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Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness
news & views you may not have seen about...iran, the middle east, terrorism, islam, human rights, media bias, us politics, freedom, democracy & much, much more
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Evin = torture chamber
2007-07-20 16:55:00
I've posted about this previously but you can listen to it here on NPR radio (good for them for airing this)...Former student leader Ali Afshari and human rights lawyer Mehrangiz Kar both spent time at the facility where two Iranian-American scholars are now detained. They describe their time in captivity. ...
Chamber
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British banks fight US over Iran embargo
2007-07-20 16:47:00
They want to do business with the mullahs, just like they always have...and the City of London views the US approach as a great bit of annoyance. They don't care where there money comes from, or how many innocent people die because of it at the end of the day. They're banks - their job is to make profits. I have a feeling the US will have more success with HSBC because it has significant US-based operations which the US can leverage against it if things get dirty...The Guardian has the story...A mounting US crackdown on foreign companies and banks doing business with Iran is provoking serious opposition in the UK and Europe, where diplomats are warning that the action could lead to a new trade war. Congress wants all international companies to end their investment in Iran now and is pushing through a bill that would penalise companies that fail to do so. The British government, along with other European governments, views the US approach as draconian and are lobbying hard against it. ...
British
Iran
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Kurdish journalist / activist sentenced to death in Iran
2007-07-20 16:43:00
Radio Free Europe has the scoop...Authorities in Iran's northwestern Kurdistan Province have condemned two ethnic Kurds to death for acting against the country's national security.Their lawyers told Radio Farda that they will appeal their death sentences.The trial has been accompanied by unconfirmed suggestions in the Iranian media that the two men -- journalist Adnan Hassanpur and social activist Hiwa Butimar -- were working with banned groups that oppose the government. ...
Activist
Death
Iran
Sentenced
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Another Israeli has it right
2007-07-20 16:39:00
Here's what Meridor said:Israel's ambassador to the United States, Sallai Meridor, said Wednesday that Israel and the free world are under attack by Iran, with a combination of fanaticism, terrorism and nuclear capability posing the most serious threat since the 1930s."We must prevent this nightmare," Meridor said at the "Night to Honor Israel" event, part of the second annual Christians United for Israel summit in Washington, D.C. "The world must act and act now."Meridor said Israel would take any steps necessary to ensure that Iran does not develop a nuclear bomb. "All options are on the table, and no matter what, they will not be able to get a nuclear weapon," he said. ...
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Iran: Cancel televised ‘confessions’
2007-07-20 16:36:00
Human Rights Watch reports:The Iranian government should cancel the scheduled July 18 broadcast of the “confessions” of two detained Iranian-Americans, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch expressed concern that Iranian authorities have used coercive means to compel Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh to make statements that may be later used to incriminate them in court. On July 16, 2007, Iranian television announced that Channel One would broadcast the “confessions” of Esfandiari and Tajbakhsh at 9:45 p.m. on July 18 and July 19. The authorities have held them in largely incommunicado detention for more than two months, preventing lawyers and family members from visiting them. They have only been permitted brief phone calls to family members.“Public ‘confessions’ of this kind are a shameful tactic used by oppressive governments around the world,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “It’s a way for governments to intimida ...
Iran
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Bahrain is part of Iran, didn't you know?
2007-07-20 16:23:00
Well, even though in practice many of the Middle Eastern country's serve as pawns for the mullahs' plans, Bahrain is not techically part of Iran today. So the "Supreme Leader's" adviser probably shouldn't say such things. But would that stop someone like him? Nah.Gulf Daily News has the story. The US State Department has accused Iran of behaving recklessly following comments that Bahrain was part of its territory.Earlier this month, Hussain Shariatmadari, the adviser to Iran's supreme leader, claimed in one of the country's daily newspapers that Bahrain was part of Iran.The Kayhan managing editor provoked widespread condemnation and more than 800 MPs, clerics and protestors gathered outside the Iranian Embassy in Bahrain last Saturday to object to his statement. ...
