The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 02/11/2007 - 02/18/2007

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Murtha Claims US Troops Living In Palaces

Speaking in an interview released on the anti-war MoveCongress.com website, PA Rep (D)John Murtha recently made this comment about our brave troops in Iraq:

"Let's take, for instance, Saddam Hussein's palace - that's where our troops are living," Murtha said.

"They have everything they need. They have electricity, as they should. They have warm water. They have all the things that you need and we provide for our troops, and I agree with that," he said.

But a recent email I received from Lt. Jason Nichols in Baghdad, who was listening to one of my recent shows where I blasted Columnist William Arkin for his piece in the Wahington Post basically inferring the same thing tells just why Murtha,Arkin and the gang think this:

JR:

I'm also enjoying listening to back-issues of your show while I do my
programming after work.

To return the favor in a small part, here's an insight on the Arkin
'obscene amenities' comments which might help you.

I'm in the IZ Embassy area, which has the best living conditions
by far of any area in Iraq. This is b/c the Dept Of State is based here,
and they pay for it all. But this is also where all the media is
brought/based, so for many this is all they see of living conditions.


Few spend the night outside the IZ to see the much more common, and much
more simple, conditions most guys have. So if they already have a bias, I imagine that provides fodder for them.


If you need any info from Baghdad, I'll be happy to help (unclass, of
course!).
Thanks again!
Jason

LT Jason Nichols
USN Information Professional
jason.nichols@iraq.centcom.mil
DSN: 239-9451
AppealForCourage.org

House Passes Non-Binding Vote Against Troop Surge

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 99

QUESTION: On Agreeing to the Resolution

BILL TITLE: Disapproving of the decision of the President announced on January 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq

Yeas Nays PRES NV
Republican 17 180 4
Democratic 229 2 2
Independent
TOTALS 246 182

The 17 Rinos Who Voted With the Democrats:

Representative James T. Walsh

Phone: 202-225-3701 Fax: 202-225-4042
Email: Rep.james.walsh AT mail.house.gov

Representative Walter Jones

Phone: 202-225-3415 Fax: 202-225-3286

Representative Wayne Gilchrest Phone: 202-225-5311
Fax: 202-225-0254

Representative Michael Castle Phone: 202-225-4165
Fax: 202-225-2291

Representative Richard (Ric) Keller

Phone: 202-225-2176 Fax: 202-225-0999

Representative Philip Sheridan English

Phone: 202-225-5406 Fax: 202-225-3103

Representative Ronald Ernest Paul

Phone: 202-225-2831

Representative Frederick Stephen Upton

Phone: 202-225-3761 Fax: 202-225-4986

Representative Thomas M. Davis

Phone: 202-225-1492 Fax: 202-225-3071

Representative Mark Kirk

Phone: 202-225-4835 Fax: 202-225-0837

Representative Howard Coble

Phone: 202-225-3065 Fax: 202-225-8611
Email: howard.coble AT mail.house.gov

Representative John J. Duncan Jr.

Phone: 202-225-5435 Fax: 202-225-6440

Representative James Ramstad

Phone: 202-225-2871 Fax: 202-225-6351
Email: mn03 AT mail.house.gov

Representative Steven C. LaTOURETTE

Phone: 202-225-5731 Fax: 202-225-3307

Representative Robert Inglis

Phone: 202-225-6030 Fax: 202-226-1177

Representative Timothy V. Johnson

Phone: 202-225-2371 Fax: 202-226-0791

Representative Thomas Petri

Phone: 202-225-2476 Fax: 202-225-2356

The Two Brave Democrats Who Voted for the Troops:

Representative Jim Marshall

Phone: 202-225-6531 Fax: 202-225-3013

Representative Gene Taylor

Phone: 202-225-5772 Fax: 202-225-7074

NBC Military Analyst Quits Network, Citing Left-wing Bias

NBC military analyst Ken Allard, a former army colonel, has resigned from the network, citing a general drift to the left at MSM outlet, especially following NBC's inaction over scurrilous remarks made by one of its other analysts, a leftist named Bill Arkin, that implied the military was full of "mercenaries" raking in "obscene amenities."

This was the same Bill Arkin who has hated the military for years and released a book called "Code Names" in which he exposed classified military codenames to the world. Of course, the same media that has clamored about "treason" and "scandal" in the Valerie Wilson nonsense has no such compunction when it comes to this type of exposure of military secrets.)

After NBC failed to take action against its rogue analyst, Allard decided that he would, detailing why he has resigned in a column for a San Antonio newspaper:


Has anyone else noticed the network's precipitous retreat from journalistic and
ethical standards? Not only were no apologies given and no pink slips
issued for Arkin's outburst, but on his MSNBC show last week, Keith
Olberman went out of his way to defend this "valid criticism" of our
military.

In January, Conan O'Brien was allowed to escape without apology after airing a particularly tasteless gay skit deriding Christianity: "Oh, Jesus, I love you, but only as a friend." (Just try doing that sometime using Mohammad's name!)

And only this week, questions have been raised about the cozy relationships between
CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo and the companies she covers as a supposedly objective journalist. The response by Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE and godfather of the NBC family: "Substantially, I don't think she did anything wrong."

