Argentina - Alberto Nisman - Laboratory Analysis - Nisman DNA Only

LAHT Article Argentine Probe Finds Only Prosecutor’s DNA on Gun BUENOS AIRES – The only DNA found on the gun that killed Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman belonged to the deceased, the person directing the investigation said Friday. Nisman was found fatally shot on Jan. 18, hours before he was supposed to brief Argentina’s Congress about his accusations that President Cristina Fernandez and other officials sought to conceal the involvement of Iran in a deadly 1994 terrorist attack targeting a Jewish organization in Buenos Aires. The prosecutor died of a single shot to the temple, fired at point-blank range from a .22-caliber pistol that was found under his body in the bathroom of his apartment. Nisman, who had a 10-person police security detail, borrowed the gun from a colleague. Laboratory analysis determined “categorically” that all of the DNA found on the gun, ammunition cartridge, bullets and shell-casings belonged to Nisman, prosecutor Viviana Fein said Friday in a statement. At the time of his death, Nisman was seeking to indict Fernandez, Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and five other people in connection with his probe of the car-bomb attack that left 85 dead at the offices of the Jewish organization AMIA. Investigators have labeled the case a “suspicious death.” Fein said her office’s technical staff have informed her that the stairways of Nisman’s apartment building do not have security cameras, while the camera mounted in the elevator was out of service the day of the prosecutor’s death.  [Gee, that was handy.] She said she took statements on Friday from the people who manage the computer network in the office of the special prosecutor for the AMIA case. Nisman, 51, was laid to rest Thursday at a Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. The Argentine government rejected on Friday a U.S. lawmaker’s call for an international enquiry into Nisman’s death.   [International inquiry?  US lawmaker call?  Something's going on here.] Argentina “is an autonomous and independent country,” Cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich said during his daily press briefing, calling Sen. Marco Rubio’s proposal the expression of an “imperial vision” that “ignores the principal of national self-determination.” Rubio, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs, sent a letter Thursday to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, saying that he was “deeply concerned about the ability of the government of Argentina to conduct a fair and impartial investigation.” The senator’s call for an international investigation is an “unwarranted intrusion appropriate to an imperial attitude that represents the most recalcitrant Republican right,” Capitanich said. The charges against Fernandez and Timerman were based on intercepts of telephone conversations about efforts “to erase Iran from the AMIA case,” Nisman’s office said Jan. 14 in a statement. The government wanted to eliminate any obstacle to forging closer trade and economic ties with Tehran, the prosecutor said. Timerman – himself a member of Argentina’s Jewish community – reacted angrily to the accusations, labeling Nisman a liar and saying that the prosecutor allowed himself to be unduly influenced by Jaime Stiuso, recently fired as chief of operations for the intelligence service. Many in the Argentine Jewish community believe the AMIA bombing was ordered by Iran and carried out by Tehran’s Hezbollah allies. Both the Iranian government and the Lebanese militia group deny any involvement and some have pointed out that the accusation relies heavily on information provided by the CIA and Israel’s Mossad spy agency, both with an interest in blackening the reputation of Tehran. [Note:  CIA & Mossad assassination of Imad Mugniyah claim.] [ . . . ] EXTRACT ONLY - FULL @ SOURCE http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2371997&CategoryId=14093 SENATOR MARCO RUBIO Marco Rubio Roman Catholicism Parents = Cubans who had immigrated to USA 1956 Pedro Victor Garcia (maternal grandfather) immigrated legally to the US in 1956 returned to Cuba to find work in 1959 On returning to USA in 1962 without a visa, US embassies in Cuba being closed, an immigration judge ordered him deported. US immigration authorities = used discretion to allow him to remain in the US without a visa. "In 2012, The Associated Press concluded that Garcia might have been undocumented for four years, from 1962 to 1966." "His parents left Cuba in 1956, during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista." "Rubio's previous statements that his parents were forced to leave Cuba in 1959, after Fidel Castro came to power, were incorrect." "The real essence of my family's story is not about the date my parents first entered the United States. Or whether they traveled back and forth between the two nations. Or even the date they left Fidel Castro's Cuba forever and permanently settled here. The essence of my family story is why they came to America in the first place; and why they had to stay." "According to The Washington Post, Rubio's "embellishments" resonated with many voters in Florida, who would not be as impressed by his family being economic migrants seeking a better life in the U.S. instead of political refugees from a communist regime." