New Flotilla Announced as Radical Disclosures Grow

The Turkish group IHH announced Wednesday that it will send another flotilla to Gaza comprised of six ships during the second half of July. On the same day, Israel added IHH to its terrorist watch list.

IHH led last month's flotilla, which ended violently when a group of radical Islamists on the ship Mavi Marmara attacked Israeli commandos with clubs, knives and other weapons as the soldiers tried to enforce the blockade on the Hamas government in Gaza. Nine people died on the ship, though there were no casualties on six other ships that offered no resistance.

An IHH press conference was held at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, organized by Richard Howitt, a British member of the Parliament. During the conference, Howitt encouraged the EU to back the new flotilla initiative, stating:

"If this terrible (May 31) tragedy tips the balance so that the international community finally insists on full and unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza, then some good can still come out of it. But only one reason should stop this new convoy from safely arriving in Gaza and that's an end to the blockade itself."

Also in attendance was Mazen Kahel, spokesperson for The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG), a radical, UK-based organization and one of the organizers of the "Freedom Flotilla."

Kahel announced that ECESG is planning "Freedom Flotilla 2."

"We have six boats which are ready to leave Europe, [and] we are hoping to head off next month, in the last half of July," he said.

Also participating in ECESG's second flotilla is the Free Gaza Movement (FGM), which lead the May flotilla along with IHH. Following the May 31^st Mavi Marmara incident, FGM stated that it was "proud" and "honored" to have worked with IHH, and declared on its website that "We Are All IHH."

It is unclear whether ECESG and IHH are jointly planning the July convoy.

Earlier this month, representatives from all five organizers of the freedom flotilla held a meeting at the headquarters of IHH in Istanbul, where they vowed to continue their actions until Israel lift's its blockade on Gaza.

Since IHH's flotilla last month to Gaza, evidence continues to emerge about how the Hamas-linked group planned for a violent confrontation with Israel in advance, under the leadership of IHH head Bulent Yildirim.

In an interview originally released by The Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), Hussein Urush, senior IHH member and an organizer of the flotilla told Al-Jazeera TV:

"The passengers aboard the ship were all prepared for this outcome. They all wanted to become martyrs. They were prepared. Our goal was to reach Gaza or die without achieving that" [Emphasis added].

Click here for ITIC's comprehensive report on IHH's preparations for martyrdom.

New U.S. Sanctions Aim to Curb Iranian Nuclear Program

In the ongoing efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program, the United States unveiled new sanctions Wednesday against people and entities associated with the regime's illicit weapons program. Implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1929, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey announced that this action signaled the administration's renewed efforts at combating Iranian nuclear proliferation.

Among those targeted by the new sanctions are:

• Post Bank of Iran for providing financial services to, and acting on behalf of, Bank Sepah.
• Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps entities and individuals including the IRGC Air Force and Missile Command, and Sepanir Oil and Gas Engineering Company.
• Mohammad Ali Jafari and Mohammad Reza Naqdi for their leadership positions within the IRGC.
• Javedan Mehr Toos, a procurement broker for Kaleye Electronic Company which is tied to Iran's WMD program.
• Javad Karimi Sabet and Amhad Vahidi for their ties to Iran's nuclear and WMD programs.
• Five Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines front companies and 27 vessels.
• 22 entities in the insurance, petroleum and petrochemicals industries determined to be owned or controlled by the government of Iran.

The United States has previously attempted to dissuade Iran's nuclear ambitions with sanctions (see here, here, and here), however, Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner called these latest efforts "the toughest sanctions ever imposed on the Iranian government." As a result of these designations, all transactions involving any of these listed and anyone in the U.S. are prohibited.

Whether or not these efforts will be effective remains to be seen. As Levey explained:

"If the Iranian Government holds true to form, it will scramble to identify 'work arounds'—hiding behind front companies, doctoring wire transfers, falsifying shipping documents."

Pakistan's Two-Faced Counter Terrorism Policy

New evidence emerged this week that should cause the international community to second-guess Pakistan's dedication to combating terrorism. Despite repeated assurances, including one this week by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, that the country will do all that it can to fight extremism, Pakistan continues to maintain close ties with terrorist groups.

The Pakistani government, directly and through its Inter-Services Intelligence agency, has been integral to both the Afghan Taliban and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) since the founding of the two militant groups. Whereas LeT was established to fight a proxy war with India in Kashmir, the Taliban was formed to prevent India from gaining a strategic foothold in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of Soviet troops in the 1990s.