Fine: Let's hope he's right. But sometimes the only way to show where you really stand is to vote withyour feet. And so with great reluctance and best wishes to my former colleagues, with this column I am severing my 10-year relationship with
NBC News.

NY Man Charged With Trying To Fund Terror

Terrorism charges brought Friday against the administrator of a loan investment program claimed that he secretly tried to send $152,000 to the Middle East to buy equipment such as night vision goggles for a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.

Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, 53, of Ardsley, N.Y., pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to an indictment accusing him of terrorism financing, material support of terrorism and other charges. The charges carried a potential penalty of 95 years in prison.

Alishtari, also known as Michael Mixon, was detained pending a court appearance next week after Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Kolodner said Alishtari was a danger to the community and a risk to flee. He was arrested on Thursday in Manhattan, prosecutors said.

The indictment said Alishtari tried to support terrorists between June and December by accepting an unspecified amount of money to transfer $152,000 that he believed was being sent to Pakistan and Afghanistan to support an Afghanistan terrorist training camp.

He believed the money would be used to fund the purchase of night vision goggles and other equipment, the indictment said.

He was also charged with money laundering for allegedly causing the transfer on Aug. 17 of about $25,000 from a bank account in New York to a bank account in Montreal, Canada. The money was to be used to provide material support to terrorist, prosecutors said.

The indictment also charged him with wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud. It said he devised a scheme to administer and promote a fraudulent loan investment program known as "Flat Eletronic Data Interchange" through which Alishtari and others fraudulently obtained millions of dollars from investors by promising high guaranteed rates of return.

American facing IED charges

Houston case alleges suspect planned to kill on behalf of al-Qaida

An American who is accused of guarding a flight attendant who later was murdered by radical Muslims in Somalia, and learning how to make IEDs at a compound used by al-Qaida there, is facing a court hearing Tuesday in Houston after his arrest by anti-terrorism experts and his return to the U.S.

The case is pending against Daniel Joseph Maldonado, aka Daniel Aljughaifi, 28, formerly of Houston, who was named in the government charges filed by U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle in Houston.

"Any who seek to aid terrorists in their mission to threaten our national security will be held to account for such serious criminal conduct," DeGabrielle said.

Maldonado was returned to the U.S. just days ago after he was captured by members of the Kenyan military on Jan. 21 as he fled Somalia to avoid the military conflict between Ethiopian and Somalian forces, according to prosecutors.

Being expelled by Kenyan authorities, he was turned over to American authorities, then flown to Houston in the company of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Already being described as another John Walker Lindh, he is alleged to have traveled on his own to Somalia in late 2006 to join the Islamic Courts Union and elements of al-Qaida to fight "jihad" in Somalia. The ICU is blamed for the suicide bombers and vehicles containing improvised explosive devices just weeks earlier that targeted the leadership of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, according to federal documents.

"While in Somalia, Maldonado was … provided an AK-47, equipped with military combat uniforms and boots in Mogadishu, and participated in training camps in Kismaayo and Jilib, Somalia," prosecutors said. "The camps included physical fitness, firearms and explosives training all in preparation to go to the front to fight for the ICU."

The complaint alleges Maldonado studied at the training camps with al-Qaida members and expressed his willingness go to the front and fight, and become a suicide bomber if he was wounded.

The criminal complaint said the call for fighters on behalf of Somalia's Islamic militants came from Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's deputy, on Jan. 5. "Launch ambushes, land mines, raids and suicidal combats until you consume them as the lions and eat their prey," he said in a taped message on the Internet.

During interviews in Somalia, Maldonado said he would have "no problem" killing Americans and apostate Muslims, and that he was sympathetic to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S.

"Maldonado recalled that while in Kismaayo he participated in the interrogation of a spy. The spy, a flight attendant who had a cell phone camera, was observed taking pictures of jihadis as they arrived by airplane in Kismaayo," federal agents reported. "The flight attendant was forcibly taken to a house … where he was beaten and slapped. Maldonado helped guard and interrogate the flight attendant because they both spoke English. … Maldonado admitted he was later informed that the flight attendant had been killed."

"This case represents the first criminal prosecution of an American suspected of joining forces with Islamic extremist fighters in Somalia," said Kenneth L. Wainstein, assistant attorney general for the U.S. Justice Department's National Security Division.

"The prosecution of Mr. Maldonado demonstrates the scope of our laws and serves as a warning to others who travel overseas to wage violent jihad," Wainstein said.

Friday, February 16, 2007

These Colors Don't Run Tour



Move America Forward invites you to join us as we launch a national caravan from California (leaving on Thursday, March 8, 2007) to Washington, D.C. (for a giant pro-troop rally on Saturday March 17, 2007).

Join us for the entire caravan, or for just part of the route or attend one of our patriotic pro-troop rallies across the nation. At each stop we're asking participants to bring an American Flag (homemade or store-bought) and we'll pack it up with the caravan and bring it to Washington, D.C. There we will create a giant "Flag City" - a sea of red, white and blue patriotism to surround our war memorials and show we will not turn our backs on our troops as they serve bravely overseas. Have your children make a homemade flag. Knit a flag. Bring a flag that has special meaning or significance to you, because these flags are going to be given to the finest Americans: our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After the D.C. rally we'll send each flag that was displayed to a unit serving in Iraq or Afghanistan with a placard explaining where the flag flew and why.

