The Cool Blue Blog

Iran's letter to Democrats

The leader of the most pernicious terrorist-sponser in the Middle East has written a letter, supposedly to "the American people" but it is clear from the text that it is actually written to the Left wing in America and appeals specifically to Democrats to keep the promises that supposedly got them power in Congress.

I'd also like to say a word to the winners of the recent elections in the US:

The United States has had many administrations; some who have left a positive legacy, and others that are neither remembered fondly by the American people nor by other nations.

Now that you control an important branch of the US Government, you will also be held to account by the people and by history.

If the US Government meets the current domestic and external challenges with an approach based on truth and Justice, it can remedy some of the past afflictions and alleviate some of the global resentment and hatred of America. But if the approach remains the same, it would not be unexpected that the American people would similarly reject the new electoral winners, although the recent elections, rather than reflecting a victory, in reality point to the failure of the current administration's policies. These issues had been extensively dealt with in my letter to President Bush earlier this year.

The crazy, messianic President Ahmadinejad, who has said in the past that Israel should be wiped off the face of the Earth, also appeals to the anti-Israel Left wing (is that redundant?)

What has blind support for the Zionists by the US administration brought for the American people? It is regrettable that for the US administration, the interests of these occupiers supersedes the interests of the American people and of the other nations of the world.

What have the Zionists done for the American people that the US administration considers itself obliged to blindly support these infamous aggressors? Is it not because they have imposed themselves on a substantial portion of the banking, financial, cultural and media sectors?

His arguments are meant for the blind believers and the Left who don't know (or don't care) that Iran supplies and supports organizations like Hizbollah and Hamas. That they are at least as much responsible for civilian deaths in Iraq as al Qaida, and that they either directly or indirectly have caused more civilian deaths in Iraq and the world than the US military.

And while Ahmadinejad's message appeals to Leftists in the US, let's not forget that the vast majority of Leftists are Communists. So this is a message, also,

...from the kabuki master

 

State of denial

Yesterday President Bush correctly identified the perpetrators of the recent large scale attacks in Iraq as well as the masterminds behind the sectarian battles being fought between Shi'a and Sunni Iraqis.

"There's a lot of sectarian violence taking place, fomented in my opinion because of the attacks by al-Qaeda causing people to seek reprisal."

Of course we all remember back at the beginning of 2005 when the letter from Zarqawi was intercepted stating specifically how al Qaeda in Iraq was attempting to effect a civil war. In February of 2005 I wrote

Even before the elections, terrorists faux Iraqi minutemen were targeting civilians and Iraqi security forces more than US military, but now the justification for blowing up mosques while civilians are praying or targeting worshippers during Ashura has no "liberation" justification whatsoever and only serves to remove the facade of noble cause. These actions can only be viewed in the context of Zarqawi's memo to al Qaeda that fostering a civil war in Iraq may be the only path to taking control of the country and its oil because it makes no political sense otherwise.

But, it seems, not everyone remembers this. One who has such a deficit is the presumed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who, in response to the President's statement above said

House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said Tuesday she feels "sad" President Bush blamed insurgent violence on al Qaeda while he dismissed notions Iraq is in a civil war.

"My thoughts on the president's representations are well-known," Pelosi told reporters while meeting with Deputy Italian Minister Francesco Rutelli. "The 9/11 Commission dismissed that notion a long time ago and I feel sad that the president is resorting to it again."

Of course, we all know the 9/11 commission was referring to pre-September 11th Iraq, not the Iraq of today (and I would take issue with Ms Peolosi's characterization of the 9/11 report regarding al Qaeda and Iraq as I have pointed out here and here)

Also, it is quite clear that al Qaeda is in Iraq now, and they are perpetrating and exacerbating sectarian violence right along with Iran.

It is disturbing that Rep Pelosi could become Speaker and second in line for the Presidency after Cheney given her poor judgement in the cases of John Murtha and Alcee Hastings, and now this gross lack of knowledge regarding the enemy. Or is she in denial?

But the Democratic Caucus refused her choice of Murtha, and pressured her against selecting Hastings (over the objections of the powerful Black Caucus).

I think the Democratic caucus should display futher wisdom by not selecting Rep Pelosi for Speaker.

The French intifada continues

According to Daniel Pipes, France has surrendered 751 French neighboorhoods to Islamists. They are listed here. And in keeping with cultural sensitivity, these areas are not called "territory ceded to the terrorists" nor are they called "lawless areas". No, they are Sensitive Urban Zones: Zones Urbaines Sensibles to be precise.

