Saturday, September 27, 2008

Tunisian: McCartney concert in Israel is the trumph of music over terrorism

Paul McCartney's appearance in Israel despite terror threats is hailed by Tunisian Ftouh Souhail as a triumph of music over terrorism. 

 

The concert given by McCartney in Israel is certain to be inscribed in history. In the weeks since his announcement of his arrival in Israel, McCartney was threatened with being the target of a suicide attack, in order to force him to abandon the project. 

 

Omar Bakri, an Islamist preacher exiled to Lebanon, confirmed that McCartney's decision to take part in festivities honoring Israel's sixtieth anniversary turned him into an enemy of all Muslims. According to some sources, the singer was shocked, but refused to back down See Daily express: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/61355/We-ll-kill-Sir-Paul-if-he-plays-Israel.

 

McCartney did well to refuse to be influenced by these threats. McCartney is a fortuitously gifted artist, but he is also extremely courageous.  

 

A man of courage and principles who stands firm .... That is so rare in the West! Paul McCartney reassured his fans in  the Jewish state that he would give the concert as scheduled in Tel Aviv: this is a promise kept.

The campaign to delegitimize Israel and the pressure on the former Beatle to cancel his concert was quite strong. Mr. McCartney deserves to be lauded for his courage. "I was approached by various groups and political bodies who asked me not to come here," he told the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. "I refused."

The hate preacher Omar Bakri had proclaimed that "Paul McCartney is the enemy of all Muslims." The concert of the ex-Beatle drew the ire of anti-Zionists because it  was given during the celebrations surrounding the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state.

The view that it is inappropriate to celebrate the rebirth of Israel, which has overtaken all the major leftist media and universities, did not influence the decision of McCartney to visit Israel.

Fortunately, Mr. McCartney did not seem to ask the BBC and the Guardian. "I heard so many positive things about Tel Aviv and Israel, but the hearing is one thing and experience is something else," he said in comments posted on his website.

A common accusation is that Israel is an apartheid state. In truth, Mr. McCartney gave his concert in the only country in the Middle East where Jews, Christians and Muslims, men and women can gather together in complete freedom to listen to music.

 

Ftouh Souhail

 

Citizen of the world


Note: The item below was received by e-mail. The English translation is copyright 2008 by Ami Isseroff and Zionism-Israel.com.


 

La musique triomphe sur le terrorisme

Par Ftouh Souhail

Le concert événement de la légende vivante des Beatles, qui vient de s'achever à Tel Aviv ce jeudi  25 septembre est voué à rester dans l'histoire. Depuis des semaines de l'annonce de sa venue en Israël Paul McCartney a été menacé d'être la cible d'un attentat-suicide à moins qu'il abandonne son projet de concert en Israël.

Omar Bakri [ndlr : prédicateur islamiste de Londres, exilé au Liban] a affirmé que la décision du chanteur de prendre part aux festivités du 60e anniversaire faisait de lui un ennemi pour tous les musulmans. Selon certaines sources, le chanteur a été choqué, mais a refusé de se laisser intimider. Voir le (Daily Express) :

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/61355/We-ll-kill-Sir-Paul-if-he-plays-Israel

Paul McCartney a fait très bien de ne pas se laisser influencer par les menaces. C'est en Israël que l'on se sent le plus en sécurité. Paul Mac Cartney est un artiste génialement doué mais aussi extrêmement courageux.

Un homme de courage et de principes qui se tient debout.... C'est tellement rare en Occident ! Paul McCartney a rassuré ses fans de l'Etat juif qu'il donnerait le concert prévu à Tel-Aviv : voilà une promesse tenue.

La campagne visant à délégitimer Israël et la pression sur l'ex-Beatle pour qu'il annule son concert était si forte. M. McCartney mérite des applaudissements pour son courage. « J'ai été approché par différents groupes et organes politiques qui m'ont demandé de ne pas venir ici », a-t-il dit au quotidien israélien Yedioth Ahronoth. « J'ai refusé ».

Le prêcheur de haine Omar Bakri avait considéré que « Paul McCartney est l'ennemi de tous les musulmans » Le concert de l'ex-Beatle a attiré l'ire d'anti-sionistes parce qu'il était donné durant les célébrations entourant le 60e anniversaire de l'Etat juif.

L'opinion selon laquelle il n'y a pas matière à célébrer la renaissance d'Israël, qui gagné l'ensemble des médias importants de gauche et les universités,  n'a pas influencé la décision de McCartney de se rendre en Israël.

