Iran lines up behind North Korea, warns the US of “great losses”
DEBKAfile
Special Report
April 5, 2013, 7:30 PM (GMT+02:00)
Kim Jong-Un with his generals
Tehran’s intercession in the Korean crisis on the side of its ally in
Pyongyang was predictable, even though the US prefers to ignore the
close interrelations between the two allies.
And so, on Friday, April 5, Deputy Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed
Forces Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri stepped forward to point the finger at
Washington:
[“The presence of the Americans in [South] Korea has been the root
cause of tensions in this sensitive region in the past and present. The
US and its allies will suffer great losses if a war breaks out in this
region,” he said, adding for good measure: “Independent countries will
not submit to the US mischief. The time for Washington’s bullying and
extortion is long past.”
debkafile’s
Iranian sources: The second part of the statement was a perfect fit for
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s flat refusal to accept US demands on Iran’s
nuclear program. The Korean crisis gave the Iranians the opportunity to
kill two birds with one stone.
As Kim Jong-Un moved two intermediate missiles to the east coast of
North Korea, Gen. Jazayeri’s rhetoric landed on the latest round of
talks the six powers were holding with Iran in Amaty, Kazhakstan for a
diplomatic resolution of Iran’s nuclear challenge.
Washington hoped to spread some cheer over a diplomatic process that
had long past proven futile by planting advance reports that Khamenei
had ordered a slowdown of Iran’s nuclear program up to the June
presidential election to avoid crossing a red line that would trigger a
military response.
But when the parties came to the table, Iran’s senior negotiator Saeed
Jalili refused outright to respond to the proposals put before Tehran in
the previous session.
He seemed to have taken his cue from Kim Jong-Un, who too has stuck to
his father’s rejectionism in the face of every American proposal for
dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program.
debkafile: The
inevitable convergence of the Korean and Iranian crises confronts
America’s three top officials, President Barack Obama, Secretary of
State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, with their most
challenging international test.
Kerry would be well advised to take a break from his Sisyphean efforts
to crack the latest of umpteen Israel-Palestinian disputes, call off his
weekend appointments with Israeli and Palestinians leaders and instead
fly to Moscow and Beijing.
There, he could start bargaining with Russian and Chinese rulers for
preliminary understandings with Washington on Iran and Syria that would
make it worth their while to use their leverage for bringing the
out-of-control North Korean firebrand to heel.
So long as the Obama administration sticks to its current separate
policies on Syria and Iran, Iran and Korea, Moscow and Beijing won’t
lift a finger to apply the brakes to Kim Jong-Un before he drives the
world to catastrophe.Labels: Aggression, Conflict, Defence Security, Iran, North Korea, Nuclear Technology, Threats, United States
Controversy on University of Manchester campus as speaker condones killing of homosexuals
An investigation has been launched into a meeting on the
University of Manchester's campus where Islamist speakers promoted the
execution of homosexuals, the stoning of adulterers, and the amputation
of thieves' hands
The University of Manchester Student Union Executive team has launched
an investigation into a meeting which recently took place on the
university’s campus.
The meeting, held on Wednesday, February 13th, by the
Global Aspirations of Women society,
featured “various Islamist speakers promoting ideas such as the
execution of homosexuals and the amputation of thieves' hands”,
according to campus watchdog
Student Rights.
Colin Cortbus, a student at the university, attended the meeting and
asked the chair whether “in the Islamic society in which you strive for”
they would “feel comfortable, personally and morally, to kill a gay
man?”
“Absolutely”, was the response.
Cortbus went on to make the case for a pluralistic Islam, stating that
many Muslims would not execute homosexuals. He was told "A lot of people
would".
The MancUnion newspaper notes
that the meeting also addressed the issue of stoning adulterers, on
which the chair reasoned: “Who’s to say that someone else might see
that [unpunished adultery] and think ‘well if he’s allowed to do it why
can’t I do it’.”
Similarly, the chair argued that it was not possible to condemn
amputation of thieves’ hands “without looking at the specifics” of the
crime in question.
