LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
August 01/08
Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to
Saint Matthew 13,47-53. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into
the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus
it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked
from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be
wailing and grinding of teeth. Do you understand all these things? They
answered, "Yes."And he replied, "Then every scribe who has been instructed in
the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his
storeroom both the new and the old."When Jesus finished these parables, he went
away from there.
Free
Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
The Shin Bet - guardian of
democracy? By Yossi Melman - Haaretz 31/07/08
US official: Iraqis told me WMDs sent to Syria-WorldNetDaily
31/07/08
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July
31/08
Sfeir: No Strong Nation if Religious Communities Want Separate States-Naharnet
Policy Statement Deadlocked over
Resistance Syndrome-Naharnet
Gen.
Masri: Army to Be Bolstered to Confront Threats-Naharnet
MP
Franjieh Warns Against Hizbullah Fait Accompli Maneuvers-Naharnet
Hizbullah: Weapons Are
Untouchable-Naharnet
Cluster Bomb Wounds MAG
Deminer-Naharnet
Barak: Resolution 1701
'Not Working Well Enough'-Naharnet
Lebanese Man Accused of
Fraud in U.S. Bank Scheme-Naharnet
Lebanese Troops Deployed
to Intercept Smuggling from Syria Attacked-Naharnet
Hizbullah's Khalil: No
Lebanon Without Resistance-Naharnet
Hezbollah Has Tripled Its Missile Arsenal, Barak
Warns-New York Sun
Coalition forces capture Hezbollah Brigades
operative in Baghdad-Long War
Journal -
The Shin Bet - guardian of democracy?Ha'aretz
US official: Iraqis told me WMDs sent to Syria-WorldNetDaily
Hezbollah Has Tripled Its Missile Arsenal, Barak Warns
By BENNY AVNI, Staff Reporter of the Sun | July 30, 2008
http://www.nysun.com/foreign/hezbollah-has-tripled-its-missile-arsenal-barak/82836/
UNITED NATIONS — Israel's defense minister, Ehud Barak, will tell Secretary
General Ban today that the violations of a U.N. Security Council resolution that
ended the Lebanon War, which strengthen Iran's allies in Lebanon, present "real
and serious danger" for Israel, according to an aide.
The increasing firepower of Hezbollah and other issues involving a growing
anxiety in Israel over Iran's regional influence — including how to deal with
Tehran's nuclear menace — were at the top of Mr. Barak's agenda in meetings with
top Bush administration officials yesterday and Monday in Washington. Mr. Barak
is expected in New York today.
"The amount of missiles possessed by Hezbollah was doubled and even tripled, and
their range was extended significantly" since the 34-day war in Lebanon two
years ago, which ended only when the Security Council passed resolution 1701,
Mr. Barak told Vice President Cheney on Monday, according to a defense ministry
statement. Resolution 1701 envisioned the disarming of all Lebanese militias,
including Hezbollah, as well as a weapons-free area in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah's violations "verge on changing Lebanon's precarious political
equilibrium, which Israel sees as a real and serious danger," Mr. Barak was
quoted as saying.
"We have to admit that it simply isn't working," an aide to Mr. Barak, who spoke
yesterday on condition of anonymity, said, speaking of resolution 1701. The aide
also said that Israel has no intention of handing another victory to Hezbollah
by negotiating over the fate of Shaba Farms, an area now claimed by Lebanon but
that Israel believes is used as pretext for keeping Hezbollah armed.
Hezbollah's increased power in Lebanon and its threat to Israel are seen in the
region as part of Iran's effort to use anti-Israel sentiments to further its
sphere of influence. "Israel has become politically dead after its humiliating
defeat" in the 2006 war, which was "a great victory for Lebanon and for the
world of Islam," Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani yesterday told a
gathering in Tehran of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Mr. Barak signed an agreement with Defense Secretary Gates to upgrade
missile-defense systems, which will "significantly improve Israel's ability to
deal with the threat of long-range missiles," he told Israeli reporters
yesterday. In confronting the Iran's nuclear issue "all options" should be on
the table, Mr. Barak added. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Monday that
"the Israelis are keenly aware that we believe the best possible avenue of
dissuading the Iranians from pursuing nuclear weapons is through economic and
political pressures."