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Rubio While studying law, Rubio interned for US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Ileana Ros y Adato was born in Havana, Cuba. Ros-Lehtinen was raised Catholic and is now an Episcopalian. Ros-Lehtinen's maternal grandparents were Sephardic Jews, originally from the Ottoman Empire, who had been active in Cuba's Jewish community. Ros-Lehtinen supported President George W. Bush's surge policy in Iraq, a supporter of Israel and supports continued sanctions against Cuba. Ros-Lehtinen opposes US support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the Palestinian Authority. She describes herself as a "strong supporter of Israel" and regards the US relationship with Israel as "critical to the national security interests of both nations". Ros-Lehtinen has stirred controversy by calling for the assassination of Cuban Leader Fidel Castro. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ileana_Ros-Lehtinen In 2014 Rubio asked Pope Francis "to take up the cause of freedom and democracy" in Cuba after helping negotiate the release of Alan Gross. COMMENT Didn't expect investigations to come up with anything. How's the elevator camera being conveniently out of order? Washington Post, Newsweek and others are running a story on the CIA and Mossad assassination of Imad Mugniyah: Newsweek story re: Imad Mugniyah http://www.newsweek.com/imad-mugniyah-cia-mossad-303483 Mugniyah is allegedly the Hezbollah criminal 'super-villain' who is accused of committing the AMIA bombing and a host of other attacks, including attacks on US military and the 1992 Israeli Embassy bombing in Argentina. The Newsweek story is based on US intelligence sources: "according to former U.S. intelligence officials interviewed by Newsweek" While this is interesting and topical, in that (a) Imad Mugniyah's son was killed in a recent Israeli attack and (b) AMIA bombing Prosecutor Alberto Nisman has mysteriously been bumped off in Argentina, it is also interesting from the perspective that CIA and Mossad cooperation is in the media now, coming from former US intelligence sources.  The current media spotlight on this may serve to reinforce the alleged Hezbollah and AMIA link  and, under the circumstances (father and son side-by-side burial, both killed), could perhaps also be seen as waving a red flag to a bull, trying to maybe provoke a Hezbollah reaction -- ie baiting Hezbollah.  Either that, or I'm reading way too much into these affairs. It's also interesting that USA's Marco Rubio is simultaneously trying to get some mileage out of the Nisman development in Argentina, by taking the Nisman affair out of Argentina.

HIT SQUADS, MUTINY, LOBBY-TOYS, A DEAD POPE, MORAL OUTRAGE -- WHAT 'FREE PRESS'? -- AND MOSSAD

HIT SQUADS, MUTINY, LOBBY-TOYS, A DEAD POPE, MORAL OUTRAGE -- WHAT 'FREE PRESS'? -- AND MOSSAD Started my browsing adventures off with looking for evidence of Iranian hit squads, cos I'm on a half-hearted mission to figure out who's knocked off Argentina's prosecutor, Alberto Nisman. Yet to find Iranian hit squads ... but I've been distracted by this find:  a hilarious 2011 article on Libyan & Iranian 'Greatest Hit Squads' in America: Libyan Phantoms & Iranian Assassins: Greatest Hit Squads 1981-2011 By Mark Ames If you’re feeling like you’re being taken for a ride with all this nonsense about Iranian-Narco-Mexican terror hit-squads infiltrating this great nation, read on… Think this is the guy who's written about American support for Chechen extremists. Yeah, checked and confirmed it's the same guy that wrote the Chechen article I liked.  Posted in relation to it here.  Remember also liking the humour that came across. Anyway, as I get distracted easily, the very next thing, I'm getting blown away by the news that John Boehner and Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer have teed up a Benjamin Netanyahu Congress speech on February 11th, having cut out the main man, Obama, and having seemingly rigged up a scandalous (and mutinous?) scenario, where Bibi gives a speech rebutting US foreign policy. Behind Obama's back: How Netanyahu's US trip was cooked up << Boehner initiated >>  http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.638396 > departure from protocol - Israel ambassador Ron Dermer & speaker John Boehner cook-up > Prevent Iran nuclear weapons shared goal John Boehner’s Bibi invite sets up showdown with White House >>> http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/john-boehner-invites-benjamin-netanyahu-congress-iran-114439.html <<< "Republicans & Democrats in the Capitol seem more closely aligned with Netanyahu than with Obama" >>> Bibi’s Congress speech Feb 11 = foreign leader, blocks from WH (invitation of Congress) to rebut the US foreign policy!! Boehner: "serious threat that exists" "serious conversation" "how serious the threat is" >> Going with 'serious threat', eh? The news seemed massive to me and I got super excited ... but nobody else seems as excited as I was. Just checked to see if it was reported elsewhere and found that The Guardian has also reported on Boehner's moves, rather coolly: John Boehner invites Netanyahu to address Congress on Iran next month   http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/21/boehner-netanyahu-invite-congress-iran-obama However, that's a rather mild take on what seems to be going on, when you consider that the authority of the President of the United States is being challenged here by some lobby-toy politican, Boehner. The Guardian continues: Invitation, provocative move by House speaker, came hours after Obama threatened during State of the Union address to veto any Iran sanctions bill 'Threatened'?  Sounds a rather extreme way to describe what is a statement of Presidential intent made during the President's SOTU address, and presumably within the President's authority. An odd way to convey what seems to be the other way around:  Congress threatening to pass a sanctions bill that the President considers counter-productive to furthering negotiations with Iran, who may well choose to walk, rather than negotiate, at the end of the day. As for 'provocative move', I'd have called it an underhand, backstabbing, embarrassing mutiny.  