UPDATE - February 14, 2007 3:55 PM PST: People have asked if they can send flags to us before we leave. The answer is YES! In fact we'd appreciate receiving as many as possible so that we can show the media and rally attendees the flags we've gotten along the way... starting with our first rally stops in California.

Send flags via UPS, US Mail, FedEx or other delivery service to:

Move America Forward
770 L Street
Suite #1400
Sacramento, CA 95814

UPDATE - February 16, 2007 12:10 PM PST: We are very pleased to be supporting the efforts of these organizations to have a massive turnout for the patriotic rally that takes place in Washington, D.C. - on Saturday, March 17th at the conclusion of our national "THESE COLORS DON'T RUN" pro-troop, patriotic caravan:

www.GatheringOfEagles.org
FreeRepublic.com
www.Vets4Victory.com
Rolling Thunder

We'll have more updates here at this website EVERY DAY - so get started making a flag, decorate your car red, white and blue to join the caravan, and be ready to send a message to our nation and our troops serving overseas: We support our troops because we know SURRENDER IN IRAQ IS NOT AN OPTION!

Report: Plans for Invading Iran complete

LONDON: American preparations for invading Iran are complete and a major conventional war with Teheran could begin any day, according to a chilling new report that coincides with leading US Democrat Congressmen's warning to President Bush that he does not have the authority to go to war with Iran.

The report, by authoritative defence expert Dan Plesch, says American military operations for Iran "extend far beyond targeting suspect WMD facilities and will enable President Bush to destroy Iran's military, political and economic infrastructure overnight using conventional weapons."

Plesch, who is known to be well-connected and well-networked at the very highest reaches of the trans-Atlantic political and defence establishment, quoted unnamed British military sources to say that "the US military switched its whole focus to Iran" as soon as Saddam Hussein was kicked out of Baghdad.

Plesch added that several US marine forces are already "assembling, each with its own aircraft carrier. These carrier forces can each conduct a version of the D-Day landings. They come with landing craft, tanks, jump-jets, thousands of troops and, yes, hundreds more cruise missiles. Their task is to destroy Iranian forces able to attack oil tankers and to secure oilfields and installations. They have trained for this mission since the Iranian revolution of 1979."

The report said that "any US general planning to attack Iran can now assume that at least 10,000 targets can be hit in a single raid, with warplanes flying from the US or Diego Garcia...With little military effort, the US air force can hit the last-known position of Iranian military units, political leaders and supposed sites of weapons of mass destruction. One can be sure that, if war comes, George Bush will not want to stand accused of using too little force and allowing Iran to fight back."

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Al-Qaida in Iraq leader wounded

The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has been wounded in a clash north of Baghdad, Al Arabiya television on Feb. 15 quoted the Iraqi Interior Ministry as saying.

It said an aide of Masri was killed in the incident, without giving further details. Masri is also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.

A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said he had no information on the report.
Masri, an Egyptian, assumed the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq after Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. air strike in June.

The U.S. military has described Masri as a close Zarqawi associate who trained in Afghanistan and formed al-Qaeda's first cell in Baghdad. The United States has put a $5 million bounty on Nasri's head.

Illegal Crossings Down 62 Percent

According to the Christian Science Monitor apprehensions of illegal immigrants in the Yuma sector, one of the busiest, has dropped some 62 percent compared to last year at this time.

That's the biggest drop of all nine border patrol sectors on the frontier with Mexico and double the average decline. The amount of marijuana seized in the Yuma sector fell 36 percent for the same period.

The figures for the entire southern border, a 27 percent decline in apprehensions and a 51 percent increase in marijuana seized, are encouraging, experts say.

"If those numbers hold [for the entire fiscal year], that would indeed represent a significant drop," says Luis Cabrera, an expert on transnational justice issues at Arizona State University in Tempe. "We're pretty sure there's a deterrence effect."


"We have had 49 states participate in the border mission in Arizona, with 7,758 [troops] coming through Arizona," says Maj. Paul Aguirre, spokesman for Operation Jump Start in Arizona. "Roughly 40 percent of the effort is in Arizona."


It's the highly visible National Guard troops that most here say are having the biggest deterrent effect. With their limited support roles (they can't apprehend nor arrest individuals), they are freeing border patrol agents from routine duties, such as fence-building and repair, so they can spend more time nabbing illegal infiltrators.

Some 500 additional border patrol agents have bolstered the efforts in the Yuma sector this past year, as have added infrastructure, National Guard helicopters, miles of triple fences, lights, cameras, and sensors.