After video footage of the event came to light, Khadijah Afzal, chair
of Global Aspirations and speaking on behalf of the society,
said:
Not once in the discussion was any of this advocated. It was a
hypothetical discussion in which people were open to discuss their
views, which or may not have necessarily been that of the society. The
fact that you have pin pointed only the discussion on the punishment
system in Islam shows that you are ignorant of Islam as a political
system, and hence decided to play the media rhetoric of Islam equates to
harsh punishments and lack of humanity.
People hold various views and opinions about a number of issues on
campus, including fascists who are openly allowed to propagate their
views under the guise of freedom of speech. What I ask of you is not to
be intolerant towards debate especially when it goes against the grain
of what you ardently hold on to.
A statement from Students’ Union Wellbeing Officer Cat Gray addressed
the event, but bizarrely seemed to focus primarily on concerns over the
covert nature of the footage, drawing into question once again how
seriously extremism is taken on campus by the relevant authorities:
We are deeply concerned with the covert filming of a student event
within the Union. We are also deeply concerned by the suggestion that
comments of a homophobic nature have been made. The Union operates a
safe space policy where students should not be subject to any form of
intimidation or discrimination.
Labels: Academia, Britain, Culture, Defence Security, Human Relations, Islamism, Multiculturalism, Persecution
Canadian Terrorist Coordinated Algerian Hostage Attack
The
radicalization of Islam continues to reach beyond the Mid East, as
reports reveal two Canadians among Islamic terror group in Algeria
By Annie Lubin-
Arutz Sheva 7
First Publish: 1/21/2013, 5:53 PM
Hostages with their hands in the air
Reuters
The bodies of two Canadian Islamist terrorists were found Monday at
the remote gas complex which played host this past week to a four-day
hostage crisis that has left at least 81 people dead, lending to
sentiments that the radicalization of Islam continues to reach
beyond the Middle East.
Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal claimed Monday that a Canadian coordinated the attack, saying at a news conference,
"A Canadian was among the militants. He was coordinating the attack."
According to Algerian security sources, documents found on the bodies of two terrorists identified them as Canadians.
The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Chrystiane Roy told CBC News
on Monday that the government is, "pursuing all appropriate channels to
seek further information and are in close contact with Algerian
authorities."
"Canada condemns in the strongest possible terms this
deplorable and cowardly attack and all terrorist groups which seek to
create and perpetuate insecurity in the Sahel countries of West Africa,"
she added
Documents recently declassified by the Canadian Security
Intelligence Service (CSIS) revealed that Canada was among the top
countries - which included the U.S., Germany, U.K., Spain and Israel -
defined as preferred targets for terrorist activities by the al-Qaeda
terror organization.
The documents also noted that young Canadians visiting
Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan may be in danger of
radicalization, and in the last decade dozens of Canadians have enlisted
in the ranks of Islamic terror groups in these countries, with many
receiving military training to carry out attacks in their home country.
According to Canadian intelligence, "The radicalization of
Sunni Islam which leads to increasing acts of violence, constitutes a
significant threat to Canada and its allies."
Information on the identity of both the victims and terrorists is slowly surfacing as security
forces continue to sort through the wreckage left behind from the
bloody confrontation which ended in an all out assault by Algerian
forces Saturday night.
According to Algerian authorities, the hostage situation
began Wednesday when 32 men from six countries, armed with heavy machine
guns, missiles and other weaponry, and under the command
of an Islamist terror group, singled out hundreds of foreign workers at
the gas plant, killing some and attaching explosives to others.
On Saturday, Algerian forces stormed the plant, bringing
the four-day hostage situation to a violent end. In the aftermath,
security
forces searched the area for explosives and booby traps, and instead
discovered a grizzly scene as dozens more bodies were found.
Many of the bodies were badly disfigured, making it hard for officials to identify the dead.
One American from Texas has been confirmed dead, but terrorists claimed they were holding seven Americans hostage.
