CIA Tortures Iranian Diplomat

Source: FARS Nes Agency

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian Diplomat Jalal Sharafi who was released after being kidnapped in front of Iran’s embassy in Baghdad around two months ago said that CIA agents and their Iraqi affiliates had tortured him severely during interrogation.

Speaking to reporters here in Tehran on Saturday, Sharafi who was the Second Secretary of Iran’s Embassy in Iraq further showed the tortured organs of his body, and said that Iranian physicians are now treating him.

He pointed to his abduction and said, “While I was shopping in Baghdad streets, I was kidnapped by some agents who used US vehicles and who showed me identification cards of the Iraqi defense ministry.”

“Then they took me to a base around Baghdad airport,” Sharafi mentioned, adding, “While in there, I was interrogated by Arab and English speaking agents.”

The diplomat said that CIA had questioned him about Iran’s presence and influence in Iraq, the extent of Iran’s aids and assistance to Mr. Al-Maliki’s administration, Shiite, Sunnite and Kurd groups.

“Once they heard my response that Iran merely has official relations with the Iraqi government and officials, they intensified tortures and tortured me through different methods days and nights,” he continued.

Sharafi added, “In the second phase, they endeavored to show me a merciful and kind face and encouraged me to cooperate with them. But I told them that they can discuss their points with the Iranian embassy and that I am only a diplomat working in the embassy and I can’t do anything beyond my legal duties.”

“Afterwards, I found out that they were obliged to release me under the intense pressures of the Iraqi officials,” he said.

The diplomat also said that he was released around Baghdad airport.

Consequences of 9/11

A friend sent this to me – a very interesting diagram of events stemming from 911. For someone that asks, “Why should I care about who caused 9/11?” or “I don’t really see the connection with that event which happened almost 5 years ago, and my personal daily life… this diagram explains a lot:

click the image to see it full size.

The above diagram is from 9/11 truth seekers blog. That blog includes evidence that 9/11 was an inside job.

Zionists Efforts To Lie About Islam

 Zeinaub Chami

A disturbing trend has been picking up steam in Metro-Detroit during the past couple of months: So-called Muslim “reformers” have been invited to speak in Ann Arbor, Detroit and West Bloomfield.The latest weapon in the Islamophobe arsenal is Tawfik Hamid, who claims to be an ex-terrorist (which apparently makes him an expert on Islam). Hamid was recently invited to speak by the Zionist Organization of America at the Jewish Community Center. Hamid — a medical doctor, not any sort of expert on Islam — said outlandish and inflammatory things about Islam. If the Zionist Organization of America is truly interested in building bridges with Muslims and understanding Islam, why bring someone who degrades Islam with false accusations and ridiculous claims?For instance, he falsely stated that no top scholars in the Muslim world have issued fatwas (jurisprudential rulings) against Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cohorts. As University of Michigan Professor Juan Cole pointed out on his blog “Informed Comment” back on July 9, 2005, almost all major Shia grand ayatollahs (who represent up to 300 million Muslims) have come out with scathing fatwas condemning bin Laden and al-Qaida. The top scholar of Al-Azhar University in Egypt — Sunni Islam’s most prestigious institution — has also clearly come out against those terrorists.Contrary to popular belief, Muslims do not have a problem with progress, but there is a problem with some of the people calling for it. When self-proclaimed “ex-terrorists” are advising Muslims on how to be Muslims, there is a problem.

These people obviously had a very warped idea of Islam. The vast majority of the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims would not look to terrorists, former or current, for advice on our faith when we have a number of scholars. The fact that they somehow “saw the light” does not in any way make them experts.

Few non-Muslims truly understand that Islam contains within it a complex system of laws, perhaps more complex than any other faith in the world. People like Hamid and bin Laden have never studied Islamic jurisprudence, nor are they qualified to interpret these laws. But for some reason different groups of people peg them as experts.

There is a much larger issue looming behind Hamid’s visit: the fact that groups in the Metro Detroit — which has one of the most concentrated and vibrant Muslim communities in the country — are burning bridges instead of building them.

