Israel Matzav

The next time

From here.

Labels: AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Iranian nuclear threat, Islamic terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:56 PM 0 comments

I'm shocked, just shocked, to hear this

Shavua tov, a good week to everyone.

This should surprise no one.

Iran were reportedly behind the assassination of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman. According to sources an Iranian agent was the killer.
— IDF Elite (@idfelite) February 21, 2015

Maybe Obama can hire Iran to come after Rudy Giuliani? (And don't get me wrong - I love Giuliani).

Labels: Alberto Nisman, AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Barack Hussein Obama, Iranian nuclear threat, murder

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:27 AM 0 comments

Kirchner: 'Nisman was murdered to frame me'

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez Kirchner now admits that the death of AMIA terror bombing investigator Alberto Nisman was not a suicide. But now Kirchner claims that Nisman was murdered to frame her.

The government says two key witnesses in Nisman's case against the president had been falsely presented to him as state intelligence agents.

Fernandez said the deception discredited Nisman's charges against her and points to a conspiracy to smear her name.

"They used him while he was alive and then they needed him dead," she said in an open letter to the country, adding that his death was "sad and terrible".

She did not say who killed him and no one has been arrested in the case, which has shocked Argentines. Social media networks are seething with conspiracy theories, some pointing at Fernandez and her government.

Thousands took to the streets this week to protest the slow pace of justice for the victims of the bombing and demanding answers to the questions around Nisman's death.

Fernandez again defended herself in a Facebook post on Thursday.

"Nisman's accusation not only collapses, but becomes a real political and legal scandal ... That's the key. Prosecutor Nisman did not know that the men identified as intelligence agents were in fact not," she said.

"The spies who were not spies. The questions that turned into certainties. The suicide that I am now convinced was not a suicide."

But there are a lot of suspicious things happening here. One of them is the fact that Nisman's apartment has a back door that was unlocked - contradicting earlier reports that Nisman's apartment was locked from the inside. The existence of a third door only rouses more suspicions.

Lead prosecutor Viviana Fein said there was no evidence of anyone else involved in the death, but said Nisman left no suicide note. A test of his hand showed no residue of gunpowder, though she said that may have been due to the small caliber of the gun. The fact that national Security Secretary Sergio Berni quickly turned up in the apartment also fed doubts.

Moreover, the locksmith who opened the back door to give investigators access to the home where Nisman was found dead said it was barely closed, raising questions about whether a killer might have entered or exited what was earlier described as a 13th-story apartment locked from the inside.

After testifying to investigators, the man who gave his name only as Walter said he was able to quickly open the door with a hook. He added, "If someone entered or not, I don't know."

The official news agency Telam, meanwhile, said investigators had found a third access to the home, a narrow passage holding air conditioning equipment that connects to a neighboring apartment occupied by an unidentified foreigner. They were investigating a seemingly recent footprint and fingerprint found inside. 

Opposition politicians have denounced Kirchner's claim that Nisman was murdered to frame her. 

Opposition leaders denounced Kirchner's statements as an opportunistic about-face.

"It's very serious. To go from supporting the thesis of a suicide, to an assassination, she must assume the consequences," said Senator Ernesto Sanz, a member of the opposition.

Another Kirchner opponent, deputy Francisco de Narvaez, expressed outrage that Kirchner would take a position on such a sensitive matter while an investigation was underway.

"You do not have the right to trample on the independence of the judiciary in this tragedy. I ask you to stop acting like an adolescent trying to gain influence through your Facebook account," he said.

 I would bet on Kirchner being involved. The question is how to prove it.

Labels: Alberto Nisman, AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Hezbullah, Iran, Islamic terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:34 PM 0 comments

Alberto Nisman did not commit suicide and the AMIA bombing was not 'unsolved'

David Horovitz is certain that Argentinian prosecutor Alberto Nisman did not commit suicide and that the AMIA bombing is not 'unsolved.' We all know who was behind it: Iran and Hezbullah.

Perednik despairs at the naivete of anyone prepared to countenance that a prosecutor who has spent a decade heading a 30-strong team investigating the worst terror attack ever committed in Argentina; who has identified the Iranian leaders who ordered it and had them placed on Interpol watch lists; who has traced and named the Hezbollah terrorists who carried out the bombing; who has exposed Iran’s still-active terror networks in South America; and who was about to detail the alleged efforts of Argentinian President Cristina Fernández and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman to whitewash Iran’s role — that this man would choose to take his own life just a few hours before giving his testimony to a Congressional hearing.

But Nisman was found dead by “self-inflicted” bullet wound in a locked apartment with no sign of forced entry, the Argentinian authorities say? Perednik is succinct and withering about both motivation and capability: Does anyone doubt that a government capable of whitewashing Iran is capable of producing a dead prosecutor in a locked apartment? he asks. “In our last conversation, Nisman told me that his evidence would either force [those top Argentinian leaders] to flee or send them to jail. He told me, ‘I’m going to put them in jail.'” Sunday was their last chance to stop him.

...

As I detailed Monday, he traced the orchestration of the bombing all the way back to the August 1993 meeting of Iran’s leadership at which it was commissioned, and identified the key conspirators to the satisfaction of Interpol. We know who ordered the bombing — an Iranian government committee headed by supreme leader Ali Khamenei and then president Hashemi Rafsanjani. We know who arranged it — the late and unlamented Hezbollah terror chief Imad Mughniyeh. And we know all about Ibrahim Berro, the suicide bomber who drove the explosives-filled Renault Trafic van into the building on July 18, 1994, killing 85 innocents. All thanks to Alberto Nisman.

Read the whole thing. Argentina has changed an awful lot since the 1970's. Kirchner may not get away with this.

