Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [9/17/06 - 9/23/06] major news events regarding Iran. (The report is organized by various categories in chronological order, not by importance). Catch up on all the past week's news developments. READ MORE

Iran's Nuclear Program & The UN Security Council.

• CNN News reported that Condoleezza Rice said the United States expects to "make some movement forward" on a sanctions resolution when U.N. diplomats convene in New York next week.
• The New York Times reported that after intense talks about Iran's nuclear program, the United States and other major world powers face two unappealing choices and have quietly shifted their strategy.
• Boston Globe reported that US Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. used his first meeting of world finance chiefs yesterday as a venue for the Bush administration's mission to isolate Iran and choke its nuclear aspirations.
• Iran Focus reported that Iran warned the United States that it risked isolating the dollar from Iranian markets by imposing strict sanctions against Iranian banks.
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that French President Jacques Chirac suggested the international community renounce referring Iran to the U.N. Security Council during nuclear talks - and that Iran, in return, suspend uranium enrichment.
• RIA Novosti reported that Russia's nuclear chief said Bushehr nuclear power plant under construction in southern Iran will be commissioned in September 2007.
• Reuters reported that the United States wants to see a "verifiable suspension" of Iran's nuclear enrichment program so that there can be negotiations leading to a broader agreement.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran denied reports that the country was ready to consider freezing uranium enrichment for up to two months.
• Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported that the Bush Administration is getting ready to re-energize the long dormant Arab-Israeli peace process to entice wavering European and Arab allies to hold a firm line on Iranian nuclear ambitions and the global war on terrorism.
• The Times Online reported that Ahmadinejad stunned Kofi Annan during his trip to Tehran when he railed against Britain and the US. “Things have changed and they have to know it. They can scold us, they can shout at us, but they cannot damage us.”
• CNN News reported that Iran's chief nuclear negotiator has not come to New York this week as expected, raising doubts about talks on Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Bolton said: "The discussions with Iran appear to have come to a stop."
• Yahoo News reported that French President Jacques Chirac said he does not want to set a new deadline for Iran to suspend nuclear activities and appeared to soften an earlier proposal to drop talk of sanctions against Iran.
• The Financial Times reported that Iran’s chief nuclear security official, Ali Larijani, is expected to resume talks with the European Union’s Javier Solana next week following a concession by the US to give the process more time before pursuing a UN sanctions resolution.
• The Age reported that Australia may consider financial sanctions against Iran even if the move does not have the backing of the United Nations.
• The Washington Post reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that Iran was abusing the global financial system and putting its security at risk.
• News 8 reported that former President Clinton said the U.S. should try talking to Iran about its nuclear weapons ambitions without imposing a lot of conditions.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran is willing to discuss the suspension of nuclear enrichment under the right conditions.
• Swiss Info reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signaled a willingness to negotiate as major powers said Tehran had until early October to agree to suspend its nuclear program.
• Fox News reported that Ahmadinejad said Annan had told him Iran could ignore a Security Council resolution requiring the country to cease enriching uranium by Aug. 31st. Kofi Annan denied it.
• Reuters reported that Rafsanjani said that any talk of "(enrichment suspension) is a ridiculous precondition. It is unacceptable."
• Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported that Secretary of State Rice contradicted her senior counselor, Phillip Zelikow, and assured her Israeli counterpart that America's diplomatic efforts to sanction Iran will not be linked to the peace process.
• Amir Taheri, The Jerusalem Post reported that having failed to stop war in Iraq, French President Jacques Chirac is determined to prevent a similar fate befalling Iran. "There will be no war against Iran." He also examined the Islamic Republic strategy designed to counter any sanctions.
• News Max reported that there is a strong economic incentive behind the U.N. Security Council and Germany's opposition to American calls for sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program - billions of dollars in trade.
• Reuters reported that France, Britain and Germany would be willing to begin talks with Iran even if it has not suspended its nuclear enrichment programme first, but Washington would not take part.
  

Ahmadinejad travels to Cuba and on to the UN.

• Iran Focus reported that Iran and Cuba signed five memoranda of understanding in Havana on Saturday. Ahmadinejad saying: "The United States was on the verge of collapse."
• One Jerusalem has confirmed that the President of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Left-leaning establishment organization in New York, is inviting major civic, business, and political leaders to meet Iran's tyrannical President Ahmadinejad this week, when he is in New York. They asked for your help.
• Eli Lake, New York Sun reported that Jewish leaders in New York are spurning a request from the Council on Foreign Relations to meet with the president of Iran when he arrives for the U.N. General Assembly.
• Ken Timmerman, Iran.org reported a blistering response from Sen. Rick Santorum to the CFR's invitation for Ahmadinejad to speak. "President Ahmadinejad does not afford his own people the freedom of speech," Santorum wrote. "By allowing him the opportunity to address a public forum in the United States, you would be sending the wrong message to the people of Iran."
• Vital Perspective published the full translated text of Ahmadinejad's UN speech.
• The New York Sun, in an editorial, argued why Ahmadinejad should be arrested while in the US.
• The Village Voice reviewed the plight of women in Iran and asked will the media ask the Ahmadinejad about the stoning of women in his country.
• MSNBC and NBC News published an interview with Ahmadinejad in which he claimed that while the US “... speak of war so easily, as if it’s on their daily agenda. We never speak of war.”
• Los Angeles Times reported that Iran's president told the United Nations that the organization had become a tool used by the world's powerful to oppress the weak, and call.
• Drudge Report published the full text of Venezuelan President Chavez remarks at the UN General Assembly. He said of President Bush: "the devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the devil came here. Right here." [crosses himself] "And it smells of sulfur still today."
• The New York Times reported that Ahmadinejad met with two dozen members of the Council on Foreign Relations, then ending the evening by asking whether they were simply shills for the Bush administration.
• Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com reported that while the CFR has consistently promoted a "grand bargain" with the regime in Tehran and ex-CFR staffer Susan Maloney at the State Department has vetoed funding of the Iranian opposition radio and TV broadcasts, and training for opposition groups inside Iran, on the grounds that it might offend the Tehran regime.
• New Press reported that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems to be enjoying the spotlight at this year's U.N. General Assembly, easing his way into the international arena and trying to improve his image amid the controversy over his nuclear program and remarks about Israel and the Holocaust.
  The New York Sun reported that Columbia University invited the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to give a speech today, but at the last moment the invitation was withdrawn.
• CNN News reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he is surprised American politicians "are so sensitive and biased with regards to Israel." Asked if he believes Israel has no right to exist -- he responded, "I say that it is an occupying regime."
• DEBKAfile reported that on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Havana, intelligence experts from Iran, Cuba and Venezuela met to discuss on ways of translating their leaders' hostile rhetoric and slogans into effective war action against the United States.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that while Hugo Chávez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad put on quite a show at the United Nations this past week, the more important U.N. story this week was the U.N. effort is really about persuading America that it can "live with" an Iranian bomb.
• The Guardian reported on Ahmadinejad's meeting with the CFR where he said: "We love everybody around the world: Jews, Christians, Muslims ..." Minutes later he qualified his words: "Zionists are not Jews. Zionists are Zionists."
• National Interest interviewed a participant at the meeting of Ahmadinejad and the CFR, Maurice R. Greenberg. He said: "The man… I wouldn't call him nuts. He's not crazy. He's crazy like a fox." Q: So bottom line: In your view, can we do business with him or is it impossible to do so? MRG: "I think it's almost impossible to do business with him as long as he has those views."
• The New York Sun reported that the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, yesterday withdrew an invitation to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi asked our readers to all of you to take the time to write both Mr. Bollinger and Ms. Judy Jacobson to thank them for their decision.
• Shaheen Fatemi, Iran va Jahan argued that rather than a debate between Ahmadinejad and Bush, there should be a debate between Ahmadinejad and Akbar Ganji.
  