Policy Statement Deadlocked over Resistance Syndrome
Naharnet/Who has the right to resist, Lebanon or Hizbullah's
resistance?
The question reflects the controversy that has consumed 12 sessions by a
ministerial committee seeking to draft a policy statement for Premier Fouad
Saniora's cabinet, that would only rule after winning a parliamentary vote of
confidence in its charter. A 13th session was scheduled for Thursday in an
effort to reconcile Hizbullah's stand with that of the majority. The Hizbullah
stand refers to the "right of Lebanon and its resistance to liberate the land."
While the majority's stand was outlined by the phrase "the right of Lebanon and
its people to resist."Hizbullah's stand obviously reflects a concept that
considers "the resistance" an entity by itself and the state of Lebanon another
entity. The majority's approach, however, adheres to the "sole entity Lebanon"
and restricts the right to resist to this entity as represented by
constitutional institutions. The majority wants the controversial topic of
Hizbullah weapons - referred to in the party's political parlance as "the
resistance" - tackled during national dialogue that President Michel Suleiman is
setting the stage to sponsor after overcoming the policy statement deadlock.
Information Minister Tareq Mitri, talking to reporters after the ministerial
committee's 12th session on Wednesday, said the body was "close to adopting
final versions for many issues."Deliberations would proceed Thursday afternoon,
Mitri said, emphasizing on the need to "adopt a version satisfactory to all
(factions), crystallizing Lebanon's right to regain its occupied territories
through legitimate and available methods."The hoped for version, according to
Mitri, also should settle the controversy about "the relation between the state
and the resistance." "This takes time, not within the committee only, but also
beyond the committee's framework," Mitri said in an apparent effort to explain
that the thorny issue of Hizbullah weapons also is being tackled by leaders of
the various factions.
Saniora's office, in a statement released Wednesday, said the approach that is
"believed to meet the interests and aspirations of the Lebanese people is to
safeguard the right of the Lebanese (people) in resisting the occupation with
all available and legitimate methods so that not a single side would monopolize
this right and impose its style and options without taking into consideration
the principle of safeguarding the state of Lebanon with its powers to enforce
law and protect the interests of all its citizens resisting by weapons or
without weapons."However, Hizbullah responded by warning that Lebanon "doesn't
exist without resistance and there would be no policy statement without
resistance." Hussein Khalil, advisor to Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,
outlined the stand in remarks to reporters on Wednesday.The controversy appears
tantamount to some sort of a "resistance syndrome", for which a healing method
is yet to be developed. Beirut, 31 Jul 08, 09:11
Sfeir: No Strong Nation if Religious Communities Want
Separate States
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir warned that there would be no strong
nation if "every sect wished to create its own state.""We have 18 (religious)
communities that should maintain their coexistence through dialogue and
understanding and placing the national interest on top of all other interests,"
Sfeir added. "Dialogue should top violence … that threatens unity of the
Lebanese People," he told reporters at his summer seat in the northern mountain
resort of Diman. Unity among the various Lebanese communities should be "deeply
rooted to consolidate stability of the nation," Sfeir concluded. Beirut, 31 Jul
08, 15:01
Gen. Masri: Army to Be Bolstered to Confront Threats
Naharnet/Acting Army Commander Gen. Shawki Masri said Thursday
that the command is looking forward to bolstering the regular force with
additional troops and weapons. Masri made the remark in an Order Of the Day to
the troops marking Army Day. Such an upgrading of the regular force should be in
line with the "tasks that it shoulders and the dangers threatening the nation,"
Masri said. Beirut, 31 Jul 08, 14:12
MP Franjieh Warns Against Hizbullah Fait Accompli Maneuvers
Naharnet/MP Samir Franjieh accused Hizbullah of seeking to impose
a "fait accompli status" on the new cabinet in a major breach of the Doha
Accord.
