Foreign News and Analysis Since April 2005 -- formerly China Confidential -- for America and Israel and their friends abroadForeign Confidential ™
Monday, September 26, 2011
Bush Administration Covered Up Pakistani Border Ambush of Americans that Killed American Major
Assad Fears Iranian Betrayal
China Scales Back US Military Ties
Axis of Evil Holding Lebanon Hostage
Imagine Oilyndra
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Pakistan has long been America's enemy. But the Islamic state, which practically invented the Taliban--and aided Al Qaeda before and after 9/11--has nuclear weapons.
Pakistan is also supported by Saudi Arabia, which is worried that increasing awareness of Pakistani treachery will lead to greater awareness of Saudi treachery.
Foreign Confidential™ has learned that Syria's secular Assad regime is increasingly concerned that its Shiite Islamist ally, Iran, believing the regime's days are numbered, intends to collaborate in Syria's dismemberment in order to create an Iranian Alawite satellite in the center of the country. An Alawite state existed after World War I in French Mandate Syria.
Considered a branch of Shiite Islam, the Alawites are a distinct minority in Syria that has ruled the country since 1970, when then-Air Force General Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite, took power and instigated a "Correctionist Movement" in the Ba'ath Party. After the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, his son, Bashar, took power.
Iran is at odds with the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood that commands growing support among the country's Sunni population, which represents about 76% of Syrian citizens. Though Shiite and Sunni Islamists agree on hatred of the United States and Israel, the movements are rivals, competing for power and influence across the Middle East.
Turkey's Sunni Islamist regime is also interested in a Syrian breakup. A Kurdish puppet state in northern Syria would serve Turkish interests as it pursues a neo-Ottoman imperialist foreign policy--with the support of the Obama administration, which wants to use Turkey, a full NATO member, as a counter to nuclear-arming Iran.
By Elias Bejjani
A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle. -Kahlil Gibran
Both Logic and reality tell us that not even one sane person can dream that a meek sheep can fight a lion or even defend himself in a bid not to be devoured. This very simple fact is totally ignored by the Free World and the majority of the Arab countries when occupied Lebanon's dilemma is the issue. The whole world knows with no shed of doubt that Lebanon is still an occupied country and that the occupiers are Syria, Iran and their proxy armed terrorist militias, with Hezbollah in the forefront.
In 2005, Syria was forced to withdraw her occupational army from Lebanon after 28 years of barbaric oppression and inhuman atrocities against all the Lebanese people. But since then, nothing really has positively changed with regard to reclaiming independence and sovereignty by the Lebanese authorities. On the contrary, everything on all levels and in all domains has been getting worse and worse. In reality, the whole country, her ruling bodies, officials and people have all been hijacked and are being held as hostages.
Syria Dissected Lebanon
During the era of its occupation, Syria evilly dissected Lebanon, divided its multicultural communities, killed, imprisoned or sent into exile all patriotic leaders and intellectuals who opposed its ironic and criminal hegemony. At the same time, Syria’s secret intelligence services armed the 13 Palestinian refugee camps and made them outlaw-Mafiosi mini-states. In conjunction with the Iranian mullahs, Syria erected Hezbollah's mini-state and armed its militia with a huge and deadly arsenal that became not only a threat to the Lebanese, but also to all the Arab and Middle East countries.
Hezbollah's 70.000 thousand full time armed (mujahedeen) men took over Lebanon after Syria was forced to withdraw her army, while thousands of Syrian secret intelligence service agents remained free and active all over the country. Meanwhile, Syria left intact four military bases under the camouflaged pretext of Palestinian resistance, one of them (Al Naemi base) is a few kilometers from Beirut international Airport.
The majority of the Lebanese people (from all denominations) who kindled the torch of the Cedars' Revolution won two parliamentary elections since 2005, but could not rule or put into office a free president, house speaker, army chief or any high-ranking official because Syria and Iran through their armed proxies aborted all peaceful and democratic endeavors, and militarily invaded and controlled most of the Lebanese regions. In last January, Hezbollah toppled the coalition government by force and intimidation and formed its own, while the whole world carelessly watched and did nothing besides empty rhetorical releases and statements of condemnation.
