A Glimpse At The West's Policy In Action

We had begun thinkming about the Iranian military/industrial complex. The below articles are from American Thinker.

March 9, 2010 Obama's Iran Policy Collapses to the Accompaniment of Mockery Around the Globe
Barack Obama, in his first press conference after his election, called Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons "unacceptable." He repetitively offered Iran "engagement." He set a deadline of year-end 2009 for Iranian compliance, now unilaterally extended another three months.
Iran contemptuously and repetitively responded that it had no intention of abandoning its nuclear program. Obama's Iran policy is collapsing to the accompaniment of open mockery around the globe. Obama assured us that his "engagement" would make it easier to enlist other countries to stop Iran. The result is the opposite: Virtually every country Obama approached has rebuffed him. Without a credible threat of force, it is now clear that "engagement" has no chance to stop Iran's military nuclear program. It is indisputable that Iranian possession of nuclear weapons would destabilize the Mideast and gravely threaten world peace.
Let's leave China and Russia to the end on the grounds that it may be more difficult to persuade major powers. In recent weeks, the Obama administration launched a curious charm offensive with the announced purpose of weaning Syria -- Tehran's closest ally -- from Iran. Syria has been ruled by the Alawites -- a despised Muslim minority considered heretical -- since the French colonialists elevated them to military leadership. The country has since 1970 been the Mafia-like fiefdom of the Assad family, which murdered more than 15,000 of its own rebellious citizens in Hama in 1982.
Syria has been on the State Department's list of terrorist countries since 1979. Syria routinely dispatched terrorists into Iraq to kill American soldiers. Syria dominates Lebanon, from which it extorts wealth through violent means, including arming the Iranian proxy terrorist forces of Hezb'allah. The U.N. authorized an interminable tribunal to investigate charges that Syria murdered Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's prime minister, in 2005. The U.S. withdrew its ambassador from Damascus in protest of the Hariri assassination. I have personal insight into this tragic killing and farcical investigation because Saad Hariri, Rafik's son, desperately asked me in Riyadh in 1998 to pass on his fears that the Syrians would kill his father to preserve their hegemony in Lebanon. What a difference twelve years makes! Saad Hariri is now Lebanon's prime minister. Seeing the weakness of U.S. policy, he now embraces Hezbollah and the Syrian forces who killed his father.
Appeasing Syria Provokes Mockery from Assad and Ahmadinejad
The current Obama approach to Syria includes dispatching six high-level State Department delegations, announcing that our ambassador will return to Damascus, rescinding banned shipment of aircraft parts, and deals worth several billion dollars. Secretary of State Clinton purred over this "slight opening" with Syria and expressed hope that it would lead Syria to curb support for Iran as well as Hezb'allah and Hamas.
Syrian President Bashir Assad, responding instantly following departure of the U. S. Under-Secretary of State from Damascus, invited the Iranian president to his capital. The Assad-Ahmadinjead press conference can be described most tactfully as a roast of the Obama administration. The two presidents announced removal of travel visas, meaning that Iranian terrorists are free to travel to the borders of Europe and Israel. Assad, not ordinarily known for humor, said of U.S. hopes of separating Syria from Iran that "[w]e must have understood Clinton wrong because of bad translation." The Iranian president reliably played straight man: "The Americans are forced to leave the region, leaving their reputation, image, and power behind in order to escape. The U.S. has no influence to stop expansion of Iran-Syria, Syria-Turkey, and Iran-Turkey ties. God willing, Iraq too will join this circle."
The failure of Obama's appeasement was understood in the region. Editor Michael Young asked in his Beirut Star,
"Just what does Barack Obama stand for?" His answer: "The Assad regime's abuse of its own population, Syrian involvement in myriad bombings in Iraq, support for Iraqi Baathists, and its permissiveness toward Al-Qaeda in Iraq have not made the Administration reconsider its Syrian opening. Violence works, and Obama has not proven otherwise. The Obama Administration these days provokes little confidence in its allies, and even less fear in its adversaries" [emphasis added].
Rebuffed by Lebanon, Brazil and Turkey
Syria is not a member of the U.N. Security Council. But Lebanon, Brazil, and Turkey are among the nine non-permanent members. Since Obama has unwisely delegated to the Security Council power to defend American interests, their votes are important. It is clear from what is written above that Lebanon, until recently a U.S. ally with its large but no longer dominant Christian minority, will now vote as directed by Syria and Iran.
Mrs. Clinton made a pitiful visit to Brasilia last week. It is not far-fetched to presume that Brazilian leadership contrasted the empty words of Obama with the deeds of their neighbor, President Chávez of Venezuela, who is assiduously expanding the western hemisphere bridgehead of his Iranian ally. A weekly flight from Tehran to Caracas carries unregistered passengers who can infiltrate our porous southern borders. The president of Brazil told Mrs. Clinton that his country would not "bow" to demands for sanctions against Iran. He suggested that it would be "prudent" to instead pursue negotiations. As in the Middle East, Obama "provokes little confidence" among our traditional good-neighbor allies.
Even more ruinous is the state of Obama's relations with Turkey, a country he has fulsomely praised as a Muslim democracy, notwithstanding the apparent drive of its present government to create an Islamist police state. Last week, Obama did nothing to prevent a symbolic 23-to-22 vote in a House of Representatives committee for a resolution labeling as "genocide" Turkish massacres of Armenians during World War I. I have lobbied on this issue and understand its intractability. Most historians call the events genocide, but a minority say it occurred during the fog of a war of reciprocal massacres in which Armenians aided invading Russians. The resolution is driven by understandable pressure of Armenian-Americans on California congressmen. But analysts of U.S. foreign policy understand that passing the resolution would so alienate Turkish voters that vital U.S. interests would be undermined -- e.g., supply of U.S. forces in Iraq, our air base at Incirlik, and the role of Turkish military (NATO's second-largest) in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Ankara Decries America's "Lack of Strategic Vision"
The Turks did not distinguish themselves by the bullying tone of their comments on the vote, and Obama may feel hamstrung by campaign promises he made -- which he cannot conceivably honor -- to recognize the "genocide." Turkey has resisted sanctions against Iran because Ahmadinejad was correct when he boasted in Beirut of blossoming Turkish-Iranian ties. But if Obama thought he might get any help from Turkey, whose government he courted by visiting its capital on his first overseas trip, his inaction on the genocide resolution provoked this blast from Ankara:
This decision, which could adversely affect our co-operation on a wide common agenda with the U.S., also regrettably attests to a lack of strategic vision [emphasis supplied].
Obama's difficulties in obtaining cooperation on sanctions from smaller countries underscore his better-known problems with veto-wielding Russia and China, whose interests are diverse from ours. These countries, in different ways, see themselves as rivals of the U.S. and have extensive commercial relations with Iran, by whom they do not feel threatened. Russia at times has indicated support for mild sanctions -- rather than the "biting" sanctions aimed at energy import/export (Iran is already rationing refined petroleum), insurance, and banking --understood by many congressmen as the only method short of war to influence Iran.
There were reports at week's end that the administration would retreat to seeking diminished sanctions that exempt China and other permanent members of the Security Council from compliance. This would confirm the complete collapse of "engagement." One might call it "diss-engagement," warranting the mockery of Obama's policies echoing from Damascus, Beirut, Brasilia, and even Ankara.
Joel Sprayregen is associated with think-tanks dealing with issues of security and human rights in Washington, Jerusalem, Istanbul, and Ankara. 44 Comments on "Obama's Iran Policy Collapses to the Accompaniment of Mockery Around the Globe"
