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Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Navajo Indian killed by state police - Shady report
AZTEC — Detectives from the San Juan County Sheriff's Office found no evidence of a drive-by shooting at Myles Roughsurface's house prior to the 27-year-old man's death on Friday, according to a police report released by the sheriff's office on Monday.
Roughsurface's stepfather, Charles Lee, told The Daily Times on Saturday that he had placed guns in Roughsurface's room so that his stepson could protect himself after two young white men earlier this year drove by the family's house in a white truck and shot at them, wounding the family's dog.
Police found one of those firearms in Roughsurface's pocket after he was fatally shot by a New Mexico State Police officer Friday evening, an officer told Roughsurface's family on Saturday.
According to the police report, two family members called 911 shortly before 10 p.m. Oct. 19 and reported that shots were fired near their residence, located at No. 9 County Road 3267.
However, detectives could not locate any shell casings near the area where the shots were heard, and a follow-up investigation did not turn up substantive evidence that the house or the family dog had been struck by bullets.
Detectives also did not find Roughsurface's statements regarding the shooting to be credible. Roughsurface told police he saw two men in a white truck fire guns at his house as he was driving home from the Circle K in Flora Vista.
However, surveillance footage showed Roughsurface was at Circle K at the time the shooting was reported, the report states.
According to the report, the surveillance footage showed a man detectives believe to be Roughsurface making obscene gestures at passing motorists outside the store at the time dispatchers received reports that shots were fired.
Several family members, including Roughsurface, accused two men of being the shooters, according to the report, but the names of the individuals were redacted from the report.
The men were located by deputies driving in the area shortly after the alleged shooting, and their vehicle was stopped, the report states. Both men denied owning guns, and officers saw no evidence in their vehicle that they had weapons, ammunition or spent shell casings, the report states. One of the men later told a detective he had been in an altercation with Roughsurface shortly before he was accused in the shooting.
He said he and his friend were at the intersection near Roughsurface's house looking for a lost pair of glasses when Roughsurface approached them, the report states.
The man told detectives Roughsurface cursed at them and told them to get off his property. The man told detectives they were nowhere near Roughsurface's property, but Roughsurface regularly acted like he "runs the neighborhood," the report states.
Neither Lee nor Roughsurface's mother, Darlene Tso, could be reached for comment Monday.
Detectives said in the report they had previously had contact with Roughsurface, and he was out on bond on Oct. 19.
According to court records, Roughsurface was charged on Sept. 12 in Farmington Magistrate Court with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Farmington police officers were dispatched at 11 p.m. Sept. 10 to the area of East 30th Street and Sullivan Avenue after receiving reports a man had exited his vehicle and threatened another motorist with a knife, according to the criminal complaint.
The motorist told police a man driving a tan Ford Explorer was tailgaiting him on East 30th Street, and he tapped his brakes to create distance between the vehicles.
The Ford Explorer sped past the motorist's car, and he saw two men in the vehicle drinking from a bottle of alcohol, the report states.
The man told police he was writing down the vehicle's license plate number when the two men exited the Ford Explorer and charged his vehicle. He said the passenger in the vehicle was wielding a knife, the complaint states.
A Ford Explorer with a license plate number similar to one the man provided was located and stopped by police near the intersection of Rowe Avenue and East Main Street.
Roughsurface, the vehicle's passenger, was found to be in possession of a folding knife and several 50 milliliter bottles of liquor.
Roughsurface told detectives he and the driver were attempting to locate someone and denied threatening the man.
Roughsurface was released on a $5,000 surety bond and ordered not to possess any firearms or consume alcohol, according to court records.
The allegations made against Roughsurface contrast the descriptions provided by his friends and family, who said the man was intelligent and generous. His friend, Jacquelin Medina, said Saturday that Roughsurface was always willing to help people and gave her money to buy milk for her children.
Roughsurface's mother said her son could hold a conversation with anyone, but was also handy and capable of building a house from the foundation up.
Friends, family and neighbors held a candelight vigil for Roughsurface on Saturday evening.
New Mexico State Police officials have not identified Roughsurface as the individual shot Friday evening, but The Daily Times was present Saturday afternoon when officers informed Tso and Lee about their son's death.
Mexican Governor Seeks Federal Help Against Vigilantes
MORELIA, Mexico – The governor of the western Mexican state of Michoacan appealed to President Enrique Peña Nieto for federal help to impose order on three towns dominated by vigilantes.
Michoacan’s people must move from the culture of guns to the culture of peace to avert further bloodshed, Gov. Salvador Jara said as he reflected on a Dec. 16 clash between rival vigilante groups that left 11 people dead.
He announced that he had requested support from the army, the Federal Police and other federal bodies to detain all armed civilians in three towns, including La Ruana, the scene of last week’s battle.
“It is unacceptable for there to be armed civilians in Michoacan,” the governor said. “We will not tolerate it and we will act to begin the disarmament of any person or group.”
The Dec. 16 battle began when more than 80 vigilantes led by Luis Antonio Torres, known as “el Americano,” attacked a barricade manned by followers of Hipolito Mora, founder of the militia movement that arose in Michoacan nearly two years ago to protect communities from the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel.
One of Mora’s sons was among those killed in the confrontation.
Peña Nieto sent troops and Federal Police into Michoacan in January to suppress the conflict between the Templarios and the militias.
On March 7, two reputed Templarios gunmen who had infiltrated Torres’ organization were found slain.