More on this topic
Labels: Africa, Canada, Conflict, Controversy, Defence Security, Islamism
Californian teacher talks student out of school shooting
Kern County Sheriff's Office said a teacher managed to talk the gunman down
A teacher at a high school in California has been praised by police for averting a serious shooting incident.
The teacher and a campus supervisor talked a gunman into
putting down his weapon after he had shot and injured one pupil at Taft
Union High School.
Police said the gunman had enough ammunition to kill many people.
The injured student was taken to hospital in an air ambulance and is in a critical condition.
The drama started after 09:00 local time (17:00 GMT) when the
gunman, also a student, arrived late, armed with a shotgun, at the
school in the small town in California's central valley.
Students and staff telephoned police, but before officers
could arrive, the suspect had shot at two people in a class in the
science block. One shot missed its target.
The teacher, who had been grazed by a pellet, then intervened.
He and another school official who entered the classroom are
reported by US media to have warned the suspect that there would be no
shooting in his class - at which point the gunman put down his weapon
and police officers arrested him.
"They talked him into putting that shotgun down. He in fact
told the teacher, `I don't want to shoot you,' and named the person that
he wanted to shoot," Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said.
"The heroics of these two people goes without saying. They
could have just as easily... tried to get out of the classroom and left
students, and they didn't," he added. "
Parents of pupils said the suspect had been suspended last year from the school 120 miles (190km) north of Los Angeles.
Deputies from the local sheriff''s office and town officials
conducted a search of the school and its grounds to make sure no-one
else was involved and all other students were safe.
The shooting comes four weeks after a gunman killed 26 pupils and staff at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
That incident has provoked a nationwide debate about gun laws
in the US Vice-President Joe Biden has said his task force on gun
control will make its recommendations to President Barack Obama as early
as Tuesday.
Taft Union High School will be closed for classes on Friday, but will have counsellors on campus to talk to worried students.
Former pupils of the school include the distinguished US Air
Force pilot, General Gordon Graham, the American football player Russell
Letlow and the television actress Jeanne Cooper.
Labels: Armaments, Crime, Crisis Politics, Culture, Defence Security, United States
Assad Calls for War on Rebels, Israel to Fortify Syrian Border
As Assad called to crush his enemies, Israel called to fortify security along the Syrian border.
By Maayana Miskin-
Arutz Sheva 7
First Publish: 1/6/2013, 7:32 PM
Netanyahu in the Golan
Flash 90
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel would erect a
new security fence along its armistice line with Syria in order to
protect the Jewish state from "infiltration and terrorism.”
Speaking at
the weekly cabinet
meeting, Netanyahu noted that the fence built along the Egyptian border
has “completely stopped the entry of infiltrators into Israel.”
Would-be illegal entrants have reached the fence and have been taken to
Israeli facilities, he said, but none have stealthily entered Israeli
cities.
"We intend to stretch an identical fence, with some necessary changes
due to the different conditions, along the Golan Heights," he
explained.
"We know that on the other side of our border with Syria today, the
Syrian army has moved away, and global jihad forces have moved in," he
said.
"We must therefore protect this border from infiltrations and terror,
as we have successfully been doing along the Sinai border."
The Golan has suffered
“spillover” violence
as shells from fighting in Syria hit communities there. Syrian
President Bashar Assad's speech Sunday is unlikely to calm the
situation; the embattled president called on the country to
mobilize to fight his enemies.
In addition to those concerns, “I also submit to the Cabinet the fact
that the Syrian regime is very unstable, that the question of chemical
weapons there worries us,” he continued.
Israel is “coordinating our intelligence and readiness with the US
and others so that we might be prepared for any scenario and possibility
that could arise,” he added.
A security official told
AFP that the new fence in the Golan
Heights would be along the outline of the old one. The official noted
that Israel had already completed some 10
kilometers (6 miles) of the new Golan fence, and had "about 60 kilometers (37 miles) to go."
The official said he believed the work would be completed in the course of 2013.
Israel captured the Golan from Syria during the 1967
Six Day War and annexed it in 1981.
More on this topic
Labels: Conflict, Defence Security, Israel, Syria