National Park Police Assure Vets They Will Protect The Memorial

Robin Owen (Person in charge of issuing event permits for the National Mall area) was contacted recently in regards to the anti-war protest that is scheduled to take place on March 17th at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, by Michael S. Golden,
President/CEO Veterans Construction Inc. and he was assured of the following:

1.) There will be a 300 yard perimeter comprised of double snow fence
barriers with an ample number mounted, foot police, riot reaction squad
nearby, and intelligence personal on scene, to ensure that the conditions of
the permit granted to the antiwar activists are not violated. E.G. the
assembly point is in an appointed area on the eastern end of the grounds
(Knoll) and they will not be allowed in the proximity of the wall. A Similar
exclusion zone applies area and approaches from Constitution Ave. So net
effect ... no protesters within 300 yd's.

2.) That ALL laws will be vigorously enforced and prosecuted in terms of
any violence, vandalism,or, threat to public safety. This was stated
emphatically.

3.) About an hour later, I received a phone call from Sgt, Booker of the
Park Police saying he had been asked by Robin Owen to reiterate the policy
and to reinforce her statements to me and answer any further questions I may
have on the Park Police law enforcement polices.

Sgt. Booker stated even MORE emphatically that the Park Police consider the
Wall as sacred ground, as we do, (As did Robin Owen) themselves, and that
they WILL enforce any, and all laws, relevant to it's integrity. And, any
concerns we may have stemming from the non-enforcement of the law by the
Capitol Police last weekend are not relevant to his Dept. They WILL arrest
and prosecuted anyone who breaks the law.

4.) The Wall will be open for visiting to the general public as usual ...
if any of you care to do so on that day.

Vietnam veterans are asking veterans, their families and friends, active
duty military personal, as well as the like-minded public, to join us in
emailing, calling, and writing, the National Park Service robbin_owen@nps.gov
(1-202 619-7225) and Vietnam Memorial Fund vvmf@vvmf.org (202) 393-0090 Fax:
(202) 393-0029 asking them to take any and all legal action to prohibit the
planned anti-war demonstration on March 17, 2007 at,the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial. Further, to demand that the appropriate law enforcement agencies
stringently enforce the law as it pertains to defacement of public edifices,
monuments, and property.

We are very concerned, in light of recent events, there will be a
repetition of the vandalism that occurred at last weekend's antiwar protest
has a real potential to reoccur at the upcoming event, and that the police
again will be prevented from enforcing the law by their superiors. We will
not allow the Vietnam War Memorial be vandalized, spray painted, or in any
way be defaced, as was the U.S. Congress during last weekend's antiwar
protest when police were ordered to retreat in the face of leftist radicals
who defiled our nation's seat of government. If the police are similarly
prevented in doing their job as they were in the case of the U.S. Congress,
we veterans are more than willing and able to form a "human honor guard"
(peacefully) to prevent a similar sacrilege to the nation's property and to
what we consider hollowed ground, and our war's collective tombstone.

We do not object to public protest. Many of us have fought, bled, and died,
to provide (and protect) the citizenry the right to free assembly.

We do however, strongly object the use of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as
a backdrop and stage for political gain. And, we take it as an affront to our
fallen comrade-in-arms and to their honor that the antiwar movement's
organizers and supporters would be so insensitive, inconsiderate, and
boorish, as to even consider it as suitable location for political theater.

It is scared ground and should be considered as such.

This is a very emotional issue to many veterans and the potential for
confrontation is very high. In the interest of the sensitivities of the
veterans and that of public safety and good order, we ask the you to use your
good offices and influence to convince antiwar movement's organizers to
reconsider their choice of assembly point, and relocate it to a less
emotionally charged area.

Semper Fi
Michael S. Golden
President/CEO
Veterans Construction Inc. (VCI)
318 Winona Street, Suite 204
Knoxville, TN. 37917
Office (865) 523 9144
Fax: (865) 523 9105

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Al-Sadr flees Iraq for Iran

Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fled Iraq for Iran ahead of a security crackdown in Baghdad and the arrival of 21,500 U.S. troops sent by President Bush to quell sectarian violence, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday.

Al-Sadr left his Baghdad stronghold some weeks ago, the official said, and is believed to be in Tehran, where he has family. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. monitoring activities, said fractures in al-Sadr's political and militia operations may be part of the reason for his departure. The move is not believed to be permanent, the official said.

Word of al-Sadr's departure coincides with an announcement that Iraq will close its borders with Iran and Syria for 72 hours as part of the drive to end the violence that has threatened to divide the capital along sectarian lines.

The U.S. official said it is not clear how firmly the radical Shiite cleric is controlling his organization and the associated Mahdi Army militia from exile.

"The question for us is to what extent his organization is going to participate in the political process," the official said, referring to al-Sadr's on-again, off-again relationship with the fragile democratic government in Baghdad.

Al-Sadr's departure was reported by several television networks Tuesday.

Al-Sadr's militia is widely seen as the main threat to Iraq's unity and high on the list of targets for the Baghdad security operation.

A ragtag but highly motivated militia that fought U.S. forces twice in 2004, the Mahdi Army is blamed for much of the sectarian strife shaking Iraq since a Shiite shrine was bombed by Sunni militants a year ago. U.S. officials have for months pressed Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to move against the militia, but he has so far done little to comply, largely because he does not want to lose al-Sadr's support.