Labels: Alberto Nisman, AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Hezbullah, Iran, Islamic terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:59 AM 0 comments

Judge orders materials in AMIA case seized

The judge investigating Iranian involvement in the 1994 bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires has ordered the seizure of all evidence in light of Sunday night's apparent murder of prosecutor Alberto Nisman.

Local newspaper Perfil reported that [Judge Ariel] Lijo ordered the seizure of all documentation referred to in the complaint, as well as a number of disks reportedly containing recordings of wiretaps that were provided to Nisman, and which allegedly include direct communications between Iranian and Argentine officials over the investigation into the AMIA bombing, which Nisman assumed responsibility for in 2006.

Lijo’s announcement came as the initial findings of the autopsy into Nisman’s death were released. According to La Nacion, the bullet which took Nisman’s life entered through his temple.

Viviana Fein, who is in charge of the investigation into Nisman’s death, also said that there was no evidence to indicate that the door to Nisman’s residence had been forced open.

In addition to his complaint, Nisman had ordered the freezing of assets worth some $23 million belonging to Fernández de Kirchner,  Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman, and other officials. These and similar details have led to a flurry of speculation among Argentinian politicians and journalists that foul play was involved in his death.

Elisa Carrio, leader of the Civic Coalition, an opposition party, bluntly called Nisman’s death “an assassination,” saying she did not accept that it was a suicide.

Meanwhile, the Argentine government has announced that Alberto Adrián Gentili will replace Nisman at the head of the AMIA bombing investigation. Gentili, who is regarded as close to the government, was removed from a 2008 investigation into narcotics trafficking after authorizing intelligence activities against individuals with no prior record of involvement in the drugs trade. In 2012, he was reinstated as a Prosecutor by Alejandra Gils Carbo, Argentina’s Prosecutor-General.

 I trust that Gentili will be a lot more cooperative than Nisman was....

Labels: Alberto Nisman, AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Hezbullah, Iran, Islamic terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:17 PM 0 comments

Nisman knew his life was in danger

Only few days ago Nisman told @natashanieb @clarincom the investigation against President Kirchner "might kill him" http://t.co/3Blj75pxmu"
— Asaf Ronel (@AsafRonel) January 19, 2015

Hmmm.

Labels: Alberto Nisman, AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Hezbullah, Iran, Islamic terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:41 PM 0 comments

Oh my: AMIA prosecutor murdered hours before he was to testify on government coverup?

Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor in the 1994 suicide bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, was found dead in his apartment on Sunday night, hours before he was to testify that Argentine President Cristina Kirchner had covered up Iranian involvement in the suicide bombing.

Nisman had filed a 300-page complaint naming Fernández, Timerman and others of seeking to “erase” Iran’s role in the bombing at the AMIA community center offices in which 85 people were killed. He had said he wanted to question the president and other officials whom he claimed were involved in the cover-up.

Nisman claimed that the president had decided to “not incriminate” former senior Iranian officials for their roles in planning the bombing, and instead has sought a rapprochement with Tehran, “establishing trade relations to mitigate Argentina’s severe energy crisis,” the Buenos Aires Herald reported.

When her agreement with Iran was challenged in the Argentinean courts, “and here is the criminal (aspect), the president ordered to divert the investigation, abandoning years of a legitimate demand of justice, and sought to free the Iranians imputed (in the case) from all suspicions, contradicting their proven ties with the attack.

“The president and her foreign minister took the criminal decision to fabricate Iran’s innocence to sate Argentina’s commercial, political and geopolitical interests,” the newspaper quoted Nisman as alleging.

Last May, an Argentine court declared unconstitutional an agreement Between the Argentinian government and Iran to jointly probe the 1994 bombing of the Buenos Aires Jewish center. The agreement had been approved in 2013 by Argentina’s congress, at the request of the executive branch. Nisman consistently argued that the agreement constituted “undue interference of the executive branch in the exclusive sphere of the judiciary.”

Since 2006, Argentine courts have demanded the extradition of eight Iranians, including former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former defense minister Ahmad Vahidi and Mohsen Rabbani, Iran’s former cultural attache in Buenos Aires, over their alleged involvement in the bombing.

Police initially called Nisman's death a suicide. I don't believe that and you shouldn't either. Nisman long-claimed that Iran was behind the AMIA attack and believed that Argentina was not the only Latin American country that Iran had infiltrated. Kirchner and Timmerman have been trying for a long time to have the charges dropped in order to improve relations with Iran.

Nisman was murdered. He was murdered by the Iranians or by someone acting on their behalf. The only question is whether Kirchner and Timmerman were involved directly as well.

Labels: Alberto Nisman, AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Hezbullah, Iran, Islamic terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:52 AM 0 comments

Ex-ambassador: 'We took care of most of the bombers ourselves'

Former Israeli ambassador to Argentina Itzhak Aviran told a Jewish news agency on Thursday that Israel has already ensured that most of the AMIA bombers from Buenos Aires are no longer among the living.

Israel has killed most of the perpetrators responsible for the deadly attacks on its embassy and on the Argentine Jewish Charities Federation (AMIA) building in Buenos Aires, former Israeli ambassador to Argentina Itzhak Aviran said on Thursday.

"The large majority of those responsible are no longer of this world, and we did it ourselves," Aviran told the Buenos Aires-based AJN Jewish news agency, according to AFP.

In March 1992, a car bombing in front of the Israeli embassy in the Argentine capital killed 29 people and wounded 200 others. The Islamic Jihad took responsibility for this attack.

Two years later, in July 1994, a bombing at the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) building in Buenos Aires killed 85 people and injured 300. 

...

Aviran, who was Israel's ambassador to the country from 1993-2000, accused the Argentinian government of not doing enough "to get to the bottom of this tragedy."

"We still need an answer [from Argentina] on what happened. We know who the perpetrators of the embassy bombing were and they did it a second time," he said.

There's at least one perpetrator we haven't gotten yet:

It's long past time.