Iran
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I posted this comment on a BBC blog, but I doubt they'll publish it
2007-07-17 17:18:00
This was the blog post from the Beeb:What shall we make up tonight?Here at the BBC, we are masters at distortion and lies. If there's something you'd like us to embelish, or just make up from scratch - add it here, and we'll pop it on the air. And this was my comment...Well, at last, finally someone has it right! I never thought the BBC would admit it, though.Why don't you talk about the human rights abuses of the current Iranian regime against its own citizens over the last 27+ years and the hundreds of thousands of people that have been unfairly executed & tortured in ways unspeakable?You could at least do that once to balance the many times John Simpson has strolled around Tehran and said that everything is great and the people are happy - when the reality could be nothing further from the truth.You can start by reviewing the actions of the so-called moderate President Khatami here.Or some of Ahamadin-jihad's (and his pals') exploits can be found here.I look forward to see ...
Bbc
Blog
Doubt
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Great article from Michael Ledeen: 'Listen to the Military'
2007-07-17 17:01:00
I would highly recommend reading his latest instalment on the current situation of the Middle East. You can find the full article here. Some excerpts are copied below for convenience.In short, the president sees that it is a regional war, as it has been from the beginning, just as our enemies in Damascus and Tehran publicly told us it would be, even before a single American soldier set foot in Iraq. The two biggest causes of casualties in Iraq are non-indigenous: suicide bombers and constantly improving explosive devices deployed in and alongside roads. Eighty to ninety percent of all suicide bombers are foreigners (mostly Saudis who are trained in Syria), not Iraqis, and the explosives have long been known to be of Iranian design to contain Iranian components, and often constructed in Iran (see the latest intelligence news about al Qaeda reconstituting in Iran).Moreover, the spinal column of the terror army in Iraq is intimately linked to Iran and Syria. As U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin ...
Article
Military
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The US finally says something
2007-07-17 16:55:00
Text of Press Statement bySean McCormack, Spokesman for the US Department of StateJuly 16, 2007Iran: Crackdown on StudentsThe United States is deeply concerned by reports that Iranian authorities have increased their repression of student activists. Six students were beaten and detained on July 9 for participating in a sit-in commemorating the arrest of eight students earlier this spring; nine other students and a mother of a student were beaten and detained when authorities broke into the office of their student group, Office for Consolidation Unity. These repressive actions by the regime highlight an ongoing and alarming trend of intolerance toward any expression of independent views by the Iranian people.The United States stands with all students and civil society leaders in Iran, who courageously struggle for their universal rights and justice in their country. We continue to work with the international community through the United Nations, foreign governments, and international NG ...
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Interesting omission from AFP - is there only one 'real' government?
2007-07-17 16:39:00
LGF noticed a very interesting slip-up from Agence France Presse (AFP) newswire. Whether intentional or not, it reveals the true nature of today's so-called world politics: there is only one 'real' government. And a large part of the decision-making input into that organizing body comes from 'the' government from whose country the AFP story originated.Government welcomes new Bush peace proposal for Middle EastLONDON (AFP) - The government on Monday welcomed a new proposal by US President George W. Bush aimed at reopening long dormant Middle East peace talks with a conference later this year.“I welcome the important comments and commitments made by President Bush this afternoon,” Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in a statement released by the Foreign Office. ...
Government
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UK: Iran supplying arms to the Taliban
2007-07-17 16:32:00
Well there's a shocker! Surprised the mullah-enablers even mentioned it."We have successfully interdicted the transfer of arms across the Iranian border into the southern part of Afghanistan. To my knowledge, on at least two occasions—perhaps even more—we have identified markings on weaponry that suggest that it had its origins in Iran," British Defence Secretary Des Browne told Parliament.Browne said that the international community ought to make it clear to the Iranians that their actions in Afghanistan were "unacceptable". ...
