Iran Update

Michael Ledeen reports some interesting events from inside Iran:

• “I have learned that the Deputy Commander of the Guards in the Greater Tehran area, Brigadier General Azizollah Rajabzadeh, is in intensive care following an axe attack to his cranium by one of his crack troops. This follows the shooting of General Ahmad Reza Radan by one of his men, about which I reported earlier.”

• Ledeen says that the assassination of the pro-Mousavi nuclear scientist is a foreshadowing of a greater crackdown on the way. “…Khamenei’s personal spokesman and representative to the Guards, Ali Saeedi, who, we hear from Scott Lucas at Enduring America, has reportedly declared that the the deaths of 75,000 people will be worthwhile if the Islamic Republic is thereby preserved.”

• Planet Iran’s report on the assassination says that two known members of Lebanese Hezbollah were photographed at the scene of the crime.

Also, on January 12, a senior Khamenei representative said on T.V. that “We have manufactured missiles that allow us, when necessary, to replace (sic) Israel in its entirety with a big holocaust.”

World Threats

Iran's Mousavi Says He Is 'Ready for Martyrdom'

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's opposition leader on Friday pledged to remain defiant in the face of new threats — including calls by hard-liners for his execution — and said he was ready to sacrifice his life in defense of the people's right to hold peaceful protests against the government.

Mir Hossein Mousavi's remarks come after the worst unrest since the immediate aftermath of disputed June presidential election.

At least eight people died during anti-government protests Sunday, including Mousavi's nephew.

Iran's state prosecutor on Thursday warned opposition leaders could be put on trial if they don't denounce this week's anti-government protests.

Iranian hard-liners have called for the execution of Mousavi and other opposition figures, while a previously unknown group claimed in an online posting that suicide squads were ready to assassinate opposition leaders should the judiciary fail to punish them within a week.

In one of his strongest statements to date, Mousavi on Friday said he was "ready for martyrdom" — the sacrifice of one's life for a higher cause — and lashed out at the bloody crackdown the authorities are waging against the opposition.

He said the government was making more mistakes by resorting to violence and killings, and that it must accept the people's rights to hold peaceful demonstrations.

"I explicitly and clearly state that an order to execute, murder and imprison (opposition leaders) ... won't resolve the problem," Mousavi said in a statement on his Web site, Kaleme. "I'm not afraid to be one of the martyrs people have offered in the struggle for their just demands."

Iran's internal turmoil has grown increasingly bitter. The confrontation between clerical rulers and their opponents returned to the streets in recent weeks, after a harsh crackdown immediately following the June 12 balloting all but crushed the opposition movement.

One of those killed in clashes between security forces and opposition protesters on Sunday, when Shiite Muslims marked the sacred day of Ashoura, was Mousavi's nephew, Ali Mousavi.

He was buried Wednesday in a hastily organized ceremony that was attended by the opposition leader and other family members. Authorities had taken the body from the hospital earlier in the week in what was seen as an attempt to prevent the funeral from turning into another pro-opposition protest.

Sunday's unrest was followed by two days of pro-government protests Wednesday and Thursday in which crowds chanted calls for the execution of Mousavi, and another opposition figure, Mahdi Karroubi.

Both Mousavi and Karroubi were losing candidates in the June election, in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner. The opposition argues the election was rigged and that Ahmadinejad won by fraud.

Some government supporters at the two days of rallies wore white funeral shrouds to symbolize a willingness to die in defense of Iran's clerical rulers. Several hundred turned out for demonstration Thursday in southern Tehran outside the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, state radio reported.

In his statement Friday, Mousavi also denounced hard-liners who he said preached violence from state-funded podiums in the name of Islam.

"Encouraging the killing of people ... is a tragedy carried out by specific individuals and the state TV," he said, adding that efforts to silence the opposition "through arrests, violence and threats," would not succeed.

FoxNews

Key Anti-Taliban Figure Assassinated in Pakistan

KHAR, Pakistan — A key anti-Taliban tribal leader was assassinated Friday in a roadside bombing, the latest in a series of attacks against pro-government militias in the Afghan border area of northwestern Pakistan.

Elsewhere, authorities found the bullet-riddled body of another tribal elder who was seized from his home late Thursday in an attack that also left his son dead.

Violence has increased in Bajur and other northwestern tribal regions since the army launched an offensive in South Waziristan in mid-October. Fifteen Taliban fighters were killed in operations over the past 24 hours in South Waziristan, a military statement said Friday.

Pakistani troops took control of three important militant strongholds in the Bara area of Khyber tribal region, killing another 15 insurgents.

The famed Khyber region is the main route for ferrying supplies to U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. It has been the focus of several past operations but the militants often resurface with fresh attacks against supply convoys and Pakistani security forces.

The statement also said troops besieged Chapri Feroz Khel, a border area between Khyber and Orakzai tribal regions that was a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud. Mehsud openly operated in the area before he went underground after assuming command of the militants, and analysts believe he may still be hiding there.