Heureusement, d'ailleurs que  M. McCartney ne semble pas s'informer auprès de la BBC et du Guardian. « J'ai entendu tant de choses positives à propos de Tel-Aviv et d'Israël, mais les entendre est une chose et en faire l'expérience est autre chose », a-t-il dit dans les commentaires affichés sur son site Web.

Une accusation commune veut qu'Israël soit un État d'apartheid. En vérité, M. McCartney a donné son concert dans le seul pays au Moyen-Orient où des Juifs, des chrétiens et des musulmans, des hommes et des femmes, peuvent se retrouver ensemble en toute liberté pour écouter de la musique.

Ftouh Souhail, Tunis

Citoyen du Monde

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Ahmadinjad: Zionists control world, prevent peace [Full text of Speech]

In his UN speech, the Iranian dictator Ahmadinejad blamed "Zionism" for the world monetary crisis and the Georgia crisis, as well as "Palestine." He predicted the demise of the United States and of Israel. "Zionists," he claims, are "acquisitive and invasive." Excerpts:
 

In Palestine, 60 years of carnage and invasion is still ongoing at the hands of some criminal and occupying Zionists. They have forged a regime through collecting people from various parts of the world and bringing them to other people's land by displacing, detaining, and killing the true owners of that land. With advance notice, they invade, assassinate, and maintain food and medicine blockades, while some hegemonic and bullying powers support them. The Security Council cannot do anything and sometimes, under pressure from a few bullying powers, even paves the way for supporting these Zionist murderers. It is natural that some UN resolutions that have addressed the plight of the Palestinian people have been relegated to the archives unnoticed.
 

The lives, properties and rights of the people of Georgia and Ossetia and Abkhazia are victims of the tendencies and provocations of NATO and certain western powers, and the underhanded actions of the Zionists.
 
The dignity, integrity and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists. Although they are a miniscule minority, they have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision-making centers of some European countries and the US in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner. It is deeply disastrous to witness that some presidential or premiere nominees in some big countries have to visit these people, take part in their gatherings, swear their allegiance and commitment to their interests in order to attain financial or media support.

This means that the great people of America and various nations of Europe need to obey the demands and wishes of a small number of acquisitive and invasive people. These nations are spending their dignity and resources on the crimes and occupations and the threats of the Zionist network against their will.
 
Today, the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse, and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters. The Islamic Republic of Iran, while fully respecting the resistance of the oppressed people of Palestine and expressing its all-out support for it, submits its humane solution based on a free referendum in Palestine for determining and establishing the type of state in the entire Palestinian lands to the distinguished Secretary General of the UN.
 
American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders. Today, the thought of hegemony quickly becomes a demerit.
 
President Ahmadinejad`s Speech Addressing the U.N. General Assembly (Full Text)
Posted: 2008/09/24
From: Mathaba
 
The full text of Iran`s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad`s speech to the U.N. General Assembly on September 23, 2008.
 
mathaba.net/news/?x=607091

In the Name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful
 
 
"All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the universe, and peace and blessing be upon our Master and Prophet, Mohammad, and his pure household, and his noble companions."
"Oh God, hasten the arrival of Imam Al-Mahdi and grant him good health and victory and make us his followers
and those who attest to his rightfulness."
 

Mr. President,
Excellencies,
 
I am grateful to the Almighty for granting me another opportunity to be present in this world Assembly.
 
In the last three years, I have talked to you about great hopes in the bright future of human society, and some solutions for achieving sustainable peace and expanding love, compassion, and cooperation. I have also talked about unjust systems governing the world; pressures exerted by some powers seeking to trample the rights of other nations, oppression imposed on the majority of the global community, especially on the people of Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Africa, Latin America, and Asia; about challenges we are faced with, such as efforts to shatter the sanctity of families, destroy cultures, humiliate lofty values, neglect commitments, expand the shadow of threats, as well as about the arms race and the unfairness and inability of the systems governing world affairs in reforming the status quo.
 
With the occurrence of various new developments, the debility of existing mechanisms has been revealed even more. However, at the same time, an encouraging trend, which has originated in the thoughts and beliefs of peoples, has blossomed and become stronger. Posed against the despairs caused by the new developments, this trend has ignited the ray of hope for a brilliant, desirable and beautiful future in the hearts of men.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues,
Today I would like to talk to you about the main reasons behind the conditions ruling the world and the means to tackle them. Of course, you are already aware of what I am talking about, but I think it is necessary to remind ourselves.
 