Khatami keeps on touring.

• Scotsman reported that the former president of the Islamic Republic, Mohammad Khatami, will visit Scotland next month to deliver a keynote lecture at St Andrews University and open a new Institute of Iranian Studies.
• Karmel Melamed, Jewish Journal reported that in a rare display of unity, a variety of groups within the local Persian Jewish community have joined to voice support for a lawsuit filed against former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Sept. 9 by seven Persian Jewish families in Los Angeles and Israel.
  

The leaders of the Islamic Republic's threats, strange and sad statements.

• Ardeshir Dolat reported that the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, speaking to a selected audience of young Iranian talented students and researchers said: "The most insecure country in the world is America [not Iran]. The most and worst crimes take place in America[no no no not in Iran]. The most discriminations that take place are in America[no no no no no not in Iran]."
• World Politics Watch reported that Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah claim they are in touch with the 12th Iman, said to be in hiding since the 9th century.
  
• YNet News reported that the chief of staff of the Iranian army, General Atallah Salhi, said on Friday that Tehran has detected signs that the "Zionist regime" is falling apart. He added: "and now we saw signs that the American leadership is collapsing."
  

The unrest inside of Iran.

• Regnum reported the arrest of five Azeri after troops were deployed by the authorities in order to prevent massive rallies by Azeris against opening new schools in Farsi.
  

Human Rights and Freedom of the Press in Iran.

• World Politics Watch reported in its Iran Watch the latest protests and attacks on dissidents in Iran .
• Iran Focus reported that hundreds of Iranian women gathered outside the offices of the judiciary in Tehran in protest to the impending execution of a female prisoner and dozens of protesting women were arrested.
• Radio Free Europe reported that Iran's largest reformist student group is expressing concern over yesterday's inspection of the main office of its alumni association where security agents took away all documents and computers.
• Rooz Online reported that tens of thousands of workers at the Alborz carpet workshops in the northern town of Babolsar held a demonstration which led to clashes with law enforcement personnel. These workers have not been paid their monthly wages for some nine months.
• Rooz Online reported that the Islamic Republic is grading student activists in an effort to ban them from Iranian universities.
• Rooz Online reported that conservative newspapers in Iran this week published the new accusation of the Minister of Intelligence that America is targeting journalists for its goals.
• NPR reported that in Iran, journalists, reformers, and student activists feared the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might lead to repressive policies and restrictions. After a year of comparative calm, however, observers say that it now appears that their fears were justified.
• Human Rights Watch reported that the scheduled executions in Iran this week of two juvenile offenders – and their last-minute reprieve – highlight the country’s status as the world leader in juvenile executions.
• Mariella Hosseini organized a rally this Sunday Sept 24th outside the Fox News building in LA to bring attention to two very young Iranian girls who are going to be executed next week in Iran.
  

The Iranian Economy.

• Rooz Online reported that one year after Mr. Ahmadinejad’s hardline government took the reigns of power no government bonds have been bought by the public.
• Rooz Online reported that two months into the recent decree of the ‘supreme leader’ regarding privatizing of government business entities through relinquishing company stocks, official statistics indicate the plan is 94% behind schedule.
• The Times Online reported that Iran will put the exploration of 24 oil blocks out to international tender to make them more attractive to cautious foreign investors.
• Rooz Online reported that, despite an exponential increase in the size of the government budget and expenditure, the Islamic Republic could be in crisis unless they receive new funding.
  

Iran and Iraq.

• Iran Focus reported that Iran’s consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Basra came under a mortar attack Tuesday morning.
  

Iran and the International community.

• Xinhua reported an Iranian Boeing 707 aircraft carrying high ranking officials was forced to land in Turkish largest city of Istanbul.
  

The US Congress on Iran.

• The National Jewish Democratic Council PACin a press advisory reported that U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg slammed Republican Senator Rick Santorum's refusal to stop U.S. companies from doing business with Iran. But in doing so, Senator Frank Lautenberg is attempting to rewrite history.
• Reuters reported that Sen. George Voinovich said "Ahmadinejad -- I call him Ahmad-in-a-head -- I think he's a Hitler type of person," adding that "I don't believe that as long as he's there that we're ever going to solve Iraq."
• US Congressman Steve King announced that the House International Relations Committee passed King’s legislation, H.Res. 942, which aims to inspire Iranians to return to their constitutional democracy. It now goes to the full House for consideration.
  

