Upping The Ante

There's a simple solution: send in Canada, the honest broker.

What's next? A threat to use the prisoners as human shields?

I followed the link, to a link, to a link, to a blog. This article appears nowhere else, and the alleged source is an amateur looking astroturf blog devoted to "regime change" in Iran:

www.iranpressnews.com/english/

This story is bogus. I did some more digging, guided by the "Two Degrees of Benador Associates" propaganda-decrypting rule-of-thumb. Meet Michael Ledeen:

Michael Ledeen (born August 1, 1941) is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, where he works with the former chairman of the Defense Policy Board, Richard Perle. He is also a contributing editor to the U.S. National Review and the Jewish World Review. Ledeen was a founding member of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs and he continues to serve on the JINSA Board of Advisors. In 2003, the Washington Post alleged that he was consulted by Karl Rove, George W. Bush's closest advisor, as his main international affairs adviser. Ledeen is also a member of Benador Associates.

Benador Associates is a public relations firm that promotes conservative writers and speakers dealing with U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

"When historians look back on the United States war in Iraq, they will almost certainly be struck by how a small group of mainly neo-conservative analysts and activists outside the administration were able to shape the US media debate in ways that made the drive to war so much easier than it might have been… But historians would be negligent if they ignored the day-to-day work of one person who, as much as anyone outside the administration, made their media ubiquity possible. Meet Eleana Benador, the Peruvian-born publicist for Perle, Woolsey, Michael Ledeen, Frank Gaffney and a dozen other prominent neo-conservatives whose hawkish opinions proved very hard to avoid for anyone who watched news talk shows or read the op-ed pages of major newspapers over the past 20 months."

Planting fake evidence against Iran

In May 2006, Canada's National Post ran a sensational story by Benador associate and Iranian exile Amir Taheri. The piece claimed that Iran's government had passed a law requiring Jewish residents to wear a yellow insignia -- reminiscent of the policies of Germany's Nazi regime. The story was quickly debunked and the National Post apologized. Eleana Benador admitted that her PR firm had planted the piece.

Reporting on the controversy, Larry Cohler-Esses wrote in The Nation:

[Eleana] Benador, who said her client [Amir Taheri] was "traveling in the Middle East," was impatient with dissections of his work. Terming accuracy with regard to Iran "a luxury," she said, "My major concern is the large picture. Is Taheri writing one or two details that are not accurate? This is a guy who is putting his life at stake." She noted that "the Iranian government has killed its opponents." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "says he wants to destroy Israel. He says the Holocaust never happened.... As much as being accurate is important, in the end it's important to side with what's right. What's wrong is siding with the terrorists."

But didn't the French ambassador call Iran a stabilizing force in the region. A great civilization?

Amnesty International also warns of possible retaliatory deaths to these political prisoners:

3w ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32632

"DEATH PENALTY:
Sanctions on Iran May Trigger Executions
Alison Langley

FRANKFURT, Mar 24 (IPS) - A United Nations Security Council (UNSC)vote imposing sanctions on the Tehran government for its nuclear programme could result in retaliatory executions of some seven condemned prisoners, the rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI) believes.

Iranian prison officials reportedly have told the men -- all of whom claim to be political prisoners -- they soon will die in retaliation for possible UNSC sanctions, said Kate Willingham, a staff member for AI with the Iranian portfolio.

The seven are members of the armed Peoples Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI), which, in turn, is the largest constituent of the National Council of Resistance Iran (NCRI), an umbrella organisation of dissident groups.

NCRI, in August, 2002, handed the Vienna-based, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) secret papers documenting Iran's secret nuclear programmes in Natanz and Arak.

The documents were the first indication the world had that Iran was working on a secret nuclear programme. The Iranian government claims its work is to produce nuclear energy but IAEA officials worry that there is a secret plan to develop nuclear weapons.

NCRI later revealed that the Iranian government also was working on a nuclear programme in Abe-Ali and that it had spent at least 10 billion U.S. dollars on nuclear projects over the last 18 years.

In 2003, the IAEA confirmed the existence of an uranium enrichment programme in Iran.....

"The Iranian government links the PMOI to the nuclear controversy," said Willingham, a London-based campaigner on Iran for AI in an e-mail." In this context, certain PMOI prisoners have claimed that they have been told that if Iran is referred to the UNSC over its nuclear programme, they will be executed."

None of the men is believed to have been involved in the leaking of the secret documents, Willingham said. Still, she added, because of their membership in PMOI, she believed their lives are at risk...... "

That months old article is bogus too. IPS is a fake news agency, Amnesty does not corroborate the story, because it is retarded on its face. The "article" appears nowhere else other than the site you source, as usual.