It seems that the roots of problems lie in the way one views and perceives the world and humankind, as well as in the important issues of freedom, obeisance to God, and justice. The world, humankind, freedom and obeisance to God, and justice, have been of utmost importance to humans throughout history.
 
1. The World:
God Almighty purposefully created the world. This world is the bedrock for the evolution and growth of a creature called man, and the laws governing the world and all other creatures are at the service of man's quest for loftiness. The world should provide the needed opportunities for the fulfillment of the purpose behind man's creation. No phenomenon, creature, or indeed anything has been created in vain. Together they all pave the ground for the flourishing of mankind in a complex and purposeful system, and they are, each, one of the signs of God Almighty. All are His creations and He is the sole creator and ruler of the world. All existence including power, knowledge and wealth come from Him.
 
2. Humankind:
God created the world for humans and humans for Himself. He created humans from mud and in the soil, but He did not want them to remain in the soil and with animal instincts. He kindled the light of guidance in their souls and asked them to rise from the soil to the heavens and to Him with the help of wisdom, prophets and perfect men.
 
The world will ultimately disappear, but God has created man for eternity and has made them a manifestation of Himself. Creativity, mercifulness, kindness, knowledge, wisdom, zeal, concealment of sins, splendor, justice, bounteousness, generosity, greatness, love, glory, dignity, forgiveness, insight, kingship and all other goodness and beauty are attributes of God.
 
God has not created humans for aggression, bloodshed, rancor, selfishness and destruction. He made humans His vicegerents on earth and has asked them to, on the one hand, make earth prosper by using their God-given potentials and to prepare the ground for the growth of divine attributes in all humans, and to provide all with a life full of beauty, amity, freedom, justice and goodness; and on the other hand in pursuance of this path, to prepare for a prosperous, everlasting life endowed by God's mercy.
 
God has obligated humans to live divinely and socially, for it is only through social life and interactions with others that divine attributes may emerge.
 
3. Obeisance to God:
God Almighty has tied their perfection and true freedom of humans to their devotion and obedience to Himself. True freedom and obedience to God are in balance and in fact are two sides of the same coin.
 
Obeisance to God means confessing to monotheism and obeying His commands, and to be free from ungodly worship.
 
Obeisance to God means the acceptance of the absolute truth, the absolute light, and the absolute beauty.
 
Obeisance to God means abandoning selfishness and animal instincts, power-seeking and aggression, surrendering to righteousness, justice, love, and perfection.
 
And in this way, humans can achieve their true freedom and flourish, they can grow and manifest divine attributes, have affection for others, stand up for justice, and fear no power or threat, and defend the oppressed. In such an environment, one's freedom will not impinge on any others'. Contention and conflict are characteristic of materialistic freedom and animal instinct. The essence of all divine religions and obeisance to God and true freedom is disassociating from oppressors and instead obeying and worshiping God, for:
 
- God is omniscient and knows all that is revealed or kept secret, and He is kind and merciful.
- All creatures are humble before Him and resign to His will.
- God is alive and is the Creator of the universe and all life.
- God loves His creatures and desires nothing but goodness, blessings, and perfection for them, and is against bullying, injustice, selfishness and domination.
 
4. Justice:
Justice is the foundation of the creation of humankind and the whole universe. Justice is tantamount to placing every phenomenon in its own place, and providing humans with opportunities to actualize all their divine capabilities. Without it, the order of the universe will collapse and the opportunity for perfection will fade away. Without justice, it would be impossible for human society to taste real peace, beauty, joy and happiness. Justice is the main pillar of social life and without it, social life cannot continue or grow.
 
Humans need to know God in order to realize a prosperous society in this world as well as to strive for a beautiful eternal life, and to this end they first have to know themselves and strive for loftiness in themselves and their societies. However:
 
- as long as the world is construed as closed, limited and aimless,
- as long as eternal life is considered imaginary and illusory and afterlife and the Judgment Day as well as reward and punishment are thought of as fictional and unreal,
- as long as morals and commitment to them are called backwardness, and immorality, lies, deceit and selfishness are considered desirable, and humans are limited to a materialistic life in this world,
- as long as attempts are made to replace obedience to God and following His prophets and true freedom with servitude to materialistic tendencies and animal instincts and servitude to oppressing human beings, and contention reaches its pinnacle,
- as long as the aggressors, because of their financial, political and propaganda powers, not only escape punishment but even claim righteousness,
- and as long wars are started and nations are enslaved in order to win votes in elections,
not only will the problems of the global community remain unsolved, but they will be increasingly exacerbated.
 
