Barbarians at the Gate

By now, you've probably heard of Mitt Romeny's recent speech on Hezbollah. At a town hall meeting in Iowa last Friday, Mitt Romney offered a controversial twist on his usual stump speech when he held up Hezbollah as a model for the effectiveness of using social services as a way to win hearts and minds. “Did you notice in Lebanon what Hezbollah did? Lebanon became a democracy some time ago. And while their government was getting underway, Hezbollah went into southern Lebanon and provided health clinics to some of the people there and schools. And they built their support by having done so,” Romney said. “That kind of diplomacy is something that would help America become stronger around the world and help people understand that our interest is an interest toward modernity and goodness and freedom for all people of the world.”

Though I'm fervently anti-Hezbolallh and anti- all those immoral southern Lebanese who are the biggest welfare kings and queens robbing Iranians of their national wealth, I think Romney gets it. The message (while very ill-worded) is actually a valid point: The “social services” (building schools and hospitals, etc.) approach is very important in winning the PR battle, and the hearts and minds of the locals.

But it needs to be done right.

The US actually does quite a bit in aid and help in Lebanon, Iraq, and other Arab countries. But a lot of that gets lost in the rhetoric and grandiose speeches.
Just yesterday I read a couple of stories on Naharnet about the US financing some water project in South Lebanon and the EU donating 5.5M dollars to the Nahr Al Bared refugees.
But no one ever talks about that. And what’s even more annoying is that often, the recipients of this aid act entitled and complain about the very people who are giving them aid (calling them great evil satans and what have you).
Mitt Romney does not want America to be more like Hezbollah, he wants America to be more like Iran which is pulling the strings for Hezbollah.

In principle I agree with Romney that the Hezbollah franchise --of which Hamas in Palestine and Mahdi Army in Iraq are examples--is insidiously a raging success as Karim Sadjapour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (director of Carnegie Iran Initiative), points out in a piece at IHT:

Karim Sadjadpour

Tehran has generously armed and funded militant groups ever since the country's 1979 Islamic revolution. As opposed to the Soviet Union, however, today Iran's preferred vehicle of choice to spread its power and influence throughout the Middle East is, ironically, democratic elections. Though Iran's clerical rulers refuse to hold free and fair elections at home, the strong electoral showings of Hamas in Palestine, the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Shiite co-coreligionists in Iraq, has Tehran confident that their Islamist friends have won the battle for the region's hearts and minds, while Western-oriented liberals are in retreat. In the words of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, "Today, if a referendum is held in any Islamic country, the people will vote for individuals supporting Islam and opposing the United States."

In a twisted Machiavellian way it’s kind of brilliant and if U.S wants to make headway in Iraq or anywhere else it needs to learn to use the same tools that it's enemy is using, or at least learn to understand and counter them.

All USAID projects in the Middle east have a large sign that says “Offered by the people of the United States Of America”. Still, it does not t work because it gives the impression that the US is trying to bribe the people.

It’s a complex combination of trust and generosity that can pull loyalty off. And trust leaves a lot to be desired. How to build this trust again matters. It takes human and personal contact ; learning of other's struggles, aspirations and dreams ;teaching them who we are as Americans (instead of anti-Americanism propaganda they are taught by the extremists), sharing with them what we hope and aspire for and how our democracy works, and genuine willingness and interest in getting to know other cultures and sincere interface with people of other nations. We live in a globalized world where people and cultures are bound to collide. How we manage this collision, will make the difference between living in peace or constant conflagration of war and carnage. We cannot afford to want to be isolated or left alone anymore. What happens is Lebanon, Iran, Palestine, Iraq, or Afghanistan is going to effect all of our lives personally albeit indirectly in so many unimagined ways.

We must win the ideological and propaganda war if we are to save Western Civilization from the barbarians at the gate.

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Iran: Revelation of an Underground Prison run by Lebanese Hizballah!

افشای نام بازداشتگاهی در عمق زمين و مخوف تر از 209 اوينگفته می شود، اداره بخشی از اين بازداشتگاه بر عهده افراد حزب الله لبنان است و دانشجويان و بازداشت شدگان دوران اخير- بويژه کسانی که از شهرستان ها به تهران منتقل شده اند- از تونل اين بازداشتگاه عبور کرده و سپس سر از بند 209 اوين در می آورند!


Peyk Net: News Leaked by political activists, report an underground prison in Tehran which is said to be more hair-raising than section 209 of Evin prison (Tehran's gulag). Management of some sections of this prison are said to be by individuals from Lebanese Hezbollah. The recent arrests of students, in particular, those who were transferred from other cities to Tehran, all have passed the tunnel of this prison and eventually ended up in Section 209 of Evin Prison.


در روزهای اخير، از جانب برخی فعالان سياسی داخل کشور که در پی کسب اخبار و رويدادهای داخل زندان ها و بازداشتگاه ها هستند، خبرهای جسته گريخته ای در باره يک بازداشتگاه پنهان منتشر شده است. اين بازداشتگاه " سوله کهريزک" نام دارد که در سطحی پائين تر از زمين قرار دارد و درواقع بازداشتگاهی زير زمينی است.

....