Why are these groups not pushing for interfaith dialogue or respectful debates on issues in academic settings? They know very well that bringing the likes of Tawfik Hamid will alienate Muslims and drive a wedge between our communities.

A word of advice to all Metro Detroiters truly interested in interfaith understanding: Dialogue and progress start from within a community. To understand Islam, go to your local mosque, talk to your practicing Muslim neighbors and co-workers or call the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Michigan.

There is no shortage of Muslims here working for progress. Maybe it’s time to reach out to them.

Zeinab Chami is a representative of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Michigan in Southfield.

The above opinion can be found at Editorials and Opinions.

U.S. protects Iranian opposition group in Iraq

An Iranian opposition group based in Iraq, labeled a terrorist organization by the United States, gets protection from the U.S. military despite Iraqi pressure to leave the country.The U.S. considers the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK, a source of valuable intelligence on Iran.

The group also is credited with helping expose Iran’s secret nuclear program through spying on Tehran for decades.

Iranian officials tied the MEK to an explosion in February at a girls school in Zahedan, Iran. (Full story)

The U.S. State Department considers the MEK a terrorist organization — meaning no American can deal with it; U.S. banks must freeze its assets; and any American giving support to its members is committing a crime.

The U.S. military, though, regularly escorts MEK supply runs between Baghdad and its base, Camp Ashraf.

“The trips for procurement of logistical needs also take place under the control and protection of the MPs,” said Mojgan Parsaii, vice president of MEK and leader of Camp Ashraf.

That’s because, according to U.S. documents, coalition forces regard MEK as protected people under the Geneva Conventions.

“The coalition remains deeply committed to the security and rights of the protected people of Ashraf,” U.S. Maj. Gen. John D. Gardner wrote in March 2006.

The group also enjoys the protection of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“The ICRC has made clear that the residents of Camp Ashraf must not be deported, expelled or repatriated,” according to an ICRC letter.

Despite repeated requests, neither Iran’s ambassador in Baghdad nor the U.S. military would comment on MEK, also known as Mojahedin Khalq Organization, or MKO.

The State Department said Friday the Geneva Conventions protections apply only to MEK residents of Camp Ashraf, and the organization as a whole and its members elsewhere are subject to prosecution for terrorist or criminal acts.

“We still regard them as a terrorist organization,” former U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said.

When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, Green Berets arrived at Camp Ashraf to find gardens and monuments, along with more than 2,000 well-maintained tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery, anti-aircraft guns and vehicles.

All 3,800 camp residents were questioned by Americans. No arrests were made, and the camp quickly surrendered under a cease-fire agreement — an agreement that also guaranteed its safety.

“Everyone’s entry to the camp and his departure are controlled by the U.S. military police force,” Parsaii said.

The MEK denies it is a terrorist group. Both Iran and the Iraqi government, however, accuse the group of ongoing terrorist attacks, and the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government wants it out.

“We gave this organization a six-month deadline to leave Iraq, and we informed the Red Cross,” said Shirwan al-Wa’eli, Iraq’s national security minister. “And presumably, our friends the Americans will respect our decision and they will not stay on Iraqi land.”

For now, however, the United States continues to protect MEK.

“There are counter-pressures, too,” Khalilzad said. “There are people who say, ‘No, they should be allowed to stay here.’ And as you know, around the world there are people with different views toward them.”

The above post is from CNN.

12,000 more U.S. troops for Iraq “Or Iran”?

In a press TV piece, The U.S. Defense Department is planning to send another 12,000 National Guard soldiers to Iraq, reports say.Four states will provide the troops from four brigades to attend the involuntary mobilization, Pentagon was reported as saying by NBC Nightly News.The report said the new orders awaited the approval of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and the one-year combat deployment would begin in early 2008.

The Pentagon said Monday that it would deploy an additional 9,000 U.S. troops to Iraq, with about half of them returning to combat ahead of schedule.

Under the U.S.’s new Iraq policy announced earlier this year, the Pentagon has increased force levels in that country by about 30,000 troops in an attempt to regain control of security and reduce violence.

HA/HAR

I really wonder if the troops are really going to be sent to Iraq to regain control of security or to be ready to attack Iran!!!