Friends and Colleagues,
Let's look at the situation of the world today:
 
Iraq was attacked under the false pretext of uncovering weapons of mass destruction and overthrowing a dictator. The dictator is toppled and WMDs are not uncovered. A democratic government is established by the votes of the people but, after 6 years, the occupiers are still there. They insist on imposing colonial agreements on the people of Iraq by keeping them under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. Millions of people have been killed or displaced, and the occupiers, without a sense of shame, are still seeking to solidify their position in the political geography of the region and to dominate oil resources.
 
They have no respect for the people of Iraq and disregard any dignity, rights or status for them. The UN is not capable enough to solve the problems and to remove aggression, occupation and imposition.
 
In Palestine, 60 years of carnage and invasion is still ongoing at the hands of some criminal and occupying Zionists. They have forged a regime through collecting people from various parts of the world and bringing them to other people's land by displacing, detaining, and killing the true owners of that land. With advance notice, they invade, assassinate, and maintain food and medicine blockades, while some hegemonic and bullying powers support them. The Security Council cannot do anything and sometimes, under pressure from a few bullying powers, even paves the way for supporting these Zionist murderers. It is natural that some UN resolutions that have addressed the plight of the Palestinian people have been relegated to the archives unnoticed.
 
In Afghanistan, production of narcotics has multiplied since the presence of NATO forces. Domestic conflicts continue. Terrorism is spreading. And innocent people are bombarded on a daily basis in streets, markets, schools and wedding ceremonies. The people of Afghanistan are the victims of the willingness of NATO member states to dominate the regions surrounding India, China, and South Asia. The Security Council cannot do anything about it because some of these NATO members also happen to be the major decision makers in the Security Council.
 
In Africa, efforts are made to reestablish the relationships of the colonial era. By starting civil wars in large countries including Sudan, disintegration of those countries is planned in order to serve the interests of some corrupt powers. In case there is a national resistance, the leaders of the resistance are put under pressure by legal mechanisms created by the very same powers.
 
In Latin America, people find their security, national interests and cultures to be seriously endangered by the menacing shadow of alien domineering governments, and even by the embassies of some empires.
 
The lives, properties and rights of the people of Georgia and Ossetia and Abkhazia are victims of the tendencies and provocations of NATO and certain western powers, and the underhanded actions of the Zionists.
 
The never-ending arms race and the proliferation and stockpiling of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and the threats to use them, and the establishment of missile defense systems, have made the situation unstable.
 
With regard to Iran's peaceful nuclear program, despite the inalienable right of all nations including the Iranian nation, in producing nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, and despite such facts as the transparency of all Iranian activities and our country's full cooperation with the inspectors of the IAEA and the Agency's repeated confirmation of the fact that Iran's activities are peaceful, a few bullying powers have sought to put hurdles in the way of the peaceful nuclear activities of the Iranian nation by exerting political and economic pressures against Iran, and also through threatening and pressuring the IAEA. These are the same powers that produce new generations of lethal nuclear arms and possess stockpiles of nuclear weapons that no international organization is monitoring; and, the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were perpetrated by one of them.
 
Indeed, they are not against weapons, but they oppose other nations' progress, and tend to monopolize technologies and to use those monopolies in order to impose their will on other nations. But it is very natural that the great Iranian people, with their trust in God, and with determination and steadfastness and with the support of its friends, will resist the bullying and has defended and will continue to defend its rights. The Iranian nation is for dialogue. But it has not accepted and will not accept illegal demands. The time has come for the IAEA to present a clear report to the international community on its monitoring of the disarmament of these nuclear powers and their nuclear activities, and for a disarmament committee to be established by independent states to monitor the disarmament of these nuclear powers.
 
The theories of development that are in line with the hegemonic system and not in accordance with the true needs of humankind and human societies, have turned into repetitive and bland tools for assimilation of economies, expanding hegemonic domination, destroying the environment and destroying the social solidarity of nations. There is no end in sight to this. Poverty, hunger and deprivation are hurting more than one billion of the world's population and have dashed their hopes for a decent life.
 
The dignity, integrity and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists. Although they are a miniscule minority, they have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision-making centers of some European countries and the US in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner. It is deeply disastrous to witness that some presidential or premiere nominees in some big countries have to visit these people, take part in their gatherings, swear their allegiance and commitment to their interests in order to attain financial or media support.
 
This means that the great people of America and various nations of Europe need to obey the demands and wishes of a small number of acquisitive and invasive people. These nations are spending their dignity and resources on the crimes and occupations and the threats of the Zionist network against their will.
 