What happens when cops go into the Sensitive Urban Zones to attempt impose the law of the land on the residents? I'll tell you what:

Stoned, beaten and insulted, their vehicles torched by crowds of hostile youths, French police say they face an urban guerrilla war when they enter the run-down neighborhoods that ring the major cities.

"Our role is to guarantee the safety of people and property but the great difficulty today is that police are having problems ensuring their own safety," said Jerome Hanarte of the Alliance-Police Nationale union.

Bedside television interviews with officers hospitalized after beatings in "les banlieues," or suburbs, support statistics showing a 6.7 percent jump in violent crime in the 12 months to August.

Fourteen officers are hurt every day in the line of duty, unions estimate, and law and order is sure to feature prominently in next year's presidential election.

The head of the French crime statistics body told Reuters the rise in attacks on police was partly due to Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy's 2002 decision to order police back into tough areas, to disrupt the black economy that fuels crime.

Cut! Cut! Stop the film. I gotta say something here.

The crime statistics guy is blaming the Interior Minister for attempting to impose French law which, he claims so upsets the criminals that it creates even more crime, and, by the way, gets police hurt...

To the tune of fourteen a day sent to the hospital!

Is this guy serious?

And of course the criminals are more than willing to echo these sentiments

Some residents complain the move spawned constant police harassment which has only exacerbated tensions with local youths, many of whom come from ethnic minorities.

"You can see discrimination in ID controls," complained Kader Latreche, 36, an Algerian with his own photo equipment repair shop in the La Courneuve suburb.

"Why is it always people from the Maghreb or black people who are being stopped and checked? If it happens over and over again, it gets to you. People are frustrated, that's obvious."

Riiiiight.

How much those frustrations are driving the violent reaction to police is hard to gauge but Nicolas Comte, general secretary of the Syndicat General de la Police (SGP), said officers now face guerrilla warfare in the suburbs.

So even the presence of a cop in a Black (read: Algerian Islamist) neighborhood is discriminatory

"The simple presence of men in uniforms in some areas is no longer a provocation but a declaration of war in the minds of some louts," he told a recent police union rally.

As Daniel Pipes said

Things have reached a pretty sad state when the police have to demonstrate in the streets against the criminals.

If we are not careful, that will be us in a few years...

Testing the waters

The evidence mounts that, as I speculated a few days ago, the six "imams" thrown off a US Airways plane at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport for "praying" were in fact testing our security responses.

Muslim religious leaders removed from a Minneapolis flight last week exhibited behavior associated with a security probe by terrorists and were not merely engaged in prayers, according to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials.

Witnesses said three of the imams were praying loudly in the concourse and repeatedly shouted “Allah” when passengers were called for boarding US Airways Flight 300 to Phoenix.

“I was suspicious by the way they were praying very loud,” the gate agent told the Minneapolis Police Department.

Passengers and flight attendants told law-enforcement officials the imams switched from their assigned seats to a pattern associated with the September 11 terrorist attacks and also found in probes of U.S. security since the attacks — two in the front row first-class, two in the middle of the plane on the exit aisle and two in the rear of the cabin.

“That would alarm me,” said a federal air marshal who asked to remain anonymous. “They now control all of the entry and exit routes to the plane.”

A pilot from another airline said: “That behavior has been identified as a terrorist probe in the airline industry.”

But, of course, there was a second objective as well: to muddy the multicultural waters

...the imams who were escorted off the flight in handcuffs say they were merely praying before the 6:30 p.m. flight on Nov. 20, and yesterday led a protest by prayer with other religious leaders at the airline's ticket counter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, called removing the imams an act of Islamophobia and compared it to racism against blacks.

"It's a shame that as an African-American and a Muslim I have the double whammy of having to worry about driving while black and flying while Muslim," Mr. Bray said.

The protesters also called on Congress to pass legislation to outlaw passenger profiling.

Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, Texas Democrat, said the September 11 terrorist attacks "cannot be permitted to be used to justify racial profiling, harassment and discrimination of Muslim and Arab Americans."

"Understandably, the imams felt profiled, humiliated, and discriminated against by their treatment," she said.

The Islamists would love it if they were untouchable no matter what it was they did. So they will keep trying and keep protesting hoping the day will come that they will be able to affect the take over of an aircraft simply because people were wary of offending Muslims.

