Iran's Latin Incursion
Published on December 16, 2010 by Peter Brookes
Some folks are alleging that Tehran and Caracas have inked a deal that will establish a joint ballistic missile base in Venezuela, where Iranian missiles, potentially capable of reaching the United States, would be stationed.
If true, this would certainly be cause for alarm.
Of course, while we dig deeper into the matter to learn more, we really shouldn’t be surprised by such a move as Iran is already making significant inroads into Latin America — especially Venezuela.
Not only have Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez become close friends, they’ve also fondly talked of a post-America world and declared an “axis of unity” against the United States.
Iran has also looked to Venezuela to help it evade U.N. economic sanctions on its nuclear program in a number of ways, including the establishment of joint venture banks that help Tehran circumvent international financial restrictions.
But the Tehran-Caracas axis actually goes deeper than this. According to press reports, they’ve signed agreements, pledging military support and cooperation, which may include, among other matters, the aforementioned missiles.
For instance, in 2008, Turkish authorities seized more than 20 containers of “tractor parts” bound from Iran to Venezuela. But instead of tractor parts, the containers were carrying materials used in the production of explosives.
Other security ties seem pretty tight, too, including the reported embedding of Iranian “advisers” with the Venezuelan military.
Moreover, a 2010 Pentagon report to Congress on the military power of Iran stated:
IRGC-QF [Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Forces] maintains operational capabilities around the world. … [R]ecent years have witnessed an increased presence in Latin America, particularly Venezuela.
Especially interesting is how Iranian advisers and agents are likely getting to Venezuela.
As far back as 2007, Iran Air and Conviasa (Venezuela’s national airline) began a regular, co-chaired “commercial” flight linking Tehran, Damascus and Caracas, with occasional stops in Beirut to pick up “passengers.”
That’s not all.
Some are saying Iran and Venezuela are also cooperating on some nuclear issues such as basic research and the mining of uranium ore in Venezuela that is then being made available to Iran — once again in violation of U.N. sanctions.
But it’s not just Venezuela that Iran is courting.
Iran has also enhanced its relations with other elements of the anti-American Latin Left in Nicaragua, Bolivia and Ecuador, which are countries run — not surprisingly — by leaders close to Venezuela.
As a gesture to these new-found friendships, Iran is reportedly providing “diplomatic training” in Tehran to government workers from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador and the Communist Party of El Salvador.
But instead of the art of negotiating, international relations theory and how to work a room at an embassy cocktail party, the Latin visitors are instead being taught intelligence, counterintelligence and crowd control.
But it’s not just Iran that is coming to the region: Its “friends” are, too.
Peter Brookes is a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Brookes: Iran's Latin American Incursion (12/16/10)
Friday, January 14, 2011
SosClinton: Israel has reasons to be cautious
Hillary Clinton told Al Jazeera that Israel makes its own decisions.
Clinton pointed out that Israel has reasons to be cautious. “You often make decisions based on your own experience and history,” she said. “And when the Israelis pulled out of Lebanon they got Hezbollah and 40,000 rockets and when they pulled out of Gaza they got Hamas and 20,000 rockets.” AP
Source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Clinton-Israel-makes-its-own-decisions-954104.php
(Hat tip: Meryl Yourish yourish.com)
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Lebanese gov't falls when Hizballah withdraws members
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report January 12, 2011, 12:28 PM (GMT+02:00)
With backing from Tehran, Hizballah and its Christian ally Michel Aoun abruptly quit the Lebanese unity government Wednesday, Jan. 12, in a move that could pave the way for their seizure of power in Beirut. They struck as the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's prosecutor Daniel Bellemare prepared to hand over to the pre-trial judge "within hours or days" indictments naming Hizballah officials in the case of the former premier Rafiq Hariri's assassination in 2005.
Hizballah is committed to defying those indictments and refusing to hand over its top officials for extradition by the government.
As the Lebanese crisis raced towards it climax, President Barack Obama, Saudi King Abdullah, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri held intense consultations in Washington and New York on a united front against Iran-backed disruptions in Beirut by Hizballah and its allies.
Iran's supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said repeatedly that the STL and its rulings are "null and void" because they serve "foreign interests."
As the US, France and Israel made military and diplomatic preparations to thwart a clash, Obama scheduled a meeting with the Lebanese Prime Minister for Wednesday night, Jan. 12, to decide how the US, France and its allies would act in a conflagration.
Over the weekend, the US president ordered US vessels to buttress the Sixth Fleet stationed in the eastern Mediterranean with the USS Enterprise carrier and its strike group with 6,000 sailors and marines aboard and 80 fighter-bombers. Already deployed there is the USS Bainbridge missile destroyer.
On Monday, Jan. 10, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a tour of the Persian Gulf, expressed concern over the situation in Lebanon. Clinton said: "I'm deeply worried about the efforts to destabilize Lebanon. We should do everything we can to make sure those warnings are not accurate."
American military moves in the Mediterranean are intended to signal to Tehran and Hizballah that Washington will be prepared to use force to defend the Saad Hariri government in Lebanon and if necessary deploy aerial forces and the marines to avert a Hizballah takeover in Beirut. The French fleet was also ordered to bolster its naval strength opposite Lebanon.
But Hizballah got its move in first. Its resignation from the Hariri government showed that its leaders and Iranian sponsors were not fazed by the US-French military moves off the Lebanese coast and were moving ahead with their plans.
debkafile's military sources add that a comment by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Tuesday, Jan. 11, fit into the picture taking shape in Washington, New York and Paris. He remarked to foreign journalists that 60,000 missiles and rockets, all of Iranian and Syrian origin, were now pointing at Israel.
Last week, Meir Dagan, at a ceremony marking the end of his tenure as head of the Mossad, said that only 10 countries in the world have firepower on a par with that of Hizballah.
According to our sources, it is definitely on the cards for an Iranian-Hizballah move in Lebanon provoking a US-French military response to evolve into a clash between Hizballah and Israel, providing an opportunity for the destruction of Hizballah's might missile arsenal.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
ADL: Palin took 'blood libel' out of painful, historical context
[Historically, the false accusation that Jews used the blood of Christians in the making of matzoh was a pretext to attack and murder Jews. --Mark Finkelstein]
ADL Statement on Sarah Palin's Response to Tucson Tragedy
New York, NY, January 12, 2011 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today responded to criticism of former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin for using the term "blood-libel" in her statement on the tragic shootings in Tucson, Arizona.
Abraham Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:
It is unfortunate that the tragedy in Tucson continues to stimulate a political blame game. Rather than step back and reflect on the lessons to be learned from this tragedy, both parties have reverted to political partisanship and finger-pointing at a time when the American people are looking for leadership, not more vitriol. In response to this tragedy we need to rise above partisanship, incivility, heated rhetoric, and the business-as-usual approaches that are corroding our political system and tainting the atmosphere in Washington and across the country.
It was inappropriate at the outset to blame Sarah Palin and others for causing this tragedy or for being an accessory to murder. Palin has every right to defend herself against these kinds of attacks, and we agree with her that the best tradition in America is one of finding common ground despite our differences.
Still, we wish that Palin had not invoked the phrase "blood-libel" in reference to the actions of journalists and pundits in placing blame for the shooting in Tucson on others. While the term "blood-libel" has become part of the English parlance to refer to someone being falsely accused, we wish that Palin had used another phrase, instead of one so fraught with pain in Jewish history.
Source: http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Mise_00/5962_00.htm
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Motive cited
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Monday, January 3, 2011
Doubts raised as to truthfulness re: death of woman in the West Bank
Sunday, January 2, 2011
SWU: Israel IQ at UCLA
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_2SbkRybBk