Franjieh, in a radio interview, noted that the Doha Agreement did not mention
Hizbullah's resistance, at a time the party is trying to inject its resistance
into a policy statement being drafted for the new government. Such an attempt by
Hizbullah aims at "exerting pressure through Lebanon in favor of the Iranian
Nuclear Program, which has been confirmed by the deputy Iranian head of state,"
Franjieh added. He said mentioning Hizbullah weapons in the policy statement
contradicts with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended a 34-day war
between Israel and Hizbullah on Aug. 14, 2006. Beirut, 31 Jul 08, 13:07
Hizbullah: Weapons Are Untouchable
Naharnet/Hizbullah declared its controversial weapons
"untouchable" and warned against linking the holding of Parliamentary elections
in 2009 to its will to remain armed. Hizbullah's politburo member Mahmoud Qmati
outlined the stand in an interview with a daily published in Qatar. Qmati said
the forthcoming general elections "would be held on schedule and the present
parliament's term would not be extended.""The topic of resistance weapons would
be discussed before that; during national dialogue that would be sponsored by
President Michel Suleiman," he added. He said the cabinet's policy statement
"should be adopted immediately and should be based on moderate concepts so that
the cabinet can win a vote of confidence as soon as possible.""The mission of
the resistance weapons is not over. What is required is emphasizing on this role
through a unanimous concept … that is why we are calling for adopting a defense
and liberation strategy in which all (factions) participate," Qmati stressed.
Beirut, 31 Jul 08, 12:31
Cluster Bomb Wounds MAG Deminer
Naharnet/A member of the demining team Mine Action Group (MAG)
was wounded on Thursday from a cluster bomb left over from the Israel-Hizbullah
war in 2006. The National News Agency said Abbas Ahmed Akout, 29, suffered
wounds in his hands and feet when the bomb exploded Thursday morning in the
southern Lebanese town of Western Zawtar. Akout was taken to al-Najda al-Shaabiya
hospital in Nabatiyeh for treatment, NNA said.
Israel has reportedly dropped about four million cluster bomblets on south
Lebanon during the July-August 2006 war. As many as one million bomblets failed
to explode and now endanger civilians. Beirut, 31 Jul 08, 10:44
Barak: Resolution 1701 'Not Working Well Enough'
Naharnet/Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said Israel
believes U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 was "not working well" because of
continued arms smuggling to Hizbullah. Barak also Wednesday applauded his prime
minister's decision to resign. Barak, who was Israel's prime minister from 1999
to 2001, met with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon before taking questions
from reporters on his visit and on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's
resignation.
Olmert, facing corruption allegations and low approval ratings after repeatedly
denying wrongdoing, announced Wednesday he will step down in September.
"If or when in about six weeks a new leader will be elected for his party, he
will step down. I think that this is a proper and responsible decision, made at
the right time," Barak told reporters in New York.
Barak would only say when asked if he wanted his old job back that "we support
our state and want to protect it."
On the topic of Iran, Barak repeated his assertion, conveyed to top U.S.
officials in Washington a day earlier, that "no option should be removed" toward
dealing with Iran. "Basically, it's a challenge for the whole world," Barak
said. "If Iran turned into a military nuclear power, this would be the end of
any conceivable nonproliferation regime and it will significantly risk any
considerable stable world order." Barak said he emphasized to Ban that Israel
believes the U.N. sanctions regime against Iran and Resolution 1701 are
"basically not working well enough" because Tehran is smuggling into Lebanon "a
flow of munitions, rockets and other weapons systems."(AP-Naharnet) Beirut, 31
Jul 08, 07:32
Lebanese Man Accused of Fraud in U.S. Bank Scheme
Naharnet/Federal authorities have charged a Lebanese man with
fraud after he allegedly deceived Florida officials into diverting millions of
dollars to an account he set up, instead of a road building company that was
supposed to get the money. Employees of a bank and the contractor are being
credited with uncovering the $5.7 million scheme, leading to Ali Hassan
Hammoud's arrest as he was attempting to fly to Beirut. Some of the money had
been wire transferred to Beirut before the FBI arrested Hammoud, 35, at Miami
International Airport last week as he was waiting to board a plane. Most of the
cash has been recovered, said Tara Klimek, a spokeswoman for the Florida
Department of Financial Services. "We are expecting a full recovery," Klimek
said Wednesday. "There are a lot of questions that still remain." She said the
FBI is trying to determine if any state employees were involved. Details of the
scheme were disclosed after court documents were unsealed Tuesday in Miami,
where Hammoud was being held without bond pending a federal court appearance
there Friday. In June, Hammoud allegedly sent the state a form saying contractor
Anderson Columbia Co. had switched banks and wanted payments sent to the Regions
Bank in Miami. Hammoud actually controlled the account, investigators said.
