Turkey and Iran Preparing for Operation in N. Iraq: Zaman Daily Newspaper

The Israeli website DEBKA, known for its connections with sources from the Israeli intelligence agency the Mossad, claimed Turkey and Iran are prepared for an operation in northern Iraq.

A new war in the Middle East war is pending, according to DEBKA’s exclusive military sources, which revealed that Turkey and Iran are poised for an imminent and coordinated invasion of the northern Iraq Kurdish dominated autonomous province.

The sources pinpoint the target of the combined Iranian-Turkish offensive as the Kandil Mountains, where some 5,000 Kurdish rebels from Turkey and Iran, and members of the PKK and PJAK respectively, are holed up.

The same sources reported Turkey aims to seize northern Iraqi oil fields centered in the oil-rich town of Kirkuk.

Joseph Ralston, recently appointed by the Bush administration as the special U.S. coordinator in Ankara for the PKK issue, was claimed to be attempting to delay Ankara’s military operation against Iraqi Kurdistan. The website also wrote the United States reported Turkey’s decision of obtaining Kirkuk will damage the interest of the U.S. in Iraq.

Challenging the Power of the Jewish Lobby: What Should Be Done? by James Petras

A number of writers have recently written critical articles or reviews about the power of the pro-Israel or Jewish Lobby and its influence on US policy in the Middle East. Most of these writings emphasize the power of the lobby over Congress, the two major parties (especially the Democrats) and the Executive branch. Some even describe the pro-Israel lobbies and the allied Jewish federations, the numerous propaganda institutes described as ‘think tanks’, publications as well as their influence or control over the mass media, from Hollywood, the print media, television to corporate “public” radio. However these critics and analysts paint themselves into a corner, attributing to the Jewish lobby so much power as to virtually incapacitate any effort to counter its influence and change the direction of US policy. The image of a near-omniscient and omnipotent Jewish lobby overlooks its vulnerability and significant issues around which an opposition or counter-hegemonic movement can be organized in the United States.

Why Did the Trade Center Skyscrapers Collapse? by Morgan Reynolds

To explain the unanticipated free-fall collapses of the twin towers at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, mainstream experts (also see The American Professional Constructor, October 2004, pp. 12–18) offer a three-stage argument: 1) an airplane impact weakened each structure, 2) an intense fire thermally weakened structural components that may have suffered damage to fireproofing materials, causing buckling failures, which, in turn, 3) allowed the upper floors to pancake onto the floors below.

Many will nod their head, OK, that does it and go back to watching the NBA finals or whatever, but I find this theory just about as satisfying as the fantastic conspiracy theory that "19 young Arabs acting at the behest of Islamist extremists headquartered in distant Afghanistan" caused 9/11. The government’s collapse theory is highly vulnerable on its own terms, but its blinkered narrowness and lack of breadth is the paramount defect unshared by its principal scientific rival – controlled demolition. Only professional demolition appears to account for the full range of facts associated with the collapses of WTC 1 (North Tower), WTC 2 (South Tower), and the much-overlooked collapse of the 47-story WTC building 7 at 5:21 pm on that fateful day.

AFP Conference Sets Record

During the conference, John Stadtmiller, founder of the popular Republic Broadcasting Network (RBN) and host of RBN’s “The National Intel Report,” not only spoke to the conference about building patriotic outreach but he also broadcast his program live from the conference, interviewing notable attendees. Likewise with AFP correspondent Michael Collins Piper who also hosts his own nightly program on RBN. For more about RBN and its broadcasts, see the bottom of page 19 of this issue of AFP.

Persian Scholar Kaveh Farrokh Responds to Toronto Sun Lunacy in Advocating "Nuking" Iran

September 2nd, 2006

Dear Editors of the Toronto Sun,

I was very surprised to see your distinguished paper publish a qualitatively substandard article by Michael Coren, who openly advocates the nuking of Iran and Iranians in a piece entitled "We Should Nuke Iran".

At a time when rational thought and intelligence discourse are vitally in need, the publication of hate literature and racist articles is precisely what serves to undermine those who seek constructive alternatives to present day geopolitical crises. Mr. Coren proves unable (or unwilling) to separate the political machinations of a government versus the people who are unable to control the actions or statements of its leadership.

Mr. Coren displays a profound lack of knowledge of (a) current events and (b) historical factors. Consideration could be given to appropriate funds to send Mr. Coren to take courses to raise Mr. Coren's current level of education and intellect (I use the latter term with considerable latitude and license here). Put simply: Mr. Coren is in desperate need of schooling.

Mr. Coren may also benefit from therapeutic measures aimed at addressing his pathological dislike of certain ethnic groups. To my knowledge, there are plenty of Psychiatrists available who are more than willing to work with patients in need of attitude correction with respect to violent racialist thinking.

The Toronto Sun is a highly respected newspaper that has featured distinguished and world renowned experts such as Eric Margolis. The publication of Coren's fascist-style ravings are a travesty to not only your own reputation but against the very foundations of honest journalism.

I end this note of protest with old Persian proverb:

Those who choose to wield the pen are entrusted with an awesome responsibility to the people...