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Iran helping Syria to crack down on protestors
Israel let the cat out of the bag a couple of weeks ago by leaking the news that
Hezb'allah and Iran was helping Syria handle anti-regime protestors.
Now the US government has confirmed some of this information, adding that Iran is also looking for an opening to help Shiite opposition groups in the Gulf.
Wall Street Journal:
Iran is secretly helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad put down pro-democracy demonstrations, according to U.S. officials, who say Tehran is providing gear to suppress crowds and assistance blocking and monitoring protesters' use of the Internet, cellphones and text-messaging.
At the same time, communications intercepted by U.S. spy agencies show Tehran is actively exploring ways to aid some Shiite hardliners in Bahrain and Yemen and destabilize longstanding U.S. allies there, say U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence. Such moves could challenge interests of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and inflame sectarian tensions across the Middle East, they say.
"We believe that Iran is materially assisting the Syrian government in its efforts to suppress their own people," said an Obama administration official.
U.S. officials say they don't see Iran as the driving force behind popular revolts against longtime U.S. allies in the Mideast, and caution they have no concrete evidence that Iran is providing or preparing large-scale financial or military support to opposition elements in Bahrain or Yemen.
Rather, the White House has worried that protracted political turmoil could provide an opening for additional influence by Tehran, whose nuclear ambitions are a concern to the U.S. and its allies in Europe and the Middle East.
It would make sense for Hezb'allah to assist their patron Assad in cracking down on protestors. The terrorist group may even be more reliable than the Syrian army or secret police. They owe much to Assad who has facilitated the transfer of weapons from Iran for many years, while offering their leaders protection and sanctuary from Israeli efforts to assassinate them.
More worrisome is Iranian meddling in Bahrain, which Ryan Mauro reports may presage a proxy war between Iranian backed Shias and US-friendly governments in the region. Iran can cause a lot of trouble with very little effort. However, as Mauro points out, most indigenous Shia groups in Bahrain have rejected Iranian help and wish to see a peaceful transition to more rights for Shias in the Gulf.
Not all Shias in Bahrain have rejected Iranian aid, however, and it seems pretty clear that Iran will do anything they can to destabilize American allies in the region.
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May 18, 2011 Revolutionary Guards and Ammo Dispatched to Syria
According to reports by Green experts of Iran (an
opposition group in Iran), the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has dispatched 65 agents via four planes, filled with guns, ammunition, and other military equipment, to Damascus during the past week. This is the second such convoy that has been sent from Tehran to Damascus in just the last month. The planes fly from Tehran to Damascus in such a way that it coincides with passenger flight patterns in order to avoid raising suspicion.
Commander Ebrahim Jabbari, who heads up the Vali'eh Amr (Supreme Leader's) revolutionary forces, is in charge of these security and military flights.
Expert analysis shows that following the widespread and bloody social uprising throughout Syria, and the Assad government's failure to contain the political situation, frenetic deliberations between Iranian and Syrian authorities have increased. Fearing the frailty of the Assad rule, which in turn would weaken Iran's influence in Syria, one part of the operational plan is to bait the Israeli government and incite unrest in the region. To this end, the military and security forces of the IRGC have created an operations outlet entitled the Ammar Operations HQ in Damascus.
Based on reports obtained from Iranian Green experts, the Ammar Ops HQ has begun coordinating with various Lebanese Hezb'allah and Palestinian groups, which distributed 600 heavy firearms that have been set up and situated in designated areas. The report also stresses that the operation has been planned in such a way that the role of the Syrian government is minimized in the crisis, giving it an air of a more impromptu and spontaneous confrontation. Then in the midst of the confrontations, Iran plans to enter the fray and appear as the uniter of the Palestinian people and a hero among Arab governments.
Other analysis also illustrate that the Ammar Ops HQ, which also has branches on the borders of Syria, Lebanon and Israel, is essentially intending to wreak international havoc and fan the flames of regional chaos.
As I reported on May 09 th ,The Iranian Supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, held a covert meeting with commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, representatives of the Syrian embassy, members of Hezb'allah, and leaders of the Sadr movement, to put together a plan to suppress the Syrian protesters and save the Syrian regime. It seems now the plan is extended to destabilize Israel by inciting a third intifada in which protesters would storm Israel's borders on three fronts: Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Syria. This in turn would draw Israel into some kind of retaliation to protect its borders, which then will be used as a tool and a call for unification among Arabs and the redirection of the media and Syria's internal problems, giving the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, enough time to fully suppress the internal uprising.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad talked about the recent clashes at Israeli borders during the "Nakba Day" protests and said the clashes showed Israel's real nature. "Like a cancer cell that spreads through the body, this regime infects any region. It must be removed from the body," he said.
Yesterday, Hezb'allah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, lauded what he called the Palestinians' struggle to acquire the right to return to their homeland and predicted that they will attain their goal soon.
One thing is for sure as unrest spreads in Iran and Syria; their leaders will try to draw Israel into an unwanted war so that they can divert attention and further solidify power. It is time for the West to confront these brutal regimes and openly support the people so that we can once and for all put an end to the terrorist leaders of Iran and Syria.
Reza Kahlili is a pseudonym for an ex-CIA spy who requires anonymity for safety reasons. He is the author of A Time to Betray a book about his double life as a CIA agent in Iran's Revolutionary Guards, published by Threshold Editions, Simon & Schuster, April 2010.
August 27, 2011 Iran criticizes Syria for crackdown
By any standard, it was a mild rebuke. But the idea that the Iranians are criticizing President Assad at all is remarkable when you consider some of their own Revolutionary Guards are helping the Syrian president in his crackdown:
Iran, Syria's closest ally, called on the government in Damascus to recognize its people's "legitimate" demands on Saturday, in the first such remarks to come from the Persian country since the five-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad started.
Although the remarks, by Iran's foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, were broad and did not call for Mr. Assad to step down, they were the first public sign of growing unease with the crisis in Syria -even as Iran has maintained an unyielding crackdown on its own dissenters.
Other governments in the region are increasingly worried that the crisis could spill beyond Syria's borders, especially given Mr. Assad's seeming determination to snuff out a resilient demonstration movement despite the cost in sectarian and social tensions. That violence continued on Saturday, as Syrian security forces opened fire on hundreds of demonstrators across the country, killing at least three people, according to activists.
"The government should answer to the demands of its people, be it Syria, Yemen or other countries," Mr. Salehi was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying. "The people of these nations have legitimate demands, and the governments should answer these demands as soon as possible."
No doubt the people of Iran are behind the protestors and unless they want demonstrators in their own streets, it made good sense to try and portray the government on the side of freedom without undermining Assad.
But this is a slippery slope. If Iranians take to the streets again, the government may be forced into ever more serious criticisms of the crackdown until they too are calling for Assad to leave.