Torres pointed the finger at Mora, who was arrested but ultimately released due to lack of evidence.
Many members of Michoacan militias, including the followers of both Mora and Torres, have signed up for a government-sanctioned rural security force.
Earlier this month, however, authorities notified 300 members of Torres’ faction that they had been disqualified from serving in the new organization.
The Torres group responded by blocking roads.
Residents of the area around La Ruana say the 300 Torres associates rejected by the rural security force have links to the Viagras, a group of hired guns who worked for the Templarios.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
At Least 1,171 Killed in Syria Since Start of Coalition Strikes
CAIRO – At least 1,171 people have been killed in Syria in airstrikes of the U.S.-led international coalition that began targeting the Islamic State jihadist group on Sept. 23, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced on Tuesday.
SOHR explained that 1,046 IS fighters, most of them foreigners, were killed in the international coalition’s air raids on areas such as Homs, Hama, Aleppo, Deir al-Zour, al-Hasakah and al-Raqqa.
At least 52 civilians were among the dead, including eight children and five women, in attacks in the provinces of al-Hasakah, Deir al-Zour, al-Raqqa, Aleppo and Idleb.
Meanwhile, at least one member of another Islamist insurgent brigade who was held captive by the IS, was killed in an airstrike against the radical organization’s headquarters in the town of Madan, in the countryside near the city of Al-Raqqa.
SOHR said the airstrikes have also affected refineries and oil fields, mills and a factory.
Another 72 militants from the al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front were also killed in Aleppo and Idleb.
The London-based NGO said it believes the real death toll of IS combatants might well be higher, since the terrorist group has imposed absolute secrecy on the casualties it sustains, and due to the difficulty in accessing areas subjected to attacks and bombings.
IS proclaimed in late June a caliphate in territories under its control in Iraq and Syria.
More than 200,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since 2011, according to the United Nations.
Ukraine to Mobilize 50,000 Soldiers in January
KIEV – Ukraine will begin to mobilize 50,000 conscripts and reservists on Jan. 20, amid the truce signed between the nation’s army and pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country, Viktoria Kushnir, a spokeswoman for the defense ministry, said on Tuesday.
“Mobilization will begin on Jan. 20. Officers and military specialists in the reserves will be called up. They will undergo training at Ukraine’s Armed Forces training bases for 25 days. Then all will undergo team training,” Kushnir said at a press conference.
The spokeswoman declined to answer when asked if the new batch of troops would be sent to the conflict-torn eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where fighting between pro-Russian separatists and government forces has halted since the signing of a ceasefire agreement.
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine decided on Saturday to convene a new wave of military mobilizations, which will be divided into three stages: January, April and July 2015.
Ukraine resorted to conscription due to a shortage of volunteers to join the armed forces to fight against the more experienced pro-Russian militants, volunteers, and mercenaries coming from Russia.
The Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Stepan Poltorak, announced in mid-December that his ministry was planning to mobilize 40,000 soldiers and 10,500 contractors.
Three Gunned Down at Bar in Northern Mexico
MEXICO CITY – Three people were killed and 13 others wounded when gunmen opened fire at a bar in the northern municipality of San Nicolas, Mexican authorities said Monday.
The attack occurred after midnight Sunday during a Christmas party hosted by Grupo Paca, owner of the bar and other establishments in the state of Nuevo Leon.
Eight men with assault rifles approached the bar in the Monterrey suburb, neutralized the security guards and started shooting at guests, the Nuevo Leon state Attorney General’s Office said.
Two of the 13 people wounded remain hospitalized with serious injuries.
Nuevo Leon has experienced similar incidents at bars and other nightspots in recent years. Authorities have blamed the violence on turf wars among rival criminal groups.
Monday, December 22, 2014
US State Department issues worldwide travel warning
The U.S. State Department has issued a worldwide travel advisory during the holidays, warning Americans to be vigilant and take precautions following the attack in Australia.
"The lone wolf attack in Sydney, Australia... resulting in the deaths of two hostages, is a reminder that U.S. citizens should be extra cautious, maintain a very high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance their personal security," the State Department alert read.
The warning added analysis of past attacks and threat reporting "strongly suggests" a focus by terrorists to strike against public venues, churches, schools "among other targets", not just US government facilities.
"U.S. citizens abroad should be mindful that terrorist groups and those inspired by them can pose unpredictable threats in public venues," the alert said.
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Arizona Governor tells " Federal Judge " to pound sand over Drivers Licenses
TUCSON, Arizona – Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vowed to keep up the pressure against issuing driver’s licenses to young undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers” following a court decision ordering the state to do so starting next Monday.
The federal court judge in Phoenix, David Campbell, ordered Thursday that Arizona begin to award driver’s licenses to undocumented youths protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, or DACA.
The Republican governor said in a communique that “it is outrageous that Arizona is being forced to ignore long-standing state law and comply with a flawed federal court mandate that requires the state, at least temporarily, to issue driver’s licenses to individuals whose presence is in violation of federal law, as established by the United States Congress.”
Brewer said “I have instructed my legal team to move forward in pursuing a full review of this matter before the United States Supreme Court as soon as possible.”
“At stake in this case are the fundamental issues of constitutional law and state sovereignty. Arizona has the constitutional right and authority to enforce state statute. This right must be protected. It must be defended. And as long as I am governor, I will do exactly that,” she said.