Labels: AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Hassan Rohani

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:24 PM 0 comments

New 'moderate' Iranian President involved in AMIA bombing, son suicided over father's extremism

The liberal media in the West has been trying to pass off new Iranian President Hassan Rohani as a 'moderate.' But the more we look into Rohani's record, the more we see that he's just another Islamist Iranian cleric - and a pretty nasty one at that. Washington Free Beacon's Alana Goodman reports on Rohani's involvement in the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires that murdered 85 people.

Former Iranian intelligence official Abolghasem Mesbahi, who defected from Iran in the late 1990s, testified that the decision to launch the attack was made within a special operations committee connected to the powerful Supreme National Security Council in August 1993.

According to the 2006 indictment, Mesbahi testified that Rowhani, who was then serving as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, was also a member of the special committee when it approved the AMIA bombing.

“With regard to the committee’s role in the decision to carry out the AMIA attack, Moghadam stated that this decision was made under the direction of Ali Khamenei, and that the other members of the committee were [then-Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi] Rafsanjani, Mir Hejazi, Rowhani, Velayati and Fallahijan,” the indictment says.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei led the special committee, according to the indictment, and Khamenei and Rafsanjani made the ultimate decision to go ahead with the attack.

And while the Western media is falling all over itself to declare Rohani a 'moderate,' his own son certainly didn't feel that way. Tom Gross blogs a report from the London pan-Arabic daily al-Sharq al-Awsat that Rohani's son committed suicide due to Rohani's extremism.

The leading London-based pan-Arab newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat reports today that Iranian President-Elect Hassan Rouhani’s eldest son took his own life in 1992, in protest at his father’s involvement with Iran’s murderous Islamic regime and his father’s close ties to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“I hate your government, your lies, your corruption, your religion, your double acts and your hypocrisy,” wrote the future president’s son in his suicide note, according to the Saudi-owned paper. “I am ashamed to live in such an environment where I’m forced to lie to my friends each day, telling them that my father isn’t part of all of this. Telling them my father loves this nation, whereas I believe this to be not true. It makes me sick seeing you, my father, kiss the hand of Khamenei.”

The official Iranian press, which is controlled by Khamenei, has admitted that Rouhani’s eldest son committed suicide in 1992 but the regime’s media denied it was a political act.

Some moderate. 

Labels: AMIA truck bombing, Ayatollah Ali Khameni, Hassan Rohani, Iran

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:13 AM 0 comments

No kidding: Argentinean prosecutor accuses Iran of infiltrating several Latin American countries

Alberto Nisman, the Argentinean prosecutor who is seeking to prosecute the Iranians involved in the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires in the early '90's, is accusing Iran of infiltrating several Latin American countries. No kidding.

In a 500-page indictment realeased today, the General Prosecutor in the AMIA case, Alberto Nisman, accused the Iranian regime of "infiltrating" several South American countries "by building local clandestine intelligence stations designed to sponsor, foster and execute terrorist attacks, within the principles to export the Islamic revolution.

"Based in countless reports, evidence, testimonies, court and investigative records related to other countries of the region, North America and Europe, including rulings of foreign courts against the Iranian regime, he proved the identical decision-making mechanism, planning and execution of terrorist attacks verified in different countries, which were judicially attributed to Iranian intelligence agents," according to a briefing sent to the media.

In this presentation, Nisman was able to corroborate and strengthen with new evidence, the responsibility of the highest authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the AMIA bombing, which cost the life of 85 people, stressing the higher decree of responsibility that Mohsen Rabbani had not only in the attack, but also as a coordinator of the Iranian infiltration in South America.

 That's been known for years....

Labels: AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Iran, Islamic terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:01 AM 0 comments

Argentina's President rips local Jewish community leaders

Two weeks ago, I reported that Israel had expressed shock at an agreement reached between Iran and Argentina to form a 'truth commission' to investigate Iran's and Hezbullah's roles in the 1994 truck bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. Three days later, Argentinian foreign minister Hector Timmerman summoned and dressed down Israeli ambassador Dorit Shavit, claiming that the entire affair was none of Israel's business.

According to Foreign Ministry sources who saw Shavit's account of the meeting, Timerman was "upset and really angry" that Israel had demanded explanations of the Argentine ambassador. He apparently launched into a long monologue in which he assailed Israel for intervening in Argentina's internal affairs and even charged that such behavior encourages anti-Semitism. Shavit was barely able to utter a word in response, as he cut her off repeatedly, according to sources.

"Israel has no right to demand explanations; we're a sovereign state," Timerman reportedly told her. "Israel doesn't speak in the name of the Jewish people and doesn't represent it. Jews who wanted or want to live in Israel moved there, and they are its citizens; those who live in Argentina are Argentine citizens. The attack was against Argentina, and Israel's desire to be involved in the issue only gives ammunition to anti-Semites who accuse Jews of dual loyalty."

Summoning the Argentine ambassador and then leaking the fact to the media was unacceptable behavior, he apparently continued. "Argentina doesn't summon the Israeli ambassador for explanations. If we wanted to, we could summon you here twice a month to demand explanations about a military operation in Gaza or construction in the settlements. But we don't do that, because we don't want to intervene in your sovereign decisions."

Shavit responded angrily, according to sources. "As the Jewish state, Israel views itself as responsible to some degree for the welfare of [all] Jews and tracks anti-Semitism worldwide," she reportedly told Timerman. "Therefore, it helped Jews leave the Soviet Union, brought Jews from Ethiopia and, at times, also helped Jews in Argentina. You surely know what I'm talking about," she apparently added, referring to Timerman's own family history.

In the 1980s, Timerman's father, himself a Jew, was arrested by the right-wing military junta then running the country because he was a journalist who supported the left. He was held in prison in solitary confinement, but was finally released due to the intervention of the Israeli ambassador to Argentina and his staff - some of whom are today senior Foreign Ministry officials. They reached a secret deal with the junta under which Timerman's father would be allowed to leave the country. He moved to Israel for a few years, but returned to Argentina once the junta fell.