And legislators like Sheila Jackson-Lee will do what they can to help.

Visiting Islam

The Pope has arrived in Turkey

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Turkey Tuesday on his first visit to a Muslim country, where he will seek to ease anger over his perceived criticism of Islam and mend a split with the world's Orthodox Christians.

Can you imagine if the Pope had decided to mend fences in Saudi Arabia instead of Turkey?  According to the State Department web site

Islam pervades all aspects of life in Saudi Arabia and is the official religion of the country.  Public display of non-Islamic religious articles such as crosses and Bibles is not permitted.  Travel to Makkah (Mecca) and Medina, the cities where the two holiest mosques of Islam are located, is forbidden to non-Muslims....

To ensure that conservative standards of conduct are observed, the Saudi religious police have accosted or arrested foreigners, including U.S. citizens, for improper dress or other alleged infractions

It seems meding fences with Christians is not necessary

Scalzi for Soldiers

Sci-Fi Author John Scalzi is making his excellent novel The Ghost Brigades available to servicemen and women.

If you're currently serving in Iraq or Afghanistan and would like to receive an electronic edition of The Ghost Brigades to read and (hopefully) enjoy, all you have to do is send an e-mail from your .mil account to omw@scalzi.com and ask for it. As soon as I get your request, I'll send you an .rtf document (about 584kb in size), which you can format as you please for whatever you read things on.

Your cost: not a thing. You've earned some recreational reading, I expect.

In case you want to know, I reviewed Scalzi's book here.

The short of it is that it's a great read and you'll enjoy it, even if you have to buy it, which you should do if your not a sevicemember.

But if you are, just write to John and he'll send you a copy.

Removing the Black Jumpsuits

Bayji Operations Round Up 'Black Jumpsuit' Cell

Coalition Forces round up insurgents and get useful information leading to the capture of more insurgents.

By U.S. Army Spc. Joshua R. Ford

BAYJI, Iraq, Nov. 27, 2006 — Eight armored vehicles crept through the narrow city street in Bayji searching for the objective. More than 20 Paratroopers would storm, secure and search the site for their target.

“That’s it. Let’s move,” the platoon sergeant calmly said over the radio.

Immediately the element dismounted their vehicles and raced toward the target house.

Troops placed ladders and hurled themselves over the cement wall into the courtyard.

Once the courtyard was breached, the Paratroopers entered the house and found multiple small arms. They also detained one man linked to an insurgent cell.

“It was exciting,” said Staff Sgt. Mica Snell, fire support sergeant, Company C, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. “You fight everyday, and when your spirits are getting low and you find (an insurgent), it brings them back up.”

Since the beginning of November, scenarios like this have been an almost everyday occurrence for the Paratroopers of Company C.

“We have caught a lot of the major players from multiple insurgent cells, providing a lot of useful information leading to the capture of more insurgents and the discoveries of their hideouts and weapons caches,” said 1st Sgt. Micheal Green, Company C.

One of the biggest cache sites discovered was found on Bayji Island. The site included hand grenades, rocket-propelled-grenade launchers with multiple rounds, small arms, mortar tubes, mortar rounds and bomb-making material.

The find came after a unit called for support while detaining 11 individuals linked to an anti-Iraqi forces cell. The Paratroopers of Company C searched it and found a cache site that stretched across Bayji Island, said Green.

There were so many weapons and so much ammunition that the ordnance disposal team ran out of explosives while destroying the contents of the cache site.

The remaining weapons were taken back to Forward Operating Base Summerall to be destroyed.

Green added that after finding the cache there were no insurgent attacks in the area for more than 36 hours.

Later in the week, coalition and Iraqi forces conducted a raid based off intelligence from the coalition intelligence informing the Paratroopers of a terrorist cell that trademarks themselves with black uniforms.

When they searched the house, they found multiple black jumpsuits neatly hanging on a wall. Surrounding the uniforms was a scattered assortment of small arms and ammunition.

The “black jumpsuit” insurgent cell was shut down and out of commission in Bayji.

While raiding houses, Green says that the people understand why the coalition forces are there. They are very cooperative with the troops and often thank them for what they are doing for their community.

“When you are raiding a house in the middle of the night and the children run up and give you a hug you know you are making a difference,” said Green.