Meanwhile, Dulce Matuz, activist and president of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition, told Efe that she was sorry about Brewer’s attitude, and said there is no argument about state’s rights, only about the governor’s wish to turn dreamers into “second-class residents.”
Gov. Brewer signed an executive order in 2012 that denied undocumented youths who were protected under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals any possibility of obtaining a driver’s license.
Rocker turned ISIS recruit lures girls, says life is ‘awesome’
Sunday, 21 December 2014
A British woman who travelled to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria earlier this year has been attempting to recruit young women to join the militant group, Britain’s the Sunday Times reported.
Speaking to fictional 17-year-old Aisha, created by the British weekly as part of an ongoing investigation on ISIS, Sally Jones said the teenager’s “sins would be forgotten.”
Jones, who now goes by the name Sakinah Hussain, also revealed during the exchange information on payment methods to possible recruits in the United Kingdom.
“At the end of the day if you’re Muslim you gave to get out of ul kufr [the land of the disbelievers] to please Allah if you can [sic],” she unsuspectedly told the Sunday Times in a message.
The first point of contact was Twitter before the correspondence was moved to messenger app Kik.
Aisha, according to the Times, expressed concerns over the true identity of a certain Abu Abbas al-Lubnani, a name provided by Jones who would set up the meeting in which Aisha would receive money to facilitate the travel of two girls to Turkey.
“U have [to] give the bros name to Western Union as the collector. Listen if he’s giving u money to help u make hijrah [holy migration] dw [don’t worry] sis. He needs ur passport pics to check u aint spys or police cos hed get in big trouble if u was so dw ok just meet his brother and get the money,” Jones told the Sunday Times reporters.
According to Jones, who said she did not know Lubnani, girls would often receive the money but would never travel.
Her remarks mirrored those of Lubnani who according to the Times said: “people send money to girls to make hijrah and they take the money but dont come my sis said.”
She explained to Aisha the reality of living the militant’s self-declared caliphate.
“Women dont have careers sis under sharia law . . . We are wives we are expected to look after our men.”
However, she described life under ISIS as “awesome.”
"They look after u. U will never want for money again u live a good life here. U need to get married to get a house im just being honest with u but there are loads of men.”
Western Union are monitoring transactions into and out of Syria and Iraq and are on the lookout for any illegal activity.
“People in these countries have a humanitarian need for our services, which is why we continue to operate there. We have suspended some of our agents in areas that appear to be Isis occupied,” a spokesperson told the Times.
Saturday, December 20, 2014
New York - 2 police officers killed - execution style sitting in car
Two uniformed NYPD officers were shot dead — execution style — as they sat in their marked police car on a Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, street corner.
According to preliminary reports, both officers were working overtime as part of an anti-terrorism drill when they were shot point-blank by a single gunman who approached their car at the corner of Myrtle and Tompkins avenues.
“It’s an execution,” one law enforcement source told The Post of the 3 p.m. shooting.
The gunman just started “pumping bullets” into the patrol car, another source said.
The suspected gunman fled to a nearby subway station at Myrtle and Willoughby avenues, where he was fatally shot. Preliminary reports were unclear on whether he was shot by police or his own hand.
“They engaged the guy and he did himself,” one investigator said.
“I heard shooting, — four or five shots,” ear-witness Derrick McKie, 49, told The Post.
“It sounded like from a single gun,” he said. Ambulances and police cars rushed to the scene, he said.
“I saw an officer being put on a stretcher,” he said. “There was lots of chaos and confusion.”
Carmen Jimenez, 32, a social worker from Bedford-Stuyvesant, was on the subway platform when the gunman ran inside, pursued by officers.
“Everything happened so quick,” said Jimenez, who is eight months pregnant. “We were standing waiting for the G train. We heard arguing from the other end of the platform.
It looked like two cops came in there was lots of yelling and they said, ‘Everybody get down.’
“We tried to get out of there, and there was a lot of shouting, people were screaming, people were trying to run.
“I threw myself on the floor. I was afraid for my life and afraid for my baby.”
Maryam Rajavi: Iran regime's human rights dossier must be referred to UNSC
NCRI - Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, described the 61st resolution condemning the brutal and systematic violation of human rights in Iran adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 18, 2014, as another decisive document on illegitimacy of having economic and political relationship with the ruling clerical regime in Iran and added: "This resolution leaves no doubt that the regime's appalling human rights record must be referred to the Security Council for binding and preventive measures, and those responsible for 120,000 political executions must be brought to justice."
Mrs. Rajavi said: “While the religious tyranny has consistently defied 61 adopted resolutions by various United Nations bodies, the international community must take binding measures vis-à-vis the increasing number of executions and brutal and systematic violation of human rights in Iran. This regime, not only in terms of the number of executions, but in most areas is a record holder for the most repressive actions in today’s world. Therefore, mentioning a portion of these crimes that are mentioned in today’s resolution is not enough at all. The General Assembly should have demanded the referral of the crimes of the clerical regime to the International Criminal Court by the UN Security Council, as it did in its December 18 resolution about North Korea.”
Rajavi said: “While according to this resolution the mullahs have spared no field in the lives of the Iranian people from repression, crime, control and harassment, the P5+1 in their nuclear negotiations with the regime must end silence on human rights violation in Iran. Silence on unabated torture and execution in Iran, and silence and inaction on forcible displacement of Ashraf residents and making Camp Liberty a prison, and in one word sacrificing human rights, freedom and the Iranian resistance that the Western governments had adopted, is a shameful failed policy that has led to emboldening the regime in its bomb making program and aggressive policies in the region.”
