Archive for category Iran

Yemen: The War In Yemen–Starring Saudi Arabia, Iran, U.S., Contractors, And Al Qaeda

Dec 26

Posted by Matt in Al Qaeda, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen | No Comments

I am sure I am missing someone, because this war has all sorts of players getting involved. What I have done below, is posted all the current events in Yemen that everyone should key in on, and I also tried to bring in some industry stuff as well.

The things the caught my attention is the Saudis are beginning to use some of that Vinnell training to good use against the Houthis. Vinnell has been training up the SANG, and King Abdullah has been heavily investing in U.S. equipment and trainers for years now. So it is interesting to see them flex some military muscle and apply what they have learned. (on a side note, check out the recruitment brochure at the Vinnell Arabia website-it looks like they treat those guys pretty well)

The other one that caught my eye was the this fence the Saudis are building. They are contracting the services of EADS, and this project is massive and technological. And because of all the problems at the border recently, they are really wanting to ramp up the construction. So that will be providing jobs in the world of contracting. No word yet if they are looking for security contractors to supplement the border patrol or the building of these fences and networks, but you never know.

Then there is the story about the cleric that influenced the Ft. Hood shooter, whom was targeted by a U.S. missile strike in Yemen. That’s right, we are launching missiles into Yemen. Unfortunately, we did not get him, but it does sound like we were able to get a few AQ in the strike.

Now one little interesting tidbit in this whole deal, is Iran and Al Qaeda, and what they are doing in Yemen. The Houthis are Shia, hate the Saudis, and are said to be supported by Iran. Al Qaeda is a Sunni based organization, yet they hate the Saudis as well, and they have established a base in Yemen. Could the Houthis and AQ be working together in Yemen or coordinating their efforts, all with the hopes of defeating the Saudis and the West? I kind of doubt it, but I have seen this theory floating around and was wondering if any of the readership have any thoughts about this?

We will keep our eye on Yemen, and see how that war develops. By the way, I put up a ton of material below, so click the ‘read the rest of this entry’ for the other info.-Matt

Edit: 12/27/2009- Check out the CNAS report on Yemen that I just posted today, on the very bottom. There is a PDF with it too.

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desk%20top%20lavYemen: The War In Yemen Starring Saudi Arabia, Iran, U.S., Contractors, And Al Qaeda

Saudi rid of Yemeni infiltrators, King says

12/26/2009

DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has claimed victory in a conflict with Yemeni rebels, saying the army has driven away the last infiltrators from its territory, an Arabic language daily said on Saturday.

King Abdullah told the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Seyassah that his instructions to Saudi forces were “clear,” demanding operations were confined to Saudi territory without entering Yemen.

Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday the conflict was nearing an end, with at least 73 of its troops killed in fighting against Yemeni rebels since November.

Yemeni rebels, however, said the war was far from over.

King Abdullah told al-Seyassah that his orders to the army were to “only drive away infiltrators and preserve the security and borders” of the kingdom.

“We are not a nation that interferes in other countries’ affairs and do not accept other countries to interfere in ours,” he said.

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Tags: contracting, contractors, EADS, Houthis, Iran, Saudi Arabia, security contracting, Vinnell, Yemen

Cool Stuff: TED–Bruce Bueno De Mesquita Predicts Iran’s Future

Dec 22

Posted by Matt in Cool Stuff, Iran, Video | No Comments

Tags: Bruce Bueno De Mesquita, Cool Stuff, Iran, predictions, TED, Video

PMC 2.0: Social Networks as Foreign Policy, The Onion Router, and Humari Awaz

Dec 12

Posted by Matt in Iran, Pakistan, PMC 2.0, Technology | No Comments

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who has written about the efficacy of samizdat in undermining the Soviet Union, sees a similar dynamic at work here. “The freedom of communication and the nature of it,” he has said, “is a huge strategic asset for the United States.”

*****

These three stories are all inter-related and based on this first one below. The more I read this, the more I keep thinking that someone is reading Feral Jundi and taking the hint. lol. There are all sorts of things we could be doing with these technologies, and it is great to see some innovation in that department. I especially like the Humari project, because that is flipping cool. Facebook is already accessible on a mobile platform, but to actually create a social network for mobile for the Pakistani market? That is neat.

