Ibtisam Posted June 24, 2010 There's a mystery surrounding an Iranian scientist. Iran state TV showed video yesterday of Shahram Amiri, who said he had been abducted and taken to the United States. There are two video's on the web. Video played on Iran TV shows Amiri wearing headphones as he appeared to be talking into a web cam. The video was said to have been recorded on April 5th in Arizona. He claimed he was abducted by the US while in Saudi Arabia in 2009. Since the footage aired on Iranian TV, another video has surfaced, showing Amiri claiming he defected to the US and has not be tortured arriving in America. So is Iran trying to cause problems for the US as they push for new sanctions at the UN. Or was he kidnapped by the CIA? Raymond McGovern Former CIA officer joins Alyona. Watch the video... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ibtisam Posted June 24, 2010 Since we are on American News: Axed for speaking out: A year after giving him the job, Obama sacks his hardman Afghan general The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan was fired by President Obama yesterday over his attacks on the White House. General Stanley McChrystal was removed from his post after a tense one-on-one meeting with Barack Obama in the Oval Office that lasted just 20 minutes. The President said it was the right decision for 'national security'. In a decisive move that was intended to reassert the President's authority, Mr Obama said McChrystal's conduct was unbecoming of a general. McChrystal President Obama announces that he has accepted the resignation of General Stanley McChrystal as his successor, General David Petraeus, looks on in the White House Rose Garden yesterday The scornful remarks contained in a Rolling Stone article 'undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system,' the president added. Expressing praise for McChrystal yet certainty that he had to go, Obama said he did not make the decision over any disagreement in policy or 'out of any sense of personal insult.' General McChrystal A tense looking General McChrystal arrives at the White House for his meeting with President Obama yesterday. He left just 20 minutes later having been relieved of his command Flanked by Vice President Joe Biden, Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in the Rose Garden, he said: 'War is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general, or a president.' He urged the Senate to confirm General David Petraeus swiftly as his replacement and emphasised the Afghanistan strategy he announced in December was not shifting with McChrystal's departure. 'This is a change in personnel, but it is not a change in policy,' Obama said. The president delivered the same message in a phone call to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the White House said. Mr Karzai told Mr Obama he would work toward a smooth transition. As the president was speaking in the Rose Garden, General McChrystal released a statement saying that he resigned out of 'a desire to see the mission succeed' and expressing support for the war strategy. The decision to sack McChrystal was made 'with considerable regret', the president said. But the job in Afghanistan cannot now be done under McChrystal's leadership, he added. 'I welcome debate among my team, but I won't tolerate division,' Obama said. McChrystal – who was appointed to the Afghan post only last June – made his controversial comments in a profile entitled Runaway General. He says that the first time he met Mr Obama he found the President 'unengaged' and 'disappointing'. He is also dismissive of Vice President Joe Biden, and either the general or some of his aides openly criticise other senior political and military figures. His replacement, Gen Petraeus is the nation's best-known military man, having risen to prominence as the commander who turned around the Iraq war in 2007, applying a counterinsurgency strategy that has been adapted for Afghanistan. Petraeus has a reputation for rigorous discipline. He keeps a punishing pace: he spent more than 300 days on the road last year. McChrystal President Obama speaks with McChrystal on Air Force One last October, shortly after the general had been appointed to take over as commander of U.S. operations in Afghanistan General McChrystal Controversy: General McChrystal pictured on the first two pages of the controversial Rolling Stone feature which brought his long military career to an end Rolling Stone Obama's general: The fateful cover of the Rolling Stone issue which contained the McChrystal profile He briefly collapsed during Senate testimony last week, apparently from dehydration. It was a rare glimpse of weakness for a man known as among the military's most driven. In the hearing last week, Petraeus told Congress he would recommend delaying Obama's prescribed pullout of U.S. forces from Afghanistan beginning in July 2011. He said security and political conditions in Afghanistan must be ready to handle a U.S. drawdown. Waheed Omar, spokesman for Karzai, said Petraeus 'will also be a trusted partner.' Karzai