She stressed as lomg as the mullahs are not held accountable for the violation of human rights in increasing executions,
She emphasized that as long as the mullahs are not held accountable for human rights violations and increasing executions, they will abandon neither the production of nuclear weapons nor terrorism and domination in the Middle East.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
Iran is ‘inflexible’ in nuclear talks, Britain and France say
The Iranian regime has not been flexible enough in talks with the West aimed at halting the regime's project to build a nuclear bomb, officials from Britain and France said this week.
The criticism of Iran's stance at the end of another round of negotiations between the regime and officials from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.
Senior French diplomat Philippe Bertoux told the UN Security Council: "In spite of insufficient flexibility demonstrated at this stage by Iranian negotiators, we'd like to believe that Iran does seek a long-term agreement.
"We would expect that Iran takes strategic choices and courageous decisions in upcoming rounds of negotiations."
Senior British diplomat Michael Tatham also urging Iran to be more flexible in the next round of negotiations.
Western officials say Iran has not compromised on major sticking points in the talks, including the size and scope of its future uranium enrichment program and the speed of ending sanctions.
Deputy US Ambassador David Pressman said: "While we continue to believe that the best way to achieve our goals is thorough diplomacy, we are not going to sit at the negotiating table forever."
He said the UN Security Council's sanctions committee should continue monitoring the implementation of UN sanctions, and referred to a recent report by the Iran Panel of Experts which said Tehran was continuing to skirt the sanctions.
Mr Pressman added: "We know that Iran is still trying to procure sensitive technology. We know Iran is still smuggling arms in violation of the UN arms embargo on it."
Iran , China, and Russia may have played a role in " Sony hacking "
Iran may played a role in a recent hacking attack at Sony Pictures Entertainment after the company released a film about the fictional assassination of North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un.
The FBI believes the Iranian regime, as well as China or Russia, could have provided the highly sophisticated malware that corrupted Sony's computers, an intelligence source said.
There was also no evidence of a forced entry into the Sony systems, pointing to an insider threat or stolen credentials, and emails sent to Sony included blackmail demands unrelated to the movie, the source added.
And US officials said the attack originated outside North Korea, but believe the individuals behind it were acting on orders from the North Korean government.
US State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: "Given the destructive efforts or effects of this attack, we're treating this as a national security matter, and as such, members of the president's national security team have been in regular meetings regarding this attack."
The White House has also declined to directly blame North Korea for the attack, though Press Secretary Josh Earnest referred to the incident as a 'serious national security matter'.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Iran - Basij militia member arrested for stabbing 6 women
Stabbing of Six Women Continue Series of Attacks Against Women
DECEMBER 2, 2014
Concern Mounts that Parliament’s “Virtue Plan” is Spurring Attacks
In a continuing series of attacks against women in Iran, a suspect has been arrested for the stabbing of six women in the southern town of Jahrom in Fars Province over the past week. The stabbings follow the numerous acid attacks against women in Isfahan over the last few months, which were allegedly linked to vigilante justice that was aimed at punishing “improper” hijab and encouraged by the Iranian Parliament’s proposed “Plan to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice.”
There is growing concern that the stabbings reflect a continuation of such “Virtue Plan”-inspired attacks, especially as state officials have rushed to dissociate the suspect in the stabbing attacks from the proposed Parliamentary Plan.
Moreover, Saham News reported that the perpetrator is a Basij militia member (an all-volunteer paramilitary force under the supervision of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, which is used to enforce the regime’s ideological dictates) and the Parliament has designated the Basij to be the principal enforcers of the proposed Plan.
Mohammad Reza Rezaei Kouchi, the MP from Jahrom claimed on November 30, 2014, that the perpetrator’s actions were not related to the Virtue Plan, and that his motives for the crimes were “completely personal.” In an interview with Iran Khabar news website, Kouchi said, “among the injured, there were women whose Islamic covering, hijab, was flawless. They were even wearing the veil (chador), therefore the claim that the perpetrator’s motivation was to confront poor hijab, to promote virtue and prevent vice is absolutely incorrect.”
According to Kouchi, the perpetrator is Mohammad Beheshtifar, 22, who is the son of Jalil Beheshtfar, an IRGC colonel. “When he learned that his son has committed a crime, Colonel Beheshtifar turned his son in.”
Saham News website, however, said in a news article that the perpetrator was the son of a Basij Commander from Ghotbabad (a village located 10 kilometers outside of Jahrom). Saham News added that in addition to the assault on the women with a knife, the dormitory windows of female Jahrom university students have also been broken over the past week, and classes have been cancelled since November 26 as a result of heightened fear among the students.
Except for one woman who was also stabbed in the stomach, all the women were stabbed with a knife in their buttocks area, according to reports. Four or five of the victims are university students, according the same reports.
It is not clear when the attacks began but the perpetrator, Mohammad Beheshtifar, was arrested on November 27, 2014.
Regarding the state of the six female victims, Jahrom Deputy Governor told ILNA, “they were treated in the outpatient unit and were released from hospital.”
Hojatollah Rezaei, the Jahrom Governor, told Mehr News that the perpetrator “injured six women from behind during this time. In a separate act, he intimidated two women with pepper spray.”