Tribal elder Shahfur Khan was returning to his home in Badan village to receive guests after prayers marking the start of Eid al-Adha, or Muslim feast of sacrifice, when the roadside bomb exploded, killing him and wounding three other people, according to local officials Jamil Khan and Abdul Malik.

More at FoxNews

Growing questions on death of Benazir Bhutto

Bruce Loudon

UNITED Nations investigators are preparing to question former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, amid mounting doubts over official versions of how she died and claims of a cover-up.

The Weekend Australian Magazine reveals today evidence that a bullet - probably sniper fire from a high-velocity rifle - killed the former prime minister.

The Musharraf regime said a "bump on the head" resulting from a Taliban or al-Qa'ida suicide bomber killed Bhutto on December 27, 2007, shortly before an election she was expected to win.

This evidence contradicts the regime's claim that the murder was the work of the Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US unmanned drone attack.

There is no history of the militants using sniper fire - or even regular gunfire - in any of the hundreds of suicide attacks they have mounted in Pakistan.

Also revealed in The Weekend Australian Magazine is detail of the cover-up that followed Bhutto's murder. The crime scene in Liaquat Bagh, a park in Rawalpindi, was washed with high-pressure hoses within 45 minutes of the blast, destroying almost all forensic evidence.

Naheed Khan, Bhutto's political secretary for 23 years, who cradled her head as she died, told The Weekend Australian Magazine: "There were bullets coming from different directions. There are lots of high buildings overlooking the area. This was a typical intelligence (agency) operation."

Ms Khan's husband, senator Safdar Abbasi, who is also a doctor, was in the Toyota Landcruiser when Bhutto was attacked. "The way she died - her instant death - suggests very sharp sniper fire. A typical intelligence (agency) operation."

The Weekend Australian Magazine reveals that, despite the law in Pakistan mandating autopsies in all cases of murder, and doctors attending Bhutto telling police that one should be carried out, none was performed on her or others who died in Liaquat Bagh.

Within hours, her body had been flown to Sindh province for burial, without a full forensic examination.

There is no suggestion of any involvement by Mr Musharraf in her murder. But the UN investigators want to question the former general. Given the authority he wielded in Pakistan, including over the army and its agencies, Mr Musharraf, 66, is thought to be in a better position than most to cast light on events surrounding the assassination.

At his apartment off London's Edgeware Road, living under the protection of the British government, Mr Musharraf has appeared untroubled by demands to bring him back to Pakistan. He has played bridge with friends and eaten out during the holy month of Ramadan.

An internationally brokered secret deal allowed Mr Musharraf to step down and assured his future security.

After long delays in getting Security Council approval for its mission, the UN investigators started looking into Bhutto's death in July and are expected to report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this year.

The investigators are reported to be preparing to talk to people in London and Washington, including CNN presenter Wolf Blitzer. On October 20, 2007, Bhutto sent Blitzer an email, through a friend, reading: "If it is God's will, nothing will happen to me. But if anything happened to me, I would hold Pervez Musharraf responsible."

Investigations into Bhutto's killing are the subject of controversy in Pakistan.

Source: The Australian

Saudis reveal details of attempted assassination of minister

By Mohammed Jamjoom

Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry has identified the suicide bomber who attempted to assassinate the country's assistant interior minister last Thursday and released details of a phone conversation between the two men prior to the attack.

The disclosures reported by the country's official news agency were highly unusual.

The agency, SPA, reported the attacker, Abdullah Hassan Talea' Asiri, a wanted Saudi militant who had been hiding in Yemen, got in touch with Saudi authorities telling them he wanted to turn himself in to Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Naif, the assistant minister of Interior for Security Affairs.

After arriving back in Saudi Arabia, Asiri spoke by phone to Mohammed, who agreed to see him during a Ramadan reception at his home in the city of Jeddah.

According to a transcript provided by SPA, during the phone call the men exchanged greetings and discussed the importance of the holy month of Ramadan.

Mohammed is quoted as telling Asiri that "one should be careful; evil people would like to exploit all of you. Now only you to fear Allah Almighty and come home." Later in the conversation, Asiri asked if a special plane could be dispatched to take him to meet with Mohammed.

Asiri, escorted by security, was transported to Jeddah, where he met with the prince at his palace. During the meeting, Asiri explained to Mohammed that other Saudi militants in Yemen also wished to surrender but sought reassurances from the prince.

According to SPA, a call was then placed to one of the militants in Yemen. While the prince was on the phone, Asiri blew himself up, SPA reported.

Read more here,,,

Source: CNN

Saudi minister escapes bomber

Prince suffered minor injuries in the failed suicide attack

Saudi Arabia's assistant interior minister has survived an assassination attempt in Jeddah.

Prince Muhammed bin Nayef is also a top security official involved in the Kingdom's aggressive anti-terrorism campaign.

The official Saudi news agency says the Prince was meeting with Ramadan well-wishers on Thursday evening when a man blew himself up.

Television footage later showed the prince, apparently suffering from minor injuries, meeting with King Abdullah and explaining what happened.

Reports indicate the suicide bomber was a wanted militant who insisted on meeting the prince to give himself up.