The fallout from the Pope's statement on Islam.

• Magdi Allam, Corriere della Sera argued that the Pope is threatened because he has said things that every single honest and rational Muslim should accept: the historical truth.
• Bret Stephens, The Wall Street Journal reported that it took Pope Benedict XVI 5 days to express regret for all the offense caused by his speech. But maybe his apology that he said he was "deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages in my address" -- was as sly as the speech itself.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that Muslim religious leaders in the Gaza Strip warned Pope Benedict XVI that he must "accept" Islam if he wanted to live in peace.
• Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat argued that the Pope, like anyone else, has the right to express his opinions, even if, he offends some people. Those who disagree with him also have the right to respond by exercising freedom of speech. However, they are not allowed to kill. But the Pope's principal target was Protestant Christianity in all its versions.
  

Must Read reports.

• Daniel M. Zucker, Global Politician reported on the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (VEVAK) sophisticated campaign of disinformation, learned from the Soviet KGB, and its work in the United States. A must read.
• Time Magazine reported that a conflict with Iran is no longer unthinkable. Here's how the U.S. would fight such a war - and the huge price it would have to pay to win it.
• Time Magazine on the eve of a visit to the U.S., Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to TIME about debating President Bush, pursuing nuclear energy and denying the Holocaust.
• Chicago Tribune reported that for much of his first year in office, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a target of wisecracks but today few people are laughing anymore.
• Agharb, Iranian.ws asked: Does the west really want Mullah's regime to go?
• Peter Brown, RealclearPolitics.com argued that although there is some dispute about which side won the recent Middle East war, it is clear Israel was the victor in the battle for American public opinion. Iran on the other hand received the lowest rating in a survey 17 nations by Americans.
• Mansoor Ijaz, The Wall Street Journal argued that while Pakistan needs not just innovative solutions for its difficulties, but a leader with ideas to frame them and the guts to implement them. Increasingly, Gen. Musharraf does not appear to be that man.
• The Times Online reported that President Bush used a UN address yesterday to appeal directly to the Iranian people over the head of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying: “You deserve an opportunity to determine your own future... The greatest obstacle to this future is that your rulers have chosen to deny you liberty."
• David Frum, The National Review Online argued that the president's speech to the UN today was one of the most important of his presidency. It marks the final fizzling out of his Iran policy of the past three years.
• Max Schulz, The National Review Online argued that as the Iranian nuclear crisis worsens, the mullahs in Tehran are trying to forestall American or Israeli military action by threatening to use the “oil weapon.” Don’t believe it.
• Mr. Kaylan, The Wall Street Journal examined Wahhabi Colonialism, which he argued is the root of much of the evil in the Islamic World.
• BBC News reported on Iran's growing regional influence.
• The New York Sun reported that in what was billed as a clash at the United Nations between President Bush and President Ahmadinejad over Iran's nuclear ambitions is being at least partially upstaged by new calls for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs.
• David Frum's Diary published 4 reasons why the US is unlikely to attack Iran arguing he US and Iran are heading toward a deal.
• Avigdor Haselkorn, The American Thinker argued why after Israel's war with Hezb’allah an Iranian attack on Israel is now more likely than before.
• BBC News reported that the BBC World Service opinion poll on Iran's nuclear intentions found that a significant majority, people in the 25 countries in which this opinion poll was carried out do not accept Iran's protestations that its nuclear activities are purely for civil purposes.
• Daveed Gartenstein-Ross & Bill Roggio, The Weekly Standard reported that the government of Pakistan entered into a peace agreement with the Taliban insurgency, and released a large number of jihadists from prison and as soon as a the govermnent left Waziristan, the Al Qaeda flag was raised over the region.
  

The Experts.

• Ken Timmerman, Iran.org reported a blistering response from Sen. Rick Santorum to the CFR's invitation for Ahmadinejad to speak. "President Ahmadinejad does not afford his own people the freedom of speech," Santorum wrote. "By allowing him the opportunity to address a public forum in the United States, you would be sending the wrong message to the people of Iran."
• Bernard Lewis, Real Clear Politics provided an historical perspective on the potential for freedom and liberty in the Middle East and concludes we either bring them freedom, or they will destroy us.
• Michael Ledeen, The Corner provided a short list of Republican appeasers of the terrorists and the Mullahs of Iran.
• Michael Rubin, The Corner reported that while attending a speech in Cairo he observed the audience's applause to the demand that Egypt pursue nuclear power.
• Michael Rubin, The Wall Street Journal examined the Islamic Republic's history of official contempt for diplomatic convention.
• Amir Taheri, Gulf News reported that Al Qaida is now seeking help from other terrorist organizations.
• Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com reported that while the CFR has consistently promoted a "grand bargain" with the regime in Tehran and ex-CFR staffer Susan Maloney at the State Department has vetoed funding of the Iranian opposition radio and TV broadcasts, and training for opposition groups inside Iran, on the grounds that it might offend the Tehran regime.
• Amir Taheri, The Jerusalem Post reported that having failed to stop war in Iraq, French President Jacques Chirac is determined to prevent a similar fate befalling Iran. "There will be no war against Iran." He also examined the Islamic Republic strategy designed to counter any sanctions.
• The New York Times reported that while Iran wants to be a leader in the Islamic world, at home, Iran has often had to labor to unify its own people under one national identity and is not succeeding.
• Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat argued that the Pope, like anyone else, has the right to express his opinions, even if, he offends some people. Those who disagree with him also have the right to respond by exercising freedom of speech. However, they are not allowed to kill. But the Pope's principal target was Protestant Christianity in all its versions.
• Richard Perle, Figaro reported on the American Mission: to bring a measure of self government and openness to millions of Arabs condemned living under dictatorial rule.
  

Photos, cartoons and videos.

