Iran Linked to International Terror; Media Snoozes
Looking for hard evidence of the mullahs' support for jihadist networks? Well, here it is.
Al-Oufi didn’t just point the finger at the Iranians in this single campaign, but said they overall were “engaged in supporting al-Qaeda with money and weapons needed to carry out terror attacks,” particularly the terrorist group’s branch in Yemen, an argument I’ve also tried to make with significant supporting data.
In case you were wondering why al-Oufi turned himself in, it was because of dreams he had: one where the Prophet Mohammed told him to stop engaging in terrorism, and one where the second caliph smacked him around and told him to reject his ideology. It wasn’t because of the Saudi “rehabilitation” program he was entered into after departing Guantanamo Bay in November 2007 — he quickly joined al-Qaeda in Yemen after being released.
Sure, al-Oufi might be lying, although it’s hard to see what reason he would have for doing so. And there isn’t 100% proof that his information was accurate, but the same can be said of almost any human intelligence source. There may not be a “smoking gun” to prove that this smoking gun is accurate, a nearly impossible find, but this revelation certainly didn’t receive the coverage it deserved in the media outlets on either side of the political spectrum.
But there’s another “smoking gun” that has come out proving that Hezbollah’s terrorist activities on behalf of Iran go beyond Lebanon, Israel, and Iraq. An Iranian-sponsored terrorist plot in Azerbaijan has been uncovered, reflecting a boldness on the part of the regime that few seem to appreciate.
We now know that in 2008, two Lebanese Hezbollah operatives were captured in Azerbaijan with explosives, silenced pistols, and a plan to bomb the Israeli embassy in Baku in retaliation for the February 2008 assassination of Imad Mughniyeh. In fact, they had already completed preliminary reconnaissance and pre-operational planning and were looking at other potential targets. The plotters, who traveled on Iranian passports, met with Revolutionary Guards operatives in Iran where training was provided, were given hundreds of pounds of explosives by “Iranian spies,” as the report described them, and planned to destroy the embassy by detonating three or four car bombs around it.
The two terrorists were found after they were seen meeting with local militants, possibly an attempt to hide Hezbollah’s role. Here the Iranian modus operandi of trying to maintain plausible deniablilty by working through other terrorist groups is spelled out. The Iranians planned to hide behind Hezbollah, who planned to hide behind local Azeri terrorists. Although many would suspect Iranian involvement, this multi-layered, denial-and-deception operation likely would have denied Western authorities the courtroom proof demanded of them to state definitely whether the regime was involved. Due to the success of Azerbaijan’s authorities, this discovery can truly be called a second smoking gun, even if there will still be those who demand something closer to a letter from Ayatollah Khamenei specifically spelling out his orders for the plot, with his DNA attached to prove his culpability.
Here we have two smoking guns of Iran’s covert sponsorship of large-scale acts of terrorism, designed to wage war on the West while hiding their fingerprints. How many smoking guns will be needed to end the debate?
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Ryan Mauro is the founder of WorldThreats.com and the director of intelligence at the Asymmetrical Warfare and Intelligence Center (AWIC). He’s also the national security researcher for the Christian Action Network and a published author. He can be contacted at TDCAnalyst@aol.com.
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16 Comments
1. dmgold:So what who cares. If only the Israelis would stop building their settlements and spend more time and effort supporting Palestinian Self determination, none of this would be happening. It is clearly all the fault of the Jewish Zionist entity. Is this not the OBAMA NARRATIVE.
Jul 1, 2009 - 2:06 am 2. njcommuter:If such an attack could be traced directly to Iran, then it could be treated as an act of war. It might provide a causus belli to seize the Iranian oil fields. Although they are in poor repair, it might be quicker to fix them. And after such an attack, the Saudis and the Egyptians might support such a move. Even Russia, which would stand to profit immensely, might have to shut up and stand down.
The key here is convincing Iran that we might act in this fashion. The Saudis have a role to play in that.
The next thing we should be doing is connecting “drill here, drill now” with national security. With new technologies, we can get at a lot of natural gas onshore that was previously unrecoverable. That could serve a lot of stationary uses, leaving liquid fuels for the places where they have a special advantage: motor vehicle fuels especially.
Jul 1, 2009 - 3:06 am 3. "progressive"watch:Our former msm ,to use an old rural expressions,are as worthless as tits on a boar hog. Even worse,they are as dangerous as tits that give poisoned milk. Not tits on a boar; boars don’t give milk. This part of the media either doesn’t give the vital news or they provide misinformation and disinformation.
Jul 1, 2009 - 5:14 am 4. Trialdog:Sooo, how can these facts help secure electoral victories for democrats? Further, what should our policy be so we can secure more power in the Obama administration and advance the Obama agenda? I mean, sure, you mention a number of problematic situations for the United States. The United States can easily suffer massive economic and strategic harm here, but what does that have to do with Obama’s agenda? We cannot cling to the old ways. We must embrace change.