Week In Review August 26, 2011

A number of issues have been expanded on this week. The most important of which, I think, include Syria and Department of Homeland Security.

Syria
In 1963 the al-Assad family took control of Syrian leadership. Basher, the current president, was born shortly after. He took power when his father died; in 2000 and 2007 Basher was “elected” after running unopposed each time. The al-Assad family has long been involved in chemical weapons (receiving several plane loads from Iraq in 2002), weapons proliferation with Iran, as well as routinely their subjects, err, citizens (he was elected, after all).

So what? Here the world can see that a slightly less megalomaniac than Ahmadinijad is doing precisely what Saddam Hussein and Mommar Khadafy did. Where they were forcibly and violently removed from power, after 32 and 42 years in absolute control, the al-Assad family stands unopposed by anyone outside of Syria. In fact, the UN cannot even bring a full coalition of outrage in a letter about al-Assad as Russia and China (both receiving US development funds as well as other US aid) are siding with al-Assad. I say siding with as they are not opposing nor speaking out, they are blocking further (useless) sanctions and any actual action that would follow the eventual and blatant violation of sanctions. Again, the “So What” here is that al-Assad is slaughtering his own subjects. Russia, China, and Iran are all backing al-Assad. Iran has funded, armed, and made numerous deals and deployments into Syria. Russia, China, and Iran have all stated that they want to, not just see, but be part of the destruction of the United States.

Now what? Not that I advocate total annihilation or genocide; I do, however, believe in the pre-emptive strike in order to defend a nation’s sovereignty and safety. A nation may also conduct a pre-emptive defensive strike to protect allies that are unable or incapable of defending themselves. Self-Defense on a national basis is what I am calling it. Right now, due to the START Treaty that Obama unwisely signed with the Russians, we now have a surplus of nuclear weapons. Does anyone see a problem with Syrian Green Glass? Yes, take a tactical nuke and put it into Basher al-Assad’s palace. No big loss of oil there. One homicidal and deeply twisted dictator and his entire family line are taken out. No ground troops from the US or coalition nations in harm’s way, done.

What about Obama’s Executive Order 13338? That? The executive order that prohibits us from buying oil from a country that produces less oil yearly than the US uses in a month? I think I called that an empty gesture from an empty suit. Representative Granger wants to see something with teeth, like having the $2 BILLION tax dollars budgeted to Egypt removed if they continue to oppose Western interests.



The Department of Homeland Security preparedness grant program awards for fiscal year 2011 puts $2.1 BILLION tax dollars into security initiatives and response organizations. None, or very little, of this $2.1 BILLION tax dollars seems to go into answering the questions presented by Dr. Jim Giermanski, Chairman Powers Global Holdings, Inc.

1.  Does DHS believe and support the use of Container Security Devices (CSDs) as being consistent with law, foreign security programs, non-government organizations, and the private sector bottom-line needs?

2. Does DHS believe that container security technology and CSDs serve as revenue producers for the private sector?

3. Why is the official policy on physical security for containers sealed "doors-only?"

4. Other than the incentives claimed by CBP for the private sector's participation in C-TPAT, what U.S. government incentive is used to encourage the use of CSDs?

5. Why is DHS not participating with the EU and other nations who are working together to develop an international standards and protocols for CSDs?

6. What can Congress do, but has not done to encourage CSD usage? 

7. What has DHS done with respect  to informing and encouraging Congress to ratify the Rotterdam Rules recognizing that these new Rules improve supply chain security?

8. Given increased security concerns about Mexico, what CSD pilots or programs have been used or tested in Mexico/U.S. cross-border commercial practices?

9. In which CSD pilots, if any, has DHS participated?

10. Why is DHS not complying with the mandates of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 with respect to CSD for usage HAZMAT movements?

11. If Trade Facilitation is one goal of CBP, why wouldn't CBP/DHS required the use of CSDs knowing that their usage is a financial benefit to the user as well as to the government?

12. Since DHS admits that transshipments are a legitimate security concern, why hasn't DHS mandated CSD usage for all containers inbound to the United States which transit a transshipment port?

13. Why has the "Green Lane" concept not yet been implemented in seaports to encourage CSD usage?

14. Why continue weak programs such as CSI knowing there is no actual verification of container contents?

15. Why is it that DHS/CBP has not yet addressed the current proven vulnerability of using the required 433.5 to 434.5 MHz spectrum in our ports knowing and admitting in writing along with the Office of the Secretary of Defense that the vulnerability truly exists as indicated in this DHS statement: ... these technologies...can be exploited and potentially used to trigger an explosive device.

16. Has DHS funded or directed an empirical study of the impact of closing all U.S. seaports and land ports-of-entry as a result of one or two dirty bomb blasts in the U.S. ports?

So, this week, while Ron Paul and 77% of the sitting democrats voted against enabling rules of engagement that actually PROTECT our military personnel, Janet Napolitano is spending $2.1 BILLION of our tax dollars on initiatives and response.

So what? DHS has put another $2.1 BILLION tax dollars into feel good initiatives rather than actually identifying and stopping threats.

Now what? I propose we do away with the Department of Homeland Security. But, they are there in case of a National Emergency, you say. What about the National Guard? Aren't they dual hatted to serve in support of the military AND to serve their states in response to national emergencies? Well, yes, they are. What about the highly important and visible role they play at airports? Don't most airports already have police, fire, rescue, and security elemnts working there? Well, yes, they do. Now what, you ask. The government tears down, repeals the institutionalized walls outlawing the sharing of information that Hillary Clinton was instrumental in putting up and allow the standing and proven methods of investigative, law enforcement, intelligence, and common sense to work.

Oh, yes, support Electrolux, they said that putting more sharia compliant rules in play within their organization sucks.

Thank you and have a great weekend.

2011 DHS Fiscal Grant Allocations Announced

Fiscal 2011 DHS Preparedness Grant Allocations Announced

By: News Staff on August 24, 2011

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced on Wednesday, Aug. 24, the final allocations for 12 preparedness grant programs totaling more than $2.1 billion. In fiscal year 2011, DHS grants were reduced by $780 million for the fiscal 2010 enacted level, nearly one-quarter of fiscal 2010 DHS grant funding.

"In today's tight fiscal environment, we are setting clear priorities and focusing on the areas that face the greatest risk to maximize our limited grant dollars," said Napolitano in a statement. "The FY 2011 homeland security grants are focused on mitigating and responding to the evolving threats we face."

The 9/11 Commission recommended that homeland security funds be allocated "based strictly on an assessment of risks and vulnerabilities" to focus limited funding in the highest risk areas. The grant awards announced on Wednesday focus on the highest risk cities, while continuing to provide dedicated funding to law enforcement to prepare for, prevent and respond to pre-operational activity and other crimes that are precursors or indicators of terrorist activity.