Fars Province Governor, Seyed Mohammad Ahmadi, told Fars News on November 30 that the perpetrator has a personality disorder, rejecting suspicions that his acts of violence are motivated by “promoting virtue and preventing vice.” “No team, group, or organization was involved in these incidents and after arrest, the perpetrator confessed to his crime of attacking and injuring six women in this town,” he added.
On October 16, news of acid attacks by anonymous assailants on women in Isfahan was firstannounced. Many Iranian citizens, including leading members of Iranian civil society such as the prominent lawyer and human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh, have pointed to the Iranian Parliament’s “Plan to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice” as the root cause of the attacks and demanded an end to the Plan’s review.
There was also a large gathering of citizens and civil and women’s rights activists in Tehran and Isfahan to protest the attacks on October 22. More than a month after the acid attacks took lace, no suspects have yet been arrested.
Note from blogger -Iran - This is how their women " Live in Fear "
This is how women live " in fear " in Iran . If you look close you could see the knife in the hand of the man sitting on the back of the motorcycle " red helmet " ! They say these men are the Basij, a paramilitary volunteer militia established in 1979 by order of the Islamic Revolution's leader Ayatollah Khomeini.
It's clear these men are the Basij serve as an auxiliary force engaged in activities such as internal security as well as law enforcement auxiliary, the providing of social service, organizing of public religious ceremonies, and policing of morals and the suppression of dissident gatherings.
blogger
Thursday, December 18, 2014
UN condemns human rights abuses in Iran
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday slammed the violations of human rights by the Iranian regime.
The resolution criticizes the Iranian regime's use of inhuman punishments, including flogging and amputations, and its use of the death penalty against young people under age 18.
This is the 61st resolution by UN condemning the vicious and systematic violation of Human Rights in Iran.
This resolution by the UNGA censures the mullahs’ dictatorship ruling Iran for the rise in executions, public executions and execution of juveniles.
In this resolution, the UNGA has condemned the Iranian regime for cruel, inhumane and degrading punishments, especially flogging and amputation of limbs and hands.
It also denounces widespread and serious limitation of right to assemble, freedom of congregation and freedom of thought and speech.
CUBA - Russia reopen's old missile base in Cuba last week
Moscow and Havana have agreed to reopen a Cold War-era signals intelligence (SIGINT) base in Lourdes, Cuba.
An agreement was reached during Putin's visit to Cuba last week to reopen the base, Russia business daily Kommersant reported last week. That was confirmed by a Russian security source who told Reuters: "A framework agreement has been agreed."
The base was set up in 1964 after the Cuban missile crisis had brought the U.S. and Soviet Union close to confrontation over Moscow's proposal to place nuclear weapons on Cuban soil.
Havana shut it down in 2001 because of financial issues and American pressure.
Located south of Cuba's capital Havana and just 150 miles from the U.S. coast, the base left many parts of the U.S. vulnerable to Soviet communication intercepts, including exchanges between Florida space centers and U.S. spacecraft.
Here's what a Congressional report from 2000 said about the facility:
• The Secretary of Defense formally expressed concerns to Congress regarding the espionage complex at Lourdes, Cuba, and its use as a base for intelligence directed against the United States.
• The Secretary of Defense, referring to a 1998 Defense Intelligence Agency assessment, reported that the Russian Federation leased the Lourdes facility for an estimated $100 million to $300 million a year.
• It has been reported that the Lourdes facility was the largest such complex operated by the Russian Federation and its intelligence service outside the region of the former Soviet Union.
• The Lourdes facility was reported to cover a 28 square-mile area with over 1,500 Russian engineers, technicians, and military personnel working at the base.
• Experts familiar with the Lourdes facility have reportedly confirmed that the base had multiple groups of tracking dishes and its own satellite system, with some groups used to intercept telephone calls, faxes, and computer communications, in general, and with other groups used to cover targeted telephones and devices.
• News sources have reported that the Lourdes facility obtained sensitive information about United States military operations during Operation Desert Storm.
• Academic studies cite official U.S. sources affirming that the Lourdes facility was used to collect personal information about United States citizens in the private and government sectors, and offered the means to engage in cyberwarfare against the U.S.
• The operational significance of the Lourdes facility reportedly grew dramatically after Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a 1996 order demanding the Russian intelligence community increase its gathering of U.S. and other Western economic and trade secrets.
• It has been reported that the Government of the Russian Federation is estimated to have spent in excess of $3 billion in the operation and modernization of the Lourdes facility.
• Former U.S. Government officials were quoted confirming reports about the Russian Federation’s expansion and upgrade of the Lourdes facility.
• It was reported in December 1999 that a high-ranking Russian military delegation headed by Deputy Chief of the General Staff Colonel-General Valentin Korabelnikov visited Cuba to discuss the continuing Russian operation of the Lourdes facility.
Defense experts agree the base could significantly boost Russia's ability to spy on America during a low-point in U.S.-Russia relations.
Ivan Konovalov, head of the Moscow-based Center for Strategic Trends Studies, estimated that the Lourdes base was used to acquire at least 50% of the Soviet Union's radio-intercepted intelligence from the U.S., according to Reuters.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-spy-base-russia-may-reopen-in-lourdes-cuba-2014-7#ixzz3MHFRiYHa
Interview: Maryam Rajavi Discussing Nuclear Talks With Iranian regime
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance believes the Iranian regime must be placed under 'maximum international pressure and sanctions' if it is to be forced to give up its quest for a nuclear bomb.