Jul 1, 2009 - 7:03 am 5. Terry Gain:There was ample proof in the last two years of the Bush admonistration that Iran was waging war on the United States in Iraq. Bush did nothing. Obama is doing worse than nothing.
http://www.winkydog.net/2009/05/13/iranian-sources-obama-to-free-four-iranian-diplomats-as-swap-for-us-journalist/
According to DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources from Iran, the release of US journalist Roxana Saberi Tuesday, May 12, was part of an exchange deal under which Washington agreed to free four senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards intelligence officers captured in Irbil, northern Iraq in January 2007. Defined as “diplomats” by Tehran, they ran terror operations and covert arms supplies from Iran then to al Qaeda and Sunni insurgent networks.
Jul 1, 2009 - 7:58 am 6. Adina Kutnicki,Israel:I will go a step further – it is very possible that mushroom clouds hovering over Israeli cities will still NOT convince the fence sitters of Iranian complicity.
In effect, due to their stubborn insistence of the ’smoking gun standard’, the Iranian madmen will be able to have their hands on nuclear weapons, which will wreck a destructive swath all over the globe.
Jul 1, 2009 - 8:31 am 7. Delia:Well, this read scared the holy f*ckballs outta me. Thanks a lot. I’m gonna be skeeved out all day. *shiver*
We are so effing skrewed.
Jul 1, 2009 - 10:04 am 8. abi:Obama is not using weapons…he is leading us down the road of destruction with “words”….”words, just words”…he’s turned his back on Israel. I think he’s in bed with the Middle East, and we’re the ones getting screwed.
Jul 1, 2009 - 11:05 am 9. gclarke:Gary Allen in the 60’s and 70’s laid out the documented theory that the international bankers, going back to the Fuggers and Medici and probably before that, have a pretty well established scam set up that requires their marks, the kings and governments who need to borrow their money at exorbitant rates, to always need a foreign “bogey man” to justify their military industrial complexes, and to justify the high tax rates they impose to support their armies. If there was no foreign bogey man, no need for big armies, big taxes and heavy borrowing. The banks need the two countries they lend to to be enemies since two friends could just as easily ignore them and borrow alot less.
The theory makes sense if we treat the enemies as 16th century England and Spain. But what if we change that to Iran and the US today. We could have/can take out Iran any time we want. A million opportunities to do and we refused every one, though we have effectively surrounded them on three sides. Gary Allen’s theory is the only one I ever read that logically explains why. In his book on the Rockefellers he noted that David R. flew to Teheran for an extended conference just before the Shah was ousted and our Embassy folk were taken hostage. Hmmmm!
Jul 1, 2009 - 11:19 am 10. Typos_R_Us:The 20th century taught the west that war was a horrible thing, that there are other ways to resolve international issue.
Jul 1, 2009 - 2:26 pm 11. pH-DependentNeocon:Unfortunately, lots of dictators out there that didn’t get the memo.
Ultimatly, I’m not worried about the Muslims using military means to overwhelm the West. Remember who they buy their weapons from. Not a single aircraft is manufactured in a Muslim nation. As far as the tools of war go, Muslims are 60 to 70 years behind the west and fading fast.
Why isn’t anyone on Pajamas writing about what is going on in Honduras?! A small nation is trying to defend itself against the next Chavez, and OUR COUNTRY (via Obama) opposes them! We conservatives should be defending this outrage by the worlds leftists, but instead all I hear are crickets! I have blogged on it (http://themullallyreport.blogspot.com/2009/06/obamas-selective-mingling.html), but I’m sure the pros at Pajamas can do better.
Jul 1, 2009 - 6:28 pm 12. cisco certification:I don’t think these Muslims are not a “bigger” threat. In past American Government were funding them, providing Arms to use them against Soviet. Why in the first place they “support” them. And when they turn against us, labeled as “terrorist”.
Jul 2, 2009 - 1:42 am 13. Cybergeezer:They were Terrorist, are Terrorist and will remain Terrorist.
Media’s too busy pandering to the black vote to be concerned with Terrorism (shhh.) If they ignore it, it’s supposed to go away.
Jul 2, 2009 - 6:29 am 14. Cyrus:When speaking of Iran, I would appreciate it if you could distinguish the Iranian regime from its people. For instance, your title gives the impression that Iran is monolithic. As you can see by the recent events it is clearly not as such.
Please from now on consider using the term “Iranian regime” instead of “Iran”.
Thanks
Jul 3, 2009 - 2:05 am 15. Coraku:Iran Linked to International Terror; Media Snoozes?
Iran linked to International Terror; Comments section snoozes.
Jul 3, 2009 - 3:40 pm 16. misanthropicus:Iran? Terrorism? Relax Ryan, it’s Michael Jackson’s saturnalia that’s important -
Jul 4, 2009 - 8:46 am