Friends and Colleagues,
All these are due to the manner in which the immoral and the powerful view the world, humankind, freedom, obeisance to God, and justice.
 
The thoughts and deeds of those who think they are superior to others and consider others as second-class and inferior; who intend to remain out of the divine circle, to be the absolute slaves of their materialistic and selfish desires, who intend to expand their aggressive and domineering natures, constitute the roots of today's problems in human societies. They are the great hindrances to the actualization of material and spiritual prosperity and to security, peace and brotherhood among nations. I explicitly state that the Iranian people and the overwhelming majority of peoples and governments are against those deeds and perspectives of the world- domineering powers. Establishment of justice requires people who have achieved moderation and justice inside themselves, and have restrained their domineering attitudes and actualized their attributes of self-sacrifice and are at the service of humanity. The complete and full-scale manifestation of such characteristics can happen only under the rule of the righteous and perfect human being who is obedient to God and who is promised by the divine Prophets.
 
Dear Colleagues,
Of course with the grace of God Almighty a hopeful trend is flourishing in the heart and soul of human societies. The universal eagerness for justice, purity, and love for others, monotheism and the quest for perfection is clearly and increasingly on the rise. A universal resistance against the acquisitiveness, aggression and selfishness of the bullying powers is being formed. Today, the bullying powers' thoughts, practices and strategies are rejected by nations and governments, and all are seeking to establish new human relations based on justice with a view to attain prosperity, perfection, security, and sustainable welfare. This is the very auspicious phenomenon that all the traditions of creation and the ruling laws of the universe emphasize and support.
 
Today, the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse, and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters. The Islamic Republic of Iran, while fully respecting the resistance of the oppressed people of Palestine and expressing its all-out support for it, submits its humane solution based on a free referendum in Palestine for determining and establishing the type of state in the entire Palestinian lands to the distinguished Secretary General of the UN.
 
American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders. Today, the thought of hegemony quickly becomes a demerit.
 
And now a few words with the expansionist governments ruling global relations:
 
Be aware that living with obedience to God and carrying out His orders, compassion for people and striving for the fulfillment of justice is to your advantage too. I invite you to return to the path of God, the Prophets and to the path of the people of the world and to the truth and justice.
 
The only route to salvation is a divine straight path. Otherwise, God's hand of power will emerge from the sleeve of oppressed nations and will make your life difficult, and will put an end to your hegemony.
Let's love the people of the world and respect their rights. Rectify past behavior. This will benefit you and the human community. The Iranian people are prepared, along with other nations, to help you be rescued from your current situation and to establish peace and prosperity.
 
My Friends,
Fortuitously, opportunities are accessible. With the grace of God Almighty, the existing pillars of the oppressive system are crumbling. Great developments in favor of humankind as well as its true and real rights are on the way. A golden and brilliant future is awaiting mankind.
 
A global community filled with justice, friendship, brotherhood and welfare is at hand, as I have elaborated. A community which will tread the path of beauty and love under the rule of the righteous and perfect human being, the One promised by all divine prophets and the One who is the true lover of humanity. A community that will be devoid of any fear, despair and privation. Such a community will soon be ours. The community promised by the great divine Prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ and Mohammad (PBUH) is about to materialize.
 
Let us, hand in hand, expand the thought of resistance against evil and the minority of those who are ill-wishers. Let's support goodness and the majority of people who are good and the embodiment of absolute good that is the Imam of Time, The Promised One who will come accompanied by Jesus Christ, and accordingly design and implement the just and humanistic mechanisms for regulating the constructive relationships between nations and governments.
 
Oh great Almighty, deliver the savior of nations and put an end to the sufferings of mankind and bring forth justice, beauty, and love.
 
Friends;
Let's have a proper share in the establishment of that illuminated and promised divine ag

Monday, September 22, 2008

Palin - Amadinejad must be stopped

Pressure from Hillary Clinton, or the Democratic party or the J-Street lobby or someone caused the cancellation of Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's appearance   in the rally in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza protesting the appearance of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the UN.
 
 
Here is the text of the speech that was not delivered:

I am honored to be with you and with leaders from across this great country - leaders from different faiths and political parties united in a single voice of outrage.
 
Tomorrow, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will come to New York - to the heart of what he calls the Great Satan - and speak freely in this, a country whose demise he has called for.
 
Ahmadinejad may choose his words carefully, but underneath all of the rhetoric is an agenda that threatens all who seek a safer and freer world. We gather here today to highlight the Iranian dictator's intentions and to call for action to thwart him.
He must be stopped.
 