The fiscal 2011 grant guidance incorporated feedback from the DHS' state, local, tribal and territorial, and private-sector partners and includes specific steps undertaken by the DHS to improve the ability of state and local partners to apply for and utilize grant funding. From 2002 through 2011, more than $32.1 billion has been awarded in preparedness grants.

Preparedness grant program awards for fiscal year 2011 include:

Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) — more than $1.28 billion total:

• State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) — more than $526 million to support the implementation of state homeland security strategies to build and strengthen preparedness capabilities at all levels. The 9/11 Act requires states to dedicate 25 percent of SHSP appropriated funds to law enforcement terrorism prevention-oriented planning, organization, training, exercise and equipment activities.
   
• Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) — more than $662 million to enhance regional preparedness capabilities in 31 high-threat, high-density urban areas. In order to focus limited resources to mitigate and respond to evolving threats, the 11 highest risk areas (Tier 1) were eligible for more than $540 million, while the remaining 20 urban areas, designated Tier II were eligible for more than $121 million. The 9/11 Act requires states to dedicate 25 percent of UASI appropriated funds to law enforcement terrorism prevention-oriented activities.
   
• Operation Stonegarden (OPSG) — more than $54 million to enhance cooperation and coordination among local, tribal, territorial, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to secure the United States land and maritime borders.
   
• Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) — more than $34 million to enhance and sustain comprehensive regional mass casualty incident response and preparedness capabilities, divided evenly among 124 MMRS jurisdictions.
   
• Citizen Corps Program (CCP) — more than $9 million to engage citizens in community preparedness, planning, mitigation, response and recovery activities.

Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program (THSGP) — $10 million for eligible tribes to implement preparedness initiatives to help strengthen the nation against risk associated with potential terrorist attacks and other hazards.

Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) — more than $18 million allocated based on risk, to support target-hardening activities to nonprofit organizations that are at a high risk of a terrorist attack and located within one of the fiscal 2011 UASI-eligible urban areas.

Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPSP) — more than $14 million to enhance catastrophic incident preparedness in selected high-risk, high-consequence urban areas and their surrounding regions in order to support coordination of regional all-hazard planning for catastrophic events.

Emergency Operations Center Grant Program (EOC) — more than $14 million to support the construction or renovation of emergency operations centers to improve state, local or tribal emergency management and preparedness capabilities to ensure continuity of operations during disasters.

Driver's License Security Grant Program (DLSGP) — more than $45 million to improve the reliability and accuracy of personal identification documents that states and territories issue, prevent terrorism and reduce fraud.

Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) — more than $200 million to owners and operators of transit systems to protect critical surface transportation from acts of terrorism and increase the resilience of transit infrastructure.

Freight Rail Security Grant Program (FRSGP) — more than $7 million to freight railroad carriers, owners and operators of railroad cars, and owners of rail bridges to protect critical surface transportation infrastructure from acts of terrorism and increase the resilience of the freight rail system.

Intercity Passenger Rail (IPR-Amtrak) Program — more than $22 million to protect critical surface transportation infrastructure and the traveling public from acts of terrorism and to increase the resilience of the Amtrak rail system.

Intercity Bus Security Gant Program (IBSGP) — nearly $5 million to support security measures including plans, facility security upgrades and vehicle and driver protection for fixed-route intercity and charter bus services that serve UASI jurisdictions.

Port Security Grant Program (PSGP) — more than $235 million to help protect critical port infrastructure from terrorism, enhance maritime domain awareness and strengthen risk management capabilities in order to protect against improvised explosive devices and other nonconventional weapons.

Emergency Management Performance Grants (EMPG) — more than $329 million has been awarded to assist state and local governments to enhance and sustain all-hazards emergency management capabilities
http://www.emergencymgmt.com/disaster/Fiscal-2011-DHS-Preparedness-Grant-Allocations.html

Sanctioned Murder

Muzzammill Hassan of Bridges TV beheads his wife. He claimed that he was being beaten by her and fought back, killing her in self defense. According to reports, the victim Aasiya Zufir, was on the phone with her sister in Cape Town, South Africa. Her sister reported hearing Aasiya struggling. Muzzammill apparently came in while Aasiya was on the phone. Aasiya said they could talk about the divorce later. It would appear that she was strangled, at the very least this was likely just part of what killed her.

It is not exactly easy to saw through a neck. It is not necessarily a quick slash of a knife. Paqrticularly if the two involved are fighting. Is it possible that Muzzammill took a knife and, in one wild swing, sliced Aasiya's throat? Yes, but it is highly unlikely.

Several years ago I found on liveleaks.com a video of a couple being stoned to death. It was clearly a cell phone video. It showed a young man and a girl each being wrapped in white sheets, and, yes, they fought and cried. The two were each buried up to their waists. The members of their society, I am loathe to call them people, threw stones at the two. After the two victims collapsed in the clearly blood soaked sheets, the stones continued. What was the crime? They were alleged to be in love and planned to elope.
I recently posted about a man (only by gender, because no real man would do this) who machine gunned his six daughters in his bedroom. Why? Because one of his two sons claimed that two of the girls had boyfriends.
Why? Why is it that a man can claim he committed these heinous crimes, or worse (gang rape prior to being murdered is one such example happening now), in the thinly veiled excuse of honor?
Honor, to hold in regard or treat with respect is how Webster's Dictionary defines it. These acts are nothing short of crimes against the person and humanity. Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute ofthe International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings. They are not isolated or sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy (although the perpetrators need not identify themselves with this policy) or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated orcondonedbya governmentora de facto authority. Murder; extermination; torture; rape; political, racial, or religious persecution and other inhumane acts reach the threshold of crimes against humanity only if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice. Isolated inhumane acts of this nature may constitute grave infringements of human rights, or depending on the circumstances, war crimes, but may fall short of falling into the category of crimes under discussion.
Whether it be a grown woman who has realized her husband's previous marriages failed due to his behavior, a woman barely 20 trying to establish her life and well being, a woman distraught in a forced marriage, women arrested in groups for wanting freedom and equality, or the possibility that a girl seeks her own happiness murder is still murder. By claIming it was done for honor changes nothing. There is no honor in murdering a child, only selfishness. The self serving, self centered fear of the male (not man) being perceived in a different light.
These crimes are not happening just in Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Somalia, and Canada but also in the United States. I have several posts on this and will continue to post them. Those victimized need a voice and justice. Freedom of speech and Justice For All is why they tried to escape from or change their home countries.
http://m.examiner.com/exBaltimore/pm_63622/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=iLBg639L

Secret Talks

BLUF

The bottom line up front for holding Secret Talks with any terrorist is to say "Let me save face as I offer you a surrender." Look at Somalia, peace talks are also used as a time to re-arm. In that book they read it talks about the Peace of Salah Din. In this peace agreement, those who quietly offered surrender were slaughtered once they lay down their arms.

How much of our tax dollars went to pay for a failed surrender attempt?

Secret peace talks between US and Taliban collapse over leaks

Secret exploratory peace talks between the United States and the Taliban leadership have broken down after details of the negotiations were leaked, Western diplomats have told The Daily Telegraph. 