Shavit reportedly stressed that Israel wasn't trying to intervene in Argentina's decisions, but it did want explanations, due to the similarity between the AMIA bombing and an attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires two years earlier. The Argentine police and security agencies believe that Iran and Hezbollah were behind both bombings. Nevertheless, Timerman decided to play dumb, according to sources.

"I don't know if there's any connection between the two attacks," he apparently said. "If Israel has any such information, I ask that you give it to us as a soon as possible."

On Sunday, Isi Leibler wrote about the AMIA bombing in the Jerusalem Post, accusing the Argentinian government of collaborating with the murderers of their own citizens.

THAT THE Argentinian leaders could collaborate with such a cynical whitewashing of the murder of their own citizens and create a “truth commission” with a wretched, despotic, Holocaust denying regime should lead to the condemnation of the Argentinian government by the civilized world. It should be viewed as even worse than the Venezuela of Hugo Chavez, known to be one of Argentina’s principal allies and funders.

Underlying this move are the economic problems Argentina is facing in relation to its debts to the World Bank and other global institutions. As far back as March 2011, there were media reports alleging that Argentinian Foreign Minister Hector Timmerman had offered to freeze the AMIA inquiry in return for an upgrade in economic relations with Iran. It was also alleged that Timmerman had proposed that Syrian President Bashar Assad could act as an intermediary to facilitate such a deal. A purportedly leaked cable from Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Salehi was quoted stating, “Argentina is no longer interested in solving those two attacks, but in exchange prefers improving its economic relations with Iran.”

The current Argentinian Jewish communal leaders are a far cry from their courageous predecessors who led the community until the 1980s. Yet, despite being intimidated by Timmerman, they still conveyed muted distress concerning their government’s shameful whitewash of the Iranians responsible for the cold-blooded murder of their kinsmen.

Leibler notes Hector Timmerman's cynical and gratuitous role in this affair:

However, a few years later in 1983 [Hector Timmerman's father Jacobo] published a second book brutally attacking Israel’s policies in relation to the Lebanon war and accusing prime minister Menachem Begin of destroying the moral integrity of the Jewish people and transforming Israelis into “efficient criminals.” He compared Israel to the fascist government of Argentina which had incarcerated and tortured him and called for a tribunal of Diaspora Jews to pass moral judgment on Israel’s leaders and the IDF. Shortly after publishing his tirade, he left Israel and died in Buenos Aires in 1999.

His hatred and lack of appreciation to Israel for saving his life was bequeathed to his son, Hector. Prior to becoming foreign minister, Hector’s Jewish background is alleged to have been a major factor contributing to his appointment as Argentina’s consul-general in New York, where he developed relations with influential members of the Jewish community.

As foreign minister, Timmerman presents himself as a devoted supporter of human rights. Yet he played a central role on behalf of the Argentinian regime in sanitizing the Iranian murderer of his own people. Orchestrating such a pact with one of the world’s worst abusers of human rights makes a mockery of his moral pretensions.

He also clearly relishes attacking Israel, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the Jewish state was responsible for saving his father’s life. Only last month, he compared the UK’s control of the Falkland Islands, which Argentina claims, to Israel’s “colonial” control of the West Bank.

But Leibler may have gotten one thing wrong: At least one of Argentina's Jewish leaders is more courageous than Leibler gave him credit for being. And as a result, on Saturday, Argentina's President, Cristina Kirchner, lashed out against that leader.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner publicly attacked the head of Buenos Aires' Jewish community, hinting he was in contact with a "foreign espionage agency that knows of a new terror attack planned against Argentina."

Guillermo Borger, president of the AMIA Buenos Aires Jewish center, said the Argentina-Iran agreement to set up a committee to investigate the 1994 bombing of the center "will allow a third bombing in Argentina." In 1992 the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed.

"This pact is viewed by some people as a step forward. This may be a step to the precipice. It will allow a very unfortunate third attack," warned Borger.

The confrontation between Borger and Fernandez came to a head on Saturday as the president took to the national television airwaves and Twitter to defend the agreement.

"I read with concern the statements made by Guillermo Borger, president of AMIA,on the deal with Iran. What do you know to make a statement so terrible?" Fernandez asked on Twitter. "If there was an attack planned related to the agreement with Iran, who is the mastermind and the material author?"

Argentina is another Jewish community that ought to be thinking about making aliya (many of them did in the 1970's during the Peron era). This is only likely to get worse whether in terms of Kirchner's relationship with the community, her cuddling up to Iran, or the exoneration of mass murderers of Jews. In any event, the message to the Jewish community of Argentina is clear: You're not wanted.

This is actually typical behavior from Kirchner, who has been known to - literally - cuddle with some of the worst dictators the 'international community' has to offer (see the photos at the link). The open disdain for the lives of her own citizens is just a little more brazen.

Labels: AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Hector Timerman, Iran, Israel, Jews, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:29 AM 3 comments

Soccer Dad's Middle East Media Sampler

Here's Soccer Dad's Middle East Media Sampler for Friday, February 8.