Iraqi Insurgents Using Austrian Rifles From Iran





Austrian sniper rifles that were exported to Iran have been discovered in the hands of Iraqi terrorists, The Daily Telegraph has learned.


More than 100 of the.50 calibre weapons, capable of penetrating body armour, have been discovered by American troops during raids.

The guns were part of a shipment of 800 rifles that the Austrian company, Steyr-Mannlicher, exported legally to Iran last year.

The sale was condemned in Washington and London because officials were worried that the weapons would be used by insurgents against British and American troops.

Within 45 days of the first HS50 Steyr Mannlicher rifles arriving in Iran, an American officer in an armoured vehicle was shot dead by an Iraqi insurgent using the weapon.

Over the last six months American forces have found small caches of the £10,000 rifles but in the last 24 hours a raid in Baghdad brought the total to more than 100, US defence sources reported.

The find is the latest in a series of discoveries that indicate that Teheran is providing support to Iraq's Shia insurgents.

The Iranian president, yesterday denied that Iran had supplied weapons to Iraqi insurgents. But on Sunday US officials in Baghdad displayed a range of weapons they claimed had originated in Iran.

They said 170 American and British soldiers had been killed by such weapons.

Gathering of Eagles

CALL FOR SUPPORT: On March 17, 2007 Anti-War Demonstration and March to the Pentagon to Assemble at the VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL

ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS,SUPPORTERS, AFFILIATES, FRIENDS OF ROLLING THUNDER®; ALL MILITARY, VETERANS AND PATRIOTS.

CRITICALLY IMPERATIVE:MEET AT THE WALL 1000 HOURS / 17 MARCH 2007

IT IS OUR UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PROTESTERS PLAN ON GOING RIGHT THROUGH THE IMMEDIATE AREA OF THE WALL / THREE MAN STATUE/AND THE WOMEN’S MEMORIAL. IT IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT WE PROTECT OUR PRECIOUS MEMORIALS, THE SANCTITY OF THE WALL AND DEFEND OUR TROOPS THAT ARE IN IRAQ AND FIGHTING EACH AND EVERY HOUR FOR OUR COUNTRY.

At the anti-war protest in Washington, D.C. 2 weeks ago there was ALOT of damage done at the Capitol steps. We cannot and will not allow this to happen at The Wall or to any of our memorials.

For Complete Details Visit Gathering of Eagles: http://gatheringofeagles.org

Launch of Pro-mission site by military, for military.




Hello from Baghdad.

I and a Vietnam vet friend of mine have launched a new site, AppealForCourage.org which allows active duty military to (legally) tell Congress and the media that they should support our mission, and that their criticism does hurt our morale while emboldening our enemies.

This site is partly in response to the leftist site AppealForRedress. It was created by a big money group and given a free pass by the media. I don't have any money for advertising, and I don't expect the media to help.

LT Jason Nichols, USN
MNF-I, Baghdad



An Appeal For Redress is an authorized means for active duty military to submit a grievance to Congress. It can be signed by Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard military personnel.


It is authorized by DoD Directive 1325.6 and DoD Directive 7050.6.

The wording of the Appeal for Redress is:

As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.

If you are active duty, reservist or national guard, please Sign this Appeal.

Most service members fully support the war in Iraq and feel calls to retreat by Congress and attacks by our media on our conduct and mission act to motivate our enemy while demoralizing our support at home, directly increasing the threat we face and resulting in greater American casualties. This Appeal for Redress provides a way in which individual service members can appeal to Congress to fully support us and actively oppose media attacks on our mission and our morale.

This Appeal will be delivered to members of Congress.

Deal Made on N. Korea Nuke Program

Six countries reached a tentative agreement Tuesday on initial steps toward North Korea's nuclear disarmament that could usher in the first concrete progress after more than three years of talks marked by delays, deadlock and the communist country's first nuclear test explosion.

The U.S. envoy to the talks, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, emerged in the early morning hours of Tuesday looking weary after a marathon 16-hour negotiating session and announced that a tentative deal had been struck at the latest round of six-party talks on the North's nuclear program.

The draft agreement contained commitments on disarmament and energy assistance along with "initial actions" to be taken by certain deadlines, Hill said. Working groups will be set up, hopefully in a month, laying out a framework for dealing with regional tensions, he added.

He declined to give further details of the draft.

The agreement could herald the first step toward disarmament since the talks began in 2003. The process reached its lowest point in October when North Korea conducted its first nuclear test explosion, alarming the world and triggering U.N. sanctions.

Discrepancies in case against Border Patrol

A series of unexplained discrepancies and contradictions mar the Report of Investigation that was released recently by the Department of Homeland Security to Congress over the case involving former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.

For example, the heavily redacted report left unclear what the relationship is between Willcox, Ariz-based Border Patrol agent Rene Sanchez and drug smuggler Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, with whom Sanchez supposedly grew up in Mexico.

Ramos and Compean were charged, tried and convicted of shooting Aldrete-Davil, a fleeing drug smuggler, in the buttocks. They were given sentences of 11 and 12 years in prison, while federal prosecutors granted the drug smuggler immunity to return to the United States and testify against the law enforcement officers. The circumstances of the case have outraged many concerned over the problems of illegal immigration and running drugs from Mexico into the United States. Dozens of members of Congress as well as several activist groups have called for the officers to be pardoned.