By Dean Nelson, Ben Farmer in Kabul

9:00PM BST 10 Aug 2011

The breakdown in the talks at such an early stage has led to recriminations and claims that the details of the meetings and the identity of the Taliban's chief negotiator were deliberately leaked by 'paranoid' Afghan government figures.

Absolute confidentiality had been a key condition for the meetings which were held in Germany and Qatar earlier this year between Tayeb Agha, Taliban leader Mullah Omar's former private secretary, and senior officials from the US State Department and Central Intelligence Agency. The meetings were chaired by Michael Steiner, Germany's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The talks were described as a preliminary exercise aimed at agreeing a series of confidence-building measures to persuade the Taliban that the United States and its allies are serious about a negotiated settlement, sources close to the talks told The Daily Telegraph.

They said Taliban leaders were extremely nervous about entering talks because of widespread scepticism among their own commanders who believed the Americans were only seeking dialogue to divide their movement and fears that any discussions would damage their own credibility.

But after only three sessions details of two meetings in Germany and one in Qatar – held in March and April - were leaked to the Washington Post and Der Spiegel news magazine which named Tayeb Agha as the key Taliban negotiator.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/8693247/Secret-peace-talks-between-US-and-Taliban-collapse-over-leaks.html

Week In Review

This week has been busy for a number of people in a number of countries. 108 terror related bombings, which include those that were hoaxes and those which were found prior to detonation. The targets of these attacks include police, students, medical facilities, transit centers, and the like. Some of the bombings were dual attacks; that is to say, there was a second bomb timed to go off during the first responders arrival. One large attack in Iraq this week was timed to blow up people who were simply cashing their checks.

Syrian bodies, I presume Syrians, were reportedly being dumped into the ocean for disposal. Isn’t this some sort of environmental issue?

All these years later and people are still getting mysterious powders mailed in envelopes, why? Because fear works; that is the point of terrorism, to cause fear for a political gain.

Of course the United Nations is going to say nothing and do less in the wake of the attacks this week. The largest voting bloc in the UN is the OIC, the Organization of Islamic Countries; a group that has infiltrated and adopted its own policies which are contrary to all the principles of America. Yet, America still pays more than 25% of the UN operating budget and has paid to Middle Eastern states (which comprise the OIC) $33,486,000,000. That is nearly thirty three and a half BILLION dollars paid into the coffers of our enemies. That number, as shocking and sickening as it is, is only the tip of the iceberg.

The member states of the OIC are also U.N. members. Doesn’t this create a situation in which some states are represented twice while other member states are represented by one person?

The OIC has stood in the way of the US led Global War on Terror in many ways. One is by maintaining ccontradictions between OIC's and other U.N. member’s legal definition of terrorism. This has stymied efforts at the U.N. to produce a comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

In 2008 OPEC/OIC states have received $11,734,000,000 US Tax Dollars. I don’t know about you, but I want to identify the elected representatives who insist on these monies being paid, and firing them. Those reps should not even be eligible for their ”pension” after doing this. That is just my opinion, for what it’s worth.

Korea is in charge of the U.N. Office of Disarmament and the head of the Iranian Guard Corps is now the president of OPEC. A gross and I do mean ‘gross’ violator of disarmament principles, human rights, and an armed psychopath who has threatened America with unprovoked nuclear attacks is now in charge of policing the world’s weapons.

The price of gas is only going to get worse. I really cannot summarize the threats illustrated by Wiki-Leaks which I posted earlier this week. I expect that Obama is going to kill the Keystone XL Pipeline project. All those jobs, union members and non-union alike, are going to not happen.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has been busy ethnically cleansing itself. Enjoy the return on the investment of $963,000,000 dollars in 2008 in Pakistan.

The question is what now? What do we do now? We stop the leaks. Those bills, laws, acts, all that leaad to sending our money to our enemies need to be repealed, and the wirters/supporters removed. If the people who are in leadership positions can not love, honor, and respect this country and her citizens then they have no right being in those leadership positions.

North Korea Disarming The World

Meanwhile, the UN wants to have Kim Jung-il as the head of disarmament.

Joint Statement of NGOs Against North Korea’s
Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament

The undersigned coalition of human rights and non-governmental organizations strongly protest North Korea’s presidency of the Conference on Disarmament (CD), for the reasons described below.  We call on all CD Member States to register their protest, as Canada has already done.  We also call on North Korea to hand over its presidency to a more suitable country.

1.   North Korea is a Gross Violator of Disarmament Principles and Flouts UN Security Council Decisions

The North Korean regime has no credibility on disarmament. Few if any countries pose a greater nuclear threat to the world than North Korea. The rogue regime, led by the unstable dictator Kim Jong-il, possesses an estimated dozen nuclear weapons combined with a record of hostile actions and threats to its neighbors and the world at large.  Moreover, as reported by a UN panel last year, North Korea has defied UN sanctions and used front companies to export nuclear and missile technology to the repressive regimes in Iran, Syria and Burma.

Just last week, the IAEA found that North Korea’s nuclear program remains a matter of “serious concern,” noting reports about the construction of a new uranium enrichment facility and a light water reactor.

Even for a short period, the symbolism of an international outlaw heading “the undisputed home of international arms control efforts”—as the CD was recently described by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon—is terribly wrong. 

We further note: 

• On July 15, 2006, ten days after North Korea test launched a series of missiles, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1695 requiring all UN member states to “prevent the transfer of missile and missile-related items, materials, goods and technology to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s missile or weapons of mass destruction programs, as well as procurement of such items and technology from that country.” The resolution further cited North Korea for having “endangered civil aviation and shipping through its failure to provide adequate advance notice.”

• On October 7, 2006, three years after it withdrew from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, North Korea conducted its first nuclear test. In response, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1718, finding North Korea’s actions to constitute “a clear threat to international peace and security,” barring a range of military goods from entering or leaving North Korea, and imposing an asset freeze and travel ban on persons related to the nuclear-weapon program.

• In April 2009, North Korea violated this resolution with another rocket launch. The President of the Security Council issued a statement condemning North Korea, and demanded that it cease conducting further launches.

• In May 2009, North Korea conducted another nuclear test, detonating a bomb comparable to those that obliterated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1874, finding that North Korea’s clear threat to international peace and security “continues to exist,” and sharpening the import-export ban of weapons to North Korea by calling on all states to inspect, seize and dispose of military items and deny fuel or supplies to vessels carrying them.

• Two months ago, U.S. Navy warships intercepted a North Korean vessel carrying missiles to Burma and turned it around.

North Korea has allowed millions of its own people to literally starve to death in order to pursue its illicit nuclear-weapons arsenal. North Korea is currently facing another famine. Yet history shows that aid may not even help. An estimated two million people were killed by famine in the 1990s, while Kim Jong-il and his regime kept foreign aid for themselves. 

2.  North Korea is a Gross Violator of Human Rights

As one of the world’s worst violators of human rights, North Korea should not be granted the symbolic legitimacy of chairing a world body dedicated to peace.