A recently released report by the United Nations details the continued support for the militants that has remained an open secret since then:

"The Pakistani military organized and supported the Taliban to take control of Afghanistan in 1996. Similar tactics were used in Kashmir against India after 1989….The Pakistani military and ISI also used and supported some of these groups in the Kashmir insurgency after 1989. The bulk of the anti-Indian activity was and still remains the work of groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has close ties with the ISI."

And despite its claims to be combating terrorism, a number of recent reports detail the continuing connections between the Pakistani government and both the Taliban and LeT.

First, this week the London School of Economics released a study by Matt Waldman entitled The Sun in the Sky: The Relationship between Pakistan's ISI and Afghan Insurgents. Among the report's conclusions, based upon interviews with captured insurgents and counterterrorism officials:

"[A]s the provider of sanctuary, and very substantial financial, military and logistical support to the insurgency, the ISI appears to have strong strategic and operational influence—reinforced by coercion. There is thus a strong case that the ISI and elements of the military are deeply involved in the insurgent campaign, and have powerful influence over the Haqqani network."

Official documents obtained by Indian press revealed that the government of Pakistan's Punjab province provided approximately $1 million dollars to Jamaat-ud-Dawah and its institutions during the past year despite the group's status as a front for LeT.

Moreover, interviews with Pakistani American terrorist David Coleman Headley confirmed that LeT carried out the Mumbai attack under the guidance of Pakistan's ISI. He identified a number of officers serving in the Pakistani Army—Major Smeer Ali, Major Iqbal, and Major Haroon—as those who collaborated with the Lashkar terrorists, and claimed that the ISI was engaged in the activities at "each and every stage of the plot."

Both the Taliban and LeT deny the allegations of support from the Pakistanis. JuD spokesman Yahya Mujahid claimed his organization had not received any money from the provincial government:

"We are a welfare organization and raise our own funds from the public for providing educational and healthcare services to help the people."

Issuing a more forceful rebuke, a statement released on its website, the Voice of Jihad, the Afghan Taliban described the study as "a merely baseless propaganda launched to promote British and American interests." It continued:

"Rulers of the government of Pakistan claim that they are the frontline pioneers of the American ignited war. They have not spared to do whatever was in their capacity to do. Hence, it is not rationale to say that they are supporting the jihad and resistance against the Americans in Afghanistan. Had Pakistan supported the Mujahiden, then manifestations and impact of their support would have categorically become visible."

Despite these denials, the evidence speaks for itself.

Since 2001, the United States has provided Pakistan with at least $7 billion for the costs of fighting terrorism and trained almost 400 Pakistani Army officers, but in Waldman's words, "Pakistan appears to be playing a double-game of astonishing magnitude."

"American Ninja" Stopped in his Quest for bin Laden

Gary Brooks Faulkner may look like an average, middle-aged American, but he is also a man on a mission—to single-handedly kill Osama bin Laden. He is already being dubbed the "American ninja," but his pursuit of bin Laden into the Af-Pak border is not without merit.

Faulkner was picked up by Pakistani police on Sunday in the Chitral District of Pakistan. He originally claimed to be a kidney patient, and he even had medicine and blood pressure medication with him to prove it. However, according to a senior Pakistani police investigator, Mumtaz Ahmed, Faulkner eventually told police that he was trying to cross into Afghanistan in order to kill bin Laden.

Rumors that bin Laden has been hiding out in the northern Af-Pak border region are not new. The mountainous Chitral (Pakistan) borders Nuristan (Afghanistan)—a known Taliban stronghold. More than that, authorities have long suspected that bin Laden and his associates remain hidden in Nuristan—suspicions that have been confirmed by captured al Qaida leaders. In response to these concerns, the United States has recently begun to engage in more bombings of the area.

Despite these attempts by U.S. and coalition forces to crack down in the lawless region along the border from the sky, there remains little state intervention from either the Pakistani or American authorities on the ground in Nuristan because its terrain is remote, unwelcoming to foreigners, and impossible to defend. It was for this very reason that U.S. troops withdrew from the region. But, the fact that even U.S. forces no longer choose to enter Nuristan, was not enough to deter Faulkner.