So what gives? The White House, meanwhile, is downplaying this by calling it a "break of normal diplomatic protocol".  Yeah, I'll say.  If this was happening in Russia, can you imagine the screaming headlines? Anyway, I wanted to know a bit more about Boehner and I found this fantastic Rolling Stone article: The Crying Shame of John Boehner He's a lazy, double-talking shill for corporate interests. So how's he going to fare with the Tea Party? http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/matt-taibbi-the-crying-shame-of-john-boehner-20110105 written by Matt Taibbi, who turns out to be another really clever and funny guy, who's co-edited The eXile with Mark Ames (of the 'Greatest Hit Squads' article fame, above). Not only that, turns out Taibbi's written a piece that was denounced by US politicians and talking heads: "The 52 Funniest Things About the Upcoming Death of the Pope"  http://konformist.com/archives/2005/03-2005/kn4m0311.txt At first I was like, dude, this is a bit sick ... but then I got reading and saw the humour in it. Personal favourites: 28. Bears everywhere shitting in woods.  8. Bush continued: "He touched all of us in places no one else could reach." Sure, it may not be to everybody's taste, but so what? This is the condemnation bandwagon list: Hillary Clinton (US lawyer, politician) Michael Bloomberg (businessman, magnate, mayor of NYC) Matt Drudge (political commentator, creator of news aggregate site Drudge Report) Abe Foxman (Soviet-born, US lawyer, national director of Anti-Defamation League) Anthony Weiner (New York politician, House of Reps, sexting scandal) Perhaps others also complained, but from the above list of denouncers (referred to in Wikipedia), there's not a single Catholic among those that took umbrage, so what's the real agenda? In addition to a pious whinge-fest, "the editor who approved the column was fired". A look-up elsewhere indicates that the New York Press editor, Jeff Koyen, was given two weeks unpaid leave but chose to quit, and: Koyen called his former publisher "a spineless alt-weekly weenie" for not standing up to the harsh criticisms the article received. Criticisms came from a variety of people such as U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, a spokesman for New York City Mayor Bloomberg and former Mayor Rudolph Guliani. Koyen also reacted to statements made by Rep. Anthony Weiner who was quoted by the New York Daily News calling on New Yorkers to "exercise their right to take as many of these rags as they can and put them in the trash." Interrupting the distribution of a newspaper -- even by purchasing a large quantity of them and throwing them out -- is illegal, koyen noted.  Ooh, look, finally a (thrice-married) Catholic among the condemning mob, the toothy Guliani, who caused some controversy by supporting: People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK, also PMOI, MKO), from the United States State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The group was on the State Department list from 1997 until September 2012. They were placed on the list for killing six Americans in Iran during the 1970s and attempting to attack the Iranian mission to the United Nations in 1992. [Wikipedia] Cool, Iranian assassins is what I was originally looking for! Uncertain why a bit of satire caused such political outrage at the time (guessing nearing April 2005). There was four different incidents of US gun violence leading up to that time and 22 people were killed within a short amount of time, but I guess 22 people among a population of over 300 million doesn't upset things as much as it might in a smaller population. Well, not enough to challenge the armaments manufacturers and the gun lobby.  During 2005, USA was 2 years into the Iraq invasion and had been in Afghanistan since 2001. The other thing happening at that time was the final stages of the Terri Schiavo drama being played out.  Basically, heart attack and severe brain damage in 1990; kept on artificial supports until 2005, when feeding tubes were finally removed.  What is horrific is the amount of time this person had to linger in a vegetative state, as well as the amount of time (13 days, I think it was) it then took to die after removal of feeding tubes.  It's like something out of a horror story. It's really doing my head in that something like that can happen to a person and that medical people are not permitted to step in to do the right thing and euthanase the vegetative person, who will exist (if supported) in a vegetative state (which nobody could possibly want as an existence) or otherwise die ... slowly. Anyway, there seems to be some interesting reflections of the past in the present. Currently there's a satire and freedom of press related hysteria that's done an outraged wave around the world (but not as much outrage at the barbaric slaughter of people who have a right to live, to express themselves politically or otherwise, and to work without the threat of violence or death).  The current touring Pope has tried to declare religion as off-limits (self-serving, or what?) and virtually justified the violence along the lines that it could be expected, given his rather stupid insult-my-mother analogy.  The mommy insult analogy makes it sound like some playground bit of bullying between children (unless his Holiness thinks it's fine for adults to go around assaulting or murdering one another because they don't like what's said).  Automatic weapons and a rocket launcher aren't a bit of school-yard 'you-said, so I'm getting even' bullying.  Why trivialise something so ugly and uncivilised that we should all despair for the future on this planet?  