But the investigation into the record is further complicated, not only by the redactions in the report, but by the failure of the U.S. District Court in El Paso to produce a transcript of the trial, now some 11 months after the trial was completed. Moreover, the Homeland Security document refers to many investigative reports not included in the redacted report.

Similarly unanswered is exactly who Aldrete-Davila is and how he entered the United States on Feb. 17, 2005. Government investigators and the prosecutor do not have a consistent answer to this important question, one considered central to the entire case.

"The prosecutors did not know who Aldrete-Davila really was," Andy Ramirez, chairman of Friends of the Border Patrol told WND, "nor did they care to find out. Once [prosecutor] Johnny Sutton found the drug smuggler, he set his mind on prosecuting the Border Patrol agents. There is nothing in the record to suggest Sutton ever spent a single minute investigating the drug smuggler for prosecution, or finding out who might be related to the drug smuggler that he could prosecute."

WND presented Ramirez with four conflicting versions of Aldrete-Davila's identity, based on official government documents and testimony.

The first version emerges from Homeland Security investigative reports filed by Special Agent Christopher Sanchez, which typically start out with the same paragraph. An example is the memorandum filed on March 24, 2005, and included in the recent report to Congress.

In that report, Christopher Sanchez writes that "Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, a Mexican national, was shot by an unknown BP Agent while attempting to cross into the United States." This is version one – that Aldrete-Davila was shot while attempting to enter the United States from Mexico. It makes Aldrete-Davila sound as if he were a typical illegal immigrant coming into the United States, possibly even to find work to feed his family.

Ramirez commented, on the first version, that "if you believed this version, Aldrete-Davila had nothing to do with the drugs whatsoever. This is the cosmetic version, the version designed to make Aldrete-Davila a complete victim of the rogue Border Patrol just out to kill a Mexican."

Version two can be found in the "Details" section of the Homeland Security report. Here, evidently based on his statements given after being given immunity, readers are told Aldrete-Davila needed "over $1,000 to pay for his medical bills and to renew his Mexican government license equivalent to a commercial driver's license, without which he was not able to work."

Fortunately for Aldrete-Davila, according to this version, "an acquaintance in Mexico approached Aldrete-Davila and told him he could earn $1,500 to drive a load of drugs to a stash house in the United States." The report says Aldrete-Davila agreed and "was instructed where to cross the border into the United States, and was told where to find a gray van loaded with drugs." According to this version, Aldrete-Davila was to drive to [information redacted], where he "would encounter another vehicle that would guide him to the stash house."

"Version two makes Aldrete-Davila appear a sympathetic poor Mexican who was just looking for a way to earn some extra money," Ramirez commented. "What could be more heartbreaking that a disadvantaged Mexican who would do anything to get needed medical care. The statement even suggests that all Aldrete-Davila wanted to do was earn some money so he could get back his commercial driver license to earn an honest living."

Ramirez also noted that in version two Aldrete-Davila has to cross the border on foot, pick up the drug car, and follow-the-leader to the stash house. "Why would any organized drug cartel ever set up a drug delivery this way? It's absurd to think that if the cartel could load the van with marijuana they needed a Mexican to come across the Rio Grande to drive it to the stash house. Maybe prosecutors think this way, but professional drug dealers don't."

Ramirez also noted that version two is important in that it suggests a reason why government investigators and Sutton's office never bothered to check out the cell phone left in the drug van.

"Maybe the cell phone found in the abandoned van belonged to somebody else," Ramirez suggested. "If the cell phone were not Aldrete-Davila's, then prosecutor U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton might not be lying when he claims that there was no evidence whatsoever, except for Aldrete-Davila's own testimony, to tie him to the drug smuggling crime."

Version three occurs in the testimony at trial. While the entire transcript has not yet been completed or released, WND has obtained the trial testimony of Border Patrol Agents Arturo Vasquez, David Jacquez and Oscar Juarez, all of whom were involved in the Feb. 17, 2005, incident for which Ramos and Compean are now imprisoned. All three were also given immunity to testify for the prosecution.

According to version three, the 1989 Ford Econoline Aldrete-Davila was driving was first detected at the border by Compean, who evidently picked up the information from sensors along the border.

"This version probably gets closer to the truth," Ramirez commented. "The only problem is that in this version elements of the other versions disappear. Gone is the suggestion Aldrete-Davila walked across the border to find the drug car. Gone is any lead car taking Aldrete-Davila to the stash house."

Agents Vasquez and Juarez both testified that they were cruising near the levee where the incident ends when they heard Compean put out a "code 1046" radio call that he was pursuing a van headed northbound from the levee. Both agents Vasquez and Juarez were initially confused about whether the van was full-size or a minivan, and both were confused about whether they were looking for a blue or a gray van. Within a few minutes, both agents identified the van and joined Compean in hot pursuit.

Code 1046 indicates Compean suspected they were pursuing a drug-trafficking offender. The border crossing route where Compean first detected the vehicle was known to be a drug route.