had been a lonely voice in speaking out in support of McChrystal. But Omar said of Petraeus: 'He is the most informed person and the most obvious choice for this job' now that McChrystal is out. The announcement came as June became the deadliest month for the international coalition in Afghanistan. Nato announced eight more international troop deaths on Wednesday for a total of 76 this month, one more than in the deadliest month previously, in July 2009. The stakes are also high for Mr Obama personally because he staked his presidency on success in Afghanistan when he assumed office. McChrystal had been summoned from Afghanistan to face the president before the monthly strategy briefing in Washington. Rolling Stone General McChrystal General McChrystal sits in a helicopter after a lengthy conference meeting with military officials at the forward operating base (FOB) Walton, outside of Kandahar last October DAVID PETRAEUS: THE FOUR-STAR GENERAL WITH A SUPERSTAR REPUTATION Gen. David Petraeus laughs with troops General David Petraeus laughs with troops David Petraeus already has turned around a struggling U.S. war once. The White House is betting he can do it again. But the professorial four-star general with a superstar reputation has not been chosen to bring a bold new strategy to the war. Instead, he is seen as the officer best able to make the current strategy work by making peace among squabbling diplomats and U.S. and Nato military leaders. If McChrystal's staff resembled a boy's club in the magazine article, Petraeus runs his team more like a graduate seminar. Petraeus also is seen as ablest to pick up the counterinsurgency battle plan exactly where McChrystal is leaving off. He was McChrystal's boss as head of U.S. Central Command, in Tampa, Florida, where he already was keeping tabs on the campaign, with frequent visits to Afghanistan. 'He's already completely up to date on the intelligence, knows the political and military actors and understands the region,' says John Nagl, president of the Centre for the New American Security. Most importantly, Petraeus has established a solid relationship with the White House, according to Brookings Institution's Michael O'Hanlon. 'He was part of both of the White House's Afghanistan strategy reviews,' O'Hanlon said. 'He and the president know each other pretty well right now.' Such a personal relationship that was notably lacking between President Barack Obama and McChrystal. The Afghanistan job is technically a demotion from Petraeus' current post, where he oversees U.S. military involvement across the Middle East. No one who has worked with Petraeus thinks that is how he will see it. 'He's getting another opportunity to step into a war at a critical inflection point, when the security of the American people is at stake,' said Nagl, a retired Army officer who worked for Petraeus. 'He can walk right into the job,' says his former executive officer, retired U.S. Army Col. Peter Mansoor. 'He'll have the support of the troops. He can just roll up his sleeves, and get right to work.' Petraeus is expected to continue with McChrystal's strategy in Afghanistan in large part because it is based on Petreaus' own ideas about beating an insurgency. The post will mean another long stint overseas for a man who spent three yearlong-plus tours in Iraq. His return to the United States has not meant much more time with his wife Holly in Tampa, however. He spent more than 300 days on the road last year, even as he battled prostate cancer. He was later declared free of the disease after a course of chemotherapy. 'He is the Energizer general,' said Mansoor, Petraeus' executive officer in Iraq in 2007-08. 'But what he'll need is someone on his staff to make him pace himself,' says Mansoor. 'His natural instinct is to run himself into the ground.' Day to day, the 57-year-old general keeps a punishing pace, rising early for long runs where he regularly outruns officers half his age, and responding to e-mails in the middle of the night. That nonstop pace has sometimes shown on Petraeus. He briefly collapsed during Senate testimony last week, apparently from dehydration. Petraeus has denied repeatedly that he plans to run for president in 2012 and is said to want only one job: chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff. His favorite expression, one of his former staffers says, gives you a key to his character: 'Luck is what you call it, when preparation meets opportunity.' He handed in his resignation, which was accepted, and left immediately. Obama seemed to suggest that McChrystal's military career is over, saying the nation should be grateful 'for his remarkable career in uniform' as if that has drawn to a close. McChrystal left the White House after the meeting and returned to his military quarters at Washington's Fort McNair. The unprecedented row has sent shockwaves through Washington and the Pentagon. McChrystal has fired his press aide and apologised for his 'poor judgment' over the article, which implied that his real enemy were 'the wimps in the White House'. In the profile, one of his aides is quoted as saying of Mr Obama's senior envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke: 'The Boss says he's like a wounded animal. 