With the Utmost Concern

Dr. Kaveh Farrokh

University of British Columbia - Continuing Studies

Stanford University - WAIS (World Association of International Studies) member

Member of Iran Linguistics Society

Historical Consultant to History Channel

THe CIA's "World Wide Attack Matrix"

Former Baluchistan Governor and Chief Minister Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, who served Pakistani leaders like President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (an ethnic Sindhi who was executed by a U.S.-backed military government) and ousted and jailed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was recently brutally assassinated by the CIA- and US Special Forces-backed security forces of Pakistan's dictator General Pervez Musharraf (a so-called ally of the Bush-Cheney-Blair "Global War on Terror"). Bugti, the charismatic 79-year Baluchi leader, was killed after he went underground in support of Baluchi autonomist forces who have become increasingly opposed to Punjabi human rights violations against ethnic Baluchis. The Baluchi Liberation Army responded to Punjabi aggression against Baluchis by launching attacks against natural gas pipelines in Baluchistan — tactics that immediately earned the wrath of the oil-centric Bush-Cheney regime. Against the wishes of Pakistan's political and intelligence establishment, Musharraf ordered his forces to kill Bugti and against Muslim traditions, Bugti's body — likely mutilated in the air attack assassination — has not been returned to the family for burial in accordance with Muslim religious tenets. Musharraf's actions received the full backing of the Bush administration, which defended the action as necessary to preserve a "strong and unified" Pakistan. The Bush crime cartel wants to clear Baluchistan of troublesome independence-minded tribal leaders like Bugti before construction gets fully underway on the Pakistan leg of the Central Asian Gas pipeline (CentGas) from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and to the Arabian Sea in Baluchistan. The Bush cartel also wants to ensure that Baluchistan secessionists do not interfere in future military actions across the Pakistani Baluchistan border into Iranian Baluchistan.

Bahman Nassiri's The Golden Mask: Who are the Forces Behind Revolution Past and Apocalypse Future in Iran?

Bahman Nassiri's The Golden Mask, is an unfolding story yet to be completely told. But his personal account of the secret forces in the West behind the 1978-79 Revolution in Iran--and lurking in the background of the coming apocalypse--is a narrative not to be found in Corporate Media. And for more information on the upcoming movie, The Golden Veil, scroll down to the bottom of Nassiri's index page after reaching it through a mouse click on the title.

Gingrich Opposed to U. S. Strike on Iran: Washington Times

ROME -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich this week moved a step further toward casting himself as the conservative alternative to Sen. John McCain in a possible run for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. In an impromptu speech during a Mediterranean cruise that hosted scores of conservative donors and activists, the Georgia Republican expressed unexpected skepticism about prospects of military intervention to halt Iran's nuclear program.

"I am opposed to a military strike on Iran because I don't think it accomplishes very much in the long run," said Mr. Gingrich, who supported the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and has been a strong defender of Israel. "I think if this regime [in Iran] is so dangerous that we can't afford to let them have nuclear weapons, we need a strategy to replace the regime," Mr. Gingrich said. "And the first place you start is where Ronald Reagan did in Eastern Europe with a comprehensive strategy that relied on economic, political, diplomatic, information and intelligence" means.

The statement represented a significant modification of one of his most hawkish foreign-policy views.

Will oil impose US-Iranian reconciliation? by Hani Asfour

Following the recent war in Lebanon, there was much hype that a war with Iran would be next. Claims of a grand conspiracy have been circulating about a new Middle East composed of fractious ethno-states subservient to an all-powerful Israel. The prospect for war has become more palpable due to recent rumors that Israel's attack in Lebanon was a mere dress rehearsal for the real war with Tehran.

Despite Washington's cold reception of Iran's August 22 response to the nuclear offer from the Permanent Five and Germany, the White House's best move remains to engage Iran. Many high-level experts in the United States and Europe have been urging the Bush administration to talk to Tehran, including former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. US-Iran relations are at a "turning point," he has argued in the media, where Iran can become "a pillar of stability and progress in the region" if it is willing to forgo its revolutionary ethos.

Dialogue with Iran would address Iran's increasing regional responsibility, including its nuclear ambitions, its role in pacifying Iraq, and in disarming Hizbullah. Making progress on all these fronts serves larger American strategic goals for regional stability, especially Washington's imperative to secure the free flow of energy across Eurasia. The US must therefore carefully consider the following strategic concerns before deciding on any course of action.

Britain's dirty secret: how Britain helped Israel make the A-bomb in the 1960s by Meirion Jones

We can reveal that while Harold Wilson was prime minister the UK supplied Israel with small quantities of plutonium despite a warning from British intelligence that it might "make a material contribution to an Israeli weapons programme". This, by enabling Israel to study the properties of plutonium before its own supplies came on line, could have taken months off the time it needed to make a weapon. Britain also sold Israel a whole range of other exotic chemicals, including uranium-235, beryllium and lithium-6, which are used in atom bombs and even hydrogen bombs. And in Harold Macmillan's time we supplied the heavy water that allowed Israel to start up its own plutonium production facility at Dimona - heavy water that British intelligence estimated would enable Israel to make "six nuclear weapons a year".

After we exposed the sale of the heavy water on Newsnight last August, the government assured the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that all Britain did was sell some heavy water back to Norway. Using the Freedom of Information Act, we have now obtained previously top-secret papers which show not only that Norway was a mere cover for the Israel deal, but that Britain made hundreds of other secret shipments of nuclear materials to Israel in the 1950s and 1960s.