

He said America needs to engage Iran. He said that Iran hates the Taliban as much as we do and that Iran almost went to war with Afghanistan in 1998. He did note however that some of the weapons that the Taliban is using have come from Iran, but did not point any fingers on account of the fact that Iran has “many centers of power.”

He said that the idea that the Afghans are xenophobic is a myth, but that they are concerned that foreigners are there to exploit them and rule them.

“It’s not the graveyard of foreigners, it’s the graveyard of invaders,” he said.

He went on to say that America in order to succeed in Afghanistan needs more that 17,000 troops and even more than 30,000 troops, but underscored the need for America to engage Afghanistan’s people and leadership. He said that the moment America hints that it may be leaving, the Afghan people will immediately find their interest with those who they perceive will be around the longest, that it will become a launching pad for terrorism if America leaves which could precipitate a full blown insurgency in Pakistan.

He concluded that what America should seek in Afghanistan before it leaves should be “a minimally effective state able to defend itself…a normal low income state.”

EHC / EHC
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Secretary of State Clinton calls Hamas an Iranian proxy

Missoula, March 5 (Al-Masakin)–U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in remarks made to the press en route to Belgium called the Palestinian resistance proxies for Iran.

Delivering her ubiquitousmessages of hope the Secretary evidently unmoved by the fact that Abu Mazen’s term as President of Palestine expired Jan. 9, 2009, once again called the Palestinian Authority “only legitimate government for the Palestinians and the only partner for any negotiations.” 

Although Deputy Department Spokesman Gordon Duguid said at the daily press briefing that Iran toward negotiations with the United States Iran still had a “clinched fist,” the Secretary went on to say that Iran was consulting with the American ambassador on a daily basis.

“Iran borders Afghanistan. In the early days of the military efforts by the United States and our allies to go after the Taliban and al-Qaida, Iran was consulting with our ambassador on a daily basis. Where it is appropriate and useful for the United States and others to see whether Iran can be constructive, that will be considered,” Mrs. Clinton said.

Evidently deaf to the yesterday’s remarks by Rabbi Aren Kohn in Tehran yesterday to the effect that the Zionists have stolen the Jewish identity and last evenings remarks by John Duke Anthony that American should open a dialogue with Hamas immediately, the Secretary of State continued calling Hezbollah and Hamas Iranian proxies.

“It is clear that Iran intends to interfere with the internal affairs of all of these people and try to continue their efforts to fund terrorism, whether it’s Hezbollah or Hamas or other proxies.”

EHC / EHC

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Iran calls ICC arrest warrant for Omar Al Bashir unjust

News number: 8712151031 17:04 | 2009-03-05 Foriegn Policy

Iran: Arrest Warrant for Bashir Unjust TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman has condemned the arrest warrant for Sudanese President Hassan al-Bashir over alleged war crimes.

Hassan Qashqavi said that the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) was ‘unjust’ and ‘politically-motivated’. The ICC on Wednesday issued an international warrant for the arrest of President Bashir for ‘war crimes, and crimes against humanity’ in the violent Darfur region, press tv reported. Qashqavi said the warrant was a ‘blatant violation of the international law’, which undermined the ‘immunity of heads of state’. ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo holds Bashir responsible for the six-year conflict in Darfur, which the UN says has left 35,000 people killed. The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu also condemned the ICC warrant on Wednesday. He called on the Sudanese government to speed up investigations of war crime suspects and put them on trial. Bashir has rejected allegations, calling the warrant ‘worthless’. If charged, Bashir will be the first incumbent head of state to stand trial before the international court.

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