World's Most Effective Terrorists
The irony lies in the fact that the U.S. government has labeled Hezbollah, in its State Department report of 2008, as the world's most effective terrorist organization. The report said that Iran remains the most active state sponsor of terrorism, including supporting terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. According to the same report, "Iran's involvement in the planning and financial support of terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf, and undermined the growth of democracy". It singled out the Qods Force, an elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as the Islamic republic's main means to cultivate and support terrorists overseas. The Qods Force gave "weapons, training and funding" to Hamas and other Palestinian anti-Israeli groups, Lebanon's Hezbollah, as well as Iraq-based militants and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
One wonders how can the United States, the mightiest military and financial power in the whole world, officially recognizes the serious and great dangers of Iran and its terrorist proxy, Hezbollah, while expecting the Lebanese people and their patriotic leaders and parties to tame, control, disarm this terrorist organization and reclaim alone their country’s confiscated independence?
It is worth mentioning that Hezbollah from day one of its creation by Iran in 1982 and up until now has been a serious and deadly threat to all the civilized and Free World countries. As such, it is not merely Lebanese problem, but rather a serious problem, grave threat and challenge to global peace, stability and democracy. Hezbollah's essence and spiritual, cultural and political foundation are totally derived from the Iranian mullah's doctrine of “Wilayat Al-Faqih”.
The main pillars of this doctrine are zero tolerance for all others who are of different faiths and cultures and who do not fully submit to their control. It is a blatant rejection of the civil, democratic and free societies; a systematic, tireless effort to export the "Wilayat Al-Faqih", and impose it on the whole world through "Jihad" (holy war), deeply rooted hatred for the Western democracies and cultures, staunch enmity and hostility towards the US and Israel, all with a suicidal mentality. One of its prime aims is to destroy Israel and ‘liberate’ the Holy city of Jerusalem.
Iranian Organization
Therefore, Hezbollah is an Iranian militant organization on all levels and by every definition. Its Iranian mission, terrorist activities and objectives have become crystal clear, not only to the Lebanese people who are suffering on a daily basis from its oppression, intimidation and dictatorship, but also to the majority of the Arab states, U.S., Canada and Australia. This intimidation, fear mongering and illicit fundraising activities also extend to many European, African and South American countries.
Hezbollah has nothing to do with resistance, liberation or any actual patriotic Lebanese or Arabic causes by any means. In reality, Hezbollah is an Iranian militant brigade, a division of Iran's notorious Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
According to dozens of well documented and trustworthy reports, Hezbollah continues to run a vast, well organized and extremely sophisticated global network of drug trafficking, crime, terrorism and arms trafficking, infiltrating many Arab states, Israel, Mexico, Canada, Australia, United States, Europe, South America and numerous previous Islamic states of the USSR.
Since 1982, Hezbollah has systematically been devouring the state of Lebanon, destroying her military, judicial and financial institutions, crippling her legislature and democratic government and fragmenting and terrorizing her delicate social fabric, all the while solidifying the terrorist infrastructure and Iranian-modeled institutions of its mini-state and scattered cantons.
What is unfortunate and shameful, is that the Free World and surrounding Arab countries, are not showing enough determination, transparency, seriousness or persistence in dealing with Hezbollah. the most dangerous terrorist organization in the whole world, while they openly admit that Hezbollah and its Iranian masters are taking a very active criminal role in killing the Syrian and Iranian people who are revolting against the al-Assad and the Iranian mullahs’ dictatorial regimes.
In conclusion, Lebanon is an occupied country by all international means and legal criteria. The occupiers are the two Axis of Evil countries, Syria and Iran, with their armed proxies spearheaded by the terrorist Hezbollah. Simply and openly we strongly believe that the Lebanese people are not any more capable of freeing their country on their own while all the governing bodies and officials do not represent them but the occupiers. In this context, it is time for the Free World and Arab countries to courageously step in directly or through the UN and do something about this barbaric occupation and use all their available resources including force to free Lebanon and end its people’s oppression.
Elias Bejjani is a Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator.
Republicans are rightfully riled up about theSolyndra scam. But they are painting with too broad a brush, assuming they want (a) to take back the White House in 2012, and (b) to save the country from permanent recession or outright economic collapse. In this regard, the problem isn't government support for energy startups; rather, the problem is government support, including mandates, grants and loans, tax credits and other incentives, for phony energy startups.
Imagine if $1 billion in venture capital and $500 million in loans had gone into a well thought-out, well managed, domestic oil industry startup--a company dedicated, say, to discovering new onshore oil fields and to squeezing new oil from old onshore fields through commercially proven, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods. The United States sits atop enough economically recoverable onshore oil to make the dream of energy independence a reality while directly and indirectly producing millions of well paying, permanent jobs (with health and medical benefits). Google EOR, heavy oil, Bakken oil discovery, etc.