1)Not much political about them

Once upon a time, President Obama's counter-terrorism chief and current CIA nominee, John Brennan advocated engaging with Hezbollah. In 2009, Barry Rubin quoted from a paper written by Brennan:

“It would not be foolhardy, however, for the United States to tolerate, and even to encourage, greater assimilation of Hezbollah into Lebanon's political system, a process that is subject to Iranian influence. Hezbollah is already represented in the Lebanese parliament and its members have previously served in the Lebanese cabinet, reflections of Hezbollah's interest in shaping Lebanon's political future from within government institutions. This political involvement is a far cry from Hezbollah's genesis as solely a terrorist organization dedicated to murder, kidnapping, and violence. Not coincidentally, the evolution of Hezballah into a fully vested player in the Lebanese political system has been accompanied by a marked reduction in terrorist attacks carried out by the organization. The best hope for maintaining this trend and for reducing the influence of violent extremists within the organization—as well as the influence of extremist Iranian officials who view Hezbollah primarily as a pawn of Tehran—is to increase Hezbollah’s stake in Lebanon’s struggling democratic processes” This kind of thinking would do far more than bury Lebanon. It would bury U.S. interests and influence in the Middle East. And so it is only appropriate to quote William Shakespeare’s lines for another funeral oration: “If you have tears, prepare to shed them now!” Yes, it would be foolhardy for the United States to encourage growing influence and power for a radical Islamist terrorist group that is a client of Syria and reasonably close to being an agent of Iran. Brennan seems to give no evidence of any serious knowledge about the Middle East. 

The recent Bulgarian investigation, implicating Hezbollah in last year's terror attack in Burgas, apparently has Brennan rethinking his position. Lee Smith writes in Blaming terrorists for terrorism:

The Obama administration and other U.S. officials greeted the Sofia report with enthusiasm. The White House’s counterterrorism adviser John Brennan commended “its friend and NATO ally.” Obama’s nominee for CIA director has in the past indicated he’s somewhat confused about Hezbollah, recommending for instance that Washington should seek to empower the terror group’s so-called “moderates.” But regarding the Burgas bombing, Brennan was clear-eyed. “Bulgaria’s investigation exposes Hizballah for what it is,” Brennan said in a released statement, “a terrorist group that is willing to recklessly attack innocent men, women, and children, and that poses a real and growing threat not only to Europe, but to the rest of the world.” New Secretary of State John Kerry also weighed in, urging “other governments around the world – and particularly our partners in Europe – to take immediate action to crack down on Hizballah. We need to send an unequivocal message to this terrorist group that it can no longer engage in despicable actions with impunity.” Kerry is referring to the ongoing debate within the European Union whether or not to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. France and Germany are against listing Lebanon’s Islamic resistance, and led an aggressive campaign to convince the Bulgarians not to name Hezbollah as the culprit. The Netherlands, on the other hand, has been pushing for designation and has blacklisted Hezbollah separately from any EU actions. The UK meanwhile has designated Hezbollah’s “military wing,” an action taken largely because of Hezbollah fighters that squared off against UK troops in Iraq, and intended to distinguish it from the outfit’s “political wing,” a distinction that the Bulgarian report made implicitly.

However as Smith and others have pointed out, Hezbollah's number two official, Naim Qassem said in a 2009 interview with the LA Times:

Neither Qassem nor Washington distinguish between the Shiite militant group's political wing, which has members serving in the Lebanese Cabinet and parliament, and its military wing, preparing for the next round of battle against Israel. "Hezbollah has a single leadership," said the 57-year-old cleric in a rare interview with an American reporter recently.
"All political, social and jihad work is tied to the decisions of this leadership," he said. "The same leadership that directs the parliamentary and government work also leads jihad actions in the struggle against Israel." 

Bulgaria's actions contrast favorably with those of Argentina, which recently chose to cooperate with Iran in attempting to learn the truth about the 1994 bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aries. Lee Smith writes in Iran to investigate JCC bombing:

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon likened the formation of the truth committee to “inviting the murderer to participate in the murder investigation.” It’s a fair assessment. From the outset, the Iranian regime was believed to have been responsible for the AMIA Jewish community center attack, as well as the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, which killed 29 and injured 242. But it wasn’t until October 2006, when Argentinian special prosecutors officially charged that it had been carried out by a team of Hezbollah operatives, including the late head of the terrorist group’s external operations unit, Imad Mughniyeh, under the direction of the highest authorities in Tehran. An Argentinian court issued arrest warrants for Mughniyeh as well as six senior Iranian figures, among them former President Ali Rafsanjani and current Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi. According to the report that the special prosecutors presented the judge in the case, a group called the Special Affairs Committee, which includes Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Rafsanjani, convened in the Iranian city of Mashad on Aug. 14, 1993, to approve the attack. Iran, of course, has long denied any involvement in the AMIA attack, and its intense diplomatic efforts to shirk responsibility seem to have finally paid off. Mutual commercial interests and shared ideological sympathies have brought Argentina and Iran closer than ever before—and this so-called truth committee is only the latest evidence of the increasingly close alliance. 

In an interesting irony, a reporter, Borzou Daragahi, tweeted the other day that Israel had paid off Bulgaria to implicate Hezbollah. After the tweet was exposed and publicized, Daragahi backed off his charge. 

Daraghi was also the reporter who interviewed Qassem in 2009.
 
2) Not even pretending

I guess as a way to balance out Shmuel Rosner's essays in Latitudes, the New York Times has engaged Raja Shehadeh to write about all the outrages Israel visits upon the Palestinians.
A few months ago he claimed that Israel was preventing Palestinians from getting needed medical treatment. The numbers tell a much different story. 

Now in More than a land grab he raises the specter of "settlers."

Meanwhile, last Thursday a fact-finding mission of the U.N. Human Rights Council issued a scathing report about the settlers’ tactics, perhaps the boldest report ever issued by a U.N. body. It noted that “the identities of settlers who are responsible for violence and intimidation are known to the Israeli authorities, yet these acts continue with impunity.” It continued: “The mission believes that the motivation behind this violence and the intimidation against the Palestinians as well as their properties is to drive the local population away from their lands and allow the settlements to expand.”

Depending on the UN Human Rights Council for an objective view of Israel is ridiculous. A recent New York Times editorial (illogically) criticized Israel for not submitting to a human rights review by that organization even as it acknowledged that the council singled out Israel for disparate treatment. 