After the state sent the money to the Regions accounts, it was quickly
transferred out. Clerks at two Regions branches thought the transfers were
unusual and contacted bank security.(AP) Beirut, 31 Jul 08, 08:06
Coalition forces capture Hezbollah Brigades operative in Baghdad
By Bill RoggioJuly 31, 2008 1:41 AM
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/07/coalition_forces_cap.php
Hezbollah Brigades' logo is nearly identical to that of Lebanese Hezbollah.
Coalition special operations forces captured two members of the
Iranian-supported Hezbollah Brigades during a raid in eastern Baghdad on early
Thursday morning. The intelligence-driven raid targeted the home of a propaganda
cell member, Multinational Forces Iraq reported. The cell member was responsible
for videotaping Hezbollah Brigades attacks on US and Iraqi forces in Baghdad.
“This propaganda cell is suspected of making, videos of attacks on Coalition and
Iraqi forces, which are then used to raise funds and resources for additional
attacks against Coalition forces and Iraqis,” the US military stated in a press
release. The cell member was responsible for videotaping Hezbollah Brigades
attacks on US and Iraqi forces in Baghdad.
While the exact neighborhood in Baghdad was not identified, Multinational Forces
Iraq often referred to the New Baghdad district as east Baghdad. On July 21,
Coalition forces captured a member of a Hezbollah Brigades propaganda cell who
was responsible for uploading attack videos to the Internet in New Baghdad.
The Hezbollah Brigades, or the Kata'ib Hezbollah, has been active for more than
a year, Sergeant Susan James, a Public Affairs NCO for Multinational Forces Iraq
told The Long War Journal. Multinational Forces Iraq said the group receives
support from Iran and is an “offshoot of Iranian-trained Special Groups." The US
military has referred to the Iranian-backed elements of the Mahdi Army as the
Special Groups. The Hezbollah Brigades is “a separate and independent
organization from Special Groups,” said James.
“We believe that Hezbollah Brigades does receive support from Iran,” James said.
“That support likely includes funding, training, logistics, and material.”
Iran's Qods Force funds, trains, arms,and supports Mahdi Army operatives to
facilitate attacks on Coalition and Iraqi forces.
The logo used by the Hezbollah Brigades is nearly an exact match of the one used
by Lebanese Hezbollah, which is directly supported by Iran. The logo shows an
arm extended vertically, with the fist grasping an AK-47 assault rifle. US
forces captured Ali Mussa Daqduq inside Iraq in early 2007. Daqduq is a senior
Hezbollah commander who was tasked with setting up the Mahdi Army Special Groups
along the same lines as the Lebanese terror group.
The Hezbollah Brigades began uploading videos of attacks on US and Iraqi forces
this year. The group has claimed responsibility for the July 8 improvised
rocket-assisted mortar, or IRAM, attack on Joint Security Station Ur in
northeastern Baghdad [see video]. One US soldier and one interpreter were
wounded after eight of the makeshift "flying IEDs" detonated near the outpost.
Shia terror groups have launched a handful of IRAM attacks on US and Iraqi
outposts in Baghdad.
The IRAM is a civilian truck converted to fire four to 10 rigged mortars on
outposts at distances from 150 to 400 yards. The weapon has had little impact on
US and Iraqi forces operating in Baghdad, but the US military is concerned about
the weapon's potential to cause a mass-casualty incident.
Hezbollah Brigades also posted video of an attack on a US patrolwith an
Iranian-supplied, armor-piercing, explosively formed projectile, or EFP.
The operation to capture the Hezbollah Brigades propaganda cell members is the
latest in a series of raids against Shia terrorists. Scores of Special Groups
operatives have been captured over the past month, including senior leaders,
weapons smugglers, financiers, trainers, and cell leaders.
The Shin Bet - guardian of democracy?
By Yossi Melman
Haaretz
This April, Murad Haddad, who owns a telephone equipment shop in Shfaram, was
summoned to the Misgav police station, in the Upper Galilee. When he arrived,
the member of the Balad party central committee found himself at a Shin Bet
security service interrogation facility.