By your own admission this nonstory is based on a a volunteer in London making the allegation in an email, based on at least second hand info, not on behalf of Amnesty.

Hey, I've got an email from some chick at Amnesty who says that someone says that George Bush is building concentration camps! OMG OMG!

I'm going to bed; kindly keep the genocidal propaganda to a dull roar while I'm gone...

A country that steadfastly denies (lies) that it has any political prisoners is now threatening to kill the non-prisoners? Come on folks, don't bite so readily on every propaganda tidbit that gets thrown our way.

Did the National Post have something to do with this story?

If they don't kill them, maybe they'll make them wear coloured badges...

The story is suspicious, to say the least. Much like the Falun Gong non-concentration camp hysteria.

Real reason to be afraid of Iran? Their president's threatening to nuke Israel, believes he's the go between with the 12th "hidden" imam, and to destroy the United States, presumably with the long range missiles (their missile technology is well advanced, wouldn't you agree) and nukes he's building.

This is the reason to fear Iran. This propaganda is as bad as Reuters.

It's hard to decipher fact from fiction or truth from fallacy right here in Canada with the tripe we have coming from our own news media. If anyone thinks we don't have propaganda broadcasters hasn't been tuned in. The affairs in the Middle East are not a quick study, it is close to impossible to understand the mindset of the inhabitants of that part of the world. It should be blatantly obvious to all, we can't sit by while the Madman of Iran cobbles up nuclear capability. All "stories", no matter how "far out" should be treated seriously enough to trace to source, get to the bottom of.

Liz J said: "it is close to impossible to understand the mindset of the inhabitants of that part of the world".

At one time I used a fictious conversation with an Arab in an attempt to illustrate the problem for my less-travelled aquaintances:

Me: "So, if you have a heavy lump of metal in one hand and you extend your arm and release the metal...."

Arab: Interrupting....."Yes, yes.....it flies up into the air and is gone...yes".

Me: "Well, um...not exactly...actually it...."

Arab: Interrupting and gesturing to onlookers....."Come come...listen to the Hawadji.....he understands...listen..."

Doesn't ring true.

Iran makes lots of wild statements like this, so the best response is to ask them if they expect to be taken seriously, as a mature nation, if they blackmail and threaten other nations.

Note that they want the ceasefire, in order to re-arm Hezbollah.

Bob says goodnight:"I'm going to bed; kindly keep the genocidal propaganda to a dull roar while I'm gone..."

The Origins of the Next Great War are Visible

Canada Free Press ^ | Monday, August 7, 2006 | David Jonnson
What the future might hold if we fail to deal with the Leftist/Marxist-Islamist Alliance.

With every passing year following the events of 9/11 the rise of Leftist/Marxist-Islamist Alliance has increased global instability. By the beginning of 2006, nearly all the combustible ingredients–far bigger in scale than those leading to World Wars 1 and 11 and the Gulf Wars of 1991 or 2003–were in place. ...-
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1679114/posts

Off topic-

Flags of Freedom. This Canadian has it right.

http://tinyurl.com/laj83

Sigh, It never ends. The media now constantly calls all conservatives "neo-conservative". All communists, leftists, unionists, etc. are called "progressives".
There are outright lies from the media daily, death threats sent by Reuters, doctored war photos, etc. etc. I wonder when the worlds free people will have to clean up that mess as well.

Sorry to break it to you, but IPS is definitely an actual news service.

***In fact Canada's CIDA is part of its core donor group.***

"The “IPS Core Group” is the donor community made up of cooperation agencies, international organisations and foundations from Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Nations and, since 2002, the World Bank, as observer. The Core Group was established in the 1980s to provide IPS with guidance and orientation regarding its global mission in the fields of communication, sustainable development and financial sustainability.

Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)"

3w ips.org/about/history/history.shtml

"Inter Press Service (IPS) was set up in 1964 as a non-profit international cooperative of journalists. Its founders were Roberto Savio, an Italian freelance journalist, and Pablo Piacentini, an Argentinean political scientist who was then a student in Rome....

In its early days, the primary objective of IPS was to fill the information gap between Europe and Latin America after the political turbulence following the Cuban revolution of 1959. The agency’s network grew steadily and expanded to include Asia and Africa. The objectives broadened – to cover news from the "Third World", give a voice to the voiceless, promote information on development issues, and help create a better balance and flow of international news.

In 1994, in order to strengthen its non-profit identity, IPS changed its legal status to that of a ‘public-benefit organisation for development cooperation’, open to journalists, professional communicators and bodies active in the fields of information and communication."