Opportunistic politicians and others have also tried to deny the right and merit of free speech, effectively blaming the victims of extremist violence.  A number of figures have also  tried to use this atrocity to further state control agendas of (a) suppression of free speech and (b) expansion of state controls, such as mass surveillance and denial of encryption services etc. Getting back to the Netanyahu and US Congress drama, a Bloomberg article indicates that Mossad has broken ranks with the Israeli PM, telling US officials that new Iran sanctions would 'tank' the nukes negotiations. Israeli Mossad Goes Rogue, Warns U.S. on Iran Sanctions http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-01-22/netanyahu-mossad-split-divides-u-s-congress-on-iran-sanctions Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee  -- supported by Republican Senators Lindsay Graham and John McCain -- is pushing for his own legislation on the Iran nuclear deal, which doesn't contain sanctions but would require that the Senate vote on any pact that is agreed upon in Geneva. The White House is opposed to both the Kirk-Menendez bill and the Corker bill; it doesn't want Congress to meddle at all in the delicate multilateral diplomacy with Iran. Israeli intelligence officials have been briefing both Obama administration officials and visiting U.S. senators about their concerns on the Kirk-Menendez bill, which would increase sanctions on Iran only if the Iranian government can't strike a deal with the so-called P5+1 countries by a June 30 deadline or fails to live up to its commitments. Meanwhile, the Israeli prime minister’s office has been supporting the Kirk-Menendez bill, as does the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, ahead of what will be a major foreign policy confrontation between the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government in coming weeks. Evidence of the Israeli rift surfaced Wednesday when Secretary of State John Kerry said that an unnamed Israeli intelligence official had said the new sanctions bill would be “like throwing a grenade into the process.” But an initial warning from Israeli Mossad leaders was also delivered last week in Israel to a Congressional delegation -- including Corker, Graham, McCain and fellow Republican John Barrasso; Democratic Senators Joe Donnelly and Tim Kaine; and independent Angus King -- according to lawmakers who were present and staff members who were briefed on the exchange. When Menendez (who was not on the trip) heard about the briefing, he quickly phoned Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer to seek clarification. OK, what's going on here?  How is who Israeli intelligence (or Israeli politicians) favour in the USA sphere of national sovereignty even relevant, and why are these American politicians -- who are answerable to the American voters -- even in Israel on a 'congressional delegation'?  Don't know why Obama doesn't just step down so Netanyahu can take his rightful place at the helm of US politics, if Israel is pulling that many strings in the US through its intelligence services addressing a visiting congressional delegation, as well as addressing politicians in the US, while Israel's Foreign Minister is making arrangements directly with Boehner (rather than Obama), and even the pro-Israel lobby group, AIPAC, happens to be playing some role in the decision-making process in the US, by the look of things. American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC Annual budget $67 million @ 2010 America's powerful Pro-Israel Lobby Critics have accused AIPAC of acting as agent of Israeli govt, with a "stranglehold" on the US Congress. [Wikipedia] All of this congress squabbling, and appearance of rogue senators and rogue Mossad, sounds like crap to me.  We wouldn't be privy to any of this if the politicians didn't want us to know about it. I'm going to take a guess and say this is some kind of smokescreen for something.  But I'm not sure what, seeing the final decision can only go as follows:  1) either the US goes with sanctions against Iran or it doesn't.  2) either the Senate gets to vote on the results of any Geneva agreement with Iran or it doesn't. Well, that's that.  But I still don't know what the Iranians get up to, I'm no closer to finding out who killed Alberto Nisman and no wiser about the sport of US Congress.

ARGENTINA - Alberto Nisman

DAILY BEAST ARTICLE Did Iran Murder Argentina’s Crusading Prosecutor Alberto Nisman? An Argentine prosecutor died from a single gunshot wound to the head Sunday, hours before giving evidence about Iran’s involvement in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center. PARIS — Since 2005 Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman has been crusading for his vision of justice in the horrific 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and injured hundreds more. He claimed that Iran was behind it and, more recently, that the Argentine government was trying to block his efforts to prove that. On Sunday night, Nisman was found dead in his apartment, only hours before he was set to testify before an Argentine parliamentary commission about his allegations.   [Accusations involved the President, the Foreign Minister and a phone tap (legal or not legal is open), as I understand.  Also, there has been something going on within the intelligence service of the country ... a new head was appointed.] The circumstances revealed thus far by the police suggest a suicide. The history of Iran’s operations overseas inevitably suggest otherwise. And there are disturbing echoes of the world 20 or 30 years ago when Tehran, often in league with its clients in Hezbollah, waged a global war on the enemies of the Islamic Republic, deploying hit teams second only to the Israelis in their skill at assassination.  [Not up on all of this.  Didn't think Iran was known for 'hit teams' ... thought that was Mossad.] First, let’s look at the official communiqué about Nisman’s death issued by Argentina’s Ministry of National Security on Monday morning, with the facts of the case as the ministry says they are known: Nisman’s lifeless body was discovered Sunday night in his apartment on the 13th floor of Le Parc Tower, which is part of a modern high-rise complex in the Puerto Madero neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Ten members of the Argentine Federal Police force had been assigned to him as bodyguards, but it seems they were not deployed when he was at home. According to the communiqué, members of the team alerted Nisman’s secretary on Sunday afternoon that he was not responding to repeated phone calls. When they learned that he was not answering the doorbell of his house either and that the Sunday newspaper was still on the step, they decided to notify his relatives. [Straight up, I'd be looking at the slap-dash security.  Why so loose?  Why leave openings?  Why so slow to react?] In the world of intelligence, as distinct from the world of criminal justice, there has been little question that Iran was behind the AMIA bombing. The bodyguards then collected Nisman’s mother at her home and took him to Le Parc. When they tried to enter, they found the door locked with the key on the inside. They called the building’s maintenance staff who then called a locksmith.  Nisman’s mother entered the apartment with one of the bodyguards, and they found Nisman in the bathroom, where his body was blocking the door when they tried to open it. They immediately called police crime scene investigators who entered the bathroom, apparently making as much effort as possible not to disturb the evidence. [Agile 'Houdini' assassin?] Nisman was on the floor with a .22 caliber pistol and one empty shell casing nearby. The official communiqué does not say explicitly that he died from a bullet wound to the head, but that has been widely reported in Buenos Aires, as has the detail that the documents for his testimony before parliament were arrayed on his desk. How a murderer might have staged this apparent suicide will doubtless be the subject of speculation and conspiracy theories for years to come, as, indeed, is the case with the investigation into the AMIA bombing itself. That never resulted in a single conviction and was called a “national disgrace” by the late President Néstor Kirchner in 2005. The former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, was among those who signed a petition ten years ago calling for justice, but to no avail. Nisman’s eventual focus on direct Iranian involvement, accusing Tehran of planning and financing the attack and Hezbollah operatives of carrying it out, was not universally supported, even by U.S. investigators who followed the case. “The guilt field was painted with a bit too broad a brush,” former FBI agent James Bernazzani told The New York Times in 2009. Bernazzani had led U.S. investigations of Hezbollah throughout the 1990s and said that while he was “convinced” of the group’s involvement, “we surfaced no information indicating Iranian compliance.” In the world of intelligence, however, as distinct from the world of criminal justice, there has been little question that Iran was behind the AMIA bombing in 1994 and the earlier car-bomb attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 that killed 29 people. [Surely, even in the world of intelligence, conclusion has to be based on available facts.  But law enforcement said there were none pinning it on Iran.  So, the intelligence that Iran was behind it would just be a best guess?] At the time, the Israelis were attacking Hezbollah leaders and Iranian clients in Lebanon, Hezbollah and Iran struck back wherever they thought they could. “It’s an ongoing game, playing by the rules of the Bible,” a senior official in Israeli intelligence told me at height of the carnage, meaning the rule of eye for an eye, “and at a certain point there is a balance of terror where everyone knows what’s expected.” The Iranians also targeted with a vengeance any opposition figures they thought might be dangerous. In 1991, after a failed attempt years before, they managed to talk their way into the home of Shahpour Bakhtiar, the Shah of Iran’s last prime minister. He thought they were friends. They were searched by police at the door. They killed him with a knife from his own kitchen. The younger brother of then-President Hashemi Rafsanjani was named as a suspect in the case.  [Doesn't sound too professional, although it's certainly merciless and barbaric.] Between 1987 and 1993, according a French government memo published in a very detailed study called Le Hezbollah Global, between 1987 and 1993 some 18 opponents of the Tehran regime were murdered in Europe, and the CIA estimated that between 1989 and 1996 the Hezbollah network carried out 200 serious attacks costing hundreds of lives.  [Can the French memo & CIA estimates be trusted?  As it's unlikely anyone else was knocking off opponents of Teheran, the French memo might get a pass but I don't know about the CIA estimate.] By the late 1990s, the Iranian government apparently decided to slow these operations after several of them started to bring down too much heat. The Germans conducted a relentless investigation of the murder of Kurdish leaders in Berlin in 1992, tracing them back to the then-head of Iranian intelligence, Ali Fallahian. The AMIA bombing in 1994 caused international outrage. And the bombing of the Khobar Towers apartments in Saudi Arabia in 1995, which killed 19 Americans, was eventually traced to another group of Iranian acolytes. [Kurdish targets sound more like something the Turkish would be involved in, rather than Iran.  