An interrogator who identified himself as Gideon "started to question me about
my connection to MK Azmi Bishara," he recalls. "I asked: Am I suspected of
something? He told me I wasn't. So why am I here, I asked. He answered that they
had called me to warn me that my connection to Azmi Bishara could be exploited
to recruit me as a Hezbollah agent. He added that someone might ask me to
research soldiers or drugs."
The Shin Bet agent demanded he sign a document stating he had been warned that
Hezbollah might try to recruit him. Haddad refused.
Haddad says that he has continued to be politically active, that he is in touch
with Azmi Bishara and that he even met Bishara in Jordan, and considers him a
friend and a leader of the Arab national movement. Bishara, a former MK, is
suspected of maintaining ties with Hezbollah and has been wanted in Israel since
he fled the country.
Haddad's story is not unusual. Dozens of Balad activists have been through
similar experiences in the past year. They have been summoned for conversations
with the Shin Bet and told to sign that document. Most have refused.
Illegal intervention?
However, not only Haddad and the other Balad activists believe this is a Shin
Bet attempt to politically hobble them - so does the Association for Civil
Rights in Israel. Its legal advisers, Dan Yakir and Sonia Boulos, sent a letter
of protest to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz two weeks ago, and sent copies to
the Shin Bet's chief, Yuval Diskin, and its legal advisor.
ACRI considers these actions, along with similar measures taken against other
Israeli Arab citizens and institutions in the past, "illegal intervention by the
Shin Bet in legal, political and public activity," as it stated in its letter.
It denounces the Shin Bet's habit of "summoning for investigation people whose
political or public activity it does not like." According to the civil rights
association, these interrogations send the questioned people the message that
"they are under constant surveillance." ACRI believes that "the Shin Bet has
adopted Big Brother-like conduct."
The Shin Bet sees these things quite differently. The organization says the
Balad activists were not summoned due to the party's ideology or politics. The
agents who met with the party activists were instructed by their superiors to
read them the following statement: "We would like to draw your attention to the
fact that Azmi Bishara is wanted for questioning in Israel over his connections
with Hezbollah."
The Shin Bet is concerned that Bishara's connections with "elements in Israel
are liable to be exploited for hostile aims, including recruitment to Hezbollah
or other illegal activity."
The ACRI letter touches upon a deeper, principled dispute regarding the
interpretation of the Declaration of Independence, specifically the notion of
the "Jewish and democratic character of the state" and the definition of
"subversion," as it appears in the Shin Bet Law. Perhaps this is surprising, but
the Shin Bet is also interested in holding a public discourse on the issue, and
is astonished that the ACRI is not welcoming this. In fact, this is the first
time the Shin Bet has ever initiated a public discourse.
The initiative began when the Shin Bet decided to publish an official letter
sent to the attorney general in April 2007. In that letter, Yuval Diskin states
that the Shin Bet is authorized "to fight acts of subversion directed against
the democratic regime and its institutions. By definition, the term 'subversion'
is ambiguous."
This letter came after another letter the Shin Bet sent to the Balad party's
newspaper, in which it states that it considers itself responsible for
"thwarting subversive activity by elements interested in damaging the Jewish and
democratic character of the State of Israel, even if they are using tools
provided by democracy. This is based on the principle of defensive democracy."
The ACRI responds, "The preservation of the Jewish character of the state is not
one of the purposes and functions of the Shin Bet," as defined in the Shin Bet
Law.
Diskin's letter is based on a doctrine the Shin Bet formulated in internal
discussions. This doctrine, which won the support of Mazuz, aims to balance the
values of democracy, human rights, freedom of speech and the right to political
activity, with preventing subversion and terror.
In the context of this discourse, the Shin Bet outlines three kinds of activity.
The first is open political activity, even if it aims to change the Jewish or
democratic nature of Israel.
The Shin Bet recognizes that this activity is permitted by law, and it must not
intervene, even though it may openly gather information about it. The second is
the opposite extreme - blatantly illegal activity, which it is obligated by law
to counteract and prevent. The problem arises over the third kind of activity -
which lies between the two - and how the Shin Bet perceives it.
The Shin Bet believes that for those who espouse what it considers an extremist
ideology, the distance between speech and action is not great.