Why are these stories in PMC 2.0? Because not only is the freedom of communication and the nature of it an excellent strategic asset for the US, it is an excellent strategic asset for companies. I recommend the reader to go back through all of the PMC 2.0 and social networking related posts that I have made in the past, and evaluate for yourself on the validity of this concept. The future is coming and everyone will have mobile smart phones and everyone will be using social networking sites. Is your company ready for that?-Matt

Edit: 12/14/2009- Check out this paper written at the Heritage Foundation about Public Diplomacy 2.0.

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Social Networks as Foreign Policy

12/12/2009

From the 9th Annual Year in Ideas

In August, after the suppression of Iran’s pro-democracy protests, officials in Tehran accused Western governments of using online social networks like Twitter and Facebook to help execute a “soft coup.” The accusation wasn’t entirely off-base. In Iran and elsewhere, this year showed the growing importance of social networks to U.S. foreign policy.

Long before the protests in Iran started, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees U.S. civilian international broadcasting, had in place software to counter censorship in countries like Iran, so people could better access the blogosphere. And the State Department financially supports agencies that make it easier for Iranians and others to surf the Web. After the protests began, the State Department asked Twitter to reschedule a maintenance outage so the activists could continue to spread the word about their movement.

The United States has long disseminated information to people living under repressive regimes — think of Radio Free Europe. The difference here is that the content of the information isn’t the important thing; the emphasis is on supporting the technical infrastructure and then letting the people decide for themselves what to say. Communication itself erodes despots’ authority. “The very existence of social networks is a net good,” says Alec Ross, a senior adviser on innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Humari Awaz, Iran, Pakistan, PMC 2.0, security contractors, social networks, State Department, the onion router

PMC 2.0: A Simple Idea to Influence Iran

Nov 29

Posted by Matt in Iran, PMC 2.0 | No Comments

This is an important article in that it identifies a crucial element of any PMC 2.0 type strategy. To insure that the opposition of your enemy, has the means to protest your enemy online. To actually insure that there are proxy servers available to the masses, and if not, to provide it. This is a key component of moral warfare, and that is if you are on the righteous side of a conflict, or want to portray yourself to world opinion as the righteous side, then you need to give some power to the people so they can actually show the world how righteous you and they really are.

And on the opposite side of things, I guarantee today’s enemies are using proxy servers to spew whatever crap they want to spit out. So remember the rule of thumb with OODA, because your enemy has the same access to the same stuff as you.(for the most part) Something to think about in today’s social media-centric world. -Matt

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A Simple Idea to Influence Iran

November 27, 2009

By GERALD F. SEIB

Sometimes the smallest ideas can have the biggest impact. And so it may be in helping to push change in Iran.

Almost without notice, a small initiative to help democratic reformers in Iran is moving through the U.S. Congress. The notion is disarmingly simple: With a small investment of money, the U.S. government can help Iranian citizens get around efforts by the Iranian regime to block their use of the Internet to communicate with each other and the outside world.

The power of this idea became apparent amid the widespread anger in Iran over the country’s disputed presidential election this summer. After President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election was announced, hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest the dubious circumstances, the largest showing of popular unrest since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

The most powerful tools the latest protesters had were the Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and text messages they could circulate to organize among themselves and to communicate to the outside world. And so the Iranian government, as part of a general campaign to suppress protest, stepped in to cut off or slow down the freedom marchers’ Internet access, and to monitor traffic as a way of ferreting out leaders.

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Tags: internet, Iran, PMC 2.0, servers

Iran: Nuclear Site Could Pose Test to U.S., Israel Ties

Sep 25

Posted by Matt in Iran | No Comments

I posted the main story last for a reason. This new nuclear site is a game changer in my opinion. It only accelerates and agitates the process, and time is not on our side here.

And then there was the speech. Netanyahu’s speech at the UN was the exact opposite of Gaddafy’s, meaning it was compelling and heart wrenching, and it was also an indicator of what could be next for Israel. Israel has made clear, time and time again, that Iran with a nuclear bomb is a threat to the existence of Israel and unacceptable.