He was apparently carrying a mobile phone and tripped before the meeting, accidentally detonating the bomb.

Source: Al Jazeera (English)

Life Sentence for Virginia Man Who Plotted to Kill President Bush

A Fairfax, Va. man who plotted to assassinate President George W. Bush, provided material support to Al Qaeda and conspired to recreate the 9/11 attacks in a new hijacking scheme was sentenced to life in prison Monday.

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali originally was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2006. The 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, but rejected the sentence as too lenient. The appellate court determined that the trial judge improperly tried to keep Abu Ali's sentence in line with others who did not cause the death of any Americans. The judge's reliance on John Walker Lindh, who plotted fought with the Taliban but didn't execute attacks against Americans, was misguided, the 4th Circuit found. Read more ...

Source: IPT Blog

And Yet Another Assassination in Russia

By Rusty Shackleford

Just last Friday we noted that Umar S. Israilov had been murdered in Austria. Now a prominent Russian lawyer, Stanislav Markelov, shoots self in back with silenced pistol. Also shot was a muckraking journalist critical of Russian handling of Chechen war, but who survived the attack.

The saddest part? My friends from the days I lived in Moscow think I'm crazy to point out that they are slowly becoming a fascist state. But now that the oil boom has gone bust, I pray that it will only be a matter of time for them to wake up and see what's happening.

Source: The Jawa Report

Small Gathering In Holland Commemorates 4th Anniversary Of Van Gogh Assassination

By BEILA RABINOWITZ and WILLIAM MAYER

A small group of people gathered today at the Linnaeusstraat in Amsterdam, the location where film maker Theo van Gogh was murdered four years ago the Islamic terrorist Mohammed Bouyeri. The commemoration was organized by the Friends of Pim Fortuyn Foundation. Fortuyn was gunned in a similar incident in 2002, assassinated by an animal rights extremist, who was also angered by Fortuyn's perceived anti-Muslim statements.

Bouyeri, a Dutch born Muslim Moroccan, shot, stabbed and nearly decapitated van Gogh in the ritualized killing.

Afterward the observance, group moved to "The Scream" a sculpture which was meant to memorialize van Gogh. It is located in the park across from where van Gogh was slaughtered. The organizers of the memorial urged that people safeguard their freedom of speech.

According to the 'Remembering Theo van Gogh" website, "Theo was our spokesman and release valve and dared to say what we thought. He was killed for that." Read more ...

Source: PipeLine NewsTheo van Gogh
Latest recipient of The MASH Award

The Targeted Killing of Imad Mugniyeh

Alan M. Dershowitz

If Imad Mugniyeh - the Hezbollah terrorist mastermind who was responsible for hundreds if not thousands of murders - was indeed successfully targeted for assassination, his untimely death should be cause for celebration. I say untimely, because if he had been killed years ago, many innocent lives would have been saved.

At the time of this writing, no one can be sure whether Imad Mugniyeh is really dead, whether if he is dead he was killed by a car bomb, and who is responsible for his killing. But his targeting makes the strongest case for the appropriateness of targeted killing of terrorists who are being harbored by states that support terrorism.

Mugniyeh has been indicted by the FBI for the murder of hundreds of Americans. Syria, where he made his home, was unwilling to turn him over to the United States for justice. He continued to engage in terrorism. Read more ...

Source: FrontPage Magazine
More on this story: U.S. partner praises Hezbollah terrorist
More on this story: Gotcha!
Imad Mugniyeh
Posthumous recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award


Muslims Against Sharia congratulate the organization responsible for elimination of terrorist Imad Mugniyeh on a job well done!

Aqsa and Benazir, not so different at all.

Now that my article about Benazir Bhutto has been up for a few hours and I have had a chance to read the replies to it, be they good, bad, weird, stupid, hate full or just plain ignorant, I would like to make a point.

The way this article was written has a lot in common with the piece about Aqsa Pervez who refused to wear her Hijab when she was out in public.

There is a great similarity between the story of a teenage girl who didn't want to wear a Hijab and was killed for it, and the fictional account of Benazir Bhutto being killed for refusing to take hers off.

The Hijab is not the reason for these killings and is only one of the links to these two events. They are but a symbol of the real problem, and that is one of other people trying to impose a set of beliefs or morals or practises on someone else.

Impose their values when they have no legal or moral right to do so!

The story about Aqsa Pervez is not a story of the Hijab or of religion, but rather a story about a domineering, controlling, vain and cruel father attempting to bend a daughter to his will, and when that failed, to resort to violence to achieve his objective.

The same can be said of Ms. Bhutto's case with the fictional Hijab. Benazir Bhutto was killed by people who could not achieve their political objectives by any other means and so used religion as an excuse to put an end to what they considered to be a threat from her.

In either case it was a means to an end that happens when individuals start to think they have a right to dictate the morals, beliefs and practices of other people.

It is one of the worst failings of Humanity when people believe they have the duty to subject others to their way of thinking.

Especially when they use God as a justification.

*This is really the proverbial "Devils" work and should be recognized as such!

*From the book, The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com

And visit the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com