Version four comes from prosecutor Debra Kanof's opening statement at trial. Kanof told the jury that they would hear Aldrete-Davila testify "he was trying to make it back to Mexico" when he turned his vehicle and headed south back to the border in response to the flashing lights of the Border Patrol agents in pursuit.

"With Kanof at trial, we're back to the good Mexican just trying to get home," Ramirez noted. "What all these different versions neglect to mention is that Aldrete was a professional drug cartel mule who has been smuggling drugs into the United States since he was 14 years old."

WND has previously reported that Aldrete-Davila was involved in a second drug smuggling incident that involved postponement of the Ramos-Compean trial while the prosecution scrambled to protect the credibility of their star witness. WND has also reported that at trial, Judge Kathleen Cardone sealed from the jury any discussion of Aldrete-Davila's subsequent drug offense.

"Looking through the entire record developed by the government and the prosecutor," Ramirez points out, "I don't see a single instance where Johnny Sutton ever tried to find out who Aldrete-Davila worked for in Mexico or who he was connected with in the United States. We might have broken a drug ring here, but instead we get two experienced Border Patrol agents behind bars."

Supporting Ramirez's contention is a statement of the redacted Homeland Security report, noting, "Aldrete-Davila refused to provide information on the drug trafficking organization (DTO) that had hired him to smuggle drugs on February 17, 2005. Aldrete-Davila also advised that he did not want to provide information on the DTO for fear of what the DTO might do to him and/or his family, adding that the DTO knew where he and his family lived and worked."

Ramirez remains suspicious of the various government/prosecution versions. "I wonder who they were protecting?" Ramirez asked. "What happens when Aldrete-Davila gets caught a second time smuggling drugs into the United States. Is Debra Kanof going to retract the statement that all Aldrete-Davila wanted was his commercial driving license in Mexoco? I don’t think so."

Military Meets January Recruiting Goals

All active components of the military services met or exceeded their recruiting goals for January, the Defense Department announced today.

The Army achieved 111 percent of its goal with 9,306 troops; the Air Force, 100 percent of its goal with 2,552 troops; the Navy, 100 percent of its goal with 2,764; and the Marine Corps, 108 percent with 3,403.

Four of six of the reserve components met or exceeded their recruiting goals for January. The Army National Guard, Marine Corps Reserve, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve all achieved more than 100 percent of their goals. The Army Reserve and Navy Reserve lagged, with 99 percent and 93 percent, respectively.

Retention among active and reserve components remained solid. The Marine Corps and Air Force met or exceeded overall retention missions. The Army met 109 percent of its year-to-date mission, and the Navy met 93 percent.

Army National Guard retention was 120 percent of the cumulative goal of 10,289, and Air National Guard retention was 97 percent of its cumulative goal of 3,289. Both the Army and Air Guard are at 99 percent of their target end strength. Losses in all reserve components for December are well within acceptable limits, officials said, and indications are that trend will continue into January.

The Army's recruiting numbers may get an added boost in March after the Army launches a traveling, virtual reality exhibit. The Virtual Army Experience is a high-tech, team-based experience designed to immerse visitors in the operational roles of soldiers, according to an Army news release.

The 10,000-square-foot interactive exhibit brings the Army's exceptionally popular computer game, "America's Army: Special Forces (Overmatch)," to a life-size networked world, according to the release. In the Virtual Army Experience, participants employ teamwork, leadership and high-tech equipment as they take part in a hands-on virtual mission to capture a terrorist leader. The Virtual Army Experience debuts this week at Speedweek in Daytona, Fla., and will deploy to 35 events around the nation.

"The Virtual Army Experience provides visitors with unparalleled insight into today's high-tech Army, in which smart, capable soldiers work within elite teams to master the most complex and demanding situations," said Col. Casey Wardynski, project director for America's Army and originator of the concept for the Virtual Army Experience. "Upon entering the Virtual Army Experience, visitors meet virtual members of their team -- skilled professionals in fields ranging from aviation to communications. From this point forward, visitors gain an appreciation of the degree to which the Army prepares young adults to be confident, skilled and trusted."

Monday, February 12, 2007

Iran sends shoulder-borne QW-1 anti-air missiles to Iraqi to down US helicopters

DEBKAfile’s sources in Tehran and Kurdistan disclose that, last month, two Iranian QW-1 and SA-7 missile consignments reached Iraqi insurgents allied with al Qaeda and one, radical Shiite Moqtada Sadr’s Shiite militia, the Mehdi Army. Israeli sources report the same anti-air weapons were delivered at about the same time to Hizballah units in Lebanon including the south.

Our military sources add that Iran’s arms industry has succeeded in replicating a quality version of the Chinese QW-1 and improved its electronics. It is 1.447meters long and packs 16.5 kilos of explosives. The IDF estimates that the first of these missiles used experimentally by Hizballah caused an Israeli helicopter to explode during take-off near the Litani River in the Lebanon War last summer.

