The A-O Intelligence Digest: Wars & Rumors of Wars 3-16-13
The A-O Intelligence Digest
For
March 16, 2013
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Headlines for this Digest Edition:
Mideast Tensions at Fever Pitch As
Al Qaeda Threat Mushrooms in Syria
N. Korea Threatens Nuclear Attack on USA
Did Iran Order Al Qaeda's 9-11-01 Attack?
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Mideast Tensions at Fever Pitch
As President Obama prepares for his upcoming trip to Israel in a week, dark clouds loom over the horizon for not only the Middle East but for the world and Babylon-America.
Here's a list of cataclysmic threats we're tracking right now:
#1. Israel launching military action against Iran
#2. Israel launching military action against Syria
#3. Israel launching military action against Hezbollah
#4. Syria launching military action against Israel (Russia & Iran joining Syria)
#5. Syria launching military action against Turkey
#6. Hezbollah launching terror attacks against Israel
#7. Hezbollah launching terror attacks against America
#8. Hezbollah launching chemical weapons attacks against ???
#9. North Korea launching pre-emptive EMP or nuclear strike against USA & S Korea
#10.Iran launching pre-emptive EMP or WMC strike against the continental USA (CONUS)
#11. Al Qaeda launching major terror strike(s) [possibly WMD] against:
a. USA
b. Israel
c. Various European Nations
d. Saudi Arabia
e. Iraq
#12. Civil War in Iraq
#13. Islamic Civil War between Shia & Sunni sects
#14. China attacks Japan or vice-versa
#15. China attacks Taiwan
#16. Pakistan attacks India
#17. Hamas attacks Israel
#18. Palestinian Intifada
#19. Turkey Launches war against Greece & Israel Over Gas Fields
#20. Syria Threatens to Bomb Lebanon
Not on the list is the potential for a US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities although this seems to be only a remote possibility. All indications point to the White House being prepared to let Iran become a nuclear power.
OTHER Major Events Unfolding:
#1. President Obama's Trip to Israel from 3/20 to 3/22
#2. Installation of Pope Francis I on 3/19/13
#3. US Withdraws Lone Aircraft Carrier from Persian Gulf.
#4. Netanyahu Forms Dovish Coalition Government
#5. 3 Russian Warships with 700 Marines Dock in Lebanon
#6. Syria Threatens to Bomb Lebanon
#7. Al Qaeda Seeks to Take Over Syria's Golan Heights for Attacks against Israel.
President Obama's trip to Israel is fraught with personal dangers. There is great concern that the President's plane, Air Force 1, might be shot down by shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. Al Qaeda forces, operating in Syria are reportedly infiltrating the Syrian portion of the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights region. The region separates Syrian military forces from Israeli Defense Forces. The Al Qaeda-oriented rebels have already chased the Syrian Army out of the region after the commanding officer of the area and his associates were assassinated last week in an ambush by rebel Al Qaeda forces. With Syrian troops evacuating the region, the area is wide open for Al Qaeda forces to use the area as a launching pad for terror attacks inside Israel.
There is a growing concern that these Al Qaeda rebels might be able to infiltrate their way into Israel with the shoulder-fired missiles and move to close range of the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem airports.
Israeli strategists are worried that if the Al Qaeda oriented Syrian rebels are allowed to entrench themselves into the Golan Heights, they will prove to be a formidable problem to be rooted out at some future point in time. If Israel attempts to do something while Assad remains in power, there is concern that an Israeli incursion to clean out the rebels will be an excuse for Assad to launch SCUD missiles into Israel as he has promised.
Israel may not be the only target for the Al Qaeda group. Jordan could also be easier, more tempting target as King Abdullah's grip on power is weak and vulnerable to being ousted and thus tilting that nation into chaos.
North Korean Threats Against the USA
North Korea's sudden outburst of threats against America are viewed as part of a coordinated effort to protect its alliance with Iran and keep Iran free from a USA-led military campaign to strip Iran of its nuclear weapons program. China is allowing the North Koreans the opportunity to test Obama's resolve as an indicator of what might be expected should America become embroiled with Iran and North Korea and China decides to take out the Taiwan regime.
Did Iran Order an Al Qaeda Attack of 9-11-01?
The recent capture of Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, along with others reveals a distinct possibility that Iran was directly involved in the original 9-11 attacks, providing assistance to 14 of the 19 hijackers.