NGO Monitor explains that the fact finding practiced by the UNHRC didn't follow proper protocols. The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council weighs in with specific criticisms of the UNHRC report. (h/t Bennett Ruda)

Of course balance would be the goal if Shehadeh were honest. But Shehadeh isn't simply trying to make people understand the Palestinian perspective. He is using inaccuracies, distortions and generalizations to demonize Israel. He can even give his arguments some "substance" because there are institutions like the UN and Ha'aretz that are always eager to portray Israel as beyond redemption. In engaging Shehadeh, the New York Times once again demonstrates its disdain for Israel, as well as for the truth.

3) That 3 AM phone call

The editors of the Washington Post ask Why did Mr. Obama overrule his advisers on Syria?

WE NOW know that President Obama’s national security team overwhelmingly supported providing arms to the rebels in Syria. On Thursday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told a Senate committee that he and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, backed a plan that would have vetted, trained and armed selected opposition groups, which have been pleading for such U.S. support for more than a year. According to the New York Times, the strategy was developed by former CIA director David H. Petraeus and supported by former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton. As we have frequently argued, the rationale for such action is compelling. Syria’s civil war, which has killed more than 60,000 people, grows steadily worse and more dangerous for the United States and its allies. An opposition that once was a peaceful pro-democracy movement has been all but overtaken by jihadist organizations, including an al-Qaeda affiliate, that receive ample funding and weapons supplies from abroad.

This is incredible. During the Bush administration stories that suggested that President Bush ignored intelligence that his approach to Iraq was wrong regularly were treated as above-the-fold-front-page-news. Now we have news that the current president refused the unanimous recommendation of every single senior member of his foreign policy team. While the Washington Post is disturbed by this, there's been little else written about President Obama's failure to heed this advice. There was a time when American intervention may have helped steer the Syrian rebellion. That time has long ago passed. (Barry Rubin noted the administration's failure to aid the rebels and gain some influence among them, last May.) That the President persisted despite the recommendation of his advisers should be a major scandal.

Maybe President Obama answered the proverbial 3AM phone call, but then he did nothing to show that he appreciated its significance.

Labels: AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Barack Hussein Obama, Bulgaria, Hezbullah, Islamic terrorism, Middle East Media Sampler, Palestinian lies, Soccer Dad, Syrian uprising, United Nations Human Rights Council

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:40 PM 0 comments

Israel shocked over Argentina's agreement to 'truth commission' over AMIA bombing

Israel is said to be shocked by the Argentine government's decision to agree to a joint 'truth commission' with Iran to identify cover up for those behind the July 18, 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in which 85 Argentinians - mostly Jews - were murdered.

Israel is shocked by the signing of an agreement between Iran and Argentina Sunday to establish a truth commission in a bid to resolve the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center that Argentine courts accuse Iran of sponsoring. “We warned the Argentinians only a short while ago not to fall into the trap that the Iranians will set up for them,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor. “We are stunned by this news item and we will want to receive from the Argentine government a complete picture as to what was agreed upon because this entire affair affects Israel directly.”

Israel heard about the launching of the dialogue between Argentina and Iran in October from reports in the media. Despite repeated requests from Jerusalem, the Argentine government refused to update Israel on the progress of the talks. In meetings that have been held over the past few weeks between Argentina’s foreign minister, Hector Timerman (who is Jewish), and representatives of the country’s Jewish community, he agreed to convey only a few general details about the negotiations.

Before the first round of talks between Iran and Argentina, senior officials of Israel’s foreign ministry traveled to Buenos Aires and delivered a sternly worded message to the effect that Israel would not accept the signing of any agreement that would be at the expense of the victims. The Israeli diplomats were adamant in their demand that Argentina must insist upon the extradition of the Iranian suspects and upon the payment of compensation to the families of the victims.

Read the whole thing.  This is a job for the Mossad....

Labels: Ahmad Vahidi, AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Iran

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:38 PM 0 comments

Soccer Dad's Middle East Media Sampler

Here's Soccer Dad's Middle East Media Sampler for Thursday, July 19.

1) Viva la deference

In deference to Turkey, the United States neither invited Israel to the Global Counterterrorism Forum nor listed Israel as a country suffering from terrorism. (h/t Noah Pollak)

In deference to the sensibilities of Arab nations there will be no moment of silence at the London Olympic Games later this summer to memorialize the Israeli athletes killed at the Munich Olympics in 1972.

Despite these instances of deference Israel continues to be targeted by terror.

Yesterday it was a tourist bus in Burga, Bulgaria. Shortly after they arrived from Israel, the bomber attacked a group of tourists boarding a bus. (Burga is a resort on the Black Sea and is about 60 miles from the border of Turkey. It will be interesting to see if proximity to Turkey played a role in this attack.)

The Washington Post reported At least 7 killed in Bulgaria in blast on bus carrying Israeli tourists:

The blast occurred in the late afternoon outside the airport in Burgas shortly after a charter flight carrying 154 people, all but three of them Israeli citizens, arrived from Tel Aviv, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said. Israeli and Bulgarian media reported that the travelers had boarded buses that were to take them to a hotel, and the Bulgarian interior minister told Bulgarian radio that explosives had been planted on the vehicle, perhaps in passengers’ luggage. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was “working on the theory that this was a terrorist attack.”
The attack threatened to escalate tensions between Israel and Iran at a time when Israel is proposing military action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and international efforts to stop the Iranians’ alleged program are faltering.
The blast came five months after Israel blamed Iran for twin bombing attempts targeting Israeli Embassy personnel in India and Georgia, and it fell on the 18th anniversary of a suicide bombing at a Jewish organization in Buenos Aires. That attack, carried out by the Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah, killed 85 people.