Saudi Arabia and Americans I can't begin to decide.] Finally, Imad Mugniyeh, seen as the key Hezbollah operative in many of the group’s terrorist attacks, dating back to the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, was blown up with a well-placed car bomb in Damascus in 2008. The Israelis generally are credited with that hit.  [Read about this some time ago.  Sounds pretty much what I'd read elsewhere.] But by then, Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon had fought a successful war of attrition that led to Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory in 2000 after decades of occupation. Building on that victory, Hezbollah became, and remains, the most powerful political party in the country. Since then it has focused its actions on a sustained but relatively controlled standoff with Israel, apart from a brutal war in 2006 when it fought the vaunted Israeli army to a standstill. And in the last two years it has deployed in Syria to fight against the Sunni-led rebellion there, including the forces of al Qaeda and ISIS, that threaten the Assad regime. Iran, for its part, has been trying to show itself a reasonable member of the community of nations by negotiating with the Americans and Europeans about the future of its nuclear program. Yet there have been signs within the last few days that the game as old as the Bible continues, and may once again grow very dangerous. Last week, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah boasted that his organization now has weapons that can strike anywhere in Israel. “We have made all necessary preparations for a future war,” he said. Then on Sunday, Israeli forces killed Jihad Mugniyeh, son of the late mastermind, and several other Hezbollah officers who were operating in the Syrian sector of the Golan Heights. The Israeli press reported they had been planning attacks on Israeli targets. Was Alberto Nisman somehow caught up in this long war of assassinations? Or did he decide for reasons we probably cannot know to end his own life? The investigation will continue, unless somebody stops it.  [LOL ... who would be game to continue to investigate?] SOURCE:  The Daily Beast - here. COMMENT Chose this article randomly.  Another piece I'd read on Saudi Arabia challenged what I think is the present pro Saudi status quo, so I figured I'd check out another article by the same publication. Wondering if publication may have a pro-Israeli bias given the headline. The first thought I had on learning of  Nisman's death was, wow, Argentina's totally corrupt ... as I first assumed that someone within Argentina's government or intelligence was responsible.  Later, I wondered who might benefit from destabilising the government & maybe doing a frame that taints the government with suspicion of the killing as well as the cover-up accusation.  Only vaguely thought about Iran at some point, but dismissed it because it didn't seem like they had anything to gain. But ... my knowledge is very limited, so I could be wrong about that.  As I read the article I wasn't that convinced it had anything to do with Iran.  It was only when it got to the nuclear negotiations bit that had me wondering ... along the lines of maybe the motive being to preserve the edge Iran may presently have in negotiations.  But there's a warrant for eight Iranians (and one Lebanese) issued, so it isn't like this is something new and damaging to Iran.  Here's where it gets really interesting: Argentine government accuses prosecutor Nisman of working hand-in-hand with Jaime Stiusso, a former agent at Intelligence Secretariat (SI, formerly known as SIDE) who was reportedly removed when Oscar Parrilli was appointed to head the country’s intelligence services last month. Stiusso was said to be working behind the scenes against the memorandum of understanding —signed by the Kirchnerite administration and Iran in January 2013 to investigate the AMIA bombing. According to a Kirchnerite source, internal rifts within the SI started when the Federal Criminal Appeals Court declared unconstitutional the Memorandum in May last year. [mercopress] I had some other guy's name for the intelligence replacement:   intel head Héctor Icazuriaga replaced by Oscar Parrilli [here]. Sounds like the intelligence agency's been stirred up and it looks like the Foreign Minister has accused those in the intelligence agency of fabricating the complaint: statement by Foreign Minister Hector Timerman against Prosecutor Alberto Nisman describing his complaint as a fabricated product of a manoeuvre by Intelligence Service agents who have been removed from their positions [here] Another article reports that Nisman's Iran & Hezbollah accusations are based almost wholly on information from intelligence services -- and that the US embassy is responsible for pushing Nisman in that direction: Nisman is a prosecutor who devoted the past 10 years to push the accusations against the Iranian regime and Lebanon’s Hezbollah for the AMIA bombing, almost completely based on information provided by intelligence services. The US Embassy was the one that pushed Nisman toward that approach, at the expense of probing any other possible foreign or local responsibilities, as was exposed in the WikiLeaks cables. That thesis is also favoured by the Israeli government and the leadership of the Argentine Jewish community. In particular, the latter tried to lobby before the Embassy in favour of former DAIA President Rubén Beraja, who was convicted and then acquitted of perjury charges to cover up the attack, among other judicial proceedings against him. [here] The last bit of that paragraph doesn't mean much to me.  