گفته می شود برخی دانشجويان بازداشت شده دوران اخير سر از اين "سوله" در آورده اند. در اين بازداشتگاه هيچ زندانی حق هواخوری و ديدن آفتاب را ندارد. استفاده از مستراح فقط يکبار در طول روز مجاز است و جيره زندانيان نيز تنها در يک نوبت توزيع ميشود و عمدتا سيب زمينی پخته و يا تخم مرغ پخته به همراه نان است. همچنين شايع است که "سوله کهريزک" بازداشتگاه جديدی نيست، اما انتقال بازداشت شدگان ايرانی به آن جديد است. اين بازداشتگاه پيش تر در اختيار حزب الله لبنان بوده و حتی برخی اعضای فعال القاعده در ارتباط با لبنان و فلسطين نيز در اين بازداشتگاه نگهداری می شده و زندانبانان از کادرهای حزب الله لبنان بوده اند.

It is reported that some of the students ended up in this prison. In this prison no one is allowed to see the light or get fresh air. You're only allowed to use the bathroom once a day. The prisoners are fed only once day; mostly boiled potatoes or boiled eggs with bread. It is also rumored that "Suleh Kahrizak" is not a new prison, but transferring Iranian prisoners there is something new. Previously, this prison was under the jurisdiction of Lebanese Hezbollah and even some Al- Qaeda members in relation to Lebanon and Palestine were held there and the prison guard were Lebanese Hezbollah members.

اين زندانبانان همچنان در "سوله کهريزک" فعال اند و حتی در روزهای اول انتقال برخی بازداشت شدگان دانشگاهی چه از تهران و چه از شهرستانها به سوله کهريزک، توسط همين زندانبانان مورد ضرب و شتم و شکنجه قرار گرفته اند و سپس بازجوهای ايرانی بتدريج آنها را تحويل گرفته اند و کار شکنجه و اعتراف گيری را سازمان داده اند.

These Lebanese guards are still active in "Suleh Kahrizak" and those prisoners from either Tehran or other cities who were transferred there were beaten and tortured by these Lebanese guards and then Iranian interrogators gradually took their custody and organized their own torture and forced confessions logistics. (Note: Iranians don't speak Arabic.)

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Blue helmet blues

Is UNIFIL’s mission being compromised by efforts to protect its troops?

UN TROOPS in Lebanon, 'Buying Protection from Hezbollah?

A troubling consequence of this heightened threat to UNIFIL by radical jihadi groups is that some of the troop-contributing countries have begun turning to Hezbollah, hoping to enlist the cooperation of the Shia group in protecting their soldiers. UNIFIL contingents are not supposed to have any direct contact with Hezbollah – or any other Lebanese political groups – as their official channel of communication is through the Lebanese army."It's highly forbidden," said Major General Claudio Graziano, UNIFIL's commander. "I have a relationship with the [Lebanese] government through the Lebanese army. I have no relations with Hezbollah in terms of security."Still, three months ago, intelligence agents from France, Italy and Spain met with Hezbollah representatives in Saida. As a result of that meeting, some Spanish UNIFIL patrols are now "escorted" by Hezbollah militants in cars. Following last month's bombing, Spanish UNIFIL officers met with local Hezbollah officials, according to a South Lebanon-based party official.

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Iran & US: Shadowy on-going Negotiations and Placating Constituents

Iranian Envoy Says Iranians May Be Freed

BAGHDAD (AP) - Five Iranians detained during a U.S.-led raid in northern Iraq in January could be released as early as next week, Iran's ambassador said Wednesday.
Hassan Kazemi Qomi said U.S. officials had informed Iranian delegates at a weekend security conference here that they were in ``the final stage'' of the investigation into the case. Qomi said he hoped the five could be released before the Iranian New Year, which falls on March 21.

So, apparently we have been involved in stealth negotiating position with the Islamic Repbulic of Terrorists for quite a while now ...Jules Crittenden excerpts and analyzes a Stratfor report on the on-going covert negotiations between the United States and Iran. Tidbit:

The Iranians are also under pressure. They have miscalculated on what Bush would do: They expected military drawdown, and instead they got the surge. This has conjured up memories of the miscalculation on what the 1979 hostage crisis would bring: The revolutionaries had bet on a U.S. capitulation, but in the long run they got an Iraqi invasion and Ronald Reagan.

Expediency Council Chairman Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani already has warned the Iranians not to underestimate the United States, saying it is a “wounded tiger” and therefore much more dangerous than otherwise. In addition, the Iranians know some important things.

… Uncontrolled chaos next door could spill over into Iran in numerous ways — separatist sentiments among the Kurds, the potential return of a Sunni government if the Shia are too fractured to govern, and so forth. A certain level of security in Iraq is fundamental to Iran’s national interests.

… there are concerns that Iraq’s Shia are so fractious that they might not be serviceable as a coherent vehicle for Iranian power.

… Finally, Iran’s ability to threaten terror strikes against U.S. interests depends to a great extent on Hezbollah … far more interested in the power and wealth to be found in Lebanon than in some global — and potentially catastrophic — war against the United States. The Iranian leadership has seen al Qaeda’s leaders being hunted and hiding in Pakistan, and they have little stomach for that. In short, Iranian leaders might not have all the options they would like to pretend they have …

… Iran has sufficient power to block a settlement on Iraq, but it lacks the ability to impose one of its own making. Second, Hezbollah is far from willing to play the role of global suicide bomber to support Iranian ambitions. Third, an Iranian nuclear bomb is far from being a reality. Finally, Iran has, in the long run, much to fear from the Russians: Moscow is far more likely than Washington to reduce Iran to a vassal state …

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