On second thought, while he appears to be twisted, dangerous, and manipulative, he doesn’t seem to have the intelligence of a mastermind.
from the Guardian Nigeria -
IRANIAN President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has questioned the accepted narrative of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, saying it was still not clear who was behind them.
“Something happened in New York and still nobody knows who the main perpetrators of that act were,” Agence France Presse (AFP) quoted Ahmadinejad as telling diplomats and newspaper editors late on Sunday while on a brief visit to Qatar.
“No independent people were allowed to try and identify the perpetrators,” he charged.
[...]
Ahmadinejad has on several occasions questioned the accepted version of the 2001 attacks by Al-Qaeda militants, which killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States.
In March, he referred to the attacks as “a big lie,” Iranian state media reported.
It’s been said before, and we’re being warned again …
In May it was reported Hezbollah may be using Mexican drug routes to the U.S. for drug trafficking.
from the Washington Times -
The Iran-backed Lebanese group has long been involved in narcotics and human trafficking in South America’s tri-border region of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. Increasingly, however, it is relying on Mexican narcotics syndicates that control access to transit routes into the U.S.
Hezbollah relies on “the same criminal weapons smugglers, document traffickers and transportation experts as the drug cartels,” said Michael Braun, who just retired as assistant administrator and chief of operations at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Friday, we were warned once again by Rep. Sue Myrick, R-NC a member of the House Intelligence Committee, that Hezbollah may be at our border and members of these cartels have been reported to be influenced by Iran and sponsored by none other than Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
from Ynet News -
“It is vital we know what is happening on our border, especially as crime and violence continue to rise there and as terrorist plots and threats are increasing inside the US,” she [Myrick]wrote.
[...]
In her appeal to Napolitano, Myrick quoted a senior Mexican army official who says Hezbollah agents may even be training cartel members to make bombs. “This might lead to Israel-like car bombings of Mexican/USA border personnel or National Guard units,” she said.
There’s a theme coming out of Afghanistan – the people don’t want foreign help when it comes to protecting them from the Taliban. It’s all about fear. The Taliban is fear.
From IPS News -
The Kandahar operation, which [Gen. Stanley A.] McChrystal’s staff has touted as the pivotal campaign of the war, had previously been announced as beginning in June. But it is now clear that McChrystal has understood for weeks that the most basic premise of the operation turned out to be false.
“When you go to protect people, the people have to want you to protect them,” said McChrystal, who was in Brussels for a NATO conference.
[...]
The U.S. officials in Marja are trying to convince local residents, in effect, that they should trust the foreign troops to protect them from the Taliban, but the Taliban are still able to threaten to credibly to punish those who collaborate with occupation forces.
After spending days working in the rubble ( how many masks were being worn ?) with the air filled with toxic building dust and chemical pollutants, it isn’t surprising workers have had complications in the years following 9-11. Now it’s been found they are losing their sense of smell…
from the Philadelphia Inquirer -
A significant portion of those on duty at the twin towers suffered long-term damage to their sense of smell and their ability to detect harmful irritants through the nose, Philadelphia researchers reported in a new study last week.
Far from being just an inconvenience, this chronic condition represents a breakdown in the body’s defense against toxic substances, said lead author Pamela Dalton, an experimental psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center.
[...]
People caught in the initial dust cloud on Sept. 11, 2001, suffered the greatest degree of impairment, as indicated by their lack of response when taking brief sniffs of an irritant in a laboratory setting. Continue reading
We’ve all known better than that. Oh, he’s been hiding alright. Most likely hiding in plain sight. Rumor had it he was seen in Pakistan off and on. Now there’s a new twist. I suppose he’s like a bird on a wire…
from Ynet News -
A new documentary on the world of falconry claims that Osama Bin Laden is living in a comfortable, private compound north of Tehran, surrounded by his family and under the watchful eye of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
The story was reported by Fox News.
Alan Parrot’s film, Feathered Cocaine, describes the secret world of falconers and falconry, which he says Bin Laden pursues freely.
How about, a prisoner in Guantanamo should stay in Guantanamo? That would suit Guantanamo prisoner Ahmed Belbacha just fine.
from the Independent -
A former British resident held in Guantanamo Bay for more than eight years has launched a legal battle to stay at the US Navy prison even though he has been cleared for release.
Lawyers for Ahmed Belbacha have submitted an emergency plea to the US courts seeking to prevent his forced return to his home country of Algeria, where he fears he would be tortured by the security services or killed by an Islamic terror network.
You go President Obama. Go get ‘em. Glad to see you aren’t soft on terrorists. Let’s just make sure it stays consistent.
from Times Online -
The Obama Administration has taken the unprecedented step of authorising the killing of a US citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, linked to the plot to blow up a US airliner on Christmas Day.
The move to place Mr al-Awlaki, 38, on a hit list was taken after a White House review concluded this year that he had moved from inciting terrorist attacks to taking part in them.
The decision is extraordinary not only because Mr al-Awlaki is believed to be the first American whose killing has been approved by a US President, but also because the Obama Administration chose to make the move public.
When we see military photos, especially those taken during war, we don’t always think about who actually took the photos. Or we just rely on the fact that a “war correspondent” took the photographs.
“Why We Fight” contains never before Released footage of the Afghanistan Special Forces, Strike Force Lion, who describe their own personal reasons why they continue to fight the war against terrorist threats within their country.