In an interview with Ambassador Ken Blackwell, published in a number of news media, the leader of the Iranian Resistance identified the three facets of the regime’s survival strategy. Firstly, acquiring nuclear weapons, secondly, repressing its own citizens and thirdly aggression and meddling in neighbouring countries.
She said America's appeasement of the regime by writing letters to Supreme Leader Ali Khameni and failing to honor its promise to provide security for Iranian dissidents in Camp Liberty is seen as a sign of weakness by the regime, and emboldens the mullahs in Tehran in both their suppression of the Iranian people and their pursuit of regional hegemony.
Below is the full text:
Source: Townhall.com
By: KEN BLACKWELL
Winston Churchill famously said "Jaw-Jaw is better than War-War." He was right, of course. But with Iran, the mullahs have made War-War while engaging us in Jaw-Jaw. They have played us along with these nuclear talks.
Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. This extended transcript is worth the time to study. The stakes could not be higher.
This is the voice of Iran's freedom front. It's been said that Iran's mullahs with a nuclear weapon is "1,000 times more deadly" even than ISIS. Please take the time to read President Rajavi's response to my questions:
1. In your view, why did the Iranian regime and the West fail to reach an accord on the nuclear issue despite the concessions offered by the West and especially the United States?
Maryam Rajavi: The most important reason is that the regime's absolute ruler, Ali Khamenei, has not yet decided to abandon the path of developing nuclear weapons. The development of a nuclear weapon is one of the three facets of the clerical regime's survival strategy. The two others are repressing both the citizenry and the opposition (particularly the Mujahedin-e Khalq or the MEK), as well as regional aggression. The absence of any one of these three elements would spell the collapse of the regime's entire strategy, opening the floodgates for popular uprisings.
Despite their insatiable appetite for western concessions, the mullahs do not want to lose power. Therefore, they would only forego the bomb if they sense that their survival is in danger, and if they feel that the risk of insisting on the nuclear project outweighs the risk of abandoning it. This balance can only be realized when the clerical regime is placed under maximum international pressure and sanctions. It cannot be realized when fruitless negotiations continue and the regime is actually rewarded and granted concessions for flouting UN Security Council resolutions or disregarding IAEA demands. These concessions have been counterproductive and they have rescued the mullahs from reaching their point of desperation.
2. What do you think of the extension of the negotiations?
Maryam Rajavi: The extension of the talks grants greater opportunities to the mullahs to obtain a nuclear bomb, and there can be no guarantees or optimistic outcomes. The extension revealed the failure of the U.S. policy, which was based on the assumption that it can convince this medieval regime to act rationally through appeasement, negotiations, not toughening the sanctions and even reducing their impact. Sanctions forced the regime to come to the negotiating table in Geneva in the first place. The easing of sanctions and western concessions to the regime has enabled Khamenei to expand the scope of his red lines and avoid the signing of a final deal.
It must be noted that this regime, on the basis of the red lines dictated by Khamenei and due to the profound crises it is facing, especially the explosive nature of social discontent, will dodge the signing of a comprehensive agreement as long as it possibly can, unless international pressure forces it to retreat.
3. How do you view the Obama administration's conduct toward Iran, including moves like sending letters to Khamenei?
Maryam Rajavi: This conduct is not limited to writing letters. It has other dimensions, particularly maintaining silence with respect to human rights violations in Iran and inaction toward the attacks by the mullahs' puppet government in Iraq (Maliki) against Camps Ashraf and Liberty and the displacement of Ashraf residents, who had repeatedly been given written assurances for their safety and security by the United States.
As indicated in his speeches, Khamenei saw this as a sign of the U.S. weakness and was emboldened in his suppression of the Iranian people, development of nuclear weapons and pursuit of regional hegemony.
But as far as it concerns my compatriots, the people of Iran, they are extremely aggravated at such policies. They are the ones paying the price of this misguided policy with their blood and suffering. One can easily imagine how angry millions of Iranian families, who have had their children executed, tortured or suppressed by the mullahs, would be when they witness such conduct.
The slogan chanted by millions of Iranians during the 2009 uprisings is still relevant today: "Obama, you are either with the mullahs or with us."
4. Has this approach been helpful for solving the nuclear crisis?
Maryam Rajavi: The failure of the intense negotiations from November 2013 to November 2014 indicated that displaying weakness, offering all sorts of incentives to the mullahs and indefensibly overlooking the regime's international obligations have ironically undermined the process of resolving this crisis.
It was an unreasonable mistake for the United States and its allies to officially allow the Iranian regime to violate UN Security Council resolutions on its nuclear program. It was a mistake to permit the regime to enrich uranium in contrast to the same resolutions, and it was a mistake to tolerate the regime's ballistic missiles program and its export of arms to other counties.
5. Has the recent regional crisis had an impact on Tehran's behavior during the negotiations?
Maryam Rajavi: It has certainly increased the significance of acquiring nuclear weapons for Khamenei. Despite all his meddling, threats, and murders in Iraq, Khamenei failed to prevent the downfall of his proxy government (Maliki). This was a fundamental blow to the mullahs' domination over Iraq and it made Khamenei more fearful of the status of his rule in Iran itself. This is particularly the case since the regime has been unable to save Assad from the crisis in Syria over the past three years despite perpetrating an inhumane war through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The actual fear over the crisis spilling into Iran, which would rattle the entire regime, has increased Khamenei's need for the bomb. As a result, he avoided any sort of flexibility during the negotiations.