• Bridget, GOP Vixen published an "interesting" photo of Ahmadinejad and Chavez: Caption This!
• Cox & Forkum published a cartoon of Ahmadinejad: Security Breach.
• Paul Nowak, Townhall published a cartoon: Mahmoud Adolfinejad, Statesman.
• Aaron, One Jerusalem published a roundup of the reports on the protest of Ahmadinejad at the UN. Videos.
• Cox & Forkum published a cartoon: El Diablo.
• Glenn McCoy, Townhall published a cartoon: The new and improved AhmaChuck Asay, Townhall published a cartoon: The cost of free speech.
  

The Quote of the Week.

YNet News reported that the chief of staff of the Iranian army, General Atallah Salhi, said on Friday that Tehran has detected signs that

the "Zionist regime" is falling apart. He added: "and now we saw signs that the American leadership is collapsing."

Tags: iran, news, iraq, nuclear, military, UN, Ahmadinejad,

Sunday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 9.24.2oo6

EU3 cave into Iran.

• Reuters reported that France, Britain and Germany would be willing to begin talks with Iran even if it has not suspended its nuclear enrichment programme first, but Washington would not take part.

Islamic Republic tries to crush new Azeri dissent.

• Regnum reported the arrest of five Azeri after troops were deployed by the authorities in order to prevent massive rallies by Azeris against opening new schools in Farsi.

Pakistan surrenders region to Taliban and Al Qaeda?

• Daveed Gartenstein-Ross & Bill Roggio, The Weekly Standard reported that the government of Pakistan entered into a peace agreement with the Taliban insurgency, and released a large number of jihadists from prison and as soon as a the govermnent left Waziristan, the Al Qaeda flag was raised over the region.

Here are a few other news items you may have missed.

• Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat argued that the Pope, like anyone else, has the right to express his opinions, even if, he offends some people. Those who disagree with him also have the right to respond by exercising freedom of speech. However, they are not allowed to kill. But the Pope's principal target was Protestant Christianity in all its versions.
• Richard Perle, Figaro reported on the American Mission: to bring a measure of self government and openness to millions of Arabs condemned living under dictatorial rule.
• Mariella Hosseini organized a rally this Sunday Sept 24th outside the Fox News building in LA to bring attention to two very young Iranian girls who are going to be executed next week in Iran.
• Chuck Asay, Townhall published a cartoon: The cost of free speech.
  

Tags: iran, news, nuclear,

Five Azeris arrested in Iran

Regnum:

September 23 a new school year starts in Iran. However, in the Jolfa town, as well as in other Iranian towns, troops have been deployed by the authorities in order to prevent massive rallies, the APA news agency informs. The reason for the measure is mass protest actions held by Azeris against opening new schools in Farsi. Five Azeris have been arrested in Jolfa: Muhammedriz Hatemi, Gussein Shamsi, Adil Sukru, Reza Molai, and Zohrab Rashtberi.

Pakistan Surrenders

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross & Bill Roggio, The Weekly Standard:

INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS woke up on September 5 to unsettling news. The government of Pakistan, they learned, had entered into a peace agreement with the Taliban insurgency that essentially cedes authority in North Waziristan, the mountainous tribal region bordering Afghanistan, to the Taliban and al Qaeda. Just ten days later, the blow was compounded when the government of Pakistan released a large number of jihadists from prison. Together, these events may constitute the most significant development in the global war on terror in the past year--yet the media have taken little notice.

For four years, the Pakistani military engaged in a campaign to assert governmental control over Wazir istan. The cost to Pakistan has been considerable; some intelligence sources believe this fighting has exacted a higher death toll on the Pakistani military than U.S. forces have sustained in Iraq. It is in this context that Pakistan gave up on South Waziristan last spring, abandoning its effort to control that area. Thereafter, sharia law was declared in South Waziristan, and the Taliban began to rule openly.

Yet even in the wake of Pakistan's earlier surrender of South Waziristan, this new agreement, known as the Waziristan Accord, is surprising. It entails a virtually unconditional surrender of Waziristan. READ MORE

The agreement is, to put it mildly, a boon to the terrorists and a humiliation for the Pakistani government. Even the circumstances under which it was signed point to Pakistan's impotence in the face of a determined adversary. Taliban fighters searched government negotiators and military officers for weapons before allowing them to enter the meeting, which took place in a soccer stadium in the North Waziristan capital of Miranshah. According to three separate intelligence sources, heavily armed Taliban were posted as guards around the ceremony, and al Qaeda's black flag hung over the scoreboard.

Immediately after the Pakistani delegation left, al Qaeda's flag was run up the flagpole of abandoned military checkpoints, and the Taliban began looting leftover small arms. The Taliban also held a "parade" in the streets of Miranshah. Clearly, they view their "truce" with Pakistan as a victory. It is trumpeted as such on jihadist websites.

And with good reason. The accord provides that the Pakistani army will abandon outposts and border crossings throughout Waziristan. Pakistan's military agreed that it will no longer operate in North Waziristan or monitor actions in the region. Pakistan will return weapons and other equipment seized during Pakistani army operations. And the Pakistani government essentially paid a tribute to end the fighting when it agreed to pay compensation for property destroyed during combat--an unusual move since most of the property that was destroyed belonged to factions that had consciously decided to harbor terrorists.

Of particular concern is the provision allowing non-Pakistani militants to continue to reside in Waziristan as long as they promise to "keep the peace." Keeping the peace will, in practice, be defined as refraining from attacks on the Pakistani military. Meanwhile, since the military won't be monitoring the militants' activities, they can plan and train for terrorist attacks or work to bolster the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan without being seen to violate the treaty. Although the agreement does stipulate that there "shall be no cross-border movement for militant activity in neighboring Afghanistan," the provision amounts to mere wishful thinking since the Pakistani military has already agreed not to monitor the area.

The ramifications of the loss of Waziristan are tremendous. The region that Pakistan has ceded to the Taliban and al Qaeda is about the size of New Jersey, with a population of around 800,000.