Because Company C has treated the Iraqis with dignity and respect, they have been able to get more information from the people of Bayji leading to the company’s success, which has created a safer and more secure area for the Bayji citizens, said Green.

“As we have worked through this area the people have grown more confident that we are actually here to help them, not only to get the bad guys out of Bayji, but to also help them in the situations the country has found itself in,” said Green.

Cold War redux

In July of 2001, Russia and China signed a treaty innocuously called "Treaty for Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation". The treaty encompassed five areas of cooperation

• Joint actions to offset a perceived U.S. hegemonism; ²

• Demarcation of the two countries' long-disputed 4,300 km border;

• Arms sales and technology transfers;

• Energy and raw materials supply; and

• The rise of militant Islam in Central Asia.

One month earlier, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan created the Shanghai Cooperation Organization which, at the time, was claimed not to be a military alliance; a counter-balance to NATO. But since that time, it looks more like a military alliance than not

Russia and China could take a step closer to forming a Eurasian military confederacy to rival NATO at a Moscow meeting of the six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Wednesday, experts say.

The group, which started in 2001 with limited goals of promoting cooperation in former Soviet Central Asia, has evolved rapidly toward a regional security bloc and could soon induct new members such as India, Pakistan, and Iran....

The SCO's swift rise has been fueled by deteriorating security conditions in ex-Soviet Central Asia, as well as a hunger in Moscow and Beijing for a vehicle that could counter US influence in the region.

"Moscow is seeking options to demonstrate - to Washington in the first place - that Russia is still an important player in this area," says Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in Global Affairs, a partner of the US bimonthly journal Foreign Affairs. "China's ambitions are growing fast, and it also wants to turn the SCO into something bigger and more effective."

Russian leaders blame the Bush administration, with its emphasis on democracy-building, for recent unrest, including revolution in Kyrgyzstan and a putative Islamist revolt in Uzbekistan. "Washington wants to expand democracy, which it sees as a panacea for all social and geopolitical evils," says Sergei Karaganov, head of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policies, which advises the Kremlin. "But it is clear to us that any rapid democratization of these countries (in Central Asia) will lead to chaos."

In Vietnam, when US forces got directly involved in helping the South stay free of Communism, Russia fought a proxy war and managed to get US to withdraw. This was in no small part to to Soviet influence in the US media and anti-war movements.

Later, we did the same to the USSR in Afghanistan, causing the Soviet Bloc to disintigrate.

With the US fighting for the West against Islamists, it seems likely to me that Russia and China are not only not being helpful, they are exacerbating the problem. I believe that what we are seeing yet another war with Communism that uses Islamic radicals as the proxy army.

Consider,

• both Russia and China are blocking strong sanctions with Iran.
• both Russia and China are aiding Iran's nuclear program
• Russia is supplying weapons to both Syria and Iran
• Many anti-War groups today are led by maoist or stalinist organizations

Which brings us to the nomination of Robert Gates to be the Secreatry of Defense. Most are preoccupied with the fact that he has suggested dialog with Syria and Iran to improve security in Iraq. But given the above, I think there was a more compelling reason for Bush to nominate him: he is an expert on Russia. He has a doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University and he spent many years in the CIA as an analyst whose specialty was the Soviet Union.

I think it is unlikely that Bush will negotiate with Syria and Iran for security in Iraq.

I do think, however, that the Bush Administration wants to keep a closer eye on Russia.

The Islamist goal is to cause the destruction of Western Capitalist societies. Attacking its economic base was the reason for picking the World Trade Center.

Oddly enough, Communists want precisely the same thing....

Tribal warfare

The vast desert area of Western Iraq, the Anbar province whose capital is Ramadi, has for a long time been the seat of al Qaida's power. But more and more that continues to be challenged, not just by US forces, who have always opposed them, but also by local residents and the tribal leaders.

And the tribes in the area continue to take the fight to the enemy.

The head of a tribal council in Iraq's western province of Anbar said on Sunday that tribesmen had killed 55 al Qaeda fighters in a battle on Saturday, but the U.S. military could not confirm the figures.

The death toll, if confirmed, would mark an unusually fierce clash with insurgents in a province where U.S. forces regularly battle foreign fighters they say are linked to al Qaeda and other Sunni insurgents.

The US supported the tribal operations with artillary and airstrikes, but the Iraqis had their own grudge to settle with al Qaida

"Al Qaeda burned homes and killed members of the tribe using small arms fire and mortars," the military said in a statement. It gave no casualty figures.