The problem, which Republicans should not be reluctant to discuss honestly, is that for the most part these awesome resources are not economical enough--can't be produced profitably enough--for multinational energy behemoths that for many reasons are focused on finding and producing giant oil and gas fields in Third World jurisdictions. So the revival of the U.S. independent oil and gas industry should be a major priority.
Even with regard to green energy, there is a difference between phony and real alternatives, inefficient and efficient solutions, existing and nonexistent sources. For example, while cellulosicbiofuels are at best a boondoggle and at worst a fraud--forever "just around the corner" or supposedly only two years away from commercialization--woody biomass can be economically burned andtorrefied (turned into a coal-like fuel) today for electricity-generating and combined heat and power (CHP), or co-generation, applications. Commercially converting perennially growing, warm season prairie grasses into gasoline is a distant dream; but burning these grasses--unlocking the thermal energy--dates back to the pioneering days. More to the point, large European companies, including utilities, are deeply involved in successful biomass utilization--from electricity generation to CHP for local use and district heating. (The Department of Energy has in the past inexplicably warned grant applicants against any mention of thermal biomass. Researchers have actually feared blacklisting if they seek federal funds in order to solve, say, certain technical problems plaguing wider use of grass energy pellets instead of trying to suck still more government money down into the cellulosic sinkhole.)
In short, America's real wealth is in the ground. Getting at that wealth--discovering and developing it--will require government backing in one form or another. Republicans should be all for that, exposing the energy-choking, job-killing policies of the Democrats.
Republicans should be pushing policies that will lead to the creation of big, new, publicly traded companies that will be exclusively dedicated to producing power and fuel--and jobs--in the United States. A side benefit to the Republicans would be the creation of a new American establishment--a new group of natural resource-based, billionaire entrepreneurs--who will have made their fortunes the old fashioned way--but with a modern, populist twist--namely, through the enlightened exploitation of the nation's true economic treasure. These men and women would most likely be Republicans and could constitute a much-needed counterweight to the globalizing, Left/liberal billionaires who hail from Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
POSTSCRIPT: The oil industry's dirty little secret is that nobody of importance in Big Oil really believes in the Big Lie that the world is running out of oil; on the contrary, those in the know well know that the world is running into oil, only it's the wrong kind of oil from the perspective of the multinational energy giants--meaning, oil that is harder and more costly to produce (e.g. EOR and deep, offshore oil) and perhaps also more costly to refine (e.g. heavy crude and tars sands).
What's happening in oil is true of all natural resources--a transition from relatively scarce resources that can be inexpensively produced to far more plentiful but harder to produce--and hence more costly--resources. Big Oil wants to manage the shift, phase in production of the costlier resources as they become more profitable and attractive over time; therefore, supporting the Big Lie that the world is about to run out of oil serves the interests of Big Oil.
The same holds true for Big Oil support for another Big Lie--manmade global warming. Big Oil plays along with the mind boggling branding of life-giving carbon dioxide as a planet-destroying pollutant--down to the deliberately deceptive use and popularizing of the term carbon, which is meant to connote and conjure up images in people's minds of industrial filth and toxic waste--because it helps to distract the public from demanding development of domestic, here-and-now, real energy resources, preempts calls for government policies aimed at encouraging this and/or creation of a national oil company tasked with such development, or, over on the Left, possible emergence of a movement to nationalize (essentially unpatriotic) Big Oil.
Since the whole world runs on oil and will continue to run on oil for at least the next two decades, Big Oil has potentially little to lose and a lot to gain by conceding the faux carbon-climate change connection, appearing to accept the validity of the "fossil fuels" menace.
Ditto for the occasional institutional ads and TV commercials that show Big Oil investing in never-to-be-commercially available cellulosic biofuels and in available but geographically limited and inefficient solar and wind--seriously flawed, electricity-generating alternatives that by definition do not threaten the business of producing, refining, moving and marketing liquid fuels for motor transportation and commercial, industrial, and residential heating.
Somewhat similarly, oil-rich, Islamist Iran promotes the world-is-running-out-of-oil myth because it helps to justify the Iranian regime's investment in civilian nuclear power, which even many, if not most, Idiots of Appeasement now agree merely masks the development of nuclear weapons.
But that's another story.
Copyright © 2011 Foreign Confidential™
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