Therefore, when the Shin Bet believes it has a grounded suspicion that an
offense is about to be committed, it may gather information by means of
surveillance and wiretapping, among other means, but it must do so sparingly,
and in any case, it cannot employ preventive measures. The Shin Bet applies this
doctrine to both Jews and to Arabs, regardless of their political views.
The ACRI opposes the Shin Bet's view.
Wiretapping the state
"A state that has pretensions of being democratic cannot allow itself to request
systematic wiretapping against political parties and movements that represent a
national minority," it states in its letter to Mazuz. "This fact in and of
itself undermines the foundations of democracy."
The Shin Bet says it will respond soon to the ACRI letter.
U.S. official: Iraqis told me WMDs sent to Syria
Former head of prisons says incarcerated ex-Saddam forces disclosed move
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=71076
Posted: July 30, 2008
11:20 pm Eastern
By Ryan Mauro
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
As U.S.-led troops pressed toward Baghdad in 2003, Saddam remained defiant in a
walkabout among cheering crowds in the capital
A former American overseer of Iraqi prisons says several dozen inmates who were
members of Saddam Hussein's military and intelligence forces boasted of helping
transport weapons of mass destruction to Syria and Lebanon in the three months
prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Don Bordenkircher – who served two years as national director of prison and jail
operations in Iraq– told WND that about 40 prisoners he spoke with "boasted of
being involved in the transport of WMD warheads to Syria.
A smaller number of prisoners, he said, claimed "they knew the locations of the
missile hulls buried in Iraq."
Some of the inmates, Bordenkircher said, "wanted to trade their information for
a release from prison and were amenable to showing the locations."
The prisoners were members of the Iraqi military or civilians assigned to the
Iraqi military, often stationed at munitions facilities, according to
Bordenkircher. He said he was told the WMDs were shipped by truck into Syria,
and some ended up in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
(Other Iraqi military personnel, including former top Saddam associates, have
made the same claim.
In early 2006, Saddam's No. 2 Air Force officer, Georges Sada, told the New York
Sun Iraq's WMDs were moved into Syria six weeks before the war started.
WND also reported in 2006 a former general and friend of Saddam who defected
alleged WMDs were hidden in Syria and said the regime supported al-Qaida with
intelligence, finances and munitions. Ali Ibrahim Al-Tikriti, the southern
regional commander for Saddam's militia in the late 1980s, said the regime had
contingency plans established as far back as the 1980s in the event either
Baghdad or Damascus was taken over.
Saddam knew the U.S. eventually would come for the weapons, Al-Tikriti said at
the time, and had "wanted since he took power to embarrass the West, and this
was the perfect opportunity to do so." So he denied they existed and made sure
they were moved into hiding, the former general said.
Among other claims, WND also reported a former U.S. federal agent and
counter-terrorism specialist deployed to Iraq before the war said he waged a
three-year, unsuccessful battle to get officials to search four sites where he
believed the former Saddam regime buried weapons of mass destruction.
Bordenkircher said four of the Iraqi prisoners who separately offered to speak
to the "right" people about Saddam's alleged transport of WMD later became
involved with U.S. and Iraqi intelligence agencies.
Some prisoners said the drivers, upon return from transporting the WMDs out of
Iraq, discussed the movement. They said, according to Bordenkircher, the
materials shipped out would return once Iraq got "a clean bill of health from
the U.N., and then the program could be kick-started easily."
Four of the prisoners – civilians attached to the Iraqi military – said they
worked at the al-Muthana Chemical Industries site. They said the cargo included
nitrogen mustard gas warheads for Tariq I and II missiles.
Bordenkircher said the stories of the military personnel and the civilians
matched and did not contradict one another.
Bordenkircher also said prisoners confirmed al-Qaida had a presence in Iraq
before Operation Iraqi Freedom began, specifically in Mosul and Kirkuk.
Iraqis under the command of Uday Hussein, one of Saddam Hussein's sons,
supported the al-Qaida elements in the country with training and providing safe
harbor, they said.
Bordenkircher also was a senior adviser to South Vietnam's correctional system
during the war in Southeast Asia, from 1967-72. His task was to improve
conditions for 80,000 civilian prisoners. The U.S. Department of Justice asked
him to play a similar role in Iraq, sending him first to Baghdad's infamous Abu
Ghraib prison in Baghdad in March 2006 to shut it down.