Sattar al-Buzayi, head of the Anbar Salvation Council, an umbrella group of tribes in Anbar, a vast Sunni province in the west of Iraq, said tribal fighters had raided an al Qaeda stronghold and killed 55 militants and arrested 25. He said nine tribal fighters were killed in the clash.

To counter the problems they are having here, al Qaida has its disinformation machine in full swing, and finding credulous US media outlets to propogate the propoganda

Big Media journalists often rely on sources that are unreliable. They don’t tell you the pressures these sources might be under from insurgents and terrorists. They refuse to tell you who their stringers are, so we can assess their motivations. They get quotes from doctors who seem to see only civilian deaths. If the military has been given insufficient time to respond to an allegation, these journalists don’t check with the military later, to verify that the story they’ve written is accurate. And sometimes, as here, their stories are completely at odds with numerous other accounts reported in other press outlets — and they seem to have no interest in finding out why.

Regardless, al Qaida is fighting for its life in Anbar. And while the false stories planted in the press may gain them some sympathy here in the US, they are being relentlessly hunted with bullets and steel.

UPDATE: Greyhawk has more here and here

Tender, loving, CAIR

Who does Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) support? Most recently, they are championing six "imams" who were removed from a US Airways flight earlier this month.

The gate agent thought it suspicious that the men were "praying very loud,'' according to a statement the agent gave police. Another witness said the imams "seemed angry, in heated discussion,'' and mentioned "U.S." and "killing Saddam.''

"The gate called boarding for the flight,'' this witness told police. "The men then chanted, 'Allah, Allah, Allah!' They walked in line for the flight, composed and calm… On the plane, I noticed they were spaced throughout the plane, from front to back.'' This witness passed a note to a flight attendant.

An off-duty flight attendant seated on the plane said the men were switching seats, speaking in Arabic and asking for seat-belt extensions that they didn't appear to need. The attendant told police one of the clerics "pretended to be blind.'' Another witness said he sat next to a cleric who spoke of the importance of living under Islamic law.

Who were these people and did they do anything wrong?

Some contend they were doing nothing wrong; that they are the victims of "fear of Muslims". Some like CAIR.

A Muslim cleric on Tuesday called for a boycott of US Airways, and an Islamic advocacy group called for an investigation, after the cleric and five other imams were removed in handcuffs from one of the carrier's flights shortly after three performed their evening prayer ritual.

Omar Shahin's call followed the airline's refusal to sell the six men tickets on another flight after they were forced off the Phoenix-bound Flight 300 Monday evening, an incident the Council on American Islamic Relations said may be linked to a persistent "fear and prejudice against Muslims in the United States...

"The fact that this very small group (terrorists) has hijacked our religion is not going to deter us from speaking out," Khan said, in a reference to the Sept. 11, hijackers and other terrorists. "Prayer is not a suspicious or criminal activity."...

"Is to practice your faith and pray a crime in America? This is a real problem," Shahin said at an impromptu news conference Tuesday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

But there is cause to suspect their motivations.

Why, for instance, did one pretend to be blind?

And why are these "imams" being defended by a man and an organization (CAIR) who have terrorist ties? Omar Shahin Represents the Kind Hearts Organization which supports terrorist organizations

"KindHearts is the progeny of Holy Land Foundation and Global Relief Foundation, which attempted to mask their support for terrorism behind the façade of charitable giving," said Stuart Levey, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. "By utilizing this specialized designation tool, we're able to prevent asset flight in support of terrorist activities while we further investigate the activities of KindHearts."

Shahin is also one of those who deny that Muslims were involved in the attacks on September 11, 2001

Shahin and Saadeddin [of the Tucson Islamic Center] expressed doubt that Muslims were responsible for the   Sept. 11 attack. They also said they don't trust much of what the FBI has divulged   - including the hijackers' identities.

However, according to Larry Goodson, professor of political science at Bentley   College in Massachusetts, the shadowy cluster of key players in Arizona resembles   an al-Qaeda cell.

"These are people whose job it is to come to the United States and settle   into regular jobs," said Goodson, the author of Afganistan's Endless War.   "They are not politically active. They do not flaunt their religious backgrounds.   Their job is to lay low until they are activated. It looks like Arizona had   some of these folks there."