Similarly, the New York Times reported Suicide Attacker With Fake U.S. ID Blamed in Bus Bomb:

No group claimed responsibility for the blast but if the Israeli accusations are confirmed, the blast would be the first successful attempt by Iranian operatives to kill Israelis in attacks abroad after a string of failed bomb plots targeting Israeli diplomats in Georgia, India and Thailand this year.
Even without such confirmation, the Bulgarian explosion escalated the tensions between Israel and Iran that are already high because of the Iranian nuclear energy program, which Israel has called a guise for Iran to develop nuclear weapons despite Tehran’s repeated denials.
The explosion came only a few days after a suspected operative of Hezbollah was arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of plotting to kill Israeli tourists there.

The charges, to which the New York Times referred, were made by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman who charged Hezbollah working for the Iran's Revolutionary Guards as the organization behind the attack.

At the end of the article the New York Times quotes Trita Parsi, who is an apologist for the regime in Iran.

But others gave credence to Mr. Netanyahu’s suspicions, including some Iranian experts who have criticized his policies toward Iran. “Though no evidence has been presented, he may not be wrong. The government in Tehran is a very likely suspect,” said Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, in a column published by The Daily Beast Web site.
Having failed to carry out bombings of harder Israeli targets like diplomats, Mr. Parsi wrote, “it appears that Tehran has shifted its focus to softer targets. Targeting unwitting tourists is much easier than security-conscious officials. If this is the case, the ongoing dirty war between Israel and Iran may be getting out of control.”

(It appears that a later version of this article have removed this reference to Parsi. I found the reference again using this search.)

However, if you read the article at Open Zion, Parsi's argument is exceedingly cynical. He's arguing that if the attack was indeed the responsibility of Iran or its proxies, it will give Israel the pretext it needs to attack Iran and plunge the world into war.

Since there's evidence that Iran or its agents have been planning or carrying out attacks against Israeli interests internationally, there's no reason to attach significance that yesterday's attack in Bulgaria had anything to do with the attack on Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, eighteen years ago. However Michael Rubin made some important observations related to the 1994 attack.

• While Iran’s apologists say that Tehran’s problem with Israel is political, and isn’t motivated by religious hatred, the bombing in Buenos Aires targeted not the Israel embassy (which Iran had bombed two years earlier) but rather the Jewish cultural center. The target was not political; it was religious.
• No Iranian authority, be they hardliner or reformer, has ever apologized for Iran’s role in hostage-taking or terrorism. That Kofi Annan and Jimmy Carter embrace former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami as a genuine believer in Dialogue of Civilizations is shameful. Khatami is, to this day, an apologist for terrorism.
• Iran remains a terror sponsor of global reach; no amount of dialogue during the past two decades has changed that. Perhaps the problem isn’t a regime grievance, but the regime itself.

Remember those - especially the first one - when reading news reports about yesterday's terror attack in Bulgaria.

2) Mainstreaming antisemitism

For years I'd read articles about Palestinian terror that stated or implied, "we don't agree with the methods but we understand their grievance." The PLO (and later iterations) might be seeking (or at least hoping) to destroy Israel, but that intent didn't register. Western minds couldn't comprehend such hatred, so they rationalized terror as an overreaction to a legitimate grievance. If only Israel would be reasonable - this line of thinking went - this hatred would disappear and the terrorism would stop.

Of course since 1993, Israel has ceded territory to its enemies so that over 90% of Palestinians live under the Palestinian Authority or Hamas and is fully withdrawn from southern Lebanon, but the vilification of Israel continues.

As things stand now, those who still insist on finding Israel primarily responsible for the lack of peace in the Middle East, have gotten further and further unrealistic. Israel Matzav recently observed that a writer at the Atlantic criticized Peter Beinart's Open Zion for including a writer from MondoWeiss. Israel Matzav concludes:

We call them Jewish anti-Semites. There are no worse anti-Semites around. You can tell a lot about a person by the company he keeps. Peter Beinart keeps company with the people who write Mondoweiss. Decide for yourselves what that means.

Open Zion is a section of The Daily Beast, which used to be Newsweek. Should it be shocking that what was once a mainstream publication traffics in such vile nonsense? The Daily Beast as Elder of Ziyon notes in The mainstreaming of anti-semitism: Salon partners with Mondoweiss:

Salon is one of the biggest mainstream webzines. It is outrageous that Salon is not being slammed by its own readers and supporters to immediately reverse this sickening decision.
If there is anything funny about this - and this is not funny - it is that Salon's embrace of Mondoweiss directly disproves Mondoweiss' own major theme that Zionist Jews do not allow any divergent opinions to be heard in the US.

Liberals who purport to hear racist "dog whistles" in criticisms of President Obama are mostly silent about these much more overt expressions of irrational hate.

Labels: AMIA truck bombing, anti-Semitism, counterterrorism, Iran, Islamic terrorism, London Olympics, mainstream media, Middle East Media Sampler, Munich Olympic massacre, Soccer Dad, Turkey

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:20 PM 0 comments

Son of former Revolutionary Guards commander found dead in Dubai

As I noted briefly in an earlier post, the son of a former commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard was found dead in a Dubai hotel room on Sunday. Here are more details on that story.

In related news, Iranian officials said they were investigating the death of Ahmad Rezaie, son of Mohsen Rezaie, a senior Iranian conservative politician who ran for president in 2009. Rezaie, the son, was found dead in a Dubai hotel on Sunday and while suicide appears to be the cause of death, Iranian officials have raised suspicions of foul play. Israel was accused of killing a senior Hamas terrorist in a Dubai hotel in 2010.

The death of Rezaie was interesting due to the identity of his father, who is wanted by Interpol for his alleged involvement in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people. He was head of the IRGC at the time of the bombing.

His death could have been caused also by Iranians. Rezaie left for the US in 1998, where he openly criticized his father and the Islamic regime before returning home five years later.

He left Iran again in 2009.