Bordenkircher previously served as Marshall County sheriff of Moundsville,
W.Va., and police chief and warden of the state penitentiary at Moundsville.
Urgent Re. the new cabinet policy statement and 2009 election
By: Tony Safa (tony_safa@hotmail.com)
July 31, 2008
There are no benefit for the Signed Understanding between Tayyar and Hezbollah
other then forming a political cover to the weapon of the pro-Syrian Iranian
group Hezbollah which slowly working on casting a total control over Lebanon.
Tayyar is completely politically bankrupt to a point where Hezbollah weapon
became a necessity for Tayyar existence. For example if Lebanese Cabinet where
to give Hezbollah a political cover in their Cabinet Policy Statement that would
translate as a Victory for Tayyar to use in 2009 election but if new Cabinet
won’t give Hezbollah a political cover in their Policy Statement that would
translate to be a big loss for Tayyar especially in the 2009 election. Tehrefore
Tayyar ministers are now trying their best to include the word Hezbollah in the
new Cabinet Policy Statement after general Aoun and for years has been
criticizing the previous 2005 Cabinet Policy Statement!!!
In 2005 election, Aoun campaigned against Hezbollah Weapon and against dialogue
with Hezbollah by attacking the so-called Quarto-Alliance between Amal,
Hezbollah, Future Movement and Progressive Social Party prior to 2005 election
hoping that Hezbollah would stand with the rest of Lebanese against Syria. After
Hezbollah rejected the Cedar Revolution, General Aoun ended up signing a written
agreement that formed a political cover for Hezbollah weapon
Aoun policy is now the complete opposite of Aoun's deliberate faults promise in
2005-election campaign that got him 70% of Christian votes. Christians are no
longer deluded by Aoun empty promises as they have witnessed his policy for 4
years defending the Iranian weapon in Lebanon, helping Syria to gain back
influence into Lebanon and trying to spoil their Cedar Revolution. Christians
would never buy that Ali Qanso the president of the Syrian Social Party whom
Aoun supported to enter the Lebanese cabinet is for their interest nor Hezbollah
Khomeini weapon is good for their future. Aoun party will loose the Christian
majority in next election and that will give the Cedar Revolution a bigger
majority. There are fears that Hezbollah, Tayyar, and all the pro Syrian Iranian
groups may do the impossible to avoid looming 2009 election as they did last May
by turning their weapon on other fellow Lebanese to force the Lebanese Cabinet
to back down from 2 decisions concerning airport security and illegal use of
Lebanon telecommunication system by Hezbollah. Or by opening another war as they
did in July-2006 when Lebanese National dialogue came about to discuss Hezbollah
Weapon.
Passenger says attack on Greyhound bus leaves young man
dead
By The Canadian Press
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. - Police haven't confirmed it, but a passenger says a
gruesome attack on a Greyhound bus near Portage la Prairie, Man., has left a
young man stabbed to death and decapitated and dozens of passengers in shock.
The RCMP and Greyhound officials will only say that a "major incident" occurred
on the bus Wednesday night, but have not provided any details.
But a passenger who said he saw the attack said a man repeatedly stabbed a seat
mate, and eventually severed his head.
"We heard this blood-curdling scream and turned around and the guy was standing
up, stabbing this guy repeatedly, like 40 or 50 times," Garnet Caton said
Thursday morning from a hotel in Brandon, where he and other passengers had been
taken to rest.
Caton said everyone on the bus scrambled to get out, and he and the bus driver
shut the door from the outside while they awaited police.
Eventually, the attacker came to the front of the bus and showed them he had cut
off the victim's head, Caton said.
The bus had been carrying 37 passengers and the driver to Winnipeg from
Edmonton.
At one point, Mounties surrounded the bus with one officer standing just a few
feet away from an unidentified man sitting in the driver's seat.
A man was taken into custody after the standoff with police.
A portion of the Trans-Canada Highway, about 15 kilometres west of Portage la
Prairie, remained closed Thursday morning.
Yellow tape surrounded the empty bus and RCMP officers were still on the scene.
Traffic was being rerouted onto a side road.