I have documented in these pages the terrorist ties of CAIR itself including (but not limited to) this

• [CAIR is an] organization founded by Hamas supporters….
• CAIR was started by Hamas members….
• CAIR … was founded by Islamic terrorists.

Omar Ahmad and Nihad Awad, former officials of the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP), founded the organization, while IAP's president, Rafeeq Jabar, was (according to Steve Emerson) one of CAIR's founding directors,.

Former FBI counterterrorism chief Oliver "Buck" Revell has described the IAP as "a front organization for Hamas." This linkage between the IAP and Hamas was decisively established in 2004, when a federal judge in Chicago found it partially liable for $156 million in damages for its role in aiding and abetting Hamas in the murder of David Boim, a 17-year-old American citizen.

And then there is the similarity of this incident to one that occurred in Amsterdam not long ago that many Counterterrorism experts consider part of an on-going effort to probe our defenses.

TWELVE PASSENGERS ON Northwest Airlines Flight 42, which departed Amsterdam for Mumbai on August 23, quickly aroused the crew's suspicions. Eyewitnesses reported that the 12 passengers, who were of South Asian descent, attempted to use mobile phones and pass them back and forth as the flight took off. Compounding that suspicious behavior, some of the men began walking in the aisles before the plane's seatbelt signs were off. The flight was escorted back to Dutch airspace by F-16 fighters and the passengers were arrested, but Dutch prosecutors announced the next day that "they found no evidence of a terrorist threat."

This dramatic incident comes amid what has generally been described as a rash of false alarms following the August 10 revelation of a foiled transatlantic air terror plot. Since then, at least 20 public incidents involving airline security have been reported in the United States and Europe. Recent events include a September 1 AirTran flight to San Francisco being diverted after a passenger was seen sniffing a substance in a bag, an August 29 US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Houston being diverted after a "threatening note" prompted a bomb scare, and an August 25 US Airways jet being diverted after a disruptive passenger pushed a flight attendant. The commonly accepted explanation for this spike in incidents is that airline crews and passengers are on a hair trigger. But there may also be casings and dry runs occurring, and it's difficult for an open society to guard against these exercises.

CAIR has also defended the Islamist, and al Qaida- and Hezbolla-affiliated Islamic Courts who are systematically taking over Somalia. Ahmad al-Alhras, Vice chairman of national Council on American-Islamic Relations recently wrote

What has happened in Somalia, for the majority of Somalis inside and those who are abroad, is a positive change. I truly suggest that we should not prejudge this change, or any change for that matter, based on the religious affiliation of those in power.

It seems to me that there is a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to Muslims, Islam, Arabs and Palestinian issues. A view of the big picture seems to be missing.

But the "big picture" was revealed by a UN study I reported on just a little while ago.

...Iran may have sought to trade arms for uranium from Somalia or elsewhere in Africa to fuel its nuclear ambitions.

Both groups vying for control of the Horn of Africa nation since Islamists took the capital Mogadishu from U.S.-backed warlords in June have extensive foreign state backing.

Ethiopia and Eritrea, backing the government and Islamists respectively, are the biggest violators of a 1992 U.N. arms embargo on Somalia, the report says, adding they have sent in vast quantities of weapons and equipment, and provided training....

the report said about 720 Somali Islamist fighters with combat experience -- selected by Afghanistan-trained hardline Islamist commander Adan Hashi Farah "Ayro" -- went to Lebanon to fight Israel along Hezbollah in mid-July.

The fighters were paid $2,000 and as much as $30,000, to be given to their families, if they were killed, the report says.

At least 100 Somali fighters returned, along with five Hezbollah members, while an unknown number stayed in Lebanon for advanced military training, it states.

"In exchange for the contribution of the Somali military force, Hezbollah arranged for additional support to be given ... by the governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Syrian Arab Republic, which was subsequently provided," it says.

That included shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, grenade launchers, machine guns, ammunition, medicine, uniforms and other supplies. Additionally, Syria hosted about 200 Islamist fighters for training in guerrilla warfare, the report says.

The report also gives a hint that Iran, locked in a battle with the West over its nuclear ambitions, may have sought help in finding uranium in the hometown of Somali Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys.

"At the time of the writing of the present report, there were two Iranians in Dusa Mareb engaged in matters linked to uranium in exchange for arms," it says, but gives no more information.

The fact of the matter is, if CAIR is supporting a cause, there is reason to be suspicious.