The United Nations General Assembly and Human Rights Council have repeatedly condemned North Korea for its massive violations of human rights. Resolution 65/225 (2010), the UNGA’s most recent condemnation of North Korea, found, inter alia, the following gross violations: 

• Systematic, widespread and grave violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights;
• Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including inhuman conditions of detention, public executions, extrajudicial and arbitrary detention;
• The absence of due process and the rule of law,  including fair trial guarantees and an independent judiciary;
• The imposition of the death penalty for political and religious reasons;
• Collective punishments;
• The existence of a large number of prison camps and the extensive use of forced labour;
• All-pervasive and severe restrictions on the freedoms of thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association, the right to privacy and equal access to information, by such means as the persecution of individuals exercising their freedom of opinion and expression, and their families, and on the right of everyone to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives, of his or her country;
• The violations of economic, social and cultural rights, which have led to severe malnutrition, widespread health problems and other hardship for the population in North Korea, in particular for persons in exposed groups such as women, children and the elderly;
• Violations of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women, in particular the trafficking of women for the purpose of prostitution or forced marriage and the subjection of women to human smuggling, forced abortions, gender-based discrimination, including in the economic sphere, and gender-based violence; and
• Violations of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of children, in particular the continued lack of access to basic economic, social and cultural rights for many children. 

Ramadan Begins

On The First Day of Ramadan I beat people in the town square!

While the UN dallies and Obama dithers, the violence against the people of Syria by their own dictator escalates. This is how Obama handled Iran in 2009.

The Syrian crackdown in Hama elicited appalled condemnations on Monday from the European Union and President Obama, who called the violence there “horrifying.”
Tanks in Tahrir Square, really? I suppose that this is nothing new. We have come to expect this sort of thing from “peaceful” leadership changes, despotic regimes, and the like. Where is the horror and disgust, the outrage that we, the United States, showed for nearly the same thing at Tiananmen Square? The lack of emotion, outrage, and action is appalling! The current administration has bowed to the leaders that are committing
While the previous seven years of unstable relations with the Syrian leadership have given the United States cause to stand off, the administration has not made a clear statement about its policies of engagement in the Middle East. For instance, in Iran during the crackdowns against the people in Tehran Obama held back. Obama called for “mutual respect” between the leadership of our two countries. He wanted to have the face of respect from a country that was beating, shooting, and raping its own citizens for complaining about harsh treatment. The State Department wanted lawmakers to believe that Obama found Syria’s relationship with Iran troubling. Still, the Obama Administration gives Syria legitimacy, in spite of apparent troubling close relations with Iran, a nation with which Obama seems to approach warmly. Did he really think no one would be watching?
After months of elected officials urging Obama to do something, like recall political officials, urge the UN to talk about sanctions, throw a shoe at Syria, anything. Obama acts, not against Syrian President Assad, but an asset freeze and a ban on business dealings with the U.S. – on three senior Syrian regime officials – Assad’s brother, Mahir; the president’s cousin, Atif Najib; and his intelligence chief Ali Mamluk .
How many more have to die before Syria meets the same quick, stalwart, decisive actions (16 months of dithering) end that Osama had? What has to happen to elevate the situation high enough for Obama to take control and give operations to NATO? Oh, yes, there is a closed door session going on at the UN building. Obama has to wait for the international peace organization (whose membership includes Syria) to figure out if they are going to write a strongly worded condemnation.


But, hey, don't take my word for it. Check it out on You Tube!!

Clinton, UN, et al Get Called With The BS Flag!!!

Alright, folks, I encourage all of you to throw the bright yellow BS Flag on me because I am going to throw it on everyone I can. Secretary of State Clinton has just promised $28 Million dollars of aid to Somalia. This is due to the drought and the starvation of this war-torn country.

Look at the guilt inducing line that France is using. The world has failed Somalia. Failed them? How? This is one of the many countries in which the people live and die by the proverb that starts with Me and My country against the world and boils down to Me. They start off with fighting the world, but when they starve it is our fault?

Also, the southern regions of Somalia where Clinton indicated that she wants to send the aid is held by al-Shabaab, a terrorist affiliate of al-Qaida. Any aid that goes in is going to go straight to Shabaab. They have killed aid convoy drivers and guards to get the food in better times. They certainly will now.

Shabaab has also BANNED, under threat of death that, if they EVER set foot near Somali soil, these organizations’ workers will be killed. Those aid organizations that are allowed there are operating in conjunction with Shabaab just to stay alive.

Somalia is now, and has forever (at least since Mohamad's  cousin, Somali, was there) a Money Making Scheme that DWARFS all pyramid mailbag schemes.

25 July 2011 Last updated at 07:22 ET

Horn of Africa famine: France warns of 'scandal'

The BBC's Andrew Harding says getting aid deeper into Somalia "is very slow, very complicated and... very dangerous""

Continue reading the main story

The world has "failed to ensure food security", France's agriculture minister has said at the UN food agency crisis talks on East Africa's drought.

"If we don't take the necessary measures, famine will be the scandal of this century," AFP news agency quotes Bruno Le Maire as saying in Rome.

More than 10m people are thought to be at risk of starvation and famine has been declared in two areas of Somalia.

Ahead of the summit, the World Bank pledged $500m (£307m) to help.

Some $12m will be for immediate assistance to those worst hit by what the UN says is East Africa's worst drought in 60 years.

But the bulk of the money will go towards long-term projects to aid livestock farmers.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged donor nations to supply an extra $1.6bn in aid.

Earlier the Red Cross said it had delivered food to one of Somalia's worst-hit areas, which is controlled by Islamists.

Working through a local committee, the Red Cross delivered food for 24,000 people by lorry.

'Question of life and death'

Analysis Andrew Harding Africa correspondent

---

There are dozens of experienced local aid organisations already working throughout Somalia - a fact that often gets lost in the furore over al-Shabab's hostile attitude towards some of the bigger international organisations, like WFP.

There's no doubt that the drought - and the Arab spring - have shaken up the security situation in Somalia.

Anecdotal evidence suggests al-Shabab is now seriously short of money, more divided than ever, and many of the foreign jihadist fighters who came to join it have left the country for other struggles.

Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group which controls large swathes of south and central Somalia, had imposed a ban on foreign aid agencies in its territories in 2009, but has recently allowed limited access.

But the World Food Programme says it still cannot reach 2.2 million people inside Somalia as refugees continue to pour over the Kenyan and Ethiopian borders.

Somalia is thought to be worst-hit by the crisis, but Ethiopia and Kenya have also been affected.

Analysts say the drought has been caused by the lack of rains and the failure of governments to adequately finance agriculture and irrigation schemes.

The meeting of ministers from the G20 nations at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation headquarters in Rome was requested by France, the current chair of the G20 group of powerful economies.

"Our meeting is a question of life or death for tens of thousands of people," Mr Le Maire said at the start of the meeting, AFP reports.

Bob Geldof and other celebrity activists are urging the international community to come up with more cash.

They accuse some countries - Italy, France, the Arab states and Germany - of contributing too little in proportion to their national wealth.

Ethiopia safety-net

Mr Le Maire told the BBC said the first aim of the meeting was to co-ordinate the aid and response to the crisis.