Iranian markings have been erased from the equipment going into Iraq and Lebanon to suggest they were bought on the black market. Dated Soviet-era models of the SA-7 were indeed bought by Iran on Far East black markets and supplied to Iraqi insurgents and also pro-Tehran governors in western Afghanistan. Iran is preparing the ground for a Shiite insurgency against NATO forces there.

According to our sources, all three consignments to Iraq went through the North Iraqi Kurdistani town of Suleimaniya not far from the Iranian border. An Iranian clandestine center operates there like “the liaison center” the Americans raided in another Kurdish town, Irbil, last month. The Suleimaniya center operates with permission from Iraqi’s Kurdish president Jalal Talabani.

They weapons were smuggled in concealed compartments of trucks transporting building materials and iron from Iran for a Kurdish building company. After unloading their legitimate freight, the trucks drove on south up to the regional border where Iraqi insurgents off-loaded the missiles to their vehicles and distributed them to their networks in Baqouba, Ramadi and Tikrit – north of Baghdad and Hilla to the south.

In January, two-man teams of Iraqi insurgents and Hizballah operatives were trained in the use of the new weapons against American and Israeli helicopters as instructors for missile crews in Iraq and Lebanon. One crewman was taught to locate the target and help the second to aim. The training facilities were set up in Kermanshah and Qasr-e Shirin close to the Iraqi border.

Tehran is stepping up its provocations in reprisal for the US president George W. Bush’s directive to US forces to capture or kill Iranian agents, America’s refusal to release the Revolutionary Guards officers captured in Irbil and finally by the seizure last week of an Iranian diplomat in Baghdad.

Corruption Cover-Up in Case of Jailed BP Agents ?

The Border Patrol agent with family ties to the Mexican drug smuggler in the case of two jailed border agents may have been involved in back-channel communications with Mexican drug cartels, investigative reports obtained by WND suggest, prompting calls for a special prosecutor to look into the charges.

"We now know that DHS and prosecutor U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton found [smuggler Osbaldo] Aldrete-Davila because the mother-in-law of Border Patrol Agent Rene Sanchez talked with Aldrete-Davila's mother on the phone," Andy Ramirez, chairman of Friends of the Border Patrol, told WND. "How many other conversations in Mexico did Border Patrol Agent Rene Sanchez have and what was the purpose of those conversations?"

An investigative report filed by Department of Homeland Security Special Agent Christopher Sanchez July 18, 2005, stated that on July 11, 2005, the DHS Office of Inspector General in El Paso spoke to agent Rene Sanchez in the Willcox, Ariz., Border Patrol Station, concerning a telephone call Rene Sanchez made to Border Patrol Agent Nolan Blanchett in the Ysleta BP Station in Texas.

At the time of the phone call, Blanchett wasassigned temporarily to the Fabens Border Patrol Station, the scene of the Feb. 17, 2005, incident with Aldrete-Davila that led to the imprisonment of agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.

According to the July 18, 2005, DHS memorandum of activity:


(Rene) Sanchez stated that he called Blanchett one or two days after he spoke to DHS OIG on March 5, 2005. Sanchez said he asked Blanchett if he knew anything about a shooting that occurred on February 17, 2005 involving a van loaded with dope in which BP agents shot at the driver. Sanchez said Blanchett told him he knew nothing about the shooting.
A separate March 14, 2005, DHS memorandum of activity filed by Christopher Sanchez, documents that agent Rene Sanchez "queried the Border Patrol Tracking System and found that the Fabens Border Patrol Station seized a load of marijuana on February 17, 2005."

These reports drew the suspicion of Ramirez.

"Why is this Border Patrol agent Rene Sanchez over in Willcox, Arizona, so interested in searching out this drug bust information in Fabens, Texas?" Ramirez asked WND. "Sure, we know that Aldrete-Davila and Rene Sanchez grew up together in Mexico. But how much more to the story is there than that?"

WND has learned prosecutor Sutton's office took steps to prevent Blanchett from testifying in open court, claiming his testimony would compromise an ongoing investigation.

WND has also learned Blanchett had received phone calls from Rene Sanchez tipping him off that a sensor hit was about to take place on the border, giving advance warning that a drug-smuggling transport across the border was going to take place. Knowing in advance the when and where of a sensor hit on the border would allow a Border Patrol agent to be in position to interdict the drug shipment and arrest the smuggler.

"How do we know that Agent Rene Sanchez wasn't working with Aldrete-Davila's drug cartel?" Ramirez asked. "Calling Blanchett in advance and letting him know where to interdict a drug shipment might be a good way to eliminate the competition of Aldrete-Davila or whomever he is linked to."

At the Ramos-Compean trial, the defense was not allowed to call Blanchett to the stand for testimony.

"The connection is a little bit too convenient," Ramirez pointed out to WND. "Here we have this Border Patrol Agent Rene Sanchez over in Willcox, Arizona, and the only way DHS and Johnny Sutton's office find out that Aldrete-Davila was the drug smuggler is because Rene Sanchez tips them off. Then Aldrete-Davila gets immunity and medical care from the prosecutor. Just how closely was Rene Sanchez working with the drug smuggler and what did Rene Sanchez stand to gain when Aldrete-Davila got immunity?"