Since the Waziristan Accord will facilitate rather than hinder the cross-border movement of Islamic fighters, security and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan will be hampered. The Taliban and al Qaeda now have a new safe haven, and with it the freedom to train, arm, and infiltrate foot soldiers and suicide cells into Afghanistan with little fear of reprisal from the Pakistani government. Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf has admitted that the Taliban "are crossing from the Pakistan side and causing bomb blasts in Afghanistan," yet his solution is to cede government authority over the tribal areas.

Internationally, Waziristan will serve as a training base for al Qaeda operatives of all stripes, as well as jihadists who want to attack their home countries. The 9/11 Commission Report notes that catastrophic terror attacks require sanctuaries that provide "time, space, and ability to perform competent planning and staff work." Al Qaeda has gained a new sanctuary in Waziristan.

The Taliban and al Qaeda will operate with impunity. They have already repeatedly broken their brand new agreement with Pakistan without facing consequences. Since September 5, a number of anti-Taliban clerics and tribal leaders have been shot and beheaded in Waziristan. A government official in Waziristan was kidnapped, and a reporter was murdered in the city of Dera Ismail Khan. Bombings and other attacks have taken place on military outposts in North and South Waziristan, and bombings have occurred in Peshawar and Bajaur.

Adding to the peril of this surrender, Musharraf has reiterated that the U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghan istan won't be allowed into the tribal areas covered by the peace deal. "On our side of the border there will be a total uprising if a foreigner enters that area," he said. "It's not possible at all, we will never allow any foreigners into that area. It's against the culture of the people there."

Waziristan probably does not mark the end of the Taliban's expansion. Instead, an American intelligence source told us--and United Press International has since confirmed--that further talks are underway that may lead to Pakistan's ceding parts of the North-West Frontier Province. Negotiations are reportedly being held in the jurisdictions of Khyber, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, and Bajaur.

So Taliban and al Qaeda forces have consolidated great geographic gains over the past few weeks. On September 15, they also experienced a major gain in personnel when Pakistan released 2,500 foreign fighters linked to the Taliban and al Qaeda. These men, according to Britain's Telegraph newspaper, had been "detained by Pakistan after fleeing the battleground in Afghanistan."

Intelligence sources indicate that the released prisoners represent a broad cross-section of the jihadist movement, including computer ex perts, WMD experts, and low-level grunts. Some of the notables released include Ghulam Mustafa, a senior al Qaeda commander in Pakistan; Fazl-e -Raziq, a senior aide to Osama bin Laden; and several of the murderers of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. These individuals are said to be gathering in al Qaeda's new safe haven in Waziristan and reconstituting the terror group there.

It seems that at this point nobody in the U.S. government knows how to deal with the situation in Pakistan. Some routine suggestions have been peddled: covert operations, pressure on the Musharraf government, and the like. Some in the State Department have even publicly defended the Wazir istan Accord, while at a Friday press conference with President Bush, Musharraf stated, "The deal is not at all with the Taliban. This deal is against the Taliban. The deal is with the tribal elders." To this, President Bush replied, "I believe him."

But neither President Bush nor the State Department officials are to be believed on this point. They aren't ignorant of the problems with the accord. Rather, it seems that their concern is Musharraf's retreat from Waziristan and release of prisoners suggest he may be losing his grip on power. And as bad as Musharraf has been of late, things would be far worse if, in a critical Muslim nation with nuclear weapons, a relatively pro-Western leader were replaced by al Qaeda-linked fundamentalists.

One intelligence source has opined that the gains of the past five years were reversed in mere weeks with the loss of Wazir istan and the release of 2,500 fighters. We urgently need solid ideas about how to cope with this problem before it grows worse. Simply overlooking the dangers of the present situation does not a solution make.

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross is a senior consultant for the Gerard Group International and author of the forthcoming book My Year Inside Radical Islam (Tarcher/Penguin). Bill Roggio is an independent civilian military blogger who served in the Army from 1991 to 1995.

Join us, Sunday at Fox News LA

Mariella Hosseini:

I am organizing a rally this Sunday Sept 24th outside the Fox News building in LA which is located at 1999 South Bundy Drive at 1:30PM.

There are two very young Iranian girls who are going to be executed next week in Iran. We need to voice our disagreement so we can save these two girls' lives.

1- Nazanin Fatehi- 18 years old
2- Kobra Rahman poor- 25 years old

There are many more awaiting execution.

I know that you love to help. Please send everyone you know on your communication lines this message and also this website (by Roya Teimouri): www.dreamofjustice.com and listen to the interview with Kobra's parents.

PLEASE HELP US TO HELP THESE YOUNG PRISONERS BEFORE THEY ARE KILLED. Rallies will also be held in Vancouver Canada and in Iran this weekend to save these young girls' lives.

Please let me know the number of people that you have confirmed. Email me at dynamic8@cox.net.

Nuclear talks with Iran may start without U.S.-report

Reuters:

France, Britain and Germany would be willing to begin talks with Iran even if it has not suspended its nuclear enrichment programme first, but Washington would not take part, a German magazine reported on Saturday. READ MORE

So far Iran has refused to suspend its uranium enrichment programme, which could refine uranium for atom bombs, saying its nuclear fuel ambitions are limited to fuelling power stations. Western countries suspect Tehran wants to produce weapons.

Citing unnamed German diplomatic sources, weekly Der Spiegel said the goal of this new strategy would be to lure Tehran to the negotiating table to discuss a package of incentives offered by six world powers in June in exchange for a suspension of Iran's uranium enrichment programme.

The six powers that made the offer to Iran -- the United States, France, Russia, China, Britain and Germany -- said the package was negotiable but conditioned any negotiations on a suspension of enrichment, a process of purifying uranium for use as fuel in nuclear power plants or atomic weapons. In a preview of an article to appear on Sunday, the magazine said a decision by the "EU3" to begin preliminary talks with Iran would require a positive outcome of discussions between European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.

The United States would not join in any talks with Iran until a full enrichment suspension was in place, the paper said.

After several delays, Solana and Larijani are expected to meet somewhere in Europe next week, diplomats have said. Der Spiegel said the meeting would probably take place in Brussels.