6. How do you react to the idea that there should be a role for the Iranian regime in Iraq and specifically in the fight against ISIS, which could lay the groundwork for cooperation?
Maryam Rajavi: This would be a repeat of disastrous past experiences, the consequences of which are still haunting the Middle East and the entire world, including in the United States. I am talking about the cooperation with the Iranian regime during the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and more importantly opening Iraq's doors to the Iranian regime, its surrogates and militias after the war to gradually solidify their control in Iraq. In practice, this policy has turned Iraq into a launching pad for the expansion of terrorism and fundamentalism led by Tehran. The rise of ISIS is one of the by-products of this policy. The people of Iraq see the clerical regime as an occupying power. Any form of cooperation with this regime would cast a shadow of doubt over the legitimacy of operations carried out by the international coalition. Such hypothetical cooperation would also fuel a conflict desired by ISIS, because ISIS is trying to paint its acts of terrorism as a battle between Shiites and Sunnis in a bid to recruit Sunnis to its ranks.
7. What do you think can solve the current regional crisis?
Maryam Rajavi: The solution and the main key lie in the hands of the peoples of the region themselves. Confronting terrorism and extremism masquerading as Islam (whether in the form of ISIS or militias tied to the Iranian regime in Iraq) is only possibly through uniting people and anti-fundamentalist forces in the region. This is a war that has no answer in the battlefield without the complete participation of Sunnis and Sunni tribes. There can be no solution without the meaningful participation of the real representatives of the various Sunni factions in the Iraqi government. But, in order to realize that outcome, the Iranian regime and its militias must be evicted from Iraq. They are the obstacles to such participation, and they inspire sectarian war and religious killings.
8. What shortcomings does American policy have?
Maryam Rajavi: U.S. policy towards Iran and the entire Middle East suffers from lack of firmness toward the religious fascism ruling Iran, which is the central banker of terrorism and the godfather of ISIS. As a result, it hobbles from one mistake to the next. This happens for a number of basic reasons:
- The failure to realize the fundamental weakness and decaying of the Iranian regime;
- Lack of the minimum requisite understanding about the intensity of animosity harbored by the Iranian people towards the ruling regime, and the inability to see the massive social discontent;
- And, failure to recognize the role and potentials of the democratic alternative to this regime, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which thanks to its pivotal member organization, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), is the effective antithesis to fundamentalism and extremism masquerading as Islam.
- Lack of the minimum requisite understanding about the intensity of animosity harbored by the Iranian people towards the ruling regime, and the inability to see the massive social discontent;
- And, failure to recognize the role and potentials of the democratic alternative to this regime, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which thanks to its pivotal member organization, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), is the effective antithesis to fundamentalism and extremism masquerading as Islam.
9. What are your thoughts on fundamentalism and Islamic extremism and the reasons for its expansion?
Maryam Rajavi: Islamic fundamentalism, which in contrast to true Islam, is known for its characteristic religious dictatorship, misogyny, religious discrimination, inhumane punishments, and unimaginable deception, was born with the mullahs' regime in Iran in 1979. The mullahs proliferated this reactionary thought throughout the region starting three decades ago. These are characteristics that are exactly the same for fundamentalists under the Shiite banner and fundamentalists under the Sunni banner. The growth of fundamentalism, which has today manifested itself in ISIS, is culturally and historically the result of the proliferation of such ideology by the mullahs in Iran. From a political standpoint, the cruel suppression of Sunnis in Iraq by the Iranian-affiliated Iraqi government and their marginalization and widespread massacre of people in Syria, again at the hands of a dictatorship tied to the mullahs and the IRGC, created the breeding ground for this phenomenon.
But the solution to Islamic extremism lies in an alternative that is based on a democratic and tolerant Islam. In Iran, this alternative is represented by the MEK, which has been able to promote a pioneering role model for the entire region. This is one of the reasons for the 27 attacks and massacres of residents at Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty, which have taken place in recent years at the hands of the mullahs and their puppet government in Iraq. The residents of Ashraf and Liberty are the representatives and advocates of such an alternative.
10. What is your assessment of Rouhani's one-year record in various arenas, specifically human rights in Iran? Have there been any changes?
Maryam Rajavi: Mullah Hassan Rouhani's sixteen-month record reveals a complete defeat for him and for the entire regime. More than 1,200 executions during his tenure, including hangings of juveniles, a slate of acid attacks and stabbings against women, detaining of lawyers, journalists, new Christian converts, Sunnis, Dervishes (a branch of Shiism) and Bahaiis, and the ratification of extremely suppressive laws are only a part of his record. In April, Rouhani personally defended the executions and said that they can be considered either as Islamic edicts or as man-made laws, and in both cases we are responsible for implementing them. In October, the regime's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), on his orders, actively defended the hanging of Reyhaneh Jabbari, a young woman who had defended herself against a man trying to rape her. In the second week of December, the Intelligence Minister, who is very close to Rouhani, proudly boasted about a list of dissidents his ministry was responsible for assassinating outside of Iran's borders.
Rouhani has also failed to deliver on his promises to improve the economy. The value of the country's currency is even lower than its lowest point during Ahmadinejad's tenure, the price of bread has increased to the highest level in Iran's history, official estimate put the number of starving people at 12 million, and two in five people are unemployed.