Who is this Beraja guy?  Quickie look:  businessman, Ruben Beraja, was president of the Delegation of Jewish Argentine Associations (DAIA). GreenLeft reported in 2011: The US pressured an Argentine prosecutor to halt investigations into former Argentine president Carlos Menem and a number of other officials suspected of being involved in a cover-up over the bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in 1994, Argentine daily Pagina/12 reported on February 27. [here] Article goes on to say that a 1997 report by Argentina’s National Academy of Engineers indicated that a car bomb wasn't the cause of the explosion, as the epicentre of the explosion was within the building.  Not sure which building.  Looks like they're talking about the AMIA building, but I think another article referred to the embassy. Here's where the story becomes totally twisted.  Caught on video: federal judge Juan Jose Galeano offering [car dealer] Telleldin a US$400,000 bribe in return for providing witness testimony implicating the police officers [ibid] But that's not all: The court found that federal judge Luisa Riva Aramayo also offered to pay Telleldin for testimony implicating a number of police officers allied to Menem’s political rival, Eduardo Duhalde. [ibid] How corrupt is Argentina?  That's just put me off Argentina.  Not somewhere you'd go to settle down to a quiet life, is it?  Sounds like a nest of vipers. Here's more on the nukes: In a November 2006 report for the Asia Times Online, Porter said “The indictment [by Nisman and Burgos] shows the US put strong pressure on the Menem government to terminate all nuclear cooperation with Iran.” [ibid] US seems to be highly involved in the goings on in Argentina: The WikLeaks revelations also included cables criticising the Argentine government and showing a close relationship between the US and right-wing opposition figures. [ibid] Now that I've trawled through all this stuff, I'm somewhat confused. Argentinian author Adrian Salbuchi argues that it is more plausible that Israeli intelligence services may be responsible for the attacks in Argentina [here]. Without knowledge of all the related events, it's hard to assess the merits of the timeline or the proposal that it may have been Israeli intelligence services. Initially I found that option hard to believe.  But then I remembered King David Hotel bombing.  Even though this was pre Israeli intelligence services days,  it's hard to dismiss when early Zionist paramilitary organisations that were responsible for the KDH bombing also produced a Prime Minister (Menachem Begin), then head of the organisation associated with the Deir Yassin massacre. If my understanding is correct, David Shaltiel, the guy who gave the Deir Yassin massacre the go-ahead (despite a non-aggression pact signed by the villagers) was a paramilitary commander, who went on to become an intelligence officer and an Israeli diplomat: In the years 1950-1952 Shaltiel served as military attaché of Israel in France, and later fulfilled several diplomatic charges - as Israel's plenipotentiary minister in Brazil and Venezuela (1952–1956), then in Mexico (1956–1959) and ambassador in Netherlands (1963–1966). [wikipedia] I'm now more blown away by this information than I am by the convenient death of Prosecutor Nisman. Reading further, I've discovered an early example of assassination by Zionist paramilitary:  that of Jacob Israel de Haan.  First political murder.  Killed 1924 Jerusalem.  Haan's view of a Zionist future (negotiation with Arabs) didn't fit with the paramilitary organisation's view. What blows me away is that those who participated in extremist violence in Palestine became mainstream (and presumably accepted) figures. Pope Francis (former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio) gets a mention for having signed a petition for AMIA justice 10 years ago. Italian descent, worked as a chemical technician and a bouncer. Religion creeps me out in a big way.  Not for one moment do I believe in do-gooder 'holiness'.  Nor the we-must-revere-religion stance. In terms of the church generally, if you want influence in a place like Latin America you would probably want to play with the church.  Looks like CIA's played with the church. Checking out the church, I've found this: "under Reagan, the CIA linked up with Pope John Paul II, and they attacked together, they attacked liberation theology based communities in Latin America and have really destroyed that whole movement" [Matthew Fox, Theologian] Oh, look.  Here's another article that links CIA with Pope John Paul II: John Paul II appears to have gone even further, allowing the Catholic Church in Nicaragua to be used by the CIA and Ronald Reagan’s administration to finance and organize internal disruptions while the violent Nicaraguan Contras terrorized northern Nicaraguan towns with raids notorious for rape, torture and extrajudicial executions. School of the Americas ('Coup School') got a mention in that one, as well. Must-read article by Robert Parry, investigative reporter, who broke Iran-Contra stories: Pope Francis, CIA and ‘Death Squads’ https://consortiumnews.com/2013/03/16/pope-francis-the-cia-and-death-squads/ Pope Francis & Hollywood   Hollywood meets Vatican Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 Pope Francis and actress, film-maker meet after the screening of 'Unbroken' at the Vatican. Perfection. WWII hero Hollywood flick, Universal Studios, Hollywood & UN heroine, the head of the Catholic Church (wow, somebody powerful is pulling strings and it's not god), the oft repeated "strength of the human spirit", a keepsake rosary ... an almost perfect PR trip, were this not such an absurd concoction. Hollywood Pictures.  Movies. Money.  Money.  Money. Corporate America Wall Street.  