The six powers have agreed to give Solana until early October to reach a deal with Tehran for starting negotiations.

The new plan was discussed at a meeting of senior officials of the six countries and the EU in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Der Spiegel said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice voiced no direct approval to this strategy but signalled she could tolerate it, the magazine reported.

If this plan does not result in a breakthrough in the West's years-long nuclear standoff with Iran, the six countries will have no choice but to begin debating serious sanctions of the kind Washington wants imposed on the Islamic republic, it said.

The Pope, the Emperor and the Persian Preacher

Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat:

Let us get one thing out of the way first. The Pope, like anyone else, has the right to express his opinions, even if, he offends some people. Those who disagree with him also have the right to respond by exercising freedom of speech. However, they are not allowed to kill priests and burn churches- acts expressly forbidden in Islam.

Now let us turn to what Pope Benedict XVI had to say in his lecture at the University of Regenburg in Germany last week.

Contrary to first impressions, the lecture was not aimed primarily as an attack on Islam as a faith that, divorced from reason, is violent. The Pope's principal target was Protestant Christianity in all its versions. READ MORE

The Pope's thesis is simple: from early days, thanks to Saint Paul, Christianity discovered Hellenic philosophy. This "distillation" was a rapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek enquiry.

According to Benedict: "Despite the bitter conflict with those Hellenistic rulers who sought to accommodate it forcibly to the customs and idolatrous cult of the Greeks, biblical faith, in the Hellenistic period, encountered the best of Greek thought at deep level, resulting in a mutual enrichment evident especially in the later wisdom literature."

In other words, what emerged was no longer Christianity as its founders intended, but a new synthesis of "genuine enlightenment and religion."

Throughout the lecture, Benedict juxtaposes faith and reason, creating a dialectic he uses for an attack on Protestantism that, he claims, started the process of "de-hellenisation" of Christianity with the Reformation in the 16th century.

The process continued with "the liberal theology of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries" inspired by Pascal's distinction between the God of philosophers and the God of Abraham.

In that second stage, the message of "liberal theologians was to" return simply to the man Jesus and his simple message, underneath the accretions of theology and, indeed, of hellenisation. "

There are several problems with Benedict's analysis.

First, he assumes that religions need the imprimatur of Reason that, despite giving it a capital R, he does not define. Later, he attacks what he calls "a modern concept of reason" which he defines as "a synthesis between Platonism (Cartesianism) and empiricism-a synthesis confirmed by the success of technology."

One is left wondering whether there is an ultimate Reason against which religions could be measured.

The fact, however, is that all that a religious system needs is to be reasonable in its own terms, that is to say have its inner logic and consistency.

Seen from the point of view of scientific reason, all religions would appear unreasonable. At the same time, even the most successful religions would appear unreasonable, when, judged in terms of other faiths. (For example, a Buddhist might find Christianity unreasonable and vice-versa).

Benedict's core message is an argument in favour of organised religion and a rejection of secular ethics that he sees as a fruit of the scientific revolution.

He says: "The subject decides, on the basis of his experiences, what he considers tenable in matters of religion, and the subjective 'conscience' becomes the sole arbiter of what is ethical. In this way, though, ethics and religion lose their power to create a community and becomes a completely personal matter."

According to Benedict we now have "a third stage of de-hellenisation" symbolised by multiculturalism, especially in Europe.

Benedict presents Christianity as a co-production, a synthesis of Abrahamic faith and Greek philosophy, and tries to reformulate it as an ideology for the West, more specifically Europe.

Benedict says: " The West has long been endangered by {} aversion to questions which underlie its rationality, and can only suffer great harm by them."

Since a majority of Christians are not Europeans, Benedict's Eurocentric position is intended not as a religious message but as a political appeal to Europeans to re-discover their identities as "Hellenised Christians" in the face of mass immigration by peoples of other faiths, especially Islam. In this way Christianity becomes an aspect of European culture and an expression of identity even of atheists in the West.

It is against that background that the Pope's reference to Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologos should be analysed.

Sometime in 1391 of the Christian era, the Emperor received a Persian preacher (da'ee) in a barracks near Ankara, now Turkey's capital. The two engaged in dialogues lasting several days, dealing with the structures of faith in the Bible and the Koran.

This was not unusual as the tradition of sending da'ees to invite non-Muslims, especially foreign rulers, to Islam had been shaped over centuries. In his notes about the dialogue, Paleologos says that he told the visiting Persian scholar that Muhammad had commanded that his faith be spread by the sword.

There are several problems with this.

To start with, Paleologos could not have known what Muhammad had said.

At the time, there were no Greek or Latin translations of the Koran. (The first translations appeared decades after that encounter in Ankara.) Lacking enough information, Paleologos was, therefore, engaging in propaganda rather than a theological dispute.

The presence of the Persian da'ee, presumed to be Rashidedeen of Baylaqan, showed that Muslims wished to spread their faith through propagation rather than the sword. While always seeking to extend its territory, Islam seldom used the sword to force conversions. For example, Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, was never part of any Islamic empire.

There is another problem with Benedict's account of the encounter. He has only one side of the story. Had he studied the Persian scholar's side, he would have found out two important facts.

The first is that, at the time, Muslims were better versed in Greek philosophy than Christians were. After it was adopted as the official religion of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great, Christianity organised a campaign of de-hellenisation that wiped the achievements of Greek philosophy from European collective memory for centuries. Without exaggerating the importance of Islam's role in rediscovering the Greek heritage, and providing Syriac, Arabic and Persian translations of some key texts of Hellenism, it is certain that Muslims played a crucial part in preserving and, later, transmitting, that important part of the European cultural heritage. At the time that Farabi, Avicenna, Nasser Khosrow and other Muslim philosophers were studying Aristotle, known to Muslims as "The First Teacher", few in Christendom were allowed access to his forbidden material. Saint Thomas Aquinas tried to create a synthesis of Christianity and Hellenism, by "baptising" Aristotle, centuries after Muslim philosophers had adopted the Greek sage.