The idea that Faulkner, armed merely with a sword, dagger, pistol, night-vision goggles and camera, and Christian literature could have successfully caught and killed Osama seems ludicrous. However, it does raise questions about the U.S. strategy to capture bin Laden. Is the U.S. truly doing all it can to eliminate the terrorist mastermind? And is Faulkner merely a crazy zealot seeking bin Laden, or was he actually onto something in Chitral?

Man Gets Probation In Plot To Smuggle Somalis into U.S.

Anthony Joseph Tracy, who confessed to helping 272 Somalis travel illegally to the United States through Cuba last year, has been sentenced to 4 months in prison for his role in the scheme.  With credit for time served, Tracy, who is thought to be cooperating with law enforcement, was released from jail June 4 and placed on probation.

Tracy said some of the individuals who approached him were associated with the terror organization al-Shabaab. Prosecutors said Tracy, (who converted to Islam while in prison during the 1990s) failed a lie-detector test when he denied helping members of that Al Qaeda-linked group.

Much of the court record in the case has been sealed or redacted.  According to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court February 5, Immigration and Customs Enforcement by (ICE) Special Agent Thomas Eyre, "Tracy stated that he knew that the final destination for the Somalis for whom he obtained visas was the United States, with the visas fraudulently obtained in Kenya being the first step in the process."

Tracy, an informant for ICE and another unidentified federal agency, has admitted that after fraudulently obtaining the Cuban visas some of the Somalis traveled from Kenya to Dubai to Moscow to Cuba to South America with a goal of entering the United States. American officials have been unable to locate most of the Somalis involved in the fraud scheme and do not know if any have entered the country.

Tracy departed the United States for Nairobi, Kenya on April 9, 2009. He returned to the United States at JFK International Airport in New York on January 18, 2010 "and voluntarily consented to be interviewed" by the FBI and ICE special agents and an NYPD detective, according to Eyre's affidavit.

Tracy "said that he helped approximately 272 Somalis travel illegally to the United States, using his business, Noor Services Limited. Tracy admitted that he would help the aliens by providing and manufacturing the fake documents that are required to obtain Cuban visas, such as bank statements reflecting residency in Kenya for approximately 6 months, hotel accommodations in Cuba, and round trip airline tickets," the affidavit stated.

Tracy said he would charge between $100 and $1,000 for fraudulent supporting documents for the Somalis. He would take the documents to contacts at the Cuban Embassy in Kenya who would grant visas to enter that communist state.

According to the affidavit, Tracy stated in a subsequent interview "that after he arrived in Kenya in April 2009, it took him a couple of weeks to establish his visa fraud business. Tracy further stated that he helped 272 Somalis obtain fraudulent visas in Kenya between May 2009 and December 2009, at a rate of approximately five to ten Somalis a week."

When police searched Tracy's email account, they found a January 14, 2010 e-mail  from Tracy to an acquaintance stating that "…I will be back in Kenya at the end of February, so contact me then and i will assist you inshallah. i helped  alot of Somalis and most are good but there are some who are bad and I leave them to ALLAH…."

Read more about the case here and here.

Hamas and the Gaza Blockade

Following Israel's interception of the "Freedom Flotilla" on the Mediterranean Sea, news outlets reported on condemnations of Israel for the ensuing violence. Some have said that the passengers on the flotilla's IHH Mavi Marmara ship are to blame for the deaths of nine passengers after attacking Israeli commandos with clubs and knives.

No one was hurt on five other ships on which passengers peacefully surrendered.

Yet, there's a relevant question which rarely is addressed in the news coverage of the incident: Would an end to the blockade soften the position of Hamas leaders toward peace?

In the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday, Stanford University Professor Joel Brinkley called such a notion "utterly naïve." He noted:

"Hamas leaders are single-minded, heedless of anything but their generational crusade. Could there be better evidence than Hamas' refusal to accept the aid unloaded from the flotilla ships, tons of it - denying their people all of that food and medicine, preferring instead to make a political statement?"

Brinkley also called out the selective outrage that comes with any incident involving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While the flotilla issue dominates headlines and diplomatic circles, gunmen in Pakistan killed 12 people in their hospital beds on the same day. The shooting victims had survived attacks on two mosques that killed 93 other people. The slaughter barely drew a peep in international condemnation. That prompted Brinkley to wonder:

"Imagine for a moment that the activists had decided to storm Egypt's gates to Gaza instead and, when Egyptian troops tried to stop the aid caravan, activists assaulted the soldiers with iron rods and knives. If the Egyptians shot and killed nine people in the ensuing melee, do you think the U.N. Security Council would be dropping everything right now to rush through a resolution condemning Egypt? Certainly not."