It seems that Iran was very much involved in the 9-11 attacks in aiding the Al Qaeda attack plans. Iran may have also provided the financial support also. After the 9-11 attack, Iranian leadership in an effort to hide their complicity, halted cooperation with Al Qaeda in letting the terrorists transit in and out of Iran. Instead they "captured" Al Qaeda operatives including Osama bin Laden's son-in-law. The son-in-law was held captive by Iran from 2002 until just recently.
Both the Bush and Obama Administration have kept this information about Iranian complicity in 9-11 a secret to prevent a demand by the public and Congress for war against Iran. The fact that this information has just been leaked suggests the possibility that the Obama Administration is willing to take military action against Iran and leaking this information would assist in rallying public opinion for an overwhelming demand to attack Iran. Either that or the leak was inadvertent bumbling and the Administration will find a way to keep mainstream media muzzled on the issue. The next few days will tell us which way things will go on the issue.
There have been reports, speculation and even a lawsuit claiming Iran was deeply involved in the 9-11 attack whether directly or indirectly. In the instance of the lawsuit, a federal court ruled that Iran was involved in the terror attack by materially aiding the terrorist hijackers.
Judge Daniels concluded that 9/11 happened because of Iran and Hezbollah’s direct support for the plotters, especially the hijackers, and probably would not have happened without it. The evidence presented in court goes even further, strongly indicating that 9/11 was a joint operation between Al-Qaeda and the Iranian regime. It took over 10 years after 9/11 for Iran’s covert involvement to be exposed, a frightening testament to the ineptitude of our intelligence community and the experts who assured us that Iran would never work with Bin Laden’s terrorist group or directly target the U.S.
Eight law firms acting under the leadership of Thomas E. Mellon presented reams of publicly-available information and over 25 hours of testimony from three Iranian intelligence defectors, whose accounts were deemed credible by Judge Daniels. The three defectors provided first-hand information to prove the culpability of Iran and Hezbollah.
Bin Laden's son-in-law and Iran and USA capture
The fact that a U.S. federal court issued a warrant for his arrest only last December - that is, just a month before the Kuwait-born Abu Ghaith, according to various published reports, entered Turkey - has added to the speculation about whether his departure from Iran was part of a larger deal.
“It’s unlikely that Iran would release Abu Ghaith ‘for free’”, one knowledgeable Western-based Iranian analyst told IPS Friday, suggesting that bin Laden’s son-in-law had the freedom to come and go as he pleased. The source asked not to be identified.
Indeed, the coincidence of the arrest order – which made Abu Ghaith the subject of an Interpol “red notice” that in turn gave Turkey the legal authority to detain him – with his departure from Iran has added to the intrigue.
“It seems that someone in the U.S. government knew that he was about to lose his safe haven,” said another U.S. source who stressed that it was still all a matter of speculation.
While some commentators have suggested that Iran may have expelled Abu Ghaith as a goodwill gesture toward the U.S. in anticipation of the latest round of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme that got underway in Kazhakstan last month, other sources believe it may have been part of a complex, Turkish-mediated prisoner exchange between Syrian rebels and Iran.
Asked about what role, if any, Iran played in his eventual apprehension, the White House Friday referred the question to the Justice Department whose spokesman said he had no guidance to offer on that issue when asked by IPS.
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was initially detained in Turkey last month but was taken into U.S. custody in Jordan while he was being deported to Kuwait, U.S. officials said. He is expected to appear in federal court Friday in the Southern District of New York.
According to accounts in “Haqq News”, an independent jihadi news outlet pointed out by Cole Bunzel, an Al-Qaeda specialist at Princeton University, “Iranian authorities” suddenly demanded that Abu Ghaith leave their country early this year.
They subsequently took him to the coastal city of al-Faw in Iraq for transfer to the Kuwaiti island of Warba, but Kuwait, which stripped him of his citizenship after 9/11, got word of the operation, and it was scotched. At that point, Tehran sent him to Turkey instead.
If true, it suggested that Iran had decided to expel Abu Ghaith, leaving open the question as to why it would do so.
While some sources suggested that it may have been designed as a goodwill gesture to Obama, who had just begun his second term, others said it may be tied to a Turkish-mediated deal between the Free Syrian Army (FSA), whose forces captured 48 alleged members or veterans of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria in August, and Iran.
Whether or not more information will become public and grab mainstream media attention remains unclear at this point of time, but we strongly suspect that the Obama Administration will do everything it can to hide Iranian involvement with Al Qaeda and 9-11.