For over a thousand years, Christianity, especially in its Raman version, fought to efface all memory of Hellenism. Even the Greek Orthodox Church, of which Paleologos was a member, behaved as if history had began with the birth of Jesus. It is no accident that Benedict, in his defence of Hellenism, quotes Paleologos. The reason is that, with the exception of Julian the Apostate, the Pope would not find a single ruler on the Roman side who, could be presented as heir to the Hellenic heritage.

That Paleologos had not read the Koran is no surprise. However, that Benedict also appears not to have read it is surprising. This is borne out by the fact that Benedict describes the Second Surah of the Koran, "The Heiffer" (Al-Baqarah) as one of "the early period when Muhammad was powerless and under threat." In that Surah the Koran makes it clear that "there should be no " compulsion in faith" ( la ikrah fi al-din).

The Pope says : " According to the experts this is one of the surahs of the early period when Muhammad was still powerless and under threat." But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Koran, concerning holy war." The implication is that Muhammad would say one thing when powerless and another when powerful.

The Surah, was, in fact, written in 624 or 625, or the middle period, when Muhammad was a powerful head of a state in Yathrib ( Medina), and commander of a Muslim army.

Benedict, quoting the Lebanese Christian theologian Theodore Khoury, says : The emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy" it was self-evident that " not to act in accordance with Reason was contrary to God's nature."

This means that Paleologos was "reasonable" not because he was a Christian but because he was a Byzantine "shaped by Greek philosophy".

The Pope, still quoting Khoury, recalls that Ibn Hazn (sic), insisted that God is beyond Reason and that He is not bound " even by His own word, and that nothing obliges Him to reveal the truth to us."

The fact is that Muslim scholars, familiar though they were with Aristotelian categories, never tried to fit God into any of them. Theirs was a transcendent deity that could not be understood by mere human reason, let alone judged by it.

In Islamic monotheism, the One is not bound by the attributes of the Many. This is because for the One to be stable in its one-ness it is imperative for the Many to be confirmed in its many-ness. Thus the One could be itself and its opposite.

As the poet, Sana'i, put it:

"The Exulted One is both this and that Free of all worldly limits."

All that, however, does not mean that Muslims should go around acting unreasonably, including imposing their faith on others by the sword. It is God who is not bound by human reason, not human beings. To assume that God can and must act solely within human reason would cast doubt on the fundamentals of all monotheistic religions.

It was in similar terms that Leibniz, among others, developed his arguments against Spinoza, and other philosophers of the Enlightenment, who tried to fit God into a system understood through human reason alone.

The Pope makes a passing reference to Jihad that, falling for the common perceptions in the West, he translates into "Holy War". Jihad, however, should not be confused with " ghazva", nor a mujahed with a gahzi. There is not enough space to treat that subject in a single article. It would be a good idea for the Vatican or any other authority of other major organised religions to host a seminar on Islam and Christianity and the ethics of war to provide both sides, and others who might be interested, with a better understanding of the subject.

Benedict is right: all faiths would benefit from dialogue. However, for dialogue to be fruitful, it is necessary for the dialogists to study each other's beliefs more seriously.

Amir Taheri was born in Iran and educated in Tehran, London and Paris. Between 1980 and 1984 he was Middle East editor for the London Sunday Times. Taheri has been a contributor to the International Herald Tribune since 1980. He has also written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Taheri has published nine books some of which have been translated into 20 languages, and In 1988 Publishers'' Weekly in New York chose his study of Islamist terrorism, "Holy Terror", as one of The Best Books of The Year. He has been a columnist Asharq Alawsat since 1987.

The American Mission: to bring a measure of self government and openness to millions of Arabs condemned living under dictatorial rule.

Richard Perle, Figaro:

Most Americans can recall where they were when the terrorists struck on September 11, 2001. I was in France enjoying the last four days of a summer in Provence , talking on the phone to a colleague in Washington. We were planning a meeting of a Pentagon advisory group scheduled for the 17th. "My God," he said as the news bulletin flashed on the television, "A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center."

Within minutes the report of the second plane crashing into the second tower was broadcast. By then it was clear that an unprecedented terrorist attack was underway in New York and, as I would soon learn, in my home town, Washington. As the news spread I received one phone call after another: from friends around the country, including one colleague evacuated from the White House who went to my nearby Washington office to work on what became the President's first public statements; from my son, a law student; and from our neighbors in Provence, who could not have been more sympathetic or more willing to help.

The United States had become a victim in a campaign of terror against western civilization. The outpouring of sympathy, support and encouragement for the victims was deeply moving.

So, when did it all change? When could it no longer be said, as Le Monde said famously, that "we are all Americans now?" READ MORE

When did the idea begin to develop that American foreign policy had transformed the victim of 11/9 into a danger to global peace and security?

America's European critics—especially President Chirac and his faithful prime minister—say the turning point came with the war against Saddam Hussein. I believe it began when America decided to fight back, to end a decade of inaction in the face of repeated acts of terror against our embassies, ships, installations and citizens. It began when we became serious about our own defense, when we dispensed with empty platitudes about the ability of international law and institutions to protect us from Islamist extremists relentlessly chasing the vision of an Islamic universe for which they will kill prodigiously, and be killed. It began when Americans chose to get along without the sympathy that flows to victims.
Dominique de Villepin has said recently that "It is the duty of France and Europe to show that the clash of civilizations is not inevitable. No one retains this wisdom, inherited from our history, as we, French and Europeans, do." It is not clear what policies, French or European, will flow from this self-proclaimed wisdom. During the recent hostilities between Israel and an Iranian controlled terrorist organization, Hezbollah, the ever helpful Villepin, crowing about the virtue of "listening and dialogue," was ready to support a U.N. ceasefire by dispatching thousands of "peace keepers" to Lebanon. But when the inflated rhetoric had given way to reality, France offered not thousands, but hundreds. It's "leadership" will now be shared with Italy which has offered a more substantial force. And neither French nor other European peacekeepers will undertake to remove from Hizbollah the thousands of rockets that remain after several thousand were fired at Israeli cities.