Arms
Iran
Taliban
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Iran’s terror war against the US in Iraq
2007-07-17 16:28:00
Somebody else who is on the right trail....Alireza Jafarzadeh, a Fox News foreign affairs analyst. His recent article starts like this:Iran’s broad and destructive activities in Iraq are bringing renewed attention to the Iranian regime’s longstanding role as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. As it continues to fund Shi’ia militias in Iraq and deliver weapons such as IEDs to the insurgency, Tehran is also escalating its presence in the Middle East as part of its goal to export Islamic fundamentalist rule throughout the Muslim world.Earlier this month, Sen. Joseph Lieberman discussed this issue in the Wall Street Journal, summarizing that “Iran is acting aggressively and consistently to undermine moderate regimes in the Middle East, establish itself as the dominant regional power and reshape the region in its own ideological image.”New intelligence out of Iran reveals that Tehran has instituted several new strategies for building its presence in the neighboring ...
Iran
Iraq
Terror
War
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Pathetic: Musharraf begs Taliban to let him appease them
2007-07-17 16:23:00
This comes from Hot Air:“It’s a policy of appeasement,” the Pakistani general in charge of the tribal areas said last month of the “peace treaty” Musharraf signed with the pro-Taliban elders in the region. It’s also now been torn up in the wake of the Red Mosque assault by the local jihadis, who, to punctuate the schism, killed more than 70 Pakistanis over the weekend.Mush’s reaction? Beg them for reconciliation. ...
Taliban
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Update: Galloway and the Select Committee on Standards and Privileges
2007-07-17 16:06:00
Here's an update from Harry's Place. Some of the post is copied below fyi.Todays report of the Standards and Privileges Committee into George Galloway is being spun in various different ways by the MP and his Press Spokesman Ron McKay.As ever when George talks about cash, examine what he says closely.When read fully, the Report constitutes a damning indictment of the behaviour of an MP whose default position on cash related matters has been to dissemble. No surprise to those who have followed his behaviour over the decades.In essence, what the Report concludes is that Galloway connived to conceal that his appeal was funded with Oil for Food money, that the documents linking him, his wife and his press spokesman to the OFF programme are genuine. Galloway claims he did not benefit personally, which is not really the point.However, the Commissioner had no access to Galloway's bank accounts, or those controlled by his wife and so cannot trace where the $270,000 paid into them ended up. ...
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Iran: Police brutality against activists
2007-07-17 15:56:00
City Boy reports. The full post can be found here.In the last year the government has had a number of campaigns to frighten people away from the streets – this is apparent not only in the crackdowns on women rights activists, student activists, and workers activists, but also in the hejab crackdown, increasing amount of public executions, becoming the world’s leading child executioner and also what it called campaign against “immodest people” who they defined as thugs, criminals and later homosexuals too.......However what went unnoticed by many is that this campaign is used against the regime’s opposition activists too. In the past the regime had thrown political activists in to non-political prisons in order to give them a bad name and reputation among the people and other activists, but this time it found the perfect opportunity to take it further than before – beat them in public and hang them later.One such case was the brothers Pourya and Pouya Fazlollahi, one an indo ...
Brutality
Iran
Police
Police Brutality
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Iran: Execution of child offender imminent
2007-07-17 15:38:00
Amnesty Int'l reports. 16 years old. Man...Amnesty International has just learned that 18-year-old Sina Paymard, who was sentenced to death in Iran for a crime committed when he was just 16 years old, may be executed within the next few hours."Should this execution be carried out it would be in complete violation of international law," said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. "It would also be a morally unjustifiable, abhorrent act carried out by a government against one of its young citizens.""The Iranian government must take immediate steps to halt this execution."Sina Paymard, a musician, was nearly executed in September last year for murder. On the gallows, Sina's last request was to play the ney (a Middle Eastern flute) for the last time. The family of the victim was so moved by his playing that they granted him a last minute reprieve. Instead, they asked for 150 million toumans (over $US 160,000) as compensation. Sina's ...