The world must awake to the threat this man poses to all of us. Ahmadinejad denies that the Holocaust ever took place. He dreams of being an agent in a "Final Solution" - the elimination of the Jewish people. He has called Israel a "stinking corpse" that is "on its way to annihilation."
 
Such talk cannot be dismissed as the ravings of a madman -not when Iran just this summer tested long-range Shahab-3 missiles capable of striking Tel Aviv, not when the Iranian nuclear program is nearing completion, and not when Iran sponsors terrorists that threaten and kill innocent people around the world.
 
The Iranian government wants nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran is running at least 3,800 centrifuges and that its uranium enrichment capacity is rapidly improving. According to news reports, U.S. intelligence agencies believe the Iranians may have enough nuclear material to produce a bomb within a year.
 
The world has condemned these activities. The United Nations Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend its illegal nuclear enrichment activities. It has levied three rounds of sanctions. How has Ahmadinejad responded? With the declaration that the "Iranian nation would not retreat one iota" from its nuclear program.
 
So, what should we do about this growing threat? First, we must succeed in Iraq. If we fail there, it will jeopardize the democracy the Iraqis have worked so hard to build, and empower the extremists in neighboring Iran. Iran has armed and trained terrorists who have killed our soldiers in Iraq, and it is Iran that would benefit from an American defeat in Iraq.
 
If we retreat without leaving a stable Iraq, Iran's nuclear ambitions will be bolstered. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons ? they could share them tomorrow with the terrorists they finance, arm, and train today. Iranian nuclear weapons would set off a dangerous regional nuclear arms race that would make all of us less safe.
 
But Iran is not only a regional threat; it threatens the entire world. It is the no. 1 state sponsor of terrorism. It sponsors the world's most vicious terrorist groups, Hamas and Hezbollah. Together, Iran and its terrorists are responsible for the deaths of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s, in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, and in Iraq today. They have murdered Iraqis, Lebanese, Palestinians, and other Muslims who have resisted Iran's desire to dominate the region. They have persecuted countless people simply because they are Jewish.
 
Iran is responsible for attacks not only on Israelis, but on Jews living as far away as Argentina. Anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial are part of Iran's official ideology and murder is part of its official policy. Not even Iranian citizens are safe from their government's threat to those who want to live, work, and worship in peace. Politically-motivated abductions, torture, death by stoning, flogging, and amputations are just some of its state-sanctioned punishments.
 
It is said that the measure of a country is the treatment of its most vulnerable citizens. By that standard, the Iranian government is both oppressive and barbaric. Under Ahmadinejad's rule, Iranian women are some of the most vulnerable citizens.
 
If an Iranian woman shows too much hair in public, she risks being beaten or killed. If she walks down a public street in clothing that violates the state dress code, she could be arrested.
 
But in the face of this harsh regime, the Iranian women have shown courage. Despite threats to their lives and their families, Iranian women have sought better treatment through the "One Million Signatures Campaign Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws." The authorities have reacted with predictable barbarism. Last year, women's rights activist Delaram Ali was sentenced to 20 lashes and 10 months in prison for committing the crime of "propaganda against the system." After international protests, the judiciary reduced her sentence to "only" 10 lashes and 36 months in prison and then temporarily suspended her sentence. She still faces the threat of imprisonment.
 
Earlier this year, Senator Clinton said that "Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is in the forefront of that" effort. Senator Clinton argued that part of our response must include stronger sanctions, including the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization. John McCain and I could not agree more.
 
Senator Clinton understands the nature of this threat and what we must do to confront it. This is an issue that should unite all Americans. Iran should not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. Period. And in a single voice, we must be loud enough for the whole world to hear: Stop Iran!
Only by working together, across national, religious, and political differences, can we alter this regime's dangerous behavior. Iran has many vulnerabilities, including a regime weakened by sanctions and a population eager to embrace opportunities with the West. We must increase economic pressure to change Iran's behavior.
 
Tomorrow, Ahmadinejad will come to New York. On our soil, he will exercise the right of freedom of speech - a right he denies his own people. He will share his hateful agenda with the world. Our task is to focus the world on what can be done to stop him.
 
We must rally the world to press for truly tough sanctions at the U.N. or with our allies if Iran's allies continue to block action in the U.N. We must start with restrictions on Iran's refined petroleum imports. We must reduce our dependency on foreign oil to weaken Iran's economic influence.
We must target the regime's assets abroad; bank accounts, investments, and trading partners.
 