Implicit in Mr. Villepin's assessment is the idea that we are now facing, and must act to avert, a clash of civilizations. But for there to be such a clash there must be at least two civilizations. In this fight, which President Bush has properly described as a war, there is only one. The suicide bombers of Hizbollah, Hammas, Al Qaeda and the rest are in no sense a civilization. They are fanatics, driven by the belief that they have been charged by Allah to wage holy war against the west, its institutions, its beliefs and its values. They prey on disaffected young Muslims who have been recruited into a life of jihad by fanatical mullahs, financed by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states with a stream of easy petro-dollars. "Listening" is pointless, "dialogue" a waste of time and, more importantly, a dangerous self-deception.

To be sure there are grave problems in the Muslim, and especially the Arab world. And Muslims too have sometimes been victims. In the earliest days of the genocide against the Muslims of Bosnia, I joined with colleagues, many of whom are now routinely described as unrealistic neo-conservatives, in a campaign for western intervention to stop the slaughter. It was clear that only an opposing force could stop the killing. But after declaring the Balkan wars a matter for Europe, the Europeans failed to take serious action, preferring a United Nations embargo that left the Muslims defenseless and a United Nations "force" that stood by while tens of thousands of innocent civilians were murdered. Only when the United States led an intervention was the killing stopped, an action that would be repeated later in Kosovo.

I argued then that western indifference to the slaughter of Muslims would bring us closer to the clash of civilizations of which Professor Samuel Huntington had warned. But what has arisen to wage war against the west a decade later is a radical movement that exploits, rather than reflects, Muslim apprehension and discontent.

Much—but by no means all—of the discontent reflects a sad truth: with the exception of Iraq, the world's Arabs live mostly in corrupt dictatorships offering little except to small elite. There is little industry beyond oil production, little scope for professional development, little exposure to other cultures. What news is allowed to penetrate is wildly distorted or outright propaganda: 11/9 was an Israeli plot, the United States is stealing Arab oil, Israelis deliberately kill Palestinian civilians. Arab dictators and many of the imams on their payrolls, enflame the passions of the "street" against Israel and the United States as a device to protect their regimes.

As a means of ameliorating this discontent, the Bush administration has tried to encourage democratic development in the Arab world. For this the President has been wrongly accused of wishing to promote democracy by force, of trying to remake the world in the American image. But the American ambition is far more modest: to bring a measure of self government and openness to millions of Arabs condemned living under dictatorial rule. It is an uphill task with almost no support from Europeans who, in their "wisdom," choose words over action, the status quo over democratic change.

The cost of free speech

Chuck Asay, Townhall:

Saturday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 9.23.2oo6

So who lied: Koffi Annan or Ahmadinejad?

• Fox News reported that Ahmadinejad said Annan had told him Iran could ignore a Security Council resolution requiring the country to cease enriching uranium by Aug. 31st. Kofi Annan denied it.

Rafsanjani: There will be no suspension...

• Reuters reported that Rafsanjani said that any talk of "(enrichment suspension) is a ridiculous precondition. It is unacceptable."

Islamic Republic Military: US and Israel "falling apart."

• YNet News reported that the chief of staff of the Iranian army, General Atallah Salhi, said on Friday that Tehran has detected signs that the "Zionist regime" is falling apart. He added: "and now we saw signs that the American leadership is collapsing."

Condi contradicts Zelikow on linking Iran to the Israeli peace process.

• Eli Lake, The New York Sun reported that Secretary of State Rice contradicted her senior counselor, Phillip Zelikow, and assured her Israeli counterpart that America's diplomatic efforts to sanction Iran will not be linked to the peace process.

More on the lawsuit against Khatami.

• Karmel Melamed, Jewish Journal reported that in a rare display of unity, a variety of groups within the local Persian Jewish community have joined to voice support for a lawsuit filed against former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Sept. 9 by seven Persian Jewish families in Los Angeles and Israel.

More on Ahmadinejad's meeting with the CFR.

• The Wall Street Journal reported that while Hugo Chávez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad put on quite a show at the United Nations this past week, the more important U.N. story this week was the U.N. effort is really about persuading America that it can "live with" an Iranian bomb.
• The Guardian reported on Ahmadinejad's meeting with the CFR where he said: "We love everybody around the world: Jews, Christians, Muslims ..." Minutes later he qualified his words: "Zionists are not Jews. Zionists are Zionists."
• National Interest interviewed a participant at the meeting of Ahmadinejad and the CFR, Maurice R. Greenberg. He said: "The man… I wouldn't call him nuts. He's not crazy. He's crazy like a fox." Q: So bottom line: In your view, can we do business with him or is it impossible to do so? MRG: "I think it's almost impossible to do business with him as long as he has those views."

Columbia canceled Ahmadinejad's visit.

• The New York Sun reported that the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, yesterday withdrew an invitation to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi asked our readers to all of you to take the time to write both Mr. Bollinger and Ms. Judy Jacobson to thank them for their decision.

Here are a few other news items you may have missed.

• Amir Taheri, The Jerusalem Post reported that having failed to stop war in Iraq, French President Jacques Chirac is determined to prevent a similar fate befalling Iran. "There will be no war against Iran." He also examined the Islamic Republic strategy designed to counter any sanctions.
• News Max reported that there is a strong economic incentive behind the U.N. Security Council and Germany's opposition to American calls for sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program - billions of dollars in trade.
• Shaheen Fatemi, Iran va Jahan argued that rather than a debate between Ahmadinejad and Bush, there should be a debate between Ahmadinejad and Akbar Ganji.
• The New York Times reported that while Iran wants to be a leader in the Islamic world, at home, Iran has often had to labor to unify its own people under one national identity and is not succeeding.
• Human Rights Watch reported that the scheduled executions in Iran this week of two juvenile offenders – and their last-minute reprieve – highlight the country’s status as the world leader in juvenile executions.
• Glenn McCoy, Townhall published a cartoon: The new and improved Ahmadinejad.

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