Child
Iran
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You can wear a burka to school in the UK, but not a ring
2007-07-16 18:36:00
What a joke. I'm sure al-BBC, Europe's leading sponsor of Islam (with possibly the exception of Al Jazeera), wasn't to upset to publish the news. It is indeed a mad world.A 16-year-old girl was not discriminated against when she was banned from wearing a "purity ring" in school, the High Court has ruled. Lydia Playfoot was told by Millais School in Horsham, West Sussex, to remove her ring - which symbolises chastity - or face expulsion. The school had denied breaching her human rights and said it was "delighted" with the outcome....Miss Playfoot said she should be allowed to wear the ring because Sikh and Muslim pupils could wear bangles and headscarves in class......."Over two years ago, I was concerned at the number of teenagers who were catching sexually transmitted diseases, getting pregnant and/or having abortions," she said."The government's sex education programme is not working and the pressure on young people to 'give in' to sex continues to increase."This is often becau ...
Ring
School
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Where is Fouladvand? And why is no one reporting his absence?
2007-07-16 12:48:00
Dr. Froud Fouladvand is missing, and has been for a long time now. His own TV station has now admitted that they do not where he is or what has happened to him. There are many rumors circulating, but nobody knows for sure.Whatever one think about his tactics and strategy, he was one of the few people on TV trying to make a real difference through his programs - illuminating many of the realities behind Islam and trying (in his own way) to fight against the mullahs.The amazing thing is that not one of the other Iranian satellite TV stations has mentioned it. Could it be that they are too jealous of him, because he was/is 'real', and they just want to take his audience share now? Are they really that callous and corrupt?Many readers will recall that he was arrested at his home in North London in June 2005 under the guise of being a 'terrorist' and his house was trashed. Obviously MI5 wanted to seriously warn him to tone down his activities, or something along those lines.So what has ...
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Bill Clinton's clemency for terrorists
2007-07-16 12:39:00
How soon we forget. Clinton chides Bush for his behavior, but look at his own record...The blatant hypocrisy of the man who would once again share the White House is breathtaking. No, I'm not alluding to the fact that Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998 over perjury allegations surrounding the Monica Lewinski affair. I'm not pointing to the fact that he pardoned 140 people on Jan. 20, 2001, his last day in office. That list included his half brother Roger, his former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros and of course Marc Rich. No, I'm going back to what President Bill Clinton did in August of 1999. Against the advice of his Justice Department and against the advice of the FBI, Clinton offered conditional clemency to 16 jailed members of the FALN. In the 1970s and early 1980s this Puerto Rican terrorist group set off more than 130 bombs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. In January of 1975 they blew up Fraunces Tavern during lunchtime here in New York City. That blast killed four and injured 60 mo ...
Terrorists
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50 German firms smuggled nuclear material to Iran
2007-07-16 12:35:00
Always suspected it, and now it's coming out...NCRI reports. How does this not make bigger news? Oh yeah, I forgot who controls the Western media for a second...German prosecutors on Thursday said they are investigating some 50 companies suspected of smuggling technology to Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant via Russia.Berlin-based company Vero is suspected of having smuggled material to build the nuclear reactor through Poland to Moscow, from where it was taken to Iran, said Christoph Lange from the prosecutor's office in Potsdam near Berlin.He said Vero appeared to have been buying up nuclear technology in Germany and elsewhere in Europe since 2000 at the orders of Russia, which is constructing Iran's first nuclear power plant in the town of Bushehr.Lange said prosecutors have so far only traced material worth about five million euros (6.8 million dollars), but that this appeared to be the tip of the iceberg. Up to 150 million euros' worth of material may have left Germany for ...
Firms
German
Iran
Nuclear
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Good for Bulgaria
2007-07-16 12:34:00
They've imposed an arms embargo on Iran.Bulgaria’s Cabinet has decided to put an arms embargo on Iran, Liberia and Somalia.The embargo will be in accordance with a resolution by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the opinion of the Council of the European Union, Focus news agency reported.The international community introduced a series of restrictions on Iran and the arms embargo is a consequent restriction, Focus said. ...