IPS also has the backing of this heavyweight, from the same link as the one for CIDA:

"The Core Group was established in the 1980s to provide IPS with guidance and orientation regarding its global mission in the fields of communication, sustainable development and financial sustainability."

United Nations
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
International Organisations
The World Bank (observer)

I have included this site as it is mentioned by IPS news, as evidence of Iran's treatment of its political prisoners in the past.

3w ncr-iran.org/content/view/2104/69/

This site is very extensive, listing human rights abuses in Iran, particularly prisoners and women.

If someone is warning about potential deaths of political prisoners, it should be given a second look by the world.

Iran has been working behind the scenes for a long time and were caught out. I doubt they will take well to it.

Are you saying there could be no basis to this claim by the Amnesty worker, Bob? Sounds like it to me.

Perhaps the CBC should get in there to find out. Aren't they the ones so rah, rah about human rights?

That is how stories start...someone submits a piece of evidence, another comes forward with a bit of something. Someone starts to see a pattern, or a hint of something not right, and real reporters or people concerned, will try to sniff out evidence to present to the world.

The world is moving so fast, that stories do not follow the normal channels.

It does not make this story bogus. It just may be that the whole of it hasn't come out yet.

And what country will benefit from that?

Doowleb: "neo-conservative" is the left liberal/socialist code-word for: the worldwide Jooish conspiracy.
Another "new" code word spotted recently is: "peace-builder". It is code for soldier; the progressives cannot bring themselves to utter, soldier, as it reminds them of death of which they are mortally afraid. ...-

Update:

Be doggoned... 40-1. Infrastructure loses again.
But, it's "bogus". ...-

Previouis hezbollah propaganda as reported faithfully by the MSM:

"An hour ago, a horrific massacre took place in Houla village as a result of the intentional Israeli bombardment that resulted in more than 40 martyrs," Prime Minister Fouad Siniora told an emergency Arab foreign ministers meeting in Beirut.

Residents of Houla said they feared up to 60 people, including many children, had been killed. They said most of the people were shepherds who had refused to flee the fighting."

Update: Here...

AP NEWS ALERT

Drudge/AP ^ | 8/7/06 | staff
Lebanese prime minister says only 1 person died in an Israeli air raid on the southern village of Houla, lowering the death toll from 40..

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1679221/posts

I am just riffing here but the date, August 6 is interesting to me.

I think the Hiroshima bomb was dropped on that day.

My Dad was in the South Pacific and he told me it was the best day of his life because he knew he would not have to land on the beaches of Japan AND because he knew he was going home.

Japan was killing as many people as died at Hiroshima every six weeks just in China alone.

The reason I bring this up is I recently heard someone say the EmporerJapan was not deposed in the Peace Treaty because Japan vowed they would kill every prisoner unless he was allowed to remain.

If I remember correctly Japan held about 14 or 15 thousand American prisoners of war.

all the moves made by the allied commanders in the pacific starting with midway were pretty much dead on (no pun intended)

the island hopping tactic which expedited the date they came in striking range of those islands with landing strips for the B29s....

deciphering of 'purple' the jap code machine led to the killing of yamamoto when his whereabouts became known. he was shot down around early 44.

and The Bomb.

cutting the 'life expectancy' of WW II by 6 months to a year.

you could set your watch to the time it took the japs to clue in the gig was up. it was NO LONGER going to be a war of attrition.

hiroshima was the wake up call, nagasaki was the message and the message was, THIS is what japan can expect unless you SURRENDER totally and immediately.

which they did, thus saving some estimates as high as 10,000,000 or more likely at least a million japanese civilians who would otherwise been expected to hurl themselves at the invading allies.

notice the japs havent made a 2nd attempt at military conquest of the western pacific area.

So Ahmadinejad is symbolically hinting at having 14 to 15,000 p.o.w.'s? Similair to his hinting at helping along the awaited arrival of the 12th Imam on Aug.22?

Re: Hiroshima, there's a story in today's Ottawa Sun about the Anniversary.

speaking of Iran and The Bomb, dont forget, the great CIA GAVE them plans albeit purposely flawed, for a fission bomb.

sadly, the russian 'defector' picked to hand them over in a 'double agent' manouveur, peeked at them, spotted the planted flaw and coyly suggested to his Iranian contact that if they needed 'further technical assistance' he was available for a price.

look in the index of 'state of war' by James Risen under 'merlin'.

nice bunch eh those bushist whitehousers eh?

GAVE the Iranians the plans then cry woe and despair when they decide to make use of them.

RobertJ,

I call BS.