"The second goal is also to think about the future and the long-term perspective because what we see here in Africa is that people need to have their own food and to have their own agriculture," he said.

BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says many people at the heart of the current disaster - in Ethiopia - have emerged relatively unscathed.

This is because the government in Addis Ababa has such an extensive safety net in place, he says.

Pre-positioned supplies mean the Ethiopian authorities could respond rapidly once the extent of the drought became clear.

The first food distributions began in February and have continued to the worst effected communities across a vast area.

Communities are suffering, but the famine that has hit neighbouring Somalia has so far been avoided in Ethiopia and overall the disaster management system, built up since the 1980s, has worked.

Al-Shabab bans 3 Aid Organizations from its territories

Allvoices – Mohammed Omar Hussein

Al-Shabab an armed adversary Islamist faction in Somalia has banned the operation of three humanitarian organizations within its territories mainly in southern and central Somalia.

They (Al-Shabab) said that these three humanitarian organizations are spreading Christianity within the Muslim communities in Somalia.

The names of these three humanitarian organizations which are stopped from operating in Al-Shabab controlled areas are; World Vision, ADRA AND DIAKONIA.

The banning of the three humanitarian organizations came after a decree has came out a branch of Al-Shabab called (OSAFA) which deals with the monitoring of the humanitarian organizations in the places where they control.

In the decree from Al-Shabab’s humanitarian monitoring office says that ADRA was the founder of a church called the Seventh - day Adventist church. And when it comes to DIAKONA it was said that it is behind the establishment of three big churches in Sweden whereby thousands of Christians gather for prayers.

And lastly but not the least the decree says that the WORLD VISION is spreading Christianity among the Somali people and by seeing its log one can automatically see that this is an organization which is disguising itself in the name of charity, but in the real sense spreading Christianity.

In the last paragraph of the decree from the Al-Shabab office has warned the other sub-contract organizations which are clandestinely affiliated with the banned organization to stop their activities immediately.

Al-Shabab has earlier uprooted several other humanitarian organizations from the areas under its authority such as World Programme and CARE International while thousands of Somalis are severely suffering of malnutrition and other related human problems.

Al Shabaab’s Real And Perceived Victims

Thursday, 11 February 2010 10:33 By Ogaden Online Staff

Militants of al Shabaab train with weapons on a street in the outskirts of Mogadishu,early November (Photo: Mowlid Abdi / Reuters)

Editors Note: This is the first part of a three part series examining the hreat, real or perceived, posed by Al Shabaab, its beneficiaries, and how est to talk this threat.

Lately, perusing the news events from many Western countries such as the United States of America (USA), Canada, Great Britain, and Australia, for example, one would be forgiven to assume that these countries are under an ‘imminent’ attack from a group known as Al Shabaab. Al Shabaab is an Arabic term referring to youth in general. It is also a group with a ragtag army consisting of ‘religious’ vagabonds from many parts of the globe and some confused local Somali youth.

Authorities in the USA have, and continue to have, investigated the sudden disappearance of some American and Somali American youth who were believed to have been ‘recruited’ by Al Shabaab. Al Shabaab, through what later turned out to be a Somali Canadian ‘inter-clan rivalry’, even succeeded in being investigated as being a potent threat to the historic swearing in ceremony of President Obama in January 2009.

The Canadians have, and continue to have, dealt with cases regarding the disappearance of some Somali Canadian youth. The way the head of the Canadian national police force known as the RCMP discussed publicly the threat posed by Al Shabaab to Canada recently, one would have thought that Al Shabaab fighters were now roaming the streets in many Canadian cities.

It is believed that the Australians have a task force dealing with the potential threat posed by Al Shabaab or what the Western intelligence community may term as local Al Shabaab sympathizers. There have even been arrests in Australia of armed individuals who were reported to have been planning to attack a major Australian military installation.

The way Al Shabaab had lately grabbed the attention of the Western intelligence community, politicians and policy analysts alike, one might think that this face-covering ‘religious’ zealots and confused local Somali youth from southern Somalia have the means to launch attacks with devastating effects against the West.

Yet, many political and military analysts in the Horn of Africa (HOA) believe that even though the group may boast with preposterous propaganda threatening future attacks in far-flung Western countries, in the near term, Al Shabaab has neither the military means nor the logistical capability to launch attacks beyond Southern Somalia.

Although the news from the West may sound as if the West is a victim of Al Shabaab, both military and political experts in the HOA interviewed by the Ogaden Online Staff (OOS) as part of the research for this writing agree that Al Shabaab’s REAL victims are the Somali Nation, Somalis in Somalia and those in the Western Diaspora, and the just cause of the Ethnic Somalis in Ogaden respectively.

The Somali Nation

There is no argument that Al Shabaab has victimized the Somali nation in general. It has destroyed many national monuments. It dug the graves of the long dead, both Somalis and foreigners. It has banned the use of the blue Somali national flag with the white star. In all throughout southern Somalia, it has mandated the use of its own black flag with an Arabic inscription.

In essence, what Al Shabaab has succeeded in doing in the short time it has been in control of Southern Somalia is to destroy anything of substance to the Somalis as a nation. An individual with immense knowledge of the Somali nation termed Al Shabaab’s victimization of the Somali
nation as nothing short of a national ‘calamity.’ The individual concluded that Al Shabaab’s sole objective appears to be the total eradication of any symbol that the Somali nation may have had in the past.

Al Shabaab appears determined to destroy, by any means, the only thing that has survived the twenty plus years Somali civil war: the sanctity of the Islamic religion. Although there has been a long history of Somali inter or intra-clan warfare, there has never been a Somali war, civil or otherwise, based on religion.

What Al Shabaab has done is to label any Somali national-the majority of the most prominent religious Islamic Somali scholars have rejected Al Shabaab’s ideology, who does not agree with its ideology and narrow-minded interpretation of the Islamic religion as a Takfir – an ‘apostasy in Islam.’ An HOA political analyst pointed out that “the intention is deliberate and is meant to remove any dissenting voices by using the Islamic religion as a cover and a basis for its ‘wicked’ actions against  the Somali nation.”

As one of the most vivid, yet, recent examples of the Takfirization of individuals or groups who oppose Al Shabaab’s agenda or its recent prominence in southern Somalia, a prominent HOA scholar pointed to the  root cause of the recent war between Al Shabaab and a group called Xisbul  Islam, Islamic Party.

The scholar rightly postulated as was also publicly acknowledged by Al Shabaab, that the Xisbul Islam group was simply demanding that Al Shabaab fulfill its part of the bargain to administer the Southern City of  Kismaayo as was agreed to when the groups took the city from a Somali warlord back in 2008. Instead, Al Shabaab labeled the leader of this group in Southern Somali as a Takfir and waged a brutal war which caused untold casualties within the two opposing groups and to the Somalis living in  southern Somalia as many had to flee their homes and seek refuge in Kenya.