President Ahmadinejad should be held accountable for inciting genocide, a crime under international law.
 
We must sanction Iran's Central Bank and the Revolutionary Guard Corps -which no one should doubt is a terrorist organization. Together, we can stop Iran's nuclear program.
 
Senator McCain has made a solemn commitment that I strongly endorse: Never again will we risk another Holocaust. And this is not a wish, a request, or a plea to Israel's enemies. This is a promise that the United States and Israel will honor, against any enemy who cares to test us. It is John McCain's promise and it is my promise.
 
Thank you.
 

A new Middle East philosophy: Oil must pay for entire economy.

This article introduces a new, totally extraneous and dangerous consideration into petroleum finances. The price of oil should depend on supply and demand. The "break even" point should depend on the cost of extraction, which in the worst case might be about $20 a barrel in the USA or Russia, and is around a dollar a barrel in the Gulf states.
 
However, the OPEC countries and Arab IMF personnel have made a different calculation entirely. Some gulf states have used unrealistically high oil prices to fuel development. Now the reckoning is based not on the extraction price and fair profit, but on how much oil must cost in order to pay for the development without requiring loans or higher taxes. For most countries, there is still a huge safety margin. Saudi Arabia will still have a budget surplus if oil falls to $50 a barrel, others need less. Nobody even questions why development cannot be funded by bonds or loans as it is funded everywhere else, or what terrible tragedy might befall Saudi princes if they gave a bit more of their wealth to the budget and spent a bit less in casinos.
 
But the most interesting case is Iran. Iran spends a fortune on developing nuclear weapons, and has not done much petroleum exploration. The result is that it must keep the price of oil over $90 a barrel or over $110  in order to pay for its nuclear toys. We can expect that it will contrive to find ways to do so.
 
Ami Isseroff
 
Saudi needs oil above $ 49 to avoid deficit; Qatar break-even $ 24: IMF
Gulf Times - 21 September, 2008

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, will need crude prices to remain above $ 49 a barrel to avoid a fiscal deficit, a senior International Monetary Fund official has said.

"If it goes below that level we would start seeing a fiscal account  deficit," Mohsin Khan, director of Middle East and central Asia at the IMF, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Oil prices have fallen drastically in the past two month, shedding over $ 50 in value since they hit $ 147 a barrel in July, raising concerns over the continued strength of Persian Gulf Arab economies.

Saudi Arabia, the Middle East largest economy, depends on oil and gas sales for 90% of its export income.

"Saudi Arabia's break-even price is the highest among the Gulf Co-operation Council Countries because they are spending on a lot of projects right now, and oil money is used to fund these projects," he said. Further declines in oil prices could tip the region's economies over the edge as they continue to spend heavily on infrastructure projects.

According to Middle East Economic Digest, Gulf states are spending about $ 2.3tn on projects.

Other Gulf states with smaller populations and lower government spending like the UAE are able to run a fiscal surplus as long as oil prices are
above $ 23 a barrel.

"The UAE will have a fiscal balance at an oil price of $ 23, if it goes below they would run a deficit. For Qatar, the break-even price is $ 24 a barrel," Khan said. Kuwait's break-even price is $ 33 a barrel, he added.

The figures, to be published in the IMF's next regional outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia, also show that other countries in the region are already running a fiscal deficit with current oil price levels.

"Iran's break-even price is $ 90 a barrel, and that is a big issue in Iran right now," Khan said.

"If prices dip below $ 90 a barrel, and we have seen it touch $ 89 earlier this week, then they would have to tighten their public expenditure policy, and probably cut subsidies, which would be an issue for the government there - the public would not be content," he said.

Iraq has the highest break-even price in the region, according to the IMF figures. The war-torn country needs prices above $ 110 a barrel to balance its books.

"They are almost starting from scratch, so it's normal... it won't be normal if the break-even point is lower because that would mean no work is being done," he said.

Algeria, whose minister is acting as the president of the Organisation Of Petroleum Exporting Countries this year, will be able to balance its budget with oil above $ 56 a barrel, Khan said.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Iran-trained Shiite Iraqis returning to launch bombings: police

Iran-trained Shiite Iraqis returning to launch bombings: police
 
 
NASIRIYAH, Iraq (AFP) - Groups of Shiite extremists trained in Iran are returning to Iraq with plans to bomb high-profile targets, the chief of Dhi Qar province's police said Saturday.
Brigadier General Sabah al-Fatlawi told AFP "Special Groups" (Shiite extremists) of around 10 fighters each are returning by crossing the border from Amara, the capital of Shiite Maysan province in the south.
 