'Holbrooke keeps hearing rumours that he's going to get fired, so that makes him dangerous.' Reacting to an email the envoy sent him, McChrystal says at one point: 'Oh, not another email from Holbrooke. I don't even want to read it.' McChrystal is depicted as having no truck with those who are sceptical about his tactics, such as Mr Biden. At one stage he pretends to be dismissing Mr Biden from his post, saying: 'Are you asking me about Vice President Biden? Who's that?' David Cameron has insisted that the UK remains 'absolutely committed' to the military campaign in Afghanistan despite the sacking of Nato commander Stanley McChrystal. But Downing Street dismissed concerns that the departure of the architect of the alliance's counter-insurgency strategy could undermine its 'credibility'. The Prime Minister and Mr Obama spoke on the phone last night and 'again made clear that the UK and US Governments remain absolutely committed to the strategy in Afghanistan', according to Number 10. 'The British Government's resolve to support our brave servicemen and women and make progress in this crucial year is undiminished. 'It is vital for our national security that Afghanistan should never again be a safe haven for Al Qaida.' The PM paid tribute to Gen McChrystal for his contribution to the campaign and expressed approval that he would be replaced by Gen David Petraeus. Nato's British deputy commander in Afghanistan, Lt Gen Nick Parker, will take charge temporarily until Gen Petraeus's appointment is cleared by Congress. Mr Cameron told the President that Gen Parker was determined that the mission in Afghanistan 'would not miss a beat' during the changeover. Defence Secretary Liam Fox added: 'There can be no celebration amongst our enemies, the Taliban or anybody else, because it is very clear that we are getting a continuity in policy. 'Gen Parker taking over, as current deputy commander, provides that continuity and Gen Petraeus will continue the policy of counter insurgency that Gen McChrystal started.' Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said the departure raised concerns for British troops. 'The sacking of Gen McChrystal must inevitably raise questions about the continuing effectiveness of the Allied strategy in Afghanistan,' he said. 'McChrystal was the author of the strategy and the senior military commander responsible for its implementation. 'It is well known that he was resistant to Barack Obama's pledge to start reducing American forces by next summer. 'However it is described, this is a serious blow to the credibility of the alliance and Nato's effort against the Taliban.' In a statement issued in Kabul, McChrystal said he tendered his resignation out of a desire to see the mission in Afghanistan succeed. 'I strongly support the president's strategy in Afghanistan and am deeply committed to our coalition forces, our partner nations and the Afghan people,' McChrystal said in the statement, released just minutes after Obama announced that he was being replaced. 'It was out of respect for this commitment - and a desire to see the mission succeed - that I tendered my resignation.' Gen Petraeus has been Gen McChrystal's superior, overseeing the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq from Central Command. Before that, he led President George Bush's surge of troops into Iraq that was credited with turning that war around. Last week, there was concern about Gen Petraeus when he fainted while testifying at a Senate hearing about the war in Afghanistan. It was put down to jet lag and dehydration. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said McChrystal should have resigned because his strategy had 'clearly failed.' 'The problems between American leaders over Afghan issues very clearly show that the policy and the strategy of America has failed,' he said. 'They cannot win this war because the Afghan nation is united and they are committed to defeating American forces in Afghanistan.' The flap over McChrystal comes as Nato and Afghan forces are ramping up security in and around the key southern city of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban. Before General Petraeus' appointment was announced yesterday, Karzai's younger half brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai - the head of the Kandahar provincial council - gave General McChrystal a ringing endorsement, telling reporters that McChrystal's leadership would be sorely missed. 'If he is fired, it will disrupt the operation,' Ahmad Wali Karzai said. 'It definitely will affect it. He (McChrystal) started all this, and he has a good relationship with the people. 