Somalis in Somalia

The victims most impacted by Al Shabaab’s daily transgressions in the name of Islam are the Somalis who live in the areas where Al Shabaab now either fully controls, such as southern Somalia, or the places where it wages its war of attrition. These Somalis, through no fault of their own, now find themselves ruled by individuals some of whom may have less than three years of formal Islamic knowledge, let alone any idea of Islamic jurisprudence.

These individuals call themselves Emirs, Islamic leaders, although they may have little or no knowledge of the Islamic religion. These very same individuals may issue misguided ‘religious edicts’ ordering the loss of limps such as hands and or legs for individuals accused of theft without verifiable evidence as demanded by Islam or without them first providing the accused ‘thief or thieves’ sustenance which may have otherwise prevented them from stealing in the first place as is mandated by Islam.

They may order the stoning to death of accused ‘adulterers’ mainly women to date without providing witnesses who were present when and where the actual adultery may have taken place which is what is required under Islamic law. Worse, without any considerations to logic or logistics, these ‘Emirs’ may order, for example, the women in an entire city to cover  themselves from head to toe in a short amount of time, say in a day or two.

A knowledgeable source once articulated the absurdity and the logistical impossibility of the Somalis fulfilling such illogical ‘edicts’ as this: “Even if the city folks, as happened in Baidoba for example, were ready to fulfill the edict, one would neither find the clothing nor the tailors to make such clothing for an entire city in such a short turnaround.”

Somalis in the Diaspora

Given the twenty plus year old Somali civil strive and the former Somali military rule, many Somalis have found themselves resettling in many countries including those in the West in droves. Although it is not easy  to obtain an accurate count of the number of Somalis living in any one of these nations, however it is believed that the largest Somali Diaspora community in the West is found in Canada.

Most of these Somalis have now become citizens of their host countries. Many of these Somalis may also have had children who were born in the West or who may have spent most of their early childhood and now adolescence life in the West. Many of these youth may have yet to see their parents’ birth places in Somalia.

Since there are areas such as the North West and North East, for example, where people enjoy relative peace and have some sort of local governance compared to the South, it has become a tradition for some individuals from these areas to send their kids during the extended summer school breaks to these areas of Somalia. The adults may have also either gone back to start businesses or to visit their loved ones.

With the ascension and sudden prominence of Al Shabaab in Somalia, any one especially the Somali youth who travels to Somalia now is automatically labeled and investigated by the intelligence authorities in these countries. The suspicion is that these citizens of Somali origin may be going there for reasons other than visiting family members.

During the extensive research undertaken for this writing, one of the Ogaden Online Staff staff came across a case that highlights the enormity of the situation faced by the naturalized Somali citizens in the West as a result of Al Shabaab’s prominence. In one of the Western countries, parents of Somali origin are said to have sent back to Somalia one of their sons for what was said to be a family visit.

The son was reported to have died after being stabbed to death by a local Somali youth following an argument. When the parents reported their son’s death in Somalia to their adopted country, it is said that they were suspected of covering up for their son’s death following what the local authority termed as ‘fighting for Al Shabaab.’ It is said that the family had to stop the burial of their son in their home country in order to bring their son’s remains back to the West for an autopsy to prove the cause of his death.

The Ogaden Cause - Viewed as a Collateral Damage

Towards the end of the year 2008, many individuals may not recall that the regime of Meles Zenawi, the leader of the Woyane clique in Ethiopia, was in a very bad shape both militarily and politically following its failed  military excursion in Somalia. Zenawi’s regime failed to provide any tangible proof of the thousands of ‘foreign militants’ it claimed to have pursued inside Somalia. Despite having an army numbered in excess of 50,000, it had also failed militarily to help the Somali Transitional Federal Government (STFG) stand on its feet given the historical enmity between the two nations.

Instead of helping the STFG, It is believed that Meles Regime in Ethiopia worked tirelessly behind the scenes against the strengthening of the STFG by arming and coddling local warlords in its payroll. Worse, Zenawi’s regime was accused by reputable human rights organizations such as Amnesty International of indiscriminate shelling of civilians, extrajudicial killings, and many crimes against humanity committed by its poorly trained army deployed in Somalia.

At the same time, was finally facing an excessive pressure from the West brought on by the most extensive human rights research undertaken by a Western human rights organization concerning the genocide that was taking place in Ogaden. Human Rights Watch  (HRW) published its report of ‘crimes against humanity’ in Ogaden perpetrated by the same Zenawi led that at the time had large military presence in Somalia.

The European Union stopped its aid as a result of these reported and verified with the help of commercial satellite images of Woyane led  human rights transgressions. At the same time, the USA government was rethinking about its strategy in the horn. It was reported by highly placed sources that towards the end of 2008, the USA government was pressuring the Woyane-led regime in Ethiopian to pull out of Somalia altogether. The US was also said at the time to have been quietly demanding that Zenawi and his clique in Addis Ababa address the human rights situation in Ogaden.

When the Ogaden issue finally appeared to have gained traction in the West, all over sudden Al Shabaab gained military prominence in southern Somalia. Given that the West was wary of the threat, real or perceived, posed by Al Shabaab; given that not a single country in the West was willing to militarily deploy its troops in Somalia to nip in the bud the threat posed by Al Shabaab, the West started to ease the pressure on Zenawi’s regime in Ethiopia.

Instead of continuing the demands for Zenawi to open up access to Ogaden for the world to witness the genocide it perpetrated there, many Western countries with clout in the horn viewed Zenawi and his poorly trained militias masquerading as the Ethiopian army as what a HOA analyst termed as a ‘necessary evil.’ Zenawi’s regime all over sudden became an ‘evil’ that could one day deploy its troops back in Somalia should Shabaab militants attempt to extend its territorial gains. Thus, the Ogaden issue and the just cause of the Somalis in Ogaden became forgotten again given all the talk of ‘religious’ vagabonds who were claiming to be reading to cross in to Ogaden to pursue the ‘Ethiopians.’

To date, Zenawi’s dictatorial regime continues to overplay its newly found calling card called Al Shabaab. When there is talk of its human rights transgression in Ogaden, it always brings a quote from yet another ‘religious’ Al Shabaab illiterate who is claiming to be ready to wage Jihad, holy war, with the ‘Ethiopians’ in Ogaden. In essence, such talk appears to allow the West to look the other side when it comes to the  genocide in Ogaden in order to keep the Zenawi’s Woyane led militants onside just in case they are needed militarily in the near future.

Conclusion

It is undeniable that the West has awoken to the sudden military dominance of Al Shabaab in southern Somalia. It is also undeniable that the West is not in the near term a victim of Al Shebaab’s militancy shenanigans. However, today there are real victims of Al Shabaab. The once proud but now down trodden Somali nation is the first victim of Al Shabaab. The Somali people both inside Somalia and those in the West have suffered due to and as a result of Al Shabaab’s prominence.

Moreover, Zenawi’s dictatorial regime has taken advantage of the rise of Al Shabaab by changing the channels on the Ogaden genocide. It is in the West’s interest and in the interest of the people of the Horn of Africa that both the threat posed by Al Shabaab and the Zenawi led  regime be addressed properly.


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By Ogaden Online Staff

Last Updated ( Thursday, 11 February 2010 11:23 )