"The Special Groups are returning from Iran after receiving training in using new tactics. We have seized 20 motorcycle bombs in Nasiriyah. Some groups have arrived in Nasiriyah," Fatlawi said, referring to the capital of Dhi Qar, which neighbours Maysan.
 
The US military claims that Special Groups are cells of Shiite militants who are trained, funded and armed by Iranian-linked groups.
 
Tehran denies the charges.
 
"They are crossing the border through Amara," Fatlawi said.
 
"They intend to target officials in the country and in Nasiriyah," he said adding that local authorities had put in place tight security measures, including banning the use of motorcycles.
 
Shiite Special Groups have been one of the main perpetrators of violence in Iraq, but a series of military crackdowns in Shiite majority regions of Iraq forced many of the leaders of such groups to flee the country.
 
Iraqi and US officials claim many of them went to Iran.

Yaalon: Military confrontation with Iran unavoidable

Yaalon is probably right, as an objective statement of fact, that a military confrontation with Iran is unavoidable. Nobody should be reckless enough though, to think that such a confrontation would be "good for Israel." Every friend of Israel must work to prepare for the worst in every way possible, and at the same time work to try to avoid war if it is at all possible.
 
Ami Isseroff
 
 
Last update - 16:13 21/09/2008       
Ex-IDF chief: Israel can't avoid a military confrontation with Iran
By Reuters
 
Former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Moshe "Boogie" Ya'alon on Sunday said Israel will not be able to avoid a military confrontation with Iran and called on the international community to stand up to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad like they did against Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.
 
"Today, we in the West are facing the same situation, the lack of decisiveness towards a threat that is no less severe than that which Hitler posed in 1939."
 
Ya'alon's statements came hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Sunday to stop any attacker before he can "pull the trigger."
 
Ahmadinejad also said sanctions intended to isolate the Islamic Republic have not worked, in a speech before a military parade on Sunday.
 
The United States and its allies are seeking to step up UN sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear plans, which the West says a bid to build nuclear arms. Iran denies this.
 
There has been persistent speculation Washington or Israel might launch strikes on Iran's nuclear sites, as neither country has ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to end the row.
 
"If anybody dares to offend the boundaries of the Iranian nation, the Iranian nation's holy land and Iran's legal interests, our armed forces ... will break his hand before he can pull the trigger," Ahmadinejad said.
 
He was speaking at a parade broadcast live on state television to mark the start of the Iran-Iraq war in September 1980. Hundreds of troops then marched in formation in front of the president's podium.
 
"Today, Iran is not in a position to show even the smallest flexibility against the bullying of the enemies. History has shown that those who wish ill for Iran will gain nothing but regret," he said.
 
"The enemies of humanity ... had imagined that by military attack and economic and scientific sanctions they could break down our revolution and our nation," he said, adding that Iran's enemies had "lost hope".
 
Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, says it wants to master nuclear technology to make electricity so it can preserve more of its vast oil and gas reserves for export.
 
But its failure to convince world powers of its peaceful intentions has prompted three rounds of limited UN sanctions. ashington is pushing for a fourth, but China and Russia -- two of the five veto-wielding council members -- are reluctant.
 
Iran has dismissed reports of possible U.S. or Israeli plans to strike Iran, but says it would respond by attacking U.S. interests and Israel if any such assault was made

Iranian General Killed in Clashes with Rebels

We hope this rebellion is not someone's idea of "regime change." Jundalla in power would make Mr. Ahmadinejad look like a Quaker pacifist.
 
Iranian General Killed in Clashes with Rebels
Fars News Agency [Iran] Saturday 20 Sep 2008
english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8706301272

TEHRAN (FNA)- Four members of the Iranian security forces, including a general, have been killed in clashes with rebels in southeastern Iran, a police official said on Friday.

"During clashes with armed rebels on Thursday night, Brigadier General Mohammad Sar-Golzaie was killed" in Sistan-Baluchestan province, a local police commander, Salah Asgari, told FNA.

He said the general was killed during mopping up operations in the Nosratabad area northwest of the provincial capital Zahedan.

He said three other soldiers had been killed in fighting in recent days without specifying where. "Several rebels were also killed," he added.

Sistan-Baluchestan has seen a spate of attacks by terrorist group Jundullah (Soldiers of God) in recent years.

The province borders Afghanistan and Pakistan and is a major drug trafficking route.

Over three thousand Iranian police and security forces have been killed in clashes with drug traffickers in southeastern country since the 1978 Islamic Revolution.