That says to me that they plan on eventually attacking Iran and destroying their ability to manufacture a nuclear bomb. Israel did this with Iraq and Syria, so logic being, Iran is next. When this happens is anyone’s guess. Either way, Israel will not allow any threats to it’s existence, and will act accordingly.

The question I have with this, is what would the US reaction be if Israel tries to fly over Iraq to attack Iran? Or what would be the military reaction of Iran and how would that impact our mission in Iraq or Afghanistan? Interesting and scary stuff. -Matt

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At U.N., Iranian’s Speech Draws Angry Words From Netanyahu

By Colum LynchWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, September 25, 2009

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 — Brandishing Nazi orders for the extermination of Jews, Israel’s prime minister blasted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday for continuing to deny that the Holocaust occurred, and he rebuked U.N. delegates who had listened politely to the Iranian leader’s speech on Wednesday, demanding, “Have you no shame?”

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Tags: IAEA, Iran, Israel, nuclear weapons, relations, security, US, war

Weapons: The 9K132 “Grad-P” Rocket

Dec 29

Posted by Matt in Iran, Israel, Russia, Weapons | 1 Comment

This latest conflict in Israel has highlighted an interesting weapon. Enter the 122 mm Grad Missile, or the 9K132 Grad-P rocket. Why is this different from the Kassam rockets and other homemade stuff? The range and lethality. It can go 20 plus kilometers and it is a factory made rocket. That means more Israeli deaths, and someone outside of the country is getting these things in. It could be Hezbollah, Syria, Iran (their Arash rocket-see article below), Egypt, Russia… Who knows? But they have them, and they are using them. The most recent attacks were Grad rockets, and these longer range rockets were probably the tipping point(as well as just launching a massive amount of homemade missiles) for the recent activity. Just check out how many attacks have increased over the years.-Matt

Edit: According to news sources, these are Chinese made Grad rockets.

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Weapons: The 9K132 Grad P Rocket

9K132 “Grad-P”(Wikipedia)

Single-round man-portable launcher, which can be reloaded and used again. The rocket itself is a 122mm fin-stabilized rocket, armed with any of the warheads used on BM-21 rockets. The weapon is not often used by the Russian military, but is popular with paramilitary and guerrilla force.

Egypt(Wikipedia)

The Egyptians domestically manufacture the rockets “Sakr-36″ and “Sakr-18″ with a respective range of 36 and 18 km. Rather than a standard HE-Frag round, the Egyptian military prefers a 23 kilogram cluster munition, which can be extremely effective against lightly armored equipment and troop concentrations. Both rockets, as well as the original Soviet models of course, are fired by locally manufactured rocket launchers like the RL-21 (copy of BM-11) and RC-21 (copy of BM-21, similar to the Hadid HM20). The Helwan Machine Tools Company also produces portable systems with one, three, four and eight launch tubes.

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The discovery of BM-21 components indicates that the Palestinians can now buy, or build, more accurate, and longer ranged, rockets. The 150 pound, 122mm Russian designed BM-21 rocket is nine feet long and has a range of 20 kilometers and a 45 pound warhead. Developed in the late 1930s, the 122mm rocket is normally fired in large numbers from many launchers at spread-out targets.That’s because the rockets are unguided. Aim lots of them at a target and you’ll hit something. Aim a few of them at something, and you usually won’t, But the rockets are made by many countries, are relatively easy to get, and favored by terrorists for attacks that terrorize, rather than actually do any damage.

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Tags: Grad, Rocket, Weapons

News: US Renews Appeal to Iran on Missing American

Nov 23

Posted by Matt in Iran, News | No Comments

wife of missing mnNews: US Renews Appeal to Iran on Missing American

US renews appeal to Iran on missing American

November 21, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has renewed an appeal to Iran for information about a former FBI agent, Floridian Robert Levinson, who went missing in Iranian territory 20 months ago.

Spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday that Iran has not responded to a recent request through Swiss intermediaries about Levinson. He was last seen on Iran’s Kish island in March 2007. Iran said previously it has no information about him. McCormack said the U.S. believes Iranian authorities can still help.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., introduced a resolution Thursday asking Congress and U.S. allies to press Iran on the case. Levinson’s wife, Christine, visited the country last year to learn more about his disappearance but got no new information. She met last week with a senior State Department official.

Levinson’s Web site

Story Here

Tags: Bob, Iran, Levinson, missing

News: The Secret War on the Dollar by Oliver North

Sep 29

Posted by Matt in Iran, News, North Korea | No Comments

Thanks to Doug for sending me this. I was reading about these ‘super notes’ (close to perfect counterfeit dollars) awhile back, and in light of the current economic events, this is somewhat concerning. The dollar is going to be taking lots of hits here, and these counterfeiting operations or war on our dollar will only add to the damage. And what really sucks is this has been going on for awhile.

I also brought up below a little history factoid about counterfeiting attacks in the past. Specifically Operation Bernhard, conducted by the Nazis against the allies during World War Two. -Head Jundi

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ForgednoteNews: The Secret War on the Dollar by Oliver North

A counterfeit £5 note forged by the Jewish Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp prisoners during World War 2. This was for Operation Bernhard, a Nazi counterfeiting operation designed to destabilize the British economy.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

NORTH: Secret war on the dollar

Oliver North

COMMENTARY:

Last Wednesday night, President Bush addressed the nation in an effort to convince Congress to pass a bill to “reduce the risk to major financial institutions” and “safeguard American families and businesses.”

Thursday he met with Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama and other congressional leaders to build a consensus plan for bailing out our financial system. The potentates on the Potomac are now pondering the price-tag for saving Wall Street. Unfortunately, corrupt officials in other capitals are also hard at work undermining what’s left of the U.S. dollar – by printing and distributing their own versions of American currency.

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Tags: China, counterfeiting, dollar, Iran, North Korea, Oliver North, Russia

News: FBI Seeks Information About Former Agent Bob Levinson, Missing in Iran

Jul 16

Posted by Matt in Iran, Kidnap And Ransom, News | 1 Comment

This is an interesting one, because Bob has been missing since last year. I am glad that the FBI is getting involved on this and putting out the word. Hopefully they will get some movement on this. It is possible that this could be an isolated case, but more than likely this is a product of the ‘tit for tat’ hostage taking that was going on last year. We detained Iranian agents in Iraq, Iran detains some Brits and others, and so on and so forth. I just hope that Bob gets released, if that is the case. It could be possible that he is the victim of some random crime there. Who knows, and FJ will keep an eye on this one. -Head Jundi

News: FBI Seeks Information About Former Agent Bob Levinson, Missing in Iran

For Immediate Release

July 15, 2008

Washington D.C.

FBI National Press Office

(202) 324-3691

FBI Seeking Information about Missing Retired Special Agent Robert Levinson

Retired FBI Special Agent Robert Levinson has been missing since March 2007 and is believed to be in Iran. As Mr. Levinson is a retired Special Agent, the FBI has an interest in his disappearance. Through the FBI’s legal attaché offices worldwide, the FBI is working with the Department of State to gather information regarding his safety and whereabouts.

The FBI has obtained information that Mr. Levinson arrived on Iran’s Kish Island on March 8, 2007, had several meetings at the Maryam Hotel, and then checked out the next day. However, Mr. Levinson did not fly to Dubai on a previously scheduled flight. There is no record of Mr. Levinson leaving Kish Island. Nor is there any record of Mr. Levinson using his passport or credit cards after March 9, 2007.

“This is a matter of great concern for the FBI. Bob had a long and distinguished FBI career, and he has a wife, four daughters, three sons, one grandchild, and another on the way, all awaiting his return. Plain and simple, our goal is to bring Bob home to his family,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Joseph Persichini, Jr., Washington Field Office.

Anyone with information about Mr. Levinson’s disappearance should contact their local FBI field office, or if outside the U.S., the legal attaché at the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. You can also submit information on the web site.

FBI Web Site

Help Bob Levinson Web Site

Tags: Bob Levinson, captured, FBI, hostage, Iran, missing, special agent