Power.  Elite. Myth-makers.  Dreams-makers. Lies.  Propaganda. Humanitarian mantra.  Appropriation for political ends.  Trojan horse. US empire Politics Pontiff, god, & glamour Holy spirit Sport. War. Hero. "strength of the human spirit" Or  indifferent chance? Rosary Blessing Affirming American Empire 2015 For me, the beauty lies in the absurdity of the concoction presented for consumption. ---------------------------------------------------- Various links: *http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/19/did-iran-murder-argentina-s-crusading-prosecutor-alberto-nisman.html *http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/179804/as-illconceived-as-it-sounds *http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/179518/gov%E2%80%99t-accusations-are-%E2%80%98ridiculous-inconceivable%E2%80%99 *http://en.mercopress.com/2015/01/19/d-day-for-argentine-prosecutor-who-charged-cristina-fernandez-with-iran-cover-up *https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/46996 *http://en.mercopress.com/2015/01/19/d-day-for-argentine-prosecutor-who-charged-cristina-fernandez-with-iran-cover-up *https://consortiumnews.com/2013/03/16/pope-francis-the-cia-and-death-squads/

Brief - West, Middle East, Eastern Europe

BRIEF - MISC The West #Latvia - after Sweden pimps out the princess, Vatican pimps out the Pope: "Pope Francis meets with President of Latvia" - radiovaticana.va Christine Chilver ('Fifi') WWII British-Latvian seductress - SEO spy - http://goo.gl/ojGcrd  - said 2 bedded trainees / sleep talking #EU open borders joy >> 30-40 Latvian former prisoners now living in #UK (only obliged 2email probation officers) - http://goo.gl/2MZc1s  > EU law does allows requests 4 criminal history - if essential - but by law such enquires NOT allowed as ROUTINE !!! - #EU FRANCE France’s Sarkozy announces political comeback http://dlvr.it/6z2zLX NZ New Zealand Jewish PM wins third term http://toi.sr/1tLpnoH  via @timesofisrael >> #NZpol “Key’s victory comes just weeks after Israel rejected Wellington’s proposed non-resident envoy to Israel, Jonathan Curr”  [TimesofIsrael] Look-up:  rejected b/c also envoy to Palestine Authority. [abcnews/net/au] Middle East YEMEN BREAKING NEWS: #Yemen Shiite rebels seize government HQ: AFP via @jerryliet #cdnpoli #BREAKING: #Yemeni prime minister submits resignation http://ara.tv/m3a6v Yemen PM [Prime Minster Mohammad Basindawa] quits as violence rages in capital #Yemen - Houthis = Zaidi branch of Shia Islam aka Fivers - sect almost excl/ present in Yemen - similar 2 Sunni - Believe prophet / Imam ? - Iraq, Lebanon & Iran = Twelvers Shia - which different.  Houthis in Yemen described as 'powerful clan'. Alleged Iran backed. - Yemeni govt backing allegedly al-Qaeda + Saudi Arabia. Looks like Houthis have taken control of Yemen - PM resigned. #NATO’s "Terror Hordes in Iraq a Pretext for #Syria Invasion" >> http://goo.gl/jcx9ua  >> bit involved 4 me but good info on Middle East #Iran Facebook, Twitter & YouTube inaccessible w/out illegal software. Viber, Tango and WhatsApp 2 be banned - http://goo.gl/8nxcII -----------------------------------------  Eastern Europe #Novorossiya >> What's with the disarm deal? Sounds like a double-cross trap being set up by Ukr. & friends. #Russia - anti-war protests - Igor Irtenyev Russian poet agitates >> "In 2011, he emigrated to Israel in opposition to Vladimir Putin" PEN Intl - w/wide assoc. of writers, formed London, comm. 1920s to promote 'friendship' etc - One of 1st NGOs / intl HR advoc/ AFP "#Russian national TV has portrayed Kiev authorities as a "fascist junta" bent on persecuting Russian-speakers during the conflict." >> But fail to clarify that this is EXACTLY what the Ukies are! What a joke! >> "I believe that the war has been provoked by Putin" .. Is there an Obama blackout over there? Dude can't see what US did. -------------------------------------- COMMENT Just random bits of information and comments. Really don't think it's a good idea to disarm for anyone fighting over independence and territory. Yemen seems to be where all the action was.  At first I thought that the Houthis have taken over.  But maybe I'm wrong and they just wanted a change of government.    Discovered that it's easier to remember information about countries if you see some photos associated with the country. In my mind's eye I can see downtown Sana'a, so it helps remember the news (I think). Hmmm ... just had a look at Google images and, boy, was I wrong imagining Sana'a as a modern city.  Guess you've got to look at more than one photo.  LOL.   The city isn't familiar, like I imagined. It's very old and 'alien' looking (from my western urban perceptive).  I'm taking a guess that large parts of the city and, maybe the customs, are unchanged from biblical times.  What else? Surprised Russia isn't clamping down on foreign agitator NGOs in their midst. I've not read the Sarkozy come-back article yet.    Bling Bling should get elected no problems in France, as they've got a history of political figures associated with corruption allegations who remained in power. The Israelis are funny.  Surprised to see the word 'c*cksucker' in Times of Israel.  The impression I get of them is that they're people who kind of let it all hang out -- and from snippets I've encountered here and there, I also get the impression they've got a sense of humour.   Surprised anyone (non-western) allows PEN International to operate within their borders.   When I see NGO, all I can think is:  stirring up trouble by stealth.  NZ’s Jonathan Curr’s now ambassador in Turkey.  Turkey’s nice and slack.  No danger of kidnap.   Don’t know who wound up with the Middle East appointment.  Too lazy too check.  Expect it will pop up some time during online travels.