I'm sure Inspector Tamim will get right on the case. But you won't read about it on this blog if you're in Dubai. Heh.

Labels: AMIA truck bombing, Dubai, Iranian nuclear threat, Iranian Revolutionary Guard

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:36 PM 0 comments

Argentina looking to drop AMIA charges in exchange for better trade relations with Iran

This is not the first time that there has been talk in Argentina of dropping the AMIA bombing charges in return for improved trade relations with Iran. But the more it comes up, the more likely it is to happen. Earlier this week, Iran offered to 'cooperate' in the investigation of the AMIA bombing in Argentina in 1994. The problem is that the investigation has been over for five years and we already know that the Iranians planned it and Hezbullah did it. As investigator Alberto Nisman (pictured) said, all that's left now is for Iran to turn over the perpetrators, including Defense Minister Ahmed Vahidi. Fat chance that will happen.

Israel is said to be quite disturbed that Argentina is apparently open to this 'offer.'

Argentine Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman’s positive reaction to an Iranian statement saying it was willing to cooperate with Buenos Aires in its search for the terrorists responsible for the AMIA building attack 17 years ago raised eyebrows Monday in Jerusalem.

“The investigation is over,” one official said, adding that what was needed now was for the Iranians to hand over those responsible for the attack that killed 85 people, and wounded 300, on July 18, 1994.

The official said the statement by the Argentine Foreign Ministry raised questions again about the validity of a report in Argentine tabloid Perfil in March about whether Timerman offered to drop the probe into the attack in exchange for better economic relations with Iran.

Timerman angrily said at a press conference in Jerusalem in April that he did not have to answer questions not based in reality.

...

Iran’s Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi is one of five people wanted by Interpol for the attack.

According to a report Sunday in the Buenos Aires Herald, Timerman said regarding the Iranian statement that “if what was published in international press is confirmed, it would be an unprecedented and very positive step forward.” He was quoted as saying that he was awaiting an official confirmation from his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi.

But Nisman dismissed the Iranian statement, saying at a press conference that if the Iranians wanted to cooperate, what they needed to do was to turn over to the Argentine authorities those accused of the attack.

I don't know why our Foreign Ministry is so surprised. Perhaps they haven't been watching the company kept by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez Kirchner.

Labels: AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Hector Timerman, Iran, Iran sanctions regime, Jacobo Timerman

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:42 PM 3 comments

Bolivia expels Vahidi

Hosting Jew-hating murderers is fine in Evo Morales' Bolivia, but if they tick off your neighbors is a different story. And so, Bolivia has expelled Iran's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi (pictured), who has been indicted by an international tribunal for being a part of the group that carried out two bombings at the Israeli embassy and at the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in the 1990's. Bolivia claims that it didn't know what Vahidi has been accused of doing (bull dung) and Argentina, which has recently recognized a 'Palestinian' reichlet gets to mollify its Jewish community, which, after all, still votes in elections.

In the letter Bolivia apologized for the invitation, which it called "a grave incident", and assured Argentina that Vahidi would not be in the country for long.

"As a result of this lamentable situation ... the government of Bolivia has taken the corresponding provisions to see to it that Ahmad Vahidi immediately leaves Bolivian territory," said the letter, which was released in Buenos Aires by the Argentine government.

Sources in Bolivia's government, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Vahidi left Bolivia late on Tuesday.

Vahidi is among the senior Iranian officials accused by Argentine prosecutors of being behind the attack that leveled the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) building in Buenos Aires. Iran denies any links to the bombing.

"Unfortunately (the Bolivian Defense Ministry) did not know about the background of the case," the letter said. Nor did the ministry coordinate the invitation with the rest of Bolivia's government, it said.

Vahidi enjoys diplomatic immunity, which complicates efforts to bring him to trial although in 2007 Interpol notified law enforcement bodies in other countries of an Argentine arrest warrant against him.

Bolivia's leftist president, Evo Morales, has close ties with Argentine leader Cristina Fernandez, who last year proposed that a third country be nominated by Tehran to host the trial of those accused of being involved in the bombing.

Iran rejected the idea, saying none of its citizens were involved.

Iran's state news agency IRNA said Vahidi had visited Mauritania and held talks with the African state's president before traveling to Bolivia.

Guillermo Borges, the AMIA's current president, called Vahidi's visit to Bolivia "a provocation."

The letter said that Bolivia hopes the incident will not affect the "excellent" diplomatic relationship between it and Argentina.

Everyone's happy. What could go wrong?

Labels: Ahmad Vahidi, AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Bolivia, Buenos Aires, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Evo Morales, Iran

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:49 PM 1 comments

OMG... Argentina to drop AMIA bombing charges

Given the company its President keeps, this can't be too surprising, and yet, just six months ago, Argentina asked for the extradition of Iran's Defense Minister to face charges in the 1994 truck bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in which 85 people were killed. No more. Argentina has gone over to Iran's side.

Argentinian government officials have offered to abandon their investigation into the attacks that occurred at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires and a Jewish community center in the 1990s in exchange for improving trade relations with Iran. The Perfil weekly newspaper released an investigative report that charges Foreign Minister Hector Timerman with conducted negotiations with Iranian officials. He is also reportedly scheduled to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The government of Iran was suspected of being involvement in the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 people and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center which killed 85 people.

Hector Timerman is Argentina's Foreign Minister, and yes, he is a son of Jacobo Timerman, a Jewish publisher who lived in Israel from 1979-84 - two years after he was kidnapped by the Peron government. I can recall reading the elder Timerman's Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number, which was his account of his imprisonment by the Perons.

I didn't know improved trade relations with Iran were so hard to come by these days. Given international sanctions, I would think that Iran would love to trade with anyone who would trade with them.

What could go wrong?

Labels: AMIA truck bombing, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Hector Timerman, Iran, Iran sanctions regime, Jacobo Timerman

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:42 PM 2 comments