'The people trust him and we trust him. If we lose this important person, I don't think that this operation will work in a positive way.' Flinty-eyed and ruthless, diplomacy is just not his thing By RICHARD PENDLEBURY McChrystal McChrystal cultivated a driven image pf a man who ran seven miles every day, only ate one meal and slept for jusy four hours per night Last April Stanley McChrystal was pacing a Parisian hotel room, about to break bread with a French minister. He wasn’t enthusiastic. ‘I’d rather have my *** kicked by a roomful of people than go out to this dinner,’ the general reportedly quipped to his aides. He paused, before delivering a suitably macho punchline: ‘Unfortunately no one in this room could do it.’ Yesterday he met someone who could. And President Barack Obama duly kicked it, all the way into touch. McChrystal’s sacking represents a startling fall from grace. By any measure it is also a blow to the campaign against the Taliban, which McChrystal reshaped radically after his appointment by Obama only 12 months ago. General McChrystal, 55, is a former special forces soldier. Unconventional, covert and ruthless tactics go with the territory. In recent years he has led the hunt for, capture or assassination of a number of his country’s most dangerous enemies. You can see it in the general’s flinty eyes and sharp, austere features, which are honed, it is said, by a daily routine of only one meal, a seven-mile run and four hours of sleep. Diplomatic dinners, or indeed diplomacy, are clearly not his thing. Nor is fast food, which he has banned from Afghan bases. McChrystal, the son of a soldier who fought in Korea and Vietnam and rose to become a two star general, joined the U.S. Army in 1972, as the war in south-east Asia came to a demoralising conclusion. He climbed the ladder of command and in 2003 became commanding general of the secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which controlled American special forces operations abroad. Three years later he became its overall commander. JSOC was the spearhead for capture or kill operations against key figures in Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the insurgency in Iraq. Osama Bin Laden remained elusive. But McChrystal’s soldiers found and captured Saddam Hussein. A special JSOC unit called Task Force 6-26 also led the hunt for the ruthless head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He was finally cornered in a house and killed by an airstrike. McChrystal is said to have personally gone into the ruins to identify the corpse. But there were controversies along the way. In 2007 he was lucky to escape unscathed from the affair of Pat Tillman, the American football star who after 9/11 left the game to join the special forces. He was killed in a battle in Afghanistan in 2004 and McChrystal signed off a citation for Tillman to be posthumously awarded a silver. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1289163/Obama-dismisses-Stanley-McChrystal-Rolling -Stone-wimps-White-House-article.html#ixzz0rlW8eqgr Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Polanyi Posted June 24, 2010 The Iranians executed AbdulMalik Al rigi, rahihumullah. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdolmalek_Rigi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ibtisam Posted June 24, 2010 ^^^They guy killed normally people, I have mixed feelings about him. To allah we belong and return to; Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BUKURR Posted June 24, 2010 This is an old news, ofcouuuurse US kidnapped the guy. @Karl: Hope one day you and your family would get killed by a suicide bomber while you getting out from your car to pray Jumma-could only wish the same for you. AbdulMalik was a terrorist with a grade of being also a US dog and you here saying rahihumullah, may he forever be punished for the MUSLIM souls he took Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nin-Yaaban Posted June 24, 2010 About this General being fired by Obama, he should've been fired a very long time ago. They've been in afghanistan how many yrs now, and still can't find Osama Bin Laden. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Polanyi Posted June 25, 2010 Originally posted by BaiGaduud: This is an old news, ofcouuuurse US kidnapped the guy. @Karl: Hope one day you and your family would get killed by a suicide bomber while you getting out from your car to pray Jumma- could only wish the same for you . AbdulMalik was a terrorist with a grade of being also a US dog and you here saying rahihumullah , may he forever be punished for the MUSLIM souls he took Although we are drifting from the purpose of this thread, you are indeed resorting to the usual suicide bomber killing civilians emotional nonsense. The man in question was resisting the Iranian Revolutionary Guards , true terrorists who are oppressing his ethnic group and the sunnah people of Iran( who have less rights than iranian jews and christians). Moreover, he was never ever brought to any real court and those allegations have never been proved. I have no reason to believe the brother was killing Iranian civilians or blowing up mosques. Do you have any evidence other# than the propaganda of the Iranian regime? I doubt it, so don't bore us with emotional hearsay, thanks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