As a result, once more it has been proven that the hopes for the rise of a "moderate" inside the religious fascism is nothing but a mirage.
11. Your movement has had a central role in exposing the regime's nuclear program. What do you think is the nature of this program?
Maryam Rajavi: There is no doubt that the program entirely has military objectives. Since revelations about the existence of the secret sites in Arak and Natanz in 2002 until now, the Iranian Resistance has made over 100 documented revelations about sensitive and wide-ranging details of this program, all of which expose its military objectives.
The Iranian Resistance has in this way trapped the mullahs, even as western governments have for years offered incentives to the mullahs instead of adopting a firm stance, which has granted the mullahs an opportunity to expand their nuclear program.
But the role and activities of the Resistance have created an extensive social awareness inside Iran in protest to this program, depriving it of any sort of legitimacy whatsoever. On the basis of such public opposition, our movement seeks a non-nuclear Iran in its political platform.
12. Is Tehran still seeking a nuclear weapon?
Maryam Rajavi: The regime is certainly pursuing a nuclear weapon. In the course of the year-long negotiations in Geneva and Vienna, the P5+1 and the mullahs openly talked about a nuclear breakout capacity. Moreover, the mullahs have still not provided a complete list of their nuclear installations; they have not responded to IAEA questions about "explosive trigger tests" and "computer simulations related to nuclear explosions;" they are still not prepared to allow inspections of the Parchin site; and in the words of the UN nuclear watchdog, there are still no guarantees about the absence of "unannounced nuclear materials and activities." If the regime truly is not pursuing nuclear weapons, then what explains such resistance and obstructive behavior when it comes to the IAEA?
13. In your opinion, what elements should a nuclear agreement with the Iranian regime include and what elements should the West insist upon?
Maryam Rajavi: For the ruling regime in Iran to forego nuclear weapons, the following are necessary:
- The full implementation of UN Security Council resolutions, especially the complete halt of enrichment;
- Acceptance of the Additional Protocol;
- And, granting of free access for inspectors to the regime's suspicious installations and sites.
Anything less than this would leave open the regime's path toward obtaining a nuclear bomb.
- Acceptance of the Additional Protocol;
- And, granting of free access for inspectors to the regime's suspicious installations and sites.
Anything less than this would leave open the regime's path toward obtaining a nuclear bomb.
14. What is your idea of a correct policy toward Tehran?
Maryam Rajavi: The correct policy is for the global community to stand with the Iranian people and the Iranian Resistance instead of appeasing the religious fascism. One of the prerequisites to this policy is making diplomatic and trade relations with the mullahs contingent upon an end to executions and torture, and putting an end to the regime's intransigence in the region.
So long as the mullahs have not been compelled to end execution and torture, they would neither forgo nuclear weapons nor their ambitions of domination and terrorism in the Middle East.
The other prerequisite for a correct policy is the recognition of the Iranian people's Resistance to bring about change in Iran.
In their confrontation against a decaying tyranny, the Iranian people have a democratic alternative with a clear platform that seeks a secular and pluralistic republic, gender equality, a society based on respect for human rights and the abolition of the death penalty, abdication of the mullahs' Sharia laws, providing equal economic opportunities to all, a non-nuclear Iran, and peace and co-existence with the rest of the world.
15. Would you agree with more sanctions on the regime?
Maryam Rajavi: The mullahs will only forgo their nuclear program, human rights violations and export of fundamentalism to the region if they are at the height of despair and desperation. Therefore, the pressure of sanctions on the regime must be increased. This is exactly the opposite of the mullahs' plan, who have put their focus on lifting of the sanctions.
But sanctions must include all financial, trade, oil, military and diplomatic aspects. Several UN Security Council resolutions, particularly UNSC Resolution 1929, have called for an arms embargo on the regime and the prohibition of all regime activities related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads. And they permit all countries to inspect cargoes originating from or destined to Iran. But as a result of the policy of western governments, and especially the U.S., even these resolutions are not being implemented.
16. How do you see the prospects for change in Iran?
Maryam Rajavi: Change in Iran is inevitable. This is not only due to the crises gripping the mullahs, the regime's nuclear impasse, or the blows it has received in Iraq and Syria. Beyond all this, change is inevitable because of the intense social discontent in Iran and the social readiness to revive popular uprisings. This is the most important reason that explains why the mullahs have resorted to splashing acid on women's faces and why they have increased the number of executions to levels not seen in the last quarter of a century, not to mention the attacks and imposition of pressures against the Iranian Resistance and especially the residents of Camp Liberty.
The mullahs' regime in Iran represents the rule of a minority of less than 5 percent of the population that relies on sheer force. Without torture, daily executions, censorship, and complete control, they cannot remain in power even a day longer. But, this exceedingly wobbly and unstable situation is not at all sustainable.
As a former U.S. Ambassador to the UN for Human Rights, I can verify that the failure to address the horrific record of the Tehran regime will guarantee failure when dealing with a dictatorial regime like the mullahs have run in Iran since 1979. President Rajavi should be thanked for helping us as Americans return to our best traditions and our greatest success.
Ken Blackwell is the Senior Fellow for Family Empowerment at the Family Research Council. He serves on the board of directors of the Club for Growth and the National Taxpayers Union. He is also a member of the public affairs committee of the NRA. Mr. Blackwell is also the former Mayor of Cincinnati and a former Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
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