Meanwhile, few people question what Hamas is doing while the world focuses on the flotilla. Veteran award-winning journalist Khaled Abu Toameh reports that little of it is helping the civilian population in Gaza:

"Ever since it seized control over the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007, Hamas has imposed a reign of terror on the local population in general and its critics in particular. Hamas has brought nothing to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip other than death and disaster."

Little attention was given to Hamas's raid on NGOs in the Gaza Strip days after the flotilla incident, Toameh writes. Hamas security agents confiscated documents, computers and other equipment, and ordered the offices closed indefinitely. Hamas provided no explanation for their actions. Palestinian human rights groups were outraged.

Furthermore, Toameh argues, "Under Hamas, the Gaza Strip is being transformed into a fundamentalist Islamic entity resembling the regimes of the Ayatollahs in Iran and the Taliban in Afghanistan." He adds:

"Instead of searching for ways to improve the living conditions of the 1.5 million Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, Hamas is busy enforcing strict Islamic rules on the population, such as Hamas policemen, for example, often stopping men and women who are seen together in public to inquire about the nature of their relationship."

In each column, the point can be made that the flotilla's aim of breaking the embargo on Gaza merely strengthens the hand of Hamas rather than helping the people in need.

Toameh explains:

"Those who wish to deliver aid to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip can always find better and safer ways to do so - either through Israel or Egypt. But those who only seek confrontation with Israel in the sea are only emboldening Hamas and helping it tighten its grip on the people of Gaza Strip."

And Brinkley asks:

"'We want to break the siege of Gaza,' the Free Gaza Movement says. In the process, do they want to 'free' the leaders of Hamas? Last week, these leaders made their position clear. They fired four missiles into Israel, toward Ashkelon and Sderot." (Hyperlink added).

Crew Confirms Flotilla Sought Violence

New evidence is challenging several claims against the Israeli navy surrounding the violent confrontation that took place on May 31^st on IHH's Mavi Marmara ship. The new information comes directly from passengers on the flotilla.

Video statements from two Mavi Marmara crew members released on Wednesday by the Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) confirm that IHH operatives on the ship prepared to fight the Israeli navy two hours prior to the Israeli commandos boarded it. The IHH members used equipment they brought on board before departing Turkey to fight the Israelis.

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Reuters Under Fire Over Cropped Flotilla Photos

Reuters is coming under fire for cropping photographs to remove pictures of "peace activists" carrying knives and photos of wounded, bloodied Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara as it attempted to violate Israel's blockade of Gaza. The Israel Defense Force five other vessels in the flotilla without incident on May 31. But on the Mavi Marmara, IDF commandos were disarmed, fired on and attacked with knives, metal bars and chairs. One soldier was thrown off a deck to a lower one 30 feet below. Nine activists were killed in clashes with Israeli troops on the vessel.

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A Refreshing and Laudable Call

Here's something you won't read often on this website. Imam Johari Abdul Malik is right! Abdul Malik is the outreach director at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Va.

Law enforcement officials say that mosque has operated "as a front for Hamas operatives in U.S." and that it "has been linked to numerous individuals linked to terrorism financing."

But, in a statement on his own web blog Tuesday, Abdul-Malik met the challenge we pose to radical Islamists. He unequivocally condemned violence. "Non-Violence," he wrote, "is the only effective method to establish positive social change."

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UN Security Council Passes New Iran Sanctions

The United Nations Security Council renewed its efforts at ending Iran's nuclear program Wednesday with a fourth round of sanctions.

The resolution, aimed at approximately 40 companies and a number of individuals associated with the Revolutionary Guard, will reinforce and expand a range of economic, technological, and military sanctions.

The newest round of sanctions includes:

• A requirement that financial institutions block any transactions by Iranian banks or institutions believed to be related to banned activities.
• An expansion of the existing arms embargo to include tanks, combat aircraft, and missiles.
• A new framework for inspecting cargo at sea and in ports in the event that nations have "reasonable grounds" to suspect that the ships are carrying banned goods.
• An expansion of existing asset freeze and travel bans against individuals and entities associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

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