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According to an Arab press report, Saudi Arabia is not sitting by idly watching Amal and Hezbollah (therefore, Iran) dominate Shiite politics in Lebanon. The Lebanese Affiliation Faction, a group of Shiites who oppose Amal/Hezbollah, is being funded by the Saudis. It would be a remarkable development, as the Saudi state religion is Wahhabism, which is [...]
Archive for October, 2008
Casualties in Iraq Drop
Posted by Matthew Avitabile on October 31st, 2008
American casualties in Iraq for October have fallen to a wartime low. Just eight Americans died in combat during the month as security gains begin to solidify. However, there still remains work to do: Much of that concern focuses on Mosul, Iraq’s third largest city about 225 miles northwest of Baghdad. U.S. and Iraqi troops [...]
Iran Reprocessing Spent Fuel
Posted by Matthew Avitabile on October 31st, 2008
Multiple news sources have picked up on an intelligence report that Iran is reprocessing spent uranium: The tests, which loosely replicate Saddam Hussein’s attempt to build a bomb 20 years ago, were described by the source as “evaluating procedures for recycling fuel by dissolving fuel rods for irradiated waste, then reprocessing it for uranium metal,” [...]
Saudi Fatwa: Women Permitted to Defend Themselves
Posted by Ryan Mauro on October 31st, 2008
There’s been a very surprising fatwa issued by a senior Saudi cleric that deserves more attention. The fatwa says a woman can hit her husband back in self-defense, and even kill him if he’s trying to kill her. This strikes at the very core of radical Islam and Wahhabism and if given enough coverage, goes [...]
Poland Steps Up in Afghanistan
Posted by Matthew Avitabile on October 30th, 2008
Poland has upped its role in ISAF in Afghanistan. Poland has been a steadfast ally in Iraq and Afghanistan and has now taken over security in a Ghazni Province. About 1,600 Polish troops have now taken control of Ghazni, freeing up U.S. forces to take on Taliban militants elsewhere in the eastern sector which includes [...]
Coordinated Strikes Rock India
Posted by Matthew Avitabile on October 30th, 2008
A series of bomb attacks have killed at least 62 people in eastern India. This follows a series of attacks on the nation over the last year. The attacks took place in Assam, near the Muslim nation of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan): Bora named the United Liberation Front of Assam — a separatist group that [...]
Bombers Strike In Somalia
Posted by Matthew Avitabile on October 29th, 2008
Somalia has suffered some of its worst violence since the rise of the Islamic Courts movement. At least 29 people were murdered by suicide bombers. At least five bombings took place in two relatively-stable provinces of the unstable nation. The worst attacks took place in the capital of Somaliland, which had been backing the provisional [...]
Wasit Handed Over
Posted by Matthew Avitabile on October 29th, 2008
Wasit, the 13th of Iraq’s 18 provinces to do so, has been handed over to provincial Iraqi control. In a ceremony today, Iraq has taken another step forward to taking responsibility for its own security: Iraq’s national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, said Wasit had achieved a level of efficiency and ability in civil and security [...]
Iran Targeting UK?
Posted by Matthew Avitabile on October 28th, 2008
An interesting article from the Jerusalem Post examines an post from the Iranian website Aftab (the Sun): In an article on the Iranian Web site Aftab last week … the head of the Europe and US Department in the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Wahid Karimi, said that an attack on London would deter the US from [...]
Posted in State Sponsor of Terrorism: Iran, The Middle East 
Tags: Britain, Hezbollah, Iran, Israel 
No Comments »Daily Report: North Korea Threatens South, More on Syria Raid
Posted by Ryan Mauro on October 28th, 2008
1. German intelligence says that Al-Qaeda is moving its training camps and bases from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Mauritania. I’ve long felt that Africa would become Al-Qaeda’s secondary safe haven after being removed from the tribal areas. The corruption, lack of Western military presence, and weakness of the government to control large swaths of territory makes [...]
Concern Over Mosul
Posted by Matthew Avitabile on October 28th, 2008
Despite the Kurds wanting the Multinational Forces to stay for a long time, there is still a lot of concern over the situation in Mosul. Mosul is one of Iraq’s largest cities (second or third, depending who you ask) and represents much of the damage done by Saddam Hussein. The Kurds, who were forced out [...]
Russia to Aid Cuba
Posted by Matthew Avitabile on October 27th, 2008
An interesting article regarding Russia’s warming relations with their old ally Cuba: The two sides will “discuss the prospect of training Cuban servicemen at the tactical air defence academies and training centres in Russia, using upgraded Russian-made military hardware,” Interfax quoted him as saying. Russia has made a small fortune by selling its military wares [...]
Kurds: Stay Until 2020
Posted by Matthew Avitabile on October 27th, 2008
In an interview with the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Nechivan (spelled Negervan in this article) Barzani has stated that U.S. troops may be in Iraq until 2020: Mr. Barzani said he thought that the Iraqi announcement was mere posturing by politicians wanting to demonstrate their independence from U.S. influence. These people probably [...]
Iran’s Expansionism Admitted
Posted by Matthew Avitabile on October 27th, 2008
Iran has officially admitted to its policies of forcible expansionism of its interests. For years it has been an ardent backer of Hezbollah and militias in Iraq. Despite previous denials, this from a general of the Basij: “Not only are our armed forces self-sufficient, liberation armies of the region get part of their weapons from [...]
Posted in State Sponsor of Terrorism: Iran, The Middle East Tags: Hezbollah, Iran, Mahdi Army, UAE No Comments »The Candidates and Russia
Posted by Matthew Avitabile on October 27th, 2008
Boston.com has an article outlining the two candidates’ positions on Russia. The article is quick to point out McCain’s more confrontational style while accentuating Obama’s nuance. This article is very insightful, but seemingly for the opposite reasons for which it was written. For all of the talk about Obama supporting multilateral diplomacy and cooperation, McCain [...]