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Top Iranian regime official defends stoning
2007-07-16 12:28:00
It was okay under Khomeini, it was okay under Rafsanjani, it was okay under Khatami, and it is okay under Ahmadin-jihad. And it happened under all of them, evil smiles or not (aka Khatami), and continues to today. They think it's fine. And apparently, so does the rest of the world's superpowers and religious heads, otherwise they would actually try to do something about it.Here it is in black & white:Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of the Iranian judiciary's human rights committee, said the judiciary supported the principle of stoning after confirmation last week of the stoning sparked international condemnation. "Stoning is based on Islamic Sharia law and it is not contrary to any of our international obligations," Larijani was quoted as saying by state television's Web site. "We have signed four important treaties on human rights. None of them has any opposition to stoning. "But since Westerners have their own interpretations of the articles and the contents of these docume ...
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Guardian: Bush leaning towards military action on Iran
2007-07-16 12:15:00
Saw this in The Guardian...starts like this:The balance in the internal White House debate over Iran has shifted back in favour of military action before President George Bush leaves office in 18 months, the Guardian has learned. The shift follows an internal review involving the White House, the Pentagon and the state department over the last month. Although the Bush administration is in deep trouble over Iraq, it remains focused on Iran. A well-placed source in Washington said: "Bush is not going to leave office with Iran still in limbo." ......The vice-president, Dick Cheney, has long favoured upping the threat of military action against Iran. He is being resisted by the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and the defence secretary, Robert Gates. Last year Mr Bush came down in favour of Ms Rice, who along with Britain, France and Germany has been putting a diplomatic squeeze on Iran. But at a meeting of the White House, Pentagon and state department last month, Mr Cheney expressed ...
Action
Guardian
Iran
Military
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Good news: Brits give laptop to imprisoned cyberjihadi
2007-07-16 12:12:00
Pretty hard to believe...if it didn't happen in England, that is. Hot Air reports:He and his two cybercronies pleaded guilty last week to inciting murder over the Internet. They found 37,000 stolen credit card numbers in his apartment harvested from viruses and phish e-mails and estimate that he and his pals racked up $3.5 million in fraudulent charges used to buy supplies for the jihad. Money was laundered through online gambling sites. They also were known to hack into sites and use their bandwidth to host jihadi videos, and on one of their computers the cops found “short video clips of the U.S. Capitol grounds, the World Bank building, a hazardous chemical response vehicle and local fuel storage facilities. Also on the laptop were instant message chat logs and a PowerPoint presentation detailing how to build a car bomb.” It was a sophisticated, potentially lethal operation.So naturally the cops gave one of them a laptop while they were awaiting trial. What could go wrong? ...
Good News
Laptop
News
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Galloway and his oil money
2007-07-16 12:01:00
Good news - he may be suspended as an MP for 1 month. The b*stard should have much more of a punishment than that. Harry's Place reports: According to an article in the Sunday Times the Parliamentary Standards Committee is to rule later this week that George Galloway should be suspended from parliament for a month. The MP for Bethnal Green and Bow:...failed properly to declare his links to a charitable appeal partially funded from money made by selling Iraqi oil under Saddam Hussein according to a source close to the inquiry. The one-month suspension for Galloway, often referred to as “Gorgeous George”, is one of the most severe given to an MP.However, the MP strenuously denies that he was complicit in any such arrangement and claims he is the victim of a smear campaign. He says he had no idea that the money donated had come from Iraqi oil sales.Readers can make up their own minds whether the fact that the Galloway-linked charity - the Mariam Appeal - failed ever to file accounts ...
Money
Oil
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New blog
2007-07-16 11:50:00
I'm still in the process of catching up.I see that Stop Ahmadinejad is up and running - have a gander. (hat tip: Aryamehr)The StopAhmadiNejad blog has started a blogroll campaign and all bloggers can help to get it off the ground by including one of the many icons that have been created for this purpose and posting them either in the sidebar or in an entry on their blogs. Support this